...with the likes of three feet mice and anthropomorphic dogs.
Monday, June 28, 2010
You Know You've Made It...
...when your DVDs show up in flea markets...
...with the likes of three feet mice and anthropomorphic dogs.
...with the likes of three feet mice and anthropomorphic dogs.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Animator #68 - December 10, 1943
Issue number 68 answers the question "how were these newsletters produced?"
Answer: "Collapsing under the strain the mimeograph machine exploded. It was not till week that working order was established. Excelsior!"
State of the Union
Schlesinger: In a test case which will set the method of assimilating the returning service men the Commissioner for the Labor Department was of the opinion that the WLB would agree withour proposal that the space be created by stepping down thru the classifications rather than by a discharge in the immediate level occupied previously by the returnee. This precedent will undoubtedly be binding thru the Producers Association on all cartoon studios, it will be our effort to write this solution into our new contracts.
The sick leave question is still unsettled. A broad commitment in our contract with this studio makes our position a bit awkward. Mr. Heffron, the new Schless labor relations man, has agreed to arbitrate.
The boys and girls war very happy -for two reasons. One -they are getting their second weeks vacation starting December 19; two -this is really the big reason -while they are on vacation the management has promised to clean the place (will a week be time enough).
GEMS: There are several cases involving wage increases which went to the WLB on last Sept. 8. They have been sent directly to the San Francisco office but it is not likely that action will be taken until December.
WOLFF: Reply from the WLB on the contract is still waiting. They requested some additional information which we supplied.
PALS: The management is playing a now we want it... now we don't game with the Business Agent over a wage range solution for their new classifications. Tired of jousting the windmill the BA is insisting that all further original proposals be in writing. Their written confirmations have, so far, had only coincidental similarity with their oral commitments. A proposal has finally been worked out on six of the classifications and three are ready to be presented to the unit for approval.
DIZ: The long awaited approval for the Scene Technicians classification came through. All requests were granted including retroactive pay from August 23. Merry Christmas.
The next and last vacation is set to begin the week before Christmas.
GENERAL
There are two new puppet studios getting into production. Lewis Bunin a well known puppeteer, has moved onto the MGM lot. John Sutherland has contracted for release through United Artists.
Bunin brought five people out with him from the east...
The Sutherland group is recruited from local talent and boast fourteen...
Dave Fleischer is out at Screen Gems. The beginning of the end started for him when he fought his employees in New York.
At Diz the studio cops voted 100% to join the AFL Local 193. The contract is pending...
...
INBETWEENS
Bill Melendez and Manuel Parez both fathers of baby boys...
This issue ends with a piece on food subsidies by Bill King.
Answer: "Collapsing under the strain the mimeograph machine exploded. It was not till week that working order was established. Excelsior!"
Schlesinger: In a test case which will set the method of assimilating the returning service men the Commissioner for the Labor Department was of the opinion that the WLB would agree withour proposal that the space be created by stepping down thru the classifications rather than by a discharge in the immediate level occupied previously by the returnee. This precedent will undoubtedly be binding thru the Producers Association on all cartoon studios, it will be our effort to write this solution into our new contracts.
The sick leave question is still unsettled. A broad commitment in our contract with this studio makes our position a bit awkward. Mr. Heffron, the new Schless labor relations man, has agreed to arbitrate.
The boys and girls war very happy -for two reasons. One -they are getting their second weeks vacation starting December 19; two -this is really the big reason -while they are on vacation the management has promised to clean the place (will a week be time enough).
GEMS: There are several cases involving wage increases which went to the WLB on last Sept. 8. They have been sent directly to the San Francisco office but it is not likely that action will be taken until December.
WOLFF: Reply from the WLB on the contract is still waiting. They requested some additional information which we supplied.
PALS: The management is playing a now we want it... now we don't game with the Business Agent over a wage range solution for their new classifications. Tired of jousting the windmill the BA is insisting that all further original proposals be in writing. Their written confirmations have, so far, had only coincidental similarity with their oral commitments. A proposal has finally been worked out on six of the classifications and three are ready to be presented to the unit for approval.
