Andy's Animation-Related Not-a-Blog

A Fool and his Munny

2012-01-06T00:33:00.000-08:00

This is my first munny. We had a contest at our studio holiday party. I went with Doc Ock mainly so I could do the robotic tentacles.

Brisk, That Is

2012-01-06T00:16:00.000-08:00

Want to congratulate Modi, Chris, and the team at Aatma Studio for completing this awesome Brisk spot that will be popping up soon in theaters everywhere. Modi gave me my first break in this business and he's a great guy to work for. I reluctantly had to turn down the opportunity to work on this spot and boy do I wish I could have been a part of it. The animation is fantastic and they did a great job emulating the stop-motion look and feel of the Brisk campaign.

Animating Animals Master Class

2012-01-05T23:43:00.000-08:00

Tippett Studio Animation Supervisor William Groebe gives an hour-long talk and demo about what goes into animating believable animal characters in a live-action feature. Will is a fantastic creature and character animator and has been my anim supe at Tippett on Cats & Dogs 2, The Smurfs, and Mirror Mirror. He's also created lectures for Animation Mentor's Animals & Creatures Master Class.

Reel Feedback

2012-01-05T23:13:00.000-08:00

My Norwegian buddy Hans had a great idea. Set up a system where job-seeking animators can get direct feedback on their reels from the industry pros who judge reel submissions all the time. If you've ever submitted your reel to a studio and just didn't hear back, you always wonder what they thought of it, what they were saying about it when they watched it, and what kept you from getting that interview. Hans' brainchild Reel Feedback pulls back the curtain and lets you know where your reel stands and how to make it stronger.

In December the RF crew held their first major event - an evening of free pizza, beer, and critiques for everyone who showed up. Over a hundred people came with reels in hand and everyone left with solid feedback. Check out this video for an idea of how the night went down.

There will be more events coming up so be sure to connect with Reel Feedback on Facebook to stay in the loop.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

What better way to start the new year than with Calvin and Hobbes! My gift to you is a collection of Calvin's New Years ponderings...

Breaking Dawn Wolf Animation Featurette

2011-12-14T18:37:00.000-08:00

Here's a cool video clip of our Visual Effects Supervisor and Lead Animator explaining a bit about how we approached animating the wolves in Breaking Dawn Pt 1.

Winning! Congrats, Tun

2011-03-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

I was just scanning down my sidebar of blogs and noticed a post about last month's 11 Second Club winner on Spungella. I clicked out of curiosity and was met with an unmistakably familiar name. Veerapatra Jinanavin. I never called him that though, always knew him as Tun. One of my best buds from the Academy and one of the hardest working people I've ever met. Years ago Tun tipped me off about a freelance gig that turned into my first animation job. Before that he gave me some much-needed help on my grad school thesis short film. I got to work with him professionally for about 2 days before he bowed out to take a summer internship at Pixar.

Anyway, I'm indebted to the man and I'm proud to congratulate him for winning the February competition. And I have to smile at his continuing habit of using "familiar-looking" characters. If you ever get to work with him, ask him about his love of Wendy's.

Check out his winning entry!

Me and Tun 6 years ago. Wait, 6 YEARS?!? Geez.

Grickle

2011-03-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

Hello. Happy 2011.

I love Graham Annable's shorts. I subscribed to his youtube channel years ago. If you haven't seen any of his work you should check it out. His films are perfect examples of visual storytelling that is simple yet clear and entertaining. Watch them and marvel at his use of pacing and creating atmosphere. And the occasional skull-headed fellow.

Here is one of my favorites.

Poll: Best Animated Films of the Decade

2010-12-13T02:23:00.000-08:00

I took a look at this list and couldn't believe all these films came out just in the last 10 years. I suddenly feel a lot older. And I haven't seen the bulk of these movies. Many I intentionally skipped, but now I have a bucket list of animation features I really should watch (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Secret of Kells, Persepolis, The Illusionist, Triplettes of Bellville, and Bill Plympton's features Hair High and Idiots & Angels). It's embarrassing to admit I haven't seen some of those. Almost as embarrassing as some of the ones I did see. Some more than once. Usually due to circumstances beyond my control.

