Most Improved Student

I promised my WS3 class for ianimate.net I would post the most improved student during the term's final work here on the blog.  The class voted on the winner... and Chris McCormick won the vote!  Here is a link to his website in case you are looking for a very talented animator.  http://www.mccormickanimation.com And, below are his final exercises from the facial animation class.

iAnimate.net Workshop 3 Assignment 1 from Chris McCormick on Vimeo.

iAnimate.net Workshop 3 Assignment 2 from Chris McCormick on Vimeo.

I cannot say enough about his work and dedication.  The students worked from video reference of themselves, but Chris also infused his character's with a his own mannerism and nuance which gave his work a lot of depth.

The next block starts on the 29th, so sign up!  ianimate has 

some of the best teachers you can find out there!

Terry Gilliam's Do It Yourself Animation Show

Monty Python - Terry Gilliam gives a lesson in cut out animation. 

Frame by Frame

 

 

All anims should have this one bookmarked...

Frame by Frame

Animator's Letters Project

This letter was found on the Animator Letters Project blog. 

Great inspiration here.

I dedicate this post to my students.

p.s. click on the images to read them at a larger size.


Transcript

PIXAR

May 17, 2011

To Whom it May Inspire,

I, like many of you artists out there, constantly shift between two states. The first (and far more preferable of the two) is white-hot, "in the zone" seat-of-the-pants, firing on all cylinders creative mode. This is when you lay your pen down and the ideas pour out like wine from a royal chalice! This happens about 3% of the time.

The other 97% of the time I am in the frustrated, struggling, office-corner-full-of-crumpled-up-paper mode. The important thing is to slog diligently through this quagmire of discouragement and despair. Put on some audio commentary and listen to the stories of professionals who have been making films for decades going through the same slings and arrows of outrageous production problems.

In a word: PERSIST.

PERSIST on telling your story. PERSIST on reaching your audience. PERSIST on staying true to your vision. Remember what Peter Jackson said, "Pain is temporary. Film is forever." And he of all people should know.

So next time you hit writer's block, or your computer crashes and you lose an entire night's work because you didn't hit save (always hit save), just remember: you're never far from that next burst of divine creativity. Work through that 97% of murky abyssmal mediocrity to get to that 3% which everyone will remember you for!

I guarantee you, the art will be well worth the work!

Your friend and mine,

Austin Madison

"ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE!"

iAnimate Animation Tutorials

"...from Planning to Polish..." Promo Trailer from Jamaal Bradley on Vimeo.

As many of you know, I am teaching at iAnimate now and the collection of instructors there is top notch.  I have taught at several institutions in Los Angeles, and ianimate has the best of the best instructors to learn from.  We are about 3/4th through this block... so there is plenty of time to prepare and save up for it!  I highly recommend the program.

Ken Fountain and Jamaal Bradley (iAnimate instructors) 

released two new video tutorials in the STORE section of the jrawebinar site.

Teaching at ianimate!

Hey animators!
I have joined the ianimate team of amazing instructors
and will be teaching Workshop 3: Facial Performance

If you ever wanted to see what ianimate is all about or want to brush up on your facial animation for your reel, now is the time.
Submit your reel today here.
First class starts next week!

Facial acting and lip sync 

(Close up performances only).

Part 1: In this 7 week workshop, we will concentrate on polishing and fine tuning your close up facial acting and lip-sync. We will be working on how we can improve our overall believability and appeal by choosing sincere acting choices.   (cost $999)

Part 2: In this 7 week workshop we will try to chose a contrasting shot from part 1 to refine and control our Body Mechanics to help emphasize and not over rule our facial Acting.  (cost $999)

Chuck Jones, "I Dare You..."

Writing to a class of students in January of 1992 in an effort to promote the art of reading, legendary animator Chuck Jones recalls the books which helped inspire the creation of Wile E. Coyote and Pepé Le Pew, just two of the many cartoon characters he had a hand in bringing to the screen.

Transcript follows. Image courtesy of Davey, however the letter does also seem to be up for sale on eBay at the moment.


