Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Black and White Pics from last trip to Europe

Last April I went to Croatia and had an amazing time. On my flight over I had a 9 hour layover in Barcelona so I raced through the city. The pics are from both places and just a small sample of things I shot-I thought these looked good in Black and White.








Saturday, May 21, 2011

Butchered Meats



Thanks to the comments of many great folks from the studios (specifically to Jana and her comments in dailies) and their visits during Winter Semester the students finally agreed and are putting the 2D animation sequences back into the film. In an attempt to make this happen we are having an animation marathon... which is ongoing even as I post this. I think we have about 30 students, most of which are not even in the major yet. Brandon, Megan, Peter, Aaron and Scott seem to have organized well and our new talent is cranking it out. Thanks goes out to everyone involved.

Snail




Looks like this summer may be the time I will finally get to finish the Snail film. Tyler Carter has gone back over my layouts and made them more authentic to the way Maurice Noble would have handled them. Hopefully we will get this entire opening panning shot painted before Tyler heads to Blue Sky.

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Students should wise up


I am constantly shocked at how entitled and self centered some students seem to be. I know you are freaked out about getting into the major and then being able to make a living at it once you have graduated... but worrying and acting odd gets you no where but on the bad list.

Things to consider:

Don't come to see me every week to show me your sketchbook or your figure drawings. If you can't tell if you are making progress then you aren't quite getting it. Once is okay but after that... figure things out.

Don't assume everyone believes the exact same way you do, whether or not we are in the same religion makes no difference. That being said, I think we are all surprised to find out how we generally believe a lot of the same things.

Don't tell me it is my job to support your film. Making your own film is just an option in our program and in no way is a requirement of our faculty to support. We can support a film on many different levels and by our own choosing. Most of the levels of support need faculty buy off.

Don't ask recruiters how much you can expect to make in industry, especially in a group discussion. I know you are sincere but this is almost as dumb a question as asking me in Intro to Animation "How many frames will it take to animate the bouncing ball?" Different jobs make different amounts in a range. Those ranges vary from studio to studio and are based on your skills and the ability of the studio to get you to agree to the lowest amount possible without causing you too much heartache. Lots of other factors play into this as well. We have some general numbers on our website. Give it a read.

Don't ask recruiters questions in the group presentations that are super specific to you. This not only wastes their time but the time of the other students as well. If you need - ask after the presentation.

Don't try to play the faculty against each other as you might do with your parents. We talk quite often and have a laugh at your expense.

Don't assume that we as faculty are out to get you. We don't have time to target students. Certainly we get along better with some students than others... but all we are looking for are students who work hard, deliver good results and show a lot of promise. Working hard goes a long, long way.

Less talking- more working.

FYI - Many of the recruiters from the studios are our personal friends from when we were in the industry or through the success of the program. It is not our obligation to get you a job or set you up for interviews. We do this because we want to see you succeed as well as our wanting to help our friends and contacts- the recruiters. We are extremely frank with them about what we think about students. This openness protects the program, the faculty, and all the hard working students who came before you who helped to make the program what it is today.

Be careful about needing to be commanded or instructed in all things. Take ownership of your education. Make it your responsibility to learn or find learning. If we aren't touching on something you want to learn about talk to us or do your own search.

Students are generally pretty great and for that I feel really lucky. There are a lot of amazing opportunities out there if you focus and get to work.

Have faith. Work hard and work smart. Faith without works is dead... so get to work.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Funchal Film Festival- Madeira

Burning time until I am actually able to get home. The Iceland volcano has made a mess of flights in Europe... so for the time being I get to update my blog. The island is incredibly different from when I was here in 1990. It is still as beautiful as ever but a lot more advanced and a lot easier to get around. They have built these amazing freeways, a lot of which go through these incredibly long tunnels. Anyway I had a great time here, the festival was very well done and the people were great. The only challenging thing was being away from my wife and kids.ll as beautiful as ever but a lot more advanced and a lot easier to get around. They have built these amazing freeways, a lot of which go through these incredibly long tunnels. Anyway I had a great time here, the festival was very well done and the people were great. The only challenging thing was being away from my wife and kids.












Saturday, March 20, 2010

How to train your dragon

For those who know me know I am extremely critical of films made at places where I formerly worked... but with that said I have to say that I absolutely loved How to Train Your Dragon! Just like with Panda the film is a great blend of style and story and in this case the 3D screening was incredibly fun... and I usually don't like 3D. If this is any indication of things Nico Marlet should design all characters for DreamWorks films and then somehow all the other elements will fall into place. This is also a great vindication for Chris Sanders. Congrats all around.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Snail Backgrounds










These Backgrounds still need a little work, including the intentional displacement of color so that they look more like Warner Bros BGs but I thought it had been a while so I would put something up. The images are all part of the opening Shot to The Snail and the Road Runner written by Shane Lewis with Story by Shane, Adrian Ropp, and myself.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Vis Dev Artwork Needed

Looking to Develop the story of the Arabian Horse. If you need a subject matter to sketch on or create artwork for here is an idea to run with. Need a noble Arabian man, the Arabian Horses, and designs for the terrain. If you are interested email me and I can get you the story. Love the idea of doing something in the middle east.

Long Overdue Update

So much time has passed that I will shotgun this:

We hired Cynthia Overman away from CalArts and Seth Holladay back from Pixar.

Students won 2 Student Emmys. Kite's took 1st, Pajama Gladiator took 2nd.

Grandma Scottie passed away. Great funeral. Amazing lady with one of the most interesting lives a person could live. Love you Grandma.

Students informed that Kites and Pajama have won Student Academy Awards. We go to LA next week to see what places they took.

Revising Curriculum for the Animation program. Man I hate this sort of thing.

Sold my house. Have to be out by the end of this week. Don't have a new house yet. Moving into an apartment for the time being. The kids don't really care though because we will have a pool over the summer. Looking to move to Draper.

Killing myself to get Lion and the Mouse- done - done. Thanks to Claire this is finally happening.

Sheriff is getting really close and looking extremely good. Thanks to former and current students along with Rob Allen, Brent Adams and John Reinhard.

I think I am finally done with The Movers script. Got great notes from my friends and fellow faculty members at BYU. Happily the writing was not to shocking. Tom Russell said one scene made him burst into laughter so that he spewed out his nose or mouth... can't remember... but it made me proud.

My kids are great and my wife is the best.