Everyone's Hero Trailer

Just in case anyone hasn't seen it already, the trailer for Everyone's Hero is now up in all its Quicktime glory.



The film actually is starting to win me over, despite the "Whoopi Factor." It looks like it has some pretty good slapstick humor, as well as some nice facial animations and models. It is about the Yankees, but it's about the Yankees of old that everyone loved and not the Yankees of today that everyone outside of the greater New York area wants to see covered in flesh-eating slugs.

Everyone's Hero Trailer
Everyone's Hero Site

First Flight Article

The Desert Sun has a new article up on Dreamworks' "First Flight" short.



The co-directors spent three years making the film. Their composer went to Prague to record the score with the Czech Philharmonic. Some 85 people at DreamWorks worked on it.

But, after starting the project in their shared apartment, they spent another year-and-a-half completing "First Flight" while working on other DreamWorks projects as studio animators.

The theater that I saw "Over the Hedge" at did not play "First Flight" before hand, like many theaters did.

So I burnt it to the ground.

Or at least I felt like I should have. Hopefully the short will be included on the "OTH" DVD release.

Otherwise I'll have to burn the DVD to the ground.

The Desert Sun's "First Flight" Article

A Little Box Office Mojo

Per Box Office Mojo and Animated News, here are the numbers for the 3D animated films currently in release:

10) Barnyard with $5,652,932 ($54,930,100 total; 4th week)
16) Monster House with $1,141,933 ($69,368,839 total; 6th week)
22) Cars with $734,162 ($240,555,222 total; 12th week)
25) The Ant Bully with $559,907 ($25,669,795 total; 5th week)
36) Over the Hedge with $172,121 ($154,767,362 total; 15th week)
76) Ice Age: The Meltdown with $9,860 ($195,316,542 total; 22nd week)

Again, it's a shame to see that "The Ant Bully" is underperforming at the box office. According to The Numbers it had a production budget of over $45 million, and it has grossed around $35 million worldwide. Hopefully with the few weeks it has left in theaters and DVD sales, it can at least scrape out $10-$20 million. Of course, that doesn't take into account what the advertising budget was.

Monster house currently sits at about $98 million worldwide, and I'm sure DVD sales will at least be decent for it. I'm sure it isn't the numbers that Sony had hoped for, but they should at least wind up with a little change in their pockets at the end of the day.

As for Barnyard, it's hanging in at number 10, with $55 million, though I have no idea what it's production budget was.

Now as for Cars? You know... the film that everyone is saying is Pixar's first film to "underperform" at the box office? Well, that "underperforming" little film has pulled in almost $400 million worldwide and currently sits at number 7 for all 3D Animated films, in terms of revenue generated in the U.S. theaters, where it has drawn around $240 million. So Pixar's little "clunker" is doing just fine.

Open Season IMAX Trailer

Looks like "Open Season" is heading to IMAX theaters as well, and not only that but it will be shown in IMAX 3D!



I've only seen around 3 films at an IMAX theater in my entire life, and I'm pretty sure 2 of them were on how the solar system was born. The third was a documentary about water buffalo during a dry season in some far off wilderness. I remember watching some massive cat rip a dead buffalo apart, and I must say that I'm glad it wasn't in 3D.

Details and Trailer for Open Season in IMAX 3D

Happiness Factory

This has been around for a bit, but I thought I'd post it for those of you who may have missed it. What you're about to watch is a Coke ad from the same fine company that brought you the GTA clone Coke ad that I posted here a week or two back:

I always wondered how one of those vending machines worked...

10 Quick with George Schermer

Ahh... my Blogger troubles continue. I was only able to get one of George's images posted for this 10 Quick, but it will have to do for now. He was kind enough to answer the questions in the first place, so I'd hate to delay this any longer. If Blogger manages to correct the issues it's currently experiencing, I'll most certainly get George's other samples up ASAP.

But enough whining from me.

In the meantime, you can visit George's Site and view them for yourself!

Now you may be asking, "But, Dave, why would I want to go to some guy's website who I don't even know?"

Well the answer is simple. George just happens to be a pretty darn good 3D artist. Better than most I'd even venture to say. Not only that, but he worked on "Gopher Broke," and "Rockfish," among other things, for Blur Studio, which makes him a-okay in my book!

Take it away, George!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you break into the business?

I'm originally from a small town in Tennessee. I guess I've always liked cartoons, but it wasn't until around junior year of high school that I found out there were people who created them and actual courses I could take to end up working in the animation industry. So, I graduated from The Ringling School of Art and Design, back in 2000. I got my first job at a small broadcast design company in Manhattan. After two and a half years there I decided to send out my reel and was lucky enough to land a job at Blur helping animate Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas. Now I've been at Blur for over 3 years.

2. Which of your work are you most proud of?

Without a doubt it's Gopher Broke. I remember seeing the final product at the theater and thinking, "Wow, this is a professional looking cartoon." That was the
first time I watched something I had made and wasn't noticing the mistakes.



3. What are the main tools and/or programs you use to create your work?

I've used quite a few CG programs, but at the moment we're using 3Ds Max for most of our pipeline...and starting to use Softimage XSI for animation.

4. What's a typical day in your life like?

Full of aches and pains...I'm gettin' old, dangit!!!

