Published between 1982 and 1995
Pressure groups act In the late sixties, the cartoon formats featuring fantastic super beings engaging grotesque monsters in colourful mayhem, aroused alarmed citizens groups. Also in their competitive zeal, Saturday morning advertisers were making the most of their liberal commercial time with pitches for everything from sugar-coated vitamins to outrageously expensive toys, some of which … Read more
David Jefferson talks to Steve Flack about the exciting new projects his company are getting involved in. Hierographics is a trace and paint service that is situated in a Wardour Street basement. You enter through a small shop front office, down a flight of stairs to be confronted with a maze of rooms set out … Read more
Bigger companies were using Hierographics for the odd two or three scenes that they needed to get finished by the end of the day. Then companies with four productions would pass on one of them for trace and paint including the job of making up the colour models. Hierographics was becoming paint, trace and co-ordination, … Read more
The Burglar was voted the most popular film at the Animator’s Association (ANIMA) Festival held in September. Film maker Tina Fletcher tells how she progressed from puppet shows to puppet films and the production of The Burglar. ‘The Burglar” was shot in our kitchen. Nothing very extraordinary about that, for in the amateur film making … Read more
My son and I were the chief film enthusiasts. We filmed for the new play in the kitchen but since it was during the holidays and we needed space and solitude, we worked mostly by night, going to bed only when the others were getting up. Animating puppets and cut-outs, we had no knowledge of … Read more
16mm and Henry King I was over the moon. I bought an elderly second-hand Bolex; redheads replaced the old theatre lights; I found an out of work engineer camera lighting man who lived near and was willing to come in, fix the lights and camera and then leave me to animate. Working with my first … Read more
Ken Clark went along to Art Babbitt’s seminar on animation held in London and organized by the Richard Williams Studio. Dateline Tuesday August 28th 1984. I arrived outside the Richard Williams Studios as Art Babbitt was leaving for the preview studio where he was holding his third seminar on the art of animation. At first … Read more
“Everybody writes books about the history of animation, and the technicalities of the rostrum camera, but few tell you how to animate. Some call it Art – that’s wishful thinking. It is little more than finger-painting. Although we are going one step further than finger-painting, animation at present is still at the stage where we … Read more
David Jefferson went on safari down The Old Kent Road to find Britain’s smallest animation studio. Tiger Trax Animation is situated in a block of flats just off the Old Kent Road. As Paul Thomas, who owns Tiger Trax, lead me up the concrete stairs and along the open passageways that lead to his front … Read more
An avid collector of animation memorabilia, Paul has off-cuts from Bob Godfrey’s editing bin, paper animations from “Rhubarb”, cels from various well known productions and a collection of posters issued by animation studios plastered over the walls of his work room. Working from home can be a problem if tradesmen call and he has cels … Read more