Transcript

January 24, 1992

[Redacted]

Knowing how to read and not reading books is like owning skiis and not skiing, owning a board and never riding a wave, or, well, having your favorite sandwich in your hand and not eating it. If you owned a telescope that would open up the entire universe for you would you try to find reason for not looking through it? Because that is exactly what reading is all about; it opens up the universe of humour, of adventure, of romance, of climbing the highest mountain, of diving in the deepest sea.

I found my first experience with Wile E. Coyote in a whole hilarious chapter about coyotes in a book called Roughing It by Mark Twain. I found the entire romantic personality of Pepe Le Pew in a book written by Kenneth Roberts, Captain Hook. I found bits and pieces of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and all the others in wonderful, exciting books.

I dare you all, test your strength: Open a book.

Sincerely,

(Signed)

Chuck Jones

via Letters of Note

Dinorider

another animation workshop short...

I just love this one too!

An animated short film by: Peter Lopes Andersson

STORY:
A kid with a pent-up anger and a dinosaur in his pocket gets fed up with adults. A rock n´ roll animation short about not loving your neighbour.

I have a friend working on a new animated show for MTV.  Evidently, MTV is bringing back Beavis and Butthead and developing some new shows for their animated segments like they used to have in the 80's.  This piece would fit into that bit nicely.  I encourage the filmmakers/animators to submit!

Animation Workshop Favs

...more favs of mine from the Animation Workshop!

Bachelor film project 2011 from The Animation Workshop.

Story
When an accidental plane crash causes a devoted father to lose his little daughter, he follows her into death and discovers a mechanical Afterlife. This uncompromising, robot-controlled system presents him with both danger and hope.

this one reminded me of a frind of mine...
you know who you are :)

Bachelor film project 2010 from The Animation Workshop.

Story

In this post apocalyptic Heavy Metal film you will be sucked into an Ocean of flames, grease and dirty monster walkers, where the Biker Oatmeal and the gentleman Orson Wheels will fight in a mad race across the Red fields of Mars in search of the last gas station on this desolate planet.

It will rip out your spine out of your weakened bodies and leave you in the red dust begging for more.

awesome character development and design here!

Bachelor film project 2010 from The Animation Workshop.

Story

Deep in the woods a lumberjack and his team work to the rhythm of their joyous working melody. However, this melody is soon to be disturbed by the introduction of new technology and the Lumberjack must now face the violent

...and for some good ol fashioned comic book, over the top, gassy fun!

Bachelor film project 2011 from The Animation Workshop.

Story
Captain Awesome is about to save the day once again, when an upset stomach threatens to ruin it all. A story of a superhero's race against time to save his image or humanity before it all goes down the drain!

By: Ercan Bozdogan, Mikkel Aabenhuus Sørensen, Andreas Husballe, Jonas Mølgaard Jensen, Ninni Munch Pettersson, Lars Kramhøft

Mighty Antlers

Animation Workshop does it again!

Bachelor film project 2011 from The Animation Workshop.

Story
A man drives his car furiously down a narrow road, surrounded by a vast forest. When he encounters a deer in the middle of the road he makes a villainous attempt to ram it. However this particular hit and run has jaw crushing, battering consequences

By: Sune Reinhardt, Mikael Ilnæs, Michael L. Fonsholt, Jouko Keskitalo

This school is not only teaching animation, but they are teaching film making!  I do not question why it was animated and not live action, like I do so many animated movies today with more adult themes.  LOVE IT!

Salma

Another great animated short from The Animation Workshop in Denmark -
http://www.animwork.dk 

Bachelor film project 2011 from The Animation Workshop.

Story
Salma is a film about a girl living in a land recovering from war. One day her father dies in a cluster bomb accident. This tragic event shrouds her mind and leaves her desperate and lost in a world she does no longer recognize.

By: Anders Friis Christiansen, Martin Sand Vallespir, Kirsten R. Grann, Michael Nielsen, Astrid M. Lauridsen, Rikke Skovgaard

The experimental nature of the work I have seen so far come out of this school is so refreshing.  Everything the school produces also looks different, the storytelling goes beyond intentions for a young audience or just gags... there is real meat in there - a message!  I also love how they push the boundaries of what animation can be... rather than a repeat cookie cutter of what commercial animation is today.  Love it!