I get into work around 9:30ish...do the email thing and surf the web for a few minutes, then it's time to work. I take off for lunch around noon, then I'm working til 7 or so. I don't really have a set schedule, sometimes I'll be sketching out new scenes in the morning, other times I'll be filming reference at 5pm. It's always different.

5. Who or what are some of your artistic influences?

Oh man...I have way too many to list. I'm an avid (I mean AVID) comicbook reader. Movies (The Incredibles being quite high on that list). Commercials. Since I worked in the broadcast business, I try to keep up on the newest commercials and the studios that produce them. Studio AKA has to be my hands down favorite commercial house right now. The work they produce is so creative...they really push the boundaries of our medium. But even when I walk around Blur I find myself looking over my coworkers shoulders seeing great work. I think to myself, "Why can't I be that good?" It's depressing...but inspiring at the same time :)

6. Would you say that you're a 3D artist who dabbles in 2D from time to time, or a 2D artist who happens to work in 3D?

I'm a 3D artist who dabbles in 2D, but then gets frustrated and goes back to 3D.

7. What are 3 of the best things about your job, and what are 3 of the worst?

The 3 best: Laid back environment, there's no heavy lifting, and I'm making cartoons....how cool is that?

The 3 worst: Sometimes that environment isn't so laid back, hours of work lost to a program crash, and I think computers will soon be able to do my job.


8. Tell everyone about your side project "Cathode and Propellarhead." Is this project still moving forward, and if so, what is your ultimate goal?

Well, I'd like to say I have future plans for it, but I don't.... Unfortunately..... Cathode and Propellarhead was a property I developed at my old studio. We were developing properties that could ultimately be made into TV shows and the like. I was planning on doing a monthly episode kinda thing (kinda like a comicstrip), but I never really got around to producing more than 2 (5 were developed, but only two were completed.) Maybe I'll go back to it someday, but for now my attention has been focused on a new project.

9. Tell us a bit about your role in Blur shorts "Gopher Broke" and "Rockfish." If either of these make it to the big screen, is there any chance we'll see your work in the feature versions as well?

I was an animator on both Rockfish and Gopher Broke. Rockfish was the project I cut my mocap teeth on. I did the shot where the guy sits in his bobber and the dog jumps up and hangs from the side. I think I animated about 7 or so shots on Gopher Broke. The shots where the gopher climbs out of his hole and jumps behind the rock, the "Cloud o' Crows" shot...which take note, was not made with Massive, just me and a notepad telling me what Crow 55 was doing :) and some of the end shots where he sees the truck and tries to dig a hole to get away.

And seeing as I'm still employed by Blur, hopefully I'll be able to work on those features if they come around :)

10. Jason Taylor suggested that I hit you up for these 10 questions. We've also interviewed Jeff Fowler, another of your Blur chums. Any dirt you'd like to dish on either of them?

Well, Jason will spontaneously start acting like a monkey (don't ask) and Jeff likes to steal my colored pencils....or maybe that's the other way around....but seriously, they're both great guys and I'm glad I've gotten the chance to work with both of them.



Thanks to George for taking the time to answer these questions!

For more of his outstanding work, swing over to George's Site.

I hear he just put on a fresh pot of coffee!

Thanks, George!

Blogger Downtime

Blogger has been rough this past week. I managed to piece together a couple of stories, but from about Wednesday morning on through Friday, was met with "Page Cannot Be Displayed" errors and images that wouldn't upload. Luckily this was a slow news week, so it didn't really matter, other than the George Schermer 10 Quick that I really wanted to post. I tried on multiple occasions to do this, but anytime I tried to upload the multiple images for the blog entry, the blogger system would choke.

Not only that, but it must have been just the server that this blog resides on, because I could post just fine to my 2D Blog.

It seems to be better now, so let's plan on that 10 Quick going up first thing Monday morning.

Sorry to George and everyone else for the delay!

Monster House in 3D

Animated World Network is reporting that Monster House will be scaring its way back into theaters in 3D.



Hoping to scare up a little more attention and revenue before the fall DVD release of MONSTER HOUSE, Sony Pictures will re-release the all-CG feature in digital 3-D on Oct. 6, reports THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. MONSTER HOUSE will have a two-week engagement in more than 100 Real D screens nationwide. The DVD from Sony Home Ent. bows on Oct. 24. According to Box Office Mojo, MONSTER HOUSE has grossed $68M this summer.

AWN Article on Monster House in 3D

The Passenger

Chris Jones has posted a trailer for his new short, called "The Passenger," over on his website:



According to Chris (from a posting on his website):

The Passenger is the result of about six years spent in a bedroom with a computer. It began in 1998 as a proposed showreel piece, but then escalated into an unstoppable monstrosity that continued to absorb my life (and savings) until 2006. I created sound, music and vision for the film. Running time is 7 minutes.

The short looks quite amazing, based on the brief trailer alone, and Chris' amazing level of dedication seems to have really paid off.

I can't wait to see it!

View the trailer.

Visit Chris' site.

More 3D Bugs!

From what I can tell, someone in Hollywood decided that what the 3D Animated Film industry really needed was another film about bugs, as the Director of "Robots" and "Ice Age" is now set to direct a new film for Fox.



From Yahoo! Movies


The studio that made heroes of prehistoric mammals is turning to garden leaves and doodlebugs.

