Summer break is a week away for me, which means it's time for summer projects.
The number one summer project will be joining up with the John K./Preston Blair $8 animation course. I just picked up a copy of Preston Blair's Animation again and it was a nostalgia rush. I had this book when I was a kid 'cause I had seen it at Ben Franklin's (maybe that store was still even called Darr's then) and made my mom buy it for me. Anyway, the Hobby Lobby here in town amazingly has three copies of this big floppy book (Eight bucks for one of the formative texts of my youth!) and as I turn the pages I'm shocked at how many of these drawings I viscerally remember. This was a major influence on my taste even though I had pretty much forgotten about it for 14 years or more. 40's animation design will probably always mean more to me than anything else that pencils can make. I need to find a scanner for my drawings.
The other summer project will be to make a ukulele out of a tin lunchbox. It should cost me only 23 bucks instead of the $129 this place wants you to fork over for their ugly things. I guess I have to find the right lunchbox, too. What would be appropriate and attractive on a lunchbox ukulele? What if there were W.C. Fields lunchboxes?
I also want to read a stack of books. Since I'll be doing the same job I did last summer, which is pretty much just sitting near a phone, I should have a lot of time to draw cartoon dog faces and read. Evenings will be for sitting outside and for watching black and white movies on VHS.
I put a lot of links in this post.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Monday, April 17, 2006
Bob Clampett's Truncated Oeuvre
Thad Komorowski on his site "Identifying Animators and Their Scenes" has posted his thoughts on Bob Clampett's merits versus those of Chuck Jones. He says he ranks only Jones above Clampett as a cartoon director, but that Jones is superior because he continued doing great work after 1946, while Clampett did not. (Clampett left Warner Brothers and pretty much abandoned theatrical animation).
Chuck is unique among Warner directors in that he continued to create watchable and sometimes even excellent cartoons well into the fifties. He was able to do both crazy forties stuff and also the more limited animation talky stuff later.
Like a lot of people who love Warner cartoons and grew up watching them on TV, Chuck was my first love. Bob left in the mid-forties, and none of the pre-48 stuff was aired on network TV. Chuck is easily the strongest of the three 50's directors.
But when I got a tape of "Bugs Bunny Superstar" in middle school and saw "A Corny Concerto" it immediately became my favorite cartoon. It was completely different than anything I had seen before. It was what Looney Tunes were always purported to be; completely insane. Chuck's cartoons aren't at all crazy and wild like Clampett's, and Friz and McKimson's had plenty of explosions and beatings and stuff, but they were often kind of ugly and boring. Clampett makes your skeleton want to leap out of your body.
I deeply love Chuck Jones cartoons, I love the witty scripts and the precise draftsmanship. Some of those Wile E. Coyote poses make me ache with my whole body because they look so good and so right, you can feel what they look like. Because Jones loved to do strong poses and his drawings looked so amazing it didn't hurt him as animation became increasingly limited. (Obviously UPA's style had influence everywhere, but WB budgets were continually shrinking for shorts after the war.) As Thad says, it's often claimed that Clampett's influence was what made everyone's cartoons so much wilder and fun and good-looking in the 40s. But like him, I have trouble accepting that it was just Clampett. Surely, much of the credit just goes to budgets being bigger and animation being fuller. I love "Little Red Riding Rabbit" by Freleng, I don't think it's significantly better writing than a lot of later Freleng scripts, but the drawings are a pleasure to look at, which is not always (or even often) the case with a lot of later Freleng pictures. Chuck's cartoons kept looking good because he had such a strong sense of pose and design.
So back to Clampett. As Milt Gray points out on his commentary track for "The Gruesome Twosome" animation in Clampett cartoons is fuller than anybody else at Warner's. I would love to know what he would have done if he stayed on, but it isn't obvious to me he would have continued to be brilliant, I think that if he left because of more limited budgets it might be legitimate artistic choice. I know that people rave about Scribner's work in "Hillbilly Hare" and I know that under McKimson he was probably reigned in, but it still has nowhere near the punch for me that Scribner does in a great Clampett cartoon. Would he have kept it up under Clampett? Maybe, but maybe the vibe and budgets at WB in the 50's were just never going to be conducive to that kind of full animation.
The shorter point I wanted to make was this: why should making "only" a dozen absolutely amazing cartoons in the forties make him less of a director than Jones who made some brilliant ones in two different decades? Orson Welles directed very few great movies, would a director who made more over a greater span of time clearly be a better director?
The other thing I wanted to say was that Thad implies that Jones was good at two things, full and limited animation, while Clampett was only good at the former. But Jones's animation was never as full as Clampett's, so I'm less convinced.
