Behind The Scenes with Pixar's Chris Sasaki

JOIN US FOR A SPECIAL BEHIND THE SCENES ANIMATION PRESENTATION WITH CHARACTER  ARTIST CHRIS SASAKI

FRIDAY, APRIL 17TH

11:45AM-12:45PM

DEPAUL UNIVERSITY

CDM THEATRE

14 E. JACKSON BLVD.  |  LL 105  |  CHICAGO,  IL 60604

DOORS OPEN AT 11:15AM

5th Annual MAYDAY

Calling all DePaul ANIMATORS!

 Mark your calendars because the 
5th Annual MAYDAY is fast approaching.

MAYDAY will be held MAY 1-3 this year.

What is MAYDAY you ask?? MAYDAY is a fun, exhausting, educational endurance test which will give everyone a chance to hang out and animate.

The goal of this event (besides having fun) is to make a film around a common theme, agreed upon on the first night and completed in one weekend. This event is open to students, faculty and alumni of the Animation program.

In the meantime check out this link to a documentary about MayDay! http://vimeo.com/43580257

DePaul Faculty Heinz Schuller's Work from New Game Release, Savage Lands

DePaul Animation Faculty, Heinz Schuller of Caustic Photon LLC, has just posted the trailer from his latest endeavor, Savage Lands.  Take a look at the link below to see some of Heinz's amazing art direction on this impressive looking game.

Click here to find the game on Steam.  

Congratulations to Heinz and his team!

Best of Ottawa Screening, February 28, 6pm

Visiting Filmmaker: Kevin Schreck, February 14, 6pm

Striving to make the best animated film of all time, visionary animator Richard Williams (Oscar-winning animation director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit) toiled for nearly three decades on his masterpiece, The Thief and the Cobbler -- only to have it torn from his hands.  Filmmaker Kevin Schreck has woven together mind-blowing animation, rare archival footage, and exclusive interviews with key animators and artists who worked with Williams on his ill-fated magnum opus to bring this legendary, forgotten chapter of cinema history to the screen for the very first time.

PERSISTENCE OF VISION 
with Kevin Schreck in person!
Friday, Feb, 14th
6 p.m.
The CDM Theater
14 E. Jackson, LL

This event is FREE but seating is limited so come early!

PERSISTENCE OF VISION - Trailer from Kevin Schreck on Vimeo.

Need Extra Drawing Practice?

Heat Spell!

Heat Spell, directed by DePaul Animation's Jo Dery and produced by Simple Machine Studio, will debut on November 19 at 6pm in the CDM Theater, 14 East Jackson. Join us for the celebration!

Re-Title projects from Advanced Motion Graphics, Fall quarter 2013

The Advanced Motion Graphics students were assigned to create title sequences for films in the style of a designer whose work they studied.

Samantha Harris: The Wizard of Oz (1939), in the style of Enter the Void (2009) designed by Tom Kan.



Tyler Gobberdiel: Moon (2009), in the style of Yusaka Kamekura.


Chelsea Henshaw: Almost Famous (2000) in the style of Stefan Sagmeister


More videos from the project here.

Persistence of Vision: Doc about lost Richard Williams masterpiece

Persistence of Vision is a documentary about animator Richard Williams and his unfinished film "The Thief and the Cobbler." Persistence of Vision is coming to the Gene Siskel Film Center on May 3, 4 & 5. Treat yourself after MayDay!

From the press release:
"Striving to make the best animated film of all time, visionary animator Richard Williams ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit") toiled on his masterpiece, "The Thief and the Cobbler," for nearly three decades -- only to have it torn from his hands. Filmmaker Kevin Schreck has woven together mind-blowing animation, rare archival footage, and exclusive interviews with key animators and artists who worked with Williams on his ill-fated magnum opus to bring this legendary story to the screen. A tale of art, obsession, and dreams, "Persistence of Vision" is the untold story of the greatest animated film never made."

Screenings: 
Friday, May 3rd, 6:00 PM
Saturday, May 4th, 3:15 PM
Sunday, May 5th, 3:15 PM

Gene Siskel Film Center
164 North State Street
Chicago, IL 60601

Order tickets: http://bit.ly/PoVChi

MAYDAY!

It's that time again, animators!

Save the date! Gather your supplies! (Pencil, Paper, Cintiq, Chipotle, etc.) More details to follow!

MAYDAY!
Friday, April 26 - Sunday, April 28

Below are some photos of last year's MAYDAY!

Animation Capstone Voice Actor Session

Students from the Animation Capstone worked with some amazing voice actors to provide voices for their films. Some incredible voices were coming out of that booth, and these characters really came to life!


Iain Collins at the mixing board.


Actor Tom Taylorson in the booth.


Megan Hanson gives direction to her actor.

Draw, draw, draw!

This Spring we'll have TWO great opportunities for students to get in some extra drawing practice: 

Sketchbook Club

Mondays, CDM room 530, 5-7pm 

Bring your sketchbook and any media you wish to draw with! 

Open Life Drawing

Fridays, AMD in Lincoln Park

1150 W. Fullerton

2nd floor drawing studio, 2-5pm 

You MUST bring you DePaul ID to be admitted! 

Bring newsprint, charcoal, and/or the media of your choice!