So follow the link and pick your top 15 before December 27.

Twi-ing too hard?

2010-12-13T02:06:00.000-08:00

I can't sleep so I thought I'd share an observation I made earlier today at Best Buy.

If you buy the Twilight: Eclipse DVD/Blu-ray as the 2-disc Special Edition, the actors on the cover gaze back at you at eye-level.

But if you decide to save a few bucks and go for just the single-disc edition, the actors look down at you in scornful disapproval.

Niquitin Mini's TV Spot

2010-11-05T12:30:00.000-07:00

I didn't think this was online anywhere but I stumbled across it today. I worked on this ad about two years ago at The Orphanage. It was part of a series of spots directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, of Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack fame. It was a fun style to work in and definitely cool to be working with/for an animation icon like Genndy.

Niquitin Minis Advert

Animation Show of Shows

2010-10-24T17:22:00.000-07:00

If you can catch it, this is a pretty cool traveling collection of animated short films. Ron Diamond puts it on and usually has a couple of the filmmakers with him to discuss their stuff. Last year I got to meet Cordell Barker who was screening his short Runaway. I got him to sign a DVD copy of his Oscar-nominated The Cat Came Back, which I've always loved since I was a kid.

Below is this year's playbill and the screening schedule is here.

Back to Tippett's

2010-10-18T22:12:00.000-07:00

If this were an actual blog it would be a pretty terrible one. Why do I even have this?

Well since I do I might as well say hey, I'm back at Tippett Studio for a stint. Working once again with some unbelievably talented folks. I'll leave you with a sketch of the Godfather himself, Mr. Phil Tippett drawn by my current Animation Supervisor. Click the pic to see more animators' doodles of the big guy on his facebook page.

UPDATE: Just launched today - Phil's YouTube channel! Lot's of great interviews, behind-the-scenes "making of" clips, and animation tests!

Sims 3: Late Night Trailer

2010-07-20T15:30:00.000-07:00

I may or may not have been spending my summer working on this EP...

The Survival Kit expands...

2010-03-11T11:59:00.000-08:00

This may be kind of old news, but I just found out there is a new revised/expanded edition of Dick Williams' Animator's Survival kit with an extra 40+ pages tacked on.

Check out some samples from it here and here.

I just ordered my copy to arrive tomorrow so I can study up over the weekend. Rock on!

A Taste of My 2009: Cats & Dogs 2 Trailer

2009-12-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

So what have I been up to most of the year? Here's your first glimpse at the long-awaited sequel to the spell-binding 2001 blockbuster everyone remembers so fondly - CATS & DOGS.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;from=sp&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;fg=shareEmbed&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;vid=05a57bbc-4a53-44c5-84d0-5f3fba493f40" target="_new" title="Exclusive: 'Cats &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore' Trailer"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Video: Exclusive: 'Cats &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore' Trailer&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Aye Carumba!

2009-10-25T02:44:00.000-07:00

The voice of Bart Simpson turns 52 today. Also apparently she's a Scientologist.

UPDATE!

2009-10-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

About a year ago I was working on a series of anti-smoking PSAs for the state of Arizona. I rolled onto another production before they were completed, but I was kind of excited to see the final product go live. After the spots were delivered, I remember hearing that the client had a change of heart and decided to hold off on airing them. I was hoping to at least find them online, but I couldn't find them and figured they may never see the light of day.

This past weekend I caught up with an old college buddy and he mentioned having seen the PSAs online and liking them. He'd found them on the blog of the guy who directed the ads. It turns out Arizona finally decided to air the ads and released them online as well. Below is the one I was most involved with. It's the most subtle of the three, but I enjoyed reading in the comments that it also seems to be the most relatable to smokers.