DIZ: The long awaited approval for the Scene Technicians classification came through. All requests were granted including retroactive pay from August 23. Merry Christmas.
The next and last vacation is set to begin the week before Christmas.
GENERAL
There are two new puppet studios getting into production. Lewis Bunin a well known puppeteer, has moved onto the MGM lot. John Sutherland has contracted for release through United Artists.
The Sutherland group is recruited from local talent and boast fourteen...
Dave Fleischer is out at Screen Gems. The beginning of the end started for him when he fought his employees in New York.
At Diz the studio cops voted 100% to join the AFL Local 193. The contract is pending...
...
INBETWEENS
Bill Melendez and Manuel Parez both fathers of baby boys...
This issue ends with a piece on food subsidies by Bill King.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Animation Budgeting - Part 4 "Prep"
As I've noted in past posts, our budget process comes from the AICP (Association of Independent Commercial Producers) guides.
Those are geared explicitly for live action. Their budget only contains a single line item for "animation".
In expanding that line item, we took our cue from their budget form which has categories "A" through "K" (plus director as "L"). Animation is complicated process, but it's hard to break it into that many smaller pieces. Drawing based animation, at least. Mixed media projects, stop motion, under camera techniques all require varying amounts of alternate costs.
So here's our "Category B" PREP/RECORD
You'll note there are blank budget lines.
It's hard to predict what costs will come into play, there's often something completely unexpected. These can fill with those. Usually we'd rewrite this section for stop motion fabrication on those projects.
More often these lines will fill with multiple artists at the same position. For instance, 222 and 223 might both be for "Layout Artist".
201 Casting: A casting director typically gets a flat fee. They'll read the script, give you a cost.
From there you discuss your casting thoughts. They give you theirs. Typically you'll cast by "types" -say, "For the lead I'm thinking someone like Bruce Campbell." A casting director will usually call Bruce Campbell ('s agent) and see if he wants the part with all the caveats.
Very often "celebrity" talent will say yes. Animation voice work is viewed as pretty easy by most actors. It's seen as a cool part of childhood's magic by even more.
If your actor doesn't want the job, the casting director will bring in others with similar styles to audition.
You can always do the casting yourself. Post an ad on various casting sites, call up talent agencies, scout local comedy clubs, or even have your friends do all the voice work.
Even if you do the casting yourself, it's still a cost. It's your time -which is considerable if you conduct a thorough hunt. The cost is less than professional, but sometimes the results can be less than professional.
With "name" talent you often can't ask them to read for the part (unless you're doing a big budget/high profile profile production). You offer them the part and that's it.
Once you've got your talent cast, you've got to pay them.
202 Voice Talent. This is one of those lines that typically expands into several. Actors' rates are determined by their guilds: SAG and AFTRA and their respective agreements with producers. Their rate tables can be found on their websites. SAG is the screen actors guild, AFTRA is TV and radio.
Even when paying the lowest rate ("scale"), the cost is usually scale plus 10%. That 10% goes to the actor's agent. No, you don't HAVE to do that. It's just customary and makes working for the minimum more palatable.
If you're Joe Schmoe animator making a film you won't actually be able to pay your actors. You'll need a "signatory" to SAG/AFTRA agreement to be your paymaster. There's a lot of paperwork involved with paying union workers and you need be able to pay into their fringes (P, P&W). Also union actors need to demonstrate a certain amount over work over a period time to keep their benefits.
You can always bypass all the guild stuff and hire non-union talent or ask a professional actor to do the job as a scab. Many voice actors will have stage names that don't appear on the union register for this purpose.
203 Voice Director. It could be you. It could be a professional. Either way, somebody's got to be in there with the actors letting them know what to do. It's not unheard of for someone besides the animation director to devote themselves to getting the right voice performance.
Actors are like animators. They have their own language and methods of achieving their goals. Sometimes a voice director is the best idea to help them get to the right performance.
205 Sound Editor. The person who strings together the best takes. Sometimes animatic editor will do this.
207 Animatic Editor. This is the "creative" end of editing animation. Timings are determining, shots deleted, recalled, rearranged. After this is all file management and fixing mistakes.
