Sue's Animation Mentor blog

Reel FX!

2010-02-05T23:02:00.000-08:00

After about two months off, I am happy to say that I am now animating for Reel FX! I started almost three weeks ago, and am really loving it so far. I am working remotely on Open Season 3, and what a fun project it is! I love the characters in it and I have having a great time animating them. The crew is very friendly and I am looking forward to the next couple of months.

After leaving Tippett I had a nice break and suddenly a lot of time to think of what I wanted to do next. I had started on a personal project that I've always wanted to try animating. I had just started on the actual animation after planning it all out when I got the call from Reel FX. I still hope to finish it, but it will have to be later. But for now, some pretty fun character animating on Open Season :).

Goodbye, Tippett

2009-12-04T10:25:00.000-08:00

It's coming on two weeks since my last day at Tippett. I guess it's only now starting to feel that way now that Thanksgiving is over. The show I was working on, (Cats and Dogs2) ended up going longer than August, which was great. But now it has finally come to an end.
This was my first non-Flash animation job and it was a fantastic experience. A year ago I was still looking for my first break. I remember the frustration very well of coming close, but not being able to land a job. I remember using that frustration and channeling it into energy to keep working at it, to keep doing my own work. It was sometimes a hard thing to do.
Almost a year a go a got an email from Tippett. They were interested in my work, and wanted me to take a test. I had never animated a cat, or any kind of four legged animal. I was nervous, to say the least. Nervous, but excited.
It's been a really fast 10 months. Before I came to Tippett, I felt I was in a bit of a rut as far as progressing with my work. I was doing my own assignments, but I was missing having mentors and others give me a push, and a real critical eye. I was growing, but not much. and I knew it. At Tippett, I feel I have grown again. Being surrounded by awesome animators, having your work critiqued on a daily basis, and being able to see what your peers are working on does so much for you. I recently took a look at some of my old work, and I can see things I couldn't see a year ago. Looking at my old work, I see that I've grown. I still like the ideas I had, but I can see ways I can improve. I can't wait to start animating again :)
I miss Tippett. It was an awesome experience for me. Though my project ended, I will be taking with me a lot of knowledge, and a lot of good friends.:)

Here are some cat sketches I did while at Tippett. They were fun to do, and I don't think I ever got to do cat gestures before :)

Having a blast!

2009-07-02T23:34:00.000-07:00

July already! Time is still flying by since starting work at Tippett. I am getting closer to the end of my contract, and that's a sad thought. It'll be hard to say goodbye.
I feel I am really growing as an animator, and the more I grow, the more I come to realize how much more I have to grow (if that makes any sense!) It's weird at this point in my life to still be discovering stuff about myself. I guess it's things that I already knew, but realizing them for the first time.
I think a turning point for me was a couple months ago. Tippett sponsored some improv classes for us. I had no idea what to expect, and for some reason I had the image in my head of improv being 'artsy' people pretending to be flowers, or something. It turned out the classes were truly fun, well thought out, and eye opening. I consider myself a pretty shy person, but something about performing really excites me. It's a very strange thing, and hard to explain, but I am both scared, but at the same time crave the stage. Something clicked that day when acting out a skit, and I felt like I knew what to do. The words and ideas were coming, but I didn't know from where. It's like the classes gave me 'permission' to act out and be this other person, so I just followed my gut. And it worked!
I animate from my gut. I like to feel the performance and work with the faces right away along with the body. They are connected to me, and in many cases what is happening in the face drives alot of the animation for me. I was finding it a little difficult at work when I was animating the bodies and saving the face for last. It seemed a whole different mind-set for me. It made me think of it technically instead of as a performance. I think I knew that deep down, but didn't start realizing it until the imrov classes.
-Weekends have been interesting! Anything from go-karting to being a zombie in a short film. Fun stuff. I am still dragon boating every week, and am getting better. Or at least not sucking as much :).
Next week I am having a couple of friends from Animation Mentor coming into town for the graduation and BBQ. Two of my friends will be staying over my place, and I can't wait to see them!

Time flies...

2009-03-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

Time flies, or so they say, but I've never felt it go by as swiftly as it is now.
It seems like a week ago that I got the news that Tippett was hiring me. Since then time has been sprinting forward at an incredible pace, and I am determined to enjoy it while it lasts.
It is strange to be starting over again career wise. It seems just when I was getting comfortable with my Illustration/ Flash work I decided to go switch it up. It's all about following your heart.
I love it at Tippett. It's one of those places that has a really good vibe to it. It's a happy place, and I feel very much at home there.
I love being an animator. I think that's why time seems to be in fast forward because I am having so much fun. I really love it! I feel like I am back in school again because I am learning so much everyday. Every new shot is a challenge and an opportunity to grow, and I am so very thankful for this experience. I remember a mentor of mine, Nick Bruno, saying that you work hard in school to try and get your foot in the door. Once you get your foot in the door the real learning begins. He was so right. There have been bumps (lets just say I am no longer worried about embarrassing myself because I already checked that off my list) but I am saying truly that I am happy. Happy to be doing what I love, happy to meet so many new friends, and happy to be learning from people I truly respect.
Outside of work has been pretty awesome too. A couple of weeks ago I had lunch with a mentor of mine who works just a short distance away. It was very nice to be able to talk to him and I only regret that my lunch break has a time limit.
I bought a used bike for cheap and have been biking to work, and on the weekend I've been dragon boating. My body is in shock from the sudden burst of exercise, but over the last week it has forgiven me and I am feeling better already. I've neglected so much while studying, and it's a nice change to get out again. Balance is good, but it's sometimes easy to forget that. :)

A new start!!!!!!!

