Laika of Their Portland Spir- It Called “Say Color
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STRING SUMMIT INCIDENTALLY North Plains event hits all the right notes — SEE LIFE, B1 PortlandTHURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST NONDAILY PAPERTribune • PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHED TUESDAY AND THURSDAY ‘ Say Hey’ network connects minorities Monthly event supports diversity at work, in community By JENNIFER ANDERSON The Tribune Madison Savary is used to being the lone black person in a crowd in Portland. But it doesn’t bother her much, having spent four years at the University of Oregon be- fore moving to Portland to work as a summer intern at Wieden + Kennedy. “Obviously, I noticed that I’m one of just a handful” in ■ Hillsboro fi rm pioneer in mass production for animated films Portland, says Savary, 21, a “I talk to Los Angeles native. “But TECHNOLOGY ENCOURAGES INDUSTRY TO MAK E CHANGES people it’s not so again and much an is- again who sue, given that everyone walk into is so welcom- the ing and nice.” 3-D printing Still, Savary Portland was one of 128 airport and interns who there’s attended a networking nobody else event on the passes Laika of their Portland Spir- it called “Say color. They Hey!” last have no month. The support goal of the PHOTOS COURTESY OF LAIKA INC./FOCUS FEATURES quarterly Norman of “ParaNorman” (top) had 1.4 million different expressions, screen test system ...” event is to thanks to 3 D printers at Laika able to print out thousands of nearly — John Casey welcome new identical faces. Laika’s latest production, “The Boxtrolls” (middle), By PETER K ORN mation producing film characters who Mills, professionals will feature characters Winnie and Eggs when it is released in The Tribune could move seamlessly across the screen Miller Nash LLP of color September. Adam Lathers (bottom) works on computer graphics during with an infinite number of body move- who’ve moved production of “ParaNorman.” rian McLean knew all along that ments and facial expressions. In contrast, to Oregon or he was in a race against “The Nightmare Before Christ- Southwest Washington within technology. In charge of mas,” according to McLean, broke the past 18 months. BHillsboro-based Laika’s ground in the fi eld of stop-motion Now in its ninth year, the 3-D printing and prototyping de- TRIB with 800 different heads for its quarterly event is a project of partment, McLean had watched as characters. But the characters’ the Portland Business Alli- computer-generated imagery SERIES faces, he says, still lacked nuance ance’s nonprofit Partners in (CGI) allowed animation fi lms in their expressions. Diversity group. It happens at from major studios to become in- SECOND OF The solution for Laika came in different locations, depending creasingly sophisticated. TWO PARTS the form of cutting-edge technology: on that month’s sponsors. The Laika is a company founded on a 3-D printing. Portland Spirit, Clackamas more traditional ethic, using handcrafted Tom McLean, editor of Animation maga- County and Kaiser Perman- puppet characters in its frame-by-frame, zine (and no relation to Brian), recently ente hosted the June event on stop-motion filmmaking process. “The was given an inside look on the set of “The the Portland Spirit. Nightmare Before Christmas” in 1993 had Boxtrolls,” Laika’s latest production, which “Often, young people come signaled a rebirth for stop-motion anima- is scheduled for a September release. He for the summer and don’t tion, followed by Laika’s critically ac- says 3-D printing completely transforms connect, don’t learn about the claimed “Coraline” and “ParaNorman.” community and consider ca- McLean saw computer-generated ani- See LAIK A / Page 2 reers, and go somewhere else,” says Vicki Nakashima, a Partners in Diversity board member. Many companies also use it as a chance to recruit diverse talent from across the country. Or to just show their interns New endangered species: old homes that Portland is a great place to live and work, beyond just the summertime. Population growth “In an internship situation, “I’m still in the planning you’re still courting them,” spurs demolitions, says John Casey Mills, a part- stages, but I’m leaning ner at the downtown law fi rm new infi ll projects toward tearing it down, Miller Nash LLP, one of 38 em- dividing the lot, and ployers on the cruise in June. By JIM REDDEN “Most were really fresh The Tribune replacing it with two from out of town. It was really homes that refl ect the nice to see them cross-connect Neighborhood activists and with each other.” preservationist are scram- character of the