Two years ago, Peruvian-born Jossie Malis produced a short animated film called Bendito Machine using Moho (now called Anime Studio). The style was silhouette animation, but not in the fantastic or whimsical vein of Lotte Reiniger or Michel Ocelet; Bendito Machine was instead a darkly funny meditation on power, corruption, greed and religion. Malis has since considered the short as the first part in a ten-part series, and I have no doubt that all seven deadly sins will be covered by the end. This interview is our first collaboration with Directors Notes, and here MarBelle interviews Malis about his quirky creation.

Frames Per Second Animation Podcasts

Podcast 019: Jossie Malis

A strange, godlike machine is overthrown and replaced by another strange, godlike machine. This is quite possibly the most disturbing-looking silhouette-style film you've seen in some time.

Podcast 018: Bendito Machine Part 1

At this year's Ottawa International Animation Festival, animator Yuichi Ito and his manager Hiroko Kamata sat down to talk about his series of short stop-motion films, Norabbit's Minutes. Created for Shochiku's 110th anniversary, Norabbits' Minutes features two young rabbit brothers who live together in the forest and have endearing adventures together... though not without some absurd twists. As a bonus, we are also presenting the first episode of Norabbits' Minutes in its entirety on the website.

Podcast 017: Yuichi Ito and Norabbit's Minutes

My guests in this podcast are Betsy de Fries and Jerry Van de Beek, who form the San Francisco Bay Area studio Little Fluffy Clouds. (And yes, they're named after the Orb song.) Little Fluffy Clouds has been in business since 1996, when the pair left the (Colossal) Pictures studio during its last days. The studio's been busily creating ads for a wide variety of clients since then.

Podcast 016: Little Fluffy Clouds

An animated Rorschach test is the backbone of one of three spots that Little Fluffy Clouds produced for Ogilvy's series of IBM commercials.

Podcast 015: IBM: "Alignment"

A stream, a fisherman, a dragonfly, a fish: In Little Fluffy Clouds' Au Petite Mort (2003), these elements come together to evoke the waning days of summer, the circle of life, and just a little cruel irony.

Podcast 014: Au Petite Mort

White's Dream is a music video based on the Tekkonkinkreet movie. Set to the Shinichi Osawa remix of Plaid's song from the soundtrack and directed by Michael Arias, the video encapsulates most of the movie from Shiro's (White's) perspective.

Podcast 013: White's Dream

In April, the Tokyo-based company Digital Meme released the Japanese Anime Classic Collection, which contained almost 60 animated shorts from Japan's silent era. I recently spoke with Digital Meme CEO Larry Greenberg about the collection and his company.

Podcast 012: Larry Greenberg

This excerpt is from the 1931 short Oira no Yakyu (Our Baseball Match), directed by Yasuji Murata. Oira no Yakyu and many of Murata's other works are featured in the four-DVD set Japanese Anime Classic Collection, which was released earlier this year by Digital Meme.

Podcast 011: Oira no Yakyu [Our Baseball Match]

In the summer of 2001, Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski created an animatic—a rough animated presentation—as part of their proposal for Madame Tutli-Putli. These excerpts illustrate what's changed and what's remained through six years of producton.

Podcast 010: Madame Tutli-Putli Animatic

Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski have been working together in animation and effects since 1997. But the pair have spent about half that time producing Madame Tulti-Pulti, a 17-minute short for the National Film Board of Canada.

Podcast 009: Clyde Henry Productions

Much of the artwork seen at the Once Upon a Time Walt Disney exhibit comes courtesy of the Disney Animation Research Library, which is under the direction of Lella Smith, who was present for the exhibit's opening at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art. Direct download: 070313fps_podcast.mp3 Photo credit: Emru Townsend

Podcast 008 (Audio Only): Lella Smith

On March 8th, the exhibition Once Upon a Time Walt Disney opens at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Yesterday we did a tour of the exhibit, which presents the work of the Walt Disney Studio from 1928 (the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, Plane Crazy) through to 1967 (The Jungle Book), in its artistic context. Hundreds of production drawings, concept sketches, background paintings, character studies and film clips are presented side by side with classical artwork and contemporary media to show how Walt Disney and his artists drew from the world around them to create animated movies that are still astonishing to this day. In this podcast I interview the exhibit's curator, Bruno Girveau. Links The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Shop Once Upon a Time Walt Disney (hardcover) Il était une fois Walt Disney (hardcover) Direct download: 070307fps_podcast.mp3

Podcast 006 (Audio Only): Once Upon a Time Walt Disney/Bruno Girveau

Much of the artwork seen at the Once Upon a Time Walt Disney exhibit comes courtesy of the Disney Animation Research Library, which is under the direction of Lella Smith, who was present for the exhibit's opening at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art.

Podcast 008 (Video): Lella Smith

Veteran Disney animator Andreas Deja was an unexpected guest at the press conference for the Once Upon a Time Walt Disney exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. I sat down with him and talked about how he was inspired to become an animator, and how he feels about anime, CGI, and people referencing his animation the way he used to reference his predecessors. Links Andreas Deja (Wikipedia) Direct download: 070312fps_podcast.mp3 Photo credit: Emru Townsend

Podcast 007: Andreas Deja

Frames Per Second magazine's podcasts feature animated shorts and interviews with animation artists from around the world. Presented by editor Emru Townsend.

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Frames Per Second Animation Podcasts

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