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.

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!

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!

Sculptures: 360 view

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

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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.



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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!

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!

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.
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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!

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!

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

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!!

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.

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