Caroline's Animation Journal

Has it Been Long Enough?

2008-09-30T05:24:00.000-07:00

I am SO thrilled (and relieved) to be back at AM! I withdrew last April after my dad was diagnosed with a rare type of tumor. He underwent a long and complicated surgery on September 10th, and thankfully everything went extremely well. He's recovering at home now, and life is slowly getting back to normal. It was up in the air for a long time whether I'd be coming back to AM, because things like this tend to throw life and finances for a loop. This whole thing made me realize that nothing should stop you from trying to reach a goal, no matter how difficult the obstacle you have to overcome.

I really owe a huge thank you to the AM staff for their support and understanding. It's truly a blessing to have a school that treats you like flesh and blood. It's ironic that I felt the traditional campus life was so impersonal, and then I come to an online school that treats everyone like family. Go AM!

Session 201- Turn Reference

2008-04-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night was my first Q&A with Jason Martinsen, and it was a blast. He's super outgoing, and very funny. He got us all thinking about our career plans, and also gave us some good advice for Class 2. To summarize: focus on body mechanics, not stories or personality, and keep shots simple and short. :)

I chose a model turn, because it will be a completely different turn than the "surprised" turn I did last time, and it also gives me a chance to go back to the walk. Walks were definitely my struggling point of Class 1, something I need to conquer before I move on to acting. Check out the reference!

A little personality, but a better choice than 12 weeks ago, when I created a whole back story for the Ballie turn. It ended up not reading like I wanted it to, because I wanted to do too much with a limited character. Lesson learned: Ballie has no arms.

On the fifteenth of May, in the Jungle of Nool, in the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool...

2008-04-01T16:10:00.001-07:00

As a great way to start off spring term, I finally saw Horton today! I will say that is was AWESOME, and not just because my new mentor Jason Martinsen worked on it. :) What's also awesome is the number of AM names I saw in the credits! So so cool to see the names of graduates going by, big CONGRATS to everyone who worked on it.

Without giving anything away, Jojo was my favorite character, and I absolutely loved the scene in the observatory. I would love have been able to get my hands on one of the Who rigs, their faces look like so much fun to animate. The whole movie looked fun to animate! I also loved the textures they used, I really wanted to touch that clover! They kept up the whimsical look of Dr. Seuss in the environment, but made it look like you could actually touch the elephant's skin, or the feathers. Awesome!

In other Caroline Animation News, I'm back to AM! Hooray!!! I am so refreshed and ready to start! It's time for Body Mechanics, Part II. It's great to be back and see everyone again, and I'm looking forward to seeing what my old classmates are up to in Class 3!

On a personal and more somber note, my dad was diagnosed with cancer about a week and a half ago. There is a fairly large tumor located in his abdomen, very close to his aorta, but not affecting any major organs. The doctors are now thinking its benign, which is new and great news. However, there is still a small chance that they won't be able to remove it, so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. It's been a tough time, but the only thing to do in these situations is to stay positive. We've had a lot of good news, and so much support from friends and family. I'm especially blessed, because I just recently moved back to my hometown. And I go to this great online school, so I don't need to worry about missing classes. :) My dad is staying very positive too, even finding a little humor in it here and there. As hard as situations like these are, they really bring out the best in people. You laugh harder, cry when you feel the need, and really treasure your time with family.

Let's end it where I began, back in the Jungle of Nool...

I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent.

Oscars!

2008-02-25T11:42:00.001-08:00

Very happy that Ratatouille won the Oscar for best Animated Film last night. Even happier that Peter & the Wolf won for best short! It's incredible. If anyone knows where to find it on DVD for the US, let me know. I'm very curious what materials they used to make their characters, and what their dimensions are. How did they get the wolf's lip to curl like that? Many questions.

Working on some little animations of my own, I don't want to get rusty while I'm on leave! I'll be posting a thing or two soon. :)

edit: I had embedded the video to Peter and the Wolf, but it's been since taken off Youtube again, so I removed it. If they don't want it up on the net, it's understandable. I just wish they would release a US DVD!

LOA :(

2008-02-03T11:22:00.000-08:00

I made a really tough decision today. I have bronchitis, and I've fallen way behind in the last 2 weeks. This week we have to do video reference for a pole jump, and I just can't do it. :( Sucks, sucks, sucks. I don't want to leave AM for 8 weeks. But I also don't want to turn in work late, or let my work suffer because I'm not learning as well as I should be. Sucks. I'm really going to miss it, and being a Peer Buddy, and everything. Spring seems so far away! The light at the end of the tunnel is that they're holding my funds, so I WILL be back. But I will miss it until then. :(

WHOOOSH!

