Gingeranimation Blog

A Real Life Ninja

2009-06-05T12:53:00.003-04:00

Well im writing up my class 2 experience, im also currently planning my next animation titled Ninja's vs Robots just so people know what the hell im talking about, well whilst researching (because im not a ninja myself) ive stumbled upon an amazing resource on youtube.

Go to his youtube homepage check this out, fantastic stuff and even better he explains the whole process of his body mechanics movements as he goes through each move.

Cheers

Dave

Welcome Back to the Land of the blogging

2009-06-01T22:14:00.000-04:00

Hello world (again)

Wowzers! what a long time its been since ive updated this blog, (my animation mentor journey! :)

As i said in a post or two ago the reason for the rubbish blogging was because AM was getting pretty busy (understatement of the year 2008) on the whole my entire life was getting pretty busy, i had a few nice ideas for the blog site and to be honest i completely neglected the thing, as you can see with my last bill bailey post i was getting pretty darn lazy.

So i did a lengthy class 1 retrospective 9 months ago, and had a general feeling of optimism (dont worry its still there), so now id like to go about the process of updating on what i was doing between now and then.

So whats happened?

Firstly ill start with now, it seems pretty current and most likley to be relevent! im living in Montreal Canada with my girlfriend and former classmate Mariya Kalachova :) you can see Mariya's blog on the bar to the side, as im sure you can appreciate, my girlfriend came before the blog (sorry to any dedicated readers if you still exist :P) now i wont go too much into the ins and outs of our relationship because, frankly, its probably not why you're here eh? needless to say the last few months have been crazy, awesome and all together crazy awesome :)

Ok so what about the animation mentor school you shout, did you go? did you stay? how many spike t-shirts do you own? etc.

well mr etc (if thats your real name) im currently on a 3 – 6 month AM haitus, and i completed class 4 Advaced acting. Thats the short of it. here's my mentor breakdown for AM thus far:)

C1: T.Dan Hofstedt
C2:Dimos Vrysellas
C3:Michelle Meeker
C4:James Chaing

Now looking at this list of mentors, one word comes to mind, LUCKY! yeah, thats how i feel and i guess that's the biggest draw of the school, having the good fortune to have contact and feedback with such accomplished people is nothing short of amazing. Ill go into my thoughts on these classes in my next few posts, and a few other catch ups of the experiences in the last 9 months. which ive had quite a few awesome things happen.

So ill be back really soon i promise, with more AM and animation learning goodness. I hope you're all having a smashing time! i am :)

Back!

2009-05-28T15:46:00.000-04:00

Hey! sorry its been a long long time, im just finishing up a new post and itll be up over the weekend :) it shall explain everything.

For now enjoy the new half done colour scheme to closely resemble my new website!

Bad Blogging

2008-08-12T04:56:00.001-04:00

Howdy

we are deep in the bowels of class 2 at the minute...........so writing things is a little on the non existant side.

Here is some Bill Bailey to make your visit here worthwhile. Enjoy!

T.Dan The Man

2008-06-29T16:43:00.001-04:00

The last day of the break! i have just been reading Bobby's Blog about the AM BBQ, it sounds like a great time was had by all :) so Tomorrow we start again for another 12 weeks, and that means new Mentors! i don't know who i'm going to get yet but if they are anything like T.Dan i will be very happy.

So i just thought id say a big thanks to T.Dan for being such a great Mentor in Class 1,a great class we had, very talented, capable, friendly, funny and hard working. So to commemorate an awesome class i decided to have a go at a caricature of the man himself.Mahalo nui loa K.Kaniela

On Reflection: Animation Mentor – class 1

2008-06-27T06:28:00.000-04:00

Its been an interesting 12 weeks to say the least. And I really wanted to write this sooner but the trouble with this kind of post is, where do you start?

I mean AM is huge, not just huge its just bloody massive! There is a lot more than meets the eye. The first week I was getting tense because I hadn’t explored everything and I was on there for hours, training vids, interviews, workflow tutorials, character introduction tutorials, all sorts. Just when you think you have got through it all you hit the forum…..man it just goes on and on.

