My "so-called" animated life

Motorola DROID RAZR Review

2012-01-26T11:17:00.000-06:00

Ok, this post doesn't really have anything to do with animation or motivational speaking, but I'm just really excited to get this phone!!! I've done my research and talked it over with my personal Verizon consultant, my best friend who works for Verizon. I really like all the features it has to offer. This will be my first Droid smart phone so I'm really looking forward to it! Currently I have the LG EnV Touch. I've had this phone for about 1.5 to 2 years. It was really great at the time but phones have advanced so much since then.

One of the features I'm really looking forward to is being able to sync my music quick and easy. I have my iPod Nano which is great, but I also have my phone. With the EnV Touch it is so difficult to get my music on there. I have to connect it to my computer and use the VCast Music Manager. If I want to make a playlist of songs, I have to do it through the phone by either song or artist. It doesn't list them together. So if I don't easily recognize the song or artist, I have no idea which song it is. So really looking forward to the Motocast app that easily syncs it up to my music on my computer. Also looking forward to the Netflix app so I can watch movies on the go.

As soon as my tax refund arrives, SHE IS MINE!!

This review is done by PhoneArena.com.

The following reviews are done by AndroidCentral.com. When it starts off it sounds like he doesn't really approve. But by the end he doesn't really have anything bad to say about it. Just a couple of apps and a few MINOR details he didn't like. All in all, he likes it.

Super 8 Movie Night

2012-01-25T22:48:00.002-06:00

In October of 2010 I went to Ft. Worth to visit my friends Jen & Jason. While I was up there Jen and I went to a huge flea market that was near their house. As we were walking along I came across some Super 8 movies. They were only a couple of bucks so I snatched them up.

Now 14 months later I am FINALLY watching them. So I set up the screen and dusted off the projector.

The Daffy Duck short is with him and Speedy Gonzales called "Speedy A Go-Go". Apparently that's not the title it was released under. I found it on YouTube as "Swing Ding Amigo". Written by Sid Marcus and directed by Robert McKimson.

The second is Official NASA footage of Apollo 11 landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969. It was amazing to see it in this format.

Some of the footage on the film can be seen in the following videos from YouTube. It showed clips from launch to landing to the return home. It was pretty amazing.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

2012-01-25T12:52:00.000-06:00

Here is one of the Oscar nominated animated short films: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by Moonbot Studios.

2012 Oscar Nominations - Best Animated Film

2012-01-24T10:00:00.001-06:00

84th Academy Awards Nominations

2012-01-24T08:13:00.003-06:00

Here is the full list of the nominees courtesy of IMDB.com:

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Nominees:

The Artist (2011)

The Descendants (2011)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)

The Help (2011)

Hugo (2011/II)

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Moneyball (2011)

The Tree of Life (2011)

War Horse (2011)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Demián Bichir for A Better Life (2011)

George Clooney for The Descendants (2011)

Jean Dujardin for The Artist (2011)

Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Brad Pitt for Moneyball (2011)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs (2011)

Viola Davis for The Help (2011)

Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady (2011)

Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Kenneth Branagh for My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Jonah Hill for Moneyball (2011)

Nick Nolte for Warrior (2011)

Christopher Plummer for Beginners (2010)

Max von Sydow for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Bérénice Bejo for The Artist (2011)

Jessica Chastain for The Help (2011)

Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids (2011)

Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbs (2011)

Octavia Spencer for The Help (2011)

Best Achievement in Directing

Nominees:

Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris (2011)

Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist (2011)

Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life (2011)

Alexander Payne for The Descendants (2011)

Martin Scorsese for Hugo (2011/II)

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Nominees:

The Artist (2011): Michel Hazanavicius

Bridesmaids (2011): Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo

Margin Call (2011): J.C. Chandor

Midnight in Paris (2011): Woody Allen

A Separation (2011): Asghar Farhadi

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Nominees:

The Descendants (2011): Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash

Hugo (2011/II): John Logan

The Ides of March (2011): George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon

Moneyball (2011): Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011): Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Nominees:

A Cat in Paris (2010)

Chico & Rita (2010)

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

Puss in Boots (2011)

Rango (2011)

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Nominees:

Bullhead (2011): Michael R. Roskam(Belgium)

Footnote (2011): Joseph Cedar(Israel)

In Darkness (2011): Agnieszka Holland(Poland)

Monsieur Lazhar (2011): Philippe Falardeau(Canada)

A Separation (2011): Asghar Farhadi(Iran)

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Nominees:

The Artist (2011): Guillaume Schiffman

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011): Jeff Cronenweth

Hugo (2011/II): Robert Richardson

The Tree of Life (2011): Emmanuel Lubezki

War Horse (2011): Janusz Kaminski

Best Achievement in Editing

Nominees:

The Artist (2011): Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius

The Descendants (2011): Kevin Tent

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011): Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter

Hugo (2011/II): Thelma Schoonmaker

Moneyball (2011): Christopher Tellefsen

Best Achievement in Art Direction

Nominees:

The Artist (2011): Laurence Bennett, Gregory S. Hooper

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011): Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan

Hugo (2011/II): Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo

Midnight in Paris (2011): Anne Seibel, Hélène Dubreuil

War Horse (2011): Rick Carter, Lee Sandales

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Nominees:

Anonymous (2011/I): Lisy Christl

The Artist (2011): Mark Bridges

Hugo (2011/II): Sandy Powell

Jane Eyre (2011): Michael O'Connor

W.E. (2011): Arianne Phillips

Best Achievement in Makeup

Nominees:

Albert Nobbs (2011)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

The Iron Lady (2011)

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Nominees:

The Adventures of Tintin (2011): John Williams

The Artist (2011): Ludovic Bource

Hugo (2011/II): Howard Shore

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011): Alberto Iglesias

War Horse (2011): John Williams

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Nominees:

The Muppets (2011): Bret McKenzie("Man or Muppet")

Rio (2011): Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, Siedah Garrett("Real in Rio")

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

Nominees:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Hugo (2011/II)

Moneyball (2011)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

War Horse (2011)

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Nominees:

Drive (2011)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Hugo (2011/II)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

War Horse (2011)

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Nominees:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

Hugo (2011/II)

Real Steel (2011)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Best Documentary, Features

Nominees:

Hell and Back Again (2011)

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (2011)

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011)

Pina (2011)

Undefeated (2011)

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

Nominees:

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement (2011)

God Is the Bigger Elvis

Incident in New Baghdad (2011)

Saving Face (2011/II)

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (2011)

Best Short Film, Animated

Nominees:

Dimanche (2011): Patrick Doyon

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011): William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg

La Luna (2011): Enrico Casarosa

A Morning Stroll (2011): Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe

Wild Life (2011): Amanda Forbis, Wendy Tilby

Best Short Film, Live Action

Nominees:

Pentecost (2011): Peter McDonald

Raju (2011): Max Zähle, Stefan Gieren

The Shore: Terry George

Time Freak (2011): Andrew Bowler, Gigi Causey

Tuba Atlantic (2010): Hallvar Witzø

DP/30 interview with Jennifer Yuh Nelson

2012-01-23T19:32:00.000-06:00

Jennifer Yuh Nelson is the director of Dreamworks Animation's "Kung Fu Panda 2".

DP/30 interview with Enrico Casarosa

2012-01-23T19:23:00.000-06:00

Enrico Casarosa is the director of Pixar's latest animated short film "La Luna". You can also check out his blog for a day-by-day behind the scenes look at the making of the film.

"dedication"

2012-01-02T01:27:00.000-06:00

The new year is here. I'm starting to get back into the frame of mind I had back in 2010. I have my goals laid out in front of me. I have my challenges all lined up. I know what I have to do to make a change. It is time to get things done.

Then I came across this on facebook. A friend of mine posted this website: One Word 365. It's not about making resolutions "that you won't remember three weeks from now." It's about taking one word and incorporating that word into your life for the entire year. Here's what it's all about:

One word can change everything.

Forget New Year's Resolutions. Scrap the long list of goals that you won't remember three weeks from now anyway. Choose just one word.

One word that sums up who you want to be or how you want to live or what you want to achieve by the end of 2012.

One word that you can focus on every day, all year long.

It will take hard work, and will require intentionality and commitment. But if you let it, your word will shape you and your year. It will guide your decisions and help you grow.

Discover the big impact one word can make.

One word.

365 days.

A changed life.

After thinking about it for a while I have decided on my word for 2012: "dedication."

If I am going to make any sort of significant change in my life it is going to take a lot of dedication to get the job done. There were other words that I was considering that also seemed to fit the theme for 2012. Some of them were "determination", "accomplish" and a few others. But "dedication" seemed the best fit. I will have to be dedicated to my causes for the entire year if I am going to make a change.

Looking Forward To 2012

2011-12-31T21:35:00.000-06:00

The time is upon us where one year comes to an end and a new one begins. This is also the time when I start looking back at 2011 and ponder how I could have made it better. And with that I start thinking of ways to make 2012 a very prosperous and productive year. Here's what I've come up with:

Resolution #1

First and foremost is my Battle of the Bulge. In 2011, I decreased my amount of exercise compared to 2010. I said I was going to take 2011 off and just try to maintain. So it comes as no surprised that I gained back some of the weight. I was fluctuating between the same five to ten pounds. Then it went to ten to 15. Now I'm back up to around 325, maxing out at 327. So with the new year comes the first challenge which is the same one as before: to lose 30 lbs. in two months. I have new DVDs from The Biggest Loser. I will start exercising six days a week. I will get back into the mind frame of responsible eating habits. I will make a change.

