The Magic Show

Hey gang!

So, just to spite all of you, I have chosen the magic show story.

Nah, not in spite. I know it's epic. But I really want to do it. I'm excited about its promise, and really I think the butler one was going to get old after a few weeks. Plus I would have had to have the perfect music for the part - really the music is like a character all in itself in that story - and I'd much rather spend all that time on animation rather than hunting for the right piece of music. I love music.. but I'm here to animate. :-)

Anyway, I appreciate all of your comments and suggestions. Whether it seems like it or not, they really helped me arrive at the solution. So thanks!

Also, my website, http://www.laurasko.com, is back up and running.. but old. I have a ton of updates to do... I'll get back to you on those!!!

-L

SIGGRAPH 2007... wish list...

(This post, written yesterday, was taken off my AM workspace to make room for the stories...)

So much to do!!!

I've been looking at SIGGRAPH courses today. To me, the only real reason to go full-conference is for the courses. You can see some really awesome stuff. I've been waiting to register because while this will be my fifth consecutive conference, and I know how awesome they are, I want to definitely select the best ticket option for me this year. See, I've gone full-conference twice, conference select once, and volunteered another time, and each experience was interesting. This year I was thinking about just doing the exhibits plus pass which would get me into the exhibition hall as well as the job fair, but it would mean I would miss out on pretty much everything else.

So I looked at courses today. Here were some that I would like to see:
6. Anyone Can Cook: Inside Ratatouille's Kitchen
Sunday Half-Day, 8:30 am - 12:15 pm
Level: Intermediate
The passion for cooking and food are the central theme of Pixar's recent film, "Ratatouille". This complex and multi-faceted problem posed many challenges that were solved using diverse computer graphics and production techniques. This course comprehensively covers all aspects related to food, including modeling, dressing, shading, lighting, and effects.
Prerequisites
Intermediate knowledge of 3D workflow, procedures, and terminology is helpful but not required. Topics range from intermediate to advanced.
Intended Audience
Anyone with an interest in feature animation, including students looking for an overview of how large productions run and seasoned professionals looking for ideas to incorporate into their work.
Organizer
Apurva Shah
Pixar Animation Studios
apurva (at) pixar.com
Lecturers
Jun Han Cho
Athena Xenakis
Stefan Gronsky
Pixar Animation Studios

9. From "Shrek" to "Shrek the Third": Evolution of CG Characters in the "Shrek" Films
Sunday Half-Day, 1:45 - 5:30 pm
Level: Intermediate
Unique insights into how "Shrek" characters evolved over three films. The speakers, who have held key positions on all "Shrek" productions, will discuss the choices that helped keep the "Shrek" franchise unique, as well as the challenges of constantly adapting to new technical and creative demands.
Prerequisites
A basic understanding of the principles of computer graphics and 3D animation. Recommended: attendees should have seen the animated features "Shrek," "Shrek2," and "Shrek the Third."
Intended Audience
Attendees who have an interest in the technical aspects of production of 3D animated feature films and who have a basic understanding of computer-generated animation.
Organizer
Philippe Gluckman
PDI/DreamWorks
philippe (at) anim.dreamworks.com
Lecturers David Doepp
Scott Peterson
Jason Waltman
Lucia Modesto
Larry Cutler
Bill Seneshen
PDI/DreamWorks

12. "Surf's Up": The Making of an Animated Documentary
Monday Half-Day, 8:30 am - 12:15 pm
Level: Beginning
A detailed look at the making of the animated documentary "Surf's Up": the live-action camera implementation, character animation, wave effects, and rendering techniques that contributed to the film's unique look and style.
Prerequisites
None. Familiarity with basic 3D techniques will help attendees understand some of the detailed portions of the presentation.
Intended Audience
Animation professionals, students, and anyone interested in 3D animated films. Those interested in the artistic and aesthetic choices made during production will particularly benefit from the first section of the course, while those with more technical and pipeline-related interests will appreciate the wave information presented in the second section.
Organizer
Rob Bredow
Sony Pictures Imageworks
rob (at) 185vfx.com
Lecturers
David Schaub
Daniel Kramer
Danny Dimian
Matt Hausman
Sony Pictures Imageworks

