...Entertainment...

When I got to Disney I had a few sit downs with Glen and i asked him about his earlier moments at the studio. I was curious about when he was learning early on from some of the remaining 9 Old Men. Studying under Ollie Johnston was one of the most eye opening experiences for him he told me. He told me a story about doing test animations and how he had some nice movements down, but some of his peers had the movement and just a little something more that he wasn't getting right away. He couldn't put his finger on it and when he went to speak with Ollie about the tests he was doing, the thing he learned to add to his animation was ENTERTAINMENT. Ollie told him that he wants to be entertained when he watches animation and that Glen should strive to put that in his work. This was a small but big gem that he gave me my first month in at the studio. "Dont forget to entertain when you are digging into the emotions of the character". There is a way to get the thoughts of the character across and entertain the audience at the same time. Entertainment will not always be showy and wacky animation, but also things the audience can relate to.

So I basically added the understanding that when people go to the theater to watch our work...they are screaming out....

ENTERTAIN ME!

Drawings telling you to DRAW!

I follow a few blogs and most of the guys and gals I check out work in production as well... so I am sure the day to day job slows everyone on posting to blogs; including the kid. I came into my office today and started flipping the 2D animation I started and noticed one of the drawings looked like it was saying "...pick up the pencil..." Anyway work has been very hectic and everyone is putting in overtime. I have been planning my final series of shots which is going to be another level of acting for me ( I am looking forward to blocking these out).

During the last several weeks of the movie I am going to be working on an additional blog that will not be ongoing but a presentation for aspiring animators!

Have you ever watched an animated movie and wonder who did what shot? Who are the guys making these characters come to life? My favorite thing to do with my Disney DVD's is pausing the end credits and see who worked on what characters. I have all of them pretty much memorized at this point, but for CG animation you cant really do that. I decided that for TANGLED I am going to create a blog that has pictures of all the animators who worked on the movie a long with one of their favorite shots and a description of how they created it..... or whatever they want to say about it. I think that animation fans will get a big kick out of it.

I am going to post some of the doodles that I have done during production... waiting for playblasts, planning shots, waiting for shots to come up in dailies, or just during my lunch break.

thanks for being interested

-JB

...How To Train Your Dragon...

I don't really review movies but I have to say that Dreamworks latest movie is strong beyond belief. I saw it on opening night with my wife and we were both blown away. It is the kind of movie that would make a kid want to be an industry creative or just work in the arts on that type of production. Its good to see a well balanced animated movie with action and heart. When you get on a roller coaster and you want to go again, that was a well constructed ride. I am really excited to own this movie and I am hoping that they put out a good double disk, but that is not really a Dreamworks thing.

I must have liked it a lot to do a drawing based off of the movie..shiiii

The Strength of a Team: Part 2

Moving forward together! As creative people we all have ideas that we think are good and will enhance the team’s efforts. There has always been a major issue when everyone has a “good idea”… the issue being too many chefs in the kitchen. The team members have to come together at some point on the strongest idea and most of the group needs to step back and let the leaders push forward. So it may not feel like you are moving forward together but for the sake of getting things done efficiently, most of us have to bite our tongues.

This is not a bad thing; it is just the way it is. A lot of studios have been developed out of the frustration of working for the larger ones. The feeling of not having your ideas heard leads to a lot of creative people wanting to get their vision out to the public… “let’s start a studio!” Eventually that studio will also become a place where other ideas are placed on the back burner because no matter where you are too many chefs spoil the soup.

Moving forward together is not about everyone having a ‘say’… it is about everyone on the team working in their role to the best of their ability and understanding the goals at hand. When the time comes for you to have your voice heard, make sure you are able to articulate with a sense of the higher level goals in mind. If you are asked to share your visions with the rest of the team, put your best foot forward and then you may get a bigger chance to shine. You will inspire others to do the same and make the team stronger.

The Strength of a Team: Part 1

One of the biggest components of a strong team is the bond. The bond is built by the coach...team leader...etc. They are in charge of creating the foundation, culture, and path to success. This task is what will help make the team feel secure and believe in the leadership. Then the team relies on every individual.