I know a few people have gone on about what Bobby Carlos and Shawn have achieved with AM being special, but its all true, it’s the most immersive and amazing learning experience I have had. with AM it isn’t a case of having to do the work, you WANT to do the work. I think that attitude resides within a lot of people but the positive feeling in the school really brings that out. Infact, although the work is hard and you have to put extra time in, I have found I have more energy, more verve in the crunch of a weekend than I do at the time of writing in the break!

Class 1

It is a mixed bag in a lot of ways, and It is levelling the playing field for a lot of people too, some guys come to AM in a similar place to me, trained at uni and haven’t been able to break in (actually I just haven’t been good enough) some are working pro’s and other guys have never done much animation at all. The brand new guys impress me so much. I gotta holler out to the man Brett “wheels” wheeler, an ex Australian basketball player who went around the world and then discovered animation, his understanding of everything has come on leaps and bounds, and also to Carlo, the youngest person in my class, doing well at the age of 19 I expect good things in class 2 boxboy!

Class 1 is a slow burn at first too, but once you hit the fifth and sixth week it doesn’t really let up, each week the assignments turn the screw a little more, building on the one before, so there is no “oooh ill take it easy this week” because the harder you work, the more that you learn. The effort that you make one week directly affects the work you do the next week because of the things you discover. So it makes sense to keep your foot to the floor all the way through. And as soon as you hand in one assignment, another pops along to take its place, while it may feel relentless it gives you no time for complacency.

People

I have to mention the people, because this community is a large part of what makes AM as great as it is. This all stems from Shawn Bobby and Carlos im sure, the attitude that the support staff have is great too the Mentors are amazing and inspiring and it all feeds towards cultivating a positive creative atmosphere. I have encountered some brilliant people over the last twelve weeks of being a student of AM, and yes, I mean you Mariya and Oz in particular, all that help over the weekends has been nothing short of life saving.

Its people that give you feedback, people that help get the shot better and it’s the work of people that inspires you to do better. What I guess I should say is a big THANK YOU to everyone from AM the last 12 weeks, its been great.

Here’s to another 12 :)

Class 1 Progress reel

2008-06-21T04:47:00.000-04:00

Hey howdy hey animatorinos!

So here it is, the class 1 reel! enjoy!!

update!! having some trouble with quicktime and stuff at the minute! so i have put up the photobucket version for now. Thankfully Mariya is helping me out tho! yay for Mariya!

Dedication

2008-06-17T15:49:00.000-04:00

Dedication is something ive heard much about at AM, and i have thought greatly of this whilst speaking to and being exposed to some of my brilliant classmates and mentors at the school. Now a good AM classmate told me that I am dedicated (this isn’t for me to judge of course) but it got me thinking about how somebody quantifies that term, and the more I have pondered on this subject the more I find that it’s a hard thing to do. So im going to write about it to see if I can make some sense of it.

SACRIFICE
Now is dedication judged in how much you are willing to sacrifice? How far down you will strip your life in order to achieve your goal? I don’t know, to me a sacrifice isn’t a hard thing to do when you believe in its cause, sure you’ll have to make changes to your own lifestyle, but if your goal is worth enough to you then it you’ll most likely be happy that you can sacrifice something for your ultimate purpose.

To understand the consequences of sacrifice in relation to your end goal and then still go through with it is an admirable thing to do.

TIME
Time is one of the most valuable things we possess in our lives, the daunting fact that we can perceive the passing of it is essential to driving us. So does dedication equal time sacrificed for a cause?

I think dedication is how far you are willing to go to achieve your goals, to me being dedicated isn’t about working harder than before, sure hard work is necessary more often than not, but being able to work smarter is also a large aspect of dedication, to me dedication isn't the simple act of throwing everything away, the removing of something must have purpose, lets take my flat, i cannot sacrifice my environment, a comfortable and undisturbed work area is more important to my end goal than the money it costs.

LIFE
Life, as obvious as it sounds is not a straightforward affair, it doesn't flow in a nice clean linear line of point A: student, to point B: professional animator. it twists turns and sometimes goes off in a direction you never even knew existed. i tend to find that life will challenge you by making the things you want hard to achieve, but with dedication you can find a way, dedication is what it takes to ride that curve of life and still achieve your goals.