22. LucasArts and ILM: A Case Study in Film and Game Convergence
Monday Tutorial, 3:15 - 5:30 pm
Level: Beginning
Everyone is talking about film-game convergence. Lucasfilm is actually doing it. Working literally side by side, on the same codebase, LucasArts and ILM are leveraging each others' expertise to create a unified set of tools and techniques serving both companies. This course reviews their progress and challenges in unifying game and film technologies.
Prerequisites
None
Intended Audience
Anyone involved with designing, creating, or using tools for visual effects or next-generation game development.
Co-Organizers
Steve Sullivan
Industrial Light + Magic
sullivan (at) ilm.com
Chris Williams
LucasArts
williams (at) lucasarts.com
Lecturers
Nick Porcino
LucasArts
David Bullock
Industrial Light + Magic

27. Anyone Can Make Quality Animated Films! The Eight Basic Steps to Success
Tuesday Half-Day, 8:30 am - 12:15 pm
Level: Intermediate
How anyone with a little talent can apply industry-standard techniques to create professional animated films. Topics include: developing the client "pitch," writing a winning script, creating a dynamite storyboard, character design, recording and/or gathering quality audio, animation production, 2D ink and paint process, and professional editing.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of 2D and 3D animation techniques, Photoshop, Flash, and Premiere or Final Cut Pro. Basic to advanced drawing skills.
Intended Audience
Anyone who is required or desires to produce an entire animation project, including: teachers and students; professionals who are producing demo reels; freelance artists who want to produce television commercials, cell phone games, or web presentations; and entrepreneurs who want to establish a small animation company.
Organizer
Eric vanHamersveld
Art Institute of California-San Diego
evanhamersveld (at) sbcglobal.net
Lecturers
Bob Hanon
Debra Miller
Art Institute of California-San Diego

29. Crossing The Line: Moving From Film to Games (and Possibly Back)
Wednesday Half-Day, 8:30 am - 12:15 pm
Level: Beginning
As games have matured into the HDTV era, the need for rich, polished graphics is greater than ever. This course explores the impact that film artists can have upon video games and what game artists and studios can expect as game teams grow and more film people move into games.
Prerequisites
Very basic understanding of film-production principles and an interest in video games. Recent experience with playing on current game consoles (Xbox, Xbox360, or Nintendo Game Cube) is also helpful.
Intended Audience
People in the film segments of the computer graphics industry who are considering a change to the games industry and artists, producers, and game developers who are working on their first next-generation game title.
Organizer
Evan Hirsch
Microsoft Corporation
evhirsch (at) microsoft.com
Lecturers
Rick Stringfellow
Electronic Arts Canada
Sal Melluso
Paul Amer
Cliff Brett
Brien Goodrich
Jamie Marshall
Microsoft Game Studios

30. Digital Art Techniques
Wednesday Half-Day, 8:30 am - 12:15 pm
Level: Intermediate
A partial survey of techniques for creation of digital art works. The course combines experiences of practicing artists with state-of-the-art research. Topics include: aesthetic concepts, novel interaction paradigms, and mixed-media processing issues. Example works range from partially generative still imagery to VJ performances and interactive installations.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of computer graphics principles, audio and video signal processing, and human-computer interaction models.
Intended Audience
Interdisciplinary working artists and computer graphics scientists, especially those who are involved or interested in the development and use of software tools and digital techniques for the visual arts.
Co-Organizers
Pascal Müller
ETH Zurich
pmueller (at) vision.ee.ethz.ch
Stefan Müller
Arisona ETH Zurich
Sma (at) corebounce.org
Lecturers
Kenneth A. Huff
Independent Artist
Bernd Lintermann
Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe

33. Strands and Hair: Modeling, Animation, and Rendering
Thursday Full-Day, 8:30 am - 5:30 pm
Level: Intermediate
Over the past six years, there has seen a Renaissance in hair modeling, rendering, and animation. This course covers the gamut of hair simulation problems and presents working solutions. Topics include recent and novel research ideas, and time-tested industrial practices that created spectacular imagery.
Prerequisites
Familiarity with fundamentals of computer graphics, physical simulation, and physically based rendering is strongly recommended but not mandatory. Also recommended: understanding of numerical linear algebra, differential equations, numerical methods, rigid-body dynamics, collision detection and response, physics-based illumination models, and fluid dynamics.
Intended Audience
Special effects developers, technical directors, game developers, researchers, and anyone interested in physically based modeling for computer graphics.
Organizer
Sunil Hadap
Adobe Systems Incorporated,
formerly at PDI/DreamWorks
sunilhadap (at) acm.org
Lecturers
Marie-Paule Cani
University of Grenoble & INRIA
Florence Bertails
University of British Columbia
Ming Lin
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Kelly Ward
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Steve Marschner
Cornell University
Tae-Yong Kim
Rhythm & Hues Studios
Zoran Kacic-Alesic
Industrial Light + Magic


So those are just my favorites. Time to make dinner, and I'm going to look over the educators program and animation theater, etc.

