O Pato Desafinado in Italy created a Coraline-themed box and Doll from my papercraft Coraline Doll. They look really well made and awesome. More pictures at Caffè Delle Tre. Grazie tanto for sending these to me!

Download this Coraline Papercraft from Tektonten Papercraft. Via Evil Buttons.

Friday, July 24

10:30-11:30 Coraline— Visionary director and screenwriter Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) and Newbery Medal-winning author Neil Gaiman discuss the making of the LAIKA/Focus Features 2009 breakout animated hit film Coraline. In celebration of Universal Studio’s Blu-ray Hi-Def and DVD release of the critically acclaimed stop-motion film, Selick and Gaiman will be joined by lead animator and LAIKA CEO/president Travis Knight, producer Bill Mechanic (CEO of Pandemonium and producer of Dark Water and The New World), character fabrication supervisor Georgina Hayns (Corpse Bride), and voice talent Keith David (Crash). Panelists will offer an in-depth, behind-the-scenes glimpse at how this astonishing and suspenseful adventure—the first stop-motion animated feature originally produced in stereoscopic 3D—was painstakingly brought to life. The panel wis moderated by IGN movies/DVD editor-in-chief Eric Moro. Room 6A

AUTOGRAPH FLOOR
Henry Selick, Neil Gaiman, Keith David
Line ticket drawing to be held 9:15 am Friday in Autograph Area
Friday AA2 12:30 pm–1:30 pm

I would have liked to be there, but what with my terrible killer fishes having babies, and all the poor lost orphans I’ve been having to unite with evil toothy witches, it’s been a busy summer and I haven’t been able to get away. More Coraline here.

1. The deleted scenes!
2. How does Coraline look in 3D at home?

The Deleted Scenes from Coraline

One of my favorite things about DVDs is that they include deleted scenes. I actually like more deleted scenes than less, so I was a little disappointed with the deleted scenes on the Coraline DVD. There aren’t a whole lot of them. Also, with most of them, you can see why they didn’t make the cut. There is one of them, though, that is really amazing and beautiful, and must have been really painful for them to cut. It’s a bunch of mice that are flat and have been animated to weave around like they’re ribbons. Mice figure heavily into the the plot of Coraline, so it’s obvious why they made a scene like it.

The Coraline DVD 3D Experience

There has been a lot of controversy about the 3D on the Coraline DVDs ever since it was announced that they used an anaglyphic process. One news site even went so far as to declare “CORALINE DVD Will Offer Crappy 3D Experience”. Ever since I read that I’ve wanted to test it for myself. Today I watched several different parts of the movie in two different display formats, and I think using the word “Crappy” is just plain wrong. When the 3D version of Coraline starts, a little window comes up to tell you that you should give your eyes five minutes to adjust. Then the beginning credits begin, and before you know it everything has turned 3D. My friend agreed that the quality was better than we expected. (Don’t look so shocked. I have friends.) Here are some photos. Keep in mind that this is my camera operating under the worst possible conditions. One was shot from an LCD TV in the dark and the other shot from a screen with the image projected from an LCD projector.

As you can see here, there are kind of three separate images superimposed to make the complete image when viewed through the glasses that come with the Coraline DVDs. One image each for the purple and green, and then a third for the colors and shading. Some colors show up really well in the 3D. For example, everyone is flesh colored and that works great. Also Mr. Bobinsky is blue. Red and yellow also show well. It appears like anything white, green, or purple is going to have issues. Things that should be green or purple end up being gray or blue. Things that are white kind of shimmer between purple and green. Once you’ve watched the movie long enough, though, you don’t really notice it. We watched the Blu-Ray version on a 100 inch screen using an ancient home theater projector, in the dark. To be honest, I would expect the quality to be horrific on a small conventional TV in a lit room. However, I would expect the quality to be nice on an LCD HDTV as well.

For us, the Coraline DVD worked well enough in 3D that I think people will probably opt to watch it in 3D at home. It’s kind of fun!

THREE!!!

I don’t have much more to say about the movie. I just wanted to throw this picture in to show how Coraline’s Other Mother says the word three: With STYLE and VERVE. That is what I am talking about. By the way, did mention that the picture quality on the Blu-Ray DVDs is awesome? It is.

Finally, the winners for the Coraline Lenticular Cup giveaway have been chosen. Congratulations to Karen and Angela.

That’s it for tonight. I’m going to spend some time on other things. There are still a couple of days left on my Coraline NECA figurine giveaway, so sign up if you haven’t yet. Don’t forget to check out Coraline Central on Dark in the Dark.

Coraline on Amazon

Here is the front of the slipcover for the Coraline DVD.

And the back.

Here’s what you get in the box:

4 pairs of 3D glasses. As you can see, they are the purple and green type of 3D Glasses. I’ve read that with the purple and green 3D process, although there is still a lot of color quality loss, the quality is better than the old fashioned red and green.

A guide to the digital copy of Coraline. This works with a Mac via iTunes or a PC with Windows Media Player. The instructions are given and are pretty basic. There is an authorization code printed on the bottom (I painted over mine in the picture above, but it can be found in the white rectangle at the bottom.)

The set includes two disks. One is the Blu-Ray disk. It contains the Hi-Def version of both the regular-format move and the 3D format movie. It also includes all the special features in Hi-Def (which is cool!) Here is a post where I talk exhaustively about the Coraline DVD Features. Basically, you get: deleted scenes, “The Making of Coraline”, “Voicing the Characters”, “Creepy Coraline”, feature commentary, D-Box Motion, U-Control, and BD-Live. The last three need some explaining.