2008-01-21T14:21:00.000-08:00

That is what I heard as Week 2 flew by. Thankfully blocking my turn was more simple than I expected, and I got some AWESOME feedback to help improve it. Right now my concern is that the surprise isn't reading, so I'll really be focusing on that this week. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

In other news, I got a promotion! And I moved! Hence, the WHOOOSH. :)

Week 2!

2008-01-13T13:05:00.001-08:00

Despite my technical difficulties, Class 2 is going great! I had a few hours this afternoon, so I put in some much needed work on a couple shots from Class 1. My zombie is looking much better, if I do say so myself. :)

Quicktime Error -36

2008-01-13T08:24:00.001-08:00

Got a tip that my progress reel wasn't loading. Sure enough, I didn't follow the Video Standardization Procedure after I added the 2 second logo. Oh, technology. I've had a fun week with it, or, it has had a fun week with me.

On the plus side, I am now an encoding MASTER.

Check out my progress reel, finally! If it's still not working, let me know. In my own defense, it worked for me!

Well I finally gave in.

2008-01-08T08:43:00.001-08:00

I bought an 8 pack of dry erase markers to use on my precious laptop screen. I've known that I should for awhile, but I've been tracking my arcs with a piece of paper held up to the screen, and squinting to see through it.

The markers I got are AWESOME, much better than thick chisel tips. They have a very fine point, and an eraser at the end. Here's a link at amazon if you're curious:

Sweet Markers

I got some LCD screen cleaner at Best Buy to help keep the purple tint away. It was relatively expensive ($20 for a 7 oz. bottle), but you don't need to use much of it, and it works great. If you're OCD about your screen like I am, check it out.

Also, I haven't had the need arise yet, but I hear a lot of horror stories about the Sharpie. If you accidentally Sharpie your screen, Expo makes a special marker to remove permanent marker from white boards. I haven't tried it, and I would be scared to use it on my screen (precious). Then again, my screen doesn't have any permanent arcs, knock on wood. :)

Class 1 Progress Reel

2008-01-06T11:38:00.000-08:00

I've been avoiding putting this up because I keep wanting to go back and work on a few of the shots some more. I realized it's silly not to put it up though, even with all its imperfections.

The zombie walk is the most embarrassing, not because it needs so much work (which it does), but because I chose a zombie! I swear I had NO IDEA that "I Am Legend" changed its antagonists to zombies. They are VAMPIRES in the book! I hope I don't look like a total suck up, because my Class 1 mentor Nicole just finished working on "I Am Legend." Oh well.

Here it Goes Again!

2008-01-06T10:09:00.000-08:00

In honor of Class 2 starting tomorrow:

Makes me happy. :)

The Home Stretch!

2007-12-03T07:20:00.000-08:00

I'm almost finished with Class 1! Today is the start of Week 10 out of 12, I can't believe it! This week and next week's assignment is focusing on a character walk, I'm excited! I'm planning to do a ZOMBIE walk, and I'm going out on a mission today to locate Shawn of the Dead for reference material. :)

SCHOOL SO FAR

Awesome! I'm still so thrilled to be in AM, it's an AMAZING place to be. The resources there are incredible. The school is founded and taught by animators, so you are learning things about 3D animation that are being applied to movies in theaters today, and movies you've been hearing about and can't wait to see! To have that reference is mind blowing, to learn about Squash and Stretch, and have your mentor use "Open Season" as an example, as in, "In this shot of Boog I animated..." Which really leads into...

MENTORS

Mentors are current animators, and a lot of them are in production on films, which means they are already working 6 days a week, for long hours! Question and Answer Sessions are scheduled based on their availability, usually at night. This does NOT mean they don't give 100%, or that their availability limits your learning in ANY way. When you turn in your work on Sunday, you get a thorough critique by Wednesday morning.

My mentor Nicole Herr works for Sony Imageworks, most recently on "I Am Legend,"
and previously "Open Season." She has a looong and varied list of credits! I was intimidated to be taught by someone in my first class with so much experience, but she's a really comfortable and like-able person. I really admire how professional and honest she is, and her enthusiasm is contagious! Her critiques are helpful and encouraging, and her grading is always fair.

The other Class 1 mentors are great too! AM lets you look at every student's critiques, so I like to check out other mentors' critiques too. They're full of good information, and it's cool to see the other mentors, see where they do their critiques from, and get a sense of their personality.