(posted yesterday evening on AM)

Story Ideas (Revised)

Story 1: “Butler”

Quick Summary: Judgmental butler is irritated when kid walks in with loud music and messy habits. However, butler allows his curiosity to take over and he frees his inhibitions with the music associated with today’s youth.

Pre-Pitch Structure
A. What is the setting of the film?
--> Kitchen of a wealthy home
B. What is the time of day of the film?
--> Mid-afternoon, fall, present era
C. What and who are the characters in your film, simply put?
--> Butler: pompous, irritable, somewhat elderly
--> Boy: teenager (puberty), skeptical, hateful, self-involved

Pitch Structure
A. We open with a somewhat pompous, elegant, yet lanky, old butler who is going about his business in his master’s kitchen, cleaning the countertops.
B. Disturbance: In walks the master’s son, a teenaged, spiky-haired, sarcastic, squinty-eyed rockstar wannabe, listening to some loud techno music on his iPod. After grumbling all the way to the refrigerator and grabbing his after-school snack, the boy dumps his things on the kitchen counter (which the butler had just tidied up) and leaves the room to go watch television, tossing his dirty-booted feet up on the cocktail table.
C. The butler is at first disgusted and irritated, but (then) as he begins to clean up after the boy, he lends an ear to the iPod and (then) slowly allows his various limbs to shake with the beat. (Then) He goes nuts and starts knocking things over in the true spirit of the wild music, and a smile stretches across his formerly stern face as he gets into the music more and more.
D. Until finally, once things get really loud and crazy, he opens an eye to find that the boy has come into the kitchen and is staring at him. Butler quietly removes iPod and sets it down on the counter, leaving the room with a stoic expression as the boy picks up his things (eyes never leaving the Butler, who starts dancing again upon exiting the room).
E. What is the moral/point/feeling the story is expressing?
--> Break out of your shell of judgment once in a while. You may surprise yourself.


Story 2: “The Blind Clay Potter”

Summary: Generous man donates daily to a blind woman who thinks he is buying one of her pots. One day he stops by to make another donation and she points out the price has gone up, and the man walks away empty-handed.

Pre-Pitch Structure
A. What is the setting of the film?
--> A dirt road among tropical-looking plants in a hot, third-world country
B. What is the time of day of the film?
--> Morning, summer, sometime between 1930-1970
C. What and who are the characters in your film, simply put?
--> Young man from the peace corps, thoughtful, kind-hearted, responsible
--> Elderly blind woman, clay potter, feeble-handed, fair-minded

Pitch Structure
A. We open with the Peace Corps volunteer walking down a dirt road in a third world country. He passes an elderly blind woman sitting next to a collection of handmade, unimpressive, poorly-spun clay pots. A sign indicates she is selling them each at about 5 coins each.
B. Disturbance: The young man sees that she is sitting there with a hopeless, vacant expression, and is moved by her blindness and her struggle to make a day’s wages.
C. So (then) he puts five coins in her hands. (Then) She lifts her chin and angles her head to acknowledge him with a large smile. After pocketing her earnings, she reaches up to touch his face, bows to thank him, and extends her arms toward her collection as if to say, “pick one!” The man picks one up, but (then) sets it back down quietly, wanting only to give her the money. (Then) He continues to return to her every day.
D. Until finally, one day he returns to her and gives her the coins, she reaches up and touches his face and smiles – a beautiful moment of recognition – and then flattens her expression as she points to a sign indicating the cost has gone up. She holds out her hand indignantly as the man realizes his pockets are now empty, and walks away with no money and no clay pottery.
E. What is the moral/point/feeling the story is expressing?
--> Consistent generosity can lead to expectant have-nots who feel entitlement.


Story 3: “Magic Show”

Summary: A proud and confident magician keeps screwing up his magic tricks, eventually pulling a rabid animal out of a hat, and actually sawing a person in half, among other mishaps. He avoids being arrested by a disappearing act, which unfortunately lands him in an unknown, barren place without the ability to return.

