Author Archives: Mike

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Tutorial Tuesday: How to export a Two panel pdf in Storyboard Pro

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Here’s a quick tutorial for Tutorial Tuesday that came out some frustration I was having with Storyboard Pro recently. The other night I had an issue with exporting a one-paneled PDF in Storyboard Pro that simply displayed the Action AND Dialog boxes below it as in the pic below.

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Seems fairly straight forward but in the default export it WILL NOT do this. I tried for quite a while to bend it to my will, but just couldn’t get what I wanted. Each time I tried to export, Storyboard Pro would either delete the Action panel, delete the Dialog panel, truncate the words or flat not show either. I couldn’t find squat about it on the web. So far Toon Boom has not responded to my requests for help. Luckily, thanks to this site, I know a great many fantastic people in the business and my good buddy Sherm Cohen of Sponge Bob, Phineas and Ferb and Kick Buttowski as well as  Storyboard Secrets fame came to my rescue! If you don’t know about his site you should finish reading this short tutorial, and head directly over there for all sorts of storyboardin’ goodness.

Anyway, Sherm helped me figure out what was wrong and with a few of my own tweaks I got exactly what I needed out of the settings finally. Below in all their glory are the way you’d pull this off. Here’s a link to the pdf Storyboard Pro spit out with these settings.

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A Very Different Toy Story

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i09 is reporting that toy story 3 initially had a very different story.

From the site:

Jim Herzfeld wrote one draft of Circle 7’s Toy Story 3, a script that was later polished by Bob Hilgenberg and Rob Muir (who also wrote Circle 7’s Monsters Inc. sequel script). In this version, Buzz Lightyear starts malfunctioning, so his fellow toys ship him back to his manufacturer in Taiwan. But when they learn of a massive recall on Buzz Lightyear toys, Andy’s toys fear that Buzz will be destroyed, so they head to Taiwan to rescue him. Visual development artist Jim Martin provided concept art of some of the key moments. You can see a few piece below, and more on his website.

For the rest of the story click over to their site to read on…

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Incredible Time-Lapse Shows the Time Consuming Labor Behind Stop Motion Animation

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF_MTFzm27A

I’ve always loved the art of stop motion. To me it’s almost like magic, whereby these actual dolls come to life, moving, singing and laughing. It’s an incredible feat of work and talent and the amount of preparation that goes into it, is truly astounding. That said, here’s a little snippet from the end credits of The Boxtrolls, which captures a tiny bit into the herculean amount of work that goes into making even one scene of stop motion animation. Enjoy!

About The Boxtrolls: A family event movie from the creators of “Coraline” and “ParaNorman” that introduces audiences to a new breed of family – The Boxtrolls, a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead Wright) in the amazing cavernous home they’ve built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. When the town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley), comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground, “into the light,” where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnie (Elle Fanning). Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs’ family

You can read the whole post here.

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News: LAIKA AND FOCUS FEATURES IN PRODUCTION ON FOURTH ANIMATED MOVIE, KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

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Laika logoLAIKA AND FOCUS FEATURES IN PRODUCTION ON

FOURTH ANIMATED MOVIE, KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

TRAVIS KNIGHT DIRECTS; ALL-STAR VOICE CAST INCLUDES

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY, CHARLIZE THERON, ROONEY MARA, RALPH FIENNES

Portland, OR, and Santa Monica, CA; December 22nd, 2014 – LAIKA and Focus Features, the two companies behind the Academy Award-nominated Coraline and ParaNormanand the current Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Award-nominated release The Boxtrolls, today announced production on their fourth collaboration, Kubo and the Two Strings. LAIKA President & CEO Travis Knight and Focus CEO Peter Schlessel made the announcement today. Mr. Knight, an Annie Award-winning animator, is making his directorial debut on Kubo and the Two Strings.

The new movie, from an original screenplay by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler (ParaNorman) is a sweeping, swashbuckling adventure set in a mythical ancient Japan. It is being brought to life at LAIKA’s Oregon studios via the company’s innovative 3D stop-motion and CG hybrid technique. In addition to directing, Mr. Knight is producing Kubo and the Two Strings with Arianne Sutner (ParaNorman). The all-star voice cast includes Academy Award winners Matthew McConaughey and Charlize Theron; Academy Award nominees Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, and Brenda Vaccaro; and Art Parkinson, who plays Rickon Stark on Game of Thrones and who is providing the voice for the title character of Kubo.

In the epic fantasy, scruffy, kindhearted Kubo ekes out a humble living while devotedly caring for his mother in their sleepy shoreside village. It is a quiet existence – until a spirit from the past catches up with him to enforce an age-old vendetta. Suddenly on the run from gods and monsters, Kubo’s chance for survival rests on finding the magical suit of armor once worn by his fallen father, the greatest samurai the world has ever known. Summoning courage, Kubo embarks on a thrilling odyssey as he faces his family’s history, navigates the elements, and bravely fights for the earth and the stars.

The movie will open in theaters nationwide domestically on August 19th, 2016; as with the three previous LAIKA movies, Focus will release Kubo and the Two Strings in the United States and Universal Pictures International will release the movie internationally. It is the first movie in the new three-picture partnership between LAIKA and Focus.

