Weekly Click February 21, 2012

Posted on February 22, 2012 by shari

Featured Article

Preschools Add Tech to the Curriculum

At Head Start, preschool teachers are changing the game of preschool education, introducing science, technology, engineering, and math. These STEM subjects have entered the classrooms of young students, many of whom can barely read. There has been a recent push to focus on these subjects in preschool education, and many organizations promote STEM in order to see an increase in the number of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians emerging from universities.

The Obama administration has made serious moves to push America further ahead in these educational sectors, requesting $80 million to train math and science teachers. In 2010 Massachusetts issued new goals to improve science and math education and encourage more college-bound students to major in these subjects.

At the young preschool age, children are hungry to learn this kind of information, and soak it up like sponges. This kind of education can not only help inspire more engineers and scientists, but also allow children to develop their minds in ways that would help them in any subject. The main takeaway is this: STEM subject curriculum in early education can only help students develop their brains in new ways that will be useful in their future endeavors, science related or not.

Vote for Heeby Jeeby Comix #3 for the 2011 New England Art Awards

Heeby Jeeby, the all-ages comic book that FableVision’s own Bob Flynn has been self-publishing for the past few years, was recently nominated for a New England Art Award in the ‘BOOK’ category! We just need your vote to win!  All you have do is enter your name and email to vote (no registration required). Heeby Jeeby Comix #3 is right at the top of the page in the ‘BOOK’ category. Vote Here!

Next Step in Facial Recognition

Facial recognition is taken to the next level at London bus stops, allowing only women to see a 40 second ad “Because I Am a Girl” for Plan UK, whereas men only get to see the link.

Designing For Touch

How do you design mobile apps to be as user friendly as possible? Accommodate fingers and thumbs- it’s not just how the pixels look on the screen, but “how they feel in the hand.”

Apple’s Mountain Lion Makes the Mac More Like the iPad

Apple has done it again. Mac OS X 10.8, otherwise known as Mountain Lion, will arrive summer 2012 and will bring users even closer to iPhone/iPad integration. Apps are synced instantly across all gadgets and communication is seamless- you can even type a message from your computer and send it directly to someone else’s iPhone! Social media is built in automatically, along with hundreds of other new features that are bringing us further and further into the future of complete technological integration.

Victory for the ‘Lorax’: Change.org Helps Students’ Petition Reach Hollywood

Schoolchildren from Brookline, MA launch a petition at Change.org to improve the new ‘Lorax’ movie website to include an environmental message, just like the book does. Their success is proven through Universal Studios’ response: you can now find environmental tips and facts alongside movie clips on the website.

FableVision’s Artistic Duo Get Ready to Tie the Knot!

Newly engaged Lead Artists, Keith and Renee, are featured on the Poptastic Bride blog this month.  Check out their romantic day around Boston!

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Weekly Click February 15, 2012

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Fiana

Featured Article

Where Good Ideas Come From

Steven Johnson from Riverhead Books explains “where good ideas come from” and artfully pairs drawings with a captivating audio background and explanation through whiteboard animation, a simple and fun process that is taking storm in the animation and digital media spheres.

Whiteboard Animation is stop motion drawing on a dry-erase whiteboard that can be either filmed or photographed. When edited, whiteboard animation allows you to explain concepts and ideas both visually and through audio. It can be used to portray anything from a fun story, to an organization’s main mission and focus, to philosophical world theories that can’t fully be explained through words alone.

FableVision has already gotten a head start on this by creating our own short story, and there is so much more we can do with whiteboard animation! Stay tuned for more on this topic, it’s sure to continue taking storm in the industry and in our studio as well!

Animation

Six Vintage-Inspired Animations on Critical Thinking

Bridge 8 and James Hutson collaborate to create six 2-minute animations aimed to teach kids ages 8-10 about critical thinking, while making sure the videos still appeal to adults as well.

Oceanhouse Media talks Dr. Seuss, Book-Apps and Mobile Edutainment

Michel Kripalani, the CEO of Oceanhouse Media discusses his thoughts on the current and future state of children’s educational media apps. Can these increasingly popular games really turn a profit?