2009-01-31T22:43:00.000-08:00

It has been a crazy last month, and an even crazier last two weeks. I am very happy to say that I've gotten my very first 3d animation job!!! On Monday I will be starting work at Tippett Studio!! I will be working there on the movie 'Cats and Dogs 2' for the next few months. :)
A week ago my father and I started a 5 day trip driving my car across the country from Massachusetts to California. It's all happening so fast that it doesn't seem real. I am really excited and am very much looking forward to working and learning from the awesome animators that work there. I am also a little nervous, but I think in a good way.
I am so thankful for my mentors and my friends who have helped, taught, and pushed me to work hard. Honestly, without Animation Mentor and the wonderful community it created I don't know where I would be. I really mean that. I am so thankful.

"Moments"

2008-12-31T08:07:00.000-08:00

The end of another year. I hope that everyone is happy, healthy, and excited about what's to come. :)
Last night I was talking to a good friend of mine. We are both graduates of Animation Mentor and met while taking classes, so a good portion of our conversations relate to animation. Last night we were talking about what we found fascinating about animation... what was our real draw to it and why do we want to do it. We started talking about 'moments'.

We kind of struggled to define a moment, but that's just it.. it is hard to describe. It's that little magic moment when you connect with the character, when the character is alive, gets swept away in their actions. When YOU the viewer are uplifted and inspired because of what is happening on screen. When you think about it long after it's through. And, sometimes, when it changes you. That's what we want to be a part of. As my friend said, "the who and the why instead of the how". It's a weird thing, and like a dream, sometimes the grasp of it escapes me.

Ratatouille. I was asking myself why did I find this movie so appealing, so moving. Why am I able to watch it again and again. I don't particularly like rats, and I don't like cooking (except cookies and pies :). On paper the movie has nothing for me, but despite of that I find myself able to relate to Remy. The movie has many 'moments' for me. The one that sticks out first is when he first starts to fix the soup. I love that scene! He gets so swept away into what he's doing that he can't help himself. What's more is I always get this great uplifted feeling just seeing this rat doing what he loves and enjoying it so much! He is cooking with his heart and bounds of joy and you canFEEL it! What I love about animation is that it is so powerful. Throughout that whole sequence Remy doesn't say a word, but there is no doubt at all what is going through his mind. When Linguini discovers him I am startled right along with Remy because I was so absorbed by that moment. I was able to escape into Remy's world for a moment. Why? It's like a little bit of what made him tick leaked out for all to see. Same with Ego when he takes that bite.

"Moments" aren't unique to animation by any means. They happen everyday, big and small. I was telling my friend that there is a clip on youtube of Sarah Hughes skating in the Olympics back in 2002. No one expected her to be a contender. Going into the Olympics she was certainly not the best skater. Good, but not the best. While others were duking it out for the gold, Sarah had the skate of her life. She knew that a victory was unlikely, and skated with joy and passion and life. She ended up surprising everyone (including herself, I believe) and won the gold. I have watched that clip several times looking for the 'moment'. The moment she knew she was on fire. She was so caught up in it. Stuff like that. What made that skate more special than any of her others? Why was it contagious to the audience? Why do I care about it? Why did she win when nobody even thought it possible? I believe that nothing that night could've stopped her. It was her moment.

Stuff like that fascinates me. It's so amazing what people are capable of. Animators who create them obviously put so much of themselves into their work. I can't see any other way they could do it.
I am really glad my friend brought it up. I think moments can be different for every individual. Personal, almost. But it was really eye opening to break down what it is about animation that we love. It's not the moving stuff around. It's the ability to capture a moment and make people care, and the potential that we too will be able to do that one day.

Have a wonderful New Year, everyone! Take care.

New animation

2008-10-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

Well, after my last post I got really motivated. For the past few weeks I've been working on a new animation. I have been wanting to try another 2 person dialogue for a while, so I decided to give it a shot. The line I chose was one that I was considering for my 2 person during Animation Mentor, but it ran a little long so I ended up picking something else. I like the line because I had a clear picture of the characters and what I wanted to happen within the shot. I also have been itching to animate kids.
Here it is so far ..

One of my former mentors was very kind to look at my demo reel. One of his comments was to give the pieces more of an environment, so for this piece I tried to think of that right from the beginning. I do not know how to model beyond squares and circles, so I found a photo I had taken awhile ago and used it as the background. I wish I had thought of doing this before! Youtube muddies it up a bit, but I am happy with the environment.
I hope soon to be submitting my reel again. I want to add new stuff and weed out some of the old. It's easy to get down after having a couple close calls, but I'm choosing not to stay down. I really want to be an animator and I am willing to work to prove it. I really enjoy this animation thing =).