Pre-Pitch Structure
A. What is the setting of the film?
--> Theater, stage setting with typical red velvet curtain and spotlights
B. What is the time of day of the film?
--> Evening, winter, present era
C. What and who are the characters in your film, simply put?
--> Magician, over-confident, careless, quick-witted and charismatic
--> Rabid rabbit and the audience member who gets sawed in half
--> Two cops who attempt to make the arrest

Pitch Structure
A. We begin with a spotlight onstage as the curtain opens and a proud magician marches out in front of a crowd of anticipating onlookers. He hangs up his cape and brushes his hands together, ready to begin his performance, reaching into his vest pocket for a deck of cards.
B. Disturbance: He drops the deck of cards, which spill out all over the stage. He bends down to pick them up, and the camera follows his eyes across the floor, revealing the trick that all of the cards were identically-faced, to which he shrugs sheepishly and brushes them aside as if to hide them.
C. (Then) Distracted, he attempts to pull himself together, standing and brushing himself off. He lifts his hat and waves his hand, and a rabbit emerges, except it is rabid and foaming at the mouth. He quickly throws the hat to the floor so the rabbit cannot escape. (Then) he smiles, blushing, and runs offstage, rolling forward a long, coffin-like cart. He helps a lady from the audience enter the cart lying down, and he proceeds to saw her in half, only the trick fails, and he actually saws her in half. Meanwhile the rabbit has escaped and chomped down on the dead lady’s leg, dangling in mid air. Silhouettes of the audience members can be seen gasping, screaming, and running away wildly.
D. Until finally, two cops emerge to handcuff the magician, but he snaps his fingers and squints. He has disappeared. Then you see the squinted eyes of the magician opening to realize he is now on a solitary spindle of a cliff in the middle of an empty, cavernous wasteland, and he doesn’t know how to return from there.
E. What is the moral/point/feeling the story is expressing?
--> Don’t play with things you don’t understand.


Story 4: “Systematic Popcorn Eater”

Summary: A guy goes to a movie eager and excited until inconsiderate people ruin his experience. He is ready to give up angrily, until a thoughtful girl shares with him the joys he thought he lost, and he gains more enjoyment than he would have in the first place.

Pre-Pitch Structure
A. What is the setting of the film?
--> Movie Theater
B. What is the time of day of the film?
--> Evening, spring, present era
C. What and who are the characters in your film, simply put?
--> Guy, adamant film lover, systematic popcorn eater, very particular in ways
--> Inconsiderate moviegoers (silhouettes only, mostly)
--> Thoughtful girl, sharing, understanding, considerate

Pitch Structure
A. We open with an exciting, provocative movie poster, which the guy is gazing at before rushing to the popcorn stand to buy his snacks. He covers the popcorn with salt, butter, and cheese, finds the perfect seat (he has arrived very early), and begins to separate the popcorn so he can save the best, tastiest kernels for last.
B. Disturbance: movie goers enter the theater and disrupt his view. He can no longer see the movie screen at all.
C. So (then) he gets up and moves to a different seat at the end of a row. He clearly doesn’t care for this seat, but he tries to enjoy it and watch the movie anyway. (Then) Someone brushes past him to go to the restroom, steps on his foot, gets stuck there, and lets one rip, right in his face. He is disgusted as the person leaves and so (then) he moves yet another time to the front row where there is ample leg room. He begins to enjoy the movie until a guy to his right yanks open a bag of candy, bumps him with his elbow, and his popcorn goes everywhere. He is so angry, yet he is trying to contain himself to his chair and not create a scene.
D. Until finally, someone to his left taps him on the shoulder. It’s a very pretty girl offering to share her popcorn – and lo and behold, she is a systematic popcorn eater too. They enjoy the snack and the movie together, and she gives him her number before they leave the theater.
E. What is the moral/point/feeling the story is expressing?
--> Sometimes you may not get the thing you really want. But there might be something better waiting for you, if you could just open your eyes and see it.


Story 5: “The Comfy Couch”

Summary: Man watching tv lazily finds creative ways to reach a remote without getting up, but each attempt fails. When he finally gets up to change the channel, the dog steals his spot on the couch.