With all that said, I'm not even going to claim that Clampett is the superior director, only that I wouldn't demote him for the reasons cited.
Chuck is unique among Warner directors in that he continued to create watchable and sometimes even excellent cartoons well into the fifties. He was able to do both crazy forties stuff and also the more limited animation talky stuff later.
Like a lot of people who love Warner cartoons and grew up watching them on TV, Chuck was my first love. Bob left in the mid-forties, and none of the pre-48 stuff was aired on network TV. Chuck is easily the strongest of the three 50's directors.
But when I got a tape of "Bugs Bunny Superstar" in middle school and saw "A Corny Concerto" it immediately became my favorite cartoon. It was completely different than anything I had seen before. It was what Looney Tunes were always purported to be; completely insane. Chuck's cartoons aren't at all crazy and wild like Clampett's, and Friz and McKimson's had plenty of explosions and beatings and stuff, but they were often kind of ugly and boring. Clampett makes your skeleton want to leap out of your body.
I deeply love Chuck Jones cartoons, I love the witty scripts and the precise draftsmanship. Some of those Wile E. Coyote poses make me ache with my whole body because they look so good and so right, you can feel what they look like. Because Jones loved to do strong poses and his drawings looked so amazing it didn't hurt him as animation became increasingly limited. (Obviously UPA's style had influence everywhere, but WB budgets were continually shrinking for shorts after the war.) As Thad says, it's often claimed that Clampett's influence was what made everyone's cartoons so much wilder and fun and good-looking in the 40s. But like him, I have trouble accepting that it was just Clampett. Surely, much of the credit just goes to budgets being bigger and animation being fuller. I love "Little Red Riding Rabbit" by Freleng, I don't think it's significantly better writing than a lot of later Freleng scripts, but the drawings are a pleasure to look at, which is not always (or even often) the case with a lot of later Freleng pictures. Chuck's cartoons kept looking good because he had such a strong sense of pose and design.
So back to Clampett. As Milt Gray points out on his commentary track for "The Gruesome Twosome" animation in Clampett cartoons is fuller than anybody else at Warner's. I would love to know what he would have done if he stayed on, but it isn't obvious to me he would have continued to be brilliant, I think that if he left because of more limited budgets it might be legitimate artistic choice. I know that people rave about Scribner's work in "Hillbilly Hare" and I know that under McKimson he was probably reigned in, but it still has nowhere near the punch for me that Scribner does in a great Clampett cartoon. Would he have kept it up under Clampett? Maybe, but maybe the vibe and budgets at WB in the 50's were just never going to be conducive to that kind of full animation.
The shorter point I wanted to make was this: why should making "only" a dozen absolutely amazing cartoons in the forties make him less of a director than Jones who made some brilliant ones in two different decades? Orson Welles directed very few great movies, would a director who made more over a greater span of time clearly be a better director?
The other thing I wanted to say was that Thad implies that Jones was good at two things, full and limited animation, while Clampett was only good at the former. But Jones's animation was never as full as Clampett's, so I'm less convinced.
With all that said, I'm not even going to claim that Clampett is the superior director, only that I wouldn't demote him for the reasons cited.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
What Can Happen In Dreams
It is commonly known that if you die during a dream, you will also simultaneously die in your sleep in real life.
It is lesser known that if you die in a dream that somebody else is having you will become invisible to them. Be careful: This new condition may not be immediately apparent to either of you.
Any animals that talk to you in a dream can now understand your spoken language perfectly.
Sometimes in our dreams we meet and even interact with celebrities. This is usually nothing more than wish fulfillment - or perhaps even a manifestation of fears. However, if you speak with a celebrity who shares your birthdate it really is their ghost!
Once in your life you will have a dream that is a scene by scene replay of the first dream you ever had. It may be when you are 80 or it may be the second night you ever dream. The lucky few who are able indentify this occurance and state it aloud while still in the dream will, before going to bed each night, be able to choose the content of their dreams for life.
Try placing a radio attached to a tape recorder 3-5 feet from your bed while you dream. If your dream takes place in a school of any kind the entire AM dial can pick up all of the dialogue.
If you dream that you died of drowning you will not necessarily die; upon waking you may choose to die or choose that a random person swimming somewhere in the world at that moment drown.
Print and keep this list on a bedside table and keep track for yourself!
It is lesser known that if you die in a dream that somebody else is having you will become invisible to them. Be careful: This new condition may not be immediately apparent to either of you.
Any animals that talk to you in a dream can now understand your spoken language perfectly.