20th Century Fox Animation has optioned and is developing William Joyce's illustrated children's book "The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs."

Described as an epic adventure centering on ancient elfin magic, the book follows a troop of brave bugs who march off to save a garden, where they encounter an evil spider queen and must summon the mythical Leaf Men to save the day.

I liked "Ice Age" and "Robots," but do we really need another 3D bug film? It just seems that there are so many other possibilities for subject matter, and the bug thing has been done more than a few times already. It will probably be a good film, but much like "The Ant Bully," could suffer at the box office due to a subject matter that has already been covered a time or two.

Leaf Men article on Yahoo! Movies.

3D Animation is Dead!

You heard me. I said 3D Animation is dead. For all of you out there who hoped to work on the next Pixar film or any 3D animated cartoon for that matter, pack up your things and head for home. If you're a student who is even considering majoring in Computer Animation, switch to Botany now while you still have a chance.

Okay... I'm kidding.

You'd never know it though by the huge mountain of blog postings, magazine articles, and forum topics about how "Film A" didn't do as well as everyone had hoped or how "Film B" died a quick death at the box office. If you were an outsider, you'd think that 3D Animated films had already gone the way of the Guam Flying fox (it's extinct... look it up if you don't believe me).

Disney's "The Wild" only managed to generate around $38 million at the box office.

I've also read articles in which people ask if the flooding of the market with 3D animated films this summer is a possible cause for slower-than-expected box office returns, and it probably has something to do with it. When Pixar was the only kid on the block and there wasn't any real competition, it was much easier for them to pull in massive numbers. Now with companies like Sony and Dreamworks giving them a real run for their money, customers are forced to make more decisions with their hard-earned money.

All that said though, I really don't see a need to panic just yet. Believing that a market rich with animated features is going to somehow kill the industry is like believing that way too many comedies is going to kill the comedy movie genre, which it most certainly hasn't.

It isn't the number of films in any genre that makes people stop going.


"The Ant Bully," which received overall positive reviews, isn't seeing big box office returns.

You wanna' know the real kicker? I hold the golden ticket as to how movie studios can make as many animated movies as they want and still rake in the cash.

You ready for this?

Make good movies.

Tell me that doesn't just blow your mind. The very idea that by making nothing but quality films that aren't dependent on marketing dates or reaching key demographics or coinciding with the launch of a new line of Happy Meal Toys is just about the most earth shattering idea that could have come from this tiny, little, pea brain of mine.

It sounds simple, but it obviously isn't. Hollywood studios are already doing what they do with every other successful trend, which is to release a hundred versions of that single success, only put less than a tenth of the effort into each one. After all, if you can make a film just like Pixar does on a third of the budget, you'll make even more money, right?

Wrong.


"Barnyard" is pulling in decent numbers, but nowhere near that of other summer 3D animated films.

Now I'll stop here and now and explain that I am not calling out the work of any individual, team or company, nor am I suggesting that recent films that haven't done well at the box office were due to lack of effort on the part of the team or individual contributors. No need to threaten to shoot my dog or anything like that, because I'm not implying anything at all.

What I am saying is that, when compared against each other, there are some 3D films released this year that stand out above the rest in terms of their overall presentation. It's just the way things work.


"Over the Hedge" has made over $150 million at the box office so far.

What business-minded people never seem to grasp is that while some of those lower tier films may do well initially, eventually the consumer starts to get gun-shy and will stop going to films because they're afraid they won't get a strong enough return on their investment. So pumping out sub-par films and diluting the market with them is a great short term way to make some cash, but in the end it only winds up hurting the industry.

It happened with 2D animation as well, and more than once. There was an industry that was extremely successful but then companies started to worry more about the cash flow than the product on screen and the industry shriveled up as a result. It came back even stronger, only to repeat the same mistakes and die again.


"Cars" is being touted by some as a disappointment, despite it making $240 million in domestic ticket sales alone.

In the grand scheme of film history, 3D Animation is still in its infant stages, and has the legs to potentially be around for a long time to come. It's certainly going to be around for the next 10 years at least, but it's all up to the number crunchers to decide if it's going to be around longer or not. If they have faith in their teams' visions and allow them to create the films that they have the talent to create, then there really is no end in sight. If, on the other hand, they get too greedy and allow the quality to be sacrificed in the place of the bottom dollar, then we'd all better watch as many of these films as we can, because 25 years from now, we'll all be looking back on "the golden age of Computer Animation," and talking about how great it used to be.

Blur's Warhammer Online Trailer

Those crazy folks over at Blur Studio have made themselves quite a nice little trailer for the upcoming "Warhammer Online" game. For those of you who don't know, "Warhammer Online" happens to be one of those MMORPG-FYI-BRB-BYOB things, and it's shaping up to be pretty amazing.







While the rough versions of the trailer have been floating around the net for a couple of months now, this is the final polished version. From what I understand, it took the team an extra two months just to get the lip-licking closeup nailed down.

It was totally worth it.

Honestly though, it's a great trailer and worth taking a look at. I love the fact that it's a serious trailer, yet Blur managed to squeeze in some humor with things like the wall scene.

Warhammer Trailer - Final Version

Animation Mentor Student Blogs

Since today is somewhat of a slow news day, I wanted to post the links to two of my favorite animations from the recent Animation Mentor Student Reel.

