You CAN take it with you…
by Mitchell Rily
Atmosphere, that is. How can guests take a piece of the park home with them? Easy — with souvenirs, pictures, or caricatures. But John Pearson’s company, Familiar Image, brings the park’s atmosphere back to life for your guest with a caricature for the new millenium Anicatures™ –- while giving back to the parks as well.
inpark: How do Anicatures™ differ from the “normal” caricature?
Familiar Image: It is a caricature just like any other only it’s more advanced. The drawing of the person’s face is incorporated onto an animated body in an animated background setting with fun cartoony things going on around them. It’s interactive and very charming.
inpark: Did you ever work at a “normal” caricature booth?
Familiar Image: I spent two summers at the caricature booths at Six Flags Magic Mountain as well as some time at the booths at Universal Studios Hollywood. That is where I fell in love drawing caricatures in an amusement park setting and with the concept of modernizing the caricature booth.
inpark: Where did you get the idea for making the caricatures computerized with the Flash program?
Familiar Image: I became familiar with Flash working on a couple of different animated projects and it dawned on me that a person’s face could easily be incorporated into already completed animation in a very short period of time.
inpark: What would you say the best feature of these caricatures is?
Familiar Image: The fun animation in the bodies and the backgrounds is the only reason I see to do digital caricatures in the first place. A hand drawn old-fashioned caricature is a beautiful thing and merely creating it digitally is no great accomplishment. However, if the character comes alive in the final product and starts interacting with an animated world, that is exciting!
inpark: What can guests do with the Flash animation? Do you have the capability to email from the location’s workstation?
Familiar Image: It’s for their own enjoyment as well as that of others. They can play with it on their computer when they get home or email it to friends so they can click and watch the guest wave from whatever location.
Emailing from the location itself is not necessary as each person is given a CD-ROM to take home as well as a printout. The files open up very easily on people’s computers. They also get a still image JPEG that they can use as a screensaver.
inpark: What does this new concept have to offer amusement parks?
Familiar Image: On each animated E-card is a link back to the park’s website so each card acts as free advertising for the park. It’s not just free advertising. The park’s guests are actually paying to create advertising for the park!
inpark: You have the set backgrounds already completed on your workstation. Can guests ask for a custom background to be drawn?
inpark: How long does each Anicature™ take to complete?
Familiar Image: About ten minutes, the same time as a regular caricature. If people want to have their eyes animated blinking, it’s about three minutes longer and about five dollars more.
inpark: How much does each Anicature™ cost?
Familiar Image: It’s about the same as a regular caricature. For a regular drawing, black and white is about $10-$14 and color is $18-$20. This is about a $15 dollar item. Each customer gets a CD-ROM and a printout.
inpark: Where have you been located so far? Where do you hope to go in the future?
Familiar Image: I have had great success at Pier 39 in San Francisco and am looking for new locations that would be accommodating to a full-time caricature booth.
inpark: What do you hope to do with this idea, and where do you think animation and caricatures can go from here?
Familiar Image: I hope to revolutionize caricature booths in theme parks everywhere and create new opportunities for people to see their caricature in a new way that they haven’t had before so they can laugh and say, “That’s me!” As for where animation and caricatures are going from here, technology is progressing at an astonishing rate, and the sky is the limit.
