I’ve been trying to use these Muybridge photographs, which means I’m rotoscoping everything, and I had forgotten how time consuming rotoscoping is. Even the most simple images are taking two days to do. I have a re-found respect for anything rotoscoped.

Animation Hotline is a series of relatively often animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

I went to the Museum of the Moving image in Queens the other week and I was watching all the Eadgear Muybridge photographs and I really wanted to start using them in my animations. I just got a book from the library yesterday and it was this amazing 800 page archive of thousands of his photographs. This was the first of the experiments to use his photos in the animations, so it didn’t come out perfect, but it worked. I went to visit Jeff Scher’s studio a week or so ago, so my first foray into rotoscoping after a few year hiatus is my homage to his work.

Animation Hotline is a series of relatively often animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

vimeo.com/​channels/​animationhotline

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

Please vote for Prayers for Peace for the Next Great Filmmaker Award contest. I’m one of five films that have been selected for the contest and if I win I’ll get $5000, which should be able to finance this project for a few months. It’s so easy to vote, just follow the link, plus you could win an iPad2 just for voting. How awesome is that?!

biffma.com/​nextGREAT

Even though this one doesn’t have anything to do with Peru, it is the same guy (or at least sounds like the same guy) that left that message, and I’m guessing that it is the same girl that he’s talking about. Hopefully he will leave the conclusion to what happens, or maybe they fell in love and ran off to Maui, because Maui is for lovers. Also, I’m trying to figure out how to do a pastel to paper transfer mono-print, so if anyone knows how to do that, I’ll give you my first attempt!

Animation Hotline is a series of relatively often animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

www.animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

Please vote for Prayers for Peace for the Next Great Filmmaker Award contest. I’m one of five films that have been selected for the contest and if I win I’ll get $5000, which should be able to finance this project for a few months. It’s so easy to vote, just follow the link, plus you could win an iPad2 just for voting. How awesome is that?!

biffma.com/​nextGREAT

Summer’s Dance

Weee! This one was pretty fun. I used the clock that is down the street from me, and then when she talked about advice being 5¢ I was thinking about using the Peanut’s reference, with Lucy sitting in the box, but then I took it one step further, and used Theodor Reik, a notable psychoanalyst who emigrated from Germany and eventually ended up in New York in 1938. Morton Israel is gathering materials for his archive, and I have the poster hanging on the wall, so I thought it would make sense, even if it doesn’t make total sense. 

Animation Hotline is a series of relatively often animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

www.animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

Please vote for Prayers for Peace for the Next Great Filmmaker Award contest. I’m one of five films that have been selected for the contest and if I win I’ll get $5000, which should be able to finance this project for a few months. It’s so easy to vote, just follow the link, plus you could win an iPad2 just for voting. How awesome is that?!

biffma.com/​nextGREAT

This was supposed to be a haiku animation, 5 seconds, 7 seconds, 5 seconds, but it ended up that it just worked out better like this.  I was also going to cut the dialogue up so that it fit into 5-7-5 syllables, but it just took too much away.  I spent the weekend submitting the micro-animations to the gigantic syndicates, like King Features, United Media, and Uclick.  I won’t find out what they think for a few months…  I sent out a bunch of emails the other day, so I got a bunch of new messages to animate, please keep calling!

Animation Hotline is a series of relatively often animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

Please vote for Prayers for Peace for the Next Great Filmmaker Award contest. I’m one of five films that have been selected for the contest and if I win I’ll get $5000, which should be able to finance this project for a few months. It’s so easy to vote, just follow the link, plus you could win an iPad2 just for voting. How awesome is that?!

biffma.com/​nextGREAT

true story.

The Steven Alan sample sale is only two days away so I think I was thinking about that while I was drawing this. One year I got a $450 sweater for $50. I know, great deal, even though the sweater was still $50, it was on crazy-sale. I’m not really a shopper, I rarely, if ever, buy clothes, but twice a year I like to go to this sale. It is like when mom used to take me to the President’s Day sale at Zeigler’s when I was a kid, and buy me next year’s winter jacket. 

Animation Hotline is a series of relatively often animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

www.animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

Please vote for Prayers for Peace for the Next Great Filmmaker Award contest. I’m one of five films that have been selected for the contest and if I win I’ll get $5000, which should be able to finance this project for a few months. It’s so easy to vote, just follow the link, plus you could win an iPad2 just for voting. How awesome is that?!

biffma.com/​nextGREAT

I’ve decided to go from trying and failing to do it seven days a week, to something a little more realistic, like five days a week. I think I can do that. Plus that will give me some time to keep the rest of my life in order.

Animation Hotline is a series of relatively often animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

Please vote for Prayers for Peace for the Next Great Filmmaker Award contest. I’m one of five films that have been selected for the contest and if I win I’ll get $5000, which should be able to finance this project for a few months. It’s so easy to vote, just follow the link, plus you could win an iPad2 just for voting. How awesome is that?!

biffma.com/​nextGREAT

PG-13 Alert! Although, at the same time it is a touching story about a father and daughter. I didn’t do this one a while ago because I know my mom watches these and I sorta felt the same way that the girl is feeling, but in the end I don’t think it’s really that bad, it’s life. It’s a message that someone left, I’ll animate whatever.

Animation Hotline is a series of daily animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

Please vote for Prayers for Peace for the Next Great Filmmaker Award contest. I’m one of five films that have been selected for the contest and if I win I’ll get $5000, which should be able to finance this project for a few months. It’s so easy to vote, just follow the link, plus you could win an iPad2 just for voting. How awesome is that?!

biffma.com/​nextGREAT

I’ve been trying to do this one for a while, and knew how I wanted to put it together, and even started it a time or two, but trying to draw those princesses and the fear of Disney lawyers made me set it aside. My hat goes off to those animators at Disney, drawing those princesses to perfection every single time. 

