The Art of Trevor Hunter

See more.

"Animated Drink Dial" by Dan Meth

Michael Caine's "Acting in Film" Workshop

Found at onanimation

"Vigour" by Chang Dai

Review - Dark City

I remember it was late 1997, I went to the theater to see a movie (I forget which one) and I saw a trailer for Dark City. It was one of those trailers that showed you all kinds of exciting stuff, yet you had no idea what it was about, so I was thoroughly intrigued. It was definitely some sort of dark-sci-fi-surreal-mystery thing, I couldn't wait to see it! Three months later I went to see it, and I was already proclaiming it to be the best film of the year (even though it was only March).

"Dark City" by Alex Proyas is a great visionary achievement, a film so original and exciting, it stirred my imagination like "Metropolis" and "2001: A Space Odyssey." If it is true (as the German director Werner Herzog believes) that we live in an age starved of new images, then "Dark City" is a film to nourish us. Not a story so much as an experience, it is a triumph of art direction, set design, cinematography, special effects, and imagination. Watching it again recently brought on some nostalgia that I usually only experience from films I enjoyed from my childhood.


Like "Blade Runner," it imagines a city of the future. But while "Blade Runner" masterfully extended on existing trends, "Dark City" leaps into the unknown. Its vast 'noir metropolis' seems to exist in an alternate time line, with elements of our present and past combined with visions from some sort of futuristic comic book. Like the first "Batman," it presents a city of night and shadows, but it goes far beyond "Batman" with a richness of ominous, stylized sets, streets, skylines and cityscapes. For once a movie city equals any we could picture in our minds; this is the city "The Fifth Element" teased us with, without following through.

The story combines science fiction with film noir--in more ways than we realize and more surprising ways than I will reveal. Its villains, in their homburgs and flapping overcoats, look like a nightmare inspired by the thugs in "M," but their pale faces would look more at home in "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari"--and, frighteningly, one of them is a child. They are the 'Strangers', shape-changers from another solar system, and we are told they came to Earth when their own world was dying. (They create, in the process, the first space vessel since "Star Wars" that is newly conceived--not a clone of that looming mechanical vision.) They inhabit a city of rumbling elevated streamlined trains, dank flophouses, scurrying crowds and store windows that owe something to Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks." In this city lives John Murdoch (played by Rufus Sewell), who awakens in a strange bathtub beneath a swinging ceiling lamp, to blood, fear and guilt. The telephone rings; it is Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland), gasping out two or three words at a time, as if the need to speak is all that gives him breath. He warns Murdoch to flee, and indeed three Strangers are in the corridor, coming for him.



The film becomes the story of Murdoch's flight into the mean streets, and his gradual discovery of the nature of the city and the Strangers. Like many science-fiction heroes, he has a memory shattered into pieces that do not fit. But he remembers the woman he loves, or loved - his wife, Emma (the very hot Jennifer Connelly), who is a torch singer with sad eyes and wounded lips. And he remembers a placed called Shell Beach, but can't piece together where or what it is.



There is a detective after him, Inspector Bumstead (William Hurt). Murdoch is wanted in connection with the murders of six prostitutes. Did he kill them? Was he framed? Like the hero of Franz Kafka's The Trial, Murdoch feels so paranoid he hardly knows.ju



The story has familiar elements made new. Even the hard-boiled detective, his eyes shaded by the brim of his fedora, seems less like a figure from film noir than like a projection of an alien idea of noir. Proyas and his co-screenwriters, Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer, use dream logic to pursue their hero through the mystery of his own life. Along the way, Murdoch discovers that he alone, among humans, has the power of the Strangers--an ability to use his mind in order to shape the physical universe. (This power is expressed in the film as a sort of transparent shimmering projection, aimed from Murdoch's forehead into the world, and as klutzy as that sounds, I found myself enjoying its very audacity: What else would mind-power look like?) Murdoch's problem is that he has no way of knowing if his memories are real, if his past actually happened, if the women he loves ever existed. Those who offer to help him cannot be trusted. Even his enemies may not be real.

The movie is a glorious marriage of existential dread and slam-bang action. Toward the end, there is a thrilling apocalyptic battle that nearly destroys the city, and for once, you witness a sequence where the fire and explosions really work and don't play just as effects. Proyas and his cinematographer, Dariusz Wolski, capture the kinetic energy of great comic books; their framing, foreshortening, tilt shots and distorting lenses shake the images and splash them on the screen, and it's not "action" but more like action painting.



Proyas directed "The Crow" (1994), the visually inspired film that was almost doomed when its star, Brandon Lee, was killed in an accident. At the time, I thought that film was one of the best versions of a comic book universe I had ever seen, but "Dark City" is miles beyond it. Proyas' background was in music videos, usually an ominous sign, but not here: His film shows the obsessive concentration on visual detail that's the hallmark of directors who make films that are short and expensive. There's such a wealth on the screen, such an overflowing of imagination and energy. Often in special effects movies the camera doesn't feel free because it must remain within the confines of what has been created for it to see. Here we feel there's no limits.

