We had a tremendous time this past spring exploring the subject of our first installment of our “VIS Design Icon” spotlight series in the great Alex Toth. Here cartooist, educator, and Toth scholar @opauloart expands on Toth’s lifelong search for simplicity in his work and the impact of animation production priorities on his overall approach to design. (Full recording of the event and @academyartunews coverage located in our bio.) #alextoth #characterdesign #aauvis #visualdevelopement
Once again @academyartunews has put together a terrific write up on our recent “VIS Design Icon Spotlight: Alex Toth” chat where we were lucky to have been joined by Toth scholars @grantalexanderart and @alextothindepth. The panel had a fantastic discussion where we explored the life, work, and impact of one of the true legends of the animation, comics, and illustration industry(s). (Links to the article summary and event recording are both in our bio) #alextoth #visualdevelopment #artistartist #characterdesign
We had a blast a few weeks ago digging into the multiple attempts by filmmakers to adapt Frank Herbert’s scifi epic “Dune” for the big screen. Here we have full time instructor @darth_jer examine some of the iconic designers that contributed to Alejandro Jodorowsky unfilmed adaptation. We’ll be doing another installment of our VIS Film Appreciation night this coming May the 4th….I’m sure there’s a appropriate film for that specific date.
More from our chat with celebrated author and British film historian Charles Drazin where we discuss the enduring legacy of what’s been called the greatest film in British history in “The Third Man”. Here Charles speaks to the German Expressionist influences in the film. We’ll be screening the film this coming Thursday at 5pm PST so make sure to register at the link in our bio. #thethirdman #britishfilm #orsonwelles #derdrittemann
We were lucky enough to be joined by celebrated author and British film historian Charles Drazin to discuss the enduring legacy of what’s been called the greatest film in British history in “The Third Man”. Here Charles speaks to the seductive appeal of the evil that is Harry Lime. We’ll be screening the film this coming Thursday at 5pm PST so make sure to register at the link in our bio. #thethirdman #britishfilm #orsonwelles #derdrittemann
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” concept artist @kaye_bin joined an panel of alumni (along w/ the amazing @austendraws and @i_eat_green_crayons) last December to share some incredible insights into their work on the film as well as navigating the transition from student to professional visual development artist. A link to the full discussion is in our bio and make sure to check out the recently released trailer for the film as it looks absolutely beautiful. #teenagemutantninjaturtles #tmntmutantmayhem #visualdevelopment
More from our chat w/ the great @bartmixon. Here Bart discuss’s his approach/inspiration for the iconic “Pennywise” design which he applied to the iconic character actor @officialtimcurry in Stephen King’s “IT” miniseries (1990).
More from our discord installment of Film Appreciation Night: “The Empire Strikes Back - The Despecialized Edition” from last week w/ @darth_jer on the great Irvin Kershner and his atypical appointment to helm the sequel to the biggest film of all time.
Highlights from last weeks intercession Film Appreciation Night (on discord) spotlighting the iconic “The Empire Strikes Back” with “pre-game” lecture by resident Star Wars expert @darth_jer. We’ve got a packed schedule of screenings this spring with several being a hybrid “onsite in our theater + discord” so keep an eye out for announcements here.
More from Director @sjchiodo on “Killer Klowns…” influences from our “Film Appreciation Night” last fall. We’ll be having another installment this month on discord so keep an eye out for updates here.
We were fortunate enough to have the great @tim.flattery.7 come by as a guest speaker this past fall and talk about his incredible career. Here he discusses collaborating with director Tim Burton on the 🐧 army for the🎄 classic “Batman Returns”.
Guest speaker @powerdermot on when/where to best leverage 3D within the visual development process. (Full discussion in bio)
More from our discussion with the great @powerdermot. The whole chat was absolutely jam packed with design tips so make sure to check the full recording out!!
(Link in bio)
Our recent guest speaker, the great @powerdermot, discussing his design process on the hit @wednesdaynetflix series. Dermot’s full discussion (along with many other great guest speakers) is linked in our bio. #wednesdaynetflix #aauvis #visualdevelopment
More from our chat with the great @sjchiodo last week. Here he describes translating the concept drawings by director Tim Burton for the “Large Marge” sequence into a three dimensional stop motion puppet for “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” (1985)
We were honored to host the great director/stop motion animator @sjchiodo as a special guest for our “Film Appreciation” series on discord where we screened his film the horror comedy classic “Killer Klowns From Outer Space”. Stephen gave a fantastic presentation where he discussed working on everything from “Pee Wees Big Adventure” to his most recent film the stop motion “Alien Xmas” for Netflix. Here he talks about the iconic designs of the Klowns themselves.
More highlights from our mind blowing chat with the great @tim.flattery.7 who just happened to design the most powerful prop in the known universe with the above infinity gauntlet!!
@tim.flattery.7 was an incredibly generous guest that shared an incredible amount of industry knowledge and design processes from his storied career in film.