Miller Nash sent its five bling to prevent the demoli- neighborhood.” summer associates to the June tion of another old house in — Peter K usyk, developer event. Portland, the Markham home “Say Hey!” has been a quar- at the entrance to the Laurel- hurst neighborhood. A devel- ous deterioration. See ‘ SAY HEY’ / Page 11 oper has bought the ram- “I’m still in the planning stag- bling 1906 structure and re- es, but I’m leaning toward tear- quested a meeting with the ing it down, dividing the lot, and Bureau of Development Ser- replacing it with two homes vices to discuss its future. that refl ect the character of the “I’m not against change, but neighborhood,” Kusyk says. this is a historically important Local homebuilder Jeff Fish home to the neighborhood,” says such controversies are be- says Terra Wheeler, who was ing driven by Portland’s grow- circulating fl iers asking people ing popularity and land-use TRIBUNE PHOTO: JONATHAN HOUSE to sign an online petition to save planning laws that limit avail- Local homebuilder Jeff Fish is chairman of a city advisory committee working with neighbors upset about the home. She operates the able homesites. demolitions and infi ll projects. Facebook page Portland Histor- “As long as people want to ic Building Demolition Alert. move to here and there are lim- tion, specializes in infi ll devel- Fish is on the front lines of the homes being torn down in their The buyer, developer Peter its on where new homes can be opments. growing battle over how and neighborhoods and replaced Kusyk, says he has not yet de- built, existing homes in estab- Fish is not just any builder. where new homes should be with one or more new ones. cided what to do with the home. lished neighborhoods will be He is also the chairman of a citi- built in town. He has spent ma- According to Fish, such com- But the property has been heav- torn down and replaced with zens advisory committee to the ny hours during the past few plaints are escalating as the ily modifi ed over the years and new ones,” says Fish, whose Portland Bureau of Develop- months listening to angry resi- the house shows signs of seri- company, Jeff Fish Construc- ment Services. In that capacity, dents upset about existing See HOMES / Page 11 “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to Portland Tribune deliver balanced news that refl ects the UNUSUAL SUMMER stories of our communities. Thank you — SEE SPORTS, PAGE B10 for reading our newspapers.” Inside — DR. ROBERT B. PAMPLIN JR. OWNER & NEIGHBOR A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Thursday, July 10, 2014 Laika: 3-D printing revolutionizing design ■ sents the fi rst time 3-D printing From page 1 was used for mass production in any industry. the possibilities for stop-motion That meant that Laika would fi lmmaking, and “Boxtrolls” will be using 3-D printers in ways set a new standard for stop-mo- nobody had tried before and tion fi lms. would be pushing the limits of “The expressions on the fac- the machines. A tiny 1-micron es, the quality of the skin, it shift in the placement of the tip looked more realistic than any- of a character’s nose from one thing I’eve ever seen on stop- puppet to the next, for instance, motion,” McLean says. “They’re would look to moviegoers as if doing things that even the cre- the nose was moving around. ators of these printers had not “That type of precision was thought of.” new to the 3-D printing indus- Each second of fi lm time in a try,” McLean says. Laika movie is the product of be- In addition, the heads pro- tween 12 and 24 duced by 3-D print- individual stop- ers would have to motion camera “It’s a tool and be tough enough to shots. It takes days be re-used in scene for a Laika artist to you still need after scene, stand- sculpt just one artists and ing up to hot stage head for one of technicians to lights through 18 those shots. Laika months of shoot- needed a machine run that tool ing. 3-D printers, that could mass and get the most as they have produce hundreds evolved, can han- of thousands of out of it.” dle most of those heads for each of — Brian McLean, Laika demands. Still, its characters, 3 -D printing and Laika keeps on with each charac- prototyping department hand a team of art- ter’s head identical ists to not only cre- head COURTESY OF SCOTT PIKE R/LAIKA to the others, ex- ate the puppets After placing a new face on Norman, a Laika animator puts on a few fi nishing touches. Laika used 25 artists on “ParaNorman,” and more than cept for a slight that will be pro- double that number are at work on “The Boxtrolls.” difference as the character’s ex- duced on the studio’s nine print- pressions changed.