Thanks to DVD Times (via Animated News), I now know how I'll be spending 20 bucks come this October 9th.
Available in separate Widescreen and Full Screen editions extras include:
- “The ChubbChubbs Save XMAS” – All-New Animated Short! - “The ChubbChubbs” – The original Academy Award®-winning Animated Short - “Not A Drop of Real Water” – Three-Part Documentary that takes viewers behind-the-scenes of the Film and its Technical Achievements - Music Video – Ms. Lauryn Hill “Lose Myself” - Arnold’s Zurfinary – Arnold Gives a Kids-Eye View of Surf Terminology - “Create Your Own Surfboard” Game - ”Lava Surf” Game - “Whale Hopping” Game - Filmmaker Commentary and More!
For anyone who has read this blog long at all, you'll know that I pushed hard to get people to go and see Sony's surf epic, "Surf's Up," when it was in theaters. Well it turns out the 5 people who read this blog went, but that was about it, and the film wound up getting lost in the swells.
Since that worked so well, I now need those 5 people to go tell all of their friends about the DVD release!
EDIT: Embedded vid has been removed because AOL is dumb and puts a code in their video player that makes pages auto-scroll down to wherever the video is on a page. If you want to see it, CLICK HERE
Like a pinata filled with jell-o and marshmallows, this one looks like it's going to be a lot of fun!
The Buy N' Large website is now up and fully functional.
I think it's pretty cool that Pixar has already started up something like this, and look forward to all of the hidden gems that I'm sure will be added between now and the release of "WALL-E."
I've known Peter Starostin for a little while, though I've never actually met him in the flesh. I first met Peter via the 5 Fast interviews that I conducted for a short time, here on Bleeding Pixels. The 5 Fast questions were just like these 10 Quick, only the were for aspiring animators who had a reel to pimp, unlike the 10, which are intended for industry vets.
My how times have changed.
In the time since that 5 Fast, Peter landed himself a job at none other than Blur Studio, where he now animates for money... he's living the dream!
1. Tell us a bit about yourself. How did you break into the business and get where you are now?
Some 11 years ago, the following was overheard during a bright luncheon at Blur:
`The one with the power to ooze brilliant 3D animations approaches. Born to those who have no clue how to use a computer, born as the eleventh month dies . And the lords of CG will mark him as their equal, but he will have power the 3D lords know not . And either must find the other for both are necessary for the business to thrive . The one with the power to ooze brilliant 3D animations approaches...."
Ahem, right then! There was also some bit about his name starting with a "P" and ending in "-eter Starostin"...don't know what that means. Anyway, I reckon it was mostly luck :) I used to be on www.maxforums.org a lot and saw a post looking for animators. So I e-mailed the guy with my animations (which kind of sucked at the time) and, to my surprise, he hired me. It was www.bluedreamstudios.com and I worked remotely for them for a couple of years. I did lots of modeling, rigging and animation. Then I got a few local gigs as well. I think having a web site helped too, because once in a while people just contacted me after seeing my site. It wasn't until after I took the first three classes at www.animationmentor.com that I landed a character animator position at Blur, where I'm at right now.
2. Which of your work are you most proud of?
Well, that's rather like asking a parent which of his children is his favorite, to which the only appropriate response would be "they're all wonderful!", followed by the murmured words "there's a lot of room for improvement, actually". I do like how some of my animationmentor pieces turned out. Stuff I'm working on right now is showing promise, I think. Hard to choose, because I see a lot of flaws in all my work.
3. What are the main tools and/or programs you use to create your work?
We use mostly XSI for animation at Blur. Of course, the package doesn't matter to me much since I'm only doing character animation. It's just the same transform, rotate, scale, graph editor and autokey. :)
4. What's a typical day in your life like?
My wife is very sick, but slowly recovering. So that's a big part of my day. I usually get up around 8 and after spending time with my wife and helping her, I get to work around 11am. Check e-mail and then get to work. Around 2:30 I can't resist but to join Blur's Quake3 CTF game (Battlefield is also an option). I usually skip lunch but much a lot on free snacks we have here. When I have something to show to my supervisor, I'll ask when he's available and get him to look at my shots. I head home around 8:30. :)
5. Who or what are some of your artistic influences?
People I work with inspire me a lot, which are in my links section. There are bunch of people there too that I admire.
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 have huge admiration for those who can do 2D animation. I feel like I can do comic book type stuff but I just don't have the skill to do good looking traditional animation. So, I guess a 3D artist who dabbles in 2D.
