back on the air

After five months off to hike in the woods and start work on my film it's time to get back on the blog horse and say hello to everyone out there.

So, I quit my job and I'm working with pantasox partner, Masako Miyazaki on our first film.

its time to take a break

So, I was in 'Sweatbox' today. That's where we all get together with the directors and they critique our shots. Give notes, and send us back to our cubicles to fix em' up for tomorrow's sweatbox. And someone let it out of the bag all open and nonchalant like that I'm leaving. So that's it. The cat's out of the bag. I was going to wait until Monday to let everyone here know, but word spreads like wildfire in the animation department, and I have a feeling everyone already knows anyway.
I'll write a sappy nice little e-mail on Tuesday morning to let the one or two hermits who don't talk to anyone know I'm leaving and that's that.
This blog is going on a little hiatus along with my feature animation career. I'll be taking a little walk in the woods for the next two months or so. You can check it out here if you like. And then some time in August when I return, I'll get back to this blogeroo where, hopefully, it will all be different. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes...

it is time to get my head straight

I don't know where I'm going. Really. Things need some structure in my life. I need clarity. I think I'll go for a walk... well, after my shot is done.

like a long plane ride every day

I just realized as I was sitting here in my cubicle, staring at the screen inches from my face that I feel like I'm on one of those 14 hour flights half way around the world. I have a headache. The food at lunch was terrible and my plastic fork broke trying to cut the chicken. There's a low hum coming from the HVAC system above my head, very reminiscent of the hum of the jet engines of a 747. It's even got that little jet of air blowing at my bald spot... Not cold, mind you, but lukewarm. Like when your grandma laughs in your face while pinching your cheek. The fabric covering the walls of my cube and the color palate.... Dang, if it's not spot on to Delta's decor from a few years back. There's even the constant chatter of peeps seated around me muffled by all the fabric, but still making its way through the music in my headphones. And I think someone just farted.

phantastic phephect

Special thanks to the other half of pantasox for this one. My girl M sent me this today and I had to plop it up here. Especially after that last post on inspiration. NFB of Canada's new stop-mo film, Tutli-Putli Is looking beautiful. They've taken a beautifully creepy puppet and composited human eyes on it! It's true what they say. The eyes are the window to the soul, and you can really see it here. Eye animation like this would take some mad time and skill for an animator to pull this off in every shot... Of course, this is a tiny vid, and it's hard to tell with the quick cuts what it really looks like, but it's really looking promising. I have to admit tho, the creators were really hamming it up when it came to working on a stop-motion film.



movie poobies:
The Interpreter **- whatever thriller with whatever story and whatever acting.
Flightplan *** - Heh. It's kind of embarrassing giving this three stars, but there's something about Jodie Foster thrillers that just get me right here.
Divine Trash *** - Documenting the filth and fury of it all.
Idiocracy ** - I wanted to laugh, I really did. Maybe I didn't laugh because I have a brain.

serious animation tip no.2

good artists borrow, great artists steal
-VG

Well, I dunno' if it can really be summed up so simply. After all, Van Gogh was probably half way through the gates of looneyville when he muttered those words. But it is true that inspiration comes from all around you. Sometimes it's good to remember that. Take last night, for example. I was watching Spider Man 3 and I was inspired never to make a movie that costs over 300 million dollars because it will inevitably turn out crappy.

Learn from the greats. One of my early inspirations came as a kid watching Disney flics like The Rescuers and 101 Dalmatians. There is a lot to learn from the peeps of the past. You can find some amazing behind the scenes footage here of Glen Kean's 2-D animating insight and magic.

George Pal is best known for his special effects in movies like The Time Machine and War of the Worlds, but what blew my mind was the first time I saw the Puppetoons series of cartoons. Stop-Motion replacements taken to the extreme. Some of my favorite replacement animation is found in the short, Harbor Lights, and check out the Nazi influenced 'screwball' robots in "Tulips Shall Grow" below.


Of all the videos and all the films in all the world, Charles and Ray Eames' Powers of Ten is the most influential in my life. I remember when I was 7 or 8, going to the Field Museum in Chicago and watching this in one of those old kiosk displays and being completely enveloped in it. Never before had I felt so much a part of something bigger than myself, and at the same time, so tiny and insignificant. The Eames simple explanation of the powers of ten has been re-made and adapted countless times since, but the original still holds the power to impress.


This trailer from indie video game artist Arnt Jensen got me all excited again for games. I have no idea when or if this will ever be finished and released, but we can all hope...


Ok Go's music vid is just fun. And my fascination with all things pac has been quenched for this entry.


