AN EXCLUSIVE FOR HOGAN'S ALLEY NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS:

Talking 'Tek'

A chat with J.J. Sedelmaier, animator of The Colbert Report's serialized "TEK JANSEN"

HOGAN’S ALLEY: You're having fun with the conventions of anime in TEK JANSEN. Were you a fan of the genre? What did you use to establish the look of the series? The intentionally choppy transitions, occasionally jumpy action scenes...you're clearly going for the look of anime that is not supposed to look like AKIRA.

SEDELMAIER: Intentionally choppy transitions? Occasionally jumpy action scenes? What are you saying, Tom?! Seriously, my reference and inspiration came

Above: Three anime-style studies whose characters felt "too young." (For all thumbnails, click to see a larger image.)

from shows like "Tobor the 8th Man"--first generation TV anime. Very self-important, no sense of humor--action packed, but very limited in its animation.

A study using a wash technique, ultimately deemed "too cartoony."

HOGAN’S ALLEY: From an animation standpoint, what has been the biggest challenge to getting the series to have the look you want?

SEDELMAIER: The biggest challenge is keeping things looking full with as little work as possible. These things are turned around in three weeks; that's from receipt of the soundtrack, which often changes throughout the production.

HOGAN’S ALLEY: Walk us briefly through how the animation is matched to the voices.

While the staff liked this style, it still wasn't quite right.

SEDELMAIER: Take my hand. . . After we receive the soundtrack (wave file, mpeg, etc.) the soundtrack is read onto exposure sheets. This is the chart that provides for each and every frame of film. The words of the actors are transposed into frames of film by timing out how long it takes the words to be said. If the characters are saying their lines on-screen, the lines have to be phonetically translated so that the animators know where the various sounds happen and where to make the mouths form the words. In limited animation like this, we have mouth charts that allow for a formula approach to mouth-action. We animate at 24 frames per second, so in a three-minute cartoon, there are 4,320 frames to account for when it comes to drawing and sounds.

Great graphic designs, but deemed too sophisticated for the Tek project.

HOGAN’S ALLEY: What's Stephen Colbert like in person?

Below: Sexy Abraxia drawings. Bottom: The first Abraxia drawing.

SEDELMAIER: Very bright, very funny, and enthusiastic as hell. This is the sixth project we've collaborated on. He's the voice of Ace in "The Ambiguously Gay Duo" cartoons. He brought us into the fold to do the titles for "Strangers With Candy." I brought him into the "Harvey Birdman-Attorney at Law" world. He did a couple voices for the "Midterm Elections" piece we did for "The Daily

Show with Jon Stewart," and he had us do his "Spartina" title

card you see at the end of every "Colbert Report." But there are five writers we work with at the show, including Ben Karlin, who shuttles between “Colbert” and “The Daily Show.” It's a great group that's fascinating to watch pull ideas together!

HOGAN'S ALLEY: Apart from you, who else has played a role in the animation of the series?

SEDELMAIER: Well, first and foremost is Dan Madia. He's acting as head

An early Tek drawing deemed sufficiently masculine but not stylized enough.

designer/animator as well as production manager/assistant

The Tek drawing that captured the look everyone had in mind.

director. Regardless of us all tossing stuff into the pitch "soup," it's Dan's drawing that ultimately was chosen by the Colbert group. He supervises the laying out of the drawings that'll be animated, and he's my eyes and ears in the production room…terrific talent. The other artists at JJSP that have been tireless contributors are John Bonarrigo, Gene DeCicco, Dave Lovelace, Claire Widman and Zero. Starting with Episode #2, 8 Hats High in Middletown, New York, is animating the scenes we design, lay out and prepare. They also do the ink and paint and compositing. They've been a tireless cog in the Tek Jansen machine. They've come through 100 percent, and this is the first time we've worked with them as a company. Various folks there have worked on our cartoons in various capacities and at various places, but this is the first project we've all collaborated on together. Dave Lipson and Luciano Geronimo handled the ink and paint on Episode #1.

Finally, there's Samantha Scharff. She's the "Colbert Report" producer for the cartoons. We know each other from her producing the "Saturday TV Funhouse" cartoons for SNL since 1997-98. She's a godsend for both sides. They need someone who's familiar with the process, and it's great that we have a chemistry that works with her, too! It'd be an impossible task without her.

Tek Jansen is c 2006 Central Productions LLC

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