Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Wire Sculpts

First off... HAPPY HOLIDAY'S to everyone!!


Wow... it's been a while since I've updated my blog. Well here's a pic of my latest wire sculpture created in a class I took here taught by Andreas Deja. He's amazing and has so much experience working with wire sculpts. It was amazing to take his class!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Early Disney CG Test


Thanks to a co-worker... Here's a really cool 3D animation test that Disney originally made in 1983. Pretty cool stuff.... it was even directed by our very own John Lasseter.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

got EDITOR?

What does a Film Editor do? I kinda wondered that myself...Here's a DVD that talks all about it. I never knew just how involved and powerful an editor can be. I highly recommend it for anyone working on a film of thier own.... or those who simply have an interest in filmmaking.


*image courtesy of amazon

Friday, November 03, 2006

More on Storytelling

I came across a great video on David Martinez's blog. Along the same lines of the pixar storytelling post I put up a few weeks ago. Here's an online video that breaksdown the storytelling methods and ingredients which create a great story. The video itself isn't geared toward animation... but nonetheless breaks it down for anyone interested in communicating through story. It's lengthy, (and a bit dry) but I guarentee it's worth watching!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

94 years....


Today I met a disney legend and one of my idols.
Happy 94th Birthday Ollie!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Storytelling Pixar Style

I came across a really great post by the animation guild here in LA. I don't know how many of you folks had the chance to go to the screenwriting expo last week. There was a great talk given by the top folks at Pixar about storytelling. If you're interested at all ... it made for a really great read. And if there's anyone out there with more notes please post 'em on here and I'll add a link! It sounds like this was an amazing lecture...


Part 1 & 2 *images from animation guild blog

Monday, October 16, 2006

More Pics

For those interested... Here are some additional pics of my new niece, Sophia Bella and my extended family.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

I'm an Aunt!

My brother & his wife had a baby girl last week. Her name is Sophia Bella Perez.
6lb. 20 inches long. Here's a pic... I'll try and post more soon.




Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Crunch Time - Pause



Howdy folks, due to the overhelming hours at work these days.... I haven't had a chance to post very much in the last few weeks. We still have several more weeks of 'crunchin' left so I'm afraid the post will be few and far between, at least for the next month or so.... stay tuned.


Friday, September 15, 2006

More Caricatures

After my caricature class here at work I decided to try and create some of the folks on the film I'm on "Robinson's" .... here's what I got so far ;) ...enjoy!




Friday, September 08, 2006

REBlog hits 30,000

A huge thanks to everyone who visits my little blog and ... especially those who every now and then leave a few encouraging comments! I never woulda thought a year in a half ago, when I started this blog, that I would have so many hits from such a wide variety of countries around the world. I had initially thought my mom would be the only one really looking at this site... boy am I pleasantly surprised!

I hope I can continue posting interesting stuff for everyone to check out every now and then ;)


And if you haven't already noticed a few changes or updates to the blog... lemme point 'em out. I added a cool little link on the right menu bar from Google Maps which logs each visitor based on location in the world. Click on the icon and check it out. Put one on your blog!!

I'll also be adding a brief bio and there's a new Site feed using Feedburner.com And for those who wanna keep in touch via email just fill out your info in the Subsription area and you'll get an email whenever my site is updated. I promise... no spam! Enjoy!
And again... THANKS EVERYONE!!


Thursday, August 31, 2006

Workin' Nights


I was walking to my car last night... and I couldn't help snapping a pic... the building looks sooo cool at night with the lights on. I hope it's a bit of inpiration for those folks bustin' some butt on thier Animation Mentor assignments. (or any animation tests for that matter!)

Friday, August 25, 2006

Cool Animation Shorts!

My friend Steve here at work sent me a couple of really cool links... so I thought I'd share. This is an awesome cool and spooky short called "The Passenger" by Chris Jones. I can't wait to see more on this one!

Here's another cool live action fx/animation by 2 brothers Alex & Ben Mallinson who started a company called DIE-CAST Films! This is freakin halarious!

