Up

I had the great pleasure of watching Pixar’s Up yesterday afternoon. I was thoroughly entertained and touched by this film. I was surprised at how sad and dark the undertone of the movie was. Don’t get me wrong there were very funny gags in there, but the underlining story tugged on the heart strings throughout the movie. The montage in the beginning of the film really grabbed me and kept me involved in Carl’s character. I think they could have stayed in that period in Carl’s life a bit more, as it would have helped the audience to connect even more with Carl and his wife. All in all I would highly recommend this film to everyone.

That said there are few things to point out that did pop into my mind as I watched the film, but they didn’t not distract me too much. Carl is about 80 years old in this film, and as the story progresses he becomes more active. Yes, he is re energized by his “new adventure”, but I think they could have played to his age a bit more. The villain also suffered from not acting his. If Carl was about 80 years old, then the villain has to be 100. He was at least 20 years Carl’s senior if not more, yet he was more mobile than Carl. But I digress and I gave into the story and the suspension of disbelief.

I read a few other animator blogs for insight from the pro’s, and came across some interesting reviews. On Keith Lango’s site, Keith states that he did not find this movie all that moving. He did not connect with the characters as most seem to and it is interesting as to why this happened to him. Please take a look. There are spoilers in his review so keep that in mind when reading:

http://keithlango.blogspot.com/2009/06/ … rs-up.html

In retrospect I can see where he make very good points about the movie, but I still loved it . This isn’t my favorite Pixar film, but it’s right up there at the top of my list.

Getting Ready for NYC ComicCon Tomorrow!!

     Well the NYC ComicCon is already in full swing. Today was the first of a 3 days comic industry free for all. Like always though it is never just about comic books. The movie industry likes to get into the action as well. Usually comicbook fans are treated to new trailers and teasers for comic book based movies. The one I am hoping will be screened tomorrow is a new trailer for Watchmen. I can only hope if there is one that I can slip into that screening room. I know everyone will be clambering for a seat. 
I do have some work to do at the con though. Tomorrow I will act as a PA for the internet based video game review show Bytejacker. It’s a show in which indy games and downloadable content for the major consoles are reviewed every week. Usually the downloadable games are $10 or less, and the  indy games are free. The show covers games for pc, mac, and web browesers; as well as downloadable content for XBox 360, PS3, the Wii, and the iphone. The shows host Anthony Carboni, with Jonathan Rivera at the controls of the camera, gives insightful and entertaining reviews every Monday of three indy games in a segment called “Free Indy Rapid Fire”. The quick reviews are informative and fun to watch, with witty commentary interected every so often. Viewers are then able to vote for their favorite game. The following Thursday, the results are revealed, and viewers are treated to a bonus review of a downloadable game for one of the major consoles out on the market. In a fun way to interact with their audience, Anthony and Jon welcome any suggestions for games to review. They also encourgae viewer to leave their own mini reviews via forum posts, skype messeages, and video messages. It’s a great show that gives a refeshing insight into the world of  independently created video games. 
        Bytejacker will be covering a lot of geat video game based events tomorrow at ComicCon. Stayed tuned to Bytejacker.com this up coming week for the special ComicCon episode. I will be taking behind the scenes pictures and video in any spare moment I can find. Check back here later this week for updates from me the “Bytejacker PA”. =)

If you enjoy the show Bytejacker you can subscribe to webcast on their site directly, on YouTube, and on I-tunes.

New Super Bowl Spot by Psyop: “The Heist”

Well, the good people at Psyop have done it again. “The Heist” is their latest spot for Coke-a-Cola. It will be airing sometime during the Super Bowel this Sunday, Feb 2. I not only love football, but I get the added pleasure of really appreciating all the great commercials that play during the game. It is amazing what this studio is able to achieve. Click the image above for a link to Motionographer’s site which highlights the spot.

Adventures in Fur Creation.

This is my first attempt to use Fur in Maya 8.5. I think it turned out well.