210 Track Analysis. Frame by frame reading of the track. We used to pay by the foot -different rates for lip sync vs. soft sync. It's been a long time and I'm not sure what the rates are.
It takes me about an hour to lip sync :60 (in English). I'm fast. So I base our costs on that.
211 Sheet Timing. This is really for overseas animators. We'll do it a bit, but it's usually just transposing things learned from the animatic onto the exposure sheets. It's generally the director's job, but will often be handed to a specialist.
212 Storyboard Conform. Somebody's got to make sure the video board in the animatic exists on paper. I've heard rumor of software that does this, but I don't believe. It's the worst job on earth.
214 through 216. Fairly self-explanatory. You can add prop designer too.
218 Designer. This is DESIGNER, designer. Like the guy who nudges it a bit and changes all your default Arial to default Helvetica. Yes, he may be a monster -but sometimes his talents are needed to capture Troy. Like making logos and presentation books. If anyone is overpaid in production, it's this line.
220 PreVisualization Artist. When an animatic isn't enough. These are mostly used in 3D projects. In 2D it's an expensive intermediary step before actually animating. In 3D its an inexpensive way of figuring out logistics.
222 Layout Artist. Layout artist
224 Researcher. This is the fun part of any project -digging up the material to base the film on.
225 Photography. For reference.
226 Reference Models. If you need to hire figure models.
228 Roto Shoot. Rotoscope preparation falls in pre-production. Roto artists are in the next catagory.
On the right side we'll just pull a few specifics and discuss generalities.
This deals mostly with recording and music. You can break these line out in the left hand column if you're doing the recording in house. We typically subcontract recording and music.
251 Scratch Track. Did you read the track into Final Cut so you could get timings? Congratulations you recorded a scratch track! How much time/equipment did it take? That's your cost.
252 Record. Ballpark $300/hour for a professional studio and go from there. You can get something as low as $75 in New York or as high $500 -especially if you need fiber optic connection from another part of the world. Book rates for audio facilities are usually negotiable especially if you're flexible with your time.
260 Style Guide. If you're in the world of licensing, you'll need to make a style guide for how the characters are used. Often design firms like Landor or Pentagram will do these. It can be pretty well paying.
261 Character Bible. The practical version of a style guide. Animators will use it. The expense of producing it is always far less than the expense of not having it.
270 Permits. New York has recently announced permit fees for shooting. Many other cities have these costs. If your doing outdoor shooting -reference, roto, et c. you'll need to keep this in mind.
272 - 278. These are "pre-production" music costs. Rough mixes, stock, sound effects. Audio costs come up again post-production
Those are geared explicitly for live action. Their budget only contains a single line item for "animation".
In expanding that line item, we took our cue from their budget form which has categories "A" through "K" (plus director as "L"). Animation is complicated process, but it's hard to break it into that many smaller pieces. Drawing based animation, at least. Mixed media projects, stop motion, under camera techniques all require varying amounts of alternate costs.
So here's our "Category B" PREP/RECORD
You'll note there are blank budget lines.
It's hard to predict what costs will come into play, there's often something completely unexpected. These can fill with those. Usually we'd rewrite this section for stop motion fabrication on those projects.
More often these lines will fill with multiple artists at the same position. For instance, 222 and 223 might both be for "Layout Artist".
201 Casting: A casting director typically gets a flat fee. They'll read the script, give you a cost.
From there you discuss your casting thoughts. They give you theirs. Typically you'll cast by "types" -say, "For the lead I'm thinking someone like Bruce Campbell." A casting director will usually call Bruce Campbell ('s agent) and see if he wants the part with all the caveats.
Very often "celebrity" talent will say yes. Animation voice work is viewed as pretty easy by most actors. It's seen as a cool part of childhood's magic by even more.
If your actor doesn't want the job, the casting director will bring in others with similar styles to audition.
You can always do the casting yourself. Post an ad on various casting sites, call up talent agencies, scout local comedy clubs, or even have your friends do all the voice work.
Even if you do the casting yourself, it's still a cost. It's your time -which is considerable if you conduct a thorough hunt. The cost is less than professional, but sometimes the results can be less than professional.
