June - Toon Boom Animation

CONGRATULATIONStoonboom newsCatching Kringle, as featured in the ToonBoom News, July 2004 issue, keepsreaping prizes and awards at numerousfestivals. Here is a list of its latest successes:AWARDSBest Short FilmMuskegon Film Festival in MuskegonBest Animated FilmDIY Hollywood Film FestivalAudience Award for Best Family FilmDurango Film Festival in Durango, COAudience Award for Best Short FilmNewport Beach Film FestivalSpecial Jury Awardfor Best CGI/Animated FilmWorldfest in Houston (tying with AcademyAward Winner, Ryan)SCREENINGSBeverly Hills Film FestivalMalibu Film FestivalFirstglance Philly in PhiladelphiaSeattle International Film FestivalKalamazoo Animation FestivalWaterfront Film FestivaleFilmCritic.com wrote a wonderfulreview of the film from the Beverly HillsFilm Festival, which you can view at:http://www.efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=1467Images.Seventeen Campus Animation studentshave received the 2005 Regional-at-LargeGold Key Award for the Scholastic Art &Writing Awards. The animation group hasreceived the highest award in the categoryof group animation. Students have beenpresented with Gold Key pins and certificates.Three of the selected entries weredone in Toon Boom Studio (two from theBloomfield College Animation departmentand one from Campus Animation). Theanimated short Tiny Bubbles took the animationgroup from East Orange CampusHigh School four months to produce. All ofthe animation was hand-drawn in the classicalstyle of animation, with character development,model sheets, storyline, pencil tests,backgrounds, all assembled on the computerand animated with Toon Boom Studio,with narration and music. The Scholastic ArtCompetition is the largest festival of its kindin the United States. The animated shorts willnow compete in the national competition.The Campus Animation Program has receivedseveral Gold Key awards in the past includingthree National Awards for this competition,which is held at the Kennedy PerformingArts Center in Washington D.C. TheCampus Animation students are Malaika Burke(who has now been accepted to study animationto NJCU, School of Visual Arts, PrattInstitute, and the Tisch School of the Arts atNew York University), Patience Britwum,Terence Austin, Dominant Dansby, MercedesMoore, Mia Moore, Clint Kanhai, RebeccaCausene, Nicole Brooks, Todd Ramsey,Alwin Watt, Latese Thompson, RakeshRagbersingh, Dervane Williams, AngelAppolon, Anthony Mendoza, Rhodell Plaza,Darryl Nugent and Jarrett Choice.Building upon last year’s runaway success,The Greatest Story Never Toldcompetition started this fall with the callfor entries ending on January 15, 2005.Artists were given four months to producean original story using any softwarethat exports to the SWF format. The storyhad to be an original idea and based onone of the FlashTV genres. The GreatestStory Never Told competition is open tonovice and advanced animators, filmmakersand students worldwide. We wouldlike to congratulate Jim Watkins, a proudToon Boom Studio user who qualified asa finalist. His recent animated cartoon titledFred's Birthday Surprise was also the firstplace winner in the 2004 Katsucon OriginalShort Animation Contest. The story isabout Fred, a perky resident of a seniorcitizens home who, on his 96th birthdaygoes around bragging about his goodhealth and challenging everyone to guesshis age. No one guesses correctly until asly little old lady surprises him with anunexpected “examination” and declareshis age to be exactly 96. The script isloosely based on a joke he heard many yearsago. James Watkins is a professor of Artat The University of Memphis, where hehas been teaching graphic design for thepast 35 years. He is approaching retirementnow and animation is becoming hisfavorite creative activity. “Toon Boom Studiois the most powerful and useful creativetool I've ever known. It incorporates the laborsavingcapabilities of digital technologyinto an easy-to-use program with an interfacethat emulates all of the time-testedprinciples and techniques of the traditionalanimation craft. Toon Boom, along with my18-inch Wacom Cintiq tablet, lets me accomplishjust about anything I can imagine,“shared James with a big smile on his face.Coached by his instructor Vincent Lu,Ryan Hong, a high school student fromthe Chung-Hwa School of Arts in Taiwansubmitted his work Finding Color to theImagine Cup 2005 and received the highschool division Champion Award in the Shortfilm category. He will now enter the competitionto win a trip to Yokohama in Japan.Ryan used Toon Boom Studio to create hisshort, enabling him to preserve the handdrawnfeeling and making full-use of thescene planning mode and camera moves in3D space. Worldwide Finalists will be announcedfrom May 15 to May 31. Winners will beannounced on http://www.imaginecup.comon August 15, 2005.