Rejected

2008-09-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

Just got a rejection today from a cool studio I had an interview with.
It wasn't the first, and won't be the last, but it always hurts a little.
Maybe next time =).

Graduation, Siggraph, and more cool stuff!

2008-08-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks!
I flew to San Francisco two weeks ago to attend the Animation Mentor graduation. To sum it up in a few words, it was pretty awesome!It was like the Animation Mentor BBQ times 100. I got to meet so many of my classmates and friends, and my best friend Gail was able to attend to. I also 'won' an award for 'most entertaining video reference' for me and my father falling off stumps doing reference for the post to post jump.
To top it all off, my mentor, Michal Makarewicz from class 3 was there! I had a strange feeling he'd be there. That's us below.

He also offered to take hid former students ... me, Kimmy, and Vanessa on a tour of Pixar!

It's such a nice feeling to meet one of the people whom you admire and helped to teach you. I found it very heartening over the whole week that animators as a whole seem like very nice people.
After a couple days in San Fran, many people headed down to LA for Siggraph. Kimmy, Eduardo and I took a Greyhound bus down to LA. YOu would think I would've learned better from taking the Greyhound across the country a couple months ago, but I came back for more punishment. The price was right, though. Only $40. It wasn't such a bad trip. We just got in at almost 4am Monday morning.
We stayed in a hotel with a cool group of people. Kishore, Tobi, Eduardo, Kimmy and I all stayed at the same hotel room for various lengths of time. For some reason we lucked out and had 3 double beds in our room!
Siggraph was a great experience. My only complaint is that it felt too big. There really wasn't much time for talking to recruiters in person because there were always lines and mobs of people everywhere.
On Tuesday morning, somehow Eduardo and I ended up with passes that had blue at the bottom, marking us as exhibitors. We didn't know what the blue went until we were let in the exhibit early before the big mob. We went straight to the AM booth where we met Mike Walling and Bobby Beck! Bobby offered to look at our reels, and of course we said sure!
Tuesday night we had an AM party at the top of a pretty cool hotel. It was a great place to talk to people, and I met some nice folks. I even met Mike Stern, who graduated AM 2 years ago and whose blog helped inspire me to join AM. He had his short film 'Distraxion' shown at the film festival at the Nokia theater. It was so neat to see his short on the big screen!
Every day was full and there were parties on most nights that by the end of the week we were kind of sleep deprived =).
On Thursday I got a call for an interview from a pretty cool place! I haven't heard from them since, and my hope is slipping by the day, but I was so excited to get the call! I am still hopeful for it. It seems I am always coming close, but not quite getting the job for various reasons, but I gotta keep on trying.
Friday I left LA for Boston.... by train. I flew out to San Fran, but darn it, I dislike planes! The train ride wasn't nearly as eventful as the Greyhound trip across the country. I actually got to sleep on the train, but it was kind of a lonely trip back compared to the friends I made on the bus trip. I got home late monday night and have been sick ever since with a cold I caught along the way.
It has been a great trip, but I gotta get back to work. After seeing my classmates and mentor, I am more excited than ever to become an animator. I see what I am working towards.

New Demo Reel!

2008-07-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

So much for being able to relax on the weekends!
Animation Mentor announced a few weeks back that they would be having a job fair in Emeryville , CA, so I decided to go!
I have been working on more animation tests and was able to complete one to put on my new reel.
The job fair was really fun! I got to talk to alot of studios, and it was a great opportunity to meet alot of cool people. After fumbling over my words at the first booth I felt more comfortable the rest of the day. After the job fair we hung around at Animation Mentor headquarters and I got to meet alot of my friends from school in person for the first time! It was incredible! It felt very natural talking to everyone because we really did already know eachother. There's nothing like talking to friends in person, though. I met alot of people too from previous classes. It's so cool to be able to put a face to the work I've been admiring. I even met a couple of students who were about to start AM.
That evening we all went and saw Wall-e. Man, the animated movies are on a roll this year! I saw Kung Fu Panda a couple weeks ago, and of course Horton. I was actually lucky enough to get to see Horton again on my flight to CA.
The next day AM hosted a BBQ where I got to see everyone again and meet even more people. My friend who I was staying with lent me a jacket, and it was quite the conversation starter. Apparently it was a prototype for something and it had buttons on the front. Not clothing buttons... Ipod/ dvd player buttons. Ya. weird. I looked bionic.
It was great to see my friend again too. She was actually my roommate in college. Another college friend happened to be visiting at the same time, so that was even cooler!
When Gail (my friend) picked me up from the airport, she brought me straight to an indoor rock climbing place. She even had a change of clothes for me! It was really fun! It was kind of like American Gladiators. THe floor was springy like a trampoline, and it was challenging to try and stay on course on your way up the wall.
The few days that I was there turned out to be quite the workout. On Sunday we went dragon boating. What is dragon boating? It's kind of like a big long canoe with many people paddling. Everyone had a paddle and paddled on one side. Gail races with a group so I went to one of her practices.
On Monday we played tennis. I am really bad at tennis, so it was more like a long game of fetch for me, but it was really fun. We were supposed to go rock climbing again, but my foot started acting up again from the tennis. Ahh well.
For my trip home, I was supposed to take a train, but due to flooding in the middle of the country, I booked a last minute ticket on Greyhound from San Francisco to Boston. I don't know what I was thinking. 3 and a half days on a bus. It was only supposed to be 3, but I should've known better. Despite being extremely tired and rather stinky at the end of the trip, I don't totally regret it. I made some good friends along the way, saw alot of the country, and had the ultimate people watching experience.
I also learned that rather large people look for rather small people to sit next to on the bus...