Next month begins the new season of The Biggest Loser on NBC. The theme for this season is "No Excuses." Whatever your excuse was for not exercising, it will not cut it anymore. That was my philosophy when I started this in December of 2009. My only excuse was that I did NOT have an excuse. My main reason for gaining the weight was I was too lazy to do anything about it. But there comes a time when you have to say enough is enough. What I was doing to my body was not right. I had to make a change and I did. Now, it is that time again. I know it can be done because I've done it before. The first time the big hurdle for me was to get under 400 lbs. Now the big hurdle is getting under 300 lbs. I almost made it once before years ago. I got down to 303 lbs. then stopped. I gained it all back and then some. Last year I got down to 305 lbs. I was so close to grabbing that brass ring but never held it in my hand. This time I am determined more than ever to get it. I have to keep psyching myself up about it or it will never happen.

That's what I have planned for the physical part of 2012. Now for the creative part of 2012:

Resolution #2

As far as having completely polished and DONE animated scenes in 2011, I only have a few. My demo reel has not changed that much since graduation two years ago. By year's end I will have a completely revamped demo reel. I have been applying to a few studios here and there and have yet to have any luck. I have been sending out the same scenes but just in different orders. Yes, I have added a couple of my scenes to it but nothing that I would say is completely polished, nothing to be really proud of. What I am really proud of are the scenes I have completed for Dana's short film. It has been so awesome to work with her on this. She has been very supportive of all the work I've done for her. I can't thank her enough.

But I need to spice up my reel. I need some fresh meat. I'm tired of looking at the same scenes over and over. I can't keep working on the same old stuff over and over. I need to invest my time into something new. So I plan to animate one new scene a month, whether it be a dialog scene or strictly body mechanics. I need something NEW!! But this time I will do it the right way. I already have several dialog clip to choose from. I even have video reference for a couple of them. What I need to do is sit down and plan it out, vidref to storyboards to first and second blocking pass to final polish. This is what I need to do in one month. Heck, that's what I did back at Animation Mentor. We had four to six weeks to do a scene from beginning to end. I just need to get back into that frame of mind. One way to help with this resolution is to enter the 11 Second Club competition. They always have a nice selection of audio clips. It's just a matter of finding one that peaks my interest and gets the creative juices flowing.

Resolution #3

To help with the creativity, I plan to read at least one chapter of The Illusion of Life a month. That book is considered the bible of animation and I have yet to read it cover to cover. I've skimmed it and read a chapter or two, but I need to immerse myself in it and soak up as much knowledge as possible. I know there's so much I'm missing out on. And it's not just that book. I want to learn as much as possible this year from everything I can find. There are so many tutorials and videos online now that it's so easy to find what you're looking for. So it's not only reading The Illusion of Life, but studying my craft more intensely.

And one more thing to add on to this "learning" resolution. I need to get into my sketchbook more often. I have recently picked it up for a side project I'm working on for a friend (details later) and I am loving it. It's a bit frustrating as always to not create on the paper the image I see in my mind. Somewhere along the path from my brain, down through my arm and out my hand it loses a bit in the translation. I may not create some elaborate sketchbook like the ones I've seen by different animation professionals, but at least I'm creating something.

Well, that's about it. There are a few other things I have in mind but I'm going to keep those close to the chest but here's an idea.. As for now, it looks like 2012 is going to be very busy and very productive. It's going to take a lot of hard work, determination and dedication.

In the year 2-0-1-2,

I will do as much as I can do!

The Holstee Manifesto

2011-12-22T13:45:00.003-06:00

For 2012 I plan to do more of what this has to say:

Jason Schleifer - Head of Character Animation at Dreamworks

2011-12-13T15:09:00.002-06:00

3D Animation Masterclass: Basic Walk Cycle Tutorial

2011-12-11T16:42:00.001-06:00

VERY informative!!!

HTTYD: Gift of the Night Fury

2011-12-08T23:44:00.001-06:00

AAaaaaaannnnndd......it's gone. :(

Guess I'll have to buy the bluray. :D

Moonshine: Artists After Dark

2011-12-08T12:45:00.001-06:00

DreamWorks first personal art publication, Moonshine, was conceived as an opportunity to highlight the breath of artistic development talent at Dreamworks.This short documentary gives you a sneak peek into the personal works from the artists.Directed by Alexis Wanneroy & Christophe LautretteArtists : Sam Michalp, Nicolas Weis, Griselda Sastrawinata, Christian Schellewald, Paul Duncan, Marcos Mateu, Nathan Fowkes Special appearance from Jeffrey Katzenberg Moonshine book :Produced by Angela LepitoPublished by Design Studio PressEdited by Christophe Lautrette & Pierre-Olivier VincentMusic by Drew Barefoot - The forest in bloom

Aardman Animation Studios: Behind the Scenes

2011-12-08T08:58:00.001-06:00

Disney's Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice

2011-12-08T08:53:00.001-06:00

The Lorax new trailer

2011-12-06T15:28:00.000-06:00

ILM - Creating the Impossible

2011-12-06T11:13:00.001-06:00

"Industrila Light & Magic - Creating the Impossible" is the latest documentary from Leslie Iwerks. She is the director of "The Pixar Story", a wonderful film that chronicles the history of Pixar Animation Studio. Now she turns her sights on Industrial Light and Magic. This is nothing short of amazing!!!

Toy Story Toons - "Small Fry"

2011-11-18T10:56:00.001-06:00

Buzz Lightyear is left behind at a fast food restaurant when a kids' meal toy version of Buzz takes his place. While Bonnie's toys are stuck with the annoying three-inch-tall Buzz impersonator, the real Buzz is trapped in therestaurant at a support group for discarded toys. As Woody and the gang devise a way to rescue their friend, Buzz tries to escape the toy psychotherapy meeting."Small Fry" is scheduled to release in cinemas with Disney's "The Muppets" on February 10, 2012.

Brave

2011-11-18T10:52:00.000-06:00

Sleep Well - Take 1 - WIP

2011-11-18T10:44:00.001-06:00

So I decided to go with the "Sleep well" audio clip from Supergirl. This is my latest blocking pass. I started splining everything but I started running into several problems. Her walk into the scene just wasn't working right. As she turns different controls were moving at different times. I thought I cleaned it up in blocking before switching over to splines but I may have missed some things.

So after a great brainstorming session with my buddy Richard, we came up with a different layout and an all new blocking. So now I'm taking it "back to formula." Starting from scratch. The deadline for Reel FX is looming so I have just under four weeks to get this done. The other scene I'm working on for the short film is nearing completion. When I get these done I will have a few more scenes to add to my reel. That is always the fun part.

New possible dialog projects

2011-10-09T13:44:00.001-05:00

I'm trying to decided on my next couple of projects. I'm planning on applying again to the Reel FX apprenticeship program. The deadline is December 16. That gives me roughly two months to come up with some new material. I'd like to add a total of three new scenes to my reel: two acting scenes and a body mechanics scene. So the other day I went looking for dialogue clips and I found a few. Here are my top six choices:

CLIP #1

Voice One: "Curse you, Bonzai! Don't you realize what you're saying?! Your whole plan is gonna be destroyed and you sit here wasting time!"
Voice Two: "Time? I got nothing but time."

CLIP #2

Voice One: "This is no democracy. It is a dictatorship. I am the law. If you survive camp you will be on the team. If you survive.

CLIP #3

Voice One: (exhale) "Sleep well. And when you wake drown in my eyes and be all mine.

CLIP #4

Voice One: "You hate me, don't you."
Voice Two: "Hate you? I don't even know you. I don't even know your name."
Voice One: "Ethan."

CLIP #5

Voice One: "See This? This is my boomstick!"

CLIP #6

Voice One: "Beef jerky?"
Voice Two: "No, no son. Thank you very much but it gives me the winds, something terrible."
Voice One. "Oh!"

A fellow AM alum gave me some advice that is really helping me make my decision on which ones to work on. One of the main factors is time. I need something I can accomplish in two months. Is the scene going to involve huge sets or can it be accomplished with a very simple set, or no set at all? Also, what am I trying to accomplish here? Which skill am I trying to show? Am I focusing on body mechanics or facial acting? And quite possibly the most important question is what kind of studio am I applying for? If I am applying to a feature film studio, then I would need to focus on facial animation, lip sync and acting. If I am applying to a gaming studio I would need to focus on walk/run cycles, body mechanics and fight sequences. LUCKILY, there is a webinar coming up this week discussing that very topic.

Once I have made my decision as to which clips I will use I will post the results here. I may even do some quick animatics for each to help illustrate the ideas I have in mind.

New Swag!!

2011-10-08T19:02:00.001-05:00

Last month my mentor Dana was at SIGGRAPH in Vancouver. During our usual video chat meetings she asked me and my buddy Richard for our mailing addresses. We were two of the four animators not able to make it to SIGGRAPH. She told us she got us something there and needed to mail it to us. Well I just received a new toy in the mail today!! And here it is....!!!!!

If you haven't heard of it before, here are some links that talk about it:

On facebook

And the actual RenderMan software from Pixar here.

Happy 99th Birthday Chuck Jones!!

2011-09-21T11:17:00.000-05:00

Going Off Grid....temporarily

2011-09-18T01:11:00.000-05:00

Since my last post I've been doing some thinking. Sunday is my day off and there are quite a few things I need to get done. For starters I will be filling out a PDAS for the day so I can make sure I list everything I need to get done. A few things on the list are the usuals: laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc. What I also need to do is change my oil on my Durango. And last but not least is what I always want to do on my day off, ANIMATE!

Here's what I intend to do. I am actually going to unplug the internet from my computer. (GASP!) In doing so I will eliminate these Weapons of Mass Distraction from my sight before they even get a chance to arm themselves. I will still be able to check e-mail and facebook from my phone; however, since it is not a sophisticated smart phone its capabilities are pretty limited. No web browsing for hours at a time. My PS3 will still be able to pick up the wifi signal. I'll keep that going so I can have something to watch during my breaks. BUT that, too can become a HUGE distraction so I may have to limit my access to hulu and Netflix, as well.