Aside from your class mentor, there are other CAMPUS MENTORS. They're working animators too, and they give great advice on shots while they're in progress. If you ever need advice, you can drop by the forum and post a request, and a mentor will comment on your shot within 24 hours. This is just the beginning of...

THE COMMUNITY

Something new to AM is their PEER BUDDY program. Peer buddies are at least 1 class ahead of you, and each Peer Buddy has a group of students whose work he or she keeps an eye on. If you post something for review, your Peer Buddy gives suggestions, and you can ask for their help if you run into trouble.

Yesterday I sent an AMIM to my Peer Buddy Chris, and when I told him I had a cold and so everything was more difficult, his first response was, "Oh no! How can I help?" I asked him a question about our Stu rig, and he jumped right into Maya and started offering suggestions. :) That reminds me, one thing worth mentioning about AM is...

THE DEADLINE

Sunday at noon PST. No bull. No doctor's note. No vacation. No technical problems. No. Just turn your work in. On time, every week. Or get a late penalty on the WHOLE week's work.

Does this scare you? Maybe it should. :) No, it's not that bad. What it really means is, don't fall behind. You won't get feedback, everyone will see that you don't turn your work in, and it doesn't look good. Your learning is affected, and your mentor is inconvenienced at having to a separate critique. Deadlines exist in studios, and they exist at AM.

If you get sick and fall too far behind, or an emergency arises, you can take a Leave of Absence. This isn't the end of the world, as classes are only 12 weeks, and you won't have to pay the whole cost again if you have a valid excuse.

Animating while you're sick is no fun, I had my first experience with it this week. I ended up with more of a floppy walk than a vanilla walk! :) Buuut... who's to say my walk wouldn't have been floppy if I was feeling perfect? This animation thing is TOUGH! I keep saying it, and it keeps being true.

Week 6 Already!

2007-11-05T06:04:00.000-08:00

School is going by crazy fast. I'm already almost 1/12 of the way done! :( That's right, I'm sad about it! I haven't actually liked school or felt like I was learning so much since elementary school. I only hope I can learn ENOUGH to get me job when I get done!

So far things are coming along slowly, but I can't really call it slowly, because I think I expected myself to pick everything up way too fast. This animation stuff is HARD! I can't even begin to describe... I wish I had paid attention in Physics!

My favorite assignment so far is last week's, an obstacle course! In animation, you must bounce before you can walk. :)

This week I'll be doing a revision on this assignment and a couple of my old ones, and I'll be making a pendulum swing!

Who loves short shorts?

2007-09-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

Just heard today that Disney is making shorts again! They're bringing back the "How To" Goofy shorts and creating some new ones in various styles, chosen by the director. Awesome! They're only going to be 5 or 6 minutes, I guess the world's attention span is decreasing as YouTube's popularity is increasing. :) I would LOVE to work on something like this!

On a different note... I just finished setting up my web site! Hoorah. Now I just need some animation for it! Check it out here.

Prince Ali Fabulous He

2007-09-04T05:15:00.001-07:00

Well, I officially withdrew from the Art Institute Online, and the finality of it all left me feeling a little taken advantage of by higher education. It's taken me a couple days worth of perspective to look back on what I learned, and find the value in it.

After almost a year at the Art Institute, I was starting to doubt that I could make an animator out of myself. I was taking Character and Object Animation, and the teacher left unexpectedly two weeks into class, and was replaced by a substitute who never introduced himself. The first time I "met" him was when he graded my first ever caricatures, a couple sketches I did of Johnny Depp. They aren't really caricatures at all, because I only managed to get his features instead of exaggerating them. I'd like to think they capture his essence fairly well for a beginner though, and I was proud of my work. The grade I got was 100%, but in the comments, I read, "Caricature is a complex and involved art form, and those who have done them professionally for years are still evolving and perfecting their technique. These drawings only slightly resemble Johnny."

Devasted by the harsh words, the obviousness of the statement about caricatures being difficult, and the lack of any suggestions at all, I seriously questioned myself for the first time about my choice of ambition. I figured I was too soft to handle the world of animation if this is what I was looking forward to as a career. I kept saying over and over in my mind, "They DO look like Johnny Depp! They just aren't exaggerated enough!" When I came to my senses, I realized a lot of valuable lessons about becoming an animator. The first is that I can't get bent out of shape if someone tells me something that I either don't agree with, or don't want to hear. The second is that my own critiques are perhaps the most valuable I can get, when I'm being honest with myself. If I had to do the assignment again now, I would have done another draft and tried to exaggerate his jaw a lot more at least, and I would have tried to laugh off what could possibly be the WORST critique.