AniMotion NM - Alex Lindsay 03/10/09

Tuesday, March 10th, AniMotion NM was proud to host an evening with Alex Lindsey of Pixel Corps. Alex did a fabulously in depth presentation on Green Screen techniques, tips and tricks to an audience of roughly 70 animators, VFX and Motion Graphics artists.

The evening was a combination of lighthearted banter mixed with tech talk and explanations on how to achieve a quality key. The audience was an interesting mix of film, TV, and gaming folks, but everyone seemed to take something away from Alex’s presentation.

I was pleased to learn that there were quite a few attendees who had driven down from Santa Fe for the event. In addition, Sony Imageworks had a fairly good-sized contingent in attendance. It was nice seeing their familiar faces in the crowd.

As always, Elaine and Becky from the Adobe User Groups, Zocoloco and motion09 brought great Adobe swag and names were drawn out of all the tickets people brought to get into the event.

Art Center students, Jake Mirabal, Nikki Sandoval, Jon Kamps and Tey Guzman showed up early to help set up the event and Jake helped to wrangle the winners of the raffle in choosing their prizes.

The next AniMotion NM event is Tuesday, March 17th where Elaine and Becky are planning a movie night to get together as a group to watch the movie The Watchmen.


I am hoping that the large numbers that came to the March 10th event will come to future events and help to grow the animation, motion graphic and VFX community here in New Mexico. We have over 100 members currently in AniMotion NM and more are always welcomed.

The Michael McCormick Gallery Exhibit

The Art Center Design College is proud to announce a retrospective exhibition of work by artist and puppeteer Michael McCormick featuring sculpture, painting, and installations as well as masks, puppets, and other performance objects. Credited for creating memorable props, puppets, and models for films including The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Return of the Jedi, and White Sands, McCormick explores the theme of Gravity: Decay and Resistance in this comprehensive show of personal and commercial projects.

In addition to film work, the native New Mexican recently spent six years in Ireland, performing puppet shows at the National Wax Museum of Dublin and lecturing on his specialty, Punch and Judy, at the International Puppet Association at Trinity College in Dublin. Before returning to Albuquerque he taught for one year in the Creative Media Center at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.

In The Art Center show, McCormick will reconstruct part of his actual studio space, assembled from objects that have influenced and inspired him over the years. Imagery will be drawn from his childhood in Los Alamos and early work with Native American populations as well as international travels as a performer.

Michael will be giving an Artist Talk in the Gallery on March 11th at 7pm, which is open to everyone and is free of charge. In addition, Michael will also be offering several acting and puppetry workshops TBA.

I am pleased to have had a hand in bringing Michael McCormick and the Art Center together for this event, as I had the pleasure of meeting Michael a few months ago at a Town Hall meeting in Santa Fe. We have been fast friends ever since. His slightly dark and macabre take on the world fits in nicely with my own dark side that doesn’t see the light of day very much.

If you haven’t had a chance to meet Michael or see any of his fine art pieces, you really should make a point of making it to the Art Center’s William Platz Gallery to get a glimpse into the mind of this native New Mexican’s twisted and fascinating world.

“¡Fuera, Perro!”

Jess Evans, 2008 Art Center Design College Animation graduate, has just put the finishing touches on the animated music video for the children’s song,“¡Fuera, Perro!” (Out, Dog!) is a lively song with a meringue rhythm, about a dog that gets in the house and causes trouble in various rooms, before finally being shooed out by a young brother and sister and their grandpa. To view the video go to... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAbJ6Vi4yB0

The lyrics shift back and forth between English and Spanish, just as many conversations do in our hybrid New Mexico culture. Take the chorus, for example:

¡Fuera, Perro! de la casa
Or I’m gonna show you who’s the boss-a
Me enojo and I shout, “Get your furry cola out!”
¡Fuera, Perro! de la casa

Jess was awarded this freelance animation job in late September of 2008 and worked closely with the song’s composer and singer, Mister Felipe, to get the music video done under very time constraints. Jess was the only animator on this production and had to create time saving techniques in order to meet the deadline for the corresponding release of the accompanying music CD, Cruzando el Border.

Cruzando el Border is a children’s music CD available online through Mister Felipe’s website, http://misterfelipe.com/. Kids love the catchy melodies, Latin rhythms, and lyrics that playfully mix Spanish and English, and they end up learning Spanish words easily. It's fun for parents too, featuring a range of Latin styles, creative arrangements, and great musicianship.

Mister Felipe is Philip Handmaker, a Spanish and Music teacher with a background in linguistics and a passion for music. Living in Taos, a town in northern New Mexico, he hears lots of delightful Spanglish around and decided to write songs that combine Spanish and English. It was only natural that these songs take on Latin styles ranging from reggaeton to ranchera, mambo to meringue. Felipe had a blast layering the percussion instruments and adding contributions by talented local musicians, including his dog.