M c D i s k
    interviewed
   Eric Schwartz

The  aerotoons, Amy the Squirrel, Flip
the  Frog,  Juggette, The anti-lemmin'
so  many  names  and  as  many  others
entertaining you through long cartoon-
like   animations   full   of  humour.
That's the great art of Eric Schwartz.
All  his  productions are obviously on
Amiga  and  represent a different kind
of  work  we use to watch on the amiga
scene:   trackmos,  demos,  slides and
musicdisk ...  Few tried to make other
 
kinds of work, Eric Schwartz is one of
them,  and  makes  it  brillantly in a
really personal style.

Watching   big  productions  like  The
Dating  Game  and  lately A day at the
Beach   (about  4  minutes  long),  we
thought  it was time for an interview.
And   Eric  Shwartz  answered  to  our
questions very kindly.

 MD: First, can you tell us facts about
    your   person?    (age,   hobbies,
    schoolwork)

 ES: I  am  twenty years  old, and I am
    attending   my   second   year  of
    schooling  at the Columbus College
    of  Art  and  Design  in Ohio.  In
    addition to my Amiga animations, I
    also    build    model    aircraft
    occasionally.


 MD: What  kind  of devices did you add
    to your Amiga?  You can tell us if
    you own other computers.

 ES: At the beginning of 1989, I got my
    first  Amiga, an A500, expanded to
    one  Mega  of  RAM  with  a second
    floppy  disk  drive.  Later, I got
    an  Amiga  2000  with  two  floopy
    drives,  three Megas of RAM, and a
    2088 PC Bridgeboard (which I never
    use).   A  year after I added a 45
    megabyte hard drive.
    I  also use an Apple Macintosh LC,
    which  is  not mine but is loanded
    to  me from The Gold Disk software
    company.     So   I   can   create
    promotional animations for them.
    (Also  a  Modem, NewTek Digi-view,
    kickstart   2.04   and   a   Sound
    digitizer.)


 MD: List up the stage of your computer
    career,  have  you  started  as an
    animator  or  did  you  reach this
    kind  of  creation  by other ways?
    (graphician,   coding,...    music
    maybe?)

 ES: I  have  always been interested in
    animated  films  using such things
    as  clay  and cut paper.  I always
    wanted  to  do  animation, and the
    Amiga  provided  a  cheap and easy
    way  to  do  animations.   I don't
    have  any real experience in music
    or programming.


 MD: So,  are you only working on Amiga
    or  are  you  making  creations on
    other computers?  Then do you work
    for  any kind of animation company
    (Disney?...  Bluth, Pixar?)

 ES: As  I  said  before,  I  did use a
    Macintosh to create animations for
    the  Gold  Disk company to promote
    their  Animation Works sofware for
    Macintosh  and  PCs.   Other  than
    that,  I  am  not  working for any
    animation  studio  and  only  work
    with the Amiga.


 MD: Describe  the  way  you are making
    animations,  if you are allowed to
    do  so?  And, how many time do you
    use   for  one  like  "The  Dating
    Game"?

 ES: Some of my earlier animations were
    done  differently, but this is the
    process  in which I create most of
    my cartoons today:
    I spend a lot of time thinking and
    drawing on paper to get an idea of
    the  story, how the animation will
    look,  and  other  ideas.  Then, I
    draw  most of the animation in the
    Disney  animation Studio software,
    using   either   the  mouse  or  a
    drawing  tablet.  I color the line
    drawings  in  DeluxePaint  4,  and
    also   do  the  backgrounds.   The
    color  pictures  are imported into
    GoldDisk's  MovieSetter  software,
    where   the   animation   is   put
    together with the backgrounds, and
    sounds   are  added.   The  entire
    process can take anywhere from two
    weeks to eight weeks, depending on
    the  size  and  complexity  of the
    animation.


 MD: And  do you have anykind of source
    of  inspiration  when  you start a
    new production?

 ES: I  almost  never have a "source of
    inspiration".   I  get an idea and
    act upon the idea.  The idea comes
    from  myself,  a  friend or family
    members,  or  from something I see
    or hear.


 MD: What  do  you  hope  people see in
    your cartoons, do you wish to make
    them  laugh (you do!), do you want
    to give a personal illustration of
    life?

