Done class 4! Now bring on class 5!

Hey Everyone!

My 4th class came to an end last week. It was an awesome term and I really feel like my animation skills stepped up another notch. Its a great feeling! The lectures, my mentor, and classmates were absolutely awesome.

So now its on to class 5 which is titled Short Film Preproduction. My new mentors name is Cal Brunker. He is a film/video director and story artist currently working at a studio in Toronto, Canada. The most recent project he was apart of was "Horton Hears a Who!" from Blue Sky Studios in New York. Last night we had our first Q and A and he really eased my mind about coming up with a good idea for my short film. He just seemed so chill and relaxed, which made me relax and realize...just have have fun with it. There are 10 students in the class. Nine from the United States, and one...from Canada. =)

Only six more months and I'm done!!! Then we'll see what happens. I have a secret "wish list" of studios I am hoping get a job at. But for that to become a reality, I have to keep pushing myself. The snow hasn't even completely melted away yet here, and I already know my summer is done. I can't wait to get a social life back once I get a job. =) I just know this hard work is going to pay off.

I am still finishing up my last assignment from class 4, and will post it on my blog hopefully within the next month sometime. It felt wrong to be posting on here today and not rewarding you with any visuals. So I whipped something up really quick, just for fun. Its basically me as a maple leaf still having a great time up in Canada, with my animation mentor experience. Its nothing much at all, but its something. =)

Thank you!

-Sheldon

Encouraging

Hey Everyone!

I finally have a chance to update my progress. I have been pushing really hard lately on this assignment. I only have about 10 days or so left until this class comes to an end. But then I will move on to my next class which will be creating and developing my own mini short film. I emphasize short, as in 30 seconds...hopefully. Adding just a few seconds here or there can easily add days, weeks, or even months of work. So I am going to try and stick with the goal of 30 seconds, as they recommend. For class 6 (the last class) I will then animate the short.

Its been an exciting week at Animation Mentor with a handful of students being hired on at Dreamworks. I get so excited just hearing about others getting hired...I seriously can't even imagine how excited I will be when my dream job comes along. Hopefully more sooner then later.

When I look at the work of the students that are getting hired, its really good...but I'm definitely not as intimidated by it, as I would have been before starting Animation Mentor. I feel that my own skills are getting closer to that same level as every week goes by. I'm not there yet...but I know will be. That feeling is so encouraging for me. I just have to continue to focus on my studies right now, and hopefully one day someone will tap me on the shoulder and say "Hey kid, do you want get paid to do that, or keep working for free?" Ha ha. That's about the time when my excitement goes through the roof!!!

I feel that its also important to note that I would not be where I am at, without everything I learned from the awesome professors and students at California State University, Fullerton.

I leave you with my work in progress on my current assignment.

Thank you for stopping by!

-Sheldon

Click HERE to see!

Time flies when you're having fun...Week 8 already!....Whoa & Yikes!!!

Hey Everyone!

This is going to be another quick post due to, trying to stay on schedule with my current assignment. Its going really well, and I just want to make it as shiny and polished as I possibly can by the time this class ends next month.

My lecture this week was titled "Advanced Entertainment" and was taught by an animator by the name of Doug Sweetland. He's has animated on every feature film from Pixar, starting with Toy Story back in 1995. Absolutely awesome, and very well known animator who is full of knowledge.

My current assignment is beginning to really take shape and I am excited about it. So excited I have trouble falling asleep at night because I am just thinking about the movements and arcs. But instead of me rambling on here, how about I just show you my assignment...so far. =)

Click HERE to see!



I also did another face pose study last week, but the guy in the picture is not just some random face I pulled off the internet, like I have done in the past. He is a talented animator by the name of Shawn Kelly, and is one of the three co-founders of Animation Mentor. He was cool with letting me use his picture for my assignment. Too prove my "talented" comment above: Shawn just recently was in a small group of four people who won a VES award for "Best Single Visual Effect of the Year!" It was on the Transformers movie, but more specifically the desert highway sequence where the robot is basically skating down the highway around the cars at crazy speeds. If you've seen the movie, you'll remember it. If you haven't seen the movie...you're missing out. =)

So here it is! Click it to see it bigger. =)



Alright...I hear my assignment calling my name, so I should get back to business here. =)

Once again, thank you for stopping by!

-Sheldon

Super Double Dooper Quick Post

Hey Everyone!!

This is going to be a super quick post because I have so much to do this week. I am really excited about how my shot is coming along. My mentor had some great comments to make too...so that makes me even more excited. I am learning so much all the time, I can't even put my excitement into words. Hope you like it!..so far. =)

CLICK HERE to see.



I also did another face pose study.



Thank you for stopping by!

-Sheldon

Found out I have a twin brother!!!

Hey Everyone!

Yup!! You read correctly! He even helped me film my video reference for my next animation. Let me explain a little about my scene, it has 2 characters: A guy who thinks he's smooth with ladies, and a sarcastic female working a concession stand.

NOTE: She gives him a bag of ice. You need that tidbit to get the joke. =)

CLICK HERE to see it, my twin, and of course the usual appearance of Jade, my reference video recording buddy. =)



Alright, alright...I don't really have a twin a brother, or a brother at all, but with a little video composition magic...it looks like I do. =)

The line I am using that you heard is from the movie Super Troopers.

So after all my planning, I got into the computer and did a first pass of rough blocking with my two characters.


CLICK HERE to see it.



I also did another face pose study like you saw in my last post.



Well, that pretty much sums up to where I am at in my animation studies. A lot of visuals this time, and not much of me rambling on. =)

Thank you for stopping by!

-Sheldon

Half done Animation Mentor!! Whoo-hoo!!!

Hello Good People,

It is TIME to breath some life back into this blog. **breath-breath**....alright that should do it, here we go!

First off...I completed Class 3 before Christmas, and learned so much from my super duper talented mentor and classmates. So, here is my final Class 3 Reel.

CLICK HERE




I am now in Class 4 which is titled "Advanced Acting." I have cool mentor by the name of Scott Carroll. He is currently a character animator at Blue Sky Studios in New York. (Sweet!!) ...**breath-breath**...that was for me. So, Scott is currently working on the movie "Horton Hears a Who"...which is a Dr. Seuss Story. Its coming to theatres near you, March 14th. Heres a link to the trailer if you haven't seen it already, "Horton Hears a Who". Take a look...its really quite beautiful...if I can use that word.

Other films Scott has worked on are:

Ice Age: The Meltdown (Blue Sky Studios)
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Lucasfilm)
Van Helsing (Universal Pictures)

Along with Scott, I have a really energetic and talented group of classmates. There are 2 other students in Canada, 9 from across the USA, and 1 from Brazil. Its going to be another great term.

So, we continued to refine our shot from the last class by adding in some facial animation. Facial animation is crazy stuff I tell you. Maybe in my next post I will do a simple little explanation of some of the smallest details, a feature animator pays attention too in the face. They are details sooooo small...that I believe it would really test, if you love animating or not. These details make me excited...so I think I'm ok. =)

It still needs work...but here it is for now.

CLICK HERE





Over the last few weeks, we have been doing face posing exercises. We were required to find some pictures of faces, and recreate the same feeling of expression with our 3D character, Bishop.

Here's what I came up with. Click on the picture to make it bigger if you like.



I have no idea who those people are...but thank you.

As you can tell, I did this blog post a little differently from other times. Instead of having my videos load directly on my blog...I now put a picture, and a "Click HERE" link. That way my blog will hopefully load up much faster each time someone visits it. And if you don't understand the technical part of what I just said...no worries. You're doing great, and thank you once again for stopping by my blog.

-Sheldon