aaah... good music

Nothing AM related. But I'm a bit drunk, and we just returned from an Imogen Heap show at the Great American Music Hall.

For a one woman show it was pretty damn good. I'm a fan of the recent album, and many of you have probably heard Imogen on the song "Let Go" that was released on a previous album (frou frou), and on the Garden State sound track. Although Della and I are moving out of the city I can't get away from music. I'm sure we will continue to come up an see shows regularly, simply because that just who we are. We love music, and consume it like its going out of style. Guess thats just one of the reasons I love my wife Della. :D

Oh... I made some progress on this weeks assignment to finalize my 180 turn. Here it is

just watched...

3:52 am: just finished the third lecture of term 2, focusing on advanced overlap and anticipation and am getting sleepy, but i had to get something down. I love being an animator! Each day I make something come to life at work, and each night I learn more and more about my craft with AM.(not a bad thing) The vibe with the school is infectious. Bobby, Sean, and Carlos along with so many other animators like Rick O' Conner, Kevin Martel, etc. have this undeniable enthusiasm, passion and inspiration for the art of animation. My fellow students have been equally as... well... AWESOME!!! Great critiques, input and unending inspiration in each of their assignments. Great stuff all around...

Now i have to sleep. Gotta work tomorrow. I'm animating the character and special fx for a thug villain character wielding dual micro uzi's. He pulls the clip out of his left gun, tosses it at his foe and shoots it in the air creating a powerful attack and rather large explosion. fun stuff at work too. hope some of this made sence... sleeeeeeepy.

Metric - Live It Out - cool album from cool band.

turn turn turn...

as I said in the earlier post, I haven't slept too much in the past day and here's why.

assignment, pick one of the following actions to animate. each with a perceived level of difficulty.

1. Have a character kick a ball (legs, spine and head only) Difficulty: *
2. Have a character take a big step to the side (legs, spine and head only) Difficulty: *
3. Have character turn around 180 degrees (legs, spine and head only) Difficulty: **

... during the first week we began planning, thumbnail sketching and shooting of reference video if able. One of the MAJOR things stressed here at school IS to plan thoroughly. So much so that I identify my timing, key poses and overall action prior to ever sitting down at the computer. All I can say is they're ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!! The more I plan the faster I'm able to complete an animation, and the better it will become.

Now in this the second week we were supposed to go through what is kind of like a first pass of our animation, THE BLOCKING phase. (movie above) As the first time you enter your broad strokes of an animation, your main goal is key poses and timing. Which is why it appears choppy. Think of it as cell animation style without the inbetweens. Again this process that has been suggested to us mirrors my methods (although with less planning) over the past few years as a professional. Although with much more pre-planning and more thorough understanding of how to make a better pose. Yes posing, the subject of this weeks lecture.

Ok... enough work for now.

cool link for today...

mentor

I went to sleep last night at 6:30 in the morning, its the end of the second week of my second term here at Animation Mentor, Body Mechanics, and more late nights to come. My Mentor this term is Charles Alleneck from ILM, here's a little bit from his bio.

"He worked briefly as a traditional animator on the television show The Simpsons before coming to ILM to learn CG animation. Charles has worked at ILM for almost five years, with credit on seven feature films including The Mummy Returns, Hulk, and Star Wars: Episodes II and III. He has served as a Directed Study Mentor, and has lectured on animation both in the U.S. and abroad."

He seems very cool and I'm excited to see what insight he is able to offer us throughout the term. Again, this school continues to impress me with their knowledgable professionals as mentors.

back again...

della and I have returned from our holiday trip to Massachusetts, and things have gotten back underway. Animation Mentor term 2 began this week, so sleep time will be a bit scarce for the next 12 weeks. No matter, I love it!!! Its so fantastic to be passionately working on animations of my own, and to be a part of an amazing group of equally passionate students and mentors. I'm excited and scared.

Work has also been fun lately. Just last week I finished up on animations and Fx for one of our signature villains, Lord Recluse. He's this evil master with 8 crazy spider legs coming from his back. (a few more images) He was a lot of fun but also quite a challenge, as he's a full bipedal character PLUS 8 additional appendages with 4 bones each. Simply put, thats a lot to keep track of. Ok, gotta go. The Patriots second playoff game is about to start.

lately i've been listening to: The Arcade Fire - first EP