The Society for Animation Studies Newsletter ISSN: 1930-191X

Volume 26, Issue 1 SPRING 2013

In this Issue: Letter from the Editor SAS Announcements

1 ● President’s Report Paul Ward Dear SAS members, 2● Membership Report Robert Musburger As the new SAS Newsletter editor I want to thank 3 ● Animation Studies Update the outgoing editors, Laura Ivins-Hulley and Alla Amy Ratelle 4 ● SAS 2013 Conference Update Gadassik, for their excellent work editing the and Conference Schedule Newsletter over the past few years and for making Lisa Mann this handover a smooth one. 5 ● SAS Event Funding Report Tom Klein In this issue we have a healthy range of SAS reports, updates, events and announcements. Of particular note is the conference update, supplied by Lisa Mann, which, in addition to containing some Events and Announcements exciting Keynote information hot off the press, 6 ● Animation Studies 2.0 provides a fantastic overview of what promises to be Nichola Dobson a superb celebration of all things animated. 7 ● 4th Animation Postgraduate Research Group / Graphic Novels As a final point, it is pleasing to note the continued Research Students Symposium internationalisation of the SAS network, which is Birgitta Hosea 8 ● The Animation Show of Shows statistically reflected in the Membership Report and DVD which is also evident in the destination of this year’s Ron Diamond SAS event funding. 9 ●New Release: Five Animated Films I look forward to seeing you all in LA! Dennis Tupicoff Sincerely, Chris Pallant

Membership Information ● SAS Board and Contacts

The articles in the SAS Newsletter are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. Contributions are copyrighted by authors and remaining information is ©2006 Society for Animation Studies. Society for Animation Studies © 2013 SAS Newsletter, v26n1, p.1

President’s Report

Paul Ward

We are still in the honeymoon period with some new developments within the SAS – the website for example still has some kinks that need ironing out, and some further development is required. Please help us by reporting any problems and glitches to the webmaster. Nichola Dobson, our Vice-President, has successfully launched the SAS blog, Animation Studies 2.0, which has included recent posts on animated documentary and has upcoming ones on animation and technology. Please support the blog by (a) commenting on posts and getting dialogue going and (b) contacting Nichola and making suggestions for discussion topics/threads.

The 2013 conference, hosted by USC, is approaching fast, and looks like it will be an exciting and vibrant event. Please contact the organisers if you have any questions about the conference, wish to attend, and so on. The 2014 conference will be hosted by Sheridan College in Toronto.

Finally, some sad news: long-time member and good friend to the SAS, David Williams, recently passed away after a brief illness. Many people have shared their thoughts and memories of David, who was a true individual – warm, funny, charming, generous with his time and knowledge. He will be genuinely and sadly missed by all who knew him.

Membership Report

Robert Musburger

All figures drawn from data supplied by Robert Musburger (current as of April 2013)

MEMBERSHIP TOTAL

Full Time 162 Student 49 Institutional 5 Total 216

SAS MEMBERSHIP BY COUNTRY

Country April 2013 April 2012 US 74 44 UK 39 39 Australia 18 11 Canada 12 9 Germany 7 1 Ireland 4 Singapore 4 2 Bulgaria 3 2 Italy 3 5 New Zealand 3 Czech 2 France 2 5 Greece 2 1 Hong Kong 2 1 Iran 2 Israel 2 2 Malaysia 2 2 Netherlands 2 2 Portugal 2 Spain 2 5 Turkey 2 ONE EACH: 1 Argentina, Austria, Belgium, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia

FINANCIAL

Balance of the Wells Fargo savings and checking account at the end of 2012: $19,726.33

$1,000.00 will be provided for the 2013 Los Angeles conference

Registration fees for Los Angeles will be provided for four (2x$280.00 and 2x$200.00) winners of the Emru Townsend Award

$500.00 awarded to Animapia Forum $500.00 awarded to Change and Continuity Symposium (see SAS Event Funding Report)

Animation Studies

Amy Ratelle

Hello, SAS!

