July 22, 2005

Oh Yeah! Blogs

OH YEAH 4
Anybody can start one blog. Been there, done that. But it takes some fortitude to launch thirty-nine blogs. That's right, thirty-nine blogs. That's exactly what animation producer Fred Seibert is doing for the fourth season of OH YEAH! CARTOONS, the series that he's exec producing for Nickelodeon. Seibert is encouraging every creator to start their own blog and document the production of their animated short. The first couple blogs are already up and running, and can be accessed from the main Frederator blog HERE. Seibert has been experimenting with blogs for the past year, first with the Teenage Roblog, a blog by the crew of MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE ROBOT, and more recently with The Wubblog, a journal by Bob Boyle documenting the production of his forthcoming Nick Jr. series WUBBY WIDGET AND WALDEN.

It's great to have an enlightened animation producer who understands the grassroots value of connecting with audiences through blogs, and is now allowing the creators of all these shorts to share their creative experiences with the online community. Not only are blogs a common-sense way of creating and building a fanbase for tv shows, and distinguishing the series from the rest of the competition, but blogs can also help to demystify the animation process, allowing the average viewer an insight into how animated films are produced. That may not sound like a huge thing, but it seems like every other day that I meet a regular joe who is unable to distinguish between cg and hand-drawn animation and who doesn't have the vaguest clue about how cartoons are produced. Educating audiences about the production process, and all the hard work and thought that goes into the making of an animated film, is perhaps the first step towards achieving the respect and recognition that this art form so very rarely receives.


Posted by AMID at July 22, 2005 02:27 PM