Its just a ride - Bill Hicks

Splining! help

2008-06-12T05:09:00.001-04:00

We are heavily entrenched in stepped mode in AM at the moment, and its something alot of people have trouble getting into, two week walking assignments consist of blocking your shot, then refining it, im really getting used to some of the ideas behind blocking lately, however, splining and polish is a harsh mistress.

Thankfully the omnipotent Keith Lango (or Klango to others) has some superb thoughts and advice on polishing a shot, ive been reading and i will most likley be re-reading this as its GOLD!

Polishing your shot

2008-06-04T04:53:00.000-04:00

OK so ive not updated my Blog In a while, and well just so you folks dont think im being tooooo lazy.

Ive decided to throw up this, i Love this stuff, To me Purple & Brown are a great example of simple clear design and well executed animation, with outstanding timing.

Its also funny as hell too :D enjoy

Lucky Number 7

2008-05-17T07:04:00.000-04:00

Wow, just wow, What a week it been!

Just as an indicator of how awesome Animation mentor can be here is what has happened in week 7

Saturday, Ok, technically that’s week six but I finished week 6 on Friday because I went to London and met other AM students and a few AM grads, some super cool and super nice people. So we will call it part of week 7

I arrived in London and met my good neuro physio friend the by the name of Yoda (or Tom to other people) he’s short, intelligent, surprisingly strong and can move you with his mind (although he isn’t green and I made the telekinesis bit up) We then marched through Piccadilly circus down to St James’s Park where I promptly walked past everyone at the AM meet up. Because, well, I’d never met them before. Eventually we were united and discussed all things animation.

Now I have to say how great it is to talk on the level with guys who are in a place you would like to be in someday, everybody was in a class above me, and after coming home and looking at their work you can tell why these guys are working in the industry. Everyone was totally cool, Chris Page, Kris with a K Handley, Olivier, Andrew, Andrea (how sparkly are your eyes!), Manfred, Keith,and James. All you guys rock.

And we all got to meet the main dude himself, Carlos Baena, how cool? If you know your animation you know this dude has the skills, and is one third of the AM founders! Ive now had some form of contact with all three, that’s Shawn who did a hello Q&A for class 1 and Bobby even wrote a comment on my blog (took about an hour to stop bouncing around the room after that) And I have only been here for 7 weeks :D

So after spending time in the coffee shop we all went to some bar called the market place, well we did after a jaunt through Soho, its fun following a bunch of guys around a city who are all speaking French whom you have only known for 2-3 hours. anyway im not complaining it was fun different and much better than what id normally be getting upto on a Saturday evening.

whilst at the bar alcohol was consumed and some food was eaten (5 hours of travelling on a mars bar isn't good for you. and we proceeded to dance like mad, drink more beer until it was time to go home. ( I apologise to everyone about the danceoff on the top of that bench as well)

Photo by the GU

Sunday
I awoke on Yodas sofa, feeling slightly groggy and with some of my motor functions missing, we had arrived at 3 AM and the time currently was 8:30 AM my motor functions impaired due the sofa being leather and had thus bonded itself to me.
i managed to detach myself from the sofa and get online, and what do i get? a critique! a full 25 minute crit from T.Dan, which was absolutely awesome.

Monday
Got back from work...strangely twisted my ankle, but it only came out when i got back to Manchester (maybe my foot misses the south or something, i dunno) anyway so classes 1-3 get to have a Q&A with some animators from blue sky. and man was it cool, those guys are cool. funny as hell, that's the thing iv'e loved about AM and this last few days, these people are so awesome it would be joy just to work with them, imagine having a job where you make cartoons and everybody is a cool as this? that's part of the dream i think.

Ace in the hole
Now, we have anintro to walks coming up, and then body mechanics, and this is where we start to turn the dial another notch closer to 11, so my friend Yoda who was in London with me started talking shop with some of the dudes from the higher classes, and they were totally diggin the angle he had on movement, how he has to understand how muscle systems work and move your body in order to teach a patient how to walk again after they have suffered stroke. There is a very mechanical aspect to how he discussed loading weight on to one foot, so that the other can shift and becomes able to move freely, how your core is the centre of balance, how the hips generate force and how energy is channeled through it and onto other areas.

