Ellen Wolff

51 POSTS0 COMMENTS

https://www.beta.animationmagazine.net/wordpress

Schools

Who’s Teaching Stop Motion Today?

Ellen Wolff - February 10, 2019

***This article originally appeared in Animation Magazine’s 2019 International Education & Career Guide*** Animation lovers marked this past holiday season as the 25th anniversary of...

Shorts

Watch: John Kahrs’ Acclaimed Short ‘Age of Sail’

Ellen Wolff - November 14, 2018

The much-anticipated new Google Spotlight Stories project making a big splash on the VR and animation scene is available to view online today. Anyone who’s...

Features

The Many Layers of ‘This Magnificent Cake!’

Ellen Wolff - October 19, 2018

***This article originally appeared in the Sept./Oct. ‘18 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 283)*** “Surreal” is not a typical descriptor for stop-motion animated shorts, but...

Festivals & Events

Student Academy Awards Winners Display Remarkable Artistry and Diversity

Ellen Wolff - October 12, 2018

When Student Academy Award winners accept their medals each year, you can see the future of animation reflected in their faces. These fledging artists...

Digital Media

Bold Ideas Shine at the 2017 Student Academy Awards

Ellen Wolff - December 1, 2017

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has a notable history of honoring student filmmakers with medals for their thesis films. That honor...

Digital Media

Vision Quests: Google Spotlight Stories ‘Son of Jaguar’ & ‘Sonaria’

Ellen Wolff - October 23, 2017

In 2016, when Google Spotlight Stories' Pearl became the first VR piece to land an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short, many animators took...

Pixar and the Art of Curbing CG Noise

Ellen Wolff - September 3, 2017

How a UCSB computer science student helped Pixar develop a new noise-eliminating solution. For many people, the words Monte Carlo conjure images of high-stakes casinos...

Digital Media

A New Dimension of Drawing

Ellen Wolff - November 29, 2015

Disney Legend Glen Keane demonstrates the power of VR by drawing his most-famous characters in 3D using an app called Tilt Brush. When legendary animator...

The Evolving Role of the CG Director of Photography

Ellen Wolff - December 21, 2014

The key live-action title has gaining traction in the animation business after years of being seen as a largely live-action only task. This year the...

Features

Plympton Goes Noir

Ellen Wolff - November 15, 2013

The New York indie darling puts the finishing touches on Cheatin', his quirky homage to hard-boiled Hollywood thrillers. If any contemporary animator could be said...

Festivals & Events

Illuminating Shorts

Ellen Wolff - June 10, 2013

Our reporter zeroes in four toons that represent the rich diversity of talent spotlighted at the Annecy Festival this year. Anyone looking for a panorama...

Features

A Zany Return to Area 51

Ellen Wolff - February 12, 2013

Director Cal Brunker stresses strong visuals and iconic imagery in the new, sci-fi comedy movie Escape from Planet Earth. If luck happens when preparation meets...

Festivals & Events

Best of the Brief-Attention-Span Theater

Ellen Wolff - August 6, 2012

An overview of the key award-winning shorts screening at the 2012 edition of SIGGRAPH’s Computer Animation Festival. During the 39th SIGGRAPH Conference in Los Angeles...

Festivals & Events

Consider These Careers Launched!

Ellen Wolff - July 10, 2012

A look at the three animated winners of this year’s Student Academy Awards. When the medalists at the 39th Annual Student Academy Awards gathered in...

Festivals & Events

Short on Minutes, Long on Talent

Ellen Wolff - June 2, 2012

The 2012 edition of the Annecy Festival puts an amazingly diverse and creative range of animated shorts from all over the world in the...

Festivals & Events

SIGGRAPH Recruiters Hum ‘O, Canada’

Ellen Wolff - August 7, 2011

A look at which studios are looking to hire at the big CG confab. SIGGRAPH may be the preeminent annual meeting of international computer graphics...

Festivals & Events

SIGGRAPH – The Quiet Revolution

Ellen Wolff - August 7, 2011

A timely SIGGRAPH panel examines the pros and cons of distributed production. SIGGRAPH is always a showcase for whiz-bag images of digital destruction, virtual flames...

VFX

Randy Cartwright’s Timely iPhone App

Ellen Wolff - June 30, 2010

Veteran animator Randy Cartwright knows a thing or two about timing. Having worked on such diverse films as Aladdin, Charlotte's Web, Shrek and Pirates...

Schools

Streaming the Supernatural

Ellen Wolff - June 30, 2010

Filmakademie students find an infrared 'Key' Perhaps nobody knows better than student filmmakers that 'necessity is the mother of invention.' For a group at Germany's...

Television