Check out the Google logo in honor of Valentine’s Day!

Here at FableVision we take pride in telling stories that matter and stories that move and we were so excited about the incredibly cute and inspiring short animation Google created in honor of Valentine’s Day. It is a message that warms the heart and makes you realize what’s truly important when it comes to love and friendship!

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Weekly Click February 9, 2012

Posted on February 9, 2012 by shari

Featured Article

Congrats to our friends at Little Airplane Productions for the great New Yorker spotlight!  You guys continue to pave the way, making amazing children’s programming.

It’s Good Enough For Me, The Renaissance in Children’s Programming

-Emily Nussbaum, The New Yorker

Every parent wants to do what’s best for their kids- give them everything they deserve and shelter them from everything that might hurt them. For over sixty years, parents, media critics, and the like have been jumping on the chance to blame television for its harmful effects on children’s attention spans, weight, and communication skills. But in recent years, children’s television has grown to become something other than responsible for turning your kids’ brains to mush: it can be educational. Developed by Little Airplane Productions (namely Josh Selig), “Wonder Pets” teaches kids about the rest of the globe, the stuff that goes on outside of their small, small worlds. It is interactive and repetitious, which is great for captivating kids, but allows them to take joy in slight variations, always surprised at what the change will be. “Ni Hao, Kai-Lan” takes it one step further: it teaches kids social skills rather than analytical thinking. There’s a focus on perseverance and emotional stability, encouraging kids through song. And then there’s “Phinneas and Ferb,” which is in a different breed altogether. With timely precision, this show follows a formulaic plotline, capturing kids with its predictable procedure. However, it doesn’t forget about the parent who can appreciate the “wit and narrative daring of the series” while sitting besides the child.

Shows like these do something different from other children’s TV- they embrace the medium they inhabit, taking full advantage of its strengths and constraints and reaching out to kids through their love for connection and interaction, all the while keeping the parent in mind as well to create that power team of co-viewing that is so important for social and cognitive development. If your kids are going to be watching TV, it might as well be developmentally progressive, and you might as well watch it with them.

Educational Technology

Kids and Internet Safety: 5 Lessons to Consider

In a world where social media has taken over the web and kids gain more and more access to Internet content, parents need to take more control over their children’s online consumption.

Hyping Classroom Technology Helps Tech Firms, Not Students

A reminder that quality education stems from good teachers and teaching practices, high-tech classrooms or not.

Cool Design

Ryan Andrews | Sarah and the Seed

Fun and cute webcomic, an inspiring and wonderful story!

Grab Bag

The Five Best Commercials of Superbowl XLVI

We’re sad about our Patriots’ loss, but it’s still always fun to watch the commercials.

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Weekly Click February 1, 2012

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Fiana

The Weekly Click is back!  We’re experimenting with a new format, where we highlight one story and then provide links to the rest. Check out what FableVisionaries are clicking, reading and talking about this week!

Featured Link:

Kids Content Rules the Educational App Category

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center, affiliated with Sesame Workshop, found that the majority of highest selling educational apps are targeted towards preschoolers. The Cooney Center presented at the 2012 International Consumer Electronic Show (CES) on January 12, 2012 about their findings of the current app market for iOS users. Researchers examined the 200 top-selling educational apps in this market and found that the market for fun, innovative, and integrative apps is expanding. Developers (like FableVision!) should leverage this market to supplement children’s learning, shaping their online experiences.

The Cooney Center also found that there is a big divide between low and high income parents and their knowledge of the digital landscape, an important issue in childhood education progress. Even more mind boggling is that Apple still hasn’t put a standards system in place for published apps- anyone can be a developer, but ratings and labels are arbitrary. If a developer decides that his/her app is educational, then it can be labeled as such. On a platform with endless choices and possibilities for children to play, learn, and explore, such regulations are difficult to impose but critical for their educational journey.

Educational Technology:

Sesame Makes Augmented Reality Educational

Just point and shoot and those previously lifeless toys gain new and exciting ways to explore.