Almost summer!

2008-06-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

Almost summer time!
It's already been 2 months since graduating Animation Mentor! The time has both flown and crawled by.
On the good side, I have actually been taking weekends off, and have seen alot more of my family and friends than during the 18 months of Animation Mentor where I pretty much just took half a Sunday off. I also picked up a little bit of my old freelance work to pay the bills, but mostly I've been trying to work on more animation tests. Oh, and whole lot of waiting. =)
Job searching is never fun, but I'm in a pretty good mood about it. I remember graduating from college as an illustrator and how uptight I was about finding a job. I had alot of close calls, but my first big illustrator job didn't happen for me until almost a year after I graduated. After that first break things were ok. I guess I now know that things don't always happen right away. Sure, I am frustrated at times, but it's almost like a planned frustration.... meaning I knew it was going to happen. I joke with my siblings that I am a professional bum =).
I already had my first close call. I got a call from a cool studio a few weeks ago and they were interested in my work. Logistically it didn't end up working for them because they needed someone to start ASAP, and I was on the other side of the country. It was encouraging, though.
I can't wait to see Kung Fu Panda! It looks like it could be really good. I think this is going to be a great year for animated movies.
So I am just working on another reel, visiting people on the weekends, ... and waiting. =)

Goodbye, Animation Mentor!

2008-04-06T22:10:00.000-07:00

18 months, and it's already over!
Class 6 flew by so fast! I had a wonderful time animating my short film and I am happy with how it's progressing. I was able to finish most of the animation and I will post it once I finish it. I am attempting not to look at it for a bit so I can view it with fresher eyes =).
My mentor Greg always gave very helpful critiques. He is a very kind guy and has a great ability to pin point problems in my animation. My short is a little bit cartoony in some areas, and Greg was great in helping me out with that.
I finished my last class of Animation Mentor at the end of March! I remember being so nervous starting the program 18 months ago. It has been an absolutely amazing experience! I really don't know how else to put it! I'm so glad I took the classes and I am so excited about everything I've learned and everything I have yet to learn.
It's pretty strange, but it's like the excitement kept on growing with each class I took. Every day I felt I was learning. Sometimes small things, and sometimes I would have giant lightbulb moments. It's such an incredible experience to animate. I have been working as a professional artist for years, but there is nothing like animating for me. I can't explain, but it's such an amazing feeling to see your thoughts live on screen instead of just in your head. I'm honestly gonna miss it. I feel really lucky to have the mentors that I did. Each had his own different teaching style and I am so thankful for them pushing me. Being able to learn from the very people whose work I admire on screen has been invaluable.
Taking this course has also taught me alot about myself. I was always scared to say my dream out loud. I don't think I ever really did. At least not with any sort of conviction. As the classes went by, I was able to admit it to myself. Then finally one day, I was able to say it out loud.

I WANT TO BE AN ANIMATOR!

Last Thursday I sent out my first demo reel ever. It's a strange feeling and it's hard to let go. Sometimes I look at my work and think it looks pretty good. Other times it's like looking through a pair of crap colored glasses and everything looks horrible. It's hard to see what's really true.

Whatever happens, I feel strangely calm about it. I learned another important lesson in my time at Animation Mentor, and that is to never give up.

Progress!

2008-02-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

Hello!
Well we are almost half way through with class 6 already! THe time has been flying by and I am really enjoying working on my short film. My class 6 mentor is Greg Whittaker. He currently works at Dreamworks, and has also worked with Chuck Jones in the past! I find his critiques very helpful and to the point. THroughout AM I have been blessed with awesome mentors. Each mentor is different, having their own style and background and it's so nice to have the experience of learning from them.
My short film I feel is going well. I am really enjoying being able to work on it full time. I am generally finding things easier as I go along, and I am enjoying being able to sleep at night =). I find myself excited to work on my film. It's a long project, but it's so fun! I'm getting to try out a little bit more of an exagerated style too. Not completely cartoony crazy, but fun stuff!
Even though I have more time to work on my animation now I still have to stop myself from overworking. I typically use a stylus pen on the computer, but 2 weeks ago I lost it for a bit and used a mouse for a week. Yikes! My hand isn't used to that! By the end of the week it was cramped and red and my index and pinky finger blew up like sausages. I didn't notice it until sunday. It still hadn't gone down a couple days later, so I went to the doctor. It is now back to normal, but man it's scary when stuff happens to your hand.
Someone poste this in the school forum today. CHeck it out! It's a short THX spot, but the animation is really fun.

New Year!