Anders Nilsen and his 'Big Questions' series of comics is one of those brain opening experiences where you look in to the abyss and realize it's much bigger than you thought. It's like, man... I swear I dropped a pebble in to this thing a week ago and it hit ground down there but today, it's endless! Nilsen blends quiet contemplative environments and humor perfectly.


One can learn a lot from trying to mimic nature. Sony's Qiro biped robot came closer than any before in behaving like a human, But it's still definitely a machine. It's interesting to see the drawbacks of these bots, and to dissect which parts of the movements look real and which look artificial. Okay, DISCUSS!


New York Stop-Mo dude, PEZ having some old school fun. And by the way, if you feel like playing any of these and are in the NY are, be sure to stop by Barcade for a glass of beer and some quarter arcades!

baaawrrr

Like many animators out there, when I first saw Jurassic Park back in 1993 it was one of the biggest influences in just how far this fancy new computer technology would take over our medium. And to this day, the first Jurassic Park film's effects are some of the best ever put on film. But I gotta' say, seeing something physical right in front if you can be even more amazing.

my foot has left the building

I woke up this morning and said to myself "It sure is a good day to be alive!" The sky was a little cloudy as I opened up the curtains. Mr. Sun peeked through a stratus cloud floating way above my window and said "Hello there! Have a pleasant day!" I smiled, politely said "Thank you Mr. Sun" and headed out the door to work. Traffic was smooth after I got over the Williamsburg bridge and I could see Mr. Sun starting to shoo the remaining little clouds out of the way, making the road nice and bright the rest of the way.

For the first hour at work, I moved with determination and vigor. Focused and clear in the blocking of my shot. It's got a long way to go, but it's coming along swimmingly. At 11pm I went in to the production manager's office and handed in my resignation. It's been near 5 years since I started here and at the end of May I will no longer be a feature animator. At least not on a day-to-day basis. It's been an amazingly intense experience and I've learned a lot about what I like to do, what I'm good and bad at, and where I feel I should be.

The future looks filled with new adventures and learning experiences and I'm ready to take it all in. So let's go check it out! But first, I need to finish this 500 frame shot...

running on empty

My apologies for not posting recently. Work has started to kick in to gear and a lot of us animators are furiously scurrying around, following the scents on the ground to our destinations. I hope that we don't come across any more of that deadly fungus. Tom was messing around by the big pile of leaves next to the clover field the other day and disappeared. A day later he stumbled back and was acting all weird. I asked him if he was okay, but he just blinked at me with these blank eyes and walked away. I heard that later that day he climbed up a blade of grass and his head exploded. shudder...

So, anyway, I've just finished my second shot of the film and have been handed a 500 frame doozey that'll be taking up my time for the next three or four weeks. I'll try to post some more for all you faithful readers out there. Until then,

eye candy:
Thank You for Smoking ** - I didn't find it funny or enjoyable. A letdown from a decently mediocre cast.
Ray ** - It's overly dramatic standard music docudrama stuff. Nothing new here, but good if you're in the mood. Personally, I'd skip it and watch Walk the Line instead.
Fast, Cheap, and out of Control ** - There's no real point to this documentary, and the editing is contrived.
Face/Off ** - for some reason abdo digs this flic...
The Hurricane *** - See review for "Ray" above and substitute the word "music" for "boxing". A bit more original, tho.
Yi-Yi ***** - Beautifully shot, acted, and directed. This quiet family portrait of a film is well worth the time.
The Gift *** - It was fun to watch a whateva' thriller at work.

just another day

I wake up to NPR, run, take a shower, kiss my girlfriend, drive to work, grab a breakfast somewhere in WP, check my e-mail, animate, watch a movie, eat lunch, animate more, check my e-mail again, pop in another movie, animate some more, get a game of Guitar Hero in, finish up animating for the day, pack up, drive home, make dinner, eat dinner, chat with m, brush teeth, go to bed, and start it all over again the next day.

Same as any other day...

movies:
Hard Eight*** - PT Anderson's junior effort, with junior results. But it's still PT Anderson.
Life of Mammals **** - Funny
Once Were Warriors *** - gets a little to melodramatic for my tastes, but is worth it's indie fame.
The Maltese Falcon ** - I'm usually a sucker for a good ol' 40's mystery, but this one put me to sleep.

inspiration

There are times in every artists career when you hit an block. Emotional, Psychological, Physical. Whatever it may be it's there. Like an impenetrable wall of steel, mortar, and brick.
My particular block had to do with the arc of a character I was working on. For some reason the conceptual realization of his metaphorical disassociation with the situation he had found himself in was not coming across in the film. It could have been the somewhat banal nature of his lifestyle, although I found it to be quite introspective... in a good way. It could also have been his austere yet demure posturing to his fellow companions. It took me some long pondering to realize that I had no idea where to go with this animation. That was, until I watched this video . It truly summed up all that I was looking for with his character in a few short seconds of beautiful storytelling.

wednesday noon

I've got a posse. Yeah. We don't have matching jackets, but we do hover around like a small school of fish. And every Wednesday afternoon we flap our flippers on over to the mall next door for a burger and some good conversation. Today was particularly busy and the diner we frequent had it's usual parking lot of strollers along side the entrance.
Standing in line with the suburban mommies and grandparents, I started feeling a little out of place. Not that I ever feel really IN place here amongst the avenue long malls and retirement homes that line the streets near my work.
That's it.

peas in the pod:
Gangs of New York*** - More Departed than Taxi Driver.
Slither*** - Hahahaha! beckoning back to the campy horror flics of the 80's

i think my eyes just threw up

Sometimes I think my directors would wish they could do this to me. But I'm sure it would have some long lasting legal consequences.



So what am I getting at? Some people like to say that "fact is stranger than fiction". I prefer the term "fiction COMES from fact". It's only a matter of time before everything that can possibly be imagined is. And everything that can possibly be done comes to fruition. What happens then? The universe implodes and we start all over again. Well, really who knows what will happen a trillion trillion years from now? Or what happened trillions of years before? All I know is that brainwashing fungus' are disgusting, amazing, and inspirational all in one fell swoop.

flics:
7 up series**** -Michael Apatow's social study of the UK, filming a group of people every 7 years of their life. It started in the 50's and has continued every 7 years since. October of 2006 they released 49 up. It's an amazing documentary of life. The ups and downs that come with every one. You only really get the full effect if you watch the entire series.

serious animation tip no.1

When dealing with directors, be sure to listen closely and pay special attention to the 'feeling' of the shot, and not just the physical details. Of course, you don't want to disregard the physical notes, but just make sure to keep in mind that animation is more than the sum of it's moving parts. You should be able to discern from any review from a director these three things:

1. Motivation of the shot. Where the audience should be focusing their attention on, and for what reason. This includes motivation of the character or object in the shot as well as the overall feel. Know your character's (or whatever you're animating) reasons for doing whatever they're doing on screen.
2. Insure a clear scenic arc. The shot should flow seamlessly through the previous and following shots, as well as the rest of the story. If the story is mid-crescendo, don't pop the cork before the glasses are ready. Basically, know where you are in the story.
3. Details. Assessing technically what needs to be done to complete the shot in the amount of time available. Listen to the directors notes, and understand which they feel are most important.

Often times directors will not like a shot, and try and fix the problem by giving you a lot of notes like "adjust the eye shift forward a bit and speed it up" or "more antic before that step and get a stronger pose at the end. Bring the hand up more". If that's all they give you, then you'll have to read between the lines a bit. If I have a good working understanding of a director, I can often get if they think the motivation of a character is off based on the technical notes they give me. But sometimes you can't get it and if you're ever unsure, be sure to ask questions until you do understand. Otherwise you risk spending the day working on something that isn't what the film needs, and making more work for yourself in the long run.

Or you can do what I've been doing lately and watch movies all day in your cube while randomly keying poses here and there until something looks good.

I'd recommend watching movies like:
The Godfather**** - I never really liked it until the third viewing. Hm....
Amistad** - Def. not one of Spielberg's best. Over acted, over storied, over everythinged.
Aliens Vs. Predator * - Models running around in the arctic befriending monsters with laser guns.

kay dudes

I've been getting a lot of comments about my comments as of late. Apparently some of you out there think I'm being awfully down and depressing-like. It's true, I've been going through a bit of a hard time as of late with work and all. But it's more than just that. Yesterday I found myself at home for most the day (due to reasons beyond my control) and instead of being totally proactive and doing constructive things like working on an animation idea or installing bedroom windows, I found myself curled up on the couch watching mythbusters. As I was lying there watching Adam and Jamie attempt to fling a dummy catapult style from an extended arm crane, I started to wonder where my drive is.

My bro just sent me an e-mail all gushy about seeing my name up on IMDB.com. It's sort of like the yellow pages of the movie biz. Only there are no phone numbers. It recently struck me that my childhood goal of seeing my name scroll by on the credits after a movie has been reached... Going on for a third time right now. And now that the dream is fulfilled, what next?

The questions and images that used to drive me only seem like little flutterings now a days. No longer do I wish to be a great character animator... what do I want? I dunno, maybe I should just walk out the door, put on some hiking shoes and don't turn back until I know... But obviously, that's crazy talk.

pointless visuals:
Mary Antoinette***-I applaud the concept, visuals, and effort. But the film runs flat when it comes to drama and plot.
The Illusionist***- Watch that other magician movie from 2006 instead. Unless you want romance. Then watch this one. Aw, heck. watch em' both.
Casino Royale****-Kick ass bond with a touch of class. Shaken, Stirred, and all f**ked up!
Deliverance****-An oldie but goodie. Fear hath never been more apparent to the wilderness wanderer...
Anna and the King**- Boring and historically farcical.
How to Draw a Bunny***- Interesting subject matter, boring doc.
Ghost Dog: Way of the Warrior****-Jarmusch rocks out hip-hop japanosushi style in this ridiculously funny flic.
Planet Earth****-Just started watching this 11 part series on Disc. Channel and it's AMAZING.

mousetrap

Well, my attempts to capture the rodent that's been plaguing the animation department by eating all our snackies is done. And I'm sorry to say nothing has come of it. The little bugger has either died in the walls or has moved on to more fruitful places because he sure isn't here anymore. I'm sorry it couldn't be a more exciting ending, but we live in the real world. Not some make-believe furry animal fantasy world on film.
I know, what could be more frustrating than setting out for a goal and never making it to the finish. One that's right there in front of you. When you feel like each step forward is followed by two blows to the head and you stumble back two steps. Like when the directors hand you a shot and say "here, do this" and you do it, and it's not good, and they tell you to do it a different way, and someone else chimes in and gives you bad direction saying that the directors told him to tell you to do it that way, and then you show it and they're like "what the hell are you doing?!" and they get angry and you get all frustrated and you punch your director in the cheek and the building's security kindly escorts you out the door.

You know what I say?... publish THAT mother f***er!

why do i even bother

What's the point, really?
No one reads this silly blog. I don't even tell people about it. And when I do reluctantly tell a friend about my blog I say " oh, it's not very good so don't bother checking it out". Nothing much ever happens at work here. I have to blog about stupid pathetic things like our mouse problem in the studio. I'm not even much of an animator. And I live in Brooklyn. It's not even Manhattan, so should I really be calling this blog 'animator in the city"?
It should probably be re-named 'grumpy, fat, dull scuttlebutt sits at his computer and procrastinates the day away watching crappy movies and crappier half-finished animations flicker by'. Yeah, that's a better title. Maybe I'll change it tomorrow. But I'm probably too lazy to do even that.
At the moment I'm waiting for my computer to render the images of my shot to show the directors. It should have been done last night, but I think my screen saver accidentally came on and killed the render after I went home. Most likely it won't finish rendering in time to show, and I'll be another day late... ungh.
The production manager scheduled a meeting to meet with me tomorrow. I don't know what it's for. She's either going to scold me for taking too many sick days and fire me, or I'll give me a promotion. Honestly, I'm not really sure which one it'll be. We'll just have to wait and see.

flics:
Gosford Park **** - charming and most delightful Altman delicacy.
Seven up/ 7 Plus Seven *** - Interesting Documentary series following a group of brit's every 7 years of their lives.
A Dirty Shame **** - The closest John Waters has gotten to the raunchy shock flics of his youth.
Thumbsucker *** - Indie teen drama
Swimming with Sharks *** - kind of over done storyline... well, really overdone.
House of Sand and Fog *** - Nicely done, but same old...
The Rock *** - The one that really started it for Michael Bay. Pumpin' fun.
Last Days ** - Van Sant's done much better. Self indulgent student filmish.

digital dillema

We're having a little problem with the mouse hunt night vision renders. Unfortunately, there is an overload in the render farm here and the rat pics don't take priority over other images. Hmph! But not to worry, they'll be coming up soon!

Currently, I'm still working on my first shot. It's been a year since I last animated a shot completely through to completion and I'm feeling a bit rusty. Well, really rusty. Splining out my shot has been going uber slow. But if I can really buckle down today and get some work done... HAhahaha! well, I'll try.'

The clock keeps ticking,
the counter reads one hundred and eighteen,
and it keeps going down,
i can't tell if it's a happy feeling,
or absolute fear...
...terrifying excitement.

smoovies:
The Science of Sleep**** - It's like a giant gondry video. Sure, it's self indulgent, but I love watching it all.
Reds***
Munich*** - just another spielberg thingamadood. Got a tear from me in Shindlers List, not this time.

easy to fix snafoo

There has been a little snag in the original plans. Apparently, something has been knocking around the night vision cameras after everyone has gone home for the day. We did get some pictures, but most of them are blurred from the motion. So I've written a little image cleaning algorithm and hijacked a small percentage of the render farm at studio to process the photos we've got. With a little luck in 40-60 hours we'll have some pictures of the snack-eating culprits!

Movies:
Reds *** - historical epic
Dave *** - yeah, it's stupid, but I like it... sister act style.

let's get to the core of it all

I was just busy at work reorganizing my Netflix queue and submitting a few star ratings for movies when something struck me hard. Maybe it's silly, but for some reason I got all crazy when looking at all the different reviews people gave to the same movie. It blew my mind how one person could give a film like "Lady in the Water" 5 stars and another person would give it only 1. Is there a universal good? Can you create a film that is loved by all? I dunno. It was just about this time that I was putting in my rating for "The Core" And Roger Ebert's review caught my eye.

I have such an unreasonable affection for this movie, indeed, that it is only by slapping myself alongside the head and drinking black coffee that I can restrain myself from recommending it. It is only a notch down from "Congo," "Anaconda," "Lara Croft, Tomb Raider" and other films which those with too little taste think they have too much taste to enjoy.

Now, it doesn't happen very often that I agree with good ol' Rog' but this time I found myself nodding and chuckling to myself. But unlike the other films mentioned in his review, The Core's got a fair amount of "wha... holy sh*t! What's gonna happen next?!" to keep you watching on. Don't get me wrong, I'd never go so far as to say it's a great film. But there's something fun here if you can get past the crappiness.

Kind of like James Whale's 1930 horror flics "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein", Jon Amiel and his crew have made a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. I know what you're saying. "Scuttlebutt's comparing Frankenstein to The Core?!!! What is he stupid or something?!" Well, yeah, it's probably a pretty big stretch. Perhaps this analogy would be more suited to comparing Frankenstein to Starship Troopers (another one of those films that makes you go hmm...crap? or crap!) But it was "The Core" that got me thinkin' so that's what I'm stickin' with.

Anyway, this post is getting a little to heady for it's own good so let's end it here. But I ask you to just keep in mind that movies are made for you to enjoy. If you don't like a flic, that's fine. But there are many levels to watch movies on.

a few more for the flickerin':
Innerspace **** - 80's movies are just so cool! The don't make them like this anymore.
The Departed *** - Good, but Scorsese got the Oscar for history's sake, not this little flic.
Babel **** - better than 21 grams, less heart than Amoros Perros.
Lady in the Water * - M.Knight's full of himself!
Happy Feet *** - Expected a LOT less from this, It's still crap but it's trying.
Monster House *** - Dark and edgy. The future of Animated films?

squeak hunt

Okay, reports have been coming in from all over the animation department that something's been rummaging through our drawers at night, biting holes through our candy bags, and leaving little turd presents for us. Well, Scuttlebutt has to investigate on this a little more so I'm going in to Ford Fairlaine mode. First step is to find the culprit(s) in action so I'm setting up a few night vision cameras equipped with motion sensors on the floor near the heaviest snack eating animators cubes and in a week we'll see if anything shows up!

Distractions on the side lately:
The Abyss **** - special edition, of course!
Gods and Monsters **** - wonderfully crossing between fact and fiction.
Art School Confidential ** - anti-establishmentarianism crap.
Final Destination *** - you know, just fun and gore.

i blink and six hours have gone by

Ungh. I've almost forgotten how to animate! Or, if you ask my directors, they'd probably say I already have forgotten. My first shot in a year and inspiration is coming along slower than molasses. It's really not that difficult a shot, but getting back in to things and learning the character's mannerisms is taking it's toll on me right now.

Many a day was spent last week buckling down after lunch adjusting poses and timing and not realizing that the sky (hidden by the parking lot underpass outside my window) had gotten dark. Needless to say, in situations like that where lunch debris floating around between the gums and teeth start to fester and rot, a good strong mint becomes your best friend. DON'T FORGET THAT all you college animation students!

You watched WHAT?!!!
Girl 6 ***- definitely not one of spike lee's better attempts
Cars ** - worst one for pixar yet. Oscar UN-worthy
Evil Dead *** - if you're in the mood for blood n guts humor
Contact **** - i'm a sucker for sci-fi... and jodie
Jurassic Park III * - don't ask.

slow going

My apologies for the lack of posts this past week. Starting back up animating after a year of rig testing and character developing is taking it's toll on me. I've had to dust off the ol' training wheels and start getting back in to the practice of it all. And it's taking up most of my blogging time! Ungh Sometimes work can be such a job!

So I came across one of the Segway security guards in the mall again. Haven't seen many around lately. Maybe too many of them have been falling down the escalators or perhaps all their backup batteries died. Who knows, but I'm glad to see they're still around. Speedily whizzing up and down the catwalks at a blazing 8 mph and making all of us suburban shoppers feel a little safer from the roving gangs of teenage girls with their rhinestone cell phones dangling from their wrists.

