Blog Update from 03/06/10

Owen Klatte Night

Here's an update for those who missed Owen Klatte night.

Owen first gave us a little background on what he's done in his career. In a nutshell, he worked on Gumby in the 50s and 60s (for those of us who know/remember Gumby). The Nightmare Before Christmas was the first feature film he worked on and since his job on Dinosaur in 1996, he has been focused mainly on CG.

In response to the questions and interest of students present, Owen gave us some useful technical aspects of stop motion animation. Mostly based on his experience with The Nightmare Before Christmas, he talked about aspects ranging from scripts and writing to the design of models and rigs; from the methodology of moving and securing characters to the need for elaborate rigs to create certain effects; from lip syncing to lighting.

Owen was great to have brought along some models and animatronics that he has used on the job before for us to see. They included models and exposure sheets from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

We later screened The Nightmare Before Christmas and hadgreat insight and commentary from Owen throughout the show.

Additionally, we had a special treat that night - another guest speaker made an appearance: Kevin Koch, president of The Animation Guild, labor union for creative artists, writers and technicians in the animation industry. He talked about the Animation Guild and how students like ourselves could benefit from it.

The night was long, but very educational! Thanks to both Owen Klatte and Kevin Koch for coming by. We hope those who participated had a good time.