I realize this is, like, sooo late, but what the hell…

I only just recently purchased Kung Fu Panda on DVD and have watched it twice.  You know?  I really, really like it!  Several friends have been telling me how good it is and that I have to see it, but I missed it in theaters and then kinda dragged my feet on it.  I was worried about the big letdown.

It has a decent story, some heart, loveable characters, fantastic animation and is extraordinarily beautiful to watch.  What it lacks, thankfully, is fart jokes!  A long-time pet peeve of mine and almost staple humor for Dreamworks.  Sure, there are butt jokes, but those only emphasize the fact that Po is so out of shape (something I totally relate to).

Oh, and the slow-mo/bullet time shots are wicked cool!

So, if you haven’t seen it yet – don’t delay any further!  There’s no charge for awesome!

Check out the photography of Chris Jordan.  Although sad and somewhat disturbing, the images themselves are beautiful.  You always hear about the amount we consume in this country, but to see it in an image is simply stunning.  The images of Katrina’s aftermath are breathtaking.

Having just completed a huge animation for a visitor’s center at a national landmark, I am done taking on any new 3D generalist projects.  It’s been great fun and I have learned so much, but its time to really focus on character animation.

In the works are a couple of new shots, one with dialog, one without, as well as collaborating on writing a short animated film.

The first time I saw Presto, I was blown away by the brilliant timing and animation.  At the very end, however, the magician hit a pose and I thought..”hmmm… I’ve seen that pose before!”  I ran home and dug up the 1984 Oscar-winning short, Charade.  There it was!  Okay, maybe not the exact, same pose, but pretty darn close.

Now, I am in no way insinuating that Pixar stole the pose.  Absolutely not.  However, they do throw little nods to other things in their work, and I wonder if this is another one.  (Presto is actually one giant nod to the Warner Bros. classic shorts)

If anybody has the “inside scoop” please leave a comment to enlighten us all.  In the meantime, enjoy  Charade:

Due to demand (OK, a couple of people have asked), I have posted my demo on YouTube. Nothing major, and maybe several years behind the rest of the world, but what the heck?

Here’s the Link:

YouTube Reel
And the YouTube video:

• QuickTime

World of Coke opened in Atlanta at the end of May. One of the features is a 5 minute short film containing interviews with all the odd little creatures that work inside a Coke machine. The film was produced by Psyop, who did the original commercial – also featured as part of the short.

The characters are wonderfully designed and were fun to work with. Most of the dialog came from actual interviews with Coke employees, so it was a blast taking that and applying it to the characters. The final look that Psyop created is breathtaking.

(I am only responsible for the animation in the above clips, with the exception of the first clip. For that, I also added rough textures and lighting for my own purposes.)

So, I’ve been home for about a month since spending 10 weeks in New York City and working at Psyop. All I can say is that it was nothing short of amazing!  Psyop produces some of the best commercials out there, and it was an honor to work for them.  I animated about 30 seconds of character animation for a project for Coke. Look for a “Show Reel” in a few weeks…

Psyop assembled a super team of incredibly talented, smart, funny people, and it was a pleasure to be part of such a fantastic group. A huge thanks goes to Nick for the opportunity and to the rest of the animators for their awesome support and guidance. I learned SOO much and had a great time doing it.

Thanks!!

Although my focus is now Character Animation, I have spent quite a while working on non-character pieces and feel that deserves a place on this site. Clicking on the picture above will take you to my 3D Work page, with a brief history of the projects I have worked on, and a Demo Reel.

I’m a little late with this, but this morning’s walk through the bogs on an unusually mild December day jogged my memory.  Right around the corner from us, to our dog’s delight, are acres of cranberry bogs.  Carver, MA has something like the largest ratio of cranberry bog to land.  I’m probably making that up, but it seems that way.

This past fall was one of the most beautiful I can remember in New England.  The weather was ideal, and the foliage was brilliant.  Brilliant!  We try to get out in the bogs as much as possible, and the fall we had encouraged that even more.  Every time I walked or jogged through the area, I thought, “I HAVE to remember a camera next time”.

Well, I never did.  Fortunately for me, my girlfriend, Jacquie is an artist and captured the beauty and the feeling of being out there better than any photograph ever could. (Click the image for a larger version)  It sits over our mantle, at the moment (it’s for sale HERE), and brings a warm smile to my face every time I see it.

Ahhh… Fall….

Here’s another AnimationMentor assignment. This one is from Class 4 – Advanced Acting Techniques. I owe a great deal of THANKS to Victor Navone (Pixar), my mentor for Class 4. Not only did he push me extremely far on this shot, but he also was the inspiration to keep working on it. I had decided to do a dramatic piece and selected this dialog from “Gladiator”. After blocking it out, I started getting cold feet, thinking a serious, dramatic piece wouldn’t look good on a reel. I thought I should switch to something funnier. I voiced my concerns to Victor, and he responded by saying I should definitely continue. He said dramatic shots are pretty rare on reels, and that this could help me stand out a little from the rest. So, I continued, and after an ENORMOUS amount of guidance from Victor and insightful feedback from classmates, I ended up with a shot I’m pretty happy with.

The end result is more or less what I started with, after weeding out other ideas. I felt he should display explosive movements to show his anger and frustration. In contrast, although she was frightened by him, she needed to stay calm and in control so she could push her agenda. I think the middle shot conveys this well. (I’m happiest with the middle shot, by the way)

Victor’s direction pushed the performance tremendously, giving me a solid foundation. Because of that, polishing this was great fun for me – for the first time, as its usually a struggle. Victor, of course, had ample polishing notes, too. Such as: Moving the hands/fingers while still clenching the bars, keeping them alive; the use of eye darts to keep the intensity up without a lot of movement; Using his shoulders (“like a drill sargeant”) to add force to his words in the final shot; Adding the spit in his final outburst.

Overall, I really enjoyed working on this shot. Thanks to Victor, I learned a HUGE amount in the process.