Is the film for teenage boys and comic book fans? Not at all, although that's how the film was marketed. It's for anyone who still has a sense of wonder and a feeling for great visual style. This film contains ideas and true poignance, a story that has been thought out and has surprises right to the end. It's romantic and exhilarating. Watching it, I realized the last dozen films I'd seen were about people standing around, talking to one another. "Dark City" has been created and imagined as a new visual place for us to inhabit. It adds treasure to our notions of what can be imagined.

I highly recommend it.

Voice Actor - Billy West

West is best known for his voice-work on Ren & Stimpy, Doug and Futurama. His favorite characters are Philip J. Fry (Futurama) and Stimpy (Ren and Stimpy), both of which he originated. West's most notable film work was in Space Jam (1996) providing the voice of both Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd; he has provided the same voices for other Looney Tunes films and video games. West has been very outspoken over his displeasure about the influx of movie star actors providing voice-over for films and major shows.

West's first two high-profile roles came almost simultaneously: Doug and Ren & Stimpy, which were two of the first original three Nicktoons (the other being Rugrats). Over his career West has been the voice talent for close to 120 different characters including some of the most iconic animated figures in television history. He has become one of few voice actors who can impersonate Mel Blanc in his prime, including characterizations of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and other characters from Warner Bros. cartoons.

In 1998, Entertainment Weekly described West as "the new Mel Blanc" and noted his ability to mimic well-known voices, though he would rather develop original voices. West's favorite characters are Philip J. Fry and Stimpy. West has been very outspoken over his displeasure about the influx of movie star actors providing voice-over for films and major shows. West has stated that he did not like the Disney version of Doug, and that he "couldn't watch" the show. West was also the voice of the show's namesake, Geeker, throughout Project Geeker's 13 episode run.

West was the voice of Zim in the original pilot for Nickelodeon's Invader Zim. Richard Horvitz was chosen for the series role because West's voice was too recognizable, according to Invader Zim creator Jhonen Vasquez during DVD commentary. Ever since the late 90s, West has had a bit of a reputation of being difficult to work with, but that often comes with great talent.

West is also the voice of "Red" in numerous M&M commercials as well as the 3-D movie "I Lost my M in Vegas", currently playing at M&M's World in Las Vegas, NV. West also voices a number of characters in the series Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World. He does not play a regular character in that series, but appears in almost every episode of the show voicing various minor and one-off characters. West voiced the character Moobeard in Moobeard the Cow Pirate, a short animation featured on Random! Cartoons.

West provided the voice of Stimpy in Nickelodeon's The Ren and Stimpy Show from 1991 until 1996, and he provided the voice of Ren from 1993–1996 (after Ren's original voice and series creator John Kricfalusi was fired by Nickelodeon for delivering un-airable episodes). West performed other characters on the series as well, such as Mr. Horse (another role that West was issued after Kricfalusi's departure) and the "Announcer/Salesman" of such shorts as the "Log" ads (a voice West would years later use as the Narrator for The Weird Al Show).

According to West, he was originally supposed to do the voice of both Ren and Stimpy (and performed both characters on the tape that was used to sell the show to Nickelodeon), but then Kricfalusi decided to do the voice of Ren himself once the show was sold and he had West on board as part of the selling point. However, West provided Ren's maniacal laughter when John Kricfalusi was the voice of Ren.

West went into the Futurama auditions and was asked to try out for, as he says, "just about every part"; eventually landing the professor, Zoidberg, and Zapp Brannigan. It wasn't until some casting changes were made that West got the part of Fry, which originally had gone to Charlie Schlatter. While West is known for doing many different and unique voices, the voice he does for Philip J. Fry is often considered to be closer to his natural voice than any other character he has done (in an audio commentary, he states Fry is just himself at age 25). This similarity, West acknowledges, was done purposefully in order to make it harder to replace him in the part along with placing more of himself personally into the role (DVD commentary).

The part of Zapp Brannigan was created for Phil Hartman, but he died before the show started and West was issued the role. West has described his interpretation of Zapp Brannigan's voice as an imitation of Hartman, but described the actual vocalizations of the character as being based on "a couple of big dumb announcers I knew."

Futurama was renewed by Comedy Central as four direct-to-video movies broken into 16 television episodes. West had reprised his roles for these films, in addition to the new 26-episode season of Futurama which began airing last June 2010.





Official Website: http://www.billywest.com
See his full credit list here.

Voice Actor - Maurice LaMarche

Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor and former stand up comedian. He is best known for his voicework in Futurama and Pinky & The Brain.