Sometimes in our dreams we meet and even interact with celebrities. This is usually nothing more than wish fulfillment - or perhaps even a manifestation of fears. However, if you speak with a celebrity who shares your birthdate it really is their ghost!
Once in your life you will have a dream that is a scene by scene replay of the first dream you ever had. It may be when you are 80 or it may be the second night you ever dream. The lucky few who are able indentify this occurance and state it aloud while still in the dream will, before going to bed each night, be able to choose the content of their dreams for life.
Try placing a radio attached to a tape recorder 3-5 feet from your bed while you dream. If your dream takes place in a school of any kind the entire AM dial can pick up all of the dialogue.
If you dream that you died of drowning you will not necessarily die; upon waking you may choose to die or choose that a random person swimming somewhere in the world at that moment drown.
Print and keep this list on a bedside table and keep track for yourself!
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Every 17 Years, the Cicadas Hatch
This blog has been dormant for too long. Will it re-awaken? Will it be about the same thing? (If you mean work disguises, no - if you mean me, probably in some context).
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Cragshire
Often people who come in, when they ask about me or where I'm from they are too nice or old for me to feel Oll Korrect about tricking them. Or they end up being from Santa Fe or they're English teachers and I want to talk about things that we really have in common. Really I need to draw people in and make them ask about me without my having to bring it up. The best way to do that is to have a fake accent; that makes people want to know where you're from. But the only fake accent I can do passably is an English one and it seems like a dozen English people came in today and they'd spot me as a fake too easily.
Really the whole reason this idea is so appealing to me is that I was hugely successful at faking Englishness a couple years ago for a shift at my first job. I was working at a Wherehouse Records and was doing an English accent just to be obnoxious to my two coworkers. One thing led to another and soon I was being dared to try my act out on every person I helped for the rest of the day.
To say that it was well recieved is to understate. People loved it. I got the sexiest eye from the hottest girl. Adding an English accent to your persona ramps up your sex appeal by about a hundred points.
The best part was when this woman tried to call me on it. Her ten year old daughter told me she liked my accent, but then her mother fixed me with a skeptical squint.
"That's a very unusual accent. Where are you from?"
My coworkers both stifled laughs in their noses and ducked behind the counter to crack up. Figuring I was "In for a penny in for a pound" or whatever the English (me) would say I decided to fake it up hardcore.
"I'm from a small town called Cragshire."
"Oh really? Where is that in relation to Kent?"
She was good. London I could fake, but where the hell is Kent? She threw me.
"Left. Ha ha, I mean east. East of Kent. Twenty miles east of Kent."
For one thing, nobody confuses left with east. Second, I was sure, as my father was later when I told him this story, that she was going to nab me by tartly replying "East of Kent is in the ocean. Love."
But she didn't. She just squinted a little harder and moved on. I hadn't given up on lying, and lying didn't give up on me. This is the stuff this blog should be made of. And it will be. I will steel myself. High quality faking will start happening soon. Watch this space.
Really the whole reason this idea is so appealing to me is that I was hugely successful at faking Englishness a couple years ago for a shift at my first job. I was working at a Wherehouse Records and was doing an English accent just to be obnoxious to my two coworkers. One thing led to another and soon I was being dared to try my act out on every person I helped for the rest of the day.
To say that it was well recieved is to understate. People loved it. I got the sexiest eye from the hottest girl. Adding an English accent to your persona ramps up your sex appeal by about a hundred points.
The best part was when this woman tried to call me on it. Her ten year old daughter told me she liked my accent, but then her mother fixed me with a skeptical squint.
"That's a very unusual accent. Where are you from?"
My coworkers both stifled laughs in their noses and ducked behind the counter to crack up. Figuring I was "In for a penny in for a pound" or whatever the English (me) would say I decided to fake it up hardcore.
"I'm from a small town called Cragshire."
"Oh really? Where is that in relation to Kent?"
She was good. London I could fake, but where the hell is Kent? She threw me.
"Left. Ha ha, I mean east. East of Kent. Twenty miles east of Kent."
For one thing, nobody confuses left with east. Second, I was sure, as my father was later when I told him this story, that she was going to nab me by tartly replying "East of Kent is in the ocean. Love."
But she didn't. She just squinted a little harder and moved on. I hadn't given up on lying, and lying didn't give up on me. This is the stuff this blog should be made of. And it will be. I will steel myself. High quality faking will start happening soon. Watch this space.