I am going to try and tap him for notes or maybe work out some sort of interview thing. so everyone can share it. maybe it'll be helpful.

Anyways, its been a great week, i have met some amazing people, got to know some people that i cant wait to meet. ooh and learned a whole load about animation too.

if i don't see you. good afternoon, good evening and good night. :)

You Are Not Alone

2008-05-03T06:51:00.000-04:00

Hello again!

What an amazing month its been. too amazing for my ability to put into words really, one of the most invigorating in recent memory.

So where to start? probably with a disclaimer of sorts, i first started my blog to track week by week my journey through Animation Mentor. but its feels different now im a Student of AM. I cant quite put my finger on why or precisely how but its not something that i think will be dedicated enough too in the long run.

So unfortunately, your probably not going to get a slew of bouncing ball videos just yet. the reason for this is, well, ill fall behind with it. i wont be able to keep up because all of my energy will be focused on Animation Mentor. at this point you are fully entitled to Boo and hiss in a panto style as loudly as you please, but i think this is a good thing (not the booing, the sparse blogging) as it means i will be dedicated to what im doing.

So Then, Animator BOY! How is it?

This school is amazing, absolutely amazing. i was expecting something good based on the quality i have seen come out of the school but i wasn't fully aware of how interconnected everything is, its all open and coalescing, everyone is fair game for feedback, and well, as apple might say, it just works. My mentor is also Superb, T.Dan Hoftsedt. what a dude...totally cool, very insightful and just an all round super nice guy, he also is a ninja animator with a body of work that would turn anyones head. I am very happy to have someone as established and talented as T.Dan go over my work every week and i can see and understand things clearer than i could before with the benefit of his experience.

The People

what has amazed me is the relationships between students, how everyone looks out for their friends, i say the word friend because im beginning to come to a bit of a crossroads in my definition of animators. I should say other animators i know i suppose.
through my time in university much was made of being able to make contacts or getting a contact in the industry. If you had a contact you were very well placed to get your foot in the door somewhere. To me “contact” is a very cold term. Often it comes off sounding like a commodity. once you get your degree nip down to the store and get 25lbs of contact! youll be a shoe in for that job once your contact puts a word in for you.

Now its an odd thing at AM, your contact list is a “buddy” list. and i like the sound of that. your buddies or friends help you, they are interested in the same things you are, and generally have the same goals as you do. I guess this could easily be just semantics here but to me there is a difference that i have only felt whilst being at AM, that people given the chance will help you rather than do a favour to have you indebted to them later.

One thing to come out of these relationships is the feedback, giving feedback, receiving feedback, and giving more feedback. for a start it helps you to improve your eye, before when something didn't seem right but you couldn't put your finger on it now you can start to pinpoint what it actually is that needs changing.

Receiving feedback, i'm learning an important lesson here. you are only as good as the feedback you get. without it you will struggle to progress, without feedback you have no idea what looks better. some peeps might think that they have a good enough eye, but your totally wrong, you need feedback, show it to anyone as well as your peers, because its the feedback and working off of the feedback that makes you a better animator.

Case In point – ME!

Now, im not the best animator at this school, there is a wealth of talent here, from Joe Garhan in class 1 Bruno Monterio in Class 2 all the way to Alexis Memmot in Class 6, people are better than me, and maybe you reading this too.....but lets not sulk! i have the opportunity to speak to, learn from and receive feedback from these people, and many others equally as talented, some have gifts not just in animation, but enthusiasm (see Derek Osborne) and many other qualities, and its all there to inspire and inform me to become a better animator and a better person.

So a big thank you to AM and its students for giving me a brilliant month of April, here's to many many more!

The Home Stretch

2008-03-23T20:38:00.001-04:00

It’s a curious sensation coming up to the start of Animation Mentor, it’s a wild mix of emotions. A large amount of “this is it time to get serious” mixed with “don’t screw this up bucko!” contrasted by the awareness that I’m about to become part of one of the best animation schools in the known universe!

In a lot of ways it feels like I am coming to the end of something as well as starting. I’ve been reading, practicing and gearing my life towards doing this course as well as I possibly can. I still think I am under prepared mind you, I haven’t got as much sketching done as I should really, that’s something drawing on the right side of the brain should rectify

Since applying to AM ive had a few ups and downs, some things have gone against me, others have gone for me. But the funny thing ive discovered is when you shake things up, and are willing to make sacrifices, good things do come of it.

Taking control of things makes you feel better too, I no longer dread going into work, I understand that earning my wage is helping me towards my goal. And the fact that it isn’t for me should be a good motivator.

Godspeed Old Friend.

The final piece of the puzzle is now in place i think, last week i sold my first car “the mirth mobile” as i laughingly called it. after moving to my flat the cold hard reality of the situation dictated that i needed to sell it, sure i could have kept it but i would have prolonging the inevitable financially. now i have removed that worry i think i am as prepared as i could be.

The Right Side Of The Brain

2008-02-23T15:59:00.000-05:00

I know what you’re thinking,

Holy blogtastic makeover Batman! A Slightly new banner! And some links!

The reason for the banner is because im a bit of a narcissistic bugger. The links, well, the links aren’t even my idea! Check Mr Erik Westlund under cool animation peeps for the guilty party (thanks for the tips buddy!).

Sport Relief

I would like to quickly mention that I and my friend Rich will be taking part in the sport relief charity run in Manchester next month, I just need to pester people to sponsor me now. If your one of the two people that read this, and you can spare a few pounds/dollars/gold bullion etc then please don’t hesitate to click on the link to the right! Its all for a good cause, I may even post some pictures afterwards!

So anyway, Animation Mentor is now beginning to loom over me like a big Independence Day style shadow, and I’m Running out of missiles (time) before the mother ship opens up and blows my small spec of a social life away into animation oblivion.

I have now devised a plan/checklist of sorts to be done before I start so that I am as fully prepared as possible. Lots of reasons for this but primarily its because I don’t want to mess up, and after following the blogs and websites of a few people currently the school It looks like im in for a fair bit of drawing.

So here is the brief list of things to do before AM

1. Finish reading “The Illusion of life”

2. Go over “Cartoon Animation” by Preston Blair

3. Sport Relief – not really preparation but doing nice things for people will always make you feel better. If you don’t believe me just read Join Me by Danny Wallace

4. Relax for a month

5.Read through and complete the practical tasks of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.

Drawing on the right side of the brain has been somewhat of a revelation for me the last few weeks, its incredibly insightful. And it has its fair share of wow moments, I just have to wonder though, why have I only got hold of this book now? My understanding of whats going on when you draw has increased so much. And I am only a quarter of a way onto the book and i am very excited to see if i can improve my ability.

Anyway nothing much else to report for now, in the words of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

Thank you! come again!

The Best Idea Wins

2008-01-18T08:36:00.000-05:00

So after reading the Pixar book TO INFINITY AND BEYOND I really hoped I could take some of it on board and help make myself a better animator. However, it seems my cynical nature needs removing before I can do this.

In the book there is a mantra of sorts, a common phrase if you like. “the best idea wins” now I’ve heard this mentioned a few times by folks from Pixar. Primarily in the Splinedoctors Spline casts with people discussing the fact that all work is in service of the best possible end result. From the directors down to the animators.

So whats your point?

Lets go back to the dinner table at my mum’s house the other night.

We were discussing what I’ve been doing with myself over the last few days (a lot of Assassins Creed, so actually very little as it turns out) but I’ve been brainstorming over this months 11 second clip, and its turned out to be a fairly formulaic piece so far, im up to the boarding stage at the minute and I really am not liking it. Honestly, it’s a little lacklustre, no angle or point to the whole thing and just a verbatim interpretation of the audio as it is in the film.

So we are discussing the dialogue and how ive gotten the dialogue broken down on a dope/exposure sheet with each characters dialogue highlighted separately. And then everyone begins to talk about the clip and what you could do with it. Possible scenarios, and ideas are banded around. To my shock and oddly, also my annoyance, there was some really great stuff put out there. I then began to turn a little negative and insular about the subject.

