Don't Replace the Actor - Replace the Animator?!

The article posted below is very troubling -- I'm about to go on vacation so I can't write much more but I'll update this post when I get back from the UK!!

read the article here:
The "Avatar" Effect: Don't Replace the Actor - Replace the Animator


Here are some bits to chew on:

"To me, it's the exact opposite," Landau says. "Our goal on this movie was not to replace the actor, it was to replace the animator. If you think about it, what a great actor does and what a great animator does are antithetical to one another.

"A great actor withholds information. Dustin Hoffman in All the President's Men can sit there and do nothing. No animator would ever allow that, they would put in a twitch. So our objective was to preserve Sam Worthington's performance and have that be what you see in those characters."

The Making Of Dr. Strangelove

Here's a special on the making of 'Dr. Stangelove' -- awesome!!

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



Part 4



Part 5

Brad Bird Presents Dr. Strangelove

Last night was a rare treat! Tiff and I got to see a brand new print of Stanley Kubrick's film 'Dr. Strangelove' on the big screen! And as the 'icing on the cake' Brad Bird introduced the film and gave a great Q&A afterward! He talked a bit about the legendary design of the 'war room' created by Ken Adam and explained how Kubrick was ahead of his time in his use of handheld cameras, comedy approach, storytelling, and production techniques. It was a fantastic night and very inspiring! Also, I found the 'making of Dr. Strangelove' and will posting those shortly!

'Where The Wild Things Are' art blog

http://www.terribleyelloweyes.com/

Acting Notes for Animators

I saw these notes the other day and found that some of them applied to animation. Despite being directed toward live action actors - many of the sample principles and directions apply to the animation industry. Most of the notes are common sense but it's always good to brush up on the basics. You might find a few nuggets of gold in there as well!

I took the liberty of editing these notes down to the pure meat so some sections might be out of order: