Starry Night

This really is a wonderful little short.



While it's a bit depressing in the end, I found the animations and the clever use of textures really marvelous.

Starry Night Short Film

Vizzavi Tennis Commercial

No idea how old this is, but it made me laugh.



Good stuff!

Who is this loser?

That's right... it's time again for me to show off my latest reel for your viewing displeasure.



As I've said before, having only animated one scene in my entire life prior to starting Animation Mentor, I'm pleased with the progress I've made, and I hope it will land me an Animation job down the road. That being said, I still have a lot of work to do to get to the skill level of those I usually highlight on this blog.

Alright... I've stood here naked in public long enough... I'm going to go put some clothes on.

Fine... Here's the Up Shot

I held off on posting this conecpt image from Pixar's "Up", but it's everywhere now, and I'm not going to be the only girl at the ball who doesn't have sequens on my dress.



I wasn't going to post it, simply because it's concept art and because it really doesn't reveal much about the movie, other than showing some planes and an old guy who managed to build a flying house.

So there it is. Enjoy.

The Ultimate Break

While the boss reminds me a bit too much of the one from "The Incredibles," overall this commercial is top notch.



I'm going to go buy a Kit-Kat from the vending machine right now, so that my building will get all turned on like the one in the commercial.

Brad Bird Interview On Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes sat down for a quick interview with Mr. Brad Bird.



The first half of the interview is really just them begging him to validate their Golden Tomato award, which Brad almost painfully does. However it really picks up steam when he starts to talk about the next wave in blurring in animation.

Oh yeah... it's that good.

Brad Bird Interview On Rotten Tomatoes

Kung Fu Panda Trailer

I somehow missed that a new trailer for Dreamworks' upcoming "Kung Fu Panda" has been released.



I recently had the pleasure of speaking with one of the writers of the film, and he said that he was "super excited for people to see the film, as it is something brand new that hasn't really been done before." While he wouldn't reveal anything about the film's plot or characters, he did say that people will be "blown away" by what they see.

I trust him, but then I also imagine the writer for "Happily N'Ever After" probably said similar things before that movie's release.

In either case, hit the link below or the image above to check out the latest "Kung Fu Panda" trailer.

Kung Fu Panda Trailer

Official Kung Fu Panda Website

Robert Chang Artwork

While hunting around for the picture for my last post, I stumbled upon some of Robert Chang's concept work for Sony's "Surf's Up!"



Robert is quite a jack-of-all-trades, and you should swing by his site to see more "Surf's Up!" concept work, as well as a ton of other fancy stuff.

Robert Chang's Website

Animation Oscar Nominees Announced

The list of nominees for this year's Academy Awards have been announced, including the pictures up for Best Animated Feature Film.



The nominees for Best Animated Feature Film are
- Sony’s Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
- Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille - Brad Bird
- Sony’s Surf’s Up - Ash Brannon and Chris Buck

While I think everyone expected "Ratatouille" to make the list (and most likely win), I was really pleased to see "Surf's Up!" make the cut, as I think the picture, and the team responsible for it, are both very worthy. Maybe this will spur a few more people to check the film out, in turn helping drive DVD sales and maybe persuading Sony to continue making animated features. "Open Season" and "Surf's Up!" are two of my most favorite animated films, and I can't wait to see what the group at Sony comes up with next.

As for Persepolis, I haven't seen it, and probably won't see it. That's not to say that it isn't worthy of the nomination, it just isn't my cup of tea. My cup of tea is a 32oz mug filled with Coke and Rum, with a crazy straw in it.

That's how I roll.

No Quarter

One more VFS student film for you today, and it's another gem.



I don't have a YouTube version for this one, but it's worth letting it load in QT in any case. Just hit up one of the links below and make sure you check out Mike's website.

No Quarter - Large (61MB)
No Quarter - Medium (37MB)
No Quarter - Small (12MB)

Mike Trent's Website

The Switch

Man oh man, the VFS sure does produce some top notch talent.



While simple in concept, I still didn't see the ending coming. Of course, I also didn't see the ending coming in "Titanic" either. I mean, that ship sinking is the last thing I ever thought would happen.

For more from creator, Zach Mathew, hit his blog link below.

