Please contact us
with corrections
or breaking news
Bay Area Animation by Karl Cohen
Ben Ridgeway's sumptuous and psychedelic 'Cosmic Flower Unfolding' (2014). photo: courtesy B. Ridgeway
Update on Ridgeway
Ben Ridgway, who teaches animation at SF State, has had a great deal of success with his film. “Cosmic Flower Unfolding”, which recently won the Royal Reel Award, at the Vancouver International Film Festival, and was shown at this year's San Francisco International Film Festival.
It also screened at the Dreams and Divinities Festival in San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico, at the Kansas City Film Festival, and the Spirit Quest Festival. In 2012, he was invited to Cine Toro, in Colombia, where he screened work and led a workshop. Also, the “Golden Gate Express” ran an article about him and his work in April.
At SIGGRAPH 2013, the computer industry’s top celebration, Ben gave a special presentation about the inner workings of “Cosmic Flower Unfolding.” It also won second place in the independent category at the Second Annual ASIFA-SF Spring Festival.
Ben recently finished another film. “Tribocycle,” was shown in Currents 2014, New Media Festival in New Mexico. They showed it on a giant 4k dome at the Institute of American Indian Arts.
Ben recently told us of yet another success. He said, “Some footage from my film “Continuum Infinitum” was used recently for a documentary called “Neurons to Nirvana, Understanding Psychedelic Medicines.” The SF premiere was in March at the Clay Theatre followed by a panel discussion from the academic community.
Shot from Michael Langan’s music video for the song 'Cavity', (2014). photo: courtesy M. Langan
Langan’s Experimental Music Video
Michael Langan’s striking and experimental music video for the band Hundred Waters' song “Cavity” is a subtle work of art with some incredibly handsome passages in it along with several minimal moments. Indeed, his art is maturing as he explores new directions, see his site.
A review of the video for Hundred Waters, an indie band from Florida, tells us, “The director, Michael Langan, says he wanted to ‘play with the idea of hollowness, attempting to define emptiness by its edges, visually.’
The effects in the clip were made not with computer graphics, but by using "a single flashlight, drawn slowly over the landscape and later 'echoed' up to 500 times to create patterns that fill the scene with light," Langan said.
"We used a projector mounted on a motorized lazy susan to achieve the 'sliver' shots of Nicole."
New show about Charles Schultz's progressive side at Santa Rosa's Schultz Museum. photo: courtesy Schultz Museum
Humor And Controversy at The Schulz Museum
Health care, gun control, the environment and racial equality were all topics cartoonist Charles M. Schulz broached during the fifty years doing his “Peanuts” comic strip.
His beloved Lucy embraced feminist philosophies, Linus panicked when he mistook snow for nuclear fallout, and Sally whispered about praying in school. Schulz also introduced Franklin, a black “Peanuts” character, into the predominately white cast just months after Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
The current "Social Commentary" exhibition at the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center, on 2301 Hardies Lane in Santa Rosa, re-examines “Peanuts” in the context of the social and political climate of the latter half of the twentieth century.
In addition to original “Peanuts” comic strips, the exhibition features original “Wee Pals,” “Gordo,” “Pogo,” and “Little Orphan Annie” strips. It also highlights reaction letters from the Museum’s archives, and contextual artifacts.
The Charles M. Schulz Museum is open Memorial Day through Labor Day, M-F, 11am -5pm, Sat/Sunday 10am-5pm, with adults only $10, one of the best cartoon culture buys in the country!
Karl Cohen is an animator, educator and director of the local chapter of the International Animation Society and can be reached .