So I will see you back here in 24 hours. Hopefully I will return with a greater sense of productivity and accomplishment.

Wish me luck!

Weapons of Mass Distraction

2011-09-16T21:12:00.001-05:00

I have been reading the book The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield. In it he says:

"Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance."

Basically, he is saying that Resistance is any force that holds us back from being the person or artist we are meant to be. It is a force that prevents us from doing anything creative. With today's social networking and internet, this is truer than ever before. I can tell you countless times I have tried to get some work done but have been distracted by Resistance. The graphic above says it all. I get online and check my e-mail. Then I check facebook. Then I go to Coming Soon.net, Cartoon Brew and On Animation. and see what's going on in films, TV and animation. Some of their posts have videos which will lead to links of other videos, and so on, and so on, and so on. Next thing I know several hours have passed and I haven't done a damn thing!

How does one stop these Weapons of Mass Distraction?!

I have no idea. I'm still reading the book. But I think I came up with a solution that seemed to work really well. It's described in one of my last posts. If left to my own devices, I'd never get anything accomplished. If there was a way to make money off of watching TV and browsing the internet, I'd make a fortune. So what I had to do was make a schedule for myself on my days off. I scheduled myself something do to every half-hour. And you know what? It worked! I got so much done that by the end of the day I had such a feeling of accomplishment. I knew when I rested my head on my pillow that night that I had done something productive and, more importantly, something creative by day's end. The creative bit was not something huge, but I DID do something that I enjoyed and gave me fulfillment.

So what is my solution to defeating the Weapons of Mass Distraction? 1) I could unplug the internet from my computer. (HEAVENS NO!!!!) or 2) I can make myself a Personal Daily Assignment Sheet and follow it to the letter. The first one sounds plausible but a bit extreme. The second is very doable, because it has worked before.

I found out recently that a studio I've been trying to get into will be posting a job opening coming in November. They will also be opening up their apprenticeship program again in January. This means I have about six weeks to come up with new shots for my demo reel. Now comes the tough part, trying to decide on what to do. According to a recent blog posting from Animation Tips & Tricks, here's what I know I need and what recruiters might be looking for:

A body mechanics shot
A pantomime acting shot
A dialog acting shot

So that is what I need to do. I have plenty on my reel but nothing new. I need to change it up to show my growth, knowledge and experience. I have a couple of shots in mind already. It's just a matter of narrowing down my choices to the top three in each category and picking one.

If I can paraphrase Steven Pressfield to better fit my situation, here is what he would have to say:

"There's a secret that real (animators) know that wannabe (animators) don't, and the secret is this: It's not the (animating) part that's hard. What's hard is sitting down to (animate).

What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance."

The fact that I'm sitting here and writing about Resistance IS RESISTANCE!

BLERG!!!!

Every time I stop and think about my life and my unlived life, two songs come to mind. The first is called "Living Without Living" by Hipbone. I think the title alone says it all. Most of us are just "living without living." Hipbone is a jazz group that I came across by accident and this and this are the only traces I can find of them online. If you love great modern jazz, I highly recommend their album The Brothers' Love and Movie.

The second song comes from my favorite band in the world, the Dave Matthews Band. This song is from their Listener Supported CD and DVD concert. It is called True Reflections and performed by the great Boyd Tinsley.

The lyrics say it all:

Find some inspiration
Reach down deep inside of you
Amend your situation
Your whole life is ahead of you

If you want to make a change, you are going to had dig deep inside of yourself, tap into that inner strength that we all have, DESTROY those Weapons of Mass Distraction and MAKE that change. What have you got to lose?

Vimeo Walk Cycle Tutorial and My Results

2011-09-14T17:21:00.001-05:00

The other day I came across a walk cycle tutorial on vimeo. I thought it was pretty interesting in that it was a four-parter and seemed to go step by step. After looking at it for a few seconds, I decided to follow along and see what I can do. So I opened up Maya 2008 and opened up the Bishop character from Animation Mentor. I have the Morpheus rig the tutorial was using but I found it a bit too challenging at the moment. As I was following along, I noticed he was using some controls that Bishop does not have. Aw crap! So I went ahead and opened up Morpheus and proceeded with the tutorial. It was not as difficult as I remembered. Granted it was only a standing still walk cycle, but still not too bad. So here are the tutorial videos and my results afterwards.

Walk Cycle Part 1

Walk Cycle Part 2

Walk Cycle Part 3

Walk Cycle Part 4

My Walk Cycle Tutorial Results

One of the tips I learned was when doing a walk cycle was to animate the two feet together, then when it looks complete you take one foot and offset it and BOOM you have a walk cycle! Another is that when the foot lands after contact, it is the pinky toe that makes contact first and then the rest of the foot rolls down. It was fun doing this tutorial. If I have some time later on I might go looking for other tutorials that I can follow along with.

A Short History of CG Characters in Movies

2011-09-08T13:08:00.001-05:00

a short history of CG characters in movies from lnrdshelby on Vimeo.

Three Amazing Trailers...

2011-09-08T13:06:00.000-05:00

that blew me away!!!!
Dana Dorian - Age Of Empires from Flaunt Productions on Vimeo.

Portal: No Escape

2011-09-08T12:59:00.001-05:00

30 Ways to Kill A Cowboy! app trailer

2011-09-08T12:57:00.001-05:00

ready steady bang - 30 ways from Ed Barrett on Vimeo.

Simon Irvine August 2011 Animation Reel

2011-09-08T12:54:00.001-05:00

This is just some amazing work! The camera work on some of these shots (not the feature film shots) are just amazing! That is the kind of camera work I am trying to get in my own work.

Simon Irvine August 2011 Animation Reel from Simon Irvine on Vimeo.

Monster in Paris trailer

2011-09-08T12:52:00.001-05:00

I really hope this makes it to the states. I REALLY hope this makes it down to Corpus!

I WANT ONE!!!

2011-09-08T12:50:00.001-05:00

"Brain Storm: Unleashing Your Creative Self" by Don Hahn

2011-09-08T01:23:00.000-05:00

This is the latest book by Don Hahn entitled Brain Storm: Unleashing Your Creative Self. I saw this book in the latest issue of Animation Magazine while at work and did some looking into it. I saw it was available to order and it is on its way. I also saw that it was available as an e-reader and have been downloading it to the NOOKS to read during my break. I'm only a few pages into it but there was one section that really struck a chord with me. He was talking about a time he gave advice to a young production manager he called Sven. Sven was in junior management but wanted to be a screenwriter. Here's what he had to say:

"For some reason, I responded with a diving metaphor, the first I had ever used, but it seem appropriate for the occasion. 'Sven,' I said, 'you can either tiptoe into the shallow end or jump naked into the deep end. It all depends how much you want to swim.'
"If you are going to pursue your happiness, you must start by deciding what your happiness is. What's inside of you? What story do you have to tell? What truth do you have to share? The most successful writers write because they have to. They have an unquenchable, burning desire to write about the worked as seen through their own eyes. This whole conversation with Sven really came down to how much Sven really felt he had to write.
"At issue here was authenticity. Sven's work at a film studio was a detour from his real job, which was this: to wake up every morning and be the best Sven Bjornson that he could be. To do that, first he had to dig deep and find out who he was. He had to honor his personal history and the strengths and limitations that have made him who he is today. He needed the courage to be honest with himself and make big changes in his career path. He had to write as only he could write. He had to be authentic.
"If Sven was willing to go home at night and say to himself, 'I'm going to work harder than anyone else; I'm going to carve out big chunks of time to write and study films and scripts and commit myself to my passion,' then maybe he would get a break and be able to write a magazine article that might lead to a television movie and then a feature. Otherwise, he'd be a hobbyist for life. Not a bad thing, but an amateur thing. It's the difference between me on my three-speed bike and Lance Armstrong.
"Then Sven said something that stopped me. He was talking about his college experience and the fact that every day he used to do something different in drama or art or music, and that when went to work in management he left all that behind him. He decided years ago to put his dream on a shelf for a while, but he never went back to it. In essence, he was living a lie in denying himself the parts of his life that gave him joy.
"Sven was at a crossroads. Most people who come to this intersection won't make a dramatic change. They may take a class or practice a bit, and then see the writing on the wall and pull the plug on their dreams once again. But a few stalwart souls will latch onto the dream like a bear trap and not let go. They will work and seek out experts and study and marry their dream for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do them part. They will work to dig deeply for the truth about their lives. To explore their desire to create without guilt and for no other reason than this: they have to. They can't not do it.
"If you love your dream, why not marry it? Feel the fire in your gut. Grit your teeth, put your ears back, and scream a primal scream. There is strength in boldness, and let's face it, the alternative - doing nothing - doesn't sound very satisfying.
"Pursue happiness. Strip down and dive into the big waves with Sven. The water is deep, cool, and endlessly refreshing, and you've got plenty of strength to swim to shore."

There were several lines in there that hit me hard:

"If you are going to pursue your happiness, you must start by deciding what your happiness is."
"Otherwise, he'd be a hobbyist for life. Not a bad thing, but an amateur thing."
"If you love your dream, why not marry it?"
"There is strength in boldness, and let's face it, the alternative - doing nothing - doesn't sound very satisfying."

These are some of the lines that have been going through my head lately. "If (I am) going to pursue (my) happiness, (I) must start by deciding what (my) happiness is." I am lucky enough to know what makes me happy and that is animation. But how much time am I willing to put into this passion. I sit here at the computer everyday and watch the time tick away. All I do is check e-mails, look around facebook, check up on the latest movie and animation news, or watch movies and TV shows on hulu and Netflix. That's all I'll do for hours a day. All the while I know what I should be doing. I should be working on my craft. I should put in the time to what "makes me happy."