As a result of this the conversation began to wander away onto other things and nothing more was said regarding the competition.

I was actually annoyed that someone who wasn’t trying to be an animator had come up with some really good ideas that were much better than my own. Maybe I was annoyed and disappointed with myself that I hadn’t thought of it first, this seemed to provoke negativity and a retraction on my part from the conversation.

A Missed Opportunity?

So later the next day my ipod is playing, and it skips onto some of the Splinedoctors Splinecasts. specifically the one with Andrew Stanton. I go to change it but think hey, whats the harm, once you’ve heard a podcast listening to it again is worth it if you can glean any information more than you took the first time round.

So in the podcast the interviewers get onto the subject of story, the phrase “best idea wins” is uttered. And BAM! A light comes on in my head.

Had I missed a great opportunity to generate ideas? Had my self-indulgent pride and negativity blinded me to the fact that a good idea can come from anywhere? Should I have jumped in there with positivity and enthusiasm rather than withdrawing?

Yes yes and yes!

So I have decided to use the new idea from the dinner table that I’d thought best, and I am now only just realising that I don’t need to have all the answers, I just need to see the good stuff when it lands in my lap. And use it in the best way that I can.

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!

2008-01-04T17:20:00.000-05:00

Hey again.

And a happy and successful 2008 to all, just wanted to update my blog, i am internet less at the minute so im not what you call successful at blogging. But i am back into the animation and this month i will be in the 11sc (about time too eh!) Over the holidays ive been catching up on some reading mainly. This has entailed going through "The Illusion of Life" and man! i mean MAN! that book is packed with stuff cover to cover. And to top it all off i got this too....

An absolutley superb read, a great story and an absolute inspiration, if you want anything that will keep you going or awaken you from a slump just get your mitts on this.

It really does help you to realize that the guys at the top are real people (they do have talent by the bucketload aswell) but it really shows that its dedicated people and the principals that they hold that has become part of the foundation of the studio and its films. And how their dedication has helped shape the computer graphics industry as it is today.

If anyone reads this blog don't waste your time with my drivel get this book!

See you later!

No more furniture please!

2007-11-27T07:54:00.000-05:00

Hey Again!

So ive moved to my new flat, and its awesome. Im much happier in this place, there are no random immigrant workers turning up in my kitchen and running amuck. and for the first time ever im lucky enough to have my computer/study area in a different room to the one that i sleep in. this i feel will be much better for sleeping and for productivity, and to top it all off it has a great view of the town.

Now i havent gotten to doing any animation just yet because ive been getting the place sorted out, and that means, yep you guessed it! Flat Packed Furniture.

Prior to moving in id done a bit here and there but man i never knew it was so time consuming. Ive constructed book cases, tv stands, tables, wardrobes, beds, desks...sheesh! and to compound it all has anyone put one of these things together and not had screws and stuff left over? its strangely concerning when you're looking at it and then back at a still half full bag of bits.

No Animation for you BOY!

So yet again im on here making excuses for not animating, but another week and ill be settled in and ready to go on the last 11 second competition of 07!

The First Real Post

2007-11-09T17:22:00.000-05:00

Ok, first post, gotta be BIG! groundbreaking and all that. soooooo

Actually this first post is more of an awww nuts thing. Basically ill be offline in the next few weeks due to me moving to a new flat (woo!) im in the process of trying to get my life in order for march when i start Animation Mentor. this is because because A: its alot of moolah and B: being 23 going on 24 im not getting younger so i need to give it the best i have.

So my car is being sold after the move and then im into saving money mode, so my life will mainly consist of getting reacquainted with noodles and probably not spending a great deal of time with the fairer sex.

Also to top off the Awww Nuts thing im also gutted about not being able to finish my work for the October competition of the 11secondclub due to my housing situation im just gonna write the month off as a do over, looking forward to November as the start of better things!

The Dude abides!

2007-09-26T15:39:00.000-04:00

Hello and welcome to the ginger ninja blog!

more to follow soon