January 1, 2015

now we are 8

by gl. at 9:54 pm

toby5birthday.jpg

toby is now 8! happy birthday, toby!

posted by gl. | permalink | categories: toby

December 21, 2014

toby's christmas miracle!

by gl. at 9:58 pm

click on image to play film (3:35min - 12.4 MB)

A Scarlet Star Studios Christmas tradition since 2009…

The classic musical comedy which has delighted and enraptured children around the world...

Featuring the most beloved five-armed sock creature of all time: Toby!

...It's TOBY'S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!

(Also available on YouTube.)

posted by gl. | permalink | categories: toby

October 31, 2014

happy halloween from scarlet star studios!

by sven at 12:20 am

posted by sven | permalink | categories: miscellany

December 21, 2013

toby's christmas miracle!

by sven at 7:23 pm

click on image to play film (3:35min - 12.4 MB)

A Scarlet Star Studios Christmas tradition…

The classic musical comedy which has delighted and enraptured children around the world...

Featuring the most beloved five-armed sock creature of all time: Toby!

...It's TOBY'S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!


(Also available on YouTube.)

posted by sven | permalink | categories: toby

October 31, 2013

happy halloween from scarlet star studios!

by sven at 10:30 am

posted by sven | permalink | categories: miscellany

October 25, 2013

event review: best of the 2013 nw animation fest

by sven at 4:43 pm

Our Best of the 2013 NW Animation Fest event took place on Saturday Sept 7 at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, Oregon. It repeated one week later on Sept 14 at the Bijou Metro in Eugene. Here's a short review-in-photos that I created for the NWAF Facebook page.

1. We're proud to have been up on the Hollywood Theatre's beautiful new marquee just two days after the grand unveiling ceremony.


2. Our wonderful volunteer team: (front) Hannah Viera, Naomi Fish, Sven Bonnichsen, Samantha McKinney; (rear) Danie West, Brad Bolchunos, Gretchin Lair, Nick Nall. Not pictured: Patrick Neary.


3. Fest director Sven Bonnichsen orients event staff before the evening show.


4. The audience begins to arrive.


5. Naomi Fish helps direct people as they arrive for the show.


6. The Hollywood Theatre begins to fill up.


7. Assistant director & lobby leader Gretchin Lair answers questions at the info table alongside Danie West.


8. Welcome! I'm so glad you could make it!


9. The Hollywood Theatre's popcorn has been voted the best movie popcorn in the city. (Seriously.) The line for concessions stretches down the hall.


10. The auditorium doors open, and folks begin finding their seats.


11. Hannah Viera and Brad Bolchunos hand out programs at the first door.


12. Volunteers Hannah Viera and Brad Bolchunos.


13. Nick Nall and Samantha McKinney hand out programs at the auditorium's second door.


14. Thank you to our sponsors and supporters, the Hollywood Theatre, Oregon Film, Morel Ink, ADi, Oregon Media Production Association, Wild Portland, Jupiter Hotel, the Portland Mercury & Voodoo Doughnuts.


15. There were over 200 people in the audience this night.


16. Reading through the program.


17. Welcome to the Best of the 2014 Northwest Animation Festival!


18. Someday we're going to host an event that's so crowded, people will even sit in the front row!


19. The background image is from the film "A Knock on My Door," by San Jose professor and all-around animation mensch, David Chai.


20. The show you are about to see was boiled down from the program of 155 international films that we screened this past May.


21. "Now, let's watch some films!"


22. Our audience as the lights are just about to go down for the show...


23. Lobby life: hanging out talking about your favorite films after the show has ended.


24. Hanging out in the lobby post-show.


25. It's time to head over to the Moon & Sixpence for drinks and staying up much too late.


26. Exiting the auditorium.


27. The Hollywood Theatre's new marquee, lit up at night.


28. Glittering palace of film.


29. Thanks to our wonderful hosts at the Hollywood Theatre!


30. The next full-scale Northwest Animation Festival is scheduled for
May 15-18, 2014... See you then!

posted by sven | permalink | categories: nw animation festival

July 14, 2013

women in animation 2013

by sven at 1:56 pm

While putting films in sequence for this year's NW Animation Fest, I was struck by the scarcity of female characters. Because gender interests me, I decided to throw together some quick statistics to study what's going on.

My data set consists of the 154 films that were selected for screening at our 2013 festival. Here's what I found:

BYLINE
(In the program, who did we list on the film's "created by" line?)
66% Male
19% Female
15% both / name of studio only

GENDER OF FILM'S PROTAGONIST
66% Male
20% Female
14% none (abstract or unidentifiable)

If we stopped there, you might guess that men exclusively make films about men, and women make films about women. But there's actually a stronger bias at work.

MALE BYLINES
72% Male protagonist
12% Female protagonist
17% abstract, or gender of protagonist is unidentifiable

FEMALE BYLINES
41% Male protagonist
48% Female protagonist
10% abstract, or gender of protagonist is unidentifiable

GROUP BYLINES
(creators of more than one gender listed, or name of studio only)
83% Male protagonist
13% Female protagonist
4% abstract, or gender of protagonist is unidentifiable

What I see here is that when women make a film, they create female protagonists about 1/2 the time. But when men make films, they create male protagonists about 3/4 the time. Group projects feature male protagonists about 4/5 the time.

It seems intuitive that artists would have a bias toward creating protagonists that look like themselves. But this is not really the case. Women seem to have a fairly egalitarian interest in both men and women. Men, in contrast, tend to take a male-identified point of view.

posted by sven | permalink | categories: nw animation festival, writing