motion09 officially came to a close, Wednesday October, 15, 2009.

“It was our best year ever,” said Becky Padilla, co-producer of motion09. “We started motion three years ago. As working professionals in the industry, we were frustrated that nothing like it existed. As creatives – we were looking for an event that provided inspiration.”

“We’ve attended many conferences over the years,” said Elaine Montoya, co-producer of motion. “They all focused on learning software. While this has it’s place, we were at the place in our careers where we were looking for creative inspiration as a means to revitalize. With tight deadlines, and the pressure of the industry, sometimes you just need to get away from all of it and rejuvenate. That’s what motion is about.”

With motion09, these goals were realized. This year’s show included some of the top talent in the industry, including Karin Fong and Rod Basham (Imaginary Forces), Andrew Orloff (Zoic Studios), Synderela Peng (yU+co.), emmy award winning director Jamie Caliri, animation master Dan Haskett, Michael Waldron and Erik van der Wilden (nailgun*), visionary screen designer Mark Coleran, Patrick McDonough of PMcD Design, and many more.

“The intimate atmosphere allowed for some great one-to-one conversations. I made some great connections that will be invaluable as I continue to define and develop the new Department of Motion Design at Ringling.” Ed Cheetham – Ringling College of Art and Design

“It was so enjoyable to share time and space with other creatives who didn’t seem to be worrying about their place in the scene!” Erik van der Wilden – nailgun*

“We had a wonderful time, thank you – looking forward to next year already!” Alicia VanHeulen – Toolfarm

“I think the whole experience of motion is the people you meet. I have always found some great people that become friends that last much longer then the conference.” Jason Sorbie – Sorbie Design

“Congratulations on the conference! I am so glad I participated!” Patrick McDonough – PMcD Design.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. This year we were honored to have the amazingly talented photographer, Chelsea Nicole capturing the event. Take a look…

“A shout-out to the rockstars of motion09, attendees, volunteers and sponsors of motion. You are what motion is all about,” said Montoya.

“I’ll say it once again,” added Padilla. “We truly appreciate your support!”

Next year’s motion, will take place in October 2010, in ABQ, NM. Details coming soon.

At motion, we are always inspired by the talented work we see coming from the future of our industry – students! This year we provided two unique opportunities for students to have their work seen at motion09:
– the reels@motion competition and
– our interstitials competition

Post-secondary students studying motion graphics, animation, and vfx were asked to submit their reels – 5 minutes or less. The top three winners in two categories – motion graphics and vfx, were announced at this year’s motion conference.

In the category of motion graphics, the winners were:

1st place: Tommy Strickland (Ex’pression College for Digital Arts)
2nd place: Cassandra Chisom (Ex’pression College for Digital Arts)
3rd place: Matt Aubuchon (Ex’pression College for Digital Arts)

view winning reels:

In the category of vfx, the winners were:

1st place: Anna Tonrungroj (Vancouver Film School)
2nd place: Corey Coates (Vancouver Film School)
3rd place: Peter Choi (Vancouver Film School)

view winning reels:

Congratulations to the winners of the motion09 future@motion reels competition!

Students were invited to create interstitials that express the concept of motion. There were no strict guidelines. Our goal was simply to provide an opportunity for students to be creative, and have their work seen.

First, second, and third place winners were selected – and Ex’pression College for Digital Arts in Emeryville, CA took home the bragging rights – sweeping the competition!

“There were numerous outstanding entries in this year’s competition”, said Elaine Montoya, co-producer of motion09. “We had an extremely difficult time selecting the winners.”

“It was very difficult”, reiterated Becky Padilla, co-producer of motion09. “Almost every entry was good enough to be a winner. We saw some amazing creativity. I think this was partially due to our lenient guidelines. We wanted students to be creative – and they were. Ultimately, it came down to selecting the entries that best expressed the only guideline we did provide: to create an interstitial that expresses the concept of event – motion.”

Third place winner, Lisa Hetherington was selected for a piece she created using Cinema 4D and After Effects. “Lisa’s piece conveys the concept of establishing roots as a means for creative growth”, said Montoya. “We felt this expressed one of our primary goals for students attending motion – to establish roots in the industry through their participation in the event and on-site networking with professionals.”

Second place winner, Alyx Loos submitted an elegant type treatment, with a old-time ‘theatrical’ flair. “Alyx’s piece had several elements that caught our attention in relation to the event,” said Padilla. “First, the overall concept of ideas in motion was a good match. While most conferences focus on learning software, our mission with motion, is to produce a show where professionals in the industry can come together to inspire and be inspired, to share ideas, and to be revitalized. ‘Ideas in motion’ fits this goal. The theatrical flair through the film look was a bonus – in many ways, motion is more a creative ’show’ vs. a ‘traditional’ conference.”