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Disney Nostalgia

Here's another cool little website I stumbled onto. It's a site dedicated to all the old (and probly forgotten) attractions at the parks throughout the years. I'm not a super nut about the parks, but I'll admit it looking at this site brought up a bit of nostalgia. I can't help but l remember the fist time my folks took me and my siblings to DisneyWorld and how excited we were we couldn't sleep all night just thinking about it! It was truely a magical place... Yesterland.

Another site to visit is one called Extinct Attractions Club You'll find here a ton of DVD's and Video's that document the making and history of various rides. Really cool find! It takes me back to when I was a kid again!

Disclaimer: Both these sites are "unofficial"

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

ARTcast - PodCast

Last night I came across the coolest new podcast. It's actually named ARTcast and is hosted by famed caricaturist Steven Silver. I've been following his work for years and recently visited his blog where I noticed he started a podcast... apperently he's been doing this for a few months now.. so I'm way behind the times ;)

If you haven't already... go check it out... he gives some great insight in creating caricatures and even talks about his own experience getting into this field. Scroll down on the page to find the 1st ARTcast and work your way up the page! Enjoy!!


Monday, July 17, 2006

NEW Animation Short!

Well... I've been keeping this under wraps for a while now..... I can finally announce that I've co-created an Animation Short called O.D.D. Jobs along with 3 other friends here at work. To learn more about it... visit our Production Blog. There's some cool info, concept art and synopsis about the short and who all is working on it.



Sunday, July 09, 2006

San Francisco Trip Summer 2006

Hey folks I know it's been a few weeks since my SF trip... but I finally managed to get these pics up. I got to see a lot of old friends and met a bunch of new ones at the AM BBQ. This weekend was a blast and made me realize just how much I miss San Francisco.... however... i don't miss the freezing summers!!


Sculpture of Yoda at the Presidio.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Caricatures

I'm taking a caricature class here at work.... so I got to thinking.... What would some people look like as "Simpson Characters"? Well.... here's what I came up with for a few friends here at work!















more to come....

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Pyrats

Hey folks I came across this amazing student short film created by 5 french students at "Gobelins l'école de l'image" in Paris ,FRANCE. It's breath taking AND I almost thought this was a feature film.... I love the subtle combination of 2D and 3D. Keep an eye on these students....

PYRATS
Directors : Yves Bigerel , Bruno Dequier, Ben Fiquet, Nicolas Gueroux, Julien Le Rolland

Saturday, May 27, 2006

More Rocco Pics

I was snappin' some pics of my little boy Rocco this weekend... I thought I'd share 'em!

Saturday, May 20, 2006

"Humans!"

Here's a really cool animation by a company called "three legged legs". They've got some really suh-weeet work.... check it out!!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Evolution of Dance

ok I hadta post this cool video of the "evolution of Dance" I just about fell out of my seat when I saw this! It's not just a fun video, but it's also a great motion reference!!
Enjoy!!



Friday, April 21, 2006

Harryhausen in da House!



Well this week was a very special week here at work. We all got to meet the legendary animator Ray Harryhausen. He came by the studio to promote his new book. The Art of Ray Harryhausen.

This visit really got me to thinking about the old movies that inspired and mesmerized me when I was a kid. Back then I was completely enthralled in the creatures this man brought to life. He really is the "10th old man" of sorts. I mean... it's stop motion animation, not hand drawn but the principles stay the same and in one sense I think the animation that Ray did back then was in many ways way more complicated to work out 'cause he had to match up live action footage to his animation... and back then... there was no 3D software package to facilitate the process. Can you imagine!

This guy really pioneered techniques in animation! And today we're all indebted to his efforts. Even the greats such as Pixar and Weta have paid homage to him in their films. It's pretty amazing all the work this man has created and inspired. If you haven't already... I highly recommend checking out his new book there's a ton of insipational images and stories.


Wednesday, April 19, 2006

New Look

Hi Everyone... I'm working on a new look for my blog. Please if you run into any problems or like to leave any comments or suggestion drop me a note!

Sunday, April 16, 2006

got Teaser?

Ever wonder what the heck Disney Feature is up to? Hot off the presses!
Here's the brand spanking new teaser of Meet the Robinson's!


Monday, April 03, 2006

Sculptures: 360 view

As promised.... here are more of a 360 view of the sculptures in my last post.