With "name" talent you often can't ask them to read for the part (unless you're doing a big budget/high profile profile production). You offer them the part and that's it.
Once you've got your talent cast, you've got to pay them.
202 Voice Talent. This is one of those lines that typically expands into several. Actors' rates are determined by their guilds: SAG and AFTRA and their respective agreements with producers. Their rate tables can be found on their websites. SAG is the screen actors guild, AFTRA is TV and radio.
Even when paying the lowest rate ("scale"), the cost is usually scale plus 10%. That 10% goes to the actor's agent. No, you don't HAVE to do that. It's just customary and makes working for the minimum more palatable.
If you're Joe Schmoe animator making a film you won't actually be able to pay your actors. You'll need a "signatory" to SAG/AFTRA agreement to be your paymaster. There's a lot of paperwork involved with paying union workers and you need be able to pay into their fringes (P, P&W). Also union actors need to demonstrate a certain amount over work over a period time to keep their benefits.
You can always bypass all the guild stuff and hire non-union talent or ask a professional actor to do the job as a scab. Many voice actors will have stage names that don't appear on the union register for this purpose.
203 Voice Director. It could be you. It could be a professional. Either way, somebody's got to be in there with the actors letting them know what to do. It's not unheard of for someone besides the animation director to devote themselves to getting the right voice performance.
Actors are like animators. They have their own language and methods of achieving their goals. Sometimes a voice director is the best idea to help them get to the right performance.
205 Sound Editor. The person who strings together the best takes. Sometimes animatic editor will do this.
207 Animatic Editor. This is the "creative" end of editing animation. Timings are determining, shots deleted, recalled, rearranged. After this is all file management and fixing mistakes.
210 Track Analysis. Frame by frame reading of the track. We used to pay by the foot -different rates for lip sync vs. soft sync. It's been a long time and I'm not sure what the rates are.
It takes me about an hour to lip sync :60 (in English). I'm fast. So I base our costs on that.
211 Sheet Timing. This is really for overseas animators. We'll do it a bit, but it's usually just transposing things learned from the animatic onto the exposure sheets. It's generally the director's job, but will often be handed to a specialist.
212 Storyboard Conform. Somebody's got to make sure the video board in the animatic exists on paper. I've heard rumor of software that does this, but I don't believe. It's the worst job on earth.
214 through 216. Fairly self-explanatory. You can add prop designer too.
218 Designer. This is DESIGNER, designer. Like the guy who nudges it a bit and changes all your default Arial to default Helvetica. Yes, he may be a monster -but sometimes his talents are needed to capture Troy. Like making logos and presentation books. If anyone is overpaid in production, it's this line.
220 PreVisualization Artist. When an animatic isn't enough. These are mostly used in 3D projects. In 2D it's an expensive intermediary step before actually animating. In 3D its an inexpensive way of figuring out logistics.
222 Layout Artist. Layout artist
224 Researcher. This is the fun part of any project -digging up the material to base the film on.
225 Photography. For reference.
226 Reference Models. If you need to hire figure models.
228 Roto Shoot. Rotoscope preparation falls in pre-production. Roto artists are in the next catagory.
On the right side we'll just pull a few specifics and discuss generalities.
This deals mostly with recording and music. You can break these line out in the left hand column if you're doing the recording in house. We typically subcontract recording and music.
251 Scratch Track. Did you read the track into Final Cut so you could get timings? Congratulations you recorded a scratch track! How much time/equipment did it take? That's your cost.
252 Record. Ballpark $300/hour for a professional studio and go from there. You can get something as low as $75 in New York or as high $500 -especially if you need fiber optic connection from another part of the world. Book rates for audio facilities are usually negotiable especially if you're flexible with your time.
260 Style Guide. If you're in the world of licensing, you'll need to make a style guide for how the characters are used. Often design firms like Landor or Pentagram will do these. It can be pretty well paying.
261 Character Bible. The practical version of a style guide. Animators will use it. The expense of producing it is always far less than the expense of not having it.
270 Permits. New York has recently announced permit fees for shooting. Many other cities have these costs. If your doing outdoor shooting -reference, roto, et c. you'll need to keep this in mind.
