Italian Popular Gestures - chapter 2

Tom Caulfield

Tom Caulfield is a great friend and one of the greatest animator on Earth, so it's a pleasure for me to promote his blog:

http://tomcaulfield.blogspot.com/

Can't wait to work with him again!

Horse ruff test from Tom Caulfield on Vimeo.

Cintiq protective screen arrived!

Today I received the protective screen I ordered from the USA.

It is quite thick and very simple to apply, and the Cintiq lightness and sensitivity didn't decrease as much as I expected. Actually, they are almost the same as without screen, it's just matter to get used to it. Maybe the only note is that the pen doesn't flow as smoothly as it was before.
Anyway, after a month of use my tablet was already showing light signs of scratching, so I suppose it would be a disaster after 2-3 years of everyday work without any protection. I think I can recommend it!

Here is where I found it:
www.strongengineering.com
price $18,50 plus shipping.

This doodle is made after applying the screen.
See you next time!

my friend-o Mick

This great drawing is taken from my crazy friend Mick Harrison's blog. Check it out for some really inspiring art!

http://zeteos.blogspot.com/

(Thanks Mick for posting some of my stuff-o!!)

Illustrated guide to Italian popular gestures - Vol 1

Song of the Sea teaser

Tomm Moore's Cartoon Saloon studio in Ireland is preparing a new 2d feature film called "Song of the Sea", based on irish folklore. The movie is in the developement phase, and there is already some fantastic material to check out on its blog (http://theblogofthesea.blogspot.com).
Alessandra and I animated on the trailer, which is still in compositing at Digital Graphics studio in Belgium, but the teaser is ready so here it is:



The scenes I animated will be visible in the final trailer.

Storyboard panels

Now that the "Monsters and Pirates" series is on tv, I can post some image from the storyboards I have done for it. It's been a lot of fun and I hope I will soon have the opportunity to work on something similar.
Enjoy!

Brendan premiere, February 11th 2009, Paris

Finally, the movie "Brendan and the Secret of Kells" will soon be out in the movie theaters, distributed by Gebeka - Disney Buena Vista. Alessandra and I animated a bunch of traditional and flash scenes, it will be great to view them on the big screen!
Here is the french trailer, soon there will be available the english one. Awesome!

Schubert, Impromptu Op.90 no. 3

Copyright Alfredo Cassano 2008

Well, now THIS is old.
I was 13, it was a piano competition performance I did in the ..erhm... early 90s :P

Enjoy!!!

Brendan presentation in Annecy 2008

Thursday at 14.00, at the Bonlieu Petite Salle in Annecy there will be a presentation of Brendan and the Secret of Kells, the beautiful feature film produced in Cartoon Saloon, Ireland.
Our friends Tomm Moore (director) and Ross Stewart (art director) will show part of the movie including one of the sequences Alessandra and I animated, showing a split screen with rough and final animation.
It's a huge honor for both of us, I just wish we could be there!
Thanks guys for showing our work in a so important event.

Here is the link to the scheduled conference:
http://www.annecy.org/home/index.php?Page_ID=1346&evenement_id=1342&m=6&a=2008&d=2008-06-12&l=&e=&h=

Robot Guard

Bzzz bzzzzzzzzzzzz...

ciao ciao amico mio

Today our beloved friend, the hamster Filippo, went into the hamsters heaven. This brave little fellow spent 2 years with Alessandra and me and shared with us a very important bit of our lives.
Very aggressive at first, later he became quite friendly: he could also eat biscuits in our hands.

Thanks Filippo, for the time spent with us and all the nice memories. Ciao ciao Piccinci!

something funny

In 2004 I had the pleasure to be involved in a TV movie about the italian Risorgimento events in 1848. I played both the roles of an Austrian soldier and... an italian revolutionary. It was big big fun, especially because I have never dreamt about being an actor, so I was very relaxed and enjoyed it a lot.
The movie aired some months later on the main italian TV channel RAI UNO, I recorded it but lost the VHS. Some days ago I found the DVD on ebay and bought it.... here's some funny stills. Please don't laugh too much..



Here is me as Austrian soldier shooting the italians..