Zack Mathew's Blog

Fun Factory

Here's a charming little short by recent VFS grad, Mauricio Bartok Ruiz, called "Fun Factory."



For more of Mauricio's work, visit his blog.

Mauricio's Blog

Pete Docter at Animation Mentor Graduation

Not much to add to this one, other than I can't wait to attend the next graduation ceremony (which I'll be taking part in) come this August!



ONLINE ANIMATION SCHOOL ANIMATIONMENTOR.COM®
CELEBRATES THIRD GRADUATION
Pixar Director Pete Docter Delivers Commencement Address

Berkeley, CA – January 14, 2008 —AnimationMentor.com, the online animation school® by animators for animators®, celebrated its third commencement Saturday, January 12, in San Francisco. Legendary Pixar Animation Studios filmmaker Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc. and the upcoming 2009 release, Up) delivered the inspirational address, and was joined on stage by distinguished animators from ILM, Pixar Animation Studios and DreamWorks/PDI, all of whom teach at the school. The graduating class was comprised of students from 20 countries and an equal number of states. Animation Mentor propelled more than 80% of its first four classes into coveted studio positions.

Speaking from the heart, Docter urged the graduates, “to be open to whatever life throws at you,” and that “whatever you do, make it your own.” Docter expressed his belief that an animator’s job was to “find a truth in the world that no one else has found and bring it to the screen.” He also emphasized the importance of story, because “without a good story, you’ve got nothing.”

“Pete is a visionary whose artistry helps set the standard for an entire industry,” said Animation Mentor President/CEO, Bobby S. Beck. “His appearance at our graduation with our great professional mentors speaks volumes about the world in which Animation Mentor lives and to which it aspires.”

A three-time Academy-Award® nominee, Docter began his association with Pixar Animation Studios in 1990, working as the supervising animator and a member of the story writing team on the groundbreaking computer-animated film Toy Story. He was a storyboard artist on A Bug’s Life and the storywriter on Toy Story 2. Docter made his directorial debut on Monsters, Inc., the fifth highest grossing animated feature of all time. He is currently in production on the motion picture Up, scheduled for release in 2009.

Animation Mentor’s nontraditional graduation ceremony included an award ceremony that honored the Best Forum Ninja, Biggest Personality in a Live Q&A (real-time, online class), Best Dialogue acting and more. Graduates earned a Certified Diploma in Advanced Studies in Character Animation from the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education.

ABOUT ANIMATIONMENTOR.COM

Based in Berkeley, California, AnimationMentor.com is an online animation school at which top working professionals teach character animation to students worldwide. Opened March 2005, the school offers an eighteen-month program built from the ground up by its founders, Bobby Beck, Shawn Kelly and Carlos Baena, whose combined credits include Ratatouille, Finding Nemo and Transformers. AnimationMentor.com’s California-certified curriculum includes professional mentoring; expert, rich media lectures; live, real-time, interactive Q&A sessions (classes); eCritiques® and 24/7 creative community. More information at: www.animationmentor.com.

ABOUT PIXAR

Pixar Animation Studios, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is an Academy Award®-winning film studio with world-renowned technical, creative and production capabilities in the art of computer animation. Creator of some of the most successful and beloved animated films of all time, including Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, and most recently, Ratatouille. The Northern California studio has won 20 Academy Awards® and its eight films have grossed more than $4 billion at the worldwide box office to date. The next film release from Disney•Pixar is WALL•E (June 27, 2008).

Meet the Robinsons Interview

Animated Views has a nice interview up with Disney's "Meet the Robinsons" Director, Steve Anderson.



AV: Can you tell me about the voice of the Bowler Hat Guy that you did?

SA: It was funny how it came about. We do temporary voices for the characters very early on when we’re creating this movie on storyboards. We use ourselves, the studio, to do those temporary voices. And there are times when those voices have been around so long enough that they tend to stick to those characters and they’re defining those characters more so then than a cast that would be done later.

The interview covers everything from Steve's education, how he got on with Disney, the 2D films he played a roll in, his work on Robinson's, and even the music in the film.

Well worth the read.

Steve Anderson Interview on Animated Views

Ratatouille Wins Golden Globe!

Something is right with the world, because Pixar's "Ratatouille" was awarded the Golden Globe tonight for best Animated Picture.