272 - 278. These are "pre-production" music costs. Rough mixes, stock, sound effects. Audio costs come up again post-production
Friday, June 25, 2010
So I Can't Find The Video
of that TeleTV spot Maciek directed.
I know it's around here somewhere.
On top of that, I don't have the wherewithal to put much effort into a post.
Fortunately, the talented people who keep me from looking like a constant idiot have some good things to share.
First, Carlos Aponte (who designed our logo) has produced a graphic which sums up a lot of people's disappointment with the Obama Administration.
Next, the lovely and talent Doug Compton has begun daily posts of his drawing.
His website already has terrific lessons for animators. We've been fortunate to see a lot of his work up close, this is a great opportunity for everyone to see a animator's masterful drawings.
Here's a direct link to the page.
I know it's around here somewhere.
On top of that, I don't have the wherewithal to put much effort into a post.
Fortunately, the talented people who keep me from looking like a constant idiot have some good things to share.
First, Carlos Aponte (who designed our logo) has produced a graphic which sums up a lot of people's disappointment with the Obama Administration.
********
Next, the lovely and talent Doug Compton has begun daily posts of his drawing.
His website already has terrific lessons for animators. We've been fortunate to see a lot of his work up close, this is a great opportunity for everyone to see a animator's masterful drawings.
Here's a direct link to the page.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Color Models
After the client bought off on Maciek's storyboard which was posted yesterday, he designed models for each scene.
These are scans of color copies of his layouts.
The conceit was to follow the make of a film from inspiration through premiere.
This is the most important step in the creative process.
I have a vague recollection that these were painted in Photoshop, but I think that's a false memory -conflating this with a later project. Most likely they're acrylic on paper.
We'll be starting up a project using Hirschfeld illustrations soon.
I mention this because we were discussing the Disney Hirschfeld recently. As everyone knows, they "improved" on the master so much that the style is almost unrecognizable.
For us, it's a point of pride to reproduce the illustrator's work as closely as possible. Even in something as idiosyncratic as this.
Sure, sometimes we fall short. But c'mon -Hirschfeld. You can't do any better than that.
So tomorrow we'll post the final (if I can find it.) And we'll how successful Maciek was in applying his illustrative vision to film.
This production process is obviously for live action if the score is coming this late in the timeline.
These are scans of color copies of his layouts.
The conceit was to follow the make of a film from inspiration through premiere.
This is the most important step in the creative process.
I have a vague recollection that these were painted in Photoshop, but I think that's a false memory -conflating this with a later project. Most likely they're acrylic on paper.
The ultimate project was shot on film.
We'll be starting up a project using Hirschfeld illustrations soon.
I mention this because we were discussing the Disney Hirschfeld recently. As everyone knows, they "improved" on the master so much that the style is almost unrecognizable.
For us, it's a point of pride to reproduce the illustrator's work as closely as possible. Even in something as idiosyncratic as this.
Sure, sometimes we fall short. But c'mon -Hirschfeld. You can't do any better than that.
So tomorrow we'll post the final (if I can find it.) And we'll how successful Maciek was in applying his illustrative vision to film.
This production process is obviously for live action if the score is coming this late in the timeline.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The Old Days of Future Television
Way back in the 20th Century a bunch of now-defunct phone companies got together with some snazzy Hollywood agents in an effort to create an on-demand television service over phone lines.
That venture, TeleTV, was ahead of its time in many ways. We're now seeing increased on-demand through cable and most notably Netflix.
In more ways, TeleTV hit at the wrong time. The Clinton Adminstration's Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened up long distance services to regional carriers (the "baby Bells") which effectively forced the regional companies behind TeleTV to focus on new markets instead of new technology. It also created the atmosphere which merged these regional phone carriers back into Bell Telephone sized megaliths. The late 90s advent of the internet also threw the business for a loop. Individuals gravitated towards this new medium and had little interest in the futuristic expansion of the old.
The good thing was that they still produced graphics packages. We pitched a bunch at The Ink Tank. We'll post some of the unsuccessful ones later.
First, here's a board which was produced. Designed and directed by Maciek Albrecht. We'll post the color models and final spot later.
