: "The World of Animation -- How They Do It" Class at Playland-Not-At-The-Beach! August 20, 2009

Ever wonder how the characters in animated feature films were made to look so life-like? Have you been curious about how to break into an animation career? This two hour class will give an overview with film footage as well as live hands-on projects for the participants. Who better to learn from than an acknowledged teacher and practitioner in the field – Steve Segal.
Workshop participants will learn basic animation techniques and use them to make their own animation flipbooks. They will also have an opportunity to manipulate cut out figures and other items under the animation camera. Steve Segal will give a brief demonstration of computer animation and share some of the secrets of the medium. There will also be some rare videos shown as examples of different types of animation as well as some behind the scenes videos. All necessary materials will be supplied, but feel free to bring any small item or material you would like to animate.
The class will start at 6:00 PM and end at 8:00 PM. Playland will be open for an extra hour for guests to play games and enjoy our attractions.
For ten years Steve Segal ran a traditional animation studio where he and his staff made commercials and educational films. Simultanously he produced several independent short films that have won awards at international film festivals. Some of the venues which have exhibited his works are The Cannes International Film Festival, Zagreb Animation Festival, Ottawa Animation Festival, The Sinking Creek Film Festival, and The Los Angeles Animation Celebration, The Pacific Film Archive and the NY Museum of Modern Art. These films have also been included in theatrical packages, such as The International Tournee of Animation, The Computer Animation Show, and Futuropolis and Timeless Tales of Fantasy.
In 1984 he animated a CG character for a soft drink commercial. In 1985 He used an early computer program to plan scenes for the Disney feature The Brave Little Toaster. In 1986 and 87 He worked as an animator and cartoon curator for the TV series Pee Wee's Playhouse. In 1987 and 88 he directed two series of interactive cartoons Cartoon Jukebox, based on children's music and Surf City, based on the music of the Beach Boys. He also created some smaller works, like title sequences for the feature film Drop Dead Fred and the title for the TV series The Best of Comic Relief and a musical film for Sesame Street.
He worked at Pixar as an animator on the feature film Toy Story, A Bug's Life 3D film for Walt Disney World titled It’s Tough to be a Bug, the short Oscar winning film Geri's Game and some commercials; including one in which he acted as director and animator.
He has taught animation workshops at The Sinking Creek Film Festival (now known as the Nashville Film Festival, The New Orleans Children's museum, Academy of Art University in San Francisco and at Playland Not at the Beach.

Official Website: http://www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org