Monday, September 27, 2010

3rd year at CalArts

 I had wonderful time at July Films over the summer. I feel more confident when I animate, and I now know I need to take the time to do good animation. Thank you Mike ^^

Here's my schedule for this year....and yet again I have a full load. I added more CG this year. I remember when I first entered CalArts and vowed to shun against CG. It's amazing how one person's point of view can change over time. Animating in CG is getting easier. A better rig makes the animator's life a whole lot easier. I still have a love for old film techniques and paper animation, but reality is starting to hit me. CG is here to stay while, older techniques like film stock is dying out. This became apparent when a film stock I was using for my Optical printing class suddenly became discontinued. I still have in my possession two 16mm B/W reversal 500T.
http://blog.sfmoma.org/2010/05/celluloid-lovers-alert-save-plus-x-2/
Also standard definition television is gone, so no more NTSC format. My film will be in HD. It was sort of nostalgic to use a tv monitor to check the image and routing wires to patchbay. However, we still use a lunchbox to shoot pencil tests.

I still have a passion for 2-D and stop-motion. I will use these as my main tools for film making, but I need to keep my options open.

FC202A01CG Foundation IIBac, Andrew1.50M 9am to 12 NoonA109
FC300A022D Character Animaton IIIWright, Scott2.00T 9am to 12 NoonE58
FC301A02CG Character Animation IIIKelly, Morgan2.00M 7pm to 10pmA108
FC304ADigital Methods IIIRude, Bill1.00F 1pm to 4pmA108
FC311A01Advanced PaintingHormozi, Marjan1.00Th 9am to 12 NoonA221G
FC326A05Film Workshop III/IVVan Orman, Thurop4.00W 7pm to 10pmD206
FC430AAdvanced Character DesignRynda, Phil1.50Th 7pm to 10pmA217
FC460ADirecting for AnimatorsPetkov, Rumen2.00F 9:30am to 12:30pmD206
FE117Lighting and Camera for Exp AnimSun, Helder2.00T 4pm to 7pmBB#4
FE410After Effects: CompositingEmery, Myron2.00T 1pm to 4pmF105


Total Units19.00



I have been pondering over what my third film should be. I know I have to start it earlier this year....way earlier. My goal this year is to add more texture and atmosphere to my film. I think my last year film was to flat and I relied to much on After Effects and Photoshop.

Hooray for the start of a new school year and a new opportunity to do something interesting.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Urban Jacaranda


I'm in California for an internship this summer! It's at a little independent studio called July Films, such a beautiful studio. I feel like I can take the time to animate and redo things until it is right. I'm really grateful to get a chance to intern here.

I'm not accustomed to such a variety of plants and trees. In Colorado, I only see maples, aspens, and cottonwood trees.  I went through Pasadena to get to the nearest bookstore and went through neighborhoods filled with jacaranda trees. It was an interesting contrast to see the fragile purple petals scattered across an urban landscape of telephone poles. Wouldn't it just be creepy, in a post-apocalyptic world, these trees still bloom among an urban rubble? My writing is too dramatic lol.

I've been trying to write a post about my second year at CalArts. I keep re-reading it, and the entry sounds really moody. I felt like it was a tornado of a year. This was partially my fault for taking so many classes during the second semester. Oh well, here's to self-discovery and experimentation in the third year!


Here I am at my first day interning. I am trying to animate a traveler's palm. :D

Monday, May 10, 2010

My 2nd Year film


The Conductor from Ellen Yu on Vimeo.

I told you I was going to make a guinea pig conducting film lol.