 ES: I just like to make funny cartoons
    and  experiment with new ideas and
    techniques.    Like  many  cartoon
    directors I do not think about how
    an audience would react.


 MD: What    does   E.S.    PRODUCTIONS
    consist  in, only your label, or a
    bigger project?

 ES: E.S.   PRODUCTIONS is just a name.
    Almost  anything  that I have done
    since  I  was twelve years old has
    been called an E.S.  PRODUCTION.


 MD: Which  way  do  you  use to spread
    your new productions, BBS...?

 ES: I  Give  my new productions to the
    user groups in my area either just
    by giving them a disk or uploading
    to their BBS's.  My home town user
    group  has  all  my animations and
    distributes them for a small fee.


 MD: Now,  tell  us  about the American
    Amiga  scene,  and  your vision of
    it?

 ES: In the U.S.A., the Amiga is in the
    third  place in popularity, behind
    the   IBM   and  IBM  clones,  and
    Apple's Macintosh computers.  This
    situation   is   mainly   due   to
    ignorance from the American buyer.
    The  first question a new computer
    buyer usually asks is:  "Is it IBM
    compatible?",  even  if he doesn't
    need  IBM compatibility to do what
    he wants to do.
    The  video  Toaster  by NewTek has
    made  the  Amiga  a  big  part  of
    professional  video  work,  and  I
    hope it has a lot more successes.
 

 MD: How  do  you  see  the new digital
    images  we  can  discover more and
    more each days, then, what is your
    personal   feeling   about   these
    digital    animations   (used   in
    advertissments,  videos, or in new
    cartoons  like  the  ones  made by
    PIXAR:  Red Dream, Knick Knack.)

 ES: The  most interesting thing I find
    about  Computer  images  today  is
    that  they  are  used  to recreate
    life   and  are  mixed  with  live
    action   film   or  video  for  an
    interesting  effect,  Terminator 2
    is a good example.  My preferences
    in animation in general are geared
    toward  cartoons,  like  the  ones
    from  Disney  and  MGM  and Warner
    Brothers.   Animation like that is
    almost impossible to recreate on a
    computer without drawing.  Many of
    the  PIXAR  come  close,  but they
    still  have  an entirely different
    look   from   the  two-dimensional
    cartoons.


 MD: So,  do  you  plan  any  important
    production for the future?

 ES: I  do  not  have  anything planned
    right  now  that is the same scale
    as   The   Dating   Game   or  The
    anti-lemmin'  demo, but I'm sure I
    will soon.  I am currently working
    on  another  aerotoon with an A-10
    "Warthog" aircraft hunting a tank.
    Other  things  I might work on for
    the    future    include   another
    juggette  animation  or  perhaps a
    sequel to the Anti-lemmin' demo.


 MD: To  close this page, anything else
    you want to say?

 ES: I  would  like to say hello to all
    the  Amiga  animators  of  Europe,
    especially   Tobias   Richter  and
    Steve Packer.
    My    reccomendation    for    any
    newcomers  to  the Amiga animation
    is  to  keep practicing so you are
    familiar  with the softare and can
    draw well.

 
Thank  you  for  these  answers,  Eric
Schwartz.   And we are all waiting for
a   forthcoming  animation  from  E.S.
PRODUCTIONS.


    ..........................


 
As  a  conclusion  of  this interview,
here   are  some  useful  informations
about
           E.S. PRODUCTIONS

We can give you the last complete list
of  titles  (March,  19th,  1992), but
know  that most of them work on Amigas
with more than 2 Megas of RAM.
 