The first is from David Sloss, who did the wonderful animation of the two guys in the office:



I can't quite place where the sound clip is from, but the guy on the right sounds like Jack Black. In any case, I love the facial expressions on the sleeping guy, as well as the way he spins around in his chair.

David's Blog


The second is from Deter Brown, who created my favorite animation from the student reel, using the voice of Guy from the film, "Galaxy Quest":



Not only do I love Guy as a character, but I also really like how Deter gave new life to him with his great animation. Again, while the body language is great, I think it's the facial expressions that really sold this one for me.

Deter's Blog

Shrek the Third Teaser Site

It's actually the first Shrek the Third teaser site for the film, despite the deceptive title.



Not much to see yet, but it's good to see Donkey back in the film, as I had heard he was having a huge contract dispute with the Producers.

I'm such a card.

Shrek the Third Teaser Site

Blur's Next Short

With four amazing shorts already under the belts, you'd think the folks over at Blur wouldn't have any room in their pants for more. (See what I did there with the shorts and the belt and the pants?)



However, sources deep with in the studio have confirmed that the Blur minions are actually nearing completion on an all new short, titled "A Gentleman's Duel."

While little is known about the plot of the film at this time, images from the short should make their way onto the Blur Site sometime in October.

See... I said "shorts," which are normally worn inside of pants, but if you had four pairs of shorts on under your belt it would make it hard to wear a fifth pair...

Forget it.

Animation Mentor Student Reel

Animation Mentor now has this year's student reel posted on their site.



The work is amazing to say the least. It's also quite inspiring, since I will be attending the school beginning in late September.



While simply attending the school won't give me the talent to produce such amazing work, I'm hoping that I'll be able to come close to matching it if I'm willing to put in the effort that this batch of students obviously did.



Swing on over to the Animation Mentor Site and have a look at the reel for yourself.

It's quite a site to see.

10 Quick with Jamaal Bradley

I contacted today's "10 Quick" victim... err... guest, after finding his amazing art blog. It was only then that I found out not only was he an animator for "Monster House," but he's also working on the upcoming "Surf's Up" film! So not only is he a great illustrator, but he's got animation chops to boot. That's quite a one-two punch if you ask me (which you didn't).

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Jamaal Bradley!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you break into the business?

My name is Jamaal Bradley and I am originally from New Jersey. I currently live and work in Los Angeles as a character animator and Sony Imageworks. I have been animating professionally for about 6.5 years.

I actually wanted to draw comic books for the longest time until a friend convinced me to try animation (this was while I was in undergrad). I was accepted to attend the New York Figure Drawing Academy for an MFA in painting, but I decided against being a starving artist (there is nothing wrong with doing that….just how I felt at the time). I studied under Nancy Beiman (former Disney animator now teacher) then soon landed a job doing bumpers for the Cartoon Network in Atlanta GA. With 2D animation slowly decreasing in productions, I was soon motivated to learn computer animation. My first job was working for a small company called TKO-Software. I worked for a few game studios, but would always go home and work on my personal stuff. I still do to this day. My work was finally seen by some people over at Sony Imageworks/ Sony Pictures Animation. I am now working with some of the best animators…and a lot of these guys are top notch. I basically kept pushing myself and that is all you can do as an artist. The worst thing for an artist to do is become stagnant.



2. Which of your work are you most proud of?

I am excited about the work I have been doing on Surf’s Up, but I think I am most proud of my personal work. The ball is rolling on my project and I am happy that the guys that I am working with are so giving and understanding of what I am trying to accomplish. As an animator, I think it is hard to be completely satisfied with you work. It is the same with a drawing or painting. You look at it after you say its done in your head, but in your heart you know something is wrong. You have to let go at some point. I am proud and grateful to be animating for a living. I think that is the bottom line of what I am the MOST proud of.

3. What are the main tools and/or programs you use to create your work?

The main tool that I have been using lately to create my work is the pencil. We use Maya to animate, but I don’t touch the computer until I get my ideas flushed out with the paper and pencil. Then hit that camera station……..



4. What's a typical day in your life like?

Shheesh!!...um….hmmm? I get in early and drink a Rockstar or Rebull. I look at the playblast that I left up from the following day so my eyes can have a fresh look at it first thing in the morning. I then look at the notes that I made for myself before I left the previous day and see what I need to attack for the day at hand. Compare those notes to the leads or sup’s notes and then I begin my attack. This is not everyday since you may be preparing for dailies that morning or dealing with some computer issues… and if you are trying to final for that week you could be dealing with a million other notes before you can hit the personal ones you made for yourself. Its all good either way. The typical day is trying to make your animation look hot as it possibly can.



5. Who or what are some of your artistic influences?

My biggest influence is my mother. She was an art teacher early in her teaching career and always pushed me as a kid with my art. There are so many influences so lets see…..artistically…

Looney Tunes(all the animators), Tom and Jerry, JC Leyndecker, Norman Rockwell, Carravagio, Milt Kahl, Sergio Pablos, James Baxter, Eric Goldberg, Nik Raneri, Bruce Smith, Hayao Miyazaki, Virginie Augustin, Pierre Alary, Sylvain Chomet, Michelangelo, Nancy Beiman, Claire Wendeling, Stephen Silver (even though he tell me not to say it)..there are so many man….just a few that popped in my head.