“Kubo and the Two Strings is a rare gem,” said Mr. Knight. “It’s a gripping yarn woven from Japanese folktales and mythology, with lost civilizations, mystical origami, noble heroes, star-crossed lovers, and blood-curdling monsters. At once epic and intimate, Kubo is a funny, intense, and ultimately uplifting fairy tale draped in some of the most bizarre and exciting imagery I’ve ever seen. Most importantly, it’s deeply moving. It’s a story that means something, a story that deserves to be told. In short, it’s a LAIKA movie. And with a poetic script, sublime cast, and our freakishly talented artists and craftspeople, Kubowill be a strange, stirring, and altogether stunning film. I can’t wait to share it with the world.”

“LAIKA raises the bar on animated movies as a creative art,” said Mr. Schlessel. “Each picture Focus does with them is unique yet identifiably theirs. Travis and Arianne have convened a wonderful group of animators, actors, and artisans to tell a story that moviegoers of all ages will be transported by.”

Coraline (2009) earned Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, PGA, and Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature Film; and was named one of the year’s 10 Best Films by the American Film Institute (AFI). ParaNorman (2012) garnered BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, GLAAD Media Award, PGA, and Academy Award nominations, won two Annie Awards (the animation community’s Oscars equivalent) and was cited as the year’s best animated film by 14 critics’ groups. The Boxtrolls has earned Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Animated Feature and 13 Annie Award nominations, more than any other film this year.

About LAIKA

Fueled by the vision of its owner, Nike co-founder and Chairman Philip H. Knight, and its President & CEO Travis Knight, LAIKA (www.laika.com) is an animation company specializing in feature films. LAIKA, located in Portland, Oregon, will celebrate its 10th Anniversary in 2015.  LAIKA’s current movie, The Boxtrolls, scored the highest opening weekend box office of any LAIKA film when it was released domestically by Focus on September 26th. It was recently honored with 13 Annie Award nominations, the most of any animated film this year. The company’s first feature, Coraline (2009), earned Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, PGA, and Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature Film; and was named one of the year’s 10 Best Films by the American Film Institute (AFI).ParaNorman (2012) garnered BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, GLAAD Media Award, PGA, and Academy Award nominations, won two Annie Awards (the animation community’s Oscars equivalent) and was cited as the year’s best animated film by 14 critics’ groups. The Boxtrolls has earned Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Animated Feature and 13 Annie Award nominations, more than any other film this year.

About Focus Features

Focus Features (www.focusfeatures.com) makes, acquires, and releases movies from rising and established talent and filmmakers. The company is moving forward with a diverse slate of wide releases appealing to a range of moviegoers. Staying true to the company’s roots, the slate will also include several specialty films each year.

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In addition to the Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Award-nominated The Boxtrolls, current and upcoming releases from Focus include The Theory of Everything, nominated for 3 Screen Actors Guild Awards and 4 Golden Globe Awards including Best Picture; Black Sea, the suspenseful adventure thriller starring Jude Law for director Kevin Macdonald; the romantic drama A Little Chaos, directed by Alan Rickman and starring Kate Winslet; Leigh Whannell’s Insidious: Chapter 3, the newest chapter in the terrifying horror series; Tarsem Singh’s Selfless, starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Kingsley; Sinister 2, directed by Ciaran Foy; London Has Fallen, the sequel to the worldwide smash hit Olympus Has Fallen, starring Gerard Butler and directed by Babak Najafi; Juan Antonio Bayona’s visually spectacular drama A Monster Calls, starring Lewis MacDougall, Felicity Jones, and Liam Neeson; and Stephen Hopkins’ Race, starring Jeremy Irons, Jason Sudeikis, and Stephan James as the legendary athletic superstar Jesse Owens.

Focus Features is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, world-renowned theme parks, and a suite of leading Internet-based businesses. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

Press Contacts:

For LAIKA:                                                     For Focus:

Maggie Begley                                                  Adriene Bowles

MBC                                                                FOCUS FEATURES

310-390-0101                                                 424-832-5494

Maggie@mbcprinc.com                                    adriene.bowles@focusfeatures.com

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News: The Perils of an All Digital Movie future

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Vulture.com has an interesting read about the future and troubles of switching to an all digital movie industry which is currently at about 90% saturation.

A quote from the article:

In one of the most famous examples of the perils of digital preservation, when the makers of Toy Story attempted to put their film out on DVD a few years after its release, they discovered that much of the original digital files of the film — as much as a fifth — had been corrupted. They wound up having to use a film print for the DVD. “That was the first major episode to draw public attention to the fact that digital files are a challenge when it comes to conservation,” says Usai. (Somewhat hilariously and almost tragically, a similar fate came close to befalling Toy Story 2, which nearly got nuked when someone accidentally hit a “delete” button.)

You can read the whole article here.

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News: The Tale of Studio Ghibli

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The economist is reporting  that in the wake of the retirement of its visionary director, Hayao Miyazaki, last year, Studio Ghibli is taking an indefinite break from the production of new feature films, citing high production costs. This is a profound loss to animation and cinema, and “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” is a vivid, bittersweet illustration of all the reasons why. With no British or American release dates announced for the studio’s latest effort “When Marnie Was There”, “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” may go down as Studio Ghibli’s swansong on the international scene.

You can read the whole story here.