(Watch it in HD by clicking the video twice then clicking "HD" in the Youtube player)

Check out the director's blog to see the other ads.

It's All True

2009-06-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

???

Everything you've heard or read about Transformers 2 and/or Michael Bay is absolutely true. Unfortunately I verified it this weekend.

I've been collecting the reviews and such that were floating around work last week. So rather than beat an undead horse, I'll share some of the best critiques and lampoons.

Michael Bay finally made an art movie

Transformers 2 FAQs

Storyboards from Michael Bay's The Great Gatsby

If everyday life was directed by Michael Bay

Michael Bay Facts (like Chuck Norris...)

Michael Bay signs $50M deal to f--k up 'ThunderCats'

Roger Ebert's brutal-but-spot-on Transformers 2 review

Transforminators (because really, there's no need to see both... or either)

One more day

2009-04-30T00:43:00.000-07:00

As a reformed comic book junkie whose favorite character back in the day quickly became the furball/runt/canucklehead, I am starting to dread the day that I used to wish for. There was a time when the idea of a Wolverine or even an X-Men film was a pipe dream restricted to the "who would play who in the ______ movie" section of Wizard magazine. Clint Eastwood and Jack Nicholson always stood out as prime candidates for Wolvie, if only you could reverse-age them by a decade or so.

Times have changed and probably thanks to the trickle-down effect of advanced technology, comic book movies are practically saturating the box office. What's funny to me though is the characters and plots on the screen today are taken from the comic books of my youth and not from the crap I see on the shelves these days. I always felt like Marvel's universe hit a second Golden Age right around the time I started getting into comics (age 10 or so), but I couldn't make an impartial decision because... well of course I'm going to think stuff was the best when I was into it - that's just how people are - the "back in my day" syndrome. But maybe this on-screen onslaught of heroes and villians from yesteryear serve as evidence to support my self-serving theories. Or maybe it's just that today's film-makers are around my age, got into comics at the same time, and are glorifying what we thought was awesome when we were growing up.

At any rate, much of the appeal of Wolverine's character stems from his mysterious past and origin. Even when I was into the comics I would get antsy when some writer took it upon himself to make his mark on Logan's backstory. Because - for better or worse - once that change is made it becomes canon (assuming there won't be any later time-travel or alternate dimension nonsense). Some very good writers have woven a rich history for Mr. Logan and for the most part still managed to preserve a core mystery to the whole thing.

And now here comes this movie that I'm trying to remain excited for, but the more I hear and see of it, the more it seems like a stinker. For one thing... (stop reading now if you're desperately trying to avoid spoilers) Wolverine's history is vast enough - why the heck are they adding in all these other characters that have nothing to do with it? Gambit is cool, but does he really need to be in the Wolverine origin movie? Young orphan boy Cyclops? Really? Of course you need Sabretooth, but it seems like the film-makers are screwing up that relationship. Then there's the rest of the Weapon-X folks, including Deadpool apparently. I mean geez, are they going to throw in Alpha Flight as well? Elsie-Dee and Albert? They already screwed up Lady Deathstrike in X-Men 2, so I guess we won't see her. Then again, they screwed up Sabretooth in X-Men 1 and we're definitely seeing him...

And what's with Sabretooth being twins with Wolverine in this movie? Wolverine is too tall and Sabretooth is too small. You lose the whole dynamic. This is turning into one of those nightmare IMDB message board ultra-loser rants, I know... I just hate to see something that has so much potential get so short-changed. Hmm, maybe that means I'm in the wrong business.

I think a good Wolverine movie would almost have to be presented Kill Bill style. You gotta have two parts... and you gotta jump around a bit, and allow for segments to have their own visual styles. I don't see anything from the previews about Wolvie's time in Japan - I mean that's huge. That could be a Frank Miller segment, I mean he drew a great miniseries about Logan in Japan.

Well. Anyway. I may have to see it, but I don't have to like it. Here's hoping though.

