One scene ends and a new one begins...

Here's my final submission for the first assignment of Class 2 - 180 degree turn.

We have a choice of four different scenes for this week's new assignment:

1. Animate a run

2. Have a character leap over a gap.

3. Jump onto a box and off the other side.

4. Jump from one post to land and balance on another post.

I have decided to go with option #4. It's one of those scenes I have been wanting to work on ever since I heard of Animation Mentor. It should be fun. For week 1 we have to shoot video reference. joy. (sigh) So here's video reference of my fat butt jumping around in my backyard.

I KNEW IT!!!

My latest pass

This is my work so far. I received a bunch of great comments and suggestions from fellow classmates. This is what I will be working with in week 4 for splining.

Ollie Johnston 1912 - 2008

(L-R: Milt Kahl, Wolfgang "Wollie" Reitherman, Marc Davis, Les Clark, Frank Thomas, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Ollie Johnston)

Ollie Johnston, the last of Disney's Nine Old Men passed away yesterday. He was 95. The following is an article from Animation World Network.

Ollie Johnston, the last surviving animator of Disney's famed Nine Old Men, passed away today April 14, 2008. Johnston worked for the Mouse House from 1935 to 1978, working as an animator on such classics as SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, FANTASIA, BAMBI and PINOCCHIO. He last worked on THE RESCUERS, a film for which he was caricatured as the cat Rufus.

Along with longtime friend and collaborator Frank Thomas, Johnston co-authored the seminal animation reference book THE ILLUSION OF LIFE, which is used as an animation textbook in schools around the globe. Johnston's friendship and partnership with Thomas was warmly chronicled in the 1995's documentary FRANK AND OLLIE, directed by Frank's son Theodore.

Oliver Martin Johnston Jr. was born in Palo Alto, California, and attended Stanford University, where he met Thomas on the staff of the STANFORD CHAPARRAL humor magazine. Later he would attend the University of California, Berkeley, and Chouinard Art Institute.

He first joined Disney, working on shorts such as MICKEY'S GARDEN and THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE. In 1943, he married Disney ink & paint artist Marie Worthey, who passed away on May 20, 2005.

His lifelong love of trains inspired him to build a scaled railroad and locomotives in his backyard, which inspired the train at Disneyland.

He was named a Disney Legend in 1989, and in 2005, Johnston was one of the recipients of the National Medal of Arts.

Here is another great article from O-meon.com.
Ollie Johnston 1912 - 2008

And a few others from Cartoon Brew:
Ollie Johnston
Brad Bird on Ollie Johnston
The Disney Company on Ollie Johnston
John Canemaker on Ollie Johnston

First Pass - Take 2

First Playblast for Class 2

Here my first blocking pass at the first assignment for Class 2. The one I chose is to do a 180 degree turn.



I showed him from multiple angles to make sure I am getting the weight transfer and that he is balanced from all angles. I submitted it to my Public Review for the class to comment on. I see areas of improvement but they may see more.

My Favorite SNL Clips (2008)

Another one of Simon's cat!

I'm featured on MyToons!

I received an e-mail recently that my progress reel for Class 1 is a featured toon on MyToons.com!! It is featured on the home page under the tab "Featured." This will give it some major exposure. It has already had over 30+ viewings so far, four thumbs ups, and four comments.

Here we go again!

Class 2: Body Mechanics has begun and the fun just keep fun keeps on coming!

My new mentor is Mike Walling from Blue Sky Studios. The thing I learned about this guy from our first Q&A is that he's a kidder. One girl asked him a question about work and he quickly responded, "I can't answer that question. Well, it was great meeting you." and looked like he was about to sign her off. He then busted out "I'm just kidding!" Whew! It was a little awkward. She had that shocked look on her face. So did I. He seems like he's going to be fun. He encourages us to get involved with the Q&A. He sounds like he really wants to be involved with our learning process, as much as work will allow that is.

So I'm off to start work on my first assignment of Class 2. I have to choose from one of the following:

-Kick a ball
-Take a big step to the side
-Turn around 180 degrees

I'm still trying to figure out which one I want to do. There is no animating this first week, only prep work. All I have to do this week is shoot video reference and sketch thumbnails of the scene I want to do. This assignment will be due at the end of week 4.