Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Recommended Reading

Michael Kinsley on why it's so brain-dead stupid of Hillary supporters to say, "If we can't have her, we're voting for McCain." I doubt many will, even though they may think that now. But if any of them do, they're just asking for someone who'll take everything Hillary Clinton stands for and do the opposite.

• Posted at 4:49 PM · LINK

A Jab at JibJab

I really admire the effort and artistry of the JibJab videos. Out of just about nothing, those folks built an art form and a style and what I gather is a pretty successful company. One of the ways they've achieved this is by really putting maximum effort into each project. A lot of people out there think computer animation is easy; that you just click this and load that and the computer does all the labor that formerly had to be done by hand. Wrongo. Each JibJab video represents skillions of person hours and an awful lot of hands-on artistry. Here's a link to their latest — "Time for Some Campaignin'" — and here's a link to a production blog that should give you some idea how much perspiration went into it.

I like what they do so much that I'm hesitant to write this next part and toss in a "however."

However, I will. With so much effort going into each frame of animation, you'd think they'd expend a bit more time on their song parody lyrics, particularly in making them rhyme. In most cases, it wouldn't be difficult. For instance, this new video opens as follows...

Come gather 'round, Dick, Condi, Scooter and Rove
It's time to get packin', we must hit the road
But there's wars and recessions and bad mortgage loans
And our legacy needs savin'
So forget he's a jackass who's lib'rally prone
Oh, it's time for some campaignin'.

I'm not sure if the folks who wrote this thought "Rove" rhymes with "road" but if so, they're wrong. "Loans" doesn't rhyme with "prone" because "loans" is plural. "Savin'" does not rhyme with "campaignin'," either.

What baffles me about this kind of lyric is that it's so easy to fix. It could easily go like this...

Come gather 'round, Condi, Rove, Scooter and Dick
It's time to get packin' and hit the road quick
On account of each war and each bad mortgage loan
Our popularity's wainin'
So forget he's a jackass who's lib'rally prone
Oh, it's time for some campaignin'.

That took, literally, under a minute to redo. Give any decent songwriter a half hour and he or she might have improved it into Sondheim territory...or at least The Capitol Steps. The JibJab professionals are so thorough with their graphics and animation and details that it makes me wince that they rhyme "command" with "Vietnam" and "near" with "years." ("Exchange," by the way, does not rhyme with "change." It's the same syllable. It's like rhyming "moon" with "moon.")

Come on, guys. You do everything else so well. Get your lyrics up to the standard of your animation.

• Posted at 4:30 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Fred Kaplan compares the speeches of Barack Obama and John McCain with regard to Iraq and Afghanistan. Both want to send troops to the latter but McCain wants to send troops we don't have. This is apparently a minor detail. But Obama's ain't perfect, either.

• Posted at 2:33 PM · LINK

Today's Video Link

Mort Walker, the creator of Beetle Bailey and about 400 other strips, has devoted much time and cash to a National Cartoon Museum that has been intermittently (and is currently) semi-homeless. If you don't feel like clicking the video link below to watch a report on it, you can read this article. But you'd probably prefer the video...

And here's a slide show that Mort narrated about his work and collection...

• Posted at 10:24 AM · LINK

Recommended Reading

Jack Shafer on anonymous sources in newspapers. One thing these articles never touch on is whether the anonymous source is being misquoted. I've been a quoted source for news articles — not about important stuff but stuff — and I've been misquoted or misrepresented on occasion. So I think it's safe to say that an anonymous source is misquoted as often, if not more often...and what can they do? It's not like they can write an anonymous letter to the paper to amend or clarify the record.

• Posted at 10:22 AM · LINK

Comic-Con Countdown

Every day until that monster in San Diego commences, I'm going to be plugging/promoting a couple of the panels I'll be doing down there. Today, let's talk about Cartoon Voices, which is one of my areas of interest and alleged expertise.

Saturday and Sunday, my buddy Earl Kress and I are hosting panels of folks who do that kind of thing for a living and do it well. These are extremely popular events at the con...and for a good reason. We gather six or so actors on each, have them demonstrate their silly sounds, talk about their craft, and then we stick them with what's called a Cold Reading. This means making actors act with a script they haven't had time to study and learn and think about. Wonderful, unpredictable things are sometimes heard when this is done.

The folks we have this year are as good as anyone I could find. They're all artists you've heard on loads of cartoons and as they'll show you, they also do commercials and dubbing and narration and other lucrative things with their talents. Some of you are already telling me how excited you are that the Saturday panel will include Mr. Chuck McCann, who gets mentioned on this blog more often than Jack Kirby, Groo the Wanderer or me. Here are listings for these two panels...