"Otherwise, (I'd) be a hobbyist for life. Not a bad thing, but an amateur thing." One thing I've always said is, "Animation is my avocation." After reading that last line I really started to analyze what I've been saying. Animation is my "hobby." It's a hobby?! Is that what I think of my passion, my dream?! Just a "hobby"?! How am I ever to succeed if what I love to do is simply a hobby, something you do on your off time?! A hobby is what you do in your spare time, when you're done with you real work and you have some extra time. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word "hobby" is defined as "a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation." How can I ever call myself an animator if I consider my passion, my love, my desire just a simple hobby. My hobby has to become my life if I am ever going to succeed and make a life for myself.

I kick myself every day that goes by that I don't have something productive or creative to show. Every day I don't have a new playblast for Dana, a rough blocking pass of a new scene, or storyboards for a new short film idea, it kills me all the time. I've gone to school and studied character animation and graduated. It's been over two years and I have yet to land that dream job, nay, no professional paying animation job whatsoever. (Believe me, I am ever so grateful to be working with my mentor Dana on her short film. Without it, I don't know what I would have to keep me going.) I've had several rejection letters but not even a single follow up e-mail or phone call. "If (I) love (my) dream, why not marry it?" Am I ready for such a commitment? Here I go sounding like a typical guy who is not ready for commitment. But I have not made this commitment with myself. It seems life is always getting in the way. Working 40 hours a week at a non-creative job really drains it out of me. Then there's the house chores that ALWAYS have to be done: laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, etc. Then there's family and social gatherings. I still have a life. Not a very exciting one at the moment but there are some great times to be had. But at the end of the day, I still come back to the main question: What have you done today that makes you happy? Have you done anything creative today? Have you done any sketching or drawing today? And the big one, have you done any animating today? When am I going to stop making excuses and start making results?

"There is strength in boldness, and let's face it, the alternative - doing nothing - doesn't sound very satisfying." No it does not. That is what I need to become. I need to become bold and take charge of my life. I need to shut everything else out and focus on what needs to be done. One day last week I had a lot of things to do. I had to clean, do laundry, wash dishes, and wanted to get some animation done. I wanted to get all this done before I had to go to work. So I took a cue from work and created a "Personal" Daily Assignment Sheet. I marked out every half hour on a legal pad starting at 8:00 a.m. Basically I made a daily planner. I wrote down everything I wanted to do every half hour.

I listed what I wanted to do and when I wanted to do it. I even wrote down "ANIMATE" in red because I felt it was the most important activity of the day. And you know what? I got it all done! Laundry, check. Workout, check. Breakfast and lunch, check. Dishes and cleaning, check. Animate, CHECK!! I tell you, I felt so accomplished that day. It felt amazing when I walked into work that afternoon knowing that I had accomplished everything I had set out to do. THIS is what I need to do if I am ever to succeed creatively in this life. On other PDASs for my days off I even marked break times between the animating times. I need a break or else my butt and legs go numb from sitting in this chair for hours at a time. I'd watch an episode or two on hulu, maybe a little snack. Sometimes I'd go over a bit. But when the time was up I got back on the computer and continued animating.

Plus, I also made a deal with myself and my mentor/director Dana. I have three scenes I am currently working on and I want to get them done, hopefully by the end of the month, no later than the end of the year. Here's the deal: I will not shave until I complete the animation on ALL three scenes. I'm making progress on one of the scenes. The other two involve a dog and I have not worked with a quadruped character before. These are going to take some time. If you've seen some of the behind-the-scene featurettes on certain animated feature DVDs, sometimes the guys will do this to help keep them motivated. I was watching a featurette on "Bolt" and saw the guys do this. They let their beards grow until they finished primary animation on the film. Granted, these guys were working 40+ hours a week on this film and I'm working a few hours a day on three scenes. So it might take me a bit longer that I planned. I ran the idea by Dana and she loved it. Not only will she give me the "F-bomb" for my scene ("F" as in FINAL!) but she can also tell me to shave. I have been keeping it neat and trim. I wanted to keep it looking professional since I still have to deal with the public on a daily basis. I didn't want it to get too crazy. That's just me, thought. I've gotten some very nice compliments over the past several weeks. What do you think?

But I'm straying off subject here. What I need to do is focus on my animation as much as possible. If I want to get any better I need to practice, practice, practice! When I think of this my Dad always comes to mind. When I was growing up I never really knew he could play the guitar. He told me he used to play a little bit back in high school but that was about it. When I started taking an interest in the guitar, he'd bring out his old acoustic from the closet and show me a couple of chords. I'd drag out my Mom's Beatles songbooks and try to play along. Over the past couple of years he has picked it up again and it has consumed him. He has several guitars, acoustic and electric, and plays AND SINGS in the church choir and at retreat meetings. He'll play for other churches and gatherings. He'll play for just about anyone. And I realized why. He is always practicing that guitar. He converted my old bedroom, which became my sister's when I moved out, into his own little guitar room. He has his guitar stands, his music stand, his amplifiers, his pedals, and books and papers and binders everywhere! Everything he needs is right there within reach. If he needs the chords for a new song, he goes to the next room, looks it up on the computer and prints it out. He is always practicing, constantly learning and getting better every day. This is yet another reason why my Dad is my hero. I want to be just like him when I grow up.

So when I think about my animation and what I need to do, all I have to do is think about my dad and his guitars. All I have to do is put in the time and I will get better. It may not be overnight, but I will get better. I will feel creatively fulfilled. I will feel creatively justified. I will BE creatively satisfied.

**UPDATE** I just received an e-mail that my book order was received today! I know what I will be purchasing tomorrow! I can't wait to continue reading it!

A Tip from the Pros

2011-08-18T01:46:00.001-05:00

For the past few weeks, my animation has not been progressing as much as I would like. I've been in a slump recently and I guess I just needed a break. Well, I've gotten back into the groove. One way to help stay in this groove is to take a tip from the pros.

If you've seen some of the featurettes from some of the animated movies, you've seen some of the ways the animators stay motivated. One way is for all the guys to let their beards grow until all the animation is complete. Well, that's what I plan to do.

I am currently working on three scenes for the short film project I'm working on. One scene is coming along nicely and making great progress. The other two are posing new challenges. They both involve a dog jumping around, which I have very little experience with animating a quadruped. So this is where most of my time will be involved.

So I will not shave until these three scenes are complete. However, I will keep it neat and trim. I do have to work with the public and can't let it get too out of control. My mentor/director Dana loves the idea. She said I could maybe get a big beard for Christmas. I hope I am finished with the scenes way before that time!!!

Well, I tried to find a clip on YouTube but I couldn't find one. I do remember seeing this done on the Bolt bluray featurette. I know I've also seen it done by the Pixar guys. So now I will give it a go. Anything to stay motivated, eh?

By the way, the last time I shaved was Monday, August 18, 2011. I'm hoping to complete the scenes in about four weeks. Because I know that this beard can get pretty long in a couple of weeks.

An Acting Masterclass with Sir Michael Caine

2011-07-13T10:48:00.002-05:00

A Day in the Life of John Lasseter

2011-07-13T10:46:00.002-05:00

My Demo Reel April 2011

2011-04-23T10:45:00.003-05:00

***DEMO REEL BREAKDOWN***
All hand keyed animation

Scenes 1 - 3: Young Man rig, props and set provided by Killerjellybean Animation
Scene 4: Bishop character provided by Animation Mentor
Scene 5: Roboter rig created by Niklas Wennersten
Scene 6: Bishop and Brussels characters provided by Animation Mentor
Scene 7: Bishop character provided by Animation Mentor
Scene 8: Bishop and Pawn characters provided by Animation Mentor
Scene 9: Young Man rig and set provided by Killerjellybean Animation
Scene 10: Murdock rig provided by Animation Mentor
Scenes 11 - 14: Bishop characters provided by Animation Mentor

Resume

Objective

To bring characters to lifethrough animation while continually challenging my artistic abilities.

Animation Experience

Character Animator, September2008 – present

Killerjellybean Animation, Boston, Ma.

Remote animator on multipleshots for an independent animated short film project. In the Fall of 2008, Ivolunteered to join director Dana Boadway on her project. Through video chatsand e-mails, I regularly receive detailed critiques on my scenes and make thenecessary adjustments.

Work Experience

Merchandising Manager,July 1996 – present

Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Corpus Christi, Texas

Opening and closing thestore, in charge of merchandising the non-specialty departments on the salesfloor, responsible for counting down registers, daily bank deposits and changedrawer, responsible for overseeing the duties of 7-9 employees on a dailybasis, assists in interviewing and hiring new employees.

Software

Autodesk Maya 2008,Quicktime Pro, Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0, Adobe Audition, Adobe PremiereElements 7.0

Education

AnimationMentor.com

Diploma in Advance CharacterAnimation Studies, July 2009

Chris Chua C1: Basic Foundation Winter 2008

Mike Walling C2: Body Mechanics Spring 2008

Dana Boadway C3: Intro to Acting Summer 2008

C4:Advanced Acting Fall2008

Kenny Roy C5: Short Film Pre-Prod. Winter 2009

C6:Short Film Production Spring2009

Del Mar College

Associates in Art – Studio Art,July 1999

References

Availableupon request

The Creative Gap by Nick Campbell

2011-02-23T17:30:00.001-06:00

I just finished watching this speech and it was very interesting and motivation. It made me want to jump on the computer and start animating.

Nick Campbell - The Creative Gap: Becoming Better Than Most from Nick Campbell on Vimeo.

A Happy Medium (the flip side)

2011-01-23T23:25:00.000-06:00

Maybe I'm just making excuses. It's not that I do not want to workout, I just want more time to work on my animation.

