Nate Berg writes in The Architect’s Newspaper about the expanding use of animation in architectural practice, both in presentations for proposed projects and for marketing completed buildings. Whereas in the past, architectural animation consisted of literal “flythroughs,” architects are increasingly taking a more cinematic and impressionistic approach to illustrate ideas. For example:

Some architects are actually using animation as part of their design methods. “It becomes part of the creative thought process,” said Kulapat Yantrasast, a principal at wHY Architecture in Culver City. “By doing the video, you learn how to communicate the idea more clearly, which sometimes refines the idea itself.” For one residential project in the Hollywood Hills, wHY took inspiration from the neighborhood’s history in the film industry to create a sort of film-noir animation of the house’s design. Taking cues from Alfred Hitchcock and the early days of mystery movies, wHY’s film shows the house from the perspective of a private detective investigating a crime. The “investigation” takes the detective and the viewer up the drive to the home and through each of its rooms. The crime isn’t exactly solved, but the narrative style turns what could have been a drab flythrough into an engaging exploration.

(Disclosure: Nate interviewed me for the piece.)

While killing time at the airport magazine stand, I found this oblivious error in an article about The Simpsons vs. Disney:

Cluelessness courtesy of the (ironically titled) British magazine Intelligent Life and writer Bee Wilson.

We can’t stop giving away stuff. This time we’ve got TWO copies of Jeff Kurtti’s The Art of The Princess and The Frog from Chronicle Books.

This contest requires a bit of thought. In the comment section of this post, make your prediction for the North American box office gross for the opening weekend of The Princess and The Frog. All predictions must be made by tomorrow morning (contest closes Saturday at 11am ET/8am PT). The two people who comes closest to the actual box office figure will win copies of the book. (Note: We will be using the final box office numbers released on Monday afternoon.)

If you don’t win a copy, keep an eye out for the Chronicle ad at top of Cartoon Brew that tells you how to get 30% off and free shipping on this book from ChronicleBooks.com.

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED LATER TODAY.

We’re giving away two signed DVDs of Signe Baumane’ s Teat Beat of Sex series. She’s really been hitting her stride as a filmmaker these past few years, and the fifteen episodes that comprise Teat Beat are some of the funniest and most uninhibited pieces of animation I’ve seen in a long while.

To participate, simply write “I want a dvd” in the comments section of this post. We’ll choose two winners at random. The giveaway closes today at 2pm(PT)/5pm(ET). If you miss out on winning a copy, you can purchase a dvd for $19 (includes shipping) at TeatBeat.com

Here’s one of the episodes. Some might consider it NSFW.

GIVEAWAY IS OVER. CONGRATS TO OUR TWO WINNERS, HANNAH NOVOTNY AND HOYUN RHEE.

We’re giving away two copies of A Sketchy Past: The Art of Peter de Sève, a retrospective spanning thirty years of de Sève’s editorial illustration, animation character design and magazine covers. The hefty 240-page book also has a foreword by Chris Wedge and an introduction by yours truly. Even better, Peter has generously agreed to sign and make an original sketch in the two books we’re giving away. To participate, simply write “I want a book” in the comments section of this post. We’ll choose two winners at random. The giveaway closes today at 5pm(PT)/8pm(ET).

If you don’t win a copy, you can pick one up at either Stuart Ng Books or Bud Plant’s Art Books. Peter also has an active online presence nowadays, both on his blog and the newly redesigned PeterdeSeve.com.

Are you a 2D animator? Today’s your lucky day! Somebody on Craigslist wants to hire you for a “very special project.” All they need you to do is create 70 minutes of animation. No cause for concern because they’ve got “investors in place” and “A VERY BIG NAME [IS] ATTACHED TO THIS PROJECT.” Here’s the full job posting:

2D ANIMATOR NEEDED for a very special project. We need a young hungry animator with a sharp eye and wild taste to create a 70 minute movie to go along with a concept album by AN ESTABLISHED ARTIST. THERE IS A VERY BIG NAME, AN AMERICAN ICON, ATTACHED TO THIS PROJECT. THIS IS A VERY SPECIAL, DARK, PSYCHEDELIC album and it needs a counter-part in the form of an ANIMATED MOVIE which plays on top of the album. Digital is preferred, as we would like to move quickly with this project. The look of the animation and character design should be similar to AMERICAN POP, HEAVY METAL, PINK FLOYD: THE WALL, etc. (Compensation: We have investors in place, as well as profit sharing possibilities.)

When you spot other ridiculous animation job offers on Craigslist, send them our way.

(Thanks, Cory)

Need to do some holiday book shopping? My pals at Chronicle Books are having their annual Friends and Family Holiday Sale. Through tomorrow, any in-stock item ordered through their website ChronicleBooks.com is 35% off plus FREE shipping. Use the promo code FRIENDS at checkout. In most cases, the deal makes their books slightly cheaper than prices on Amazon. Titles include lots of animation “art of” books, my book Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animation, and a library’s worth of quality graphic art and illustration books.

This weekend in Brooklyn, BAMcinématek (30 Lafayette Avenue) is presenting “Sesame Street: A Celebration!,” a series of screenings related to the classic children’s TV show, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Of particular interest to Brew readers is “Sesame Street Film Festival” which screens on Saturday, December 12, at 4:30pm. The curator of the screening, Craig Shemin, tells me that the 80-minute compilation is primarily animated and includes work by Bud Luckey, Jim Henson, Pixar, John Dilworth, Bruce Cayard, Buzzco, Derek Lamb, Abe Levitow, Michael Sporn, and Sally Cruikshank. A complete listing of this weekend’s screenings and online ticket purchasing is at the BAM website.