Finally, Audrey Karleskind took 1st place in the competition and Best of Show for her interstitial. “When providing guidelines as broad as our were, it’s common to see submissions with outstanding creativity. We basically gave students carte blanche to create whatever they wanted to,” said Montoya.

“Most students use this as an opportunity to experiment – to come up with something they haven’t done before. In Audrey’s case, we felt like she took it a step further. She considered ‘the client’ – motion. It’s the exception rather than the rule that creative professionals are given carte blanche. In most cases, their objective is to create a piece that best meets their client’s marketing and/or communication objectives. Audrey did her research. In a simplistic, illustrative cut-paper animation style, Audrey captured the feel of  downtown ABQ – the event venue. From the historic buildings that line Central avenue, to the modern day high-rises interspersed, it was readily recognized as downtown ABQ.”

“We also like that she included the ‘tourist’ side of the event by including the NM Railrunner, the Sandia mountains, and hot-air balloons,” said Padilla. “We always encourage motion attendees to ‘make it a vacation’ if possible – and the unique attractions of the southwest are part of this.”

“And, she went as far as to use the motion09 logotype in her piece,” added Montoya. “Another sign to us that she was designing this with her ‘client’ in mind.”

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s competition – Lisa, Alyx and Audrey.

Kudos to Ex’pression for sweeping the competition – solidifying their reputation as one of the ‘elite’ post-secondary motion graphics programs in the country.

view all winners of this year’s competition

We negotiated a great group rate this year for motion09 attendees – just $119 a night at the ABQ Doubletree.

This offer expires midnight, Friday, September 18, 2009. Yes…that’s tomorrow! Regular room rates start at $159 a night, so reserve your room in the next 24 hours and save $40 a night – that’s enough to pay for your plane ticket*!

Well…what are you waiting for? Reserve your room at the discounted group rate now!

*based on Southwest Airlines discounted specials to certain markets

motion

nailgun* We’ve all seen their work. With a list of clients that could easily span this entire article – you’d have to be living in a cave to have not seen some of the projects they have created. Specializing in broadcast design, their clients include almost every network imaginable including: A&E, ABC News, Animal Planet, Cartoon Network, CBS, Comedy Central, ESPN, Food Network, Fox, HBO, National Geographic, Nickelodeon, Showtime…you get the picture.

With a strong belief that great art derives from making creative choices – and sticking to them, veteran graphic designer Michael Waldron and editor/animator Erik van der Wilden co-founded motion graphics house nailgun* in 2003 and since then have guided the young company to its lofty status as one of the industry’s most respected broadcast design houses.

storyboards for the 79th annual academy awards

Michael began his career as art director at NewsChannel6, Richmond, VA and left there to become creative director at The Diecks Group, New York. His work has been recognized by awards from Graphic Design USA, PROMAX/BDA, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Type Directors Club and ID magazine, to name a few.

Eric van der Wilden came from a completely different background. An All-American soccer player and former professional actor, Erik gradually migrated to broadcast editing, animation and design, and founded Vandyink in 1996. He later worked for The Diecks Group as Director of Editorial and Animation, where he met Michael.

The rest is history. And an amazing history at that. Their award roster includes honors from the BDA, New York Festivals, Type Directors Club, Emmy Awards and the Promax Judges Awards. nailgun*’s work has been featured in several publications in the US, UK, Asia and Europe, as well as in the books After Effects in Production: A Companion for Creating Motion Graphics (by motion09 speakers Chris & Trish Meyer), Broadcast Design (Daab, 2007), The IdN 15th Anniversary Edition (2009) and in 2010 will be included in the title, Visual Effects Artistry (Drate, sched. pub. 2010).

As nailgun* evolves, the studio continues to foster the same spirit that has brought it to this point. In an industry that is ever-changing, they continue to adapt, inspire, imagine and most of all, together, hold fast to knowing no limits.

