MOTIF

How to Train your Dragon

2010-03-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

Up for seeing the new Dreamworks film How to Train your Dragon?

Meet outside FAC 445 on Saturday, March 27th at noon and we'll pop over to the Hampshire Mall for the 12:55 screening

February meeting

2010-02-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of updates, BFA projects have got most of the officers tied up.

Odds are we're going to have a free screening of something in late February (last week on Thursday). What that is exactly is still up for debate- if you have any suggestions post them up here

City of the Lost Children talkback

2009-11-19T22:16:00.000-08:00

How'd you like the movie? Post your thoughts here!

CITY OF THE LOST CHILDREN

2009-11-16T15:27:00.000-08:00

November 19-- Herter 227, 7:00 PM

It's got Ron Pearlman in it. Do you need any other reason to watch it?

Pixar DP to speak at Hampshire College!

2009-10-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

I got this email from Chris Perry, the animation guru at Hampshire, about an upcoming talk. I know I'm going to be there!

TALK ANNOUNCEMENT: PLEASE DISTRIBUTE

Sharon Calahan, Director of Photography at Pixar Animation Studios,
will be speaking at Hampshire College on Wednesday, October 7th at 6pm.

"Creating Memorable Images"

Why do certain images linger in our memories long after watching a
film? Calahan will explore this question using a collection of
favorite film images from over 70 years of filmmaking and over 80
films. She will share how she thinks about light and color in the
creation of beautiful images that emotionally support the story of a
film.

LOCATION: Franklin Patterson Hall, Main Lecture Hall, Hampshire College

SPONSORED BY: The School of Cognitive Science, Hampshire College

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Sharon Calahan joined Pixar Animation Studios in
1994 as lighting supervisor on the studio’s first feature film, Toy
Story. She then served as director of photography on A Bug's Life,
Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo. She was the director of photography on
Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille, which won an Academy® Award for Best
Animated Feature Film. Calahan is currently working on Cars 2.

Calahan knew at the age of three that she wanted to be an artist for
Disney. She went on to study graphic design, illustration and
photography. Following art school, she began her career as an art
director for broadcast television and video production. Prior to
joining Pixar, she was a lighting director at Pacific Data Images
completing commercial work, longer format television, and graphics
packages.

Calahan has given numerous presentations and taught many classes in
character lighting, shot lighting, master lighting, and, more
generally, painting with light and overall composition, both at Pixar
as well as outside of the studio.

- chris

Chris Perry
Assistant Professor of Media Arts and Sciences
Hampshire College

Thursday, October 1, 7:00 PM Herter 227

2009-09-28T17:50:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 1 will be our first meeting as an *official* RSO!

We will be screening Disney's Song of the South, the controversial film which Disney has done such a darned good job at covering up. The film will start at 7:00 PM in Herter 227 (click for map).

As usual, cost of admission is free (except maybe an hour of half of your time) and we'll be screening some old Looney Tunes before the main feature.

Following the screening will be an open critique session-- if you have any film/performance related work you'd like people to have a look at, bring it in!

October Meeting!

2009-09-14T20:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in info! We're getting organized. Apparently being an RSO means sitting through a lot of meetings :[

The first meeting as an *official* UMass RSO might be held on October 1st. Probably around 7:30 PM, and probably in Herter 227. An official invitation will be posted here when plans are cemented.

Odds are we'll be watching "Song of the South" the supposedly racist Disney cartoon they they've done a pretty good job at covering up (except for that whole Splash Mountain thing).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038969/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_the_south

It's a mixture of live action and animation.

As always, we'll be showing some classic cartoons before the main feature (come early!)

9!

2009-09-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow (Friday) at 2:30 we will be meeting up at the Fine Arts Center room 445 to see the new animated movie 9. Everyone's invited! Bring your friends! Bring your mother! Bring your friend's mother!

Also, join the google group:
http://groups.google.com/group/umass-motif

MOTIF status

2009-05-22T10:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack up updates dudes (I blame final projects and whatnot).

but I can proudly announce that MOTIF is now an official UMass RSO [confetti goes here]!

We'll get organized or something this summer, but right now we're taking suggestions for what movie to watch for the first meeting.

Here's the list right now:

-Metropolis
-Labyrinth
-Who Framed Roger Rabbit
-Song of the South

AA is now MOTIF!

2009-04-02T21:49:00.000-07:00

I don't think I'm ever going to be able to spell "interdisciplinary" correctly, but Animators Anonymous is now officially "MOTIF," short for Meeting of the Interdisciplinary Filmmakers

Different name (hopefully less offensive), same group, same goal: Get anyone and everyone involved in the film industry together to hang out and watch some good films. Even if you don't plan on ever making anything or getting involved in the film industry, you're also more than welcome to come rub elbows, because you're part of the audience we're making these films for!

We're still screening The Triplets of Belleville, and we're going to be screening some parts from the film This Delicate Film We've Made as the short before the feature. If anyone is interested, we'll be holding an open critique session (please make anything you're bringing in related to film, art, or performance).

Facebook Event Page:

Triplets of Belleville, Thursday, April 9, 7:30 PM

2009-03-16T23:20:00.000-07:00

Come one, come all, see the Academy Award nominated Triplets of Belleville on Thursday, April 9. We've gotten the room Herter 227- a big ol' lecture hall with a big ol' projector. Price of admission will be aproximately 2.5 hours of your time (i.e. it's FREE!)