7. What are 3 of the best things about your job, and what are 3 of the worst?
Best things: 1) Get to work on variety of cool projects. 2) People are awesome. 3) Quake games and free snacks, candy and drinks
Worst things: 1) Free snacks, candy and drinks (contributes to my weight gain, but I can't resist) 2) Fast computers and dual wide screen monitors spoil me. 3) Tim Miller still intimidates me a bit. :)
8. Since you started working for Blur, what would you say the biggest thing you have had to adapt to has been?
Probably lack of snow in California during winter. It's so weird to see Christmas lights on palm trees and sunny, summer weather. Aside form that, I already knew 3dsmax pretty well and just had to learn XSI animation tools, but that wasn't a problem.
9. You did a lot of work with Mike Kunkel of "Hero Bear and the Kid" fame. What ever became of that project?
I did work with Mike but not on "Hero Bear and the Kid" thing. What I did was model characters from his concept art for various other projects.
10. What does Peter Starostin do for fun when he's not pushing pixels around?
Spend time with my wife and play video games. I'm so addicted to God of War games. Can't wait for more to come out, I think PSP version is next. I live about 3 blocks away from the studio that made the game and every time I drive by to work I want to burst in and yell "Show me your next God of War" hopefully sounding as much like Kratos as possible. Oh and of course, plugging through Harry Potter book 7. Otherwise, delighting in tea and biscuits, discussing philosophy in dulcet British tones, shaking fists at oversized vehicles...you know, normal stuff.
Thanks for for having me on your blog. :D
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions, Peter!
Just finished up another assignment at "The Ment," and I thought I'd post it here, since we're in the middle of a bit of news drought.
As I've said before, it's amazing to take a step back and see how far I've come since joining Animation Mentor a few short months ago. It's a wonderful school and well worth it, as far as I'm concerned.
If they're movies keep underperforming like this, Pixar will be out of business by the end of the week.
The dismal failure that is "Ratatouille" only made another $18 million at the box office this week, bringing its pathetic take up to $143 million domestically and $161 million worldwide, where it's still in somewhat limited release.
I actually bumped into Brad Bird at the Dollar Store this weekend buying Top Ramen and underpants. I guess he's feeling the pinch already.
So I redesign the blog and then stop posting updates? What gives?
Well the fact of the matter is that something potentially huge was dropped in my lap this past Thursday, and has resulted in me barely having enough time to consume the food needed to sustain my very existence on this planet. So I have had little time for blog updates.
I know this blog is so amazingly wonderful that at times it feels like there is a team of 30 skilled professionals running it, but in reality it's just one dork.
That's me.
So while updates are coming, they may not appear as frequently as normal until next week. I'll hopefully be able to shed a bit more light on the reason for my lack of updates as well.
Dreamworks Animation has a new trailer up on Moviefone for the upcoming Jerry Seinfeld animated flick, "Bee Movie."
Lots of new footage in this one, and I especially liked the part with the pilots, as it reminded me of something that would have happened in "Seinfeld."
There is a great interview up with Blur Studios over at It's Art Magazine.
This of course had to be my favorite question from the entire article:
J.L.- Of course, I must say the girl’s boobs in 'A Gentlemen's Duel', are excellent! Who is responsible for such cartoony delight, Sze Jones perhaps?
B.S. - YES! Sze Jones is a fabulous character modeler and supervisor. She is extremely talented and passionate about her female models. She leads a team of very devoted character modelers here at Blur and we believe they are all quite enamored with large boobies. Of course, the animation of the breasts was a key factor.
You don't get that kind of hard-hitting journalism just anywhere!
Dreamworks' latest 3D offering, "Shrek the Third," has no surpassed the $600 million dollar mark worldwide.
The film has also pushed the Shrek Franchise total intake past the $2 billion mark, which is nothing short of insane.
Glendale, CA – July 9, 2007 – DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek the Third continued its stellar box office performance around the globe, with the cumulative worldwide gross now surpassing the $600 million mark. The history making U.S. opening of Shrek the Third—the largest domestic debut ever for an animated film—was duplicated in many key territories around the world, with #1 animated openings of all time in such countries as the U.K. (where it remains at the top of the box office charts for the second week of release), Russia, Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Singapore and others. With an estimated $35 million weekend take from 6,114 locations across 53 territories, the international tally now stands at $324 million—and combining that with the current U.S. box office total of $316 million propels the lovable green ogre from the studio’s most successful film franchise to a cumulative worldwide tally of $640 million. With the overwhelming success of the third installment, the Shrek franchise of films have combined to reach over $2 billion in global box office receipts to date making it one of the most successful franchises in movie history. The film is distributed globally by Paramount Pictures and Paramount Pictures International.