Bale-out

2009-04-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

Check out the winning entries to the Spline Doctors' Christian Bale meltdown audio animation challenge! My favorites are from Brandon Beckstead and Alex Jansen. They exhibit some spot-on timing and great choices.

I ♥ Coraline

2009-02-12T11:48:00.000-08:00

Coraline is my valentine this year.

Congrats to the folks at Laika. I'd been looking forward to this film for a long time and it didn't disappoint. I hope it attains the success it deserves and enables to the studio to bring us more good stuff. I was saddened that in box office terms it took a backseat to an epic shallow regurgitated garbage heap, but at least it did better than an ill-conceived sequel to a needless remake. Hopefully word of mouth will spread and the people who decided to watch crap last weekend will redeem themselves and see Coraline this weekend. And you should too! In 3D or not, it's well worth it.

Check out this interview with character designer & sculpter Damon Bard as well as examples from his amazing portfolio.

End of an Age... an Orphan-Age

2009-02-10T22:17:00.000-08:00

Most of you following the industry will have heard by now - last Friday The Orphanage closed it's doors and a lot of wonderful, talented people suddenly had to say goodbye and scramble to find the next big thing. You can read the more or less official announcement on Stu's blog. I'm happy, grateful, and proud to have been an Orphan and to have worked with such amazing folks.

Lisa Simpson once asked her father if he realized that the Chinese word for "crisis" is the same as "opportunity." Wise Homer replied, "Yes... Crisi-tunity!" I hope this crisis quickly becomes opportunity for all the Orphans and I'm excited to see where everyone goes next.

As for me... well that's a story for another post.

The Pilz

2008-11-18T19:26:00.000-08:00

Well I don't know what to say about this short except that I pretty much animated the whole thing (except for the last couple of shots) and I only had two weeks to do it. Not sure if any of it should go on my reel since I wouldn't consider it finished or polished animation, but there are a couple moments I'm happy with. It was fun and a good exercise in scheduling and time-budgeting. Obviously the amount of expression achievable in these characters was limited, but if I had it to do over I would definitely try to push everything a lot farther. (Also I wish I could have done the sound mixing.) Supposedly the client may want a sequel, so maybe I'll get another shot at the Pilz family.

There is a larger version available on the client's site, but it has big obtrusive subtitles just in case you miss any of the medical technobabble.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T23:48:00.000-07:00

Today I dressed up as my hero - Danny, better known as the Tourette's Guy.

I promised to post more stuff I've been working on so in the spirit of Halloween I thought it'd be appropriate to show a little work I did for Cobra Creative's new site. In fact I think they launched the site just today. I animated the menu side pieces on the Works and Studio pages of the site (skull, shield, tentacles, all the little bits). This job popped up just as I was in the middle of a crunch week on another project. There were a couple days I was already working overtime and then I'd have to put nearly a full day's work into this after hours. I don't think I'll ever do that again if I can avoid it. Still, it was a fun little side project and it's neat to see it go live.

Well my Disney Afternoon toon poll ended today, looks like DuckTales came out on top. For me it was between that and TailSpin... to this day those themes will get stuck in my head.

Right now at work I'm on a big push to finish some massive feature vfx work. Supposedly I'll finish this coming week and start on another TV spot that should be really fun. Check back in a couple months and I'll probably have more to say/show about it. In the mean time, there's still one or two more recent pieces I'll be putting up soon. Mmmm... Reese's pieces.

Balloons

2008-10-08T22:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been 2 months since I've written anything here. The O has kept me pretty busy, which I'm especially thankful for considering these uncertain times we're living in. But if you've been watching TV at all recently you may have caught one announcement that offers a pin-prick of light through the dark days ahead. Disney has decided that next year you can go to any of their big theme parks free on your birthday. And what better way to illustrate this landmark of self-celebration than...