I’m excited to see many of you in Los Angeles. In the meantime, the journal is about to publish several exciting and varied papers. I hope that we can generate as much discussion on the journal site as we have on the new blog!

Animation studies as a field is, as they say, “hot” at the moment, and I encourage SAS conference presenters for all conferences past and present to send in their papers, as well as submissions from non-SAS conferences.

Many thanks as always to our editorial board for their constructive and timely feedback, the managing editors for their continued behind-the-scenes support, and our authors for their excellent work.

SAS Conference Update

Lisa Mann

The 25th Annual Society of Animation Studies Conference REDEFINING ANIMATION University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts, Los Angeles California June 23th - 27th

Plans for 2013 SAS conference Redefining Animation are well under way and we are looking forward to meeting all of you here at USC! We'll be kicking off the conference Sunday evening with a fabulous cocktail reception with our special guest Jeffrey Katzenberg delivering remarks and welcoming you to LA.

We have some terrific keynote speakers lined up, including Tom Sito, Mike Fink, Tracy Fullerton, Davide Quayola, and David Hanson. We've recently added a special keynote presentation by actress Geena Davis, who will be speaking about the representation of women and girls in media and animation. She is the founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and she is a frequent guest speaker on the subject. (See information on the Vagabond Inn below for another reference to Geena Davis.)

In addition to a packed schedule of panels, micro-talks, and gallery talks over the next three days, we have arranged an incredible line-up of evening screenings. On Sunday, we will present a retrospective of USC student animated shorts from our own John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts, including three Student Academy Award- winning films. On Monday night, USC Professors Holly Willis and Steve Anderson will present an eclectic mix of cutting-edge, transmedia works. On Tuesday night, USC Professor Christine Panushka will present Animating the Unconscious her collection of seminal experimental animated films from the '70s and '80s. Finally, on Wednesday evening, we are pleased to screen the new documentary Lotte Reiniger: Dance of the Shadows directed by Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen Professors Dr. Susanne Marschall and Dr. Rada Bieberstein, and Kurt Schneider, M.A.

On Wednesday afternoon, we will hold the annual SAS business meeting, followed immediately by a delightful beer, wine and cheese closing reception! The following morning, we have arranged for a private tour of the DreamWorks animation facilities. Also, during the course of the conference, we have arranged for the USC Warner Brothers and MGM archives on our campus to display all of their animation artifacts for conference attendees.

If you haven't yet registered for the conference, please keep in mind that Early Bird Rates will end on June 1st. We request that you do your best to register before then, as it really does help us plan for catering and rentals in advance. The registration website is www.regonline.com/SAS2013.

The official conference hotel is the Vagabond Inn, 101 S. Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA 90007. The Vagabond is a 10-minute walk to the conference site at USC. The Vagabond is a classic California motel, notable as the hide-out location for Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon in the Ridley Scott movie, Thelma and Louise. We want to remind everyone to hurry and book a room as soon as possible. Several rooms are being held for SAS conference attendees through May 15th. After that date, the rooms will be released and made available to the general public. As the Vagabond is a small hotel, we cannot guarantee that rooms will still be available after that date. Please email Joana Reyes directly to book a reservation: [email protected] and be sure to reference in your email, "Society for Animation Studies (SAS) Conference at USC."

The alternative hotel within walking distance is the Radisson Los Angeles Midtown at USC. The website is: mailto:http://www.radisson.com/los-angeles-hotel-ca- 90007/cafiguer. If you would rather stay in Downtown LA, which will require public transportation or a car, we recommend The Standard, 550 South Flower Street, http://standardhotels.com/downtown-la. Please request the USC rate when booking.

Be sure to visit our Redefining Animation conference website for the latest information as we are continually updating it with more details: http://anim.usc.edu/sas2013.html The conference schedule is listed on the website and below for your convenience. Looking forward to meeting you all in June!