Since I didn't hear from Reel FX, I know I still have a lot of work to do on my reel. I am switching my focus from dialog shots and going to work on body mechanics. That is the one course that gave me trouble in school, so I know I have my work cut out for me. I've been in touch with the career services lady from AM and she gave me a listing of game studios here in Texas. A lot of them were in Austin. I then started doing research and seeing what they look for in demo reels. I saw a great video from an AM alum who works at a gaming studio. He gave a lot of tips and pointers as to what the recruiters look for. Here's a quick rundown of what he had to say:

• Strong body mechanics
   ex. monkey bars, swimming, jumping over stuff
• Bipedal action
• Quadraped action is a plus
• Nice run and walk cycles
• Knock downs and get ups
• Make it interesting. Give it a bit of a story
   ex. guy jumps over a car, leans against the car, starts to run away and trips and falls, then gets back up
   and runs away.
• Avoid cliche scenes.
   ex. walk up to a boulder, push it, walk away
   walk up to a rock, pick it up, throw it and walk off screen
• Do the animation geared towards the studio you're applying to. Know what type of games the studio
   makes, realistic or cartoony.

All great advice and things I can do. I have so many ideas running through my head right now it's difficult to find a starting point. Which one do I do first? Do I need to build any extra props? Which character rig am I going to use? Do I start sketching out ideas or just go for it and start blocking it out in Maya? My next day off is going to be dedicated to answering these questions.

Like I said, I want to add a new shot to my reel at least every two months. If I can do enough of these little bits, come next year I'll have a whole new reel to start shopping around.

Another tip I received from someone on the forum was to try some combat stuff. Anything from punches, kicks, swords and stuff like that. Gun recoils are a plus. Apparently a lot of the games out there now are combat oriented scenes like this can e more relevant that simple cycles. Also include at least a one hit combo and a two or three hit combo. He also suggested to stay away from using the AM rigs since they are not really great game style rigs. I can agree with him there because Bishop has a pretty big head and long fingers.

These tips have been some of the best. Now I have a whole NEW direction in which to focus my animation. Now I have to do "research" and start playing video games. WOOHOO!

AT-AT Day Afternoon + The Making Of..

2011-01-18T18:36:00.001-06:00

AT-AT day afternoon from Patrick Boivin on Vimeo.

Making of AT-AT day afternoon from Patrick Boivin on Vimeo.

I first saw this video and was cracking up! The AT-AT was one of my favorite toys. I, too, made a short film with it and my Star Wars and G.I. Joe figures. I'll admit I did cringe a bit when I saw how they made the film. He actually....(tear)....cut up the AT-AT!! HE TOOK IT ALL APART!!!! OH THE HORROR!!!

(gasp)....I'm ok.

The Gruffalo + Making Of Documentary

2011-01-17T22:44:00.000-06:00

I've never heard of this children's story, but this short film has been making the rounds on several animation blogs. I did see the documentary before first ever seeing the film. Apparently they made actual model sets then later added in the CG animation. It gives the film a similar texture the illustrator captured in the book. I recognize some of the celebrity voices, like Robbie Coltrane, Helena Bonham Carter, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson.

"The Nation s Favourite bedtime story is being brought to life in an all star beautiful adaptation of the best-selling book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. The Guffalo debuts on BBC One this Christmas and comes to DVD in time for Easter 2010. The film's all-star voice cast features Robbie Coltrane as the Gruffalo; Helena Bonham Carter as the narrator; Rob Brydon as the Snake; James Corden as the Mouse; John Hurt as the Owl and Tom Wilkinson as the Fox. The Gruffalo tells the magical tale of a mouse who takes a walk through the woods in search of a nut. Encountering three predators who all wish to eat him a fox, an owl and a snake the plucky mouse has to use his wits to survive, creating an imaginary monster who then turns out to be only too real."

And the Golden Globe goes to...

2011-01-16T23:04:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to Lee Unkrich and the cast and crew of Toy Story 3!!

So for the first time in quite a while I did not watch the Golden Globes. Probably because I cannot stand the host Ricky Gervais at all! He insults everyone with a smile and never shuts up. I just don't like him.

But when I saw this clip of Lee's acceptance speech, I got very annoyed and here's why. They never left the camera on Lee for more than two seconds at a time!!! WTF?!?! They were showing the "reaction" from the audience who didn't seemed that moved at all!!!! The entire clip is 1:12 and Lee was only on screen for approximately 24 seconds!!! The only acceptance speech I wanted to see and it was ruined.

And apparently the director Chris Donovan did the same for everyone else. He didn't care about the winner's acceptance speech, he cared about the reaction of the audience. Well, a lot of them didn't even seem to care. Each one seemed to have a blank stare across their face like they wanted to be somewhere else, or thinking of the after party.

My Demo Reel January 2011

2011-01-06T11:10:00.005-06:00

My Demo Reel January 2011 from Rene Barrera on Vimeo.

Rene Barrera
Character Animator
Bishop, Brussels and Pawn rigs provided by Animation Mentor.com
Young Man, fishing pole and set provided by Killer Jellybean Productions

Objective
To bring characters to life through animation while continually challenging my artistic abilities.

Experience
Character Animator, September 2008 – present
Killerjellybean Animation, Boston, Ma.
Remote animator on multiple shots for an independent animated short film project. In the Fall of 2008, I volunteered to join director Dana Boadway on her project. Through video chats and e-mails, I regularly receive detailed critiques on my scenes and make the necessary adjustments.

Merchandising Manager, July 1996 – present
Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Corpus Christi, Texas
Opening and closing the store, in charge of merchandising the non-specialty departments
on the sales floor, responsible for counting down registers, daily bank deposits and
change drawer, responsible for overseeing the duties of 7-9 employees on a daily basis,
assists in interviewing and hiring new employees.

Software
Autodesk Maya 2008, Quicktime Pro, Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0, Adobe Audition,
Adobe Premiere Elements 7.0

Education
AnimationMentor.com
Diploma in Advance Character Animation Studies, July 2009
Chris Chua C1: Basic Foundation Winter 2008
Mike Walling C2: Body Mechanics Spring 2008
Dana Boadway C3: Intro to Acting Summer 2008
Dana Boadway C4: Advanced Acting Fall 2008
Kenny Roy C5: Short Film Pre-Prod. Winter 2009
Kenny Roy C6: Short Film Production Spring 2009

Del Mar College
Associates in Art – Studio Art, July 1999

References
Available upon request

Make A List

2011-01-05T16:09:00.002-06:00

The Making of Tron: Legacy

2011-01-04T16:50:00.002-06:00

Animated Resolutions for 2011

2011-01-01T14:42:00.000-06:00

My animated resolutions for 2011 are pretty much the same as they were for 2010. I have not yet achieved my dream job, but I am still working towards it. I have not given up yet.

1) Last year I competed in the July competition of The 11 Second Club. I did pretty good considering it was my first time out. I learned a lot from that experience. For this year I would like to compete in at least two competitions. Speaking of which, it's time to vote for last month's competition. Plus, the selection for January sounds intriguing.

2) I want to keep adding to my demo reel. This is one resolution that needs to be completed in a matter of days. I am applying for an apprenticeship with Reel FX and the deadline is the end of business day on January 4th. I have already applied but I need to upload a new reel to YouTube and link it to my application before it is too late. But I don't want it to end there. I still have several ideas for other small dialog scenes that I would love to work on. I still have my "Bowfinger" scene sitting on the back burners. There are other clips from that movie that I also want to work on. I have a sound clip from "Inglorious Basterds" that I really want to work on. ("Bingo!!") Plus a few other physical actions that I've always wanted to animate. I want to do another one or two parkour scenes.

3) I want to get back into my sketchbook. I want to build up a portfolio of quick gesture drawings. I want to be able to draw just about anything at a moment's notice. I want to be able to express an emotion with a few simple lines. There was a time in my life when I really did love to draw. There's nothing quite like that feeling of being able to create that illusion of life with a simple piece of paper and a pencil. I would really like to do a Sketch Crawl here around town. I heard about this through another blog and it sounds like so much fun. It's where you get a group of people and you walk from one place to another, sketching anything and everything you see. I think it would be a lot of fun if I can get the local art scene involved. I would probably have to contact the Art Center of K Space.

4) Once I get my reel up and running, I would like to start applying to more studios. It's been a while since I've applied anywhere. It's because I have not updated my reel for the past six months. Once I have it all "nice and neat" I will feel more comfortable about shipping it out there. There are several studios here in Texas that I have my eye on. Then there are the big one's that I would love to work for.

5) Several friends have asked me to collaborate with some of their own creative projects. I've been asked to help out with a children's book and a logo for a blog. I've been wanting to do a music video for a friend's band. I have a few ideas laying about but have not really found the time to dedicate to any of these projects.

Right now, the most important thing for me is to get my reel up and running. Once I have that done then I can focus on these other projects. I will need to become adamant about this. Create a schedule and block out some serious time for development, pre-production if you will. I know what I want to do. If I can make this happen, it's going to be a very fun and animated year!

Cinema in 2010

2011-01-01T14:10:00.002-06:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2011-01-01T10:37:00.002-06:00

A New Type of "Crazy?!"

2010-12-31T00:51:00.001-06:00

Here is my latest pass at this scene. I changed up a few things here and there. After taking another look at it, I was wasn't really happy with some of the acting choices. I never really liked the way his head swooped down near the table as he stood up. It always looked like he was about to bang his head. I felt if he stared straight ahead the whole time, it would help sell his "crazy"-ness. I also changed up the camera angle a bit to help the intensity.

I LOVE this commercial!

2010-12-28T19:53:00.001-06:00

I have been in love with this commercial ever since the first time I saw it. I love the music! I love the animated characters! I love the interaction with the live action video. And now I finally found it online. It is done by a studio called CG Brains.