2008-01-05T09:14:00.000-08:00

It's a new year and it should be an interesting one!
Our new class starts on monday, and I am in the process of blocking my short film.
I have one more class to go for Animation Mentor, and I made the tough decision to do it full time. Ok, I WAS doing AM full time before, but that was on top of a full time job. My class 4 mentor Nick Bruno said in my evaluation that I ws almost there with my two person dialog assignment, but I might of needed a little more time on it. I thought about that alot during class 5, and I think he's right. In fact , i know he's right.
It's not that I didn't put the time in my assignment, it's that I was. All the free time I could come up with, including vacation days and an attempt at not sleeping. THe only way for me to have more time would be to quit my job. ...so that's what I did at the end of 2007. It was a really sad decision for me because everyone (and I mean everyone) at my job is a really nice person, and I have alot of friends there. It was a really great working environment, and it was pleasant work. However, after being in AM, I realized how much I love animation. I love it so much that I went with my gut and decided to quit my job to have the extra time on my final project. I also needed some much needed sleep, and the schedule was taking a toll on my health.
I have since caught up on my sleep, and the blocking is going smoothly so far. I am also trying to put together my first animation reel. It's scary to move on, but is necessary to move forward.
So this year is dedicated to moving forwrd. Hopefully =)

Class 5!!! Story time =)

2007-10-03T20:25:00.001-07:00

Wew! A year into AM already! Despite all the hard work, this year has flown by fast! I guess I'm having fun =)

Here is My class 4 assignment as it stands now.Hmmm. I think I need to find a new video file time. Photbucket seems to play back a bit chunky.
I got a chance to work on it after taking a few days off, and that helped me to see it again fresh (or at least fresher =).
Class 4 was tough!!!!! Having Nick Bruno as a mentor was great because he kept me motivated throughout the whole project, and his critiques and advice were important to finishing this. I really learned alot from this assignment. It was much harder than I thought it would be, and a big part of that was a time issue for me. I don't know how I could've squeezed anymore hours of the day into this project. If I wasn't sleeping or at work, I was animating! I realized early on that time was going to be a tight squeeze for this. Going back, I wish I spent another week on blocking. I was trying so hard to do the schedule that AM set up, but getting the blocking down is so vital. I ended up having to block alot of it over as the project went on, and I think that was my biggest goof up and time suck on this project. If you're reading this, save your vacation days for this assignment! That is the only reason I was able to finish. I found out the hard way that pulling a week long allnighter is not a good idea =). You do need to take care of yourself.
Class 5!!!!!!
We had our first Q&A of class 5 last night. My new mentor is Jed Diffenderfer. He is currently at Dreamworks, and worked on the upcoming Kungfu Panda movie. Too bad the movie isn't out yet. I would love to see his work on it, but it obviously can't be shown before the movie is released.
Jed seems as fun as his name is to say, and I am looking forward to this class. I have a couple story ideas already. My two ideas that I had coming into the class were kind of shot out of the water. THe first idea I found a new commercial with a similar theme, and the second idea would cost me thousands of dollars because of a particular song used. Ahh well. I have a few more which I will tell next week. We have some cool new characters to use in our short films to choose from. I really wish there was a set of cartoony animal characters (you know, human acting but animal esque looking) for us to choose from. It would be cool if there was another woman in the group, to.
It's weird how you look at a character and already have an opinion about their personalities. The woman just seems a little to babe-alicious to me, so unless my short calls for a really pretty girl, I think I'll opt for the class 3 & 4 rig with a wig again. It's an exciting time, and I am eager to get started!

Other stuff- I travelled out to western Massachusetts with my sister and brother in law to visit my old roommates (2 out of 3 anyway) and go apple picking, THat was really fun (and delicious!). I had a good week break and got to see alot of people that I don't usually see while busy with my AM work.
Saw a new podiatrist today. She happens to be right across the main street from me, so I hobbled over this morning. I fractured my foot months ago, and my current doctor was not helping. He told me to wear crocs (those ugly plastic shoes) to help my foot. Wrong!! Crocs?!!! are you kidding me?? I didn't know what they were at the time, or I surely would've protested. It's a couple months later, and I have since got rid of the crocs (the doctor as well as the shoes) but my foot is worse off then ever. My new doctor said it should've been immobilized from the beginning, but now it's too late for that. I can't tell you how frustrated I feel. It's been years since my feet have been right, and this latest problem happened because of orthotics given to me for a previous problem with my other foot.Gahh!
I start physical therapy for my foot in a couple weeks. I sure hope it helps! I miss doing stuff.
goodnight! =)

I might just survive class 4... maybe

2007-09-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder why so many AM blogs go silent during class 4? I don't anymore. We are all deep into our two person dialog right now, and it is a killer of an assignment. This is the first time I am worried about finishing a project.
My biggest enemy is time. Before for AM, I always worked every night and weekend on my assignment. Sometimes it was tight, but I always had enough time. For this assignment, I've got to squeeze in time that doesn't exist. I've been using my vacation days from work to get extra time on it. I've also tried staying up even later to squeeze an extra hour or two in. THat plan kind of backfired when I almost passed out at work. I found out the hard way in class 1 that I, in fact, do need to sleep. I know I can do this assignment, but it's frustrating not to have the time i want on it. At my lowest point this week (when i discovered I somehow broke a rig) I was even considering quitting my job, which I like ( and kind of need=) just to get the time I want on the project. Probably not a good idea. I've tried asking for time off with no pay, but that's a no go. =(
Anyway, here is my project as it stands with two weeks to go. Two shots are still in blocking, and most of the facial stuff that is in there is in blocking mode. Lots of work to do! I'm just going to do the best I can because in the end, that's all you can do =).
THe rest of the class (besides the stress of the deadline) has been great. THe lectures this class are awesome, and Nick ( my mentor) has given some cool classes. He also hangs out after class to look at our work if we have some changes up. I try my best to get something to show by Tuesday.
Hopefully in 2 weeks I'll have a finished project to show. If I survive that long... :)

Two person dialog!