The Redefining Animation Conference Committee: Kathy Smith, Chair, Animation & Digital Arts Christine Panushka, Professor Lisa Mann, Associate Professor of Cinema Practice

Website: Email correspondence: http://anim.usc.edu/sas2013.html [email protected]

SAS Redefining Animation Schedule Sunday, June 23 - Thursday, June 27, 2013

Sunday, June 23, 2013 2:00-4:30pm Registration Check-in at SCA, Lucas Lobby 4:30-6:00pm Screening: Animation by students and alumni of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts 6:30pm Welcome Cocktail Reception with Special Guest Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation

Monday, June 24 8:00-10:00am Registration Check-in at SCA, Lucas Lobby 9:00-10:00am The Harvey Deneroff Keynote Address: Tom Sito 10:00-10:30am Morning Break and Poster Sessions 10:30-12:30pm Panels: 1A,1B, 1C Creating Worlds: Augmented Realities

Animation for Games and Embodied Performance Historical Devices in Contemporary Animation 12:30-1:30pm Lunch provided 1:30-2:00pm Micro-talks MT-1 & MT-2 2:30-4:00pm Panels: 2A, 2B, 2C Animation within Social Movements Death, Time, and Animation Concepts Through Character 4:00-5:00pm Afternoon Tea and Poster Sessions 5:00 – 6:00pm Keynote: Davide Quayola 6:00-8:00pm Dinner on your own 8:00-9:30pm Screening curated by Holly Willis and Steve Anderson

Tuesday, June 25 8:00-10:00am Registration 9:00-10:00am Keynote: Tracey Fullerton 10:00-10:30am Morning Break and Poster Sessions: 10:30-12:30pm Panels: 3A, 3B, 3C Large Scale Architecture Virtual Reality/Visualizing Science Animation Infiltration of Art Forms I 12:30-1:30pm Lunch provided 1:30-2:30pm SCA Gallery Talks 2:30-4:00pm Panels: 4A, 4B, 4C Stereoscopy and Perception Animation in Place Animation Infiltration of Other Art Forms II 4:00-5:00pm Afternoon Tea and Poster Sessions 5:00-6:00pm Keynote: Mike Fink 6:00-8:00pm Dinner on your own 8:00-9:30pm Screening: "Animating the Unconscious" curated by Christine Panushka

Wednesday, June 26 8:00-10:00am Registration 9:00-10:00am Keynote: David Hanson 10:00-10:30am Morning Break and Poster Sessions 10:30-12:00pm Panels: 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D Redefining Character Animation Animation: Gothic and Fairy Tale Consciousness and Sound The Animated Brain 12:00-1:30pm Lunch provided 2:00-2:30pm Micro-talks: MT-3 & MT-4 2:30-4:00pm Panels: 6A, 6B, 6C Performing Animation Animating Architecture Animating the Intangible: the Animated Soul

4:00-4:30pm Afternoon Tea and Poster Sessions 4:30-6:00pm Annual SAS Business Meeting 6:00-7:30pm Closing Wine and Cheese Reception 8:00-9:30pm Screening: "Lotte Reiniger Dance of the Shadows" a 2012 documentary directed by Susanne Marschall, Rada Bieberstein, Kurt Schneider.

Thursday, June 27, 2013 9:00am-2:00pm Optional Day Trip: DreamWorks Animation Studio DreamWorks Animation will host special guests of the 2013 SAS Animation Conference for an in-depth tour of their beautiful Glendale studio campus. This exclusive event will include a walking tour of the 11-acre campus, Animation 101, a visit to the Mo-Cap Stage, and sneak peeks at artwork and the inner-workings from some of their current and upcoming releases. Following the tour, guests will be treated to lunch at their beautiful on-site commissary.

Additional fee for this optional day trip: $35. Bus departs from and returns to USC. Space is limited to 25 people only, so make your reservations ASAP!

SAS Event Funding Report

Tom Klein

The Awards and Outreach committee announces the 2013 recipients for Animation Event funding: Hannes Rall for the CHANGE AND CONTINUITY SYMPOSIUM and Dallim Park for the ANIMAPIA FORUM. Congratulations to our recipients, and to their co-organizers and all participants who are helping to advance the field of animation studies. The SAS is grateful to have an active membership that is hosting events around the world.

