During the turn of the 19th century, in a tiny town nestled somewhere in the Netherlands, a husband and wife had once run a very unsuccessful candy shop. Desperate, broke and starving they had decided to trade their souls to a demon in exchange for a recipe that would teach them how to make the most delicious chocolate in the world. Much to their dismay, the next morning a basket was discovered on their doorstep, and inside – a young, living child made of chocolate.
We are anxiously awaiting the theatrical release of LAIKA’s “ParaNorman” this August, and were excited to see that they have released a new trailer for the film. View the trailer below, or visit the official site: http://paranorman.com for more.
“Portlandia” recently teamed up with Portland animation house Bent Image Lab to produce a stop-motion animated segment featuring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein as rats attempting to break into a zero packaging grocery store. In “Zero Rats,” the animators at Bent Image Lab did a great job of translating the improvised sketch comedy into animation. As you can see in the picture below, the artists at Bent also created some beautifully intricate set pieces.
How has animation shaped cultural sensibilities of different societies? What does the international evolution of animation look like and how did a cultural context define that evolution?
This informal enrichment class for film lovers and students of cinema (self-appointed or formally enrolled) examines the rich history and evolution of animation from an international perspective, discussing its inventors and innovators and placing a wide range of animators and their works within a cultural context. Continue reading... “History of Animation: A Cultural Perspective”
Initial Plans for Film Tax Credit Auction Announced
As we get closer to the OPIF tax credit auction, new information on the Film Tax Credit Auction is available. Below is the most current details on how this auction will proceed:
The total amount of tax credits that will be auctioned is $6million
Presented by the Portland Art Museum FEB 18 – MAY 27, 2012
From now through May 27th, make sure to check out the imaginative art of John Frame on display at the Portland Art Museum. Art, music, poetry, and film come together in his ambitious project The Tale of the Crippled Boy. The end goal of this ongoing project is a feature-length collection of animated and live film vignettes. Three Fragments of a Lost Tale presents his work on this project during the past five years, including installations of his handmade sculptures, stage sets, still photographs, music score, and animated film vignettes. Continue reading... “John Frame: Three Fragments of a Lost Tale”
We’ve been highlighting mostly the fine Oregon based television work that has been airing recently but this weekend not only is there “Grimm” and “Portlandia” but the feature film “Gone” produced by Lakeshore Entertainment premieres in theaters this weekend. Harold Phillips’ blog Oregon Film And TV Dollars put up a good post about the film yesterday. He also found a great clip from star Amanda Seyfried’s appearance on Jay Leno where she brought Voodoo Donuts to the show. Here’s the clip with her raving about Voodoo and Portland. Continue reading... “Lot’s of Good Oregon Film and Television Available this Weekend”
For Hinge Digital, creating the visual effects for Brightwood was a chance to bring Hollywood-caliber visual effects to an independent locally produced short film. Combining themes of childhood innocence and the search for home and family, the film juxtaposes a young girl’s real and imaginary lives. The film veterans at Hinge Digital helped bridge the gap between reality and fantasy.
Director L. Gabriel Gonda brought the film’s rough cut to Hinge Digital Executive Producer Roland Gauthier in November 2011 and presented the challenge: to bring to life a believable, feature-film quality digital mouse in eight live-action shots on a short-film budget. Continue reading... “Portland’s Hinge Digital Creates VFX for Brightwood”
The Northwest Film Center’s School of Film is offering 
Initial Plans for Film Tax Credit Auction Announced