Movies in the background:
Adaptation **** - ages like a good wine...
Proof ***
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story **** - Chink Power!
SinCity *** - Three stars for trying something new.

bebop dog

My Grandfather's best friends' mechanic, Mitch used to always say "if you don't have something nice to say then shut the f**k up." Well, I've been a little on the grumpy side since I finished my first film here but that's going to change. Or at least, you won't hear any more of that grumpy Mr. Scuttlebutt on this blog no more. Shoo! Be gone with you! Away! Away!

So, here's Bebop Dog. He's my pal. Bebop Dog was drawn by Joseph. Bebop Dog is Cool. He doesn't like aliens, but they like him. Bebop Dog hangs in my cube, in front of the Pixar Cars calendar and makes me smile when I am down. He doesn't need to be walked, eats very little, and only requires a little conversation every now and again.


Movies that flicker past...
2046** - Crap. Crap. Crap. Boring.
Brick*** - What a brainy piece of theater.
War Games****
L.I.E. ? - My netflix disc was scratched so I'm waiting to see the end.

i'll enjoy every minute making this film... up my butt

Well, it's a breakthrough day for me... kind of. I've been assigned my first shot of our new movie today... in a way. Well, actually, the shot might go through a few changes before going in to the finished movie... the beginning of production is always a little backwards. Because of time constraints, we end up chasing our own tail for a few months. Let me explain... what the frack is going on here. There's been a shuffling around in the higher up's and all the peeps here are scrambling to get the film up on reels to show the new management.... at least, what we've got so far. This doesn't effect the animation department a whole lot, but it does mean that one sequence of shots are being rushed through the primary blocking stage so it will make more sense when it's screened... but it still won't help out all the story and character potholes that are in serious need of repair, or all the other crap that's not quite working at the moment. Basically, we're putting in main poses and movement to convey the emotions of the characters for a fairly pivotal scene... that I have a feeling will end up completely changing before the film is released. And if not, well I guess we're crankin' out another whopper of a crap-classic here. With a little luck, the blocking will go smoothly and we'll be bringing these shots to spline and clean them up for use in the film at the end!... except, of course, for the fact that the characters are not finished yet and a lot of the poses and animation will probably have to be re-done after the fact. It's great to finally start up on production... up my butt!

Okay, some of my frustration might have come out in this post, but as the most wonderfully enlightened rock band Slayer so beautifully say in their song "Exile" off their critically acclaimed 2001 "God Hates us All" album;

Even though some things are better left unsaid
There's a few things I need to get off my chest
I need to vent - let me tell you why...

Movies Blasted through yesterday:
Death and the Maiden***
Blood Simple***
Inside Man****

printed schedule

Well, It's Tuesday. T to the U followed by ES n' da' Z-Day baybeee. I'm not allowed to talk to my rigger because he has too much to do right now. So, I'm going over my character rig a few more times, looking for anything else to comment on. Since there are a few meetings that I attend in the week, the production assistant comes around and hands out these nifty schedule sheets in the morning so I know just where to go and when. I take the time to carefully look through the entire sheet and circle the meeting I need to attend. See in the pic? I've circled two veeery important meetings, each 30 minutes long, in which I need to attend today. I must pat myself on the back and say "scuttlebutt, you are a good boy for preparing so well for the day!" People will discuss things like art design and maybe ask me a question like "hey, you... from the animation department. Can you animate around this pole and make it look good? Right on man, coo." And then there's the meeting where my character, the doc, will be rendered with fur and spinning around in a circle.

And as a new addition to these blogs, I'll be adding a list of DVD's I've watched while at work. As many of you already know, I watch a lot of movies at work. It helps me loosen the constrictions of concentration upon the tangible and intangible animatriculation within sequences re, shots per-se. I'm always inspired by other peoples work in the video and film medium. Although my girlfriend hates how I watch soooo many crappy movies, I find there are things to learn from in any film. Granted, sometimes they are small, stupid lessons that weren't really worth the 2 hours it took to watch the flic, but I'm only half watching them here at work anyway... I wonder if that means I'm only half learning then... or half crying... or half laughing... or half WORKING?...