Pre-Pitch Structure
A. What is the setting of the film?
--> A living room in a nice, simple home, with a couch and a tv
B. What is the time of day of the film?
--> Evening, fall, present era
C. What and who are the characters in your film, simply put?
--> Man enjoying the comforts of his home after a long day
--> Dog (short haired, expressive, lazy, maybe a beagle)

Pitch Structure
A. We open with a man entering his home and locking the door for the night. He stretches and throws down the remains of his fast food dinner to his dog and sets his paper megacup down on his cocktail table. He pats the dog on the head, turns on the tv, and gets comfortable on the couch. It clearly is the most comfortable couch ever.
B. Disturbance: he doesn’t like whatever show he is watching. He eyes the remote at the other end of the table across from him. Calculating the distance, he realizes it is too far away to reach by hand. You can sense how much he wants to change the channel, but meanwhile he doesn’t want to leave this comfortable spot. Even the dog begins to look toward the remote helplessly.
C. (Then) The man tries reaching with his hand anyway. The remote really is too far from him, so he looks at his feet. (Then) He reaches over again, this time with his leg. His foot nudges it accidentally in the opposite direction, and once again it is out of reach. So (Then) he gets clever with his attempt and kicks a pole lamp so that it bounces against the wall and falls into his lap. Sticking his tongue out eagerly, he fumbles to angle the lamp so that the lampshade will capture the remote like a net. The dog eyes him suspiciously. The lampshade eventually knocks the remote onto the floor. Begrudgingly, he gets off the couch and retrieves the remote. He has a hard time finding the comfy spot on the couch again, but as soon as he does, he discovers the remote is out of battery power.
D. Until finally, he gets up again and completes the last couple steps to turn the channel directly on the tv. By the time he turns around again, the dog has hopped up on the couch and fallen asleep. The man sits in the dog bed instead.
E. What is the moral/point/feeling the story is expressing?
--> Laziness might spawn creative solutions now and then, but watch out for the underdog who will always be ready to take your place.

Please give your feedback... thanks so much!

-Laura

I Love It When We're Cruisin Together

I am exhausted. But I am excited.

Today I will embark on my first cruise, and I'll be with my loving fiance under the Florida sun. We are about to leave Orlando for Fort Lauderdale. From there, we will board a ship which will set sail at about 5pm. We are headed to the Eastern Caribbean islands.

Tonight, tomorrow, and Tuesday will be entirely at sea. We will be rocked to sleep in our beds by the ebb and flow of the Atlantic. By Wednesday we will arrive for a shore excursion at St. Maarten, and by Thursday we will visit St. Thomas. Friday we return to the sea, and Saturday we will spend on the Princess Cays (Princess cruise line, Cayman islands). We'll return bright and early on Sunday morning to Fort Lauderdale, only a few short hours from the place we call home.

I am hoping I'll get a chance to go online at some point while I'm there, but I know it's terribly expensive, so for now you can expect me to return any messages on Monday, the 16th.

And for those of you celebrating, have a very Happy Easter.

Celebrating A Year's Journey

A year ago, I began this incredible journey with Animation Mentor.

This evening (well, April 3, I mean), I made a decent effort to start the gears turning for class 5. I read through the assignment notes in full (for once - usually I jump right to the lecture and then skim the notes afterward), and I think it'll help me stay focused to do a little more prep work.

It looks as though this term is geared toward preproduction (story design, animatics, etc), so not a ton of animating this term I guess. I don't think we even jump into Maya until halfway through when we'll delve into walk cycles and personality. For the most part the next three months are going to be about story and drawing and film pre-production (aren't I glad I brought my art desk along to Florida).

With that in mind, I'm going to have to adjust my goals. What I want to get out of this term is a really clean look to my thumbnails and animatic. I have to stay punctual, open-minded, conversational, and determined. I want to have a clear layout of a short film that expresses my strengths in design, acting/thought process, and timing (all of which I want to improve). I need to spend a few days to a week coming up with some kicking story ideas.

So far, Animation Mentor has really pushed the basics and hammered in all the fundamental principles of animation. I've only seen a couple people come close to mastering those aspects in the past year. Most everyone remains in a constant loop of continual improvement. Easy to do with the great mentors we've had. Here's my one-year history of AM:

Class 1: April 2006. Mentor: Don Kim

Profile: Don has worked in the animation industry for over 10 years. He is a graduate of Sheridan college with a diploma in Classical Animation. Don started his career at Walt Disney Animation where he worked on several classically animated feature length projects, including the theatrical feature "Return to Neverland". In 1999 he jumped over to 3D animation at CORE digital pictures and from then on it was CG all the way. Since then Don has worked as a 3D Animator and Animation supervisor on several shows including the feature film "Robots" while he was working at Bluesky Studios. Currently he is working as an Assistant Director at Nelvana limited in Toronto.