Apps to Check out:

Melody Street Orchestrates New App

Through the website and the apps, kids will be able to orchestrate and conduct their own musical symphonies.

Cut the Rope!

Education:

In Race to the Top, the Dirty Work is Left to Those on the Bottom

Obama’s education program, Race to the Top, has caused the Education Department to reinvent their rating methods.

Interactive Media

Apple announces iBooks 2, iBooks Author to “reinvent textbooks”

Grab Bag

Letter from 14 yr old girl to Lego

Ann Garth, a 14-year-old girl sends the CEO of LEGO a letter enraged about their recent decision to market a new set of Legos for girls.

Jim Henson short explains “Data Communications” for Bell execs, 1963

Fresh Impressions on Brandmarks, from a 5-year old

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A Brief Life Drawing Session

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Bob Flynn
About a week ago, the art team met for our regular Artist Meeting and decided to put pencil, crayon, and marker to paper. No computers. Getting out of our heads and our usual drawing styles. Straight up drawing from observation. We started by doing 30-second gesture drawings…
…and then moved into 3-4 minute poses.
Everyone had a chance to get up and strike a pose or two, and we sketched for the better part of an hour. Some folks were actually able to capture a pretty decent resemblance in their drawings. Though, we all were quick to realize just how rusty we were with this art school exercise. The above selection is just a smattering of the pages we filled up with sketches.
A lot of us are doodlers. We make things up. But the next time you’re stuck on something to draw, get out of your head and take a look at what’s around you.
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Touch, Click, Lift-the-Flap

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Naomi

I’m sitting in Sylvia’s room, watching her pull all her books off her little bookshelf.  She pauses as she comes across Where’s Spot?, her favorite lift-the-flap book of the week.

“Is Spot under the bed?” I read aloud and ask her.

“No!” She exclaims as she lifts the blanket flap

“Is Spot under the table?”

“No way!” She says with a dimpled smile even before she lifts and slightly tears the paper tablecloth flap.

It’s amazing to see Sylvia interact with the pages of these books with such excitement. As a producer of interactive multimedia at FableVision Studios, every time I watch Sylvia physically interact with these lift-the-flap books, I immediately start imagining how to transform them into a digital e-book app for the iPad…that’s just the way my mind works these days.  It’s hard for me to put away the silverware from the dishwasher and not think about how it would make a fun digital sorting and classifying game too.  And these lift-the flap books just seem perfect for the digital tablet medium.  I can easily picture Sylvia’s excited smile upon touching the tablecloth on the iPad and watching it animate to reveal one of Spot’s friends.

But this begs the question: if Sylvia is having such a great time–if she is truly interacting with the physical book–does she even NEED an e-book version?

Many people would say flat out NO, as loudly and as triumphantly as Sylvia does before even lifting the flap.  I’m of a different camp.  I’m a loud and triumphant MAYBE.  I don’t believe Sylvia really NEEDS an e-book, but I do think that at some point in her development, she would definitely enjoy it.  And I think she would have a whole different experience interacting with an e-book than she would with a physical book.

One of the best pieces I read about Steve Jobs after his death mentioned that he didn’t see a point in doing something unless you were going to make it special.  I feel like that is also a driving force behind the work we do at FableVision.  Here at FableVision Studios, we like to use technology to give children and adults new experiences that make the best use of the capabilities and affordances of a particular media platform.  And we always keep in mind that we shouldn’t be replicating the same experience a user could have on another medium.  We make it special and different and unique.

As a parent and a multimedia producer, I believe in balance.  I wouldn’t want to deprive Sylvia of the joy of lifting a physical flap to find Spot in one of her physical books.  So why would I want to deprive her of a whole different experience–a digital one–that will bring her joy in a whole new way?  Right now at, 14 months, she is still figuring out gross and fine motor control, so I believe physical books are the best thing for her educational development.  But when she gets to a point where digital books will be exciting and fun for her, I won’t hide them from her.  I will just make sure that whatever I expose her to is fun and, of course, special.