Anyway, here's my first movie list:


Worlds Fastest Indian- Roger Donaldson-dir. It's the flic where SIR Anthony Hopkins plays the chipper dirty old man and moto enthusiast Burt Munro. Fairly straight forward journey-to-the-dream-of-a-lifetime flic with heart. Hopkins does a fine job and it made me want to pull the blue tarp off my 1977 Honda 400F and start cleaning out those well varnished carbs. ***

This Film is Not Yet Rated- A Documentary focusing on the strangely secret society called the MPAA. Have you ever wondered who rates film G PG PG+ R NC-17? Well, this film does some sleuthing around to find out. It gets a bit too Leftist preachy for me in that Michael Moore way, and the film making is only half decent. Watch it while you're animating. **

North Korea: A Day in the Life- Pieter Fleury takes a trip to North Korea and comes out with a Kim Jong Il approved 40 minute documentary of a "normal" day for a factory worker in North Korea. The whole doc plays like a well choreographed play with bad actors, but the truth is too strong and the thin veil is easy to see through showing a real world frighteningly similar to those portrayed in movies like 1984 and V for Vendetta. ****

The Notorious Bettie Page ***
Akeelah and the Bee ****
World Trade Center **
A Scanner Darkly **

constructive time management

Things are a tad slow today so I decided to build a pig. Thanks to C & A at Kaiju Studios, I received this wonderful cardboard pig set. It's kind of like those wood dinosaur bone kits that you used to make as a kid but a bit trickier.

Now, I know what you're all thinking. What is a P-I-G anyway? Well, according to my friend attending college down in Tuscaloosa, AL it is an animal. In fact, it is "any of several mammals of the family Suidae, having short legs, cloven hooves, bristly hair, and a cartilaginous snout used for digging." Hm! Well, I guess he could be right. But Dang if I've ever heard of one of these crazy creatures before. Perhaps it's some kind of long extinct animal from way back in earth's history. Or maybe it's some kind of mythological creature conjured up by some ancient but not too smart tribe of human like beings. Well, whatever it is, it's cool looking on the package and I'm determined to put this sucker together before I have to leave tonight.

• Step 1 - Take the four sheets of pre-cut cardboard out of it's plastic packaging and carefully lay them down on a clean surface. Each section is numbered and corresponds to a number in the steps neatly but disorganiz-edly arranged in the one page instruction sheet.

• Step 2 - Start following the one sheet of instructions and build the front and back of this beast. For some reason, the people who designed the packaging of this kit decided not to put any order to the building directions. No matter! I am a MASTER of spacial skills. My girlfriend told me so and so it must be true.
  

• Step 3 - Keep taking the little cardboard pieces out and put them together, following the instructions provided. Well, By the time I got to the legs, I said "f**ge these drawings, let's wing it millennium falcon style!" And so I carefully folded the one page manual and continued on unabated.
  

• Step 4 - Smell to insure the construction is coming along as realistically as possible. Even though I have never encountered one of these beasts before (or even know if it ever was a real creature!) I'm going on the information given to me by my college pal. It is always important to make sure every part of a realistic re-construction is accurate. So I sniffed the cardboard until musty wet hair, mud, and feces filled my cubicle and my neighboring animators cubicles. It took about 15 minutes.

And voila! You're done. I admit, now that it's constructed, this creature bears a striking resemblance to something from my memory... but what?... I dunno, working on films as I do, sometimes the fiction of fantasy has a tendency to creep in to my reality. It is possible that This glimmer of realization is nothing more than an overactive imagination. Nonetheless, Pig is a cute addition to my toys sitting on and around the computer. Thanks again, A & K.

cudos are required

I must give congratulations to our latest Oscar nod in the short animated film category. Clap Clap Clap. Yeah, sure we had the potential to have a feature in the nominations as well. Perhaps we deserve to be in the list of three this year (as many in the studio feel) but I really can't say as I've only seen cars. I guess it's finally time to take a couple hours and watch the screeners those studios send out. After all, I need to cast my all important ASIFA ballot and, heck. I'm in the industry, right?

close your eyes, give me your hand darlin'...

...do you feel my heart beating
do you understand
do you feel the same
or am i only dreaming
is this burning, an eternal flame

I just completed putting together the 'picker' for my character, the Doc. She's a sweetie, you know? All cute as a button underneath her frazzled scientific exterior. And I know I'll be spending a lot of late nights with her this next year, moving and caressing every one of her curves.

Picker is what most of us animators here at the studio use to organize the 400+ movers that are on each of the main characters. The complexity is a little overwhelming at first, but after a week or two you begin to get more comfortable with them all. Honestly, I'm still used to used to stop-motion work and having so many movers frack with my head a bit. It would be so much easier if I could just reach in to the screen and move the character physically. How cool would that be? combining the ease of posing stop-mo style with the repeatability of the computer? Heck man, we could get twice the amount of work done in half the time!

