LAIKA | The Confluence

The LAIKA Experience – At The Portland Art Museum – “Animating Life: The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA”

October 3, 2017October 18, 2017 Oregon Film #OregonMade, Animation/VFX, Events, Oregon Animation History, Oregon Animation Industry, Technology "Animating Life: The Art, and Wonder of LAIKA", LAIKA, Portland Art Museum, ScienceLeave a Comment

“Animating Life: The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA” is a “brand new “ exhibit and behind-the-scenes interactive look at LAIKA’s creative process, that promises to take the visitor inside the world of animation. LAIKA’s artistry and technology illustrate how the feature films, “Coraline”, “ParaNorman”, “The Box Trolls” and “Kubo and the Two Strings,” were made. “Through behind-the-scenes photography, video clips and physical artwork from its films, visitors will be immersed in LAIKA’s creative process, exploring the production design, sets, props, puppets, costumes, and world-building that have become the studio’s hallmarks. Continue reading... “The LAIKA Experience – At The Portland Art Museum – “Animating Life: The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA””

This Fall Animating Life:The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA Comes to Portland Art Museum

April 12, 2017 Oregon Film #OregonMade, Animation/VFX, Education, Events, Film and Media Industry, Independent, News, Oregon Animation History, Oregon Animation Industry, Technology LAIKA, Northwest Film Center, Portland Art Museum1 Comment

Behind the scenes, the Oregon animation studio, LAIKA, is an amazing collection of animators, artists, cutting-edge tech, and good, old-fashioned story-telling, and this fall you will be able to explore LAIKA’s “creative process” from start to finish at the Portland Art Museum.

The Northwest Film Center and the Portland Art Museum have partnered with LAIKA to present the immersive experience.

For more information look here, the exhibit opens October 14, 2017-May 20, 2018.

#OregonMade

#OregonMadeShows Continue reading... “This Fall Animating Life:The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA Comes to Portland Art Museum”

Congrats To LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” On Three Annie Award Wins

February 6, 2017February 6, 2017 Oregon Film #OregonMade, Award, Events, Film and Media Industry, Independent Films, Movies, Oregon Animation History, Oregon Animation Industry 44th Annie Awards, Annie Awards, Kubo And The two Strings, LAIKALeave a Comment

Congratulations to LAIKA on their three Annie Award wins for “Kubo And The Two Strings“:

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Nelson Lowry, Trevor Dalmer, August Hall, Ean McNamara
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production
Jan Maas
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
Laika
Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
Christopher Murrie
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

We will all be watching the 2017 Academy Awards later this month as “Kubo” garnered two nominations for, Animated Feature, and Visual Effects. Continue reading... “Congrats To LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” On Three Annie Award Wins”

LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” Receives Two Oscar Nominations!

January 24, 2017 Oregon Film #OregonMade, Animation/VFX, Award, Events, Oregon Animation History, Oregon Animation Industry, Oregon Film, Technology #OregonMade, #OregonMadeShows, 2017 Academy Awards, Kubo And The two Strings, LAIKA, Oscar, Oscar Nominations 2017Leave a Comment

The 2017 Academy Award nominations are out! Among them are two nominations for LAIKA‘s #OregonMade “Kubo And The Two Strings” – Animated Feature, and Visual Effects!

“Kubo” joined; “Moana”, “My Life as a Zucchini”, “The Red Turtle”, “Zootopia” in the Animated Feature category, and “Deepwater Horizon”, “Doctor Strange”, “Jungle Book” and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” in the Visual Effects category. Should “Kubo” win each category, Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner would accept for Best Animated Feature, and Steve Emerson ,Oliver Jones, Brian McLean,Brad Schiff would accept for Best Visual Effects. Continue reading... “LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” Receives Two Oscar Nominations!”