Saturday, June 12, 2004
RC Cola Executive
I got off to an inauspicious start today with my plan to play off a fake identity on somebody who came into the winery where I work. What I wanted to do was have somebody mention they were from Arizona, and then I would say something to the effect of "Oh, really? Where?" Then if they told me Flagstaff I would say I had worked in Pheonix for a time, and if the told me they were from Pheonix, I'd claim Flagstaff. We usually have a fair number of Arizonans come through and they are invariably from one or the other of these cities. Then I was going to say I had been there for only six months or so working at setting up a regional HQ for RC Cola. Then I would ad-lib about RC Cola and make it look like I wasn't aware I was giving the impression that RC Cola was areally rinky-dink operation. For example I am comically young to be as high up in the RC organization as I would claim. Also, I would act like I thought moving 100,000 cases of soda nationwide in a month was spectacular. Hilarious!
But nobody from Arizona came in and I wasn't comfortable claiming any other state. There was a point where I was speaking for a long time with some Floridians and I was going to go into my schtick and say I was in Orlando or some damn thing. But then they told me they were visiting Napa in honor of a wine loving friend of theirs who had died in a car accident a month ago and I felt bad.
Finally at the end of the day as I was pouring for my final pair of people (we had just locked the doors) I figured I'd better go for it.
"Where are you two from?" I asked.
"Louisiana."
"Oh really?! Where in Lousiana?" I said as though surprised.
"Baton Rouge."
"Oh sure. Actually, I was working in New Orleans for about six months for trying to set up a regional office for RC Cola of all things."
"Oh yes?" The woman asked.
"Royal Crown, you know," I added archly. Then I had to go pour for some other people and when I came back that couple was ready to go pretty much. So it really wasn't inventing a personality so much as just telling a pointless lie.
But nobody from Arizona came in and I wasn't comfortable claiming any other state. There was a point where I was speaking for a long time with some Floridians and I was going to go into my schtick and say I was in Orlando or some damn thing. But then they told me they were visiting Napa in honor of a wine loving friend of theirs who had died in a car accident a month ago and I felt bad.
Finally at the end of the day as I was pouring for my final pair of people (we had just locked the doors) I figured I'd better go for it.
"Where are you two from?" I asked.
"Louisiana."
"Oh really?! Where in Lousiana?" I said as though surprised.
"Baton Rouge."
"Oh sure. Actually, I was working in New Orleans for about six months for trying to set up a regional office for RC Cola of all things."
"Oh yes?" The woman asked.
"Royal Crown, you know," I added archly. Then I had to go pour for some other people and when I came back that couple was ready to go pretty much. So it really wasn't inventing a personality so much as just telling a pointless lie.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
So Here's the Plan:
I finally thought of why this blog should be existing. I work at a winery visitor's center. I pour wine all day and talk with people, often about their lives and sometimes my life. I think that for an indefinite period of time I will begin faking an identity at least once a day, every day at work. I will report on that fake identity and how it went here. My next day at work will be Friday, so expect an update then.
Also I should get a new photograph of me wearing a disguise or something for my profile. Because this website will be about disguises and personal fakeness.
Also I shoud get a new name for this website.
Also I should get a new photograph of me wearing a disguise or something for my profile. Because this website will be about disguises and personal fakeness.
Also I shoud get a new name for this website.
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Pets
So this blog has sat here a few days, with no reason to exist. I thought maybe it would be about how I wanted to steal a baby crow and raise it, and about my (hilarious) attempts to do so. But then I thought that a crow would be messy or stinking. Also, I found a salamander in my grandmother's pool the other day and I put it in a glass with some leaves and water and the next day it was dead. So that put a damper on wanting a pet.
Speaking of pets, I was in a pet store the other day looking at the fish and an excited kid came up to me and told me he had gotten a shrimp and that I should go look because there were still a lot more left. "It has suckers just like a sucker fish, to eat algae. It was looking at some algae when we bought it." We started talking about the lizards and he told me he had some alligator lizards and I said that mine had always been mean. He said his weren't and that he just let them out to climb all over him, pantomiming with his hands.
Maybe I should get a kid as a pet.
Or one of that kid's nice lizards.
Speaking of pets, I was in a pet store the other day looking at the fish and an excited kid came up to me and told me he had gotten a shrimp and that I should go look because there were still a lot more left. "It has suckers just like a sucker fish, to eat algae. It was looking at some algae when we bought it." We started talking about the lizards and he told me he had some alligator lizards and I said that mine had always been mean. He said his weren't and that he just let them out to climb all over him, pantomiming with his hands.
Maybe I should get a kid as a pet.
Or one of that kid's nice lizards.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Post the First
So I'm gonna start loggin' some bloggin' partially on the advice of my friend Kevin who thought it might get me some gmail somehow that I forget. We'll see.
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