In progress

Squid in progress, chavant clay.

 

I am almost done with my squid sculpture, still working on texture and cleaning up every arm and tentacle!

Busy bee update.

Interesting work coming out of Hornet Inc.

Check it all out:

http://www.hornetinc.com/site/about.php

Shouldnta-left-you (without a dope beat to step to)

Music time!

Lets get some stop motion music videos going here….

This guy did a really beautiful stop motion video for The Shins song Nowness. Check it out on his website along with the making of!

Home

His reel at the bottom of the page will also make blow your mind.

Next up! Animator Gabe Askews stop-motion-esque video of Grizzly Bears’ song Two Weeks. I’m pretty sure the whole thing is 3d…. either way it’s beautiful.

Random eye catchers

This guy is Cameron Fielding. He’ll be teaching at CCA in the fall…well, so I’m told. His reel is pretty fantastic (and it’s an older one I imagine, since he’s been at Dreamworks). I love his reel, it’s pretty badass. Even more badass is his blog, lots of great tips for animation and for getting a career in animation. Check it out at http://fliponline.blogspot.com

moving on….

So…this movie exists….

Visually stunning…

Hilariously clever…

Adorably cute…

Okay clearly I’m too tired and lazy. Enjoy!

Take-backsies.

To make up for my recent non-visually-compelling post….here is one of the most mind blowing animations I have ever seen. Prepare to explode.

 

Check out his work here: http://vimeo.com/33415528

Schools out forever.

Went to the ASIFA lecture at SFSU today and took a ridiculous amount of notes. I wouldn’t be surprised to find liner notes about the panel coughing or studdering. They talked about their experience in the animation industry and we got to ask any questions we wanted. So here are some main points for those of you that were too lazy/sick/busy/farty to go….. with love of course 🙂 I apologize for the lack of visuals, but I need to get some armature building done….I don’t always have time for the 6 people that read this sheesh!

Abridged version of the lecture:

-Your reel is number one to employers, and right behind it is your personality. Often the interview is to see if you’ll fit in with the group. Needless to say, party poopers, lunatics, and apparently people who don’t wear shoes around the office may have a hard time finding jobs the next time around. It’s a small community, and word gets around.

-Cater your reel and resume to your employer. Always. Make a master resume that has all of your skills and just take out the ones that don’t apply for each job you apply to. If they make fantasy video games, put that first on your reel. Research your employer a lot, and if you’re applying to a video game company, play the games. If you’re applying for a job in creature design but your true passion is animation….do NOT tell them that. You’re passion is whatever you’re applying for. All you need is a foot in, once you’ve been there for a while you can start to try heading in a different direction.

-The way almost every single person on the panel got a job was through networking. It’s actually pretty ridiculous how important that is in animation. Get on Linked In, get business cards if you want, just stay in contact with your peers in school and with anyone you meet in the industry. When work is slow, make some calls, or just call up a small studio and see if they need any free work. Again….foot….door.

-Being a generalist in the video game industry can be helpful. It can be useful to know rigging in animation, and the more you know the longer they will try to keep you on a project.

-If you’re in school working on a thesis, finish it. Don’t keep changing your story, just make it work. It’s good to finish what you start, it shows employers that you can work through the pipeline and finish what you set out to do. But also consider the fact that you don’t need a degree or schooling to do this, take some classes you absolutely need, work a ton on your own time, and just put yourself out there.

 

 

 

 

 

I should be sick more often.

Pretty amazing, shot on a phone, largest stop motion set ever used (or at least at the time, I could be working on the new record right now!….okay I’m not).

This is great, work done in five months by students in the Netherlands at the Utrecht School of Arts. Moral of the story: Drugs are good?

If you feel like you’re day is shitty, just be glad it’s not like this guys.

And lastly, if you’re into animals and humans making out, then you’re a weirdo and you’ll like this hilarious animation even more than us non-animal-humping weirdos.

Everyone is giving me the creeps.

Keeping you up to date on some new trailers so that I can avoid homework for another 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Paranorman, new trailer, looks awesome of course, check it out!

Tim Burton is making a feature film of his short “Frankenweenie”

In other Tim Burton news, Abraham Lincoln is a Vampire Hunter who makes trees explode with his ax? Why am I okay with that?

Wondering why The Lorax trailer is not in my blog? It’s because you’ve already had it shoved down your throat 50 times. Poor Seuss has his name attached to that sell out. Over 70 product tie-ins, including products that directly conflict with the environmental message of the story.

But lets end on a high note. Comic-Con Documentary!

This ain’t no elevator.

Spent a class talking about animation that’s guided by music. It made me realize I wanted to post this….I know it’s a commercial but this is amazing, watch the whole thing.

In other good music news…John K! Bjork! Two things that seem acid-induced!

also made me think of this music video (the song isn’t mind blowing, however stop motion jelly beans ARE)

and another video with mediocre music and insanely,  awesomely,  head-spinningly good animation

But most importantly, if you didn’t know Bach was amazing, here is further proof.

It takes a lot to NOT give up.

Mind officially blown.

Some artwork from Jean Baptiste VenDamme

all found at the blog that kicks my blogs ass, then allows my blog to heal, and then kicks its ass again… (characterdesign.blogspot.com)

Their interview and more of his work here:

http://jean-baptiste-vendamme-interview.blogspot.com/