6. Would you say that you're a 3D artist who dabbles in 2D from time to time, or a 2D artist who happens to work in 3D?

I think I am a 2D artist that works on the computer. I like the computer a lot, but I love the pencil. You can do some amazing things with the machine and I am happy I have a job that allows me to make some cool looking stuff. The pencil is what I started with and I hope to finish with it even if I am 85 for it to happen.



7. What are 3 of the best things about your job, and what are 3 of the worst?

I tell people at work at this…you can complain about anything, but you know what …you are animating for a living so shut the hell up! Haha..seriously… you could be doing something far worse. Yes…there are times I want to jump out a window, but I bring my self back to reality with that statement. I could be doing something far worse.

8. You worked on Monster House, Open Season, and now Surf's Up. Do you see yourself staying in feature films, or would you like to branch into other areas, such as games?

I would love to work on my own projects fulltime. That would be the dream job. I worked in games..tiny stint in TV, and now film. Its fun..all of it is fun. (read the above statement)



9. Do you get to attend the premieres for the films you work on?

HA! Yeah right!...I guess they have raffles and such for one lucky person to go to the red carpet.

10. You've just been made head of Sony's animation department. What's the ideal film you would make?

My ideal movie…It would have to be dark. A dark 3D movie with no humor. I am not a dark person, but I think the industry needs it. Just a gigantic change that will make the world say ..”what in the world was that!!”



Thanks to Jamaal for the great answers. I'm sure I speak for many when I say that I'm really looking forward to seeing "Surf's Up!" next year.

Swing on by Jamaal's Blog and take a look at all of his amazing work, including a sketch from right out of "Surf's Up!"

Thanks again, Jamaal!

Really Nice Gift

What you see below is a Gopher Broke DVD, autographed by none other than the film's director and writer, Mr. Jeff Fowler, which happens to be sitting on my desk.



Though in a sense I'm bragging, more than anything I just wanted to thank Jeff for sending me such a great gift. As I've said on the blog many times, "Gopher Broke" is probably my favorite animation of the last 10 years, so to have it on DVD, signed by the Director is pretty darn amazing in my book. As you can see, I've already nerded out and purchased a little stand for it so that I can display it with pride in my office.

So a huge thank you to Jeff Fowler for sending me the DVD and the team over at Blur Studio for making such a great film.

P.S. If you look closely you can see that I have a screenshot from the short as the background on the monitor on the right. This was not intentional and I only saw it once I published the photo here on the blog.

I'm a total nerd.

Slow News Week...

This week has been pretty slow for news in the 3D world, so I thought I'd compile some links of things that I held off on posting for one reason or another.

AWN'S Ant Bully Article - This is a pretty interesting read about what DNA had to go through to get a film like the Ant Bully up and running. As I've said in the past, it's a shame that this film looks like it's going to die a horrible death at the box office, because I think there are other films that are much more deserving of such a fate.

Pixar's Next Film - Looks like, once they've wrapped up Ratatouille and Toy Story 3, Pixar is going to focus on a film called "W.A.L.-E," which I'm guessing is pronounced "Wally."

New Meet the Robinsons Images from Animated News - Animated News posted a handful of new images from next year's Meet the Robinson's film, which has been rumored to have undergone some big changes, thanks to the folks at Pixar.

Variety Focuses on the Flood of 3D Animation - A pretty good article over on Variety that speaks on the fact that while we've seen a huge upswing in the number of CG animated films this year, the overall box office numbers are starting to dip. Worth the read.

Happy Feet Website Update - Coming Soon is reporting that the Happy Feet site has been updated with videos, photos, wallpapers and more.

Finally, I'm hoping to have some news from Blur Studio that I can post about real soon. Just have to make sure it's okay first!

More as I find it!

Nice German Poster for Cars

Pretty nice looking German poster of "Cars" posted over at Upcoming Pixar:



I am surprised the German word for "Cars" isn't 26 letters long.

GTA Coke Ad

If you have yet to see this, here is the new GTA-inspired Coke ad:

Look for Jack Thompson's lawsuit, alleging that drinking Coke causes children to eat one another, to begin making its rounds shortly.

How does your favorite 3D Animated film compare?

Via the fine folks at Cartoon Brew comes an neat little chart posted over at Box Office Mojo showing how all of the 3D Animated films compare to each other in terms of lifetime revenue.



I've never even heard of "Kaena: The Prophecy," but maybe that's why it's last on the list... well, the that and the fact that it's been shown in a total of 3 theaters.

Box Office Mojo's Chart

Career vs Art

I have a weekly 1-on-1 with an Art Director in the Game Studios at Microsoft. Aside from being a really nice guy, he's also really talented, and has used that talent to get himself quite far in the art industry. I won't bore you with the list of games he's been involved with, but chances are that if you've been near a PC or Xbox in the last 5 years, you've probably at least heard of the titles he's worked on. He's currently working nights at a well known school, creating a videogame art program for them.

Each Friday we sit down for an hour, and I show him what I've been working on. He then offers advice and focuses my attention in the right direction, be it in regards to the art itself, or my career goals.

Overall it's a very rewarding experience, and one that I appreciate very much.