____

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Sculptures

For those who maybe wondering what I've been upto during my semester off from AM here's some pics. I've really gotten into creating sculptures. Here at work they offer classes each week with a live figure model and instructor. All in all, in the last couple of months I've created 6 sculptures. Unfortunately, due to confidentiality, I'm only able to post 3 for now. I've also been working on my test animation with one of our rigs from the film, but again... can't show that until the movie is released.



____

Monday, March 06, 2006

Walleye's World

I came across this really cool blog site called Walleye's World
It's a super cool site with really witty drawings! A must read for all who blog!


Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Click to Vote!

Files have been fixed!
So here it is as promised, my newest animation test. I'm going to need everyone's help on this one so please don't be shy. I've created 2 seperate endings to the same animation and now I would love to know which one most people feel is their favorite! Special thanks to my co-workers and Anthea for the audio clip and extremely helpful suggestions and ideas!

Go check it out and VOTE for your favorite!



Friday, February 10, 2006

Everybody loves Fairfield

Hey all, Great conversation in the last post about Entertainment in Animation... It's been really eye opening and enlightening to read all your responces about what everyone thinks! It's definately made me think differently about how I'm approaching my new work.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



On a side note: I'm working on a couple of project that I'd like to mention. The first is an amazing short called FAIRFIELD by a co-worker of mine Steve Meyer. It's a great Film Noir story taking place through time. To see more info on this awesome project take a look at his blog which shows some inspiring concept artwork. I'm sooo excited to be working on this short... keep in mind it's a labor of love for all involved so it will be due out sometime in Spring 2007. Check out the site for more detail!


The second project is another Acting piece! I'll be posting some concept sketches and greasepencil test in the coming week. Until then enjoy the FAIRFIELD blog!

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Entertainment in Animation

What is entertainment? How do you get it in your animation? I'm still struggling with this idea myself... but here's some thoughts I've been mulling over. Feel free to comment or respond with any thoughts.

There's many ways to disect an entertaining animation. Can it be in the "timing". How bout "poses"? What about the dialogue itself? How about snappy fun "animation" for the sake of animation? Maybe it's in the acting? Well.... I think it's ALL these things!

I think you can have a pretty dull line of dialogue, but if you play with the timing... or act it out in an unconventional way... this can make an animation entertaining. I almost find it impossible to be able to explain why something is entertaining... but we all know it when we see it... why is that?

Gimme your thoughts!

Monday, January 16, 2006

Happy Birthday to ME!!

Hey folks, to all those that have wished me a Happy Birthday THANKS!!
And here are a few fun pics of the party for me and Rocco this weekend!

Birthday PICS

Friday, January 13, 2006

V2 ... need I say more?!?

Just when I thought Animation Mentor couldn't get any better... it HAS! Go right now, and check out the new Version 2 (V2) of the public website. There's so many goodies, articles, student work, trailers, mentor info... and a whole lot more!

....AND there's a cool article in the NEWS section about me and Anthea and our journey through the school!



Also here's a really amazing article by our very own Shawn Kelly about using "Operative Words" in our animations! An excellent read for EVERY animator!!

Monday, January 09, 2006

Rocco's 1st Birthday!!

Hey! Guess what today is?!? Rocco's 1st Birthday!!



ASIFA around the WORLD!

ASIFA chapters around the world
This is a great site to stay in touch with the animation related news around the world! Doesn't matter where you live ASIFA has a chapter near you! I highly recommend joining up if your interested in Animation!!


WHAT IS ASIFA?
ASIFA (association internationale du Film d' Animation) was formed in 1960 by an international group of animators to coordinate and increase world-wide visibility of animated film. ASIFA's membership includes animation professionals and fans from more than 50 countries. ASIFA sponsors animation festivals in Annecy, Ottawa, and Hiroshima.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Happy New Year!

Wow... can you believe it! It's already 2006!! Last year was an awesome and super inspiring year. Lot's of twists and turns.... Hopefully this year will be full of more of the same!

With that said... here's the new blog... no more AM assignments (at least for this semester). The continuation of this blog will be more of my day to day thoughts and key animation tips-n-tricks that I pick up around work. Not sure how it will be structured just yet... but expect new stuff at every couple of weeks.

Take care and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
~reb