Saturday, July 26
12:30-2:00 Cartoon Voices I — It's the first of two gatherings this weekend of actors who lend their voices to animation, as they discuss and demonstrate their craft. Co-hosts Mark Evanier and Earl Kress welcome Jason Marsden (Fairly OddParents, Loonatics Unleashed), Wally Wingert (The Garfield Show, Family Guy), Phil LaMarr (Justice League, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends), Alicyn Packard (The Mr. Men Show, World of Warcraft), TV legend Chuck McCann, Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), and a few surprises. Room 6CDEF.

Sunday, July 27
1:15-2:30 Cartoon Voices II — It's another one of those panels where folks who do animation voice work demonstrate their craft and dazzle you with their talents. Co-hosts Mark Evanier and Earl Kress welcome Chris Edgerly (Harvey Birdman, Celebrity Deathmatch), Dee Baker (American Dad, SpongeBob SquarePants), Cheryl Chase (Rugrats, All Grown Up), Katie Leigh (Dungeons & Dragons, Totally Spies!), Billy West (Futurama, Ren & Stimpy) and a few surprises. Room 6B.

Now then. When I started moderating Cartoon Voice panels at the convention, they were in smaller rooms and they were largely about how a person who thinks they have the ability can perhaps obtain a career in that line of work. As the panels got more popular, however, they became more about entertainment and performing, and less about agents and demos and classes and the stark realities of The Biz. This year, we aim to correct this a bit with yet another Cartoon Voice panel, a different kind. This year, and I suspect the next few years, Earl and/or I will be hosting a gathering that just focuses on the feasibility and possible attainment of employment. Here's the listing for this one...

Sunday, July 27
12:00-1:00 The Business of Cartoon Voices — Lots of people think they can do them...but how does one go about making a living as a voiceover actor? Co-hosts Mark Evanier and Earl Kress gather together a panel of agents, casting directors and performers to explain all about agents, casting directors, demos, classes, what to do and (most important) what not to do. If you've ever been interested in a career in the field, this is the panel you've been waiting for. Room 7AB.

I haven't listed the participants yet because schedules are still being juggled...but we'll have an agent or two, a casting director or maybe more than one, a couple of actors (Gregg Berger and Bob Bergen), plus you'll have Earl and me giving out some hard truths about the field.

We're doing this in large part because the Aspiring Animation Voice Actor is fast becoming prey. What with the Internet and home recording studios and online videos and zillions of new markets, we now have zillions of ways that folks are seeking to separate the wanna-bes from their wallets. There are some very good teachers and classes and advisory programs out there. There are also some in the "those who can't do, teach" category and a few outright thieves.

This is an area about which I am somewhat militant. Every month or so lately, I encounter someone who has spent an awful lot of their money and youthful years looking for love in all the wrong places, paying for lessons and demos and "access to casting people" (something for which one should never pay) and all they have to show for it is a couple of non-union, $50 jobs that if you amortize the money they've spent on lessons and guidance, comes down to about a thousand bucks per gig that it cost them.

(There's an old joke in the acting game: The agent tells a performer, "This gig will pay you $100." The performer says, "But it's going to cost me twice that to travel to that city and get a room." Whereupon the agent answers, "Yeah, well, you have to save up for some jobs.")

Let me emphasize: There are some very good, very helpful teachers and trainers out there. I'm sure some will be endorsed and recommended at the panel. But note that I am not saying they're the majority because I'm beginning to think that they are not. Those that are not can be divided into two categories — those that mean well and just aren't all that good, and those that just want to exploit someone's dreams.

Last month, I met a lady who's been, I believe, taken for all she could afford (and then some) by the latter. Someone should have told her how rough the business can be and, frankly, that she has certain deficiencies in the talent department. Alas, there's moola to be made by telling people what they want to hear; by saying, "Yes, yes...you can have everything you dream of...you just need to keep paying us money to train and steer you." Many thousands of bucks later, she's about as close to a real voiceover career as Teller.

I'd decided that a panel of Free Advice to such folks was needed before I met her, but she reinforced my notion. If you think you might have what it takes to be the new Mel/Daws/June, you might want to make it to this panel...and I'm sorry we only have an hour.

• Posted at 8:36 AM · LINK

Go Read It!

Who invented the hamburger? Well, a lot of people laid claim to that achievement. Here's a brief history of the world's most popular sandwich.

• Posted at 12:04 AM · LINK