Lots... and lots... of balloons. That needed to be animated. And so that's what we did. If you don't watch TV (like me) or you haven't seen these spots yet, you can watch the premiere 60-second version here on Disney's site for the campaign or a higher-quality version here via the Orphanage's commercial portfolio. It's also all over YouTube - here's one with the alternate ending I worked on.

These images are some of the shots I worked on. I'll try to post more work I've done recently again soon.

O-dee-doh

2008-08-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to say I'm back at the Orphanage for a few weeks. They even saved my old spot for me. I'll be working on some commercial spots. I just finished a fun stint at my (P)alma mater from last summer - Palma VFX. Actually I'm still finishing up a few things... it was a beast of a project, but really fun stuff. Always enjoy going back there. Was up until 5:30am trying to finish up and consequently got 2 hours of sleep before starting at the O this morning. Supposed to see Dark Knight in IMAX tonight... my exhausted mind and body aren't going to be happy about that.

The Internets

2008-07-17T11:47:00.001-07:00

So yes... I read Slashdot. It gets fed into my Google homepage so I usually scan the headlines for interesting articles. Well today "Wall-E Supervising Animator Tells His Story" caught my eye. It led to an interesting interview with Pixar veteran, former Spline Doctor, LEGO aficionado, and directing animator on WALL-E - Angus MacLane. Back when I began going through the "Pixar classes" at the Academy of Art, Angus was co-teaching the Level 3 (and final) course in the series and struck me as an intimidating figure. Sometimes he'd barge into the lower level classes and throw in a blitzkritique (hey, I just coined that term!) or just hassle the other teachers. Anyway, there's some great stuff toward the middle part of the interview.

In other boredom, the latest JibJab video is surprisingly well-animated. It just shows to go ya that the principles of animation transcend any preference for medium.

Desti? No.

2008-07-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

This sucks. I've been wanting to see the full Destino short for so long. Come on, Disney. If you won't release it on DVD, at least put it on iTunes for us.

More info on the short here and some clips here and here.

Wall-E is to Pixar as ________ is to The Beatles

2008-07-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

That was always my favorite and highest-scoring section on standardized tests. It's how I think; in comparisons and analogies. Combine that with the fact that I'm a massive Beatles nut and you'll understand why the following article really caught my attention when I ran across it at Upcoming Pixar...

Pixar, Wall-E and Rubber Soul

(bad photoshop by me)

The Good and the Bad, Ugly

2008-06-29T19:30:00.001-07:00

Good dog!

Bad dog.

Who was Justin Wright?

2008-06-28T23:31:00.000-07:00

Sitting through the credits after Wall-E, I caught a line scrolling by something to the effect of, "In Loving Memory of Justin Wright, 1981-2008." I wondered who this person was, what was his affiliation with Pixar, what were the circumstances, etc. I guess I must have made a mental note of his name.

Well tonight, by what seemed like a complete fluke, I ran across his name and learned a little about Justin. I was scouring Michael Sporn's amazing blog, which at some point deep in the archives linked to Ronnie Del Carmen's blog, whereupon I scrolled down and was met with his post about Justin's passing. I would encourage you to read it (includes links to others' memories of Justin and some info on his memorial at Pixar) as well as Justin's Pacific Union College Alumni profile page.

That's right - PUC. I did a double-take when I saw that. Learning this and reading what people who knew him said about him kind of changed my view on the whole story. Of course it's always a tragedy when someone so young and full of potential is gone before it seems like they really had a chance to fulfill what they were capable of. But in the context of Justin's story and his own words it's actually quite inspiring and beautiful that he was able to achieve what he did in the time he had, and it's great to know he was really happy. I presume he grew up SDA as there was a comment from his youth pastor that mentioned his mom being a church school teacher. From what I gather he was a person of faith and most definitely made an impact on the lives of the people who knew him. I don't doubt that God placed Justin at Pixar - not only to fulfill his dreams and to see him happy, but as a witness to others by the example of his character. And I don't think it's any coincidence I stumbled upon the answer to the question that had sat in the back of my mind since yesterday.