While there were some other great films in the list of nominees, "Ratatouille" was nothing short of brilliant and deserves this and every other award bestowed upon it.

It even deserves some dork with a blog blubbering on about how great it is.

Congratulations to Brad Bird and everyone at Pixar!

Bee Movie on DVD March 11th

The Region 1 release of Dreamworks' "Bee Movie," starring Jerry Seinfeld, is set to release on March 11th.



"Bee Movie is an A!"

Get it?

I wonder if Seinfeld himself wrote that one.

I'd like to try out a few of my own on you:

"BEE sure to buy this DVD... HONEY!"

"A, BEE, SEE this movie!"

"This movie lives up to the BUZZ!"

I should be a movie critic.

For more info, hit the link below.

The Link Below

Plankton Invasion

I pretty ambitious independent project seems to be underway, known as The Plankton Invasion, and below is the concept trailer for your viewing pleasure:



While the first "episode" wasn't really much to write home about, I found the second episode to be quite a kick in the shorts.

For more information and to view the first two episodes, swing on over to the official website, which is linked below.

Plankton Invasion Website

Help Wanted

I usually don't use this blog for things like this, but I'm looking for some help and thought I'd throw the offer up here to see if any of you fine readers are interested.



I've been planning a startup business for some time now, and I'm looking for some talented and driven people with similar ideals to join the fold. This is not a scam or a get-rich-quick kind of thing. I'm looking to start a legitimate Animation House, focused on commercial work.

Initially it would be a team of 3-5 people, consisting of 1-3 animators an 1-2 modelers/riggers. I can tell you right now that there wouldn't be pay involved, for you or me... at least to start with. Instead the team will create a couple of short mock advertisements that we can then pitch to prospective clients.

I don't want to say much outside of that, other than to stress that I am VERY committed to this and have been working towards the goal for some time already. I've got a solid animator with some commercial experience and myself, so I'd be looking for 1 more animator. We've got a studio name and website in development, so we are moving forward.

Where I really need the help is in the form of a really solid modeler/rigger. The first couple of ads would be in a more cartoony style, so if you enjoy doing that kind of work, drop me a line.

I'd also like to stress that in terms of time commitment, it would be only would you could provide to start with. This is a side venture for me, and I know that everyone has careers and families that come first. That being said, I need people who are willing to commit at some time on a weekly basis.

For anyone who has read this blog for any time at all, you should already know that I'm not a flake, and I definitely have a passion for 3D art. So serious inquiries only please.

If you want to find out more, including the business name, focus and to get additional details on the mock ads, drop me a line at davesj(at)gmail(dot)com.

Thank you!

RooDoudou

Goodness how I love Planktoon.



I mean come on... this is just two fat blobs fighting over a remote and yet I still got such a kick out of it. Maybe it was the awesome cartoon nipples that did it for me.

I'm a sucker for nipples.

Dragon Hunters

There is a trailer now up for the upcoming French CG film, "Dragon Hunters."



The trailer looks nice, but I didn't have clue what they were saying, as I'm too lazy to learn any language other than English, which I barely have a grasp of. However the company behind it is also the one responsible for the wonderful "Minuscule" series, so it should be great in any language.

Dragon Hunters Trailer and Site

Igor Update

I really should be posting this on "hump day," but nonetheless, here is an update on Weinstein's upcoming "Igor" which is being created in Paris by SPARX.



Thanks to Animated News, I can pass on links to the official Exodus site where you can see a full cast list, which is actually somewhat impressive. Not only that, but the cast does not (currently) feature Andy Dick or Whoopi Goldberg, so it's already got that going for it.

The second link is a video that takes us behind the scenes with some annoying CNN correspondent who somehow managed to land a role in the film. I'm sure it was basically a "do a piece on our upcoming movie and the lifeless corpse holding the mic can have a bit part," but it's still interesting to see the process. Don't hold your breath for any clips from the film though, as there is only one that lasts about 2 seconds at the very end.

With a cast like the one listed, the film has the star power for sure. Now we'll see if they can pull off the characters and story in the same way that Pixar and Dreamworks can.

Igor Cast List on Exodus

Igor Behind the Scenes Video