The team looks to each other as family. Of course there will be disagreements (just like a biological family) and other issues that arise but everyone understands that no one person is above the team. If anything, the team members will push each other to be better. If the team members do not believe in itself entirely or if the bond has been tainted in a way that makes the outlook towards success questionable, then failure is eminent. Not because the team is going to purposefully do a bad job, but that the COMPLETE FOCUS of the team is not on the finish line. The vision becomes distorted.

The focus goes towards selfish reasons to do a good job.

If the opposite of the above is in place...the focus of working hard becomes selfless and leans in the direction of making something great that the team can be proud of. Over time something great happens... the team begins to learn from each other and understands how one another thinks. The bond becomes very strong and everyone is making the trek towards the finish line TOGETHER with the intention of winning. The formula is pretty simple: take care of your people and they will take care of you.

Push Forward!

...learning...

So many times I sat and worked with the making of stuff repeating over and over. Glen and Bruce popping up on the screen and making animation sound like the best job in the world. Andreas speaking on the animators that came before us and being so passionate about the work. So many animators who passed through the doors of Disney and left some kind of mark. The privilege of being around the guys who got learn from the 9 Old Men or the few that were still around to learn from is priceless. I had a taste of that history, that effort of passing down the knowledge that was given long ago. Sitting talking with Glen and Bruce have been some of the greatest moments in my animation career thus far.

I have no idea what my fate is going to be at the studio... but what is fate...

the student

a little wiser

...still working on the intro...

these are some of the main keys for the dancing part... I am flushing out the turning around to begin the dialogue. It is taking forever to work on this but its nice to do so when I have time between walking a tight rope. Man it has been several years since I have "really" animated some refined 2D work. hard to see this clip..whatever

...walking a tight rope...

... poses...?

Pencil Test Depot: New Title Page

I finally got tired of looking at the lame logo at the top of the Pencil Test Depot. This idea was inspired by a character that BJ is going to animate for the site at some point. In the meantime, I wanted to get something up there that had a bit more fun to it. CLICK THE PIC and check out some of the new posts!

...really...do you know what you sound like..??!!

Don't hurt your peers if you are at a studio by spreading negativity... Don't be a cancer and make the people around you feel bad about where they work. Do your co-workers a favor .... shut up!!!

...Release the Excess...

more studies

knowing where to push the face and body has been an ongoing process for me and it will probably continue for a while. I found that drawing has helped me more and more in CG animation. The biggest thing I have found to be helpful is pushing all areas of the body to make a powerful impact. It is really fun to go way beyond with extreme poses and it is challenging to find the right balance sometimes; especially when dealing with realistic looking characters. Finding landmarks has been around since animation started. Using areas of the face and body that can be distorted and taken back to their original position is a great tool. Anyway, I was just drawing a bunch of stuff thinking about what I need to work on tomorrow in my shot and this is one of the few things I sketched. I am actually animating Rapunzel at the moment so this was just a test since I cant really show any of my pre pro stuff from the movie.

...???.insearch of the Golden Animation Reel.. (not really)???...

I have been reading and hearing a lot of conversations about studios, layoffs, projects, and so many negative things about the animation industry that my head hurts. All the conversations led to someone asking me why my reel was not posted on my blog so that studios could access it easily. I don't like thinking about reel too much, especially while I am trying to animate. Everyone thinks of their work differently and how it makes an impact on them personally. At the end of the day, we all have to find jobs and provide a good life for our families. Their are a lot of people I look up to; animators and artists a like. Most of the influential creatives have always tried to make a personal achievement within their work. Trying to perfect a brush stroke, sculpting the human form with precision, understanding anatomy through drawing, or just pushing the next level of your acting.

So it is just my opinion that focusing on what will look good on my reel will distract me from pushing my work. I like to say to myself..."focus on the subtext of your shot, the performance, make sure the mechanics are working, and think of interesting ways of handling your characters.... and guess what will happen...."