Change and Continuity: Interdisciplinary Aspects of Animation, Comics and Literature is a one-day academic symposium that will be held at the 2013 Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film in collaboration with the Society for Animation Studies, the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University Singapore, the Institute of Media Studies at Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen and the Literaturhaus Stuttgart. The symposium is negotiating the interdisciplinary influences between literature, comics and animation. It brings together international scholars, students, academics and artists from diverse fields of research and professional practice to create an interdisciplinary dialogue.

AnimaPia (Animation + Utopia) is a forum for animation studies in Seoul, Korea. Scholars will gather at the forum to lead in-depth discussions and analyses of myriad issues related to animation. The forum introduces and develops enlightening insights and comprehensive critical assessments to improve understanding of animation, humanity and culture.

The selection committee is chaired by Tom Klein and is comprised of Rachel Walls, Tze-Yue G. Hu, and Nichola Dobson. Funding is administered by our Treasurer, Robert Musburger.

Animation Studies 2.0

Nichola Dobson

Hopefully members will have noticed the torrent of emails appearing from me, mostly on Mondays. Our new blog Animation Studies 2.0 is intended to compliment the online journal and provide the community (and interested parties) with a place to disseminate and discuss ideas in the increasingly broad subject area of animation studies.

The calls for papers are sent out via the mailing list and are also posted directly onto the website. We encourage short posts designed to elicit discussion and possibly debate. Comments are encouraged and so far have seen some lively exchanges. Although I have themes in mind for the next few months we are open to suggestions. The blog is so far reaching a fairly wide geographic audience and is retaining a steady number of weekly hits. It is all fairly experimental at the moment; if we start to see an increase in submissions we may increase the number of published posts, but it’s early days.

If anyone has any comments, questions or suggestions please contact me at [email protected]

Keep checking in!

CFP Sound and music in animation (DEADLINE MAY 31)

This month’s theme invites posts on all things aural -

Topics may include but are not limited to:

- Soundtracks - Sound effects - Voice over and narration - Early sound synchronization. - Animated music - The ‘musical’ in animation - Music video

Posts of between 300 and 500 words, which discuss any aspect of the above topic are welcome. Contributors are encouraged to include clips and images to support their posts. Please also include a short bio to accompany the post. All permissions are the responsibility of the contributor.

4th Animation Postgraduate Research Group / Graphic Novels Research Students Symposium

Birgitta Hosea

The Animation Postgraduate Research Group was set up in 2011 by Professor Paul Ward of the Arts University College at Bournemouth as a safe and supportive network in which MPhil/PhD students can exchange ideas and disseminate their research. To join the group and receive further information about this and future events, contact .

The 4th APGR Symposium was held at Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, University of the Arts London on Saturday 23rd March and was extended to include researchers from the field of comics for the first time. The symposium featured a range of international speakers from the disciplines of animation and graphic novels who spoke from diverse practice-based and theoretical perspectives at the cutting edge of their subjects. Although graphic novels are without sound and movement and animation lacks a tactile, sensual interaction with paper and page turning, during the discussions that ensued many similarities between the two subject areas emerged:

• a concern with humour, visual storytelling and the representation of character; • both disciplines have strong and inclusive communities of practice and scholarship; • there is a shared sense of work which externalises personal, interior thoughts and quirky ways of looking at the world.

To view a comprehensive list of the speakers and panel sessions with abstracts and presenter details please visit the Expanded Animation blog.

