AUG. 08, 2016: "From Coraline to Kubo: A Magical Laika Experience" at Universal Studios Hollywood

I had plans to visit this exhibit before returning to CCA for summer break; in order to look at ways to incorporate methods of structuring the production part of my Senior Thesis “the Sunken Forest”. Unfortunately, with visiting Texas, attending my summer enrichment program, while planning out the production schedule, writing the syllabus, selecting films, and planning the research trip , being an RA for the college and working at Patagonia; let’s just say I had a lot on my plate.

I have paged through all of their “Art of” books, viewed and reviewed every Blu-ray featurette, even had the opportunity to ask questions related to my film to department heads, as a means of filling in the gaps. But, touring this exhibit would have allowed for a broader, tangible interactive experience. There are still question I’m looking to have answered on scale balance, use of robotics for camera movements, facial animation and its application/relationship to the rapid prototype department.

For everyone who can’t make it down to Universal Studio Hollywood, Inside the Magic was kind enough to share a full video tour of the Laika stop-motion animation exhibit "From Coraline to Kubo: A Magical Laika Experience" in the Globe Theater at Universal Studios Hollywood, featuring puppets from "Coraline," "ParaNorman," "The Boxtrolls," and "Kubo and the Two Strings."

Enjoy.

MAR. 08, 2016: Oscar!!! LAIKA’s Inventive Use of Rapid Prototyping

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Olivia Munn and Jason Segel present Scientific and Engineering Awards to Brian McLean and Martin Meunier for the development of the Laika Rapid Protoyping an...

87th. Oscars SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING AWARD

To Brian McLean and Martin Meunier for pioneering the use of rapid prototyping for character animation in stop-motion film production.

LAIKA’s inventive use of rapid prototyping has enabled artistic leaps in character expressiveness, facial animation, motion blur and effects animation. Through highly specialized pipelines and techniques, 3D printing capabilities have been harnessed with color uniformity, mechanical repeatability, and the scale required to significantly enhance stop-motion animated feature films.

This is a special moment in animation history and I’m looking forward to joining the rapid prototype team after my studies here at CCA. These are indeed exciting times!

DEC. 07, 2015: CTN: Inside the LAIKA Ingenuity

 The synthesis of creation at Oregon-based LAIKA is intoxicating.  Animators meticulously manipulate handmade puppets frame by frame, each movement seamlessly enhanced by award-winning visual effects and 3D printed artistry.  For ten years, the Oregon-based studio has earned global acclaim for its unprecedented fusion of stop-motion and computer graphics.  Georgina Hayns (Creative Supervisor, Puppet Fabrication), Steve Emerson (VFX Supervisor) and Brian McLean (Director of Rapid Prototype) will discuss their interdepartmental relationships throughout the making of the studio's three Oscar-nominated features: The Boxtrolls (2014), ParaNorman (2012), and Coraline (2009).

PARTICIPANTS

Georgina Hayns - Creative Supervisor, Puppet Fabrication 
Brian McLean - Director of Rapid Prototype 
Steve Emerson - VFX Supervisor  

By far has the most in-depth content a student like myself could ask for.

FEB. 07, 2015: Google Talks | the Making of Boxtrolls

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I came across this goodie thanks to a chance meeting last night at Zack’s Pizza with a group of students from UC Berkeley’s Siggraph chapter!

This is a Q&A that happened last month over at the Mountain View campus’ of Google. How I wish I had been there to ask a few questions from an animation perspective that I have noted every since seeing Paranorman. Questions that I hope to et answered as soon as I can convince the chairs of the animation department to invite in a team from LAIKA.about the rapid prototype, facial animation, and puppet fabrication departments; mainly how the pipelines work in tandem.

Directors Anthony Stacchi & Graham Annable however, discuss the making of Laika Animation Studio's latest stop-motion film, The Boxtrolls, in detail followed by a live Q&A. This event was moderated by Kevin Vlk.

MAY. 01, 2011: LAIKA

I’m here at Calarts for the next five weeks and I’m looking forward to the first steps in making my dreams of working in animation a reality. Even though I’m not enrolled in any summer animation courses (turns out they aren’t offering any at this time) I do have access to the media library here. There’s so much to take in knowing the history of animation that has come out of the character and experimental animation departments.

I’m hoping to see some of Henry Selick’s student work, while I’m here as my goal is to go into stop-motion production once I get my degree in animation. I feel this experience is something that I can’t afford to squander seeing the support I’m getting from my wife Twinkie and mentors Chuck and Emily. Looking forward to sharing.

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