2007-08-11T18:52:00.001-07:00

WOw, the last month has flew by!
I thought class 3 was busy, but class 4 stepped it up a notch.
We started on our two person dialog a couple weeks ago. We picked out our lines, did our reference, and here is the blocking that I've done so far. I usually work nights and weekends on my assignments, but I actually took Friday off of work because I was really worried about not getting my blocking done.
Setting up the cameras and shots for this has been a challenge, but Nick's critique really helped me on that. I am happy with how it's coming along, though I know I have some timing issues to iron out. After two 12 + hour days in a row, I'll get to it tomorrow.
I did get a mini vacation, though. I took Tuesday off of work and went to New Hampshire where my parents rented a cabin for a week. My grandparents and little cousins were there, so it was a nice break.. brief as it was. An added bonus was I got to go swimming. For the past two years my feet have been not so good (I just learned two weeks ago I fractured my supposed good foot) and swimming is one thing I can do without bothering them. I had a great day and got nice and sunburned. Some day I'll have vacations longer than a day.

Here is the final from my single dialog shot. I was able to get hair from the AM library thanks to Matthew Garward, but I tried and failed to color her so it looks like she's not naked. When I have time, I want to take a Maya class =)

Class 4!!!!!!

2007-07-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

Class 4 started last week. My new mentor is Nick Bruno from Blue Sky!! He is my second mentor from there =)
I can already tell he's a cool mentor! He is straightforward and gives good detailed critiques. He does his critiques an interesting way. He looks at the work for the 1st time during the critique, so you can see his reaction to your work. It's kind of neat, and nerve wracking all at once =). I had a good first critique, which is nice! We are continuing our asignments from class 3, though now we have a full facial rig.
THe face is fun, though it is weird to be in brand new territory again. Just when you're getting used to animating the body, the face is added!
I saw Ratatouille a cople weeks ago, and I loved it! What a beautiful movie. I emailed my class 3 mentor who worked on the film, and he was nice enough to give me a list of shots that he worked on. Michal did alot with the character Ego, which is awesome! THe audience really responded to him. I am going to see the movie again tomorrow. It'll be cool seeing it again knowing waht shots he worked on.
Other than that, I moved to my new apartment during the week break from AM. I didn't expect to be moving, but the landlord wanted to move in our apartment. I have two new roommates, and an office! I love having office space! I'm no longer crammed in my bedroom with my computer. I bought a new desk and chair too =)
Comments on my assignment, or anything, is always welcome! We have 1 more week to work on the face for this shot!

Half way there!

2007-06-22T16:41:00.000-07:00

Class 3 just ended this week, and I am officially half way done with AM. THat's crazy to think about. It's been going by soo fast.
Here is my progress reel for the first three classes. THe dialog shot will be finished in class 4, where we'll be given a full facial rig to really be able to give our characters expression.
But for now, we have a week off before class 4. As much as I love AM, my brain could use the time to recharge. I have to move this week, too =(. It's only 3 miles, but it's a pain. I will, however , have my own office for the very first time! It will be nice not to have to have all my computer stuff crammed in my bedroom. I will actually have an entire 3rd floor to myself! woohoo!
Ratatouille comes out next friday! Everytime I see the commercials on tv, I get really excited. SO much so that my roommates make fun of me. Unfortunately, that's the day I'm moving, but I will be there! I can't wait!!!!
On a sad note, my mentor Michal Macarewicz is not going to tech with AM any longer. I feel incredibly lucky to have had him as my mentor. I learned sooo much from him, and he really took the time to give thorough critiques. I mean thorough! THey were often 20-30 minutes long! I'll always be thankful for that!
Comments are always welcome!

Craziness!!

2007-06-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything hits you in the face at once? THis month has been like that so far. Both good and bad things, but all crazy.
I just learned last week that I have to be out of my apartment by July 1st!! ahh!!! Two of our roomates are moving out ( one graduated, and one is starting school again) and our new roomie backed out on us. Long story short, me and my remaining roommie couldn't find anyone with such short notice, and we had to give our landlord an answer last week as to what we were doing. Sooo, we are moving out, and sadly going our own ways.
Finding an apartment while working full time and taking classes at night is not a pleasant task (although it is interesting seeing who you'll meet on Craigslist!). On top of that my weekends this month have been filled with graduation and retirement parties that I've been making cameo appearances at. Also, my sister is getting married in a week and there's still plenty of work to do on that.
Anyway, I haven't been sleeping much to get the extra time to work on my shot. I'm really into it and I don't want it to suffer because of all this crazy going on. I am wrestling with the details of it. THe hands and matching the elbows up to the legs are quite a challenge, but I'm enjoying it!! It's really exciting to see her come to life. I am taking some days of next week to help with the wedding and work on my shot. Some day I'll actually use my vacation days for a vacation.
On a good note, a very cool thing happened to me last week.I got a note from Keith Sintay telling me that he liked my work. That made my week! He has worked on Mulan and Tarzan, and I believe Surf's Up (which is a cool movie, by the way!). That meant alot to me coming from him and was really nice of him.
Gotta go! I am really tired and need to stock up on some sleep!