Copyright RAI Fiction 2004

And here is me as italian militant, at the piano, teaching the national anthem to the comrades, to stir them up a bit..hahaha.

Copyright RAI Fiction 2004

Schumann - From far lands and people (Scenes from Childhood op. 15)

Copyright Alfredo Cassano 2008

Here is another one of my recordings...
One of the sweetest themes ever. Enjoy!

Chick Corea - Children's Songs - No. 18

Copyright Alfredo Cassano 2008


Here is an old recording I did of Chick Corea's Children's Songs No. 18.
It's a jazz piece, but with an "American Indian" taste in it.
Enjoy!

Booooooo!!!

Copyright A man and Ink 2007

Here is the first scene I animated on Wulfie, a very nice and cute TV series project created by my friend and colleague Jeremy Purcell. On his website (www.amanandink.com) you can find more about Wulfie.
Tom Caulfield (ciao Tom!!), my girlfriend Alessandra and I animated the trailer.
It was great to work in 2d without using paper. No mess, no sheets everywhere, or eraser crumbles...and no heavy packages to send, but a confortable and fast via-internet delivery...
I love technology!!

"And I Love" on Cold Hard Flash!!!

Some days ago the popular website Cold Hard Flash published a nice post about our videoclip "And I Love". This makes Alessandra and me very proud!

check it out:

http://www.coldhardflash.com/

Many many thanks to Aaron Simpson for supporting our work.

Torino, Italia

After the craziest moving ever, (Ireland - Italy by car) here we are back in Italy!!!

Torino is wonderful, and finally we can meet old friends and live closer to our families. It's just great!!

The experience in Ireland was fantastic though, I learnt so much and met wonderful people. I really care to stay in touch with all of them. Thanks for everything, guys! And thanks to Ireland for all the opportunities I had.

See you soon!

Little creature

Just a Wacom sketch.

Schubert's Wanderer Fantasie

This is music for brave people...
I mean, not only to play, but just to listen to! You have to be ready for cold winds, virtiginous heights, the most moving melodies and the darkest forces, all together in an incredible journey inside Schubert's crazy mind.
It really started to catch me some weeks ago, and now I'm struggling on the most difficult bits, like the one in the picture. I don't know if I will ever be able to play this music properly, but I'll try...
For those who want to listen to it, I suggest Maurizio Pollini's performance.
As soon as I can, I'll post my attempts on youtube or as mp3s...
See you soon!!!

Summer holidays

The medieval town Perouge... just as it was once!!

The Avigliana "lago piccolo" (small lake)

The Sacred Abbey of San Michele, close to Torino...scarily high!


My "sister" Candy


Brindisi harbour

Ahhh Italy.....
These holidays were so long and intense, Rome and Brindisi, the sea, the beautiful Salento...lots of great food, my family, my father's homemade pizza every evening, my dog, the long and lonely bike rides under the roasting sun.... just priceless.
And, after that, going back to Ireland by CAR!! Crazy idea, but not if you turn a long and boring drive into a great journey around Italian, French and Irish country roads with your gilrfriend and friends!! We stopped a lot of times (actually it took 6 days, wow!), in Bergamo, Torino, Avigliana, Perouge, Tours, then we took the ferry (one night) and finally touched land again in Ireland. Lots of memories and pictures, taken with my new Nikon D50. My Fiesta did great, but now it looks a bit tired...

Brendan

Some early thumbnails for scene 42/43....

Copyright CARTOON SALOON / LES ARMATEURS / VIVI FILMS - WALKING THE DOG 2007

Finally, it's done. Difficult for me to believe, especially when I think to myself one year and a half ago, dreaming of being part of the animation crew. It has been a strong and beautiful experience, and it's a strange feeling now that everything is in the past! I worked as traditional and flash animator, on very cool and emotional sequences. I'd like to thank the director Tomm Moore and the animation supervisor Nora Twomey for believing in me, and all the people who made this experience so nice! Brendan will be a great movie, with beautiful style and a very deep story.

Can't wait to see it all finished!!

Coming back from Italy

Some days ago, Alessandra and I had a wonderful (and quick) trip to Italy. Lots of incredible food, the warmth of the dearest friends, the beauty of Torino and its landscapes. The pictures above give you a clear idea of the weather evolution during the flight back to Ireland...if you watch carefully, you can also see the ice crystals on the edge of the window...brrrrrr! But what can you do...work is work.....