Today we were talking about some of the interviews he's been doing lately. I make no bones about the fact that I know my art skills aren't to a level where I could land a job in the art department of Microsoft Games Studios, so my mentor doesn't hold back in talking about the people that he does interview. The candidate he talked with today had a portfolio showing the skills he has in touching up photos, such as making a pregnant model appear as though she isn't, or touching up facial blemishes. My mentor was saying that the work looked good, but he didn't really see him fitting into games with his skills. The candidate then produced a small spiral bound book, wrapped in a rubberband. Inside were mixed media pieces he created using paint, pencils, cardboard, bits of paper, and anything else he could find.

Taking one look at this spiral book, my mentor was blown away and said, "You shouldn't be working for Microsoft. You are an amazing traditional artist. Why don't you do this for a living?"

The candidate thought for a moment and replied, "I love it too much."

That's quite a statement when you really think about it... to love and care for something that you've created so much that you wouldn't want to do it for a living.

I've devoted myself to becoming a 3D artist, but frankly the comment scared the crap out of me. Each night when I get home, I have a nibble of food, pet my dogs, and then hop in front of my PC or drawing pad and begin creating artwork. While I have an amazing job, there are days when I'm literally counting the minutes to get out of there so that I can get home to my art and get lost in creating it.

So what happens if five years from now, I find myself in the 3D industry, and I'm in some sort of crunch mode, struggling to kick out one final animation, and I realize that I'm not happy? What then?

I've always thought that, if you want to succeed in your career, you should find the one thing you truly enjoy doing and do it for a living. As I've said in the past, I enjoy creating artwork and entertaining people. 3D animation would provide me with ability to do both of things, and that is why I've chosen to pursue a career in it. But what if the grind of being forced to create things paints me into a corner to the point where I can't stand creating art any longer?

I drew a moderately successful comic strip for a while, and at first I loved it. However towards the end of the comic strip's life, I dreaded it. Even though I was creating artwork and entertaining an audience, I totally burnt myself out at it to the point where I just stopped.

Could the same thing happen to me with 3D artwork?

It's tough to say for sure, and I'll never know unless I try. Sure there is a risk that I'll wind up hating the very thing that I'm now so overly motivated to become, but as far as I'm concerned, this candidate made a decision just as risky as that one. What if he got into a career as a mixed media artist and loved every second of it? What if he woke up each day and couldn't wait to get to work, because he knew that he was supporting his family while at the same time creating rewarding pieces of work that he knew others would enjoy?

So to anyone out there in a similar situation to me, take a moment to stop and think about the ramifications of what could happen if you wind up getting exactly what you're wishing for, and then make the decision for yourself.

As for me? I can't see myself doing anything but art for a living.

I love it too much.

Breathed's Opus Opus

According to Coming Soon, a movie based on everyone's favorite penguin, Opus, will be released just in time for Christmas of 2008.



I for one am a HUGE fan of Breathed's work, whether it be in Bloom County, Outland or his current Sunday-only strip, Opus. So I was super excited when I read this. Then I saw that the Weinstein Company was behind it, and my excitement faded a bit to more of a reserved anticipation. I know at one point Blur had done some 3D tests for Opus, and my hope is that they still have a hand in this project in some form.

Either way, for a massive Opus fan like me, this is great news!

Coming Soon's Opus Info

10 Quick With David Chiapperino

So I know you got up this morning and rolled out of bed, rubbed your tired little eyes and then suddenly thought, "What in the heck is an Animation Technical Director?"

I know I did.

Well today's 10 Quick happens to be with an Animation Technical Director, by the name of David Chiapperino, and aside from being on of "those," he happens to also be an extremely talented artist.

Take it away, David!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you break into the business?

For as long as I can remember, I have been creating stories and drawing. I went to college in Philadelphia and was very determined. While in college, I met my good friend Chris Cherubini. We started up a little freelance business and snatched up every job we could. We would often take 3D jobs without any clue as to how we would do them. These freelance experiences were invaluable and I earned enough to pay for supplies and an occasional Nachos Bell Grande. Though mostly I lived off spaghetti and butter. And often we'd run out of butter!

When I graduated, I must have sent out at least 30 reels only to be followed by letters of rejection. Come to think of it, I have never gotten a job from a blind submission. There is always a friend who says "I know this guy..." My first full-time job in the animation field was for a startup 3D animation company in Philly creating flying logos and industrial animations for tradeshows. One day out of the blue, one of my college roommates called me and told me that there was artist/animator opening at Funnybone Interactive ( in Canton Connecticut). When I started, the studio was almost all 2D. I started as a digital clean-up artist. At the time, game sprites were not anti-aliased, so it was my job to go through all of the artwork and clean up the pixels on the edges of the digital artwork. In about a month I moved from clean-up artist to a traditional animator. After work I would stay late and recreate the characters and environments in 3D. I would stay until they would kick me out of the building. Eventually the extra work paid off and the Funnybone 3D department was born. First thing I did was get Chris hired. Over the next few years we grew the department and it was a starting point for quite a few very successful artists and animators.