Merry Christmas - Firehouse 5 + 2

2010-12-25T09:08:00.003-06:00

2010 Resolutions - UPDATE

2010-12-23T13:33:00.002-06:00

The year is almost up and it's time for a review. Here is my post from last December with a list of things I want to accomplish in 2010. Let's take a look and see what's happened.

Tighten up my demo reel.
This is a work in progress. I have a few new scenes that I need to add to it. I've done a scene for the 11 Second Club competition. I've also done a parkour scene. Plus, I'm almost finished with Dana's scene. They've come a lot further than they were earlier this year. I do want to light and render a couple of the scenes before I ship it off.

Finish up work on the scene's for Dana's short film.
Not quite complete but I'll check it off anyways. I'm almost done with two of the scenes and now I'm working on the one in the middle to bridge them together. The last one is pretty much complete. I need to resubmit it to her and get her final notes on it before we can mark it complete. The beginning one is a lot closer to completion. Just a few more notes here and there and it should be done. The one I'm working on now is the one in the middle. I'm having to start with the last pose of the first one and end with the first pose of the last one. It took a while but I was able to do it. The difficult part of this scene is bridging them together so it moves smoothly. In the beginning of the last scene there is a balloon that falls out of frame. In the second scene I am having to track the balloon movements and match up the speed and trajectory so there isn't a pop in the animation. It's coming along, just need to block out the character animation and we should be good to go.

Continue work on my Bowfinger scene.
This is one I really need to work on. The difficult part is that the dialogue moves so fast that it's hard to sync up the mouth and make it look natural. What I also need to do is sketch out what I want one of the characters to do. I have it blocked out but I really need to find the right poses then work from there. I was never really sold on the acting choices I made when I first started working on this scene.

Compete in at least one of the 11 Second Club monthly competitions.
I entered the July competition and came in #59 out of 233. I had a rating of 5.14 stars out of a possible 11. Not bad, I think, for my first outing. I have since adjusted the layout and the lighting and plan to add it to my reel by the end of next week.

E-mail Robin Linn and the recruiters at Reel FX.
I didn't end up e-mailing Robin but I did call the studio a few months ago. I went up to Fort Worth to visit some friends for the weekend. Since I was going to be in the neighborhood, I decided to call them and see if I could meet with someone there. Unfortunately, no one was going to be there on the weekend to handle requests like this. Also, the lady said it would be more welcomed if I came by next year when they start looking at submissions for the next apprenticeship program. The deadline is January 3, 2011. Hopefully they will be seeming me soon.

Keep checking the Animation Mentor job board.
It's been a while since I've checked the board. A lot of what I've been seeing has been the same jobs that I already applied to once before. Plus, they said not to submit the same reel over and over. So, I need to finish up my reel with a few new shots before I can start submitting again.

Become more familiar with the Flipbook program.
I have not become as familiar with it as I would have liked, but I did experiment with it a couple of weeks ago. I was trying to plan out a scene for another 11 Second Club competition. I didn't make it in time to submit, but I still want to finish the scene. It sounds like a lot of fun.

Purchase animation paper to experiment again with traditional 2D animation.
No, still haven't purchased any animation paper. Funds have been a little tight throughout the year that I can't really afford this at the moment. However, I do have some regular 8" x 11" paper that I can add to some peg strips that I can use. It's a bit time consuming to get it done but I can make it work. I just need to straighten out the studio a bit, move the light table to the other side of the room, then I can get to work.

Well, looks like I'm at 50% so far. I still have another week before the year is up. I still have time. I'm also running out of time. The deadline for submissions is fast approaching.

"Waking Sleeping Beauty" webisodes

2010-12-23T12:54:00.002-06:00

"Wisdom Teeth" by Don Hertzfeldt

2010-12-21T23:12:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I'm a fan of Don's work. One of my favorite shorts is "Rejected". But this one really got me, especially at the end. That's all I have to say. You'll have to see what I mean. AND DON'T SKIP AHEAD!!

Here's my first introduction to Don Hertzfeldt. I remember years ago my uncle told me I had to see this short. Now, I'm quoting its lines all the time.

And then this one. It's kind of sick but for some reason I can't stop laughing!

Disney / Pixar on The South Bank Show

2010-12-21T23:06:00.000-06:00

Some of the things I post here are not new discoveries. They are mostly stories and videos that I've come across on other websites. I mainly put them here so I have an easy way of tracking them down whenever I want to see them. Like this documentary, for instance:

Thank you to the site On Animation for posting these videos!!

"The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story"

2010-12-21T22:51:00.000-06:00

I have been wanting to see "The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story" for a while and I finally got my chance tonight from Netflix. It was an amazing story of the songwriting team that created so many memorable songs. These are the songs that stay with you for the rest of your life.

You hear them tell their story from when they were kids up to just a couple of years ago with the Broadway debut of Mary Poppins. They tell the stories of when Bob Sherman joined the Army during WWII and was injured in the line of duty. They didn't know if he was going to make it or not.

Also of the time when Richard Sherman was trying to decide what to major in in college. He went for a walk trying to figure it out when he started to hear music. He looked around and realized that the music was coming from his head. He rushed home and jumped on the piano and started to play what was in his head. His father Al Sherman heard this and told him right there and then that he was going to be a music major.

The one story that really blew me away was how they came up with the song "A Spoonful of Sugar Helps The Medicine Go Down" for Mary Poppins. Robert's son Jeff had just come home from school and had received an immunization shot. He found his father sitting in a dark room with all the shades drawn. His father asked him how his day went. He told him he got a shot at school. "Did it hurt?" "Well, yeah, but they put a sugar cube on a plastic spoon and then you take your medicine so it helps it go down." "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down?!" Robert called Richard and just said "A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR HELPS THE MEDICINE GO DOWN!!" I couldn't believe that some of the greatest songs are inspired by such simple situations.

It's times like that when a true genius can find the beauty and art in anything.

They even wrote the one song that seems to get stuck in everyone's head every single time

They also talk about the first time they met Walt Disney. It was amazing to see them to this day still get choked up when they talk about it.

The one thing that was unbelievable to watch was how different they were. To see these two men who through their songs have brought so many families together, they own families were so far apart. Their sons Gregg and Jeff directed the movie but hadn't seen each other in about 30 or 40 years because their dads kept them apart. They would say, "It's just easier that way."

I highly recommend to anyone who is a fan of these great and classic songs to go out and watch this movie right now!!

Click here to go to the official website for the film.

"I'm A Monster" by Headless Productions

2010-12-21T15:07:00.000-06:00

Some very clever and well done 2D animation. Hope to see more from this studio!

I'm a monster from Headless Productions on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-21T12:35:00.000-06:00

I have't really been in the Christmas spirit this holiday season. Not exactly sure what it is, though. So to help me spread the holiday cheer, I'll let other animators do it for me.

"Burning Safari" by Goeblins

2010-12-20T13:26:00.000-06:00

Here is one short that had me laughing the whole way! The also included a few "making of" videos, as well. Very interesting to see how the shots were all put together.

Burning Safari from Florent de La Taille on Vimeo.

Making of Burning Safari from Florent de La Taille on Vimeo.

Making of Burning Safari, Florent de La Taille from Florent de La Taille on Vimeo.

Must See CG Shorts

2010-12-20T13:18:00.000-06:00

In the recent issue of 3D World magazine, they have an article listing the 100 CG shorts you must see. Here are just a few from their list:

#91) "Pixels" (2010) by Patrick Jean

PIXELS by Patrick Jean from ONE MORE PRODUCTION on Vimeo.

#52) "Azureus Rising (2010) by David Weinstein ...and one of my personal favorites

AZUREUS RISING from David Weinstein on Vimeo.

#36) "Fallen Art" (2004) by Tomek Baginski

Fallen Art from short clips on Vimeo.

#24) "Alma" (2009) by Rodrigo Blaas - I heard recently that this short is being extended into a feature film project.

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

#61) "Oktapodi" (2007) by Gobelins L'Ecole de L'Image - In one of my classes at Animation Mentor, we analyzed this film practically frame by frame. It was quite interesting to really study a film like that.

Oktapodi from oscardodo on Vimeo.

A Day in the Life at WDAS

2010-12-14T19:25:00.001-06:00

This is the type of place I'd love to work at!

"Today's work day has been postponed on account of we have to shoot a music video. Everyone must attend."

YES!!!

I did recognize a couple of faces. The great Glen Keane was singing along and I think I saw a fellow graduate from Animation Mentor that I met at graduation.

Conan get Animated

2010-12-13T01:47:00.000-06:00

On one of the latest Conan shows, Conan got animated. His show is recorded on the Warner Bros. lot so he decided to visit the Warner Bros. Animation building just a few feet away. He starts off by talking to Peter Girardi, Head of Warner Bros. Animation. They discuss actual not-so-popular DC heroes and villains.

Then around marker 4:50, he decides to get animated by an actual Warner Bros. animators. He sits down with none other than Bruce Timm. For those that don't recognize him, he is the creative talent behind some of the best WB animated TV series like "Batman: The Animated Series" and "Justice League".

Merry Christmas from Simon's Cat

2010-12-12T19:42:00.000-06:00

Disney's "Prep & Landing - Operation: Secret Santa"

2010-12-12T19:35:00.000-06:00

Last year's "Prep & Landing" short was an amazing success. It was Disney's first new holiday special in year. Then I heard there was a new Prep & Landing for 2010! Oh, the joy!! Then I finished reading the article that said it was NOT a full length special but a 7 minute short instead. Boo. Oh well, animated shorts are better than no animated shorts at all. Enjoy!

