manila-envelope

apparently I have reached the limit of
images you can post in this blogging
system.
so, if you are interested I continue with
my posts on -

http://manila-envelope.blogspot.com/

you find the link on the right...

too much...

as you might have noticed the slow disappearing
of my posted artwork in 2 steps over the last
3 days.
this is getting too much. I am afraid some morons
don't quite know what the hell they are doing.
so - my consequence - sorry, but I am not posting
anything anymore.
this blogging system was supposed to be kind of
a personal diary 'ersatz' in the very beginning, as
far as I remember. these google business guys
encouraged everybody to post their whole life
in words and pictures. of course for their profit,
the more people watch the stuff the more advertising
they can sell.
now, I am afraid, the system got a bit out of hand.
too many users, probably not enough problem
solvers at google, and maybe - who gives a damn.
that's the point where I leave the boat.
not the first time, - that's why I left countries
before.

for the google idiots

alaska - changed!

sorry, I had to change this post. all the before
shown layouts of BALTO changed into questionmarks.
either the google guys had a problem with them or
it is a mysterious copyright issue. it would just be
too n i c e if someone would tell me before
editing my stuff, excuse me!!
-----------------------------------------
usually, when you are looking for something you
are not successful. but during your searching you
find all different other things you even forgot that
you collected them many years ago.
like in this case some designs I did for BALTO.
in our early story the gold-dredge in nome was way more
important than in the final movie. I had to design a lot of
pretty complicated oldfashioned machinery.
nothing of that was used in the final movie.

...

G O O D N E W S

now it is official -
the english version of my book
DREAMWORLDS - production design for animation
will be published by FOCAL press, oxford.
probably oct. 2007, hardcover, price $ 39.95 / EUR 33.95
I am very happy to be with this english publisher
because I grew up with all their animation publications
in the sixties and seventies.

alaska

usually, when you are looking for something you
are not successful. but during your searching you
find all different other things you even forgot that
you collected them many years ago.
like in this case some beautiful layout copies from
BALTO, done around 1993 by bolhem bouchiba,
who several years later became one of the best
animators at disney in paris and animated tarzan.
he was just tired of producing these incredible
drawn layouts...





and some of my sketches of the gold-dredge interior.
in our early story the gold-dredge in nome was way more
important than in the final movie. I had to design a lot of
pretty complicated oldfashioned machinery.
nothing of that was used in the final movie.



here are a few of my color designs of the gold-dredge...

D R E A M W O R L D S

on monday my new book
DREAMWORLDS - production design in animation
came out in japan. the publisher is again
BORNDIGITAL, tokyo, ISBN 978-4-86246-008-0.
this is the japanese text version. I am talking to
a major european publishing house right now
about the publication in all english speaking
countries, as well as translations into other
languages. if all goes well, the english version
should come out within a few months.
I am very happy with the printing of the
japanese version. it looks exactly like I wanted
it to look, a big thank you to the publisher!

dixneufcentquatrevingtcinq

mike smith 1

mike smith, there are so many memorable moments.
all in london, mid eighties, before ROGER RABBIT
happened.
the images are from a music clip, mike
did, one of many. there were all the GRACE JONES
and ART OF NOISE music videos. his work was unique,
very inventive and completely different from what
everybody else did. what an animator! he showed me
a lot of his original animation and for me it was
unimaginable that this would move. but it did!
I have no idea how he always came up with all
these new, fresh ideas.
what a c r a z y time -
there was the gang - mike, chuck gammage, rob
stevenhagen and - of course - uli meyer! we spent
so much fun time together, through all the soho
pubs and the best malaysian and singapore restaurants
there! mike's studio was FELIX FILMS, right in the heart
of soho.
I remember, it must have been in the first months of
ROGER RABBIT - mike asked harald siepermann and me
if we wanted to do some sketches for a new tv-channel.
they wanted the animated logo very unconventional,
because it was for a younger audience, just music clips.
harald and I never did any work on it, it just sounded
too weird. well, much later we learned, that was - Mtv.