Over those years, Funnybone was absorbed several times. Eventually it became a division of Vivendi-Universal. This was great because I was able to help manage a team on quite a range of titles including: Jurassic Park games, a couple of direct to video movies, Jumpstart, Rescue Heroes and even one called (don't laugh) Kelly's Pet Parade. When VU Games decided to close down the studio it was time to move to Los Angeles. The amount of opportunity in LA was quite an eye-opener. Here I have worked on a variety of projects that were more realistic and for older audiences. While on these projects, I really started to become interested in production pipelines and how things were being built. I joined Disney's VR Studio in spring of 2005 as the Animation Technical Director.



2. Which of your work are you most proud of?

I am most proud of the work that has come out of my own head. You can see one these ideas here: www.wishcommandos.com

3. What are the main tools and/or programs you use to create your work?

At work I use Maya, Photoshop, a sketchbook, a text editor, and a bunch of scribbled on scrap paper.

4. What's a typical day in your life like?

Here is my typical weekday breaks down:
Work, gym, personal animation projects, salsa dancing. Thats right! Though, the order changes from day to day.

5. Who or what are some of your artistic influences?

I am inspired by artists such as Tim Burton, Bruce Timm, Rodin, The Brothers Chaps, Bill Waterson. I'm inspired by games too. Halflife2, The Mark of Kri, Black and White, and the old Sierra adventure games (Kings Quest, Police Quest,and Space Quest). My favorite games artistically are: Neverhood, Skull Monkeys, and everything created by Oddworld. The most meaningful artistic influences in my life have been from the artsists/musicians/techies that I have known, worked with, and have helped me personally. Guys like: Chris Cherubini, Phil Straub, Mark Covell, Dominic Massaro and Jason Taylor (who I see you've already interviewed).



6. Would you say that you're a 3D artist who dabbles in 2D from time to time, or a 2D artist who happens to work in 3D?

I love the technology. I do draw quite a bit, but most of my work time is spent in virtual space.

7. What are 3 of the best things about your job, and what are 3 of the worst?

Best:
A. Working with talented diverse group. They are a crew with experience in games, features (animated and live action) and imagineers all working together.
B. I like that I get to be involved on so many aspects of the project. I never know what new challenges will spring up from day to day.
C. I enjoy the content.

Worst:

I really have no major complaints to report. This is a good gig for sure. Here is what I could come up with:

A. I wish the games industry as a whole would take more risks and produce more original lP's.
B. I’m not a big fan of cubicles.

8. What exactly is a Technical Director and what can you tell us about Disney's Virtual Reality Studio?

Disney's VR Studio has its roots with Imagineering. Their focus was to research and develop virtual reality simulations and 3D software. Some of these projects can still be seen at Disney World today. More recently they have created the award winning massive multi-player online game, Toontown Online. Toontown is continually expanding and we are currently working on a new MMO, Pirates of the Caribbean Online.

A Technical Director's role is very different depending on the studio your working for. Often larger studios have a small army of TD's. At the VR Studio, I am the only Technical Director. I work with modelers, animators, programmers, and game designers to find the best way possible to integrate characters and animation into a game. I rig all of the creatures, humans, trees, and almost everything that moves. These rigs have to be intuitive for the artists and clean and precisely built for the programming team. Rigging is only a part of my job. While in production, TD's work on a multitude of miscellaneous artistic and technical obstacles. It’s a very dynamic job.



9. You've worked on a variety of projects, from Barbie to Socom. Do you prefer working more on cartoon style characters or more realistic characters?

I enjoy working on projects that aren't too serious in their content. I also prefer more illustrative styles.

10. You have a really good set of "art chops" on you, but you also seem very technical. Would you say you're more of a right brain person or a left brain person?

Thanks! I really attack projects with both sides of my brain at the same time. I am middle-brained. There really is something satisfying to me about the tech and artistic vision coming together.


Thanks to David Chiapperino for answering this weeks "10 Quick" with us!

Everyone should take a moment to swing on by his site and check out all of his exceptional work!

Thanks again, David!

Barnyard Review

I've decided to scrap my old format for reviewing movies as it was pretty long and drawn out. As most of you probably just skipped to the last paragraph to read my summary, my reviews will now be just that.

Barnyard is a decent movie. Don't walk into it expecting Pixar, Dreamworks or Sony and you won't walk out disappointed. Sure the premise is almost identical to "The Lion King," but it works well enough. There are some decent gags and a couple of scenes, like the pizza delivery, that make the film worth at least a matinee viewing. While I could have done without Courtney Cox, the rest of the cast does a decent job, though I do wish they would have allowed Kevin James more room to act as goofy as he normally does. I happened to go with 3 of my nieces, who are 15, 10 and 7, and they all loved it. So if you've got kids, they'll probably have a good time watching it too.

Final Score: 7.5 (out of 10)

MonsterMania set to do the Monster Mash in 2008

According to what I assume to be the official blogUli Meyer Animation, has made the official announcement that they are working on a new 3D Animated feature film titled, "MonsterMania."



According to the post:

Uli Meyer Animation has started production on MonsterMania!, a fully computer-animated feature film comedy featuring the classic movie monsters. Scripted by award-winning British horror writers Michael Marshall Smith and Stephen Jones, based on an idea by Uli Meyer, Stephen Jones and Michael Marshall Smith, MonsterMania! has been in active development for the past three years at the company’s London-based animation studios.

