May 27, 2013
May 25, 2013
May 24, 2013
Jack Kirby
Born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium.
Growing up poor in New York City, Kurtzberg entered the nascent comics industry in the 1930s. He drew various comics features under different pen names, including Jack Curtiss, but ultimately settling on Jack Kirby. In 1940, he and writer-editor Joe Simon created the highly successful superhero character Captain America for Timely Comics, predecessor of Marvel Comics. During the 1940s, Kirby, generally teamed with Simon, created numerous characters for that company and for the company that would become DC Comics.
After serving in World War II, Kirby returned to comics and worked in a variety of genres. He contributed to a number of publishers, including DC, Harvey Comics, Hillman Periodicals and Crestwood Publications, where he and Simon created the genre of romance comics. He and Simon also launched their own short-lived comic company, Mainline Publications. Kirby ultimately found himself at Timely's 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics, later to be known as Marvel Comics. There, in the 1960s, he and writer-editor Stan Lee co-created many of Marvel's major characters, including the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and the Hulk. Despite the high sales and critical acclaim of the Lee-Kirby titles, however, Kirby felt treated unfairly, and left the company in 1970 for rival DC.
There Kirby created his Fourth World saga, which spanned several comics titles. While these series proved commercially unsuccessful and were canceled, several of their characters and the Fourth World mythos have continued as a significant part of the DC Universe. Kirby returned to Marvel briefly in the mid-to-late 1970s, then ventured into television animation and independent comics. In his later years, Kirby, who has been called "the William Blake of comics",[3] began receiving great recognition in the mainstream press for his career accomplishments, and in 1987, he, along with Carl Barks and Will Eisner, was one of the three inaugural inductees of the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame. The Jack Kirby Awards and Jack Kirby Hall of Fame were named in his honor.
Here's an interesting look at how the media would portray comics back in 1982:
May 23, 2013
May 22, 2013
'Steven Universe' Pilot Episode by Rebecca Sugar
Rebecca Sugar was asked by Cartoon Network to create a pilot for a proposed cartoon series. The result: Steven Universe. Here's the finished pilot. Rebecca and her crew are hard at work on the series, and what you see here are early versions of character designs and animation. Rebecca's brother Steven is also working on the show doing backgrounds.
Gustav Hoegen - Animatronics Showreel
Gustav's specialty is Animatronic Puppetry and Prosthetic Makeup Effects for TV and Film. His credits and some shots shown in this video include: Prometheus, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Clash of the Titans, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Doctor Who and more: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1539473/
Animatronics is mainly used in movie making, but also in theme parks and other forms of entertainment. Its main advantage over CGI and stop motion is that the simulated creature has a physical presence moving in front of the camera in real time. The technology behind animatronics has become more advanced and sophisticated over the years, making the puppets even more realistic and lifelike.
Of course Jim Henson and Stan Winston were pioneers in this field of special effects with films like Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, Terminator, Aliens, and The Thing. People like Gustav was inspired by these great works and bring these techniques and skill sets to brand new heights.
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