Pixar in Chicago, March 25

Pixar comes to Chicago next Monday, March 25th! Are you excited!?!

Monday, March 25, 6-7:30pm

Film Row Cinema, 8th Floor

1104 South Wabash 

Self-portrait Films

Here are some great examples of self-portrait films made in my Production I class this winter, from Michelle Verceles and Taylor Harrington.

Experimental Animation: Boot Rotation

Here's a collaborative project from ANI356/456 Experimental Animation: Everyone sat in a circle around a boot and drew several sketches of it. Then we animated the drawings to show the boot rotating. We were discussing the threshold for seeing continuous motion, especially with very different graphic styles, from one frame to the next.

Sketchbook Club!

Animators! There is a new opportunity this Winter quarter -- Sketchbook Club! Grab your sketchbook and your favorite drawing supplies and join us every Wednesday afternoon at 5pm, in room 803 (the Solid Objects Lab on the 8th floor). We will draw from life and our imaginations, and I will give you challenges that you can work on throughout the week. 

Hang out with fellow animators and faculty, practice drawing, generate project ideas, and get into the best habit you can have besides brushing your teeth -- keeping a sketchbook! 

First meeting is January 9th, and every Wednesday following for Winter quarter. 

2012 Eyeworks Festival of Experimental Animation, Oct. 27-28

The 2012 Eyeworks Festival of Experimental Animation will be held Oct. 27-28. The opening program is at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St., at 2 PM on Saturday Oct. 27. Festival guest Nancy Andrews will present her films at the 7 PM program on Saturday at DePaul in the Daley Building theater, 247 S. State St, and there will be two programs on Sunday at 1 PM and 4 PM at DePaul.

Eyeworks is a festival focusing on abstract animation and unconventional character animation. Festival programs showcase outstanding experimental animation of all sorts: classic films, new works and rare masterpieces. We have collected some really amazing short films this year, including some classic abstract films, some rarely-seen treasures, and some of the best new experimental work being made by animators today. We're especially excited about our festival guest, Nancy Andrews, who will be showing three of her beautiful puppet films on Saturday evening. And, DePaul's very own Jo Dery will have a piece showing on loop in the theater lobby throughout the weekend.

The full details on the festival, including showtimes, lineup of work, and tickets, are on the festival website: www.eyeworksfestival.com.

We would be thrilled if you would join us for the festival! No matter what kind of animation you like, I guarantee that you will see something unexpected, inspiring, hilarious, and amazing at Eyeworks.

Double Fine Art Director Scott Campbell visits Oct. 19

The CIM Visiting Artists Series is proud to present:

Scott Campbell

Painter, illustrator, comic artist, and Art Director at Double Fine Games

The DePaul School of Cinema & Interactive Media Visiting Artist Series is excited to announce our second guest for the Fall 2012 quarter, Scott Campbell. On Friday, October 19th, Campbell will present a program of his work, followed by a moderated conversation and question and answer session.  During the day he will conduct a participatory workshop in character design, so bring your sketchbooks.

Scott Campbell (Scott C)  is a maker of paintings, illustrations, comics, kid’s books and video games. He studied illustration at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, focusing on comic and children’s book illustration.  Soon after graduating, he began at Lucas Learning as concept artist on children’s video games.  Four years later, he joined Double Fine productions as Art Director on such games as the critically acclaimed Psychonauts and Brutal Legend.  Alongside this career in games, he has published numerous comics and created paintings that have appeared in galleries and publications around the world. Some of his most notable projects include theGREAT SHOWDOWNS series, “Igloo Head and Tree Head” series, Double Fine Action Comics, Hickee Comics, the children’s book’s Zombie In Love and East Dragon, West Dragon, and Psychonauts and Brutal Legend with Double Fine Productions. The book Amazing Everything: The Art of Scott Ccollects many of his paintings over the past few years. Scott lives in New York City.

You can find out more about Scott Campbell’s work on his website http://www.pyramidcar.com/

RSVP and invite your friends to the facebook event!: https://www.facebook.com/events/239646352827951/

Like the CIM Visiting Artist Series!  https://www.facebook.com/pages/DePaul-School-of-Cinema-Interactive-Media-Visiting-Artists-Series/169010999782858

Visiting Artist Talk

6pm Friday, Oct. 19th

DePaul CDM Theatre

14 E. Jackson - LL105

Open to the public

Character Design Workshop

2pm Friday, Oct. 19th - 243 S. Wabash - CDM 924

DePaul students and faculty only

Gravity! Gravity! Gravity! Oh, and Entropy! by Molly McCandless

Molly McCandless (BA '12) just posted her stop-motion animation "Gravity! Gravity! Gravity! Oh, and Entropy!" online. If you saw this at the Capstone screening last year, you'll remember that it's a totally unique film that deserves to be seen more than once. If you didn't see it, please watch immediately! Bravo to Molly for such an ambitious, fun, inspiring, and wonderfully weird animation.

"Make It A Great Day" screening, Friday, September 28th

Join us this Friday, September 28, at 5:30pm in the CDM Theater, 14 East Jackson, for a very special screening of Assistant Professor Josh Jones' new film, Make It A Great Day. The film was written by fellow faculty member, Dan Klein, and worked on by a Project Bluelight team. Hooray for Josh!