          AEROTOONS SERIES:

Stealthy Maneuver                 1989
The Swiss Army F16 in Combat      1989
Stealth Bomber                    1989
SkyDive                           1989
Navy Aggressor Training           1989
Soviet Soft Landing               1989
Korean Conflict                   1989
VTOL contest                      1989
Stealthy Maneuver II              1990
Vietnam Conflict                  1990
Shuttlecock                       1991
ATF Agility                       1991
Camouflage                        1991
Gulf Conflict                     1991

           E.S PRODUCTIONS:

How to run into a wall            1989
Coyote 2: The road Test           1989
Juggler Demo II                   1989
At the movies                     1990
POGO: Miz Ma'm'selle              1990
Batman                            1990
Juggette demo II                  1990
Terminal                          1990
Late Night                        1990
The History of Amy the Squirrel   1990
The Anti-Lemmin' demo             1991
The Dating Game                   1991
At the movies 2                   1991
Amy vs Walker 2                   1992
A day at the beach                1992


     ANIMS (short looping anims):

Amy Walks                         1989
Juggette Anim                     1989
E.S Anim                          1989
Stealthy Flyby                    1990
Juggler jr.                       1990
City Jumper                       1990
Amy Jogs                          1990
Amy vs. Walker                    1990
The big sneeze                    1990
E.S. Tor Anim                     1990
Amy Does Schwab                   1991


One  of  the  best anims from E.S.  is
the  Anti  Lemmin' demo.  As everybody
on  Amiga  knows  what  a  Lemming  is
thanks   to   the   great   game  from
PSYGNOSIS,  you  can imagine that Eric
Schwartz  choose  the  best characters
for  a  wonderful  animation.   If you
don't  have  it  yet,  try to get it !
The only problem is that it only works
on  a  2 MB expanded amiga with a hard
disk.   So  here  is  a quick test for
those  who  were  not  lucky enough to
have seen it.

         THE ANTILEMMIN' DEMO

The  first  joke  appears with a black
front screen, and a big blue logo with
metallic  effects on the top of it.  -
PSYKE-NOSE-IS presents, says the logo.
In  the  middle  of  the screen, guess
what   is   drawn:    not   the  usual
PSYGNOSIS   owl  and  his  blue  globe
but...   a nice lady squirrel leant on
her  elbow in a circle and a funny new
character,   a  sphere  with  glasses,
moustaches  and  a  big nose.  And the
Title:  The Antilemmin demo.
This screen fades out to show the well
known  level  screen of Lemmings.  But
this level is a new one:


              LEVEL 125
         AEROTOON  APOCALYPSE

Then   comes   the  beginning  of  the
action.    We   see   a   little  hand
stretching  a  finger and pushs one of
the  lemming  action  button  down the
screen:   ACTION!   Extern view of the
big door in the sky where Lemmings are
going  to  fall  from.   Remember that
everything   is   cartoonlike  so  the
graphics  have nothing to similar with
the  original  game.   Then  a  little
voice:   -Come  on  guys guys, there's
the signal!
Let's go!  And the big  door opens its
leaves  and  a  new colony of Lemmings
comes down.
All  the  cartoon is ponctuated by new
ideas   about   The   Lemmings.   Eric
Schwartz   introduced  in  the  Lemmin
story, one of his aerotoon characters,
so  there, the poor little Lemmins are
attacked   by  an  aerotoon  warplane.
Almost,  the best sequence is when the
hand  just pushed the explosion button
down  the  screen.  The little Lemmin'
doesn't  blow  up  but  gets  a rocket
launcher bigger than him.  A rambolike
red rubban around his head he releases
the  weapon, a white countdown, on the
Lemmin's  head,  5  4  3  2  1  0, and
launchs some rockets.  The warplane is
hit  but  gets the time to launch some
more  on  the  poor little Lemmin' who
shouts  a  last  "OH  NO!",  before he
explodes.
As an ending of this great production,
we meet the one who controlled all the
Lemmins.   But  try  to find it out by
yourself.   The  ending  conclusion is
quite   funny.    When  you  see  Eric
Schwartz's Lemmings:  little pink face
in  large blue pyjamas  you wonder why
Psygnosis  didn't ask to  persons like
him  to make more cartoons on there so
famous   character.    There's  really
something  to  do,  more  than  games,
about the Lemmings.
      
 
If  you want to get in touch with ERIC
SCHWARTZ, for infos...

            Eric Schwartz
           P.O. Box 292684
       Kettering, OH 45429-0684
                U.S.A

         Ordering Animations:

              E.S  Anims
             c/o AFIT AUG
            P.O. Box  4114
          Dayton, OH , 45402
                U.S.A


           Interview done by

           ALEX / ALCATRAZ