Jim's Red Book - Great blog about the great man.

For anyone interested in all things Henson, this is a great blog with a wealth of information:

"In June 1965, 28-year-old Jim Henson started a written log of his activities in what became known as “The Red Book.” He noted down what had happened up until that point (deemed “Ancient History”) and then recorded anything that he felt was worth recording as single line journal entries until the end of 1988."

http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/

Storm Freerun Volume 1

Some really nicely filmed free-running, good slo-mo and steadicam shots.

The Monk and the Monkey (Brendon Carroll)

Nice little short from some students at Ringling.



Breakdown:

Thought of you (Ryan Woodward)

Just gorgeous, thanks to James M for the link...



Behind the scenes -

Les Metiers: Le Boulanger

Some great character design here with some equally good animation - love the little details like the mass of the dough and the glow from the baking oven.

Rhinoceros 1515, Kazuhiko Nakamura (3D)

Saw this on CG Talk this morning, really love the mixture of steampunk styling with museum exhibit composition and something of an ancient natural history illustration look to it.

Click here or the image for the large version.

Tom Richmond Illustration (MAD Magazine)

I've long been a fan of the artwork of MAD Magazine. I'm just becoming familiar with the artists behind this though, through a couple of recent articles. Tom Richmond's artwork embodies many of the distinguishing qualities; rich characterisation, vibrant compositions with life that leaps off the page, and attention to tiny details that reward keen reader with some comical touches.

Click here or on the image to link to his site

>> UPDATE

I found this paint Demo of Tom's on YouTube, interesting watching his technique in time lapse.



Related key MAD artists:

Mort Drucker
Sebastian Krüger

A-Ha Take on Me video is 25 years old. (Animator interview on BBC News)

I still remember the first time I saw this video, it had me glued to the TV in wonder as a ten-year-old kid! I ageree with the opinion that both the song and video have stood the test of time very well, and there are some interesting insights in this short news item.

"The band and actors were shot on film before the tapes were handed to Mike Patterson who, over 16 weeks, sketched some 3,000 drawings over individual frames."

- Full Story on BBC here.

Kahani. Final Year student film (Meg Park)

From Cartoon Brew:

"Kahani is short film created by student Meg Park in her final year at Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design. Park definitely shows talent in color design, effects and pacing – in some ways her making-of video is more inspiring than the finished film."

Making of video here:


> Production Blog
> Personal Website

Disney Amiga Animation Software, 1990

In 1990 this was the future! Interesting stuff though, I had an Amiga for years and never heard of this software, perhaps it was never commercially released...