Chronicles of an Animator

Here is a nice short by Tatanka Animation Studio called Paz (Peace)

Click HERE to see the short

Here is the trailer of Eric Powell‘s The Goon.

The director of the movie is David Fincher and the studio behind the animation is Blur Studios.

Pixar Canada has some great advice on Demo Reels.

An application that requires a demo reel submission has 4 parts:

• The cover letter
• The resume
• The demo reel
• The demo reel breakdown

Great advice that can be applied to animators:

• Your reel should be no more than 4 minutes.
• Don’t show un-approved work.
• Nobody cares about music/soundtrack.
• Put your best work first.
• Include a title card at the beginning and end with your name, address, phone, and email.
• Show work that proves that you know what you did.
• Take the time to polish.
• Show it to other people.

There are 35 movies hidden in the following short film.
How many of them can you identify?

Concept / Layout: Sarah Biermann, Torsten Strer, Felix Meyer, Pascal Monaco

Animation: Felix Meyer, Pascal Monaco

Sound: Torsten Strer

Hollywood Reporter has an article about Academy’s decision regarding Visual Effects and Animation.

Here is an excerpt:

Also, as movies like a “A Christmas Carol” and “Avatar” break new ground with motion- and performance-capture techniques, the Academy has ruled that motion-capture alone is not an animation technique, stipulating that animated films must be created frame by frame.

The rule now reads, “An animated feature film is defined as a motion picture with a running time of greater than 40 minutes, in which movement and characters’ performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique. Motion capture by itself is not an animation technique. In addition, a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75% of the picture’s running time.”

Read the whole article HERE

I have found a series of really interesting by Kevin Koch about “What are the three most important things in a great animated movie“.

• Story, Story and Story
• Storytelling, Storytelling, Storytelling
• My final answer to the question

Kevin has some really great points that can be applied to both animation and live action. There are some other points that are more specific to animation.

Make sure to check them out!

Check out the latest newsletter from Animation Mentor. I always get inspired when I read it!

There is some great stuff in there. I specially love the advice that Kenny Roy gives on what to do once graduated. (Too bad that the article was not available when I graduated)

Check out the newsletter HERE

Check out this Audio Interview with Mark Henn and Mike Surrey prior to the release of the Princess and the Frog.

Click HERE to listen the interview

Found @ Martin K‘s

Found @ Martin K’s