How long before Shrek moves out of the swamp and into some high-rise penthouse, where he gets hooked on nose candy and crashes his onion-shaped cariage into a light pole on Santa Monica Blvd?
Pixar's latest "Ratatouille" made an estimated $29 million at the box office this weekend, bringing it's 10 day total to $110 million.
This means that, in just two weeks, the film has already out-grossed the likes of "Surf's Up," "TMNT," and "Meet the Robinsons." Not bad for a film released just a week before the blockbuster, "Transformers" and the somewhat-surprise-hit "Live Free or Die Hard." Not only that, but the film is already close to overtaking such hits as "Knocked Up," "Ocean's Thirteen" and the latest "Fantastic Four" flick.
I'm just trying to put thing into perspective for all of the doomsayers out there who are convinced that this is the end of Pixar. Just because the film may not wind up generating the numbers that "The Incredibles" did does not mean it isn't a hit.
Forget slaving away at a fancy art school for four years, as it turns out all you have to do is make some copies and draw a smiley face or two on a coffee mug.
CGSociety has a great article on Jason Deamer, Character Art Director for Pixar.
So, when Jimmy Hayward, a skateboarding friend and Pixar animator, told him that Pixar was hiring office help, he applied. “It was right after ‘Toy Story,’” he says. “I knew about Pixar because I had seen their shorts in animation festivals, but it didn’t occur to me there would be any future for me at Pixar. I thought I’d just be moving furniture.”
And, that’s what he did. Moved furniture, fetched sandwiches, made copies, sat at the front desk and walked through hallways filled with production art for ‘Monsters, Inc.’ and ‘A Bug’s Life.’ In his spare time, he doodled.
It's a great read, and always inspiring to see someone who doesn't mind getting in on the ground floor and working their way up through a company like Pixar.
I've been drawing faces on thong underpants and leaving them around my office building, so we'll see where that takes me.
Since this blog has pretty much turned into one large advertisement for Coke today, I figured I should start titling the posts accordingly.
If you've seen Psyop's Coke add, you should still watch the short above. It the same ad, in extended form, with interviews (think "Creature Comforts") with the members who work inside the Coke machine.
Tomorrow I'm going to try and dedicate all of the posts to Tab Cola, just to even things out.
What better way to start the day than with a little cartoon butt crack?
If you didn't get that reference, then you have yet to see Pixar's latest short, "Lifted," which is now up for purchase on iTunes. It's only $1.99, and is a real bargain. For all you aspiring animators out there, you can also open the iTunes files in Quicktime, which allow you to frame by frame things and see just how amazingly-talented the Pixar artists really are.
So I'm sure that by now you've seen the numbers from this weekend's opening of Pixar's "Ratatouille."
I'm sure you've heard that the film only had the 5th strongest opening for a Pixar film, and that the end of the world is near.
The simple fact is that Pixar couldn't keep the streak going that it had created. It's just too much to continue to best your previous film, and the fact that they did it for as long as they did, prior to the release of "Cars," is an amazing accomplishment. It should also be noted that a $47 million dollar opening is nothing to sneeze at, and I'm sure the film will go on to break the $200 million mark.
The film is amazing. Stunning even. It's a masterpiece in every sense of the word. While I'd still rank it behind "The Incredibles" and "Finding Nemo," it's nothing short of brilliant. I saw it on Saturday and will probably see it again tonight. In fact I hope to see it 3 or 4 times before it leaves theaters, simply because it's just an amazing motion picture that should be taken in on the largest screen possible.
So don't read too much into the opening numbers. The film is just as good as anything Pixar has done before, and worth every penny of your ticket.
- 53%
(Scores via Rotten Tomatoes. Click on score for reviews.)
Upcoming Theatrical Releases
Horton Hears a Who!
(03/14/08)
Kung Fu Panda
(06/06/08)
WALL-E
(06/27/08)
Madagascar: The Crate Escape
(11/07/08)
Bolt
(11/26/08)
Igor
(2008)
Up
(05/29/09)
Astro Boy
(2009)
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
(2009)
Monsters vs Aliens
(2009)
How to Train Your Dragon
(2009)
Hotel Transylvania
(2009)
Shrek 4
(2010)
Foodfight
(TBD)
Puss In Boots
(TBD)
Toy Story 3
(TBD)
Master Mind
(TBD)
Upcoming DVD Releases
Bee Movie (03/11/08)
"10 Quick" is a feature here on 3Dave.com where we feature 10 Quick Questions, or "10 Quick," with artists currently working in the industry. If you're such an artist, or you know someone who might like to participate, have them get in touch with Dave!
10 Quick interviews will be posted every Thursday, as long as Dave can talk someone into answering his silly questions!
