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.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Progress!
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.
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.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
New Year!
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 =)
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 =)
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Class 5!!! Story time =)
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! =)
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! =)
Sunday, September 2, 2007
I might just survive class 4... maybe
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... :)
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Two person dialog!
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 =)
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 =)
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Class 4!!!!!!
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!
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