A look into the life of a college student aspiring to be an animator. Struggling through manga obssession and creating a web comic, this blog gets a little crazy sometimes. Plus it has pretty pictures!
I was really proud of the shorts this year. I wanted to make a list of the films I enjoyed. Nine freshman got into the Producer's Show this year....so now you know why I was so damn nervous this whole year lol.
LIFELINE by Andres Salaff
Madame Babette by Marcos Cohen
Ad Astra by Elle Michalka
Who's Hungry? by David Ochs
Leonardo's Chase by Carlos Romero
The Thirsty Gargoyle by Sabrina Cortugno
A Werewolf Film by Noel Belknap
Study Hall by Jeff Liu
I got your nose by Skyler Page
Captured by Jennifer Harlow
Kiss Cam by Benett Kim
l'elevatore by Janine Chang
Value Blind by Tahnee Gehm
Tight Robots by Nick Desimone and Clay Fessier (I'm one of the Asian animators.)
April 20th has rolled on by and things are finally winding down for my first year at CalArts. Making a film here is a lot different than last year. The three days before films were due was the most excruciating, heartbreaking, and amazing experience. You sit in a Mac Lab for 15 hours straight with other upperclassman. As you struggle to compose your animation, you gain a strong will to keep going.
For the lack of a better comparison, making a film is like war. Everyone comes into the battle together, but not everybody makes it out. It is a bittersweet experience. I hope technical difficulties and low morale will be less next year.
My film Remember When played at the Open Show. It was a fun evening to see everyone's films. I didn't get into the Producer's Show because there were so many great films, and my film was unfinished. I'll post links to my favorite shorts this year after The Producer's Show.
I will post my film when it is completely finished.
Here's a screen shot to keep you happy lol.
Oh and yes our group won first place for PSAid contest :D
For Hobaica's Color and Design II class, we entered a Public Service Announcement contest to promote that "Cash is Best" when donating for international disasters. I think the judges will pick the top five and have the public vote for the winner.
Vote for whatever PSA you like the best. Thank you and I hope you enjoy them!
Both PSAs are up for viewing. Please post links to them and share them wherever you can as part of the voting is influenced by the number of views and comments.
Right now, I'm in crunch time. I've never had so many all-nighters in my life. The process of making your own short film is an amazing learning experience. It is exhilarating and painful at the same time. April 20th is the due date for the Open Show and qualifying for the Producer's show. I know right now my film will not be as complete as I want it to. Clean-up is a long process and I want to give a little extra to the performance of my characters. I'm a little depressed it won't be shiny complete by the Open Show, but I will work on this over the summer and polish it up for festivals in the fall.
I must be a choo choo train and climb up that mountain. :D
Our department received a visit with Dead Man's Bones to collaborate on a music project with them. I hope I will be able to because their music is really beautiful and soulful. I want to work on this during the summer after my short is done.
The James Baxter lectures were great. I'm sad I missed the last one because he explained how to animate four-legged animals. And I think everyone at the lecture will remember this line at 1:59.
Shells!
Shane Prigmore and Shannon Tindle gave a character design lecture. Everybody had to do the characters Fagin, Oliver, and Dodger from Oliver Twist.
For Dodger, I wanted his sleeves to barely be able to roll up. He uses clothes pins to snap them up. I tried to model him after James Cagney.
My Fagin was the least successful. They suggested he was closer in mannerism to Dodger. I need to make him more grotesque.
They said my Oliver was the most successful although the patches may look like a pattern. I wanted Oliver from the start to be emaciated. I looked up starving children with their rib cages exposed.
Both Shane and Shannon were character designers on Coraline. Their designs were translated beautifully in the film. I went to the panel at Nucleus Gallery. I didn't get to see much because it was so crowded, but I did get to meet the artists. I'm embarrassed they posted pics on the gallery's website. I'm in some of them with my friends lol.
I'm finally animating my short. Ahhhhhh!!!! I'm beginning to realize I love animating, but I'm really slow at it. My short will be around a 1:12. I want to avoid the 90 second mark so I can have more time to polish the film.
The second semester has started out a little bit more relaxing. I have less classes that involve late nights of essay writing. All of my classes are geared toward my finished film. The big deadline is April 20th. I'm excited and very anxious at the same time. My goal is to have a finished short that I enjoy. I'm not concerned about the Producer's Show. I want to enter my film into film festivals. My film idea so far is about a father and son going to a playground. The dad is too big and clumsy for monkey bars, slide, and the animal seat ride. I felt this way when I visited my elementary playground.I was so intimidated by the monkey bars, but now I easily touch the ground. I'm saving my guinea pig for another time.
Our first lecture this year was Mark Osbourne! He was the director for Kung Fu Panda. What I did not know until the day before was that he also created the short More.
He made the short using CalArts facilities during one summer. I remember watching this film on the internet. It is a surreal feeling to meet the man who made such a memorable and beautiful short. He directed Kung Fu Panda in order to fund his upcoming film, which is awesome.
The second lecture that I saw was James Baxter. He most recently did the animated part of Enchanted and the incredible opening to Kung Fu Panda. The fourth year animation class invited him over to do a four-part lecture series. For the lecture, he is animating Gisele talking to a rabbit while doing a turn. It's amazing to see how he plans the scene and acting so it is believable.
Also this Thursday, if you are in Valencia. The Character Animation Department is having their art show. I put four pieces up. The art is quite breathtaking and inventive. Please come by if you can!
I felt really bad for not posting any of my work. I have been really busy, and I feel that my work is not the best.
To begin with, here are just a couple of perspective assignments:
This was a one-point perspective assignment at the beginning of the year. The requirements was to have a scene where the character touches an object. I did a Saloon!
This one was fairly recent. The assignment involved stairs and a chase scene. A huge guinea pig chasing me is like a dream come true!
This is the most recent perspective homework. The first one I did in color! The window ellipse still needs to be fixed, but otherwise it was successful.
I will upload my SD card soon with life drawing pictures, my silhouette project, and of course my animation assignments.