D-Box – D-Box is motion code included in the movie that will instruct a motion platform how to move and shake the chair you’re sitting in depending on what’s going on in the movie. Check the D-Box website for more details.

U-Control – This is one of those features I never use, but basically it provides extra content on the making of the movie that you can watch while the movie is playing if you want to.

BD-Live - If you have a Blu-Ray DVD player that can use online features, you’ll be able to do things like access extra online content and interact with your friends.

That’s it for tonight. Part two of this review is up. Click here for the rest of the Coraline DVD 3D Review. Don’t forget to check out Coraline Central on Dark in the Dark.

Coraline on Amazon

First up, Coraline eBay auctions to benefit the Starlight Children’s Foundation. Memorabilia from the movie including limited edition Coraline Nike Dunks (some of which were signed by Dakota Fanning) and original Coraline books and film posters signed by Teri Hatcher and Dakota Fanning.

There are three new Coraline “making of” videos up on YouTube. All three are really cool!

Making Faces: About the process they used to animate the faces in Coraline. It actually looks quite dizzying. I had a mental picture of intense animators squatting over tiny sets and painstakingly choosing the next face, perhaps mouthing the lines from the movie over and over to themselves. Not so. Link to movie on YouTube is here.

The 360 Shot: An intense animator tells how they did what appears to be the 360 degree shot where the Other Father plays the piano and makes up a song for Coraline. YouTube link.

Wrapping Up Coraline: Henry Selick talks about the crew and how hard they worked to make it a great movie. Strangely enough he does not thank the Other Mother. Of course, he didn’t thank any of the other stars, so I guess that’s only fair, but I kept waiting for him to mention her. YouTube Link.

Dark in the Dark’s central source for information on Coraline: Coraline Central.

Coraline on Amazon

There is also a sweepstakes going on. Enter Coraline’s Secret Door Sweepstakes for a chance to win $10,000 cash grand prize, plus great daily prizes like DVDs, gift cards from iTunes, Amazon and more! – http://universal.promo.eprize.com/coraline/ You can enter once a day. I already did mine. If you play the game and you don’t get a prize, as a consolation you get to see the lovely Other Mother. And that is exactly what I say when I see her: “Yikes!” I also say “Ouch my broken heart.”

Universal is also promoting the DVD release with this strange site http://www.coraline3dgarden.com To use this site you print out a page and then hold it in front of a webcam. Then when you move the paper, the website shows you Coraline’s 3D Garden. I haven’t been able to check it out because I have a Mac. (Don’t act all shocked. Most monsters use Macs.)

Do it! NOW! And report back to me. You might win a free cup. Then go order a Coraline DVD. Preorder at Amazon! Don’t miss my central source for information on Coraline on Dark in the Dark: Coraline Central.

Speaking of which, the Coraline DVDs are available for preorder at Amazon, cheap!

I’ve actually been warming up to the Sweet Ghost Girl. She still kind of looks like she’s winding up for a kiss, but I guess it’s OK. I like the Tall Ghost Girl the best out of the button-eyed ghostly children. As you’ll recall, there’s also a Ghost Boy in the movie, and there are figurines of all three of them available in different of these NECA Coraline toy sets.

Anyways, blah blah blah. I sure can go on. Just put a quarter in old Dark and watch him blab on to himself and the world about any subject that he can get obsessed about. So, to business:

The Coraline Giveaway:

What is up for grabs: All the figures from the NECA Coraline Star Sweater set EXCEPT the lovely Other Mother. So that’s the Cat, the Sweet Ghost Girl, and Coraline herself.

Who will win: Leave a comment on this post. If you have a preference for which of the three Coraline figures you would want to get, include that in your comment. Make sure when you post your comment that you make sure to put in the right email address in the field. That’s how I’ll notify the winners. (I can only afford to ship to the US and Canada, so people from other countries please don’t enter. Sorry!)

What they will win: I have one set to split up, so there’s going to be three winners. One winner will get the Cat. One winner will get the Sweet Ghost Girl. One winner will get Coraline.

When and how the winners will be chosen: Saturday, July 25. Winners will be chosen using random.org. Which figure will go to which person will be worked out as well as possible, but if they stated a preference, the first winner will get the toy they chose. Likewise the second will have next priority. So the second and third winners will get the toy of their choosing if it is still available and if they stated a preference. Otherwise I’ll just do some coin-flipping. Confused? So am I!

Notification: Winners will be notified by email July 25 and will have until July 31 to get back to me. After that, their prize will be forfeited and awarded to someone else chosen with a random.org number.

Here they are:

The Cat

Coraline

Sweet Ghost Girl.

Don’t miss my papercraft Coraline Doll, papercraft Coraline Circus Mouse, and also my post on the Coraline DVDs. Here are the three Coraline Toy sets: The set with Wybie, the set with Mr. Bobinsky and the set I got, with the Other Mother!

Thanks to Evil Buttons for featuring us!

The response for my Papercraft Coraline Doll has been so positive that I’ve decided to make more, and here is the first. This time I have made one of the Other Mother’s circus mice, partly because it’s another of the Other Mother’s creations, and partly because they’re easier to make. I expect all of you to be creating paper Circus Mouse armies! You can download the papercraft from the Coraline Circus Mouse page. It’s my second paper model, and once again it’s a valentine to the smashing Other Mother from the movie Coraline.

I’ve also posted a blank copy of the mouse in the hopes that other artists will customize their own. Have fun!