Don really helped push a better comprehension of the basics and encouraged weekly revisions. He was somewhat quiet but positive and constructive with his criticism.

Class 2: July 2006. Mentor: Steve Gagnon-Cady

Profile: Steve Cady is a french-canadian born in Montreal, Canada. He is a 1997 graduate from Sheridan College's Classical Animation programme. For the past 9 years, Steve has worked for numerous studios across north america from gaming to films. His most recent film projects have been Scooby2, Ring2 and The Chronicles of Narnia at Rhythm & Hues. His other passions include learning to fly, Golf, going to the movies and hanging out with the kids! Currently Steve is working at Weta Digital in Wellington, New Zealand.

Steve wowed me with the length and care put into his critiques. Although laid-back and very down to earth, he was serious about learning and improvement.

Class 3: October 2006. Mentor: Raquel Coelho

Profile: I was born in Brazil and since very little I was always doing tons of art. Growing up was interesting and soon i was able to make a living doing every type of art i always loved: i played viola in orchestras for 6 years, worked on a puppet theater group for 2 years, wrote and illustrated a bunch of children's books which were successfully published in Brazil, and became a computer animator here in the US. I started to get interested in animation when i was living in Sao Paulo, where I worked as an intern in a cell animation studio for 1 year. After that I moved to New York where i got hooked by computer animation. I worked in a bunch of cool companies, like Blue Sky Studios, PDI/Dreamworks, Wildbrain, Laika Entertainment (formerly Vinton Studios), and I currently work at Tippett Studio. What I love the most about animation is that it connects storytelling, music, visual arts, cinema and acting all in one beautiful form of art.

Raquel truly cared about each of her students, inspiring us by focusing her attention on each of our goals and helping us to orient ourselves toward them. She really emphasized the importance of secondary action and the idiosyncrasies that define your character.

Class 4: January 2007. Mentor: Brett Coderre

Profile: Brett has been working with Pixar Animation Studios since A Bugs Life. He is currently working on Pixar's 2007 movie Ratatouille. Brett won The Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Character Animation with his fantastic work on Finding Nemo, for the Dory Whale speaking scenes.

Brett, despite his gentle and friendly demeanor, really set up the goal posts and shoved us down the field with his advice. He was direct with his comments and straight forward with his opinions, but he always showed an encouraging nod to our individual ideas and aspirations.

Class 5: April 2007. Mentor: Ricardo Curtis

Profile: I am the founder of House of Cool, a preproduction studio in Toronto, Canada. Along with running my studio I am currently the Head of Story at Blue Sky Studios on Horton Hears A Who. Previously I was a story artist and animator at Pixar and a supervising animator at Warner Bros. Feature Animation. My credits include The Incredibles, Monsters Inc, The Road to El Dorado, Osmosis Jones and The Iron Giant.

With these credits, I'm hoping that Ricardo will help me to fix my eyes on a good story and squeeze all I can out of it. I know that in class 6 I am going to be polishing up the minute-long animation that I'll be setting up throughout class 5, so I'd like his advice on what really captivates people and how to harness that with a good plot and story elements.


This coming week while I'm on the cruise, I have to develop 5 different story lines that I could pursue in the next several months. I'll try to come up with some worthy ideas by Thursday so I can throw them in my online video journal before class at 11pm. My hurdle right now is undertaking this enormous task of coming up with a great story to work on until September. I have to try to break that idea into several small ones so that I can avoid being overwhelmed. I'll let you know how that goes.

One Keyframe At A Time

If you use animation as an analogy to life, I've just polished up a money shot keyframe. This move was difficult, but now that I'm here, I know without a doubt this is the best decision I could have made for myself as an animator and for my relationship with Naveen.

I wish I could have spent more time with the latest greatest Brett Coderre for class 4, but I got everything out of that class that I could, given my situation, and now I'm going to use that to inspire me for class 5. I have a really great mentor this term too, Ricardo Curtis, who used to be a story artist and animator at Pixar, as well as a supervising animator at Warner Bros. Feature Animation... but who has moved on to start his own House of Cool Studios in Toronto (Canada), and simultaneously be the head of story at Blue Sky Studios doing Horton Hears A Who. His credits include The Incredibles, Monsters Inc, The Road to El Dorado, Osmosis Jones, and The Iron Giant.

Of course you can imagine how thrilled I am. Of course, as always, I must kick myself back to work. I'll come back around Friday to let you know how my first Q&A session went.