ReelFX Apprenticeship

So it looks like I'm Texas-bound and it feels a little something like this:

Everything is moving pretty darn fast and in just a couple of days I'll be driving down there with my brother.  Questions like "Hey, where am I going to live?" and "What is cooking?" have been popping up lately.  But I'm really grateful that the good people of ReelFX are willing to take me in for their Winter Apprenticeship.  If all works out I'll be starting on January 9th.  Exciting times.  It wouldn't suck to come to this every morning:

The apprenticeship is going to last for 6 months and I can't wait to meet all the folks there.  It's a huge opportunity for me to grow both personally and professionally.  Here's to growing up, weee!  Happy New Year!

Oh yeah, the current book list.

Recently Read:
The Filmmaker's Eye by Gustavo Mercado
A compilation of camera shots / techniques explained with examples and breakdowns of it being in use.  Also shows a case of breaking the technique / rule to great effect and explains that as well.  It's a short picture-driven book as it should be and was a nice quick read for anyone new / not-so-new to cinematography.  Also Juliette Binoche in Troi Couleurs: Bleu makes for a nice cover.  Definitely check out The Three Colors Trilogy if you haven't seen that yet!

Currently Reading:
The Vilppu Drawing Manual by Glenn Vilppu
Cool, Calm and Contentious by Merrill Markoe
Cinematic Storytelling by Jennifer Van Sijll
Save The Cat! Strikes Back by Blake Snyder

Thanks Animation Mentor!

Today marks the end of the term and the last day of my 18 month trek through AM. I've learned so much during my time here that not only improved my skills, but drastically changed my life.

Example: My niece and I had a terrible relationship. She was scared to talk to me because I was put in a position of "teacher" at the request of her parents. All I knew to do was make sure she gets her work done and that she behaved. That sounds quite normal, but our dynamic was one-way. We would go on days without having an actual conversation, which isn't much of a relationship at all.

Cut to Class 4, I'm learning about pantomime and acting. I read Keith Johnstone's "Impro" and discovered high / low status. I also read Joe Navarro's "What everyBODY is Saying" and keyed in on body language. One day I drove my niece home from school and it was obvious that something was bothering her. When I asked her what was wrong I noticed she had half her body already turned away from me, head down hiding her eyeline, and feet pointed in the direction she wanted to go (away). And I noticed what I was doing, arms crossed, leaning in, towering over her. I took what I gathered from these books and decided to try something new. I bent down on one knee, looked up at her and calmly asked her what was wrong. She took on a whole different attitude and we chatted about it.

It has to be a fluke of some sort, but it only took one single day, one moment to change our dynamic that was pretty much crap for the two years prior. It was amazing, and my niece and I have a newfound relationship. One day during a chat she asked me "Where did you learn to talk to me?" - and it all stemmed from learning animation during my time at AM. I told her that, and she concludes that animation rocks.

There are so many moments like this that came about during my classes that just have changed me as a person. I'm really grateful to everyone at Animation Mentor, faculty and students alike. The classes might be over but the journey stretches on. And damn it's gonna be fun.

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Finished Brain Storm - by Don Hahn. Awesome book! Definitely a keeper.

Finished The Perfect Bait - by Bobby Chiu. Very short, but also very good.

Currently reading: Cool, Calm & Contentious - by Merrill Markoe.  Thought I'd read some comedy over the break :)

That alone was worth the trip.

The most common phrase we spoke during the whole CTN shindig. I can probably talk volumes of each of these, but then I'd be old and gray by the end of it and I'm sorta hungry and would love lunch. In chronological order, each of these in and of itself was worth the trip.

1. Lunch at Dreamworks with some badass mentors.
2. Screening of Puss in Boots 3D in the Dreamworks theater, sat in Katzenburg's row.
3. Bill Plympton's Panel. What a way to start the event.
4. Rhinohouse.com - reference gold. Sadly I was worried about having enough cash to make it home... but they will have my money soon enough.
5. Sony Panel - Doug Sweetland was in the house!
6. Andreas Deja / Richard Sherman Panel. Might be the best damn thing that happened that weekend. It was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
7. Ron and Jon Panel - The roast of Ron.
8. Demo reviews - some great notes from the reviewers and great to grab the contact info.
9. Meeting Bobby Beck - He's a hoot haha.
10. Alex Woo / Matt Jones - Pixar Gesture drawing Panel - Mind blown (Space!)
11. Lorenzo / Prep and Landing 2 screening at Disney. Prep was awesome (great animation). But Lorenzo really blew my mind. Also, I got a Winnie the Pooh Mug (Thanks Kitty!).

And lastly, meeting all of my friends in person and realizing that none of them are crazy. Huge thanks to Mike, Marshall, and Reed for not being axe murderers and helping me along through the weekend. What a trip... can't wait to go back next year :)

Currently reading Don Hahn's Brain Storm. A great fun read, lotta fun little stories if you're into that thing.

CTN Reel

Posting from Burbank! This is what I've come to CTN with as far as work goes. So far (and it's only been a day here) the trip has been fantastic.

Heading towards the finish line.

Tomorrow marks the end of the term and this one in particular just flew by. Other than the facial on the 1 person dialogue, we spent all term doing a 2-person shot. My mentor Greg Kyle suggested I try this piece out and this was what I ended up with:



Even just being away from it a few days and rewatching it now, I notice some bits I can fix / tighten up and we'll be continuing work on these shots in the Polishing / Portfolio class, but boy this one was fun to work on. There were a lot of fun ideas being tossed around and even just trying them out was a hoot. I genuinely enjoyed animating this and felt that I learned a lot from it. Lots more to learn and I'm eager to do so!

On the book front, I picked up "Cult of the Mouse", which has a negative connotation in the title... but was a really great read. It talks about the stifling of creativity and how it's leading to a trend of unimaginative / boring films. But the author also cites examples of what's working and why it's working. This was written right when Pixar's contract with Disney was about to expire and having worked at Disney for a number of years he had first hand experience with this stuff. The message of the book though isn't "Suits Bad, Artist Good". It's about finding innovation within yourself and generating ideas. This spreads to someone making car models to an animator trying to create a fulfilling shot / story.

I put The Art Spirit on hold for that, but now that break is coming around I'm jumping back in.

And I leave you with this really cool article by Nick Bruno explaining how he studies an animated shot: How I Study Animation