Hey Good People!

Its was an awesome second week at Blue Sky. I definitely felt a little more settled in, as compared to being quite overwhelmed during the first week. We were given our first shots to animate for the movie. I am really excited about it and can't wait to get back in there tomorrow morning and continue to work on it. All the full time staff at the studio have continued to make us feel really welcomed throughout the week. It really feels like such a great group of people to work with.

A few of us took the train into Manhattan for our Saturday evening. We walked around through Times Square, saw the Rockefeller Center, and went for some New York City pizza at Lombardi's. Its America's first pizzeria and has been around for over a hundred years. It is still labeled as having some of the best pizza in the country. I definitely enjoyed it. :) The picture above is inside of Grand Central Station.

I'll update here again soon! Thank you!

Sheldon

Survived my first week in New York!

Hey Everyone!

Thank you for all the Good Luck wishes!

Last Saturday I flew into Newark, New Jersey, rented a car, put my trust in the GPS and drove about an hour north to White Plains, New York. Last Monday was the first day on the job and seriously everyone at the studio was so incredibly welcoming. People in the animation department were constantly stopping by and introducing themselves to all the new hires. A very cool thing is that five other students from Animation Mentor that I have been going to school with also got hired. It was cool to have friends already, even though we had never met in person.

For our first week we were just trying to get a handle on the way things are run at Blue Sky. The character rigs are about 100 times more complex then anything I have ever animated with before. Its definitely a little bit intimidating, but I have no doubt that I will get a handle on it all. The studio is filled with so many incredibly talented animators, and the best thing is that they are all willing to help. The learning curve is going to be a steep one over the next five months at Blue Sky. I am so excited about it. :)

As for my Animation Mentor education, I decided to withdraw and give all my attention to Blue Sky. Since my time at Blue Sky is only scheduled to be for five months, I may continue Animation Mentor after. Unless another job comes along.

Next weekend a few of us hope to take a 35 minute train ride into Manhattan and see all there is to see. Something I really want to do is go to Yankee Stadium for a baseball game because its the last season that the Yankee's will play in the legendary stadium.

This week we might get our first shot for the movie, so thats pretty exciting. I will try to update my blog whenever I can with how things are going. :)

Best thing of all, is that I gained a new little niece the day before I moved. It was just in time. I was so happy to meet the new little lady before I left. :) I'll be back at home again for Christmas. :)

Thank you!

-Sheldon
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Whooooo-hooo!!!!!!!!!

Hey Everyone!!!

It just got finalized yesterday, and I've been waiting to post this for a little while now but, I GOT A JOB!!!........Its weird to finally say that. I've pinched myself several times, but the job is still there. :)

Here's the crazy details...

I got hired as a Temporary Animator at Blue Sky Studios which is located in White Plains, New York; approximately 30 miles north of Manhattan. I will be joining the team there already working on the movie Ice Age 3. If you haven't seen the trailer for it, click the link: http://www.iceagemovie.com/us/ I will be working my butt off there for approximately 5 months. After that...who knows. :) The thing that excites me the most though, is how much I am going to learn from the many talented people at Blue Sky in all departments. I am considering the option of evolving into Sponge Bob SquarePants so I can soak up as much knowledge as I can. :)

Thank you to all my classmates and professors at California State University Fullerton. Everything I learned there helped me immensely at Animation Mentor, and will continue too. To everybody involved in Animation Mentor...classmates, mentors, staff, Scott Carroll, Bobby, Shawn, & Carlos. THANK YOU!!!

Most importantly I have to say a huge Thank You to my family and friends. I've dragged them down a crazy path to finally get to this point, and they never let go.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I am moving there in 2 days, and start working on Monday morning?!?!? (July 21st). I better start packing!!! :)

Thank you!

Sheldon (I'm so excited!!!)

Class 5 complete!

Hey Everyone,

I have completed class 5 of 6! It was an awesome class where we were guided through the process of how to develop strong stories for our short films. I gained a whole new respect for all people involved in the pre-production stage of a movie, or any project for the matter. I really enjoyed it quite a bit. There are things that I was taught to think about and consider, that the audience will never notice, but will hopefully make it a better viewing experience for them. Thank you to my awesome mentor Cal Brunker, and my entire class.

In the layout stage, I set up all the cameras, figured out the timing, added some basic sound effects, and did some very rough blocking to get my story across. I still have lots of work to do on the creation of the store, and especially the fan and lighting department at the end. Click the picture below to see the layout. I hope you enjoy what I have so far.

Thank you. :)

-Sheldon

FJORG!!! Acceptance!!!

Hey Everyone,

Our team of three just found out last night that we got accepted into the FJORG competition at this years SIGGRAPH convention in Los Angeles. Our team members are Natascha Evans (classmate), Francine Mangin (Animation Mentor Alumni), and myself.

Here's a quick brief on what FJORG is:
-16 teams of 3 participate from around the world.
-32 hours straight to create a 15 second animation based on a theme given at the time of the competition.
-The Goal is to resist distractions and meet the deadline for creating the best character driven animation.

Its going to be so much fun, and at the same time, great exposure since its run by professionals from around the entertainment industry. =)

I've also finally "completed" a couple of my latest assignments. So I compiled all my Animation Mentor work so far into one simple video. It starts with the most recent work and goes back to the beginning. =) Hope you enjoy it!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Sheldon

Animatic

Hey Everyone,

Sorry that it's been a little while since my last post. I have been extremely busy polishing up my old assignments, entering into a 32 hour animating marathon in Los Angeles in fall (still hoping our team of three gets accepted), and at the same time keeping up with the development of my short film at Animation Mentor.

You've hopefully seen my video pitch for my story idea in my last post, and now here is whats called an 'Animatic'. I took my idea and roughly drew it out to figure out the timing. Some areas could still be shortened up a bit yet which I will do in layout, but I hope you enjoy it for now. =)

I can't wait to do video reference for all of this! Ha ha...I'll be making fool of myself yet again...and loving every moment of it. Don't worry I'll put up here. =)

Thank You for stopping by!

-Sheldon