No more bathroom!

2007-05-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

I started splining my shot this week. I just wanted to work out the rythym of the body and legs and make sure everything is working pretty good before I get into refining details.
I have to say, I'm loving doing this assignment. It's really fun and it's so exciting getting into new territory with the eyes and face, even with the limited rig. It sounds really corny, but I get more excited about animation every week. I can't wait to learn more!

Acting shot!

2007-05-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

This was a busy week for me. My first pass of blocking for my acting shot! I was really nervous going into this project. I mean, we're into acting! It's so exciting and scary new all at once.
THe blocking came out better than I thought it would .I was nervous picking this line because it's more subtle than the pantomime and body mechanics shots we have done before. I was wondering what I would be animating. THere's no broad actions, and our face rig is limited to eye movements right now.WHile working on it , though, I realized there was ALOT of stuff going on. It didn't hit me in the face, but it's there. This took a long time to do, but I'm happy with the start I have on it. I took friday off off work to have more time to put into it. I was away aalll day Saturday taking my sister too NY city for her bacherlorette party. It raind the wwhole day, but it was fun. We saw a new show on broadway called the Pirate Queen. It was awesome and I totally recommend seeing it. The lead actresses were great!
Anyway, I'm really glad I took friday off to work on it because there's no way I would've finished with my saturday gone. I am going to change the setting to something less... bathroomish =) I believe the toilet's too distracting.
Animation Mentor has a tutoring program taught by fellow AM grads, and I went to this weeks and last week's session with Mike Stern. If you don't know who Mike is, check out his work at http://www.sternio.com/. His stuff is top notch. He kept a blog throughout AM and was a big inspiration to me to join. It's really cool that he's a tutor for us now, and it's really helpful to hear his comments on your work. He's a really cool guy to give his time to us like that.
Gotta go to bed!
Comments are always welcome and encouraged!

I need to watch more tv

2007-05-13T17:24:00.000-07:00

I need to watch more tv, or something. This week we had to find audio clips for us to animate a dialog piece to. Sounds easy, right? Sit around, watching movies to try and find some dialog.... It's harder than one might think. For this project we have the remaining six weeks of this class to work on it, as well as the beginning of next class. That's a long time. I not only want to find a good quote to challenge me, but one that I'll be enthusiastic about working on for a couple of months.
So, I spent the last couple of weeks making myself watch an enormous amount of movies. My dvd collection has grown considerably from me raiding the local blockbuster sale rack. I wanted to find a quote that people wouldn't recognize right away, and to try and stay away from the overused ones that are so convenient to get on the internet. After ALL that movie watching, I found two of my quote options from a most unlikely source... Miss Congeniality 2. Yeah. Well, I'll be damned if anyone recognizes the quotes!
Up above id me acting out my potential quotes. I'm really undecided at the moment, and I really want to get the feedback from my mentor.
Anyway, enjoy watching me make a fool of myself! Me..? I'm going to read a book. I've watched enough videos this week already.
Comments are always welcome!

Cookie thief final!!

2007-05-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

Here's the final version of the 2 beats pantomime animation. Well, final until I get my critique =)
Michal gave an awesome critique this week .It was a half hour long and really nit picked about polishing my shot. It;s great to hear him go through my assignment in such detail. If he didn't take the time to do that, I feel that I would never know to look for some of the stuff he pointed out. Now I know to look out for those details in future work I do,
For this week's assignment we have to find three audio quotes that we like for possible lines to animate. yay!!! Our models will have real faces now! They will be limited facial rigs at first, but I'm really excited to try this out. I started watching a bunch of movies last week to try and find some lines I want to animate. It's tough! I have a few in mind, but I'm going to watch a whole lot of movies this week too.
As always, comments and questions are welcome!

Cookie Thief part 4

2007-04-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

This week was tough. I think refining and polishing your animation can be the toughest part because in the earlier stages you can see alot of prgress from week to week, but in the later stages you can work for hours and hours on little things.
Overall I think it's coming along pretty good. It's to the point where I have to put it aside and not look at it for awhile so I can see it fresh. It amazes me how absorbed you can get in your own animation to the point where you can't really see it anymore.
This week for class my mentor (Michal Makarewicz) posted some awesome tutorials he made for us. It was about concentrating on getting the main part of the body (the hip or root area down) before even worrying about arms, legs, and all the rest. It was so great to see those videos and how he works through it. I still feel sometimes that I am wrestling with the graph editor more than workig with it, but watching him work really helps. Michal is an awesome mentor and really goes the extra mile to help everyone out.
---In non AM news, my sisters wedding shower went off fine. We were blessed with a warm sunny day surrounded by not so nice days, which solved the problem of stuffing 55 people into an average size house.
Me and one of my roommates have been putting ads on craigslsit trying to find 2 new roommates. Sadly, two of my current roommates are moving out. It's really interesting seeing who responds to the ad and shows up at your door. Though the ad specifically says 'no psychos', some have responded anyway. It's like playing some weird people lottery and hoping you win.