Here’s a video of Sylvia and me reading one of her favorite books, Llama Llama Red Pajama.  Watch at 2:45 where I read the word “kiss” and Sylvia reacts by actually kissing the page.  How’s that for interactivity?

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Weekly Click August 3rd

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Caryn

Featured Link

How one undergrad built the largest solar farm in Michigan - Connor Field, a Michigan state resident and University of Michigan undergrad, completed quite the amazing venture this summer: creating the largest solar farm in his state. Being an Economics major, Field set out to show renewable technology can be profitable, so he and his father negotiated with the local energy company while constructing their power-producing plot. They also took care to cut costs by producing the mechanical aspects of the farm from scratch. Because the sun’s position changes throughout the year, the most efficient solar panels should be able to rotate to match the sun’s orientation. Since such hardware is very costly, Field welded, “together 50,000 pounds of structural steel and pouring concrete around 20,000 pounds of rebar” to create simple hinged mechanisms that allow the panels to be unlatched and adjusted as need be to match the sun’s location at each point of the year.

Initially it may seem that somewhere that is sunny almost everyday like Arizona would be more beneficial for solar power, but in reality the heat hinders the panels upwards of 75% efficiency! Therefore Field’s farm produces the largest amount of the power in the spring with a, “maximum of 149kW, enough to power a couple hundred homes.” But this is not the end of the Field’s renewable energy undertakings: he is planning a future project at a grander scale than his current solar farm, and “is spending this summer interning with a University of Michigan project researching new solar technology.” Make sure to keep your eyes open to the fields of rural Michigan to see what Field concocts next!

Kids and Media

Toons, Tablets and Tech-Toys: Intergenerational Play is the Future of Digital Learning- Here is some enlightening reflection on how interactive devices like the iPad are really allowing families and classrooms to interact with kids while enhancing learning. Great programs like Toontastic Travel Tales ‘Tooning Contest help parents and kids collaborate during learning experiences instead of kids being plugged into their own isolated worlds.

PBS revisits ‘Mister Rogers’ with new show -PBS is bringing back the beloved Mister Rogers Neighborhood with a new animated spin: ‘Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.’  It will be targeted at the preschool age bracket, but will still follow the tenants of Mister Rogers world: instilling curiosity, and helping children understand how relationships work.

Fun apps!

Take a Musical Trip with iOS Game Groove Coaster - Who knew being a little ball of light floating along a winding roller coaster and tapping to a beat could be so addicting! Not only is Groove Coaster graphically impressive and interesting,  it also requires a good amount of skill. The longer you play, the more difficult the sound track you have to match.  The best part is that if you play perfectly your tapping enhances the original music! Check it out at the app store!

Hands-On With Skype’s Phone app for iPad – After much anticipation, the Skype app for the iPad is finally live as of last night! This great new tool for the ever-changing Apple world allows users to voice and video chat using 3G or Wi-Fi to other mobile devices, connect with landlines, recieve calls using the device’s online number, and of course instant message. To see exactly what it looks like, check out this step by step progression of screen shots!

Grab bag

Human Pinball Takes Over New York – Person Pinball debuted at the Animation Block Party this past weekend in Brooklyn, and features a cool technique known as pixilation that makes “people look like stop-motion puppets.”

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Weekly Click – July 29th

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Caryn

Featured Link:

Former FableVisionary Goes Disney -
It was just a normal, usual day in Maine for children’s book author and freelance illustrator Noah Z. Jones— until he was approached by Disney to create the animated TV series “Fish Hooks”! Jones previously spent time working as one of our own FableVision animators, and the entire studio is thrilled about his TV success!

Disney's 'Fish Hooks'

Noah also serves as co-executive producer for the series, which is currently the Number 2 animated series on TV for both the 6-11 year old and 9-14 year old demographic, second only to Disney’s “Phineas and Ferb.” “Fish Hooks” follows the adventures of a group of teenage fish living in a pet store fish tank.