This year, the two co-founders are going to do just that at motion09 – inspire. Tuesday evening, October 13, nailgun*’s keynote presentation will be all about broadcast design. And then, get ready for an amazing experience Wednesday morning as Michael and Erik offer a 3-hour intensive in this year’s promotion series. This series provides attendees to opportunity to work interactively with top-talent in the industry on a specific project. Watch the motion09 conference website for details on nailgun*’s interactive promotion presentation.

speaking at motion09
Michael Waldron and Eric van der Wilden will be two of the ‘rock stars’ at motion09

10.11 – 10.14 2009 | abq | nm
motion | experience inspiration

………………………………..
author: Elaine Montoya
motion.tv
………………………………..
copyright: © 2008 – 09
motion.tv

the art of expressiveness

When I first saw Dan’s work, what caught my eye the most was the expressiveness of his animation. It made me realize – I hadn’t seen this in years. What happened to expressiveness in animation? Did we loose it when everything transitioned from traditional animation to computer animation? Is it possible to animate ‘expressively’ with digital tools? Have deadlines become such a factor in animation, that we no longer have time to ‘go the extra mile’ in adding the details and characteristics of expressiveness? Or is it just that, somewhere along the way, we’ve lost the art. Fortunately, because of animators like Dan Haskett, more and more young animators are being given the opportunity to explore this lost art – and hopefully carry on the tradition for years to come.

a brief history

With many credits to his name, Haskett is well-known for creating the characters of “Belle” for Beauty and the Beast and “Ariel” for The Little Mermaid. He began his career setting up an animation department for a New York company that did commercials and corporate films. A co-worker told him about a man named Richard Williams, who would later go on to make Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Because of Williams, Haskett got an audience with Frank Thomas, one of Walt Disney’s famed “Nine Old Men” group of directing animators. Haskett was offered a job as a junior animator under Thomas on The Fox and the Hound.

Freelancing for Disney, Warner Bros. and many others since then, Haskett’s credits include Toy Story, The Prince of Egypt, Sesame Street, Scooby Doo. He won an Emmy for his work on The Simpsons and has done commercial work for Kellogg’s and Nestle. Haskett helped pioneer a resurgence of classic Disney qualities and “organic” animation.

a role model

When it comes to animation, it’s easy to say Dan is a role model. Everyone wants to be able to animate like Dan. It’s a given. But beyond this, he plays a very special role in the African-American community. As an African American animator, he serves as a role model. In a 2005 article by Esther Iverem, on the portal seeingblack.com, there is an excellent interview with Dan about what it means to be a Black animator. I was intrigued by this article, and soon realized Dan’s role and how it will be written in the history of Black America.

But what amazed me even more, was the first time I received a phone call from a young African American who learned that Dan lived in Albuquerque, speaks at motion, and is involved in our community. He wanted to get in touch with Dan – his lifelong idol. And, this wasn’t a one time occurrence. Since then, I have had calls from other young African Americans to see if I could help them get animation cells signed by Dan, and even met a young man who travel to ABQ from Atlanta to meet him in person. Dan is definitely a ‘rock-star’ in the industry and a ‘rock-star’ in the African American community.

sharing the tradition

Back for his second year, Dan is a favorite at motion. This year, he will be on a special panel of Disney (and former Disney) animators, titled The Art of Animation: Now and Then. Additionally, with hopes of carrying on the traditions of the art of animation, Dan will be presenting a 3-hour interactive session at motion09, in the promotion series.

“I’ve been able to influence a lot of young talent,” said Haskett. “A lot of people like what I do and they like how I do it and they want to learn. And it’s very important to me to create characters that have a life of their own—and apparently I’ve been successful at that.”

Dan’s an amazing man, with extraordinary talent. motion09 is honored to welcome him to the stage!

speaking at motion09
Dan Haskett will be one of the ‘rock stars’ at motion09

10.11 – 10.14 2009 | abq | nm
motion | experience inspiration

………………………………..
author: Elaine Montoya
motion.tv
………………………………..
copyright: © 2008 – 09
motion.tv

A couple of months ago we ran a Twitter contest, with the winner receiving a free {m}ticket for motion09. The winner? Ken Latman.

Since winning, Ken has Twittered about motion regularly – cheering us on, being our human count-down clock, and totally getting into the spirit of motion. Bottom line, that’s what motion is about – community.

Previous attendees of motion have always been surprised when they find out that it’s just two people (really!) who produce motion – doing everything from design, web development, signage, recruiting sponsors, selecting ‘rock-stars’ . . . you name it – it’s two of us who do it! We are really excited when members of our community help us grow motion – whether it is through Tweeting about it, blogging, or word-of-mouth. We truly appreciate your support! Ken – we’d like to personally thank you for helping us get the word out!

Just who is Ken Latman? We asked Ken a couple of questions. Here’s the scoop…

who do you work for?