--I'm off to watch some movies. We have to animate a line of dialog from a movie for an assignment soon, and I am definitely not a movie buff =0
As always, comments are most welcome!! If you have a critique, comment, or question about my assignment, or Animation Mentor in general, I'd be happy to hear it.

Class3 2 beat splining

2007-04-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! I got my best critique ever last week on my blocking. It was really good to get, but also scary in a way. I don't want to mess this shot up!
Since last week I figured out how to make Stewie (the model) look more like a kid. I feel kind of stupid that I didn't figure it out before. It's a pretty simple stretch control. At my mentor's suggestion, I also gave him a hat and changed the hand gesture right before he grabs a cookie to hopefully something a little less cliche.
Splining. Arghh. Splining is always a trying time for me. Everything can look real neat and tidy in the blocked stage, but turning it from blocked to spline can be a wrestling match. THe computer tends to make everything look floaty unless you really take control over it. I'm getting better, but man it's tough.
Here's my shot so far. I've still got two weeks to work on it, so I hope to have a nice polished piece by that time.
Gotta get some sleep! I'm hosting a bridal shower for my sister tomorrow and I don't want to look like a zombie =)

2 beats!

2007-04-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

I got my first critique from my mentor Michal this week. It basically came down to my planned shot wasn't showing enough contrast between the two beats that the character is supposed to show. I really liked my origianl idea, but I knew he was right. I re-taped my reference to hopefuly show two distinct beats, and I'm really glad I did. Michal was nice enough to take the time to help me through it. I'm really liking him as a mentor. It is a much simpler concept (really happy to really angry) but I think this animation is going to be challenging. It already has been! It took a long time to block this out, but I am happy with it so far. I went through so many contrasting emotions myself this week, so it's good to end on an upbeat =)

Tomorrow I'll be volunteering at the Boston Marathon. I'll be setting up cups of water and handing them out. It's supposed to rain pretty bad tomorrow, but it should still be a blast!

Class 3!!!!!

2007-04-07T15:06:00.000-07:00

Class 3!! Intro to acting!!
THis is the class I've been most looking forward to. I am kind of nervous about it, but more excited.
We had our first Q&A with our new mentor this week. My new mentor is Michal Makarewicz! I am very thrilled to have him for a mentor. He is a Pixar animator, and seems like a truly nice guy. He really wants to help us, and is very open to answering questions. I know it's gonna be a good class!

This week's assignment is to plan out an animation that shows a character going through to distinct beats. For example, go from happy to sad, relaxed to frustrated, etc. It was harder than I thought coming up with a scenarrio for this. THe character has no facial features except for two black dots as eyes, so you have to get the expressions across through body language. Also, the animation can be no longer than 10 seconds.
I decided to go with a guy raiding a cookie jar, then getting his hand whapped by a wooden spoon as he's reaches in. He recoils in pain, thinks a bit, then swoops in fast to steal a cookie.
Here are my sketches. I will post the blocking next week.

Animation Mentor, class 1 and 2

2007-03-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

I wanted to start a blog at the beginning of class 1, but here I am at the end of class 2 already =).
Animation Mentor is a wonderful program. THe entire experience has been awesome so far, so if you are sitting on the fence about joining AM, I highly recommend you take the plunge.
I started Animaton Mentor in September 2006. My mentor was Pete Paquette of Blue Sky, and I feel lucky to have had him for my first mentor. He was very tough with his critiques, but fair as well. You really felt you earned your grade! THe first class was an amazing amount of information, and although alot of work, it was really fun and went by fast. My fellow class 1 class mates are a very dynamic group, and we really pushed eachother to work harder. A wonderful thing at AM is that everyone shares. We get to critique our fellow student's work, and you learn so much from doing so. I want my AM friends to succeed. It's such a great learning environment.
Going into AM, I was very intimidated by the fact that I didn't know Maya. It's a struggle at first because not only do you have assignments with new animation principles that you are learning, but trying to learn Maya (which is a MONSTER of program) on top of that. and the graph editor... what's That about??? AM does provide lessons, but it is still an adjustment. After weeks of bumping my way through the program and accidentally making menus dissappear, learning the quick keys, and trying not to destroy my simple models, I feel I have finally killed most of my Maya demons. I was amazed at how many people already knew Maya going in, which is great, so you know you can get help with that.
Class 2 (which I am in my last week of now) my mentor is Mark Behm. I love having Mark as a mentor. He doesn't overwhelm you, but feeds you new stuff to try when you are ready. He is very patient, gives great critiques, and often stays longer than the one hour class time alotted. In class 2, we studied body mechanics. I really enjoyed this class, and alot of the stuff I learned in class one started clicking.
So, ya. Enough with the talking.
Here is my progress reel so far with my most recent shots first. The first three are from class two, and the rest are from class 1.
Comments are encouraged and welcome, though I am sure I am talking to myself =)