Animation Hotline is a series of daily animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

Please vote for Prayers for Peace for the Next Great Filmmaker Award contest. I’m one of five films that have been selected for the contest and if I win I’ll get $5000, which should be able to finance this project for a few months. It’s so easy to vote, just follow the link, plus you could win an iPad2 just for voting. How awesome is that?!

biffma.com/​nextGREAT

These have been really hard to get back to doing. After stopping for a while, I remember how easy they were getting to do and I want to just jump right back into that mode, but unfortunately, I’ve stopped for so long that it is like I am out of shape. It would be like if a marathon runner stopped training for a month and then tried to just jump right up and run a marathon. I’d forgotten how difficult it is to do just one of these. My fingers hurt, my back hurts, my skin is all dry and cracked, and honestly, it’s pretty exhausting trying to come up with fresh ideas. BUT! I finished it. I’ve done it two days in a row now and I’m not real happy with this one, but at least it is finished. That long brown thing in the middle of the animation is that really long counter right when you walk in at Vercesi Hardware at 23rd and Third.

Animation Hotline is a series of daily animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

Please vote for Prayers for Peace for the Next Great Filmmaker Award contest. I’m one of five films that have been selected for the contest and if I win I’ll get $5000, which should be able to finance this project for a few months. It’s so easy to vote, just follow the link, plus you could win an iPad2 just for voting. How awesome is that?!

biffma.com/​nextGREAT

Happy Mother’s Day Mom, sorry I wasn’t able to see you this year, but I’ll be home in December. (note: this wasn’t my mother who left this message)

Animation Hotline is a series of daily animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

Please vote for Prayers for Peace for the Next Great Filmmaker Award contest. I’m one of five films that have been selected for the contest and if I win I’ll get $5000, which should be able to finance this project for a few months. It’s so easy to vote, just follow the link, plus you could win an iPad2 just for voting. How awesome is that?!

biffma.com/​nextGREAT

I was working on some character animation about princesses but just couldn’t get into it and decided to do this default animation instead. I think it turned out pretty good though. If anyone gets a chance, please give me a story about your Mom so I have something for Mother’s Day.

Please vote for Prayers for Peace for the Next Great Filmmaker Award contest. I’m one of five films that have been selected for the contest and if I win I’ll get $5000, which should be able to finance this project for a few months. It’s so easy to vote, just follow the link, plus you could win an iPad2 just for voting. How awesome is that?!

www.biffma.com/nextGREAT

Animation Hotline is a series of daily animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

Whoa!  Finally the fingers are dirty again.  It took so much energy to get started doing one of these.  I was working a freelance animation job at Thornberg & Forester, then I went to the Petaluma Film Festival, then I went to see Ursi and Tom’s baby, baby Bali, out in Grass Valley.  When I got back to the house I felt like I needed to clean, so I spent a few days cleaning and then everything was clean, but I continued cleaning.  It was almost like I was afraid to start working again.  For some reason it’s really difficult to start up again once I stop. 

Anyway, my most important comment is going to be to vote for Prayers for Peace for the Next Great Filmmaker Award contest.  I’m one of five films that have been selected for the contest and if I win I’ll get $5000, which should be able to finance this project for a few months.  It’s so easy to vote, just follow the link, plus you could win an iPad2 just for voting.  How awesome is that?!

www.biffma.com/nextGREAT

Animation Hotline is a series of daily animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

Words of Malcolm X

Finally! I haven’t posted in so long and it feels so good to get a new one up. I’ve been working this freelance job and it’s pretty awesome, I’m learning a lot of new stuff, but it’s sort of squashed all of my time and energy. When I get home I have a hard time doing anything other than going to bed.

Anyway, the job ends tomorrow, so I’ll start animating the Animation Hotline animations again. This one I did for the Tallahassee Film Festival, they played a selection of them on opening night and I did a festival specific animation for them for a called from Tallahassee. There were a ton of good messages from there, so I’ll be using a couple of them in the near future.

Animation Hotline is a series of daily animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

I haven’t posted in a while because I got a job for the next four weeks working ten hours a day and it has been really hard to get motivated to do anything when I get home other than check the emails and go to sleep.  Especially because it is a new job, so I have to learn all this crazy stuff.  The project that they have me working on is pretty cool though.  If you are planning on leaving a message in the next four weeks, try to make it really short.  I don’t have eight to ten hours to spend drawing and animating and contemplating.  I only have a few hours every night.

So for the next four weeks the new challenge is to leave me one, particularly interesting sentence!

Animation Hotline is a series of daily animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. When you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

I did this entire video very differently the first time, but I wasn’t happy with how it turned out, so i took the “one world” part out of it and redid the whole thing. I like this one a lot more.

Animation Hotline is a series of daily animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. when you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline

I did a little commercial today. It’s for the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Chelsea. I haven’t ever shopped there, but Gary, used to go there and said it was a good one. I guess they were closed for a while and now they are reopening.

I was a little conflicted, the whole art vs. commercial work but I’ve been listening to a bunch of NPR lately, and they don’t have any problem throwing a plug or two in there during the programming. Plus, if your going to plug something it might as well be something cool like a thrift store. Not that this is a plug really, but it could be. Let me know what you think…

Animation Hotline is a series of daily animations where I use messages left on my voicemail for content. when you get a chance please leave me a message, and honestly it’s best if you leave more than one because sometimes what you think is the perfect message might simply be impossible for me to animate in one day. This project is only as good as the messages that you leave me, so if you feel so inspired, call!

animationhotline.org

To leave a message call…
inside US: +1 212-683-2490
international (skype): animationhotline