Confessions of a Pop Fan

Saturday, June 30, 2007

CARTOON BLUES: PLATFORM ANIMATION FESTIVAL, DAY 6

I wasn't sure how much of the Fest I was going to do today. Last night I only stopped in briefly at the street party stuff, enough to see some of the Basil Wolverton art at a gallery downtown--but I had a friend in town and we ended up hanging out instead.

This made sleeping in all the more appealing, so I missed the early morning programs. The presentation by Henry Selick, director of Nightmare Before Christmas and James & the Giant Peach, was too good a prospect to pass up, however, so I headed over in the early afternoon for that. They showed a clip reel featuring highlights from his films, as well as early shorts and promo spots he did for MTV that just about everyone has seen but probably never realized was his handiwork (I was surprised). He then talked at length with David Walker. I don't know if it was just the angle of the lights where we were sitting, but Selick appeared to have his eyes closed nearly the entire time. It was kind of creepy, giving him this trance-like, hollow look.

The true lure of the session came at the end when he showed us some script doodles, character designs, maquette models, and very brief test animation from his current project, the feature-length stop-motion film Coraline. It looks incredible. I'm stoked for it. (No pics, sorry. They took our phones and cameras before we could go in.)

When it was done, I saw that a band was setting up for tonight's closing party. Except it didn't look like a band, it looked like a bunch of junior high girls. Turns out Smoosh is performing. This may be enough to get me to go to the shindig, but once I get comfortable here in the house, I may not want to go back again. A gap of four hours is a long time between things.

It wouldn't be so long a gap if the last program I sat in on had been better. I lasted less than half an hour in the Internet Shorts Competition. I kind of got what I was expecting: lame political humor, inside jokes, and poorly rendered fantasy stuff. There's a reason I don't watch such things in the privacy of my own home at my convenience, so there wasn't much compelling me to stay.

All in all, if that is it for me and the Platform International Animation Festival , I've had a good time and have no real complaints. I am not sure I necessarily enjoy the nonstop go-go-go of a fest, and can't imagine what it would have been like with a paid pass where I felt I had to get my money's worth, but all in all, it was a good program with a wide variety of material. If it's to be a regular event, this is a very good start.

Current Soundtrack: Smoosh, She Like Electric

Current Mood: drained