Italy, when will you wake up???

Tiger walk - from Skunk Fu! tv series

Here is the Tiger walk, my first animation in the Skunk Fu team. As the whole tv series, it's all made in Flash.
See you soon....

My WEBSITE!!!

Hi everybody,

Thanks to my girlfriend's precious help, my website is now online!
Here is the link: www.alfredocassano.com
It has been built on in a few hours, so ... it is very essential, no animations or crazy buttons.
But at least it's there, there will be time to improve it.... later on.

You can also find some of my mp3s, I'll put here the direct link to the page: http://www.alfredocassano.com/alfredocassano_00000e.htm

Enjoy!

Life Drawing 2

Other life drawings...

Skunk Fu Backgrounds 2

Storyboard panel by Marco Piersma, ciao "stronzo"!!

____________________________________________________

Other bg stuff...

Walk and run cycles: Baboon Run!

Here is a furious run of the Baboon. This is the "unofficial" version, the final one has less windy hair, but I preferred this one.
YAAARRGHHHHHHHH!!!!

Skunk Fu Backgrounds 1

Top: Final Background

Bottom: Layout by my mighty friend Mick Harrison. CIAO MICHELE!!!

____________________________________________

Hello again,

I'll start posting some Skunk Fu background artwork. It was my first experience as bg colourist, it was a lot of fun...and work! Like the rest of the series, it's all made in Flash.

Life Drawings

Hello everybody....Here I am, after a long time.Work got busier, but finally I found a minute tu update my little old blog. This time I want to post some of my life drawings. I like fast poses (less than 1 minute), as you can see, it helps me to concentrate on feeling the model's dynamic instead of thinking about the details.Other stuff coming soon....See you later!

Baboon Walk - Animation for Skunk Fu tv Series

Hi everybody,

this is an animation I did for the tv series Skunk Fu, a very nice tv series in production at Cartoon Saloon studios, entirely made in flash. Other stuff to come very soon....
Have a nice day!

little friends

Today, walking back from the supermarket, where I went to buy some milk, I found this little friend on the street, walking near a bench. I decided to keep it.
He's sleeping now, but before he told me that his name is Cusuzzo and he feeds only on fresh fruit.

a Flash short

Hi,
this is a frame of Intolerance, a flash short I did some time ago. Soon I'll put the whole thing on the blog... but in the meantime, here is a still. See you soon....

Whisper of the Heart

Hello,
yesterday evening I watched Studio Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart. I just wanted to write this post to suggest everyone to see it. It's really a wonderful film, probably my favourite ghibli film so far.
So if you have the opportunity... I strongly recommend it. Ah, with japanese audio with subtitles.
See you later...

Chopin's Studio op.10 no.9

Here it is me, some (long) time ago, performing Chopin's studio opus 10 no. 9. It's a very nice studio for the left hand, that has to fly left and right to catch distant keys with soft touch. I was playing on a Kawai grand piano.

And I Love videoclip - Wayne Brennan

Hi everybody!!After almost a month, here I am again. I had fantastic holidays in Italy and lot of things to do... but now I'm back in Ireland, and I want to publish the videoclip that my girlfriend Alessandra and I made recently for the irish singer Wayne Brennan.As you can see, the animation and the style are very simple, and everything has been kept as cute as possible. Actually, the main mood we were asked for was "Happy and Cute"... well, look it and enjoy. We hope you like it!

Let's start....

Hello everybody!

Welcome in my blog. My name is Alfredo Cassano, I am animator and classical pianist. I live and work in Kilkenny, Ireland, in a very nice animation studio called Cartoon Saloon. At the moment I am animator and background artist for a Flash TV series called Skunk Fu.
This is my little internet place, where I'll write something about myself and my ideas. I was thinking to publish some of my drawings, animations and mp3s, and I'd love to talk with you all about them.
So, every comment is welcome...let's start this new adventure!
Enjoy!
Alf

PS: I could have chosen between many pictures for my profile photo, but I think that one reflects my personality in the best way....