I have been working now for 10 years for RGH Enterprises. They are a wholesale distributor of medical supplies. They cover everything from Diabetic and Urinary supplies to Chiropractic and Massage tables. It sounds odd that motion graphics would be used in such an organization but they do attend a lot of trade shows in various parts of the US and require booth graphics to bring people in. There are also in-house corporate videos for training and employee information.

I started out as the “web” guy and gradually pushed for more animation type projects. Today I am doing about 2 to 4 major video/animation projects a year around these areas.

what are your areas of interest in animation, motion graphics and vfx?

My interests range from the very traditional cartoon Looney Tunes type animation to motion graphic title sequences and visual effects supplied in motion pictures. I frequently pick up Cinefex magazine just to understand what is behind the effects used in Hollywood blockbusters. I also have a subscription to Computer Graphics World (CGW), Millimeter magazine, Studio Monthly (now it is just an online magazine, but still very good) and CreativeCow Magazine.

tell us about the kind of work you do in the industry and any favorite projects

I do a lot of title type sequences in Adobe After Effects for tradeshows. Usually we are trying to show the benefits of a company or companies and tie in something special either about the trade show’s location or some major new benefit.

These projects I enjoy the most because they have to be energizing and colorful to grab attention. They also have to have a loop point so trying to make them seamless without bringing attention to that point is a challenge. It is always nice to hear that someone really liked my work still after seeing it two or four times noticing something different every time.

Some of the in house work material is pretty dry. They tend to focus around medical compliance issues and company policies. The struggle though is also an exciting challenge because you have to take that material and keep the viewer interested. I am given much leeway to let my imagination run to get these types of project more energizing. They used to be just old PowerPoint slide presentations with audio of just re-reading the content before I took over.

tell us how you found out about motion09 and why you wanted to win the contest

I had been looking for a conference or seminar that focused on animation or motion graphics but was not a film festival. I had attended a number of years ago as a volunteer a conference in Pasadena, CA run by Lynda.com called AfterEffects West. Chris and Trish Meyer (motion09 speakers) had been presenters at that and I just started at RGH. This further fueled my interest in animation not only in what After Effects could do but how off-the-shelf applications can be used to do the very same work you see on the big screen.

I discovered motion through an online search last year, but it was already over. The session schedule and list of presenters appeared to be just what was looking for. I kept the page bookmarked and checked the site periodically for updates on motion09.

I had set up a twitter account when the initial buzz over the site (twitter.com) started over a year ago. When I saw that motion09 was running a contest using twitter to help create buzz about the event, I found a good way to finally use my account.

Having attended conferences like Macworld and Photoshop World in the past, I genuinely wanted something that was more like the old AfterEffects West. motion09 seems like this – and much more.

tell us what you are looking forward to the most in attending motion09

I’m looking forward to seeing how others use Adobe After Effects in their work environment. How others put creativity in their work or look for inspiration to aid them along. Are there others like me that work alone? How do people work collaboratively on projects whether in the same office or across the globe? I am also hoping to see how other applications can be intergrated into my work flow. I do not have a true 3D application that I use. I’ve been told that Maya is the best, but costs over $3k and would be hard to justify to my company to buy right away. 3D Studio Max is given a lot of acclaim, but I haven’t seen too many tutorials incorporating AE with it. Cinema 4D has a large number of followers, but I have never had any hands experience with any of these applications. I use Zaxwerk’s ProAnimator to solve some of my problems, but I could always learn more.

tell us about something about you…

I’m originally from Connecticut and started my career off working for color separation house for wall paper coverings. This gave me an intense experience with Photoshop. Where I work currently I am also the “mac” guy. We run three servers with a graphics group of 8 to 10 people. I’ve written some AppleScript to help with workflow aspects.

I have a degree in Studio Art from Kent State. Additionally, I attended an excellent and highly accredited visual arts program in high school that gave me a tremendous benefit in improving my own drawing and composition skills.

Aside from work, last summer I went on a mid-west road trip to Glacier National Park in Montana. Check out my photos. Best vacation I have had in a long time!

motion09 welcomes ken latman! Thanks for spreading the word about motion! We look forward to meeting you.

Rod Basham is the VFX supervisor at the Los Angeles offices of Imaginary Forces – an award winning visual effects firm with a reel that includes some of film’s most impressive work including Terminator Salvation, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Pink Panther 2, Ray, Definitely Maybe and Charlotte’s Web to name a few.