The Animation Show of Shows DVD

Ron Diamond

The Animation Show of Shows DVDs are an incredibly valuable resource for my History of Animation courses at CalArts. This compendium, which features the world’s greatest animated shorts, inspires my students through their innovation and range. I would recommend them for anyone teaching high school or college level courses in animation production and history or related art forms. Maureen Furniss, Associate Professor California Institute of the Arts

For the SCAD-Atlanta Animation Department, buying the Animation Show of Shows DVDs was a no brainer and I am not alone in using them all the time in my critical studies and studio classes. Harvey Deneroff, Animation and Cinema Studies Professor Savannah College of Art and Design

Show of Shows represents the best in global animation. It lies at the core of our curriculum – a curriculum that cultivates remixed concepts, creative innovation and an expanded view of animation. Rose Bond, Chair Animated Arts Pacific Northwest College of the Arts

The Animation Show of Shows DVD's will be available at the 25th Annual SAS Conference (pre-order link)

New Release: Five Animated Films

Dennis Tupicoff

For the first time: a chance to see these prize-winning 1983-2007 films collected on DVD and BluRay (www.junglepictures.com.au).

CHAINSAW (2007) 25:00 Frank and Ava Gardner "star" in a chainsaw safety film, and love the rodeo. But now, ten years later... Romance is like a chainsaw: a very dangerous beast indeed. "a beautiful and affecting animated film that weaves... disparate tales into a film about love, betrayal and man's command of nature." Clare Morgan (Sydney Morning Herald)

INTO THE DARK (2001) 6:00 The mind of a dying man drifts back to the evenings of his childhood. "a moving, intelligent film that unites life and mortality, man and boy, and, most powerfully, father and son." Chris Robinson - Unsung Heroes of Animation

HIS MOTHER'S VOICE (1997) 14:30 A mother describes how she found out that her son was shot dead. Using an ABC radio interview, this animated film tells its tragic story from two points of view. "an extraordinarily powerful piece of filmmaking." Bill Nichols - Introduction to Documentary

THE DARRA DOGS (1993) 10:00 A collection of warm and disturbing memories from the filmmaker's childhood experience with neighbourhood dogs. "a wonderful animated short... tough and haunting in ways not easily described." Vincent Canby (New York Times)

DANCE OF DEATH (1983) 8:30 An animated satire on television violence, set in a world where the skeletal Don Death runs a popular variety show called "Dance of Death". One night little Sally and her parents get more than they bargained for. "an uncommon example of black humour well-supported by good taste." Giannalberto Bendazzi - Cartoons: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation

Society for Animation Studies Board and Contact Information

Founded by Dr. Harvey Deneroff in 1987, SAS Membership the Society for Animation Studies (SAS) is Benefits to members include: an international organization dedicated to • Annual conferences. the study of animation history and theory. Publication of peer-reviewed • SAS Board: conference proceedings in the Society's online journal, Animation Studies. Paul Ward, President University College at Bournemouth, UK • Listing in the 'SAS Animation Experts' directory (forthcoming). Nichola Dobson, Vice-President University of Edinburgh, UK • The SAS Newsletter, an internal news Richard Leskosky, publication. Secretary/Parliamentarian • Members-only discussion list. University of Illinois, Urbana Discounts to festivals and other events Robert Musburger, Treasurer with participating organizations. Musburger Media Services Regular Membership:

USD 35.00 / 35.00 Euro Charles daCosta, Historian Student Membership Savannah College of Art and Design USD 20.00 / 20.00 Euro Tom Klein, Institutional Membership Awards and Outreach Committee Chair USD 60.00 / 60.00 Euro Loyola Marymount University Please visit the SAS website to learn how Timo Linsenmaier, Webmaster to become a member. University of Arts and Design Karlsruhe Tim Jones, Website Development Jeanpaul Goergen Regional Website Contributor (Germany) SAS Newsletter Submissions, suggestions, corrections, address changes and all other Newsletter- Publications Editors: related correspondence should be Animation Studies – Amy Ratelle addressed to: SAS Newsletter – Chris Pallant

Chris Pallant E: [email protected] SAS Websites: SAS Newsletter subscriptions are free with http://www.animationstudies.org membership in the society. http://www.sas-in-europe.com http://universe.animationstudies.org/ Twitter: @anistudies

Temporary SAS discussion group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/animationst udies/