Martin Noyes at CAS!

Posted on October 27th, 2009 in cas by Contemporary Animation Society

HAH!  Now that we’ve decided all CAS officers can post on our club blog, I’d like to share some photos I took at our very first meeting this quarter; the stage combat demonstration by Professor Martin Noyes.  Hopefully they’ll serve as good reference/nostalgia!  :)

-Lauren (the poster girl)

The Secret of CAS

Posted on October 24th, 2009 in Events by Contemporary Animation Society

This past Thursday our CAS meeting was a screening of The Secret of Kells, an animated feature film about fear, dreams and destiny. It was produced by the Irish studio Cartoon Saloon.

We took some excellent pictures of the event, and they can be found below! Remember next week: Mystery CAS Theater 3000: Jacques and Jason dismantle Pixar’s The Incredibles.

The turnout was spectacular!

The turnout was spectacular!

We love our CAS officers.

We love our CAS officers.

CAS attendees fraternize after the screening.

CAS attendees fraternize after the screening.

Farewell, Spring ‘09!

Posted on May 23rd, 2009 in cas by Contemporary Animation Society

So for week eight, we sang some Disney karaoke, along with Dead or Alive’s smash hit “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”.  Gotta love that Pete Burns.  I almost feel sorry for those poor chumps trying to use the computers next to us…I heard we could be heard throughout the entire third floor.  Personally, I sang myself hoarse.

The following week, our quarterly critique session was actually packed!  Yay!

Zelda here, wishing you all a very Happy Finals Week and a great summer.  See you in the fall!  :D

Debber Makes Headlines with Epic Presentation!

Posted on May 8th, 2009 in cas by Contemporary Animation Society

Students packed themselves into Monty 322 as the Cage staff worked feverishly to repair the long-suffering projector in 311 in preparation for John “Debber” Webber’s Q&A session.  One new bulb later and things were up and running after some light product placement and advertising for Richard Simmons’ Animator’s Survival Kit.

Old jokes die hard like that.

Webber was sporting a lovely reddish plaid shirt, which from a distance looked pink if you squinted really hard, khakis, and a belt that was probably brown, but I wasn’t paying too much attention to that.  No doubt, students will be rushing to Targets and Sears’s everywhere to emulate his tried-and-true fashion statement for the upcoming season.  The questions asked spanned everything from his favorite ice cream flavor to the sort of obstacles Disney (and any other) animators have to face during production…and the most important question asked will be answered right here, right now.

WOULD JOHN WEBBER LOOK BETTER IN A NEWSBOY CAP OR A TOP HAT?

We at CAS polled the audience and an overwhelming majority said “newsboy cap.”  If you don’t believe me, check out this official pie chart.  It’s very professional and therefore must be true.

Next order of business…to convince Webber to actually put a newsboy hat on and see if he does indeed look highly fashionable.

The Lilo and Stitch DVD kind of wonked out.  Tragically the idea Twi and I had to try and dub over the frozen frames flopped miserably.  Seriously.  You people woudln’t know a good idea if Glen Keane puked it up all over your shoes.

And speaking of Glen Keane barfing, tune in next week for an episode of the Contemporary Animation Society you won’t want to miss!

Recap Post, like you didn’t see this coming.

Posted on May 7th, 2009 in Events, cas by Contemporary Animation Society

In our last episode of the CAS blog, we left off with a teaser for Lucilla Hoshor’s acting workshop, where I took incessant video footage.  By clicking the link below you too will have access to the madness.

Professor Hoshor’s Acting Workshop in a Nutshell

The next week we did an animated exquisite corpse, which Nate never gave to Tracey to post on Youtube.  The following week, Mallory Pearce gave a dissertation on animals in preparation for the zoo trip…of which I actually don’t have that many pictures, unless you count this abomination…

Yes, this woman is actually taking an order from a LEGO minifig that bears some inkling of a resemblance to Professor Troy if he were ever to dress up as a rapping mailman.

Oh, we were supposed to go to the zoo to look at animals?  Whoops…okay, okay.  Would you rather have this picture of a baby jaguar, then?

You probably find this one much cuter.  Or at least less weird.

I cannot hype this next meeting enough…it’s going to feature none other than the legendary John “Debber” Webber, talking about Lilo and Stitch and putting up with my antics.  So if you like ducks as much as I think you do, drop by early and try to actually get a seat!

Till next time, this is Zelda signing off.  Wait, what am I saying?  I’ll be back tomorrow.  Pinky swear.

And here they are, folks!

Posted on April 13th, 2009 in Events by Contemporary Animation Society

Without further ado, I hereby present the highly-anticipated Savanijam winner list to all who were unable to hear it in person!

Sweeping the judging panel in every category and taking home the grand prize (Best Overall) was Tyler Kupferer’s “Power,” a nonrepresentational, highly-stylized black and white clip set to a piece by Justice and created in Flash. It also won the honorary Jacques Award of Nonobjectivity.

The winning entry for Best Animation Technique was “Faturday Frolic,” by Max Steiner, Robyn Haley and Heather Surprenant.  It featured the deaths of several dozen blobbish rabbits and made Sim…er…Jason…giggle like a schoolgirl.

Rebecca Boensch, Nick Garza and Mark McDonald’s “On and On” claimed an Honorable Mention for this category.

Logan McDonald and Katie Stoltze took home the Best Video Aesthetic award for “Bickford’s Pie.”  That was the marker-colored stop-motion piece…with the red pie and the paper cornstalks.  Their set kind of rocked.

Fay Helfer, Dave Hale and Stephanie Augello got this category’s honorable mention with “Collective Brain Explosion.”

Jessica Carroll’s aptly-named “Power” garnered her the Best Interpretation of Theme prize with its creative transitions and most likely would have been the first runner up for the Jacques Award if it had actually been given out.

Ryan Coster, Chris Cantero and Gabe Asturias won the Honorable Mention for “Iphone Po,” which I found hilarious.

The Best Underclassman award went to Travis Lockhart and Yasumine Mousa for “Hey You,” which involved thugs and projectile vehicles.  Yay.

There were also two special Honorable Mentions:

Most Comedic Film goes to Ashlee Perkins and Brandyn Bold for “Power Guys,” and The “Debra Says” Award goes to Alexander Faircloth, Greg Radcliffe and Michael Petitto for “The Whale Vessel.”

The three of them probably remember what Debra said.

That’s all, folks, and here’s to another Savanijam come and gone.  Next week tune in for an acting workshop featuring the lovely and talented Professor Lucilla Hoshor.  Seacrest out!

Animation Idol

Posted on April 11th, 2009 in Events by Contemporary Animation Society

I would have posted a list of the Savanijam winners along with a nice, detailed description of the end of Savanijam, but a certain CAS officer hasn’t forwarded me the information as to who they were yet, so until I do get the complete list, you’ll have to deal with this lovely picture from the 2009 season premiere of ‘Animation Idol’ starring John Webber as Randy Jackson, Debra Mooreshead as Paula Abdul, and Jason Maurer as Simon Cowell (and featuring Nate Taylor as Ryan Seacrest). Thank you for your patience.

The season premiere...and finale.  Le sigh

The season premiere...and finale. Le sigh.

The Next Morning

Posted on April 4th, 2009 in Events by Contemporary Animation Society

Mere seconds before I got about four hours of sleep, Nate made everyone pancakes.  I’ve been scouring the halls as usual and there was some pretty impressive stuff going down all over.  Cutouts, Flash, Maya, Pencil & Paper, and Stop Motion abounded, as well as some kind of experimental dealy-o involving various forms of cleaner and paint on glass.  I didn’t ask too many questions.

Either way the prospects are looking promising.  I actually really want to see this judging go down now.  But man, if I had a car and weren’t stranded at Montgomery, I would so be hitting up the International festival if only to get my hands on a samosa and some curry chicken.  Not that I don’t love CAS, but when you don’t have a car around these parts, Indian food is pretty scarce.

I’m finishing something I started in Lacoste, myself. Four hours to go for the others..I can only hope they’re saving often and in versions.  On the bright side, we won’t need to get a microphone after all, as I am loud enough to summon anyone from anywhere on the third floor no matter where I’m standing.

You are Getting Sleeeepy…

Posted on April 4th, 2009 in Events by Contemporary Animation Society

It’s quiet.  Deathly quiet.  Most of the officers have left and/or fallen asleep.    The tables are so full of tepid fast food bags that were you to walk in on the phenomenon you would have to take our word that they were white underneath. It’s the ultimate all-nighter, right up there with Finals Week itself, only with one less PIzza Fairy. Nate is getting strange, emotionally scarring imagery in his head with minimal prompting.

We have entered…the Twilight Zone.

I tried to sleep on the couch but maybe I should’ve tried another one on a lower floor because this one is too close to all of those people walking around.  They’ve got twelve hours to go, the rest of the lot, and there are actually people who’ve finished.

I think, maybe, I should have brought along my other green hat.

Midnight in Montgomery

Posted on April 4th, 2009 in Events by Contemporary Animation Society

“One o’clock and all is we-elllllll!” I shouted loudly enough for everyone in the building to hear as I rang the bell and strolled groggily down the halls warning people to save their work.  Cupcakes and pizza abounded in the stop-motion labs, leftover Arby’s bags stagnated on the tables in the middle of the rooms, and countless empty bottles of Vault Hybrid Energy Drink lay scattered about the various rooms of Montgomery Hall’s third floor.  The light from the Cintiqs bathed the place in an ethereal glow under the flourescent lights.  Savanijam was officially in full-swing.

About an hour ago our Art Educators rep, Jonathan Meyer, doled out free ice cream to all who asked (unless, of course, they asked for ice cream after the last of it had been fangoriously devoured).  Thanks to the enormous amount of caffeine I consumed I have become rather dehydrated and then subesquently crashed.

And the soda machine naturally isn’t taking bills.


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