LaMarche began on Inspector Gadget and went on to Dennis the Menace, Popeye and Son and The Real Ghostbusters. After The Real Ghostbusters, LaMarche became a regular mainstay of the voiceover industry appearing in such shows as Talespin, Tiny Toon Adventures, GI Joe, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series, Taz-Mania, Where's Waldo, The Little Mermaid, Batman: The Animated Series, and Bonkers before landing perhaps his most recognized role in 1993 as The Brain on Animaniacs (and later its spin-off show Pinky and the Brain). Following this, LaMarche worked on The Critic, Freakazoid!, and The Tick before then reprising his role of Egon in Extreme Ghostbusters.

The stretch of two years after this saw LaMarche portray characters in such shows as Duckman, Hey Arnold! as Big Bob Pataki, Queer Duck, King of the Hill, The Chimp Channel, and Sonic Underground as Sleet. It was at this time, 1999, that LaMarche began work on Futurama. Since Futurama LaMarche has continued to work steadily in television, including guest roles on The Simpsons (where he once again parodied Orson Welles). His most recent regular role came as Hovis the butler on the Nickelodeon series Catscratch.

LaMarche has done various voice work for many Warner Bros. Animation and DiC Entertainment cartoons. He also delivered the protracted belches for the "Great Wakkorotti" shorts on Animaniacs, in which Wakko Warner performed various pieces of music.



LaMarche plays the character of The Brain in Pinky and the Brain. In creating the voice for Brain, LaMarche says he looked at a picture of the character and immediately thought of Orson Welles, although the character wasn't modeled after Welles. Voicing Brain gave LaMarche the opportunity to make use of his signature impersonation of Welles. Many Pinky and the Brain episodes are nods to Welles' career. LaMarche won an Annie Award for his role as the Brain, and was nominated for an Emmy.



While working on The Critic, LaMarche once voiced 29 characters in one 30-minute episode!

His time on The Critic also afforded LaMarche the opportunity to once again parody Orson Welles, this time after a video reading of a will (the Sherman family was so wealthy, they had hired Welles to narrate it) dissolves into a commercial for Mrs. Pells Fishsticks (as well as another for Rosebud Frozen Peas, and another for Blotto Bros. wine).

See his long list of voice acting credits here.

Voice Actor - Jim Varney

Even though he does not have have a big career as a voice actor, I saw fit to mention this comedic genius. Varney has lent his voice to the character Slinky Dog in the first two entries of Disney's Toy Story film series, and played numerous others, including "Cookie" Farnsworth, from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, released the year after his death, the carny character Cooter in the "Bart Carny" episode of The Simpsons, the character Walt Evergreen in the Duckman episode "You've Come a Wrong Way, Baby".

As a tribute to Varney, comedian Blake Clark succeeded him as the voice of Slinky Dog in Toy Story 3. Pixar originally were going to write the character out of the story but they soon discovered that Clark was a good friend of Varney's and their voices sounded the same, so Slinky Dog returned in the film. In addition, Steve Barr also replaced him for the sequel Atlantis: Milo's Return).

Varney's most popular live-action character performance has to be Ernest P. Worrell. It proved so popular that it was spun off into a TV series, Hey Vern, It's Ernest!, and a series of movies in the 1980s and 1990s. Ernest Goes to Camp brought Varney a nomination for "Worst New Star" at the 1987 Golden Raspberry Awards; however, the movie was a huge hit, grossing $25 million at the box office.

In 1989, Jim Varney won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for Hey Vern, It's Ernest (1988). Varney, playing Ernest both times, was nominated for a Razzie Award one year (1988) and then won an Emmy Award the next year (1989).
Other Ernest movies include Ernest Saves Christmas, Slam Dunk Ernest, Ernest Goes to Jail, Ernest Goes to Africa, Ernest Rides Again, Ernest Goes to School, Ernest Scared Stupid, and Ernest in the Army.

Varney died on February 10, 2000 of lung cancer.

Credit List:

Annabelle's Wish (1997, Animated Film (Direct-to-Video))	Gus Holder
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001, Animated Film)	Cookie Farnsworth
Duckman (1994, Animated Series)	Tobacco CEO	"You've Come the Wrong Way, Baby"
Hercules (1998, Animated Series)	Ephialtes
Simpsons, The (1989, Animated Series)	Cooder the Carny
Toy Story (1995, Computer Animated Film)	Slinky Dog
Toy Story 2 (1999, Computer Animated Film)	Slinky Dog

Electric Sheep

After this week's look at Blade Runner's cinematography; a few Flooby Fans have pointed out lots of websites with some great production photos, FX storyboards, magazine covers, novels, and concept art from the film. Here's a small handful from one particularly well-endowed site: ridleyville.com