Rod has worked on numerous feature film main title sequences including Spiderman, My Sister’s Keeper, The Pink Panther 2, In the Bedroom, The Mummy 2 and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. His commercial work includes spots for Microsoft, Pontiac, Nike, Lexus, Spike, and Infiniti.

As a lead Flame artist and designer, he’s contributed feature film content for an impressive list of titles, including Terminator Salvation, Blade 3, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Titus, and Steve Spielberg’s Minority Report. He was also the lead flame artist on live theatrical content for the Wynn Hotel and Casino’s Lake of Dreams in Las Vegas and Julie Taymor’s Grendel Opera.

One of Rod’s recent projects was for Terminator Salvation (view motion.tv article). The piece was entitled “Machine Vision”. In this project, their challenge was to conceptualize how the Terminator robots would see the world. Imaginary Forces broke down the visual spectrum to design Machine Vision, developing the language of these special effects sequences. Using new tools for IF, such as depth cameras that breaks down footage into data point 3-D imaging, Machine Vision creates a terrifying new take on these killer robots.

“We had to figure out how to take this depth information and map these interesting point clouds under there and supplement these with the interface graphics. I think Jeremy Cox (lead animator/designer) approached it very cleanly and in a fresh way but drawing upon what was in the other films. The red wash is pretty much a trademark of machine vision type shots, but we took it in a slightly different direction so it wasn’t the expected optical red wash that people have seen. We made it different for different machines too,” said Basham.

Imaginary Forces also created the main titles for Terminator Salvation.

“A lot of the inspiration for the titles came from the machine vision work and from what we were already working on. The titles themselves are big, iconic, heavy pieces that fit into the score that Danny Elfman did. We did our best to work in pixel crawls and glitches to match the other stuff we were doing,” explained Basham.

Rod has also been involved in a number of architectural and experience design projects including Design and the Elastic Mind featured at MOMA . Independently, Rod directed his first music video, which was featured in Resfest in 2004.

Basham will be presenting several sessions this year at motion09, and is one of the selected panelists for The Art of VFX Supervision.

motion09 welcomes Rod Basham to the stage!

speaking at motion09
Rod Basham will be one of the ‘rock stars’ at motion09

10.11 – 10.14 2009 | abq | nm
motion | experience inspiration

………………………………..
author: Elaine Montoya
motion.tv
………………………………..
copyright: © 2008 – 09
motion.tv

motion

the show

From J.J. Abrams (”Lost“), Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the team behind “Star Trek,” “Mission: Impossible III” and “Alias,” comes the new hit series Fringe. First premiered in the United States on September 9, 2008 on FOX, Fringe explores the blurring line between the possible and the impossible – providing viewers with a thrilling and terrifying ride.

The series follows an FBI Fringe Division team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security. The team uses unorthodox “fringe” science and FBI investigative techniques to investigate “the Pattern”, a series of unexplained, often ghastly occurrences which are happening all over the world. The show has been described as a cross between The X-Files, Altered States, The Twilight Zone, and Dark Angel.

the project

Fringe has been one of Zoic’s best projects this season, and happens to be one of Orloff’s favorites. “It’s been a good one for us this season, we got to do a lot of different types of stuff,” said Orloff. “The pilot was really successful – and  won the VES (Visual Effects Society) award.

Orloff and his team played a key role on the VFX for the season pilot. From creature work to what Zoic terms ‘digital prosthetics’ – the art of enhancing what would normally be done with prosthetic makeup. “We did a parasite in a human body, we did old age, teeth replacement, a lot of tracking of highly integrated 3D elements with real people and real makeup effects, which is what we did in the pilot for the invisible John stuff, which was really challenging.,” said Orloff in an interview with SciFi Scoop.

the payoff

Zoic’s efforts on Fringe have paid off. The 7th Annual Visual Effects Society Awards were held February 21st, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. The award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program went to Andrew Orloff, Kevin Blank, Jay Worth, and Barbara Genicoff.

Then on July 16, 2009 it was more good news for Zoic. The 2009 Primetime Emmy Award nominations were announced. Fringe was nominated for Outstanding Special Visual Effects.

Fringe fans are hooked. Fortunately for us, FOX knows it. The series has been renewed for a second season. Season 2 will premiere Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 9:00 PM.

kudos!

motion congratulates Andrew Orloff and the Zoic team on their Emmy award nomination!

speaking at motion09
Andrew Orloff will be one of the ‘rock stars’ at motion09

10.11 – 10.14 2009 | abq | nm
motion | experience inspiration

………………………………..
author: Elaine Montoya
motion.tv
………………………………..
copyright: © 2008 – 09
motion.tv