Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500204
SUMMER 2023 7 E D I T O R ' S N O T E WORKING FOR KEYFRAME IS LIKE BEING GIVEN VIP ACCESS TO PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN. WHILE OZ MAY HAVE TURNED OUT TO BE A DISAPPOINTMENT TO DOROTHY, EVERY TIME I PULL BACK THE ANIMATION CURTAIN, I DISCOVER GREAT AND POWERFUL BEINGS—OTHERWISE KNOWN AS TAG MEMBERS. THE PEOPLE I MEET NOT ONLY MAKE MAGIC, BUT THEY ALSO EMBODY THE MAGIC THEY CREATE. EVAN HENERSON ("Raising the Bar") is a lifestyle and entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in L.A. Parent, TV Guide, Orange Coast Magazine, and the Los Angeles Daily News where he was a features writer and critic for nine years. Freelance writer and author K AREN BRINER ("Building Dreams" and "How to Get a Book Deal,") grew up in Cape Town, South Africa where her garden was home to wild chameleons. Her most recent novel is Snowize & Snitch: Highly Effective Defective Detectives. After spending more than 50 years in the animation industry, DAVID BR AIN has a lot of stories to share. In "Live and Learn," he reminisces about getting to know animation legend Friz Freleng over the decades. I've now celebrated my two-year anniversary as Managing Editor of Keyframe, and during that time I've had the privilege of learning the beautiful sorcery behind numerous animation crafts and techniques, including choreography, lighting, and this month, character design (p.22). I had no idea that a single character can require months of experimentation and refinement as Character Designers work a fine balance between artistry, physical movement, and technology—all while juggling feedback along the way. I've also discovered that every single movie and TV show has its own challenges. For the creators of the series Hailey's On It!, the writers' room had to be reconceived to accommodate the pandemic (p.18), and for the series We Lost Our Human (p.16), an interactive component meant playing a chess game with plot choices that can result in 87,178,291,200 permutations—yes, you read that right! On the big screen, the creative crew on Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken faced the complex job of integrating FX with the story and action (p.36). What also blows me away is how creative our members are off the job. They write and illustrate picture books and graphic novels (p.30), for example, and they contribute their vision to socially conscious publications (p.10). I can't wait to see what upcoming issues of Keyframe reveal as we pull back the curtain—again and again—to showcase the artistry of our great and powerfully talented Local 839 team. Kim Fay editor@tag839.org BEHIND THE CURTAIN CONTRIBUTORS