Prior to the main feature we will screen This Delicate Film We've Made, directed by Richard Cullen and Darren Hayes. To call this delicious motion graphics is an understatement (I'll talk about this more at the meeting)

If you have ANY work you want to bring (storyboard sketches, sketches in general, story pitches, character deisgns, original art, paintings, etc.), please feel free to bring them. If you have anything you'd like SCREENED, please email either myself (jgchan [AT] student.umass.edu) or Audrey (acondon [AT] student.umass.edu)

Pizza is looking iffy as of now. This isn't an official UMass RSO yet, so we don't get any funding from the school, and the moths in my wallet indicate that I myself don't have enough to pay for everyone. Maybe we can all just mob Antonio's later.

Again, if you love cartoons or hate them, if you're an actor, programmer, artist, or just someone who likes watching good films in general, you're more than welcome to join us, and bring your friends!

Potential blog layout! Emily Hubley!

2009-03-11T19:50:00.000-07:00

http://themightythorpage.blogspot.com/

I suck at web design. Fortunately, Jojo has been kind enough to give a crack at designing a theme for this blog. When I get some time I'll get around to switching the theme over.

Anyone new to the blog, again, please read http://fivecollegefilm.blogspot.com/2009/02/its-coming.html

Ms. Hubley in Franklin Patterson Hall's Main Lecture Hall (That's a mouthful) on Wednesday Night

first meeting? (Also Emily Hubley)

2009-03-06T21:42:00.001-08:00

The first tentative meeting for AA may be on April 9 (two weeks after spring break) depending on how lazy the leaders of this RSO feel (which, I might add, can get pretty lazy at times. I mean, seriously, we do homework on Friday nights! Buncha slackers if you ask me)

To anyone first visiting this blog and you want to know what we're all about, please read http://fivecollegefilm.blogspot.com/2009/02/its-coming.html

To anyone who wants to sign that RSO page- I already have more than the requisite 10 students, but if you absolutely feel like you want to sign, I won't stop you. I actually think it'd be pretty darn funny if we flooded the RSO office with names.

This isn't an official RSO yet but that doesn't mean that we can't start doing stuff! For the first meeting we'll probably screen The Triplets of Bellville for the main feature and perhaps some Looney Tunes as the opener.

If you have anything you'd like screened, please send me an email (not the file!) to jgchan [at] student.umass.edu or to Audrey ( acondon [at] student.umass.edu) and we can talk about

Also, animator Emily Hubley is rolling through town next week. According to Chris Perry (Hampshire's animation professor) She'll be speaking at Hampshire College's Franklin Patterson Hall (the main lecture hall- let me know if you need directions around campus) next Wednesday at 7:00 PM. If you're not familiar with the name "Hubley" you should be, as John Hubley was a huge infuence on animation as we know today as a director at UPA back in the Golden Age

(Yeah, I know, Hubley doesn't appear in the credits for this, but this one showcases the UPA style)

Prior to UPA, most cartoon studios were copying Disney in terms of the visuals and the character design (and everyone was ripping off the Terrytoons character designs).

I'm not too familiar with Emily's work, but I have no doubt that she'll have loads of insight into the industry and other royal nonsuch, so it'd be worth it to see her

CALL TO ARMS (and legs)

2009-03-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

I picked up the RSO paperwork today. If you happen to be a UMass undergrad and would like to help start this club (I need 10 students and 4 officers... heck you can all be officers for all I care), please send an email to jgchan [at] student.umass.edu or if you see me wandering around just shout "STOP THAT MAN" and chase after me

RSO meeting notes

2009-02-25T20:50:00.000-08:00

For anyone who missed the meeting

Status update

2009-02-20T22:30:00.000-08:00

So uhh, AA is coming still, honest!

Actually I've been waiting for February 25th. I missed the last prospective RSO meeting and the next one is coming up this Wednesday at 7:00-8:30 PM at the Student Union building somewhere. If anyone feels like suffering alongside me, feel free to tag along but be warned that it might be a bit dry.

But, if you're getting antsy, I'd recommend the Museum of Natural History at Amherst College. The place might not be as large as the Smithsonian or the MFA in Boston but hey, frickin' huge Mastadon skeletons are fun to sketch.

It's coming!

2009-02-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

Although this group shall be known by "Animators Anonymous" by no means does this mean that this is all Disney and Warner Brothers or cartoons. The ultimate aim is to get anyone and everyone (artists, technicians, actors, and musicians, etc.) who plays a role in film together to have an open forum where critiques can be obtained and given and where peers can learn from each other as well as just meet each other (as an art major, I haven't met any communications students yet, a fact I am not proud of). Since professionals intermingle in the real world, why shouldn't students?

The main draw, for now at least, will be cartoons because that's what I know, but official stance on materials will be that all are welcome, whether you love Disney or loathe it, whether you'd rather act out the role of a troubled hero on stage or on paper or on the computer, or if you're more attracted to creating that right mood with special lighting or with music. Or maybe you'd rather develop the digital tools for special effects, all are welcome to bring what they know and to learn what they don't. In the end it's all about putting on a good show!

And even if you don't make anything, you're more than welcome to come and hang out or, if you're so bold, offer criticisms because hey, you're part of the audience and we're making this stuff for YOU!

I'm still trying to hammer out the details, but the club would meet a couple times every month (Thursday at 7:30?) and if possible, I'd love to extend invitations to all of the 5 college community. This might also be a traveling show, if there's enough support from the other schools and if another group of students are willing to organize the event for the night.

If you'd like to help organize anything or if you have any interest in the group at all, OR IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANT SCREENED, or if you love making pizza or if you love paying for pizza (or any food, really, as long as it's delicious), feel free to leave a comment here or email either (me) Jerry (jgchan [at] student.umass.edu) or Audrey (acondon [at] student.umass.edu).