Oh yes, and one more thing...

sweetness comes in many flavors. this is not one of them

Awright y'all! Let's get crackin' with the work now shall we? After the long MLK weekend, all of us animators arrived in to the lower level floor ready to set up our cubes and start working. Unfortunately, the planners of this move didn't take in to account just how picky us animators can be when it comes to setting up our personal work spaces (and silly them, they told us we could adjust our mix-and-match cubes any way we wanted to) Well, HAH I say! Tuesday was spent standing around and twiddling my thumbs waiting for the movers to do their thing. Today was spent unpacking for the first 30 minutes and then twiddling my thumbs waiting for systems to get my new fancy monitor in and everything hooked up. The move was HUGE and it's no fault to the movers or systems. We just could have used more time and resources for it all. 4:00 now, and I think it's about time to start working... after this blog entry, that is. The computer is whirring a little. I think the movers knocked the fan out of whack a bit, but whatever. Check out this awesome view we've got now! They really know how to treat us well here! If I crank my head around the corner really far I can see a tree on the corner. And the loading trucks coming to deliver boxes to the mall next door all day long is a nice touch also. I think my buddy P-man summed it up best the other day when he said " if there were any other CG studios on the east coast, this would be grounds for quitting."

goodbye sun, hello 12 hour days

What better way to start the official beginning of animation on a film then with a big move! The animation department is getting too big for it's britches and with the freelancers we're going to hire to finish the next film on time, there's definitely not enough space on the 17th floor for all of us. so we're moving to the lower level of our building where it'll be easier to carve out new cubicles from the bedrock foundation. Get yer' pick axe and mining cap, we're goin' diggin fer' space!

Of course, there is a bit of grumbling from some of the animators. We're losing our sunlight and fanciness of being on the "main" floor. But my feeling is that you just need to take more of a glass-is-half-full approach to it all. Animation is going to be so busy working this year that we wouldn't have a chance to look out the windows even if we wanted to! And we're going to be so much closer to our cars that it'll cut at least 30 seconds off our commute times.

I've had it pretty good the past two years with a poshy window seat where if I squint REEEEeeeeealllly hard, I can make out parts of the Manhattan skyline off in the distance. But hey! I still have a window seat down on LL2 with a spectacular view of the parking building.

my old spectacular view of White Plains

QWER

The character I'm in charge of is about to have it's second major release in to the animation department from rigging. Phase 2 we call it. Phase 1 had most of the body movers working fairly well and some simple eye controls, but this is the big daddy phase. Up until now, I've been blocking in simple test shots. Getting the general walk cycles, body expressions, and the like down. But this new rig will have the ability to really K.O. those finer emotions. (or at least I hope it will!) This one is where we really hone in on the little details and make this puppy animateable. It's also the last chance to get all the bugs out before we dive in to production. But, while I'm waiting for the rig to be released, there's still a little more character testing that needs to be done. And so I go back to my keyboard and start working. Aaah. it makes me want to sing!

Oh, you sweet four keys!

W, how sweetly you make my every wish come true on the camera view. You nearly intuitively move in any direction. Up, down, left, right. Anywhere I please, you take me.

E, what makes you so sweet? As the curves of each mover bob and sway in the wind. What's that you say? Straighten that elbow joint? No problem!

R..... RRRRrrrrrrr....... Make it big, make it small. If only you were in my world R, storing all those Christmas decorations in the closet would be so much easier!

And of course, Q. Simple, elegant Q. Nothing ever seems to bother you. In a blink of an eye, all is back to unmoving normality.

O, beautiful QWER.

i can hear the whips snapping in the distance

First day back to the ol' grind started out with the usual sorting through the 600+ e-mails that have accrued over the last week. I was expecting to come back to a hustling and bustling animation department with all us minions clicking and dragging away at our computers through the day and on in to the night, but it appears that things are still a bit slow right now.

There's still a bit of lag from some of the other departments ahead of us, giving the animation department some more wait time before we can really start working. Being so involved with wrapping presents and single plankin' it down mogul runs the last two weeks, I don't really remember how to animate. Oh well, I'm sure it's just like riding a bike.

To be honest, I'm a little weary about this next year. We have a LOT of work to do to get the film out the door for a March '08 release, and little time to do it in. If the work doesn't start piling up in the next few weeks, I'm afraid we're in for a really busy summer... spring, and fall... and winter too.

the work goes on

I'm still snowboarding in Utah, but work at the ol' animation factory continues on. Despite a lack of snow here in little cottonwood canyon, me and my buddies are having a good time ripping up what little snow is still on the ground after a week of no snow. Apparently, my buddy Aaron isn't having quite as much fun in front of his computer at work. HAH!

Don't feel too bad for him folks, he's accrued 6 WEEKS of vacation time so apparently, as grumpy as he is, he still enjoys sitting in his Aeron chair at work more than sipping margaritas on the beach.