Feature: Page (1) of 1 - 08/24/01 Email this story to a friend. email article Print this page (Article printing at MyDmn.com).print page facebook
Blue Sky Story Artist Nominated for Annie Award By DMN Staff Writer With a mission to corner the lucrative outer-world dry cleaning business, George Jefferson dons a Trekkie-inspired space suit and wings Louise, Florence, and the family into space, thus begins a 2D-animated spoof of the long-running TV show The Jeffersons for Nick-at-Nite.

The piece, created by writer/producer Adam Idelson, earned the promo team, which included Blue Sky Story Artist Dan Shefelman, an Annie Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement in An Animated Special Project.


Styled after '70s cel-animated cartoons, "Weezie" and the cast trade insults, as the voiceover touts the all new animated spin-off Jeffersons? Starship. After an asteroid disaster wipes out the cast, however, the VO advises, Stick with the Original.

Shefelman, who directed and designed the spot with color designer Tom Daly, said the hardest thing about the spoof was making it look bad.

We wanted to parody old-style, low-budget cartooning by using very limited motion, and stiff poses. We really pushed it so that it fit the genre, even digitally adding film dirt and scratches to make it look old. But its low-tech look had some basis in reality. It was literally produced in a garage, Shefelman said laughing.

He and Daly worked on supped-up Macs in Shefelman?s converted studio, and although the animation looks like cel, it was digital animation that was scanned, inked and painted.

In addition to Shefelman, Daly and Idelson, the crew included Animator Matt Sheridan and Sound Engineer Jim Stauffer/Clack Studio. The Annie Awards are sponsored by ASIFA Hollywood. Jeffersons? Starship also won an ASIFA East Award along with Zoe?s Zoo an animated short by Yvette Kaplan who heads up Blue Sky?s Story Department.

The 28th annual Annie Awards will be held November 11 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, Calif. Blue Sky Studios, a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, is an Oscar® award-winning animation studio that specializes in superior computer generated character animation and effects for the motion picture, television and special venue industries.

Page: 1


Related Sites: Creative Mac ,   Digital Producer ,   Digital Video Editing ,   IBC News ,   Digital Animators ,   Animation Artist ,   Siggraph News ,   BN - Broadcast Newsroom ,   Digital Game Developer ,   Digital Media Designer ,   Digital Post Production ,   Digital Pro Sound ,   Presentation Master ,   Oceania ,   MacAnimationPro ,   MacVideoPro ,   MacAudioPro ,   MacDesignPro
Related Newsletter: DMN Newsletter ,   Timeline Newsletter ,   Pixels Newsletter ,   Levels Newsletter ,   Mac Alert Newsletter ,   Loud Newsletter ,   Renders ,   KNews Newsletter ,   Digital Media Net
To Comment on This Article, Click HERE

Most Recent Reader Comments:
  • Blue Sky Story Artist Nominated for Annie Award by DMN Editorial at Aug. 03, 2004 10:05 pm gmt (Rec'd 2)

    Click Here To Read All Posts
    Must be Registered to Respond (Free Registration!!!, CLICK HERE)

  • DMO TEXT LINKS
    (Click here to place a textlink on this site)

    Keep your camera rolling with Sony Mobile Storage for XDCAM EX Camcorders.
    Offload SxS memory cards onto 240GB HDD removable cartridges and accelerate your workflow on the go.
    Click Here!!!

    Vegas Pro 8 + Free Vegas Seminar Series
    Master classes for cutting-edge video production
    A $100 value free with purchase
    CLICK HERE!!!

    HOT THREADS on DMN Forums
    Impasto didn't take further variations (6) • by Zen on the on the Corel Painter forum New Paint Patches (6) • by David Nagel on the on the Synthetik Studio Artist forum Need help re-creating AMERICAN IDOL Logo (4) • by Anthony Russo on the on the Adobe Photoshop forum New FCP user can't connect to GL1 (4) • by scheffler on the on the Apple Final Cut Pro forum quick technical question (3) • by craigdeeley on the on the Synthetik Studio Artist forum Beeping as I play video in Viewer (3) • by Dan Haythorn on the on the Apple Final Cut Pro forum background encoding (3) • by Peter Hickson on the on the Apple DVD Studio Pro forum
    Dexim P-Flip Power Play Dock for iPhone/iPod touch
    polymer battery all in one neat device. Plug the P-Flip into your computer to charge its battery, then plug your iPhone into the P-Flip, and it charges the iPhone battery. Read More
    Apple Intros iPad
    After years of hype, Apple, Inc. today introduced the iPad, a portable computing device that looks like a big iPhone. Introduced today by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the iPad features a touchscreen keypad, wireless capability, the capability to run all iPhone applications, all in a form factor that fits in between an iPhone and a MacBook. With the iPad, you can play movies, load maps, view photos, update your calendar, basically do the same things as on an iPhone, and more. Read More
    HDTV Buyer's Guidelines
    When it comes to choosing between Plasma and LCD, it's important to shop in the mindset that one high-def TV is not necessarily better than another - rather, it's a question of which one is right for you. That said, it can be a tough call to make when all that meets the eye are sleek screens and vibrant pictures - are Plasmas and LCDs really that different? Read More
    Tritton AX 180 universal gaming headset
    The Tritton AX 180 universal gaming headset is designed to work with the three major gaming platforms (Wii, xBox 360, and Sony PlayStation 3, via analog inputs), but also with both Macintosh and Windows based computers. Read More
    @ Copyright, 2010 Digital Media Online, All Rights Reserved