In my next attempt I took a model of a tennis ball and added fur to it as well.






Fur is a tricky thing to get a handle on at first, but I ended up enjoying it as I worked out the issues I had. Although there is one error that I can not figure out how to fix. It was in reference to the grass. I did a motion test to test for flickering in the render of the grass. The flickering was minimal barely noticeable, but there were little blocks of black pixels that danced around every few frames. It was hard to notice at first. I has something to do with the shadows when rendering Maya Fur with Mental Ray. I have not tried rendering it with Maya Software yet though, I should give it a go.

A New Place To Rest My Thoughts

Well this is officially my first post on WordPress. I had issues with postings on Blogger so I decided to take the plunge and switch. More posts to come shortly. I will also fix the broken links to images when I get home later tonight.

Reading Other Blogs Can Make Me Nervous….

Keith Lango (an amazing animator in his own right) recently blogged about the economy and its effects on the animation industry, and it makes me super nervous. He reiterates points made from the TAG Blog about how it has/will effect both independent films as well as major studio productions. Everyone has been feeling the pinch, and he points out that the next 2 years wont become instantly better because there is always a lag time between productions. I’m nervous at the moment, and I always have been. I mean I’m not ignorant to anything going on in animation industry or the economy, but he helps to really drive the point home. I’m at work quietly freaking out, considering I have to figure out how to A) find time to work on my own projects while keeping the income rolling B) save up for “the just in case I’m out of work fund” and C) fund my wedding. Here’s a direct link to Keith Lango’s post if anyone wants to take a peak.

Keith Lango Animation: The Credit Crunch & Animation

Everyone should pay close attention to the last paragraph of that post. I know I will. OK, I feel a little less nervous after venting lol. Sorry if this seems like I’m yelling “THE SKY IS FALLING!!” I don’t mean to seem that way. =) I think it is just good that every once in a while everyone steps back and looks at the current situation everyone (not just us animators) are in right now. It helps to put things into perspective.

A Plane Landed in the Hudson River Today….

Well, an interesting thing happened today in NYC. An US Airlines plane bound for North Carolina made and emergency landing into the Hudson River today. Apparently the plane flew through a flock of geese.. you can imagine what havoc that can wreck on the engines of the plane. Yup that’s right, I said engine’s. It must have been a large flock of geese. It apparently happened 30 seconds after take off from LaGuardia airport. But thankfully all of the 150 passengers survived. Some were treated for injuries sustained in the crash. Other for hypothermia. After the plane “landed” it stayed afloat long enough for everyone to evacuate safely from the cabin of the plane. Some waited on the wing of the plane, as boats and ferries quickly moved in to pluck them from the frigged water. By the way the temperature in NYC today was around 18-20 degrees. Factor in windchill and it was very, very, very cold. Luckily few passengers ended up in the water completely. The NTSB is now investigating the whole incident. A friend had found a very cool image of the the passengers exiting the plane and standing on the wing waiting for more life boats to come by. But after a few minuets the photo was taken down. Luckily I took a picture of the picture with my handy IPhone. It seems as though someone who was being rescued was in a frame of mind to save a pic of this moment, as I have not seen this pic on any news channel yet. It will pop up eventually I assume. I’m just glad that all were saved and that the plane did not crash land in Manhattan….

Bunny sketch

Just a quickie…

Old Work That Was Just For Fun…

Well in an attempt to post somethig creative every few days, here is an image I worked on a while back. Nothing fantastic is going on with my limited photoshop skills, but I really like the concept of the whole drawing =).

Sketches on a Sick Day….

Well I felt like posting some sketches I’ve had laying around. Today is a sick day for me so at least posting these makes me feel somewhat productive. This is a sketch of a little ant tribe worshiping their new sugar god. =) I’ve had this done for a while. I would like to build this in 3D when I have the time. . 

Here is another one I finished last night. Just for fun. I may color this in over the weekend in between animating =)