THE LAST HOORAH!!!

Okay ... today is New Year's Day ... the time to make those yearly resolutions. I have to draw in my horns and stop spending. Today was my last ... for a awhile.

Even though my degree is in Fine Arts specializing in Cinematography, further specializing in Animation, I felt ill equipt to do my Dulci-Toons cartoons. So I've made a major splurge of books, DVDs and supplies. Yoko thinks I don't need these things. And maybe I don't need everything. She thinks I could teach the class. And maybe that's the problem. I did. When I was in college, I did a 6 minute cartoon using a friend's character. Cannibas Cat was a bell bottom wearing 30s styled character. I used this character in the hopes that when Walt saw his character up on the screen ... he would get off his duff and do what I knew was in him. It didn't work. But I did. I can remember all the work. I spent days. I would get up eat breakfast and go back to my dorm room work until lunch ... go back work until dinner and after dinner work untill bed time. I was doing double frames or 12 drawings a second. Then I went back and inked them in. After that was done it took an 18 hour day to film it.

When I think about it I am amazed that I was able to do this. I animated straight ahead. I didn't see any pencil tests. Hell I was lucky to have a camera to do my project. I had to check out a camera ... a 16mm Bolex. The technology was circa 1912. I used paper and the cut and slash system. When my peers at college saw this work, I became a big fish in a little pond. Shortly after this I attended an animation course ... the only one that USF offered. I require a filp book and to watch cartoons. When there was a question it was directed to me and not the grad student teaching the course. I didn't learn anything.

And that was 30 years ago. Technology has advance. I remember as I was leaving they were getting something called a video camera. Now days I can do everything I need with a computer. The scanner is my camera and I don't even have to wait for the film to be process. Back then the Preston Foster book was it. Today I have 2 great animator's books. The DVDs will give me access to some of the greatest cartoons ever made. I can watch them frame by frame. I finally have an animation table rather than my Father's tracing box the use to write lesson plans on acetate rolls.

My education is finally about to begin.

I have made one more purchase. .. sort of ... I am trying ... if I can get the credit card company to co-operate ... I am buying the master class series of Richard Williams.




http://www.theanimatorssurvivalkit.com/index.html

Light a candle for me please.