Dear friends and blog readers,

We say goodbye to 2011 today. – Whatever the last year has been to you, I wish you all the best for 2012!

Hallo, 2012!

I hope that all those things that you're ready for will find their way into your life, and I wish you strength for those things you aren't prepared for yet.

No Year's Resolutions!

In 2012, I'll finish my animated short, Ins Dunkel – This is a fact, not a resolution; I'm going to tell you how and when someday in January.

Still here?

If you still wait for 2012 to come, I collected some nice animations for you (since this blog is about animation, isn't it?). Here we go:

• once more, once more about the cycles of our life by Katie Armstrong

• Happy 2012 by Alienatio. This is pretty much WYSIWYG and cute. – With monsters!

• Happy New Year Candy Stopmotion Animation by Joonas Utti. Actually this is from last year, but definitely sweet, so lay back and enjoy!

Again: An animating New Year, and lots of love,

– Jessica ♥

Herrje!

We still refurbish the front of our house, and the refurbishment brings a lot of problems and dirt and noise, and takes so much longer than we've planned. I haven't work on the animation for my animated short Ins Dunkel for a while, and I miss it.

Ins Dunkel: Teaser

My musician worked on the soundtrack though, and I made this tiny, tiny teaser for you:

Beside all the annoying stuff, a lot of good things happen over the last weeks, too:

• I already have two exhibition opportunities for 2012, both in galleries.
• A series of new drawings is evolving.
• I already have a new idea and script for another animated short.
• I was teaching a lot of art and animation classes, and some of my students had amazing epiphanies, and so had I.

Mourir Auprès de Toi

Explicit content!

Since it's only a week since last Halloween, I'd like to share this video with you I found today via TRIKK17:

Spike Jonze is the guy behind Where the wild things are and Being John Malcovich (et al.). Mmmmh, cut out animation!

Have an animating week!
Love,
– Jessica

This is going to be only a small report on how I'm progressing on my Orpheus film project.

Last week I animated 1289 frames in total which means, I have approx. 1 minute 30 seconds of footage. I also reached the turning point of the Underworld scene, and I hope to finish this part as soon as possible.

Here are some stills from the scenes I shot:

More to come soon!

Since I don't want to reveal too much before the film is finished, I'd like to show you something else to jolly you along:

Cut-Out Animation with Terry Gilliam

If you need a quick introduction to cut-out animation, I highly recommend the following video:

Monty Python animator Terry Gilliam discusses his animation techniques on Bob Godfrey’s Do-It-Yourself Animation Show in 1974. I admire Gilliam's films, and I love his animations. I made a lot of cut-out animations with my kids in previous animation classes, but I learned here something new, too.

Next weekend I'm going to teach an animation workshop to adults, and I think I'm going to use these technique again since it's so simply and having this stunning results at the same time.

Cheers,
Jessica

Last week I discovered this animated short about the human usage of light from the very beginning until today.

The team around John Earle created the video for the TED Conference audiences. – I don't get tired watching it. I like its simplicity in design and concept, and at the same time how opulent it is regarding the visual effects achieved through lighting.

Most of the animation is done in camera, which makes this little piece even more pleasing.

The History Of Light is directed by m ss ng p eces, a company describing themselves as inspired by the limitless potential of the web and dedicated to cross-platform storytelling.

They say:

"The story of light is the incredible story of civilization itself. We have used light for survival, to learn by, to entertain and express ourselves, mold experiences, and illuminate our imaginations."

Read the complete text on their website.

Make sure, you'll watch Making The Story Of Light as well!

It's animation.
It's made of paper.
It has a lovely sound design.

– I just ♥ it!