"Waking Sleeping Beauty" on DVD

2010-12-11T11:13:00.003-06:00

"Waking Sleeping Beauty" was finally released on DVD this past Tuesday. It tells the story of the Disney Animation Studio from 1984 to 1994. It starts off with the entrance of Michael Eisner and Jeffery Katzenberg into the Disney studio and the coming of the second Renaissance of Disney animation. It is so interesting to hear the story behind the story. From the outside, everything seemed so great and amazing. This finally reveals all the hard work that turmoil that went on behind closed doors. The long hours the animators put in, the early Sunday morning meetings, the hirings and firings that happened in an instant.

The great thing for me is to hear from the people themselves their love for animation. These artist worked day in and day out to create something wonderful. Unfortunately, there was a price they were paying. Many of them had to put their families and lives outside of the studio on hold in order to keep working. But they managed to make it all work, and for that I thank you.

This film is very special to me because it was during this time that I discovered I wanted to be an animator. I followed Disney animation before this but not an intently as I do now. I remember hearing about the title change of "Basil of Bakerstreet" to "The Great Mouse Detective." I remember wanting to see "The Rescuers Down Under" in the theaters, but never did. Didn't see "The Black Cauldron" in theaters but did see "The Care Bear Movie" and "An American Tail." (Not proud to admit that). It wasn't until I saw "The Little Mermaid" on VHS. I may have heard of it but don't recall wanting to go see it in the theaters. I was at home with my parents and a couple of friends and we sat down and watched "The Little Mermaid." I just remember after watching it that THIS is what I want to do. I was completely blown away by it all. The story was amazing, the songs were incredible, and the animation was out of this world. From then on I started buying any and every book I could find on animation. I bought an auction catalog from a comic book store that had reprints of original art work from "The Little Mermaid." I filled my sketchbook with drawings of Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian. I bought the Preston Blair books on animation and built my first drawing table. From there I started making my own animated test of simple walk and run cycles. Several flipbooks, animation tests and hundreds of "art of" books later, I still have the same passion and enthusiasm for animation as I did right after watching "The Little Mermaid."

"Rio" Trailer 2

2010-12-11T10:48:00.000-06:00

The new trailer for Blue Sky's "Rio" has been released and it looks amazing.

"Meet Buck" by Team Cerf

2010-12-11T10:42:00.000-06:00

Meet Buck from TeamCerf on Vimeo.

This is an animated short by Team Cerf. It has a very interesting design and look, almost like a moving oil painting.

"Buck is an ordinary guy. Well...if you except the "deer head" thing. And today, Buck is gonna spend this cool Sunday afternoon with his girlfriend who's so happy to see him (she's pretty much always happy). But when Buck find out that her father is not the sympathic and tolerant guy he excpected, the Sunday afternoon turns really bad."

Here is another short from the same team.

Salesman Pete from Salesman Pete on Vimeo.

"Arthur Christmas" from Aardman

2010-12-11T10:28:00.002-06:00

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-gb&brand=v5%5E544x306&from=sp&vid=78b0bed5-c9c2-43f0-a0b9-54a016bedd1a" target="_new" title="Exclusive Arthur Christmas trailer">Video: Exclusive Arthur Christmas trailer</a>

Batelco - INFINITY

2010-12-07T12:39:00.000-06:00

Some amazing CG artistry and animation!!!

Batelco - INFINITY from Alex & Steffen on Vimeo.

And the making of....

Batelco - INFINITY | Making-of from Alex & Steffen on Vimeo.

Disney "Tangled"

2010-12-06T12:15:00.000-06:00

I cannot say enough about Disney's new animated feature "Tangled". It was nothing less than amazing and beautiful. The first thing I noticed about it was the character design. These characters don't look like your typical CG characters. They look like the characters of earlier Disney classics. Rapunzel looks a lot like Ariel and Belle. She has those big, beautiful eyes and profile like the others.

The main thing that really had me looking forward to this film was that Glen Keane was originally directing it. I remember listening to him talk about this on a podcast a couple of years ago. He was talking about the painterly effect they were going for. That's exactly what they did. This CG picture has the same look and warmth of Disney's traditional 2D animated features. And with Glen Keane on board, I knew the animation was going to be nothing short of the best. Watching Glen's animation work on Tarzan, you can definitely see his touch in many of the scenes. The subtle hand poses, the expressions in the faces of all the characters, and especially Rapunzel's feet. I know it sounds weird, but Glen did some amazing work with just the feet and hands of Tarzan and the Beast.

The thing that really surprised me when I saw the film was that it was a musical. I knew there were going to be songs involved, but I didn't expect the characters to break out into song and dance. That was a nice surprise. I didn't walk out of the theater humming any of the songs, but they were great none the less. I'm pretty sure if, and when, I see it again the songs will stick a bit more.

The one thing I can say over and over again is that this is an amazing movie and I can't wait to see what comes next!

New Layout

2010-12-06T11:42:00.000-06:00

I got quite a bit of constructive criticism for my 11 Second Club July entry.

The one thing many people commented on was that they felt the emotion of the scene would have been more effective if she was sitting on the couch instead of behind it. I thought since she was alone and wanted to get away from the world, she would want to hide away in a little corner or something and the best she could do was hiding behind her couch. So I moved her around and came up with a new layout.

Now I just need to adjust the animation to fit the new scene. I also changed up the lighting a bit. I read up on it and made it a lot more convincing that the shotty job I did the first time. The first one just looks bland in a very bad way. The new one seems to have more of a mood lighting effect.

My 11SC November Entry

2010-12-06T11:13:00.000-06:00

I came up with some ideas and sketches for last month's 11 Second Club competition. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to get much work done. However, I really like the dialog clip and my idea and would still like to get it done so I can add it to my reel.

My idea was to have a devil character wearing a halo. An angel appears next to him and accuses him of stealing it. Here's what I have so far:

I really wanted to push the over-the-top antics and expressions. I also felt the key would be the subtle facial animation on the more quiet moments.

I checked the website this morning, and as you can see from my previous post the winner's entry is really good. So I keep looking at the top 10 and what do I see at the #10 spot?

An angel and a devil wearing a halo! HOLY CRAP! Someone else had a very similar idea to mine AND THEY CAME IN 10TH PLACE! I'm not saying that mine would have been better but now I at least have to try.

11 Second Club November Winner

2010-12-06T10:53:00.000-06:00

This is the winning entry for the 11 Second Club competition for November.

"Thought of You" by Ryan Woodward

2010-12-06T10:38:00.000-06:00

This is an amazing piece of work that has been making the round on facebook. I had to post it.

Thought of You from Ryan Woodward on Vimeo.

And here is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of it.

Thought of You - Behind the Scenes Preview - ROUGH CUT from Cambell Christensen on Vimeo.

And here is Ryan Woodward's website. I've seen some of his work and it is just amazing.

New Pooh

2010-11-16T17:18:00.003-06:00

Not too sure how I feel about this. It seems like Disney is taking a step backwards with traditional hand drawn animation. Instead of going for something new and daring, they're going for something that already seemed to have worked before.

I've been reading a lot of different comments about this new trailer. Most of it negative. Yes, it is nice to see Winnie the Pooh back up on the big screen for a whole new generation. But, THIS is the best the Disney company can produce?! I know John Lassetter has been pushing for a resurgence of hand drawn animation at Disney. I'm all for it. But instead of going for something new, they go with something old. The Princess and the Frog is a great and beautiful movie. The new CG movie Tangled looks amazing. I would have loved to have seen it as a traditional hand drawn feature. (more on that to come later). But they keep going for the "safe" story lines and themes. Singing princesses and dancing animals. While PIXAR is going for the more daring and innovative story lines. THEY are the ones taking risks (Ratatouille, Wall-E, The Incredibles) and they are paying off big time!

I, of all people, am so happy to see a resurgence of hand drawn animation return to Disney. It's great to see new work from some of the animators that have inspired me over the years like Andreas Deja, Eric Goldberg and Mark Henn. Hopefully, their talents will not be wasted on material that could have been completed by a TV animation studio.

ZOMBIGOTCHI!!

2010-11-16T17:07:00.001-06:00

Zombigotchi! from Michael Please on Vimeo.

New book released today...

2010-11-09T10:44:00.000-06:00

If you know me at all, you know that I am not political at all. But last night as I was putting out the new releases at work, I couldn't help but see the humorous implications of the two newest titles being released today: Decision Points by George Bush and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney.

The results are in...

2010-08-09T01:11:00.000-05:00

...and my entry came in #59 out of 233 entries! Not bad for my first time. It received 5.14 starts out of 11 total. These are some of the comments I received:

"I don't get the sense that she is actually leaning against the couch. Different lighting might help there."

"maybe if the dog put his head down ears up on her leg and rested it there with a sigh that would keep him alive for a little longer. good work though"

"I really like her posing with this dog. Sitting behind the couch instead of on it. Makes the framing interesting. Nice work"

"It seems weird that she doesn't move her eyes when her dog turns back to look at her.. She looks like she looks through the dog, and not at the dog"

"Nice use of dog tail to explain the light thud occurring in the first half the dialogue! Along with, of course, the inclusion of the dog in general; it was a very natural touch and fit well with the context.
The only thing that felt out of place with the rest of her acting was the crossing of her heart with her palms; doing so felt more like a spiritual motion versus bonding her pet, as she had for the rest of it, but that was about it. That could be a personal opinion though.
Good job!"

"Nice, I think the dog perking up on "Hmm?" would have been a better accent than him perking up when he does now.."

"The entire animation matches the tone of the voice extremely well. I like how the dog reacts."

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the response. I also uploaded the scene to my profile page on YouAnimator.com. It's a new site that showcases animators from all around the world. I uploaded it last night and today they posted it on their home page as "Today's Highlight." It was even posted on their facebook profile! It's really given me a boost of momentum to get started on more scenes. I'm thinking of ideas for this month's selection. I also have a few other things on the back burners that I want to work on.