LAIKA’s New Feature, “Kubo And The Two Strings” Opens This Month

August 4, 2016August 4, 2016 Oregon Film Animation/VFX Focus Features, Kubo And The two Strings, LAIKALeave a Comment

https://youtu.be/7oAxrNEt5I4

LAIKA and Focus Features’ “Kubo And The Two Strings” will open on August 19th. “Kubo” is “a clever, kindhearted boy (voiced by Art Parkinson of “Game of Thrones”) who ekes out a humble living, telling fantastical stories to the people of his seaside town. But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a mythical spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta. Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known. Continue reading... “LAIKA’s New Feature, “Kubo And The Two Strings” Opens This Month”

Laika Wins Technical Oscar’s Award For 3-D Printing Technology

January 11, 2016 Oregon Film Animation/VFX, Award, Events, Independent, Technology 3-D printing, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, LAIKA, Scientific and Engineering Award, stop motionLeave a Comment

Laika's Brian McLean won a special award from the Oscars for "pioneering the use of rapid prototyping for character animation in stop-motion film production." (Laika photo.) — Laika’s Brian McLean won a special award from the Oscars for “pioneering the use of rapid prototyping for character animation in stop-motion film production.” (Laika photo.)

Laika uses stop-motion animation techniques to bring their characters to life, but with hundreds of puppets needed for the process it is painstaking to create the many expressions and movement needed to make the action fluid. The studio overcame this by becoming early adopter’s of the 3-D printing process that enabled them to create the many minuscule changing facial features without losing any of the artistry that goes into each puppet. Continue reading... “Laika Wins Technical Oscar’s Award For 3-D Printing Technology”

LAIKA Celebrates 10th Anniversary

December 16, 2015January 5, 2016 Oregon Film UncategorizedLeave a Comment

Congratulations to LAIKA, who are celebrating their 10th Anniversary this month. LAIKA has continued to hold it’s own over the last decade, producing animated features that are works of art in their own right – beginning in 2009 with “Coraline“, “ParaNorman“, “The Boxtrolls“, and currently in production, “Kubo and the Two Strings“.

President and CEO, Travis Knight, said it best when he talked to Wired Magazine, “We’re an outlier. We work in an industry that is dominated by franchises and sequels and prequels and remakes and reboots, but we’re devoted to telling new and original stories. Continue reading... “LAIKA Celebrates 10th Anniversary”

Next VFX/PDX Meeting – LAIKA and SideFX Houdini! June 22

June 11, 2015 J Bills Animation/VFX LAIKA, Sprocketship, VFX/PDXLeave a Comment

The role of “FX Artist” working on a film is a fun one indeed. FX Artists are tasked with creating dynamics and particle animations that create flashy effects like explosions, psunami level tidal waves, smoke, buildings crumbling, and other such epic imagery that make summer blockbusters all the more fun.

We’ll have 3 such individuals presenting at the next VFX/PDX meeting, which will heavily feature their weapon of choice: Side Effects Houdini. Portland, it’s time for a night we’re calling FIRE & ICE! Continue reading... “Next VFX/PDX Meeting – LAIKA and SideFX Houdini! June 22”

LAIKA Scoops Two Annie Awards

December 2, 2014February 2, 2015 Oregon Film Animation/VFX, Award, Events Annie Awards, Bent Image Lab, LAIKA, Polariffic, The BoxtrollsLeave a Comment

http://youtu.be/z3eHd87dx6M

Two Oregon companies, LAIKA and Bent Image Lab picked up nominations for the 42nd Annual Annie Awards. (Bent Image Lab garnered a nomination for “Polariffic” (Hallmark) in the Best Animated Special Production category, and Laika’s “The Boxtrolls” picked up 13 nominations, including Best Animated Feature.) Laika was awarded two Annies for Best Production Design and Best Voice Acting (Ben Kingsley as Archibald Snatcher). “The Boxtrolls” is also nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscar’s next month. Continue reading... “LAIKA Scoops Two Annie Awards”

Positive Opening Box Office For “The Boxtrolls” And Laika’s Continued Partnership With Focus Features

October 7, 2014 Oregon Film Animation/VFX, News, Oregon Film Focus Features, LAIKA, The Boxtrolls1 Comment

Laika’s third big, stop motion feature, “The Box Trolls” (Laika and Focus Features) had some positive nationwide opening numbers, $17.3 million gross, Laika’s biggest opening yet. Laika President,Travis Knight, and Focus Features CEO, Paul Schlessel announced late last week that they will continue to work together for three more projects.

“The Boxtrolls” Based on Alan Snow’s “Here Be Monsters”, the cardboard wearing Boxtrolls live beneath the streets of Cheesborough, only coming up from underground at night to collect items they need to build machines for their underground city. Continue reading... “Positive Opening Box Office For “The Boxtrolls” And Laika’s Continued Partnership With Focus Features”