Eye Darts

 There Will Be Blood with gaze locations of 11 viewers
from TheDIEMProject on Vimeo.

Ever curious what people watch, when they watch a movie or for how long?

This movie is of the eye movements of 11 people watching P.T. Anderson’s There Will Be Blood are tracked using Eyelink 1000 in order to gain a better understanding of how movies are experienced.

Each dot represents the center of one viewer's gaze. The size of each dot represents the length of time they have held fixation.   Look at all of those eye darts!

Tytla’s Dwarf Fight - Sporn Blog

 

Michael Sporn posted Bill Tytla's Dwarf Sequence from Snow White.

When I teach, all of my mentoring is based on forces and forms.

This is a great example of these concepts.

Animation Schools

People entering the field of animation are seriously spoiled!  There are so many good schools and so many resources out there for you!  When I started there were 3 schools - Cal Arts, Sheridan and Ringling and two books - Illusion of Life and Timing in Animation.  That was pretty much it unless you had a laser disk player and could go frame by frame on Disney movies to study.  Today, animators are opening schools left and right.  What better way to learn than working animators? and online!  anytime, anywhere!

Here is a list:

Animation Mentor was created by three professional animators who were working at Pixar and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). They founded the school on the principle of teaching only the pure essence of character animation and doing it in a production-style learning environment taught by professional working animators. Students get an intensely focused program of structured assignments that teach students work flow, planning, and the principles of animation, and prepares them to succeed as a working animator in just 18 months.

 

There is a new online animation school set to debut in November called AnimSchool.

The JRA Webinar / Live Animation Demo will be a virtual classroom where we'll all get together 12 times a year, once a month for 2 hours. I will be taking "Animation Master Classes" and showing how I approach developing these ideas into dynamic sequences for either a showreel piece or a short film. I will be doing story boards, flipbook leica reels and animation performance solving in flipbook. You will log in to this "virtual classroom" and see my full desktop and hear me talk as I develop shots and solve animation. Included in the 2 hours will be a full half hour devoted to Q&A where you can ask me questions directly and I can explain with the aid of drawings how I approach these problem areas. The whole event will be recorded and available for download to both students that attend the webinars and for students in time zones that may miss the live event. The resulting shots of the class (not the full recording) will also be posted for anyone to see what the classes are all about

Critique From Victor Navone

This is a really comprehensive critique of an 

animation winner from the 11 second club.

Digital Domain College

Digital Domain Holdings Corp. on Monday passed a key hurdle regarding plans for a digital animation college along Okeechobee Boulevard in downtown West Palm Beach.
Community Redevelopment Agency officials approved a resolution supporting a $10 million grant and eventual conveyance of the so-called Tent Site on the corner of Dixie Highway. Digital Domain is planning an initial 150,000 to 300,000 square-foot building that would have a branch of the Florida State University Film School, a new Digital Domain Institute and an animation studio.

Read more: CRA gives initial OK to Digital Domain - South Florida Business Journal 

 

Character Animation I - Studio Arts Class Half Off!!!

Studio Arts has a Character Animation Class 

that I have agreed to teach this term.  

We are shy some students to make it happen,

so if you contact Studio Arts and say you 

saw the posting on this blog... 

they will let you take the class for half price!!!  

Class starts next Wednesday!

10-Week Class: Wednesday evenings 

from 7PM - 10PM (7/28/10 to 9/29/10)
Because of Siggraph:   Dates have been moved to: 
08/11/10 - 10/13/10

Price: $1500   

(750$ if you tell them you saw this posting on the blog!)

Prerequisite: Intermediate, working knowledge 

of Autodesk Maya is recommended.

Instructor: Angie Jones

Kaj Pindal : Laugh Lines

 Kaj Pindal: Laugh Lines from Amir Avni on Vimeo. Laugh Lines is a film portrait of animator Kaj Pindal.  

The Cal Arts Story

The CalArts Story from Christine Ziemba (CalArts) on Vimeo.

Anatomy Tools

Anatomy Tools

Impressive resource...