Birds of a Feather Flock in Relative Proximity of Each Other

Another quick update. I attended CG Con this weekend and it was simply fantastic! The animation masterclasses were full of gold nuggets that I am looking very forward to implementing. I was also able to have my reel professionally reviewed by Matthew Russel of Valve and Charles Alleneck of ILM. Both experiences were humbling but positive; some definite tweaks to make, so much more to learn but overall they thought it was rather strong, which is a good sign as I certainly can't judge my own worth. One thing they both mentioned was that I could use a full body, body mechanics shot and so I have started one. It's only in the blocking phase and a short test, but hopefully I can get it polished up by Siggraph.



I've essentially finished the subtle acting piece I've been working on, and decided to cut off the ending, I felt it drag on a bit too long for the purpose it was trying to serve, which was to demonstrate a context between text and subtext. It was understood at the reel review so that's a good sign to be sure. I've compiled it all together in what is now my current reel, but only for a couple more weeks, as I have to go back and tweak other shots. But here it is for the time being:



CG Con is planning on coming to Vancouver in the next few months for a smaller road show, they've asked for my assistance so I'm seeing what I can do to make that a reality, not much mind you. It will be great if they come, a lot of local talent and interest to be sure. So yea, it's largely just the mad rush to get ready for Siggraph, GameJam, and mostly just finish tweaking my reel as many studios this year it seems requires a pre-submission to be talked to; rather smart but kind of annoying hehe. A test of endurance, can't stop now! :D

Et Tu Bay?

Just a quick update, it's been a week off between terms but I still managed to keep busy. I started a new monologue shot that still needs a lot of finess but it's well on it's way. I decided to go with an clip from the original Frost/Nixon interviews as the authenticity of the piece really sung out to me and presents an interesting challenge in what's being said and what the subtext actually is.


My new mentor for Class 5 is Jason Taylor and I feel very lucky to have him. This term is all about story and I'm very excited, also nervous to come up with a short film idea that I will be happy with as I will be spending the next 6 months on this. I've had a few good brainstorming sessions already, but I'm not letting the cat out of the bag yet, too early.

CGCon is only 2 weeks away holy schnikey! Part of my reason to do a new animation was just to bulk up my reel for this event as there will be an impressive job fair there, to which I will get an opportunity to hand out some reels and more importantly receive feedback to make them stronger for Siggraph, the theory seems sound anyways. Also there will be some excellent animation master classes and a chance to meet some AM mentors, alum and mentees, it's going to be a busy week.

I saw Transformers 2, I shall refrain from comment on that one as I want this to be a short blog post. Also saw Ice Age 3, and that was excellent stuff. Great for kids, but the animation in that was supersolid, I feel really inspired right now and I gotta keep that feeling. Also with any luck there is a new twitter widget on my blog as I recently found out I can combine the two, feel free to follow me if you wish.