Who was Justin Wright? Definitely someone I wish I'd known in this lifetime, but look forward to meeting one day. I'm really grateful to everyone who posted their memories of him for the benefit of those of us who weren't lucky enough to know him. Wandering the halls of Pixar strumming a guitar... that truly is the dream, and Justin lived it.

Wall-E

2008-06-27T15:25:00.000-07:00

To quote from the movie Contact, "No words... they should have sent.. a poet. So beautiful... I had no idea..."

More to come as I recover.

THE fat panda

2008-06-12T18:48:00.000-07:00

Just got back from Kung Fu Panda. I was blown away. You know how a bad audience experience can ruin a good movie? Well I got in early and got the best seats, so of course everyone else plopped down all around me. And it wasn't because of my magnetic personality. So with the masses cackling about, kicking seats, spilling junk food in a surround-sound symphony of movie-spoiling mayhem, I was pleasantly surprised that once the film began it transcended all these unpleasantries and drew me in where it was warm and fuzzy (we're talking about a panda after all) and where no distractions could touch me. Zen... appropriately enough.

Kung Fu Panda is Dreamworks firing on all cylinders, perhaps for the first time. Everything was top-notch. There was a maturity to this film that I hope marks the beginning of a new era for all animated features. I kept wincing in expectation of a sudden break into song and dance or mindless frolicking around that usually crops up to fill time when the story is rice-paper thin. No, this thing is well-crafted from the get-go and the story is rich enough to sustain the entire timeslot.

Kudos to you, Dreamworks. Give me a call sometime why don'tcha?

Gamma rays

2008-06-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

Can I just say one thing I'm excited about?

No more Emo ~~Donnie Hulko~~ Jake GyllenHulk*!

Mad props to Kevin Jackson, Emil Bidiuc, and Sean Amlaner for what I'm sure will be some awesome work on the new Hulk!

*That reference might seem unwaranted, but bonus points to anyone who sees the link. And of course no offense to anyone who worked on the 2003 Hulk!

Portrait of an Animator, Animated

2008-06-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

Almost exactly 5 years ago, I was sent an unexpected birthday gift from my good buddy and soon-to-be-roommate-for-a-year Tim Sormin. Little did I realize how important an asset this gift would be and the critical timing in which I received it. What was this precious tome? Why none other than Richard Williams' Animator's Survival Kit. Tim and I had been "studying" animation in college for 3 years at that point, but the program was in its infancy and somewhat lacking in focus and depth. I had decided to spend the summer off-campus near the college while working a couple part-time web-related jobs affiliated with the school. I had also just got a new dual-processor workstation (sadly the very same I'm typing on right now), a Wacom tablet, and had come across a free version of Plastic Animation Paper - software that emulates traditional animation - so with some extra time on my hands, I was ready to crack open the A.S.K. and start mining the gold. It didn't take long to realize what an amazing find Richard Williams' book was and I yelled at Tim to get his own copy too. When the fall semester began, veteran Disney animation director Hendel Butoy graciously descended upon our humble school to help show us the way... and he brought with him none other than - you guessed it - the Survival Kit. That summer layer of exploration turned out to be the foundation of preparation for my animation reeducation.

Fast-forward to the present and I've come across something that gives me that same feeling of giddyness like standing on the edge of a vast chasm filled with treasure, though now the feeling is gift-wrapped in a warm blanket of nostalgia.

Behold - The Animator's Survival Kit - Animated!

A 16 DVD box set combining Williams' famous animation master class recorded at Blue Sky Studios with over 350 "specially animated examples" of the books' lessons that you can frame-by-frame. Of course the price is pretty steep for your average individual (nearly $1000 US thanks to our crappy economy), but I definitely would want to work at a studio that adds this set to its library. You can pre-order now and get 20% off, but it's not out until Nov 17th. Check out the promotional trailer. Props to Saul Ruiz for posting about this yesterday.