That venture, TeleTV, was ahead of its time in many ways. We're now seeing increased on-demand through cable and most notably Netflix.
In more ways, TeleTV hit at the wrong time. The Clinton Adminstration's Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened up long distance services to regional carriers (the "baby Bells") which effectively forced the regional companies behind TeleTV to focus on new markets instead of new technology. It also created the atmosphere which merged these regional phone carriers back into Bell Telephone sized megaliths. The late 90s advent of the internet also threw the business for a loop. Individuals gravitated towards this new medium and had little interest in the futuristic expansion of the old.
The good thing was that they still produced graphics packages. We pitched a bunch at The Ink Tank. We'll post some of the unsuccessful ones later.
First, here's a board which was produced. Designed and directed by Maciek Albrecht. We'll post the color models and final spot later.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Animator #67 -November 12, 1943
Over the past week or so, I've had several (that's between 6 and 11) people mention their interest in these Animator newsletters from the Screen Cartoonists, Local 852.
It's good to know that I'm not alone in my enjoyment of these little time capsules.
I have a dozen or so left in the run Ed Smith gave me, and then a full run of Top Cel -the East Coast newsletter. If I don't find an online archive for Top Cel we've start posting all of them too.
Here's Vol 2. No. 67 of Animator for the Week of November 12, 1943.
Schlesinger: The unit me and elect their new Executive Board representative. A nose count showed that they were entitled to three members by terms of the new representation ratio established last general meeting.
MGM: Two of the vacation claims have been settled. One has been paid and the other will be, the third is going by mutual agreement to the Conciliation Service. It involves a question that both parties are anxious to have settled.
Disney: The new Scene Technician classification is still at the WLB. The studio complied with a request to furnish further particulars.
Gems: The question of getting war work is still undecided.
Pal: Agreement on the Technical Directors is not set. On the other two matters the management has jumped back and forth across the fence too often for us to give you any particulars of the situation. The matter has gone to the Conciliation Department. A meeting was held Wednesday last and another will be held on Tuesday.
Universal: With roll of drum and clash of symbol, the girls received their retroactive checks. What is sweeter than retroactive retribution?
General: All units should take a cue from the swiftly moving Schlesinger unit and determine the number of, and elect the additional representatives to which they may be entitled under the new representation ruling. The machinery for obtaining a more equitable delegation has been established, the individual units are responsible for its achievement.
The remainder of the front page is dedication to the discussion of the 48 hour week.
Inbetweens include: Tex Avery and Claude Smith classified in LA in new draft reclassification.
It's good to know that I'm not alone in my enjoyment of these little time capsules.
I have a dozen or so left in the run Ed Smith gave me, and then a full run of Top Cel -the East Coast newsletter. If I don't find an online archive for Top Cel we've start posting all of them too.
Here's Vol 2. No. 67 of Animator for the Week of November 12, 1943.
Schlesinger: The unit me and elect their new Executive Board representative. A nose count showed that they were entitled to three members by terms of the new representation ratio established last general meeting.
MGM: Two of the vacation claims have been settled. One has been paid and the other will be, the third is going by mutual agreement to the Conciliation Service. It involves a question that both parties are anxious to have settled.
Disney: The new Scene Technician classification is still at the WLB. The studio complied with a request to furnish further particulars.
Gems: The question of getting war work is still undecided.
Pal: Agreement on the Technical Directors is not set. On the other two matters the management has jumped back and forth across the fence too often for us to give you any particulars of the situation. The matter has gone to the Conciliation Department. A meeting was held Wednesday last and another will be held on Tuesday.
Universal: With roll of drum and clash of symbol, the girls received their retroactive checks. What is sweeter than retroactive retribution?
General: All units should take a cue from the swiftly moving Schlesinger unit and determine the number of, and elect the additional representatives to which they may be entitled under the new representation ruling. The machinery for obtaining a more equitable delegation has been established, the individual units are responsible for its achievement.
The remainder of the front page is dedication to the discussion of the 48 hour week.
Inbetweens include: Tex Avery and Claude Smith classified in LA in new draft reclassification.
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