In 1990, Chuck Jones sat down with animation director Jeff DeGrandis to discuss the art of drawing and character development. On February 1, 2010, the non-profit Chuck Jones Center for Creativity will release the chat onto dvd as the Chuck Jones Master Series. The project, designed to be a fundraiser for the organization, will be available on two separate 45-minute dvds. The first dvd can be pre-ordered for a minimum donation of $19.95. For more details, visit the official Chuck Jones blog and to order the dvd, contact DVD(at)ChuckJonesCenter(dot)org.

Here’s a preview:

As the iPhone user base continues to expand, smaller animation studios and indie animators are discovering a promising new distribution platform. One example is Ottawa-based animation studio Dainty Productions, which recently released its first iPhone game, Super Star Tap (official Super Star Tap website or buy it at the iPhone app store). The game, which will be most appealing to the younger set, rewards players with handsome bits of animation as they complete each level. In this interview, I corresponded via email with game creator Chris Dainty about how they produced the game, creating games versus pitching ideas to studios, and the broader implications of iPhone games for the animation community.

Cartoon Brew: If I understand correctly, the game originally started out as The Constellations, which was an idea for an animated TV series. What inspired you to turn it into a game instead?

Chris Dainty: Jessica Borutski and I created the show concept in 2006. We had lots of positive feedback from the networks, but nothing materialized. We didn’t have enough time or money to invest in a full-out cartoon, and I couldn’t stomach shelving this idea. After looking into iPhone stats it seemed like the perfect vehicle to get the characters out there, stay independent, and hopefully make some revenue. Thirty million people have iPhones, twenty million have the iPod Touch, so there’s a lot of screens.

Explain the game briefly and how the animation plays a role in it. I noticed you’re also planning to offer expansion packs so you can introduce new characters from the universe over time.

CD: Super Star Tap is a puzzle game in which the player must tap the stars to unlock the constellations. The animation portion of the game is the reward the player receives for unlocking the constellations. If you tap the wrong star, it will glow (blue if you’re far away, red if you’re close) to help find the constellation star path. We will be releasing new levels every few months to keep the game new and fresh and keep people playing the game.

Talk a little bit about the production process behind the game. How many people were involved? How long did it take to produce?

CD: Dave McKenney (our programmer) used Cocos2D for the iPhone. It’s a free download from Google and it’s a framework for building 2D games. We then signed up for the developer program on Apple, which cost $100. Dave and I started with a rough idea of game play in August ‘09, then tweaked as we did game testing. We had a working version by September. The character designs were done back in 2006 by the very talented Jessica Borutski. Everything was animated in Flash. I designed all the game menus in Photoshop, and my wife, Jennifer, worked as the project manager, game tester and did sound effects using the free program Audacity.

Do you view games a stepping stone to other media, like TV series, or is this the end product for your company now?

CD: Sure, eventually I’d like to see the characters in a TV show, but honestly I’d rather the success of this game drive broadcasters to me. I’m building my audience first through games so that it will help fuel the cartoons we want to produce.

If somebody has developed a project and they have the option of pitching it as a TV show or creating their own game, what do you think is the advantage (either creative or financial) of pursuing the game route?

CD: I highly recommend going the game route over pitching a TV show. I’m not a huge gamer, but I’m an entrepreneur that sees more value in selling a game on the app store than doing a song-and-dance for a network that only green lights two or three new shows out of the thousands of pitches they receive every year. Apple only takes 30% from sales of the game, while the rest is profit for us. It’s also a lot cheaper to produce games because two or three people can do it, and you have full creative control.

Were there any major difficulties or challenges you ran into while making the game? If somebody is thinking of making their own animated iPhone game, what pitfalls would you recommend they watch out for?

CD: The paper work is a bit daunting and can take a lot of time to get through. With tax forms, contracts to sign, banking info (if you’re Canadian you have to add a 0 in front of your bank number—don’t ask me why, but it was just one of the many things that slowed down the release of the game), it always takes longer than you think it will take to make it onto the AppStore. Many nights, I kept refreshing the screen staring at the words “in review,” but once it was for sale, wow, it’s the best feeling in the world.

What sort of a role could iPhone games and apps play for independent creators like yourself in the future?

CD: I think the iPhone has a lot of potential to help make independent animation profitable for individuals with creative and innovative ideas. Apple has made the app store accessible to everyone and this is huge for indie content creators who want to compete against the big companies out there. I also think that people getting into the mobile industry need to adapt as it changes. The way people pay for entertainment is constantly evolving. I think micro-transactions and freemium will play a big part for the whole of the entertainment industry from games to animation. One business model that I’d like to experiment with in the future is releasing exclusive mobile shorts that also include a small game.

Sing along:

Hey Poezenklaas you are the best
With your Poezen paws and your big red vest
Gotta big kitty face and a big big heart
A tummy full of pies

Music is by Brian Lonano and Flash animation is by UArts student Victoria Cook.

Russell Wiseman, the mayor of Arlington, Tennessee, is fuming because he believes that Obama deliberately timed his speech about the war in Afghanistan to interfere with the airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas. According to Time magazine, this is what Wiseman posted on his Facebook page:

Ok, so, this is total crap, we sit the kids down to watch ‘The Charlie Brown Christmas Special’ and our muslim president is there, what a load…..try to convince me that wasn’t done on purpose. Ask the man if he believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he will give you a 10 minute disertation (sic) about it….w…hen the answer should simply be ‘yes’….you obama people need to move to a muslim country…oh wait, that’s America….pitiful.

Sounds like Wiseman holds two positions in Arlington: mayor and village idiot.