Noah had pitched a couple of ideas to the family entertainment powerhouse before Disney ultimately decided on “Fish Hooks,” which mixes 2D animation with photo collage, a style that is definitely not your typical Disney look. Mike Moon, Animation Development Executive for the Disney Channel, gave Noah full reign to shape his characters into the quirky creatures that his audience have come to know and love.

Noah is also the creator of “Almost Naked Animals, ” recently picked up by Cartoon Network to air during its summer lineup! We are incredibly proud of Noah and wish him the best of luck with both fantastic series!

More links that have been circulating around FableVision this week:

Education

Studies Find that Students Learn More by ‘Acting Out’ Texts - According to researchers, students understand more from what they read if they physically act out the material due to a behavior known as “embodied, or grounded cognition.” Whether playing with physical toys in front of them or manipulating images on a computer screen, interacting with the material proves to enhance the reading—and learning— experience!

How a Non-Profit Funded 1,000 Students With Micro-loans – Where the vast majority of students in their communities have little if any formalized education, the Seattle-based non-profit, Vittana, has raised enough money to help 1,000 students from 10 different developing countries continue their studies. Vittana is completely run by donations by the public and follows the vision of: “building a world where anyone can go to college. ” Follow the students as they embark on their educational journey at Vittana.com!

Cool New Mobile Tech

NASA Streams Science with iPad App – What has NASA been up to now that the space shuttle program has officially come to a close? Developing a line of interactive and engaging mobile applications of course! NASA’s Visualization Explorer, one of their forthcoming applications for the iPad, takes users on a tour of Mother Earth with the latest images, videos, and other data. Learn about this app and similar NASA projects, watch videos of some of the brightest scientists in the country, and do it all… for free!

Digital Tattoo Gets Under Your Skin to Monitor Blood – Dr. Heather Clark at Northeastern University is currently developing subdermal sensors that collect data about the blood content and Grad student Matt Dubach is working on designing an iPhone 4 attachment that will translate the results into quantifiable data. Right now, a secondary machine is needed to translate the data, but these developers expect that with assistance of the higher resolution iPhone 5 camera, the technology will be ready soon!

Illustration

New Yorker Covers from Notable Children’s Illustrators - Librarian Elizabeth Bird has put together a great collection of New Yorker covers over at School Library Journal. Click over to see some great work from the likes of Maurice Sendak, Gary Larson, Ian Falconer, and many more children’s author/illustrators!

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Weekly Click – July 20th

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Caryn

Featured Link:

Can a Playground be Too Safe? – In recent decades, playgrounds have transformed from complex, towering jungle gyms on black tops to short, plastic structures surrounded by rubber or wood chips. Many parents have applauded the increased safety features in their neighborhood playgrounds, but studies have found that “boring” playground equipment may hurt children’s psyche worse than the physical injury they may have fallen victim to by older equipment.

A large part of the growing process is what psychology professor Dr. Ellen Sandseter calls “risky play.” After studying children in playgrounds in multiple countries, Dr. Sandseter suggests that children need play structures that challenge their comfort zones and help them test their own limits. Risky play cognitively mimics therapy of anxiety, and it teaches kids how to work through their phobias, meaning the occasional fall off the monkey bars is a good thing!

Surprisingly, the emphasis on safety features may even lead to more injuries since parents and kids alike have a false sense of security, and therefore take more risks. Psychologists suggest that parents become aware of the true risk associated with their local playground equipment, and do the best they can with the given equipment to help their children climb to new heights, physically and emotionally.

Children and Technology

Children’s Book Uses iPad Interactivity to Teach Open Mindedness -  Artist Raghava KK has created an interactive children’s book called Pop It that truly shakes up the concept of family. The plot of the book follows parents doing daily tasks with their child like taking a bath (to the right). However, upon shaking the iPad, the visual of the parents changes from a homosexual couple, to a lesbian couple, to a heterosexual couple while the story line remains the same. “It’s a metaphor for shaking from one perspective to another,” said Raghava.