Didi is sending me ideas for her movie that she is writing. I'm helping her with ideas, but mainly I want to help with visual development, storyboards, layout, and possibly animatics. They way she describes a scene, I instantly visualize it in my head. The trick is getting that picture in my head down on paper or on the computer.

As far as my studio work goes, it can get pretty busy. I have so many irons in the fire that it's difficult to decide which one to pull out and work on. The good thing is that it will never get dull. There is always something to do.

"I'm Alone" - FINAL

2010-07-31T13:22:00.000-05:00

I finally did it. I finally entered one of the 11 Second Club competitions! I still believe this scene still needs some work, but for this competition it is done. Over the next week or so I do plan on going back and touching up a few things.

This was also an experiment in lighting. I've only done it once before but that was pretty basic. The lighting was very bright with several shadows. This time I had to try and create a mood for this scene. I used three different lights, changed their intensity, changed the color, and changed their decay. I'd really like to learn more about lighting. It's all about creating the right environment that best reflects the mood of the scene. Something more to learn that could be very beneficial in the long run.

Toy Story 3 on 60 Minutes

2010-07-05T15:20:00.000-05:00

Demo Reel June 2010

2010-07-04T00:45:00.002-05:00

As promised, here is my current demo reel as of June 2010. It has a new parkour shot that I did a few weeks ago. It took me about five hours to block out the whole thing and get it near completion. I received some helpful feedback from a couple of my AM buddies. I also worked on "Crazy", the second dialogue scene. After watching several demo reels on YouAnimator.com and other blogs, I realized I have a lot of work to do on both scenes. So I think I may work on the first scene a bit. I now see several areas that need to be touched up.

I am also working on another dialogue scene. This one is from the movie "Down with Love" with Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger. I'm still blocking that one out so it will be a while before I post anything. I'm still trying to figure out how to play the whole scene. I'm thinking of adding a quick, smaller scene to set up the line, but I don't want to make it too big that I don't get it done in two months.

I have noticed that as I go throughout my day at work that I am observing the people more and more lately. I'm noticing different types of walks, small gestures, standing poses, etc. I am trying to figure out the pose and keep it in my internal databanks for a later time. What I need to do is quickly sketch down what I see. I have started carrying a post-it pad with me. However, I've been so busy at work lately that I haven't had time to stop and sketch anything down. It's very frustrating for an artist when he isn't able to think freely. Oh, well. It pays the bills for now. Well, most of them.

I applied but did not get into the summer internship program for Reel FX in Dallas. After seeing my reel several times lately, I can see why. I did see that they will be taking applications again in September for their internship to begin in February 2011. So I have a little under two months to get things in order. I need to finish up another dialogue scene and get my scenes for Dana completed. I am more determined more than ever to get these done. I have been spending just about every waking moment in the studio. It gives me something to look forward to at the end of my workday when I know I can come home and really get into the work I truly love. Two plus hours working on two seconds of animation? Yeah, I love it!

MENTAL REMINDER

2010-06-29T01:16:00.000-05:00

It's been so long since my last post. I need to make a mental note to update this site later today. There's so much I want to post.

- new demo reel
- blogs of animators and artists I've come across
- sketches and drawings from my latest work
- my thoughts and reviews of the latest animated features

Okay, so I have a rough idea of what I want to post. Now I just need to get my thoughts together so it doesn't come out all jumbled.

I Know What I Want To Do

2009-12-29T00:07:00.005-06:00

I am going to be an animator. If I don't achieve my dream job anytime soon, as long as I can animate I will be happy. What caused this resurgence in my animation aspirations? I FINALLY saw the latest 2D animated film from Disney, The Princess and the Frog.

I could go on and on geeking out about the whole return of 2D, traditional, hand-drawn animation. Let me just saw that it was a breath of fresh air to see it up on the big screen. There are just some things that can only be done in hand-drawn animation. In 2D you can really push a pose on a character, stretch it out or squash it up as much as needed and not have to worry about "breaking the rig." If you can't get a pose just right, all you need to do is grab an eraser and fix it.

It was a great story that had me laughing out loud through the entire film. The other thing I love about Ron & John's movies is the cameos they throw in there. For starters I did see a caricatured appearance of both Ron Clements and John Musker. I think I also saw a caricature of another great Disney animator, Glen Keane. And as a throwback to Ron and John's first big hit, The Little Mermaid, I do believe I saw someone dressed up as Ariel at the big costume ball. I also saw a Mardi Gras parade float that looked very much like King Triton, also from The Little Mermaid. He can actually be seen in one of the recent trailers that has been showing on TV.

I definitely need to see it again. The first time I see an animated film I view it as a spectator. I love getting involved with the characters and being swept up by the story and its beautiful artwork. The next time I will be watching it through the eyes of an animator. That is when I will be picking apart different scenes and all the little nuances that go by in the blink of an eye. It could be a certain pose by a character, the transition from one pose to another, even something as simple as a small hand gesture or a simple eye dart. It's the little things I look for that really make the characters come alive. It's the little things I learn from the greats that I try to incorporate into my own work to breath life into my performances.

I am really looking forward to the DVD release. Hopefully, there will be plenty of featurettes talking not only about Disney's return to traditional animation, but also on the making of the whole thing. I love watching the early rough pencil tests by the animators. I remember reading somewhere that it is not the perfectly drawn line that fascinates us. We love looking at the early pencil tests because it is here where we can really see the passion the animators put into every single drawing. THAT is what I love to see. That is what fuels my love for animation.

My New Year "Animation" Resolution

2009-12-28T00:15:00.006-06:00

I have declared to myself and a few others that this Christmas season is to be my last one in the retail business. I want to concentrate and really focus on my animation next year so I can get one step closer to achieving my lifetime dream of working in the animation industry. In no particular order, here are my resolutions for 2010:

Tighten up my demo reel. I received some notes from a few friends on how to tighten up the whole thing. I will be cleaning up a few scenes and reworking some others.

Finish up work on the scene's for Dana's short film. I have two new scenes to work on for my mentor Dana Boadway. This makes a total of four for the whole film. She didn't really give us a deadline for animation, but I need to make some progress at least every week.

Continue work on my Bowfinger scene. I have a scene from the movie Bowfinger that is still in the stepped blocking phase. The tough part is turning out to be the dialogue. One character is speaking so fast that it is going to be difficult to match up the mouth movements to make it seem natural.

Compete in at least one of the 11 Second Club monthly competitions. This is a great website that provides dialogue for animators to animate. At the beginning of the following month, everyone gets to vote on which ones that like the best. December's selection was really good. Even though the month is almost over, I still want to animate that piece.

E-mail Robin Linn and the recruiters at Reel FX. I had such a great meeting with Robin in San Francisco, that I was really expecting to hear from them rather soon. Nothing happened. I later see on their website they were actually hiring for animators. I quickly applied and am still waiting for a response. I will e-mail them soon to follow up. I do plan to sometime next year take a trip up to the Dallas / Fort Worth area. Not only to hopefully get a tour of the studio, but to visit some very dear friends that I have not seen in quite some time.

Keep checking the Animation Mentor job board. I haven't checked on it in a while, but when I last did there were several studios hiring. I did apply to a couple but, again, still waiting. There are a few other studios here in Texas that I would also like to follow up with.

Become more familiar with the Flipbook program. One of the programs I purchased when I first started Animation Mentor was a 2D animation program called Flipbook. It is an easy way to do a "pencil test" of your animation before going into full production in Maya. I have some ideas that I would like to try that I cannot yet do in the Maya 3D program.

Purchase animation paper to experiment again with traditional 2D animation. This is something I've wanted to do for a while. When I ran out of animation paper, I didn't know what to do. I have this really great lightbox here in the studio that is literally collecting dust all over it. I want to get back on there and get back the feeling of WHY I fell in love with animation in the first place. There was something about flipping the pages and seeing the drawings move that was simply magical. Out of all of these resolutions, I think this one is the one I am looking forward to the most.

Well, that's it. My 2010 New Year Animation Resolutions. Wish me luck.

Rene Barrera Demo Reel

2009-07-08T07:39:00.006-05:00

All animation done by me. Characters provided by animationmentor.com. All sets and props created by me unless otherwise noted. Shot 2 - dialogue from "Harry and the Hendersons" (1987). Shot 3 - door set provided by animationmentor.com. Shot 4 - Young Man character and set provided by Dana Boadway. Shot 7 - dialogue from "Flash Gordon" (1980).

Animation Mentor - THAT'S A WRAP!

2009-06-19T22:06:00.004-05:00

My time here at Animation Mentor has come and gone. It has been an amazing 18 months. I have no idea what my life would have been like if I did not take that chance and apply to AM. I guess I would still be here trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. Now, I have so many options. The future just opened up for me. I now have the knowledge and know-how to finally achieve my dream of working in the animation field. It is so exciting and scary, but I'm more excited than anything.

After 18 months, here what I have to show for my work:

I have made so many great friends from all over the world. I am looking forward to finally being able to shake their hand come graduation July 11 in San Francisco.

Week 7 - First Third Polish

2009-05-18T12:58:00.003-05:00

For week 7 we had to do our first polish pass at the first third of our film. Here's what I got:

I went over the e-critique from Week 4 and jotted down all the notes I could. I tried to change it up as much as possible.

Looking for Love - WIP

2009-05-10T00:00:00.003-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. Well, here is the latest pass of my short film "Looking for Love."

This is week 6 of Class 6. I've gotten good critiques and bad critiques for the work so far, and that's ok. It will all get fixed. Trust me.

The darkened scenes are the ones I am not currently working on at the moment. The school only allows you to work on :30 seconds in Class 6, so I had to choose. No biggie. Eventually, time permitting, it will all get completed soon.

Class 6 - Week 2

2009-04-13T13:00:00.002-05:00

For week 2, I am animating two scenes from the second third.