MonsterMania! tells the story of young scientist Max van Helsing, who is plunged into an exciting and dangerous adventure by his late grandfather’s will. He embarks on a life-changing quest that takes him to the heart of the Eastern European country of Wallachia. There Max encounters the classic monsters, including Frankenstein’s creation, a werewolf, a lagoon creature and many other bizarre and creepy characters, as he sets out to save the girl of his dreams from the greatest evil the world has ever known . . . Vlad, Count Dracula!

More info on the blog!

UMBACKAGAIN Blog

Andrew Burke's "Ant Bully" Animations

10 Quick alum and all around nice guy, Andrew Burke has posted some clips showcasing his animation work in the Ant Bully.



Swing on over and check out Mr. Burke's Blog while you're at it. He's one crazy cat.

Did you know he works for Valve and is working on Team Fortress 2? I bet he could get you a job there if asked really nicely. You should all take a moment to send him an email and ask him. Just so you know, anyone who works at Valve drives a golden car and works at desks made of candy.

It's pretty fancy.

Note: I honestly doubt he can get you a job there, and I knew a guy who worked at Valve and drove an 89 Camry. It was not made of gold.

No Updates Today

Sorry for the lack of updates today. I've got a doctor thing going on, and it involves me being medicated, which involves things happening to my body, which involve things you don't want to hear about.

As a result, updates will kick back in tomorrow.

You know... in the meantime, you can swing on over to 3Dave.com which now has a fancy new box that allows you to leave a quick comment for me. I think it's called a shoutbox... or a talkbox... or a yellbox... or a cardboard box.

I think it's that last one.

See you tomorrow!

Cars DVD Cover

From DVDActive comes the first glimpse of the "Cars" DVD release:



The single-disc release will present the film with an anamorphic transfer at its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and include the brand new animated short "Mater and the Ghostlight" as well as the Academy Award nominated short "One Man Band". Other extras will include a behind-the-scenes featurette entitled 'Inspiration For Cars', four deleted scenes, and a preview for Disney & Pixar's upcoming feature, Ratatouille.

One more shot by following the link below.

The link below.

Ba Da Ba CHING!

Great Barnyard Article

The fine folks over at Animation World Network have another great interview up, this time with the filmmakers behind "Barnyard."



“Because of the economics that are present in CG filmmaking right now, sometimes a crowd scene lacks energy or you catch the repetition of characters. Steve really wanted to throw a party. That’s the concept behind, why have all these characters? As a producer I went ‘Whoo! 180 characters!’ But it’s amazing how we came up with technical solutions to achieve this and support this look. The crowd shots look pretty amazing. I don’t think we’ve seen that energy in CG films at this point."

Read the entire article here!

Madagascar Gets Sequelized

Via Dark Horizons via Animated News, it looks like a Madagascar sequel will be hitting theaters on November 7, 2008.



The first film was certainly above average, so I'm somewhat excited for the sequel.

Especially since I hear that in this one Alex comes out of retirement for one last boxing match and to prove to the world that he has the heart of a champion.

I may be getting this confused with another sequel...

3Dave.com Is Open!

For a couple of months now, I've had 3Dave.com redirected to this here blog. This weekend I finally got off my butt and created a true website to showcase my work in both 2D and 3D. You can now find it at the all-new 3Dave.com



Here you will find links to my illustration work, some of my comic strips, my 3D models and soon enough you'll be seeing the very first pieces that I create as part of my schooling at Animation Mentor.

The site is a bit slow right now, as I work the kinks out and get it optimized, but it should give you a good sense of where the site is heading, and hopefully spur you to check in every once in a while.

Just so you know, this blog will continue to be updated just as often as it has in the past, so don't think I'm going to stop posting here. You'll still be able to check on the progress of various projects I'm working on, as well as get daily updates on the world of 3D animation and art.

Swing on by and let me know what you think!

Cars on DVD November 7th!

Mike Snider of USA Today is reporting that Pixar's latest will hit the DVD shelves this November.



'Cars' rolls out on DVD on Nov. 7

Ka-Chow! Lightning McQueen and the crew from Disney and Pixar's summer hit Cars will cruise into stores on DVD Nov. 7. The disc includes an all-new short film Mater and the Ghostlight. A behind-the-scenes feature, Inspiration for Cars, tells how writer/director John Lasseter made the film, which already has grossed more than $235 million. Also on the $30 DVD is One Man Band, the Academy Award-nominated short that played in theaters before Cars, and four deleted scenes and a sneak peek at next summer's Disney/Pixar animated feature film Ratatouille, about a French rat who aspires to be a chef.

As always, I'm sure the DVD will be packed with extras and will be followed two months later by the "Special 2 Month Anniversary Special Edition Extravaganza Special Features Edition Spectacular Mondo Edition!" which will contain even more features, which will force me to buy it as well.

That's right... I said force. As in twist my arm, gun to my head, John Lasseter in my living room force.

USA Today's Coming Attractions

Barnyard Slops Into Theaters Today!

Looking like a version of Gary Larson's wildest fantasies put to 3D, Barnyard: The Original Part Animals hits theaters today!

While the film sits at a 31% overall on Rotten Tomatoes right now, I can't help but be excited to see this. The mechanical man, the pizza delivery guys, the little yellow chick... the film just totally looks like my cup of tea.

It just so happens that my cup of tea is made up of a collection of ground up cows, baby chicks, and pizza delivery guys.

Goes great with toast.