Hot New Devices

New, Faster Macbook Airs Launced, Old Plastic Macbook Killed Off – Apple launched new Macbook Airs that are lighter, have longer battery life, backlit keyboards, and the brand new OS X 10.7 Lion operating system, which was also launched today. For those of you with plastic cover Macbook’s: Beware! Apple has just discontinued your model!

Photoshop Fun

The Best 30 Photo Manipulation Tutorials for Photoshop -Whether you want to know how to simulate an approaching tornado or to create a robotic frog, these tutorials will help you reach your artistic vision.

Grab Bag

My Blackberry’s Not Working – Brought to you by The One Ronnie Show on BBC, here is a great satire about the current technology named after fruits. See how long it takes you to start giggling!

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Weekly Click- July 13th

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Caryn

Browse through these cool links for a little bit of fun and a little bit of motivation to keep the creative juices flowing all week long.

Featured Link:

Animated Letters Project-Pioneered by a zealous amateur animator, Willie Downs, this blog is a source of inspiration to us all. Like so many college students, Willie found himself dissatisfied with his projected career path, and set out to discover his true passions. He was magnetically drawn to animation, but before throwing away an expensive college education, Willie sought out advice from the professionals.  He wrote to animation legends at Pixar and DreamWorks Studios, and, amazingly, received responses back. Willie posted these letters on his blog as motivation for other aspiring animators who feel stuck in a rut or get frustrated. Shortly after, a cool website, Lettersofnote.com,
showcased the letters from the animation greats, which turned on a light bulb for Willie.

The original two letters have become the basis of his current project: to collect words of inspiration from animators at all the major studios in the country to be complied into an inspirational book. His goal is to share any story about the journey of becoming an animator, no matter how big or how small, how difficult or how luckily the break came about: any story that others can learn from and be stimulated by. Willie aims to have enough letters by next summer to begin assembling the book. He asks that the letters be in the authors own penmanship to maintain the personalized vibe. Once the book hits the market, he plans donate a large portion of the profits to an aspiring animator whose animation career dreams are hindered financially. Willie has a great heart and ambitious but courageous dreams, so if you have any stories to share visit his personal blog or comment on the Animated Letters project blog!

More for the Aspiring Animators

Paramount Launching New Animated Division-On July 6th Paramount Productions announced they are creating an in-house animation division that will produce one animated feature per year starting in 2014. Many speculate that the first production will be a sequel to Paramount’s recent release, Rango, which is currently the best reviewed animated film of the year.

Gaming

10 Clever Indie Games Ready to Shine at PAX- Check out the top ten indie games that will be featured in a high profile booth from August 26th-28th in Seattle at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX Prime).  Some of the games include: Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony, Antichamber, and Splatters.

In the mood to game right now?- Brought to you by We Create Stuff, Interlock is a puzzle disassembling game with 20 levels that challenges you to explore the internal structure of intricately constructed figures in order to deconstruct the puzzle piece by piece.

Mobile App Updates

Facebook for Every Phone App Launches for 2,500 Mobile Devices- If you have yet to hop on or be forced on the smartphone bandwagon, but still want to get your Facebook fix anywhere, there is good news! Facebook has partnered with 20 carriers in different parts of the world to create an app to allow any java-enabled phone access to Facebook. The app includes Facebook news feed, inbox and photos modules, uploading photos and finding new friends from address book contacts. Download it from Facebook!

New Android Market Offers Movie Rentals & Book Sales- In the next few weeks Google will be launching a new Android Market for devices with Android 2.2 and higher. The market will offer a free video app and an app to purchase books. Both of theses features can be accessed directly from your phone or tablet. Another great addition to the Android Market is both books and video rentals can be linked to your Google account and accessible from any device you own!

Great Gadget

Watertight, Rugged USB can Weather the high seas- Made for the adventurous types, the Corsair Flash Survivor Drive USB is waterproof down to depths of 650 feet, can withstand temperatures from -13F to 167F, and, on top of all that, it can back up an entire 16GB iPad! Though it’s more common to back up to a remote server, it’s always a great idea to have a physical copy of data that is darn close to indestructible.

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