Your reel will take care of itself

"...Kick The Ball..."

I have been trying to work really hard at the office and the days are flying by. I was on Facebook and I have to say it was pretty cool to meet up with people you haven't seen in years. As time passed I began to not speak to those people as much and they spoke less to me. It is just what it is... you grow apart from people and create lives as adults. Its cool to link up every once in a while to touch base. My career has taken me far away from where I grew up and only so many people stayed close to me. With that being said, Facebook has become another distraction for me personally. The constant glance at the site only to see someone has gained 100 crops in Farmville..? WTF is Farmville or am I just becoming old. It was fun while it lasted. I have to focus more than ever in 2010 because my family needs it.

...day 44 @ Disney...

Today was the 44th day at Disney... no there is no significance to the number or day. I just was curious about how long I had been there and to be honest it feels like I have been there for years. Everyone is open and the team is pushing together. I have been working away on my shots that are due this week; polishing and refining stuff. Even though the picture looks like I am going crazy...it is probably more like the stare of go hard or go home. I made this sketch between playblasts. I will do another sketch on day 88 or maybe sooner.

key frame: #2

this is probably going to take me forever just because the amount of work I have to do in the studio and my thoughts are really focused on that... but I want to create this 2D piece as well so I am using whatever little time I get (between work and family) to create it. This is the second key pose out of the 6 I have made so far. I am exploring acting choices that will fit with the dialogue I recorded. I remember reading up a few animators that I look up to and one of the things that holds true is the amount of time spent finding those poses that will make the character come to life. I will keep trying to push and hopefully this thing will come out moving... I will try my best for believability.

...New Year...new stories...new ideas...new animation...

well I guess this is an idea that is carrying over from the end of last year, but it is still new. The character designs and head model sheets I created for the cartoon version of myself are for an intro. (link the the head sheet: HEAD-SHEET) Between working at the studio and writing, I have been trying to hash out what the intro should look like. I got a flash and something came to me a few days ago. I roughed out a few versions but I think this was the one I am leaning more towards. This is just some rough thumbnails of how I see the character coming into the frame and starting. It should be a really short 2D animation but I want it to look as professional as I can get it. This is good for my nephew to see and hopefully he can use this in the future.


I think it should come out ok, but I am really going to have to squeeze it in since I am going to be working a lot of hours. Sunday nights look like my best bet for trying to get this idea finished...

...digging up the past on New Years eve...

I was going through old sketchbooks and notepads. Besides a bunch of stories and character designs I found something I had no idea how to create at the time. My first job in the 3D animation world was at a start up game studio. I was thrown into the lead animator roll after a few weeks and it was a true learning experience. I had no clue how to create an animation pipeline that would be effective for getting us from the beginning of the game to the end. The pipeline had to show the back and forth between the different departments and not just what the animators output. I wanted to post this because it is kind of a release to see that I could do this. I really appreciate John Sicat (EA Creative Director now!) for giving me the chance to prove myself. We have been good friends since then. You can do anything I guess when the pressure is on you to perform. Like Al Pacino said in Devils Advocate, "...pressure changes everything....some people focus..others fold"

stay focused in the new year!

...new Rapunzel image released...

This image was posted by disneypixar.fr. and has the two main characters facing off. I am sure there will be many more to come.

take a break from drawing and draw?

researching some stuff for work and drawing some ideas..but I took a break and kept drawing. I used to love the Looney Tunes stuff that was drawn in the real world even though it looked odd. For some reason I was amazed by it and still at that point I didnt know I could do animation for a living (very young age). I found some fantastic stuff and I think it is really going to help out for next year. I will probably stop in the office tomorrow and work out some things that have been popping into my head over the weekend. I also had time to help my wife out with a logo for her math education blog.

If you have kids and need a good way to get them excited about math, my wife is creating an area that will give exposure to great ways of learning math. It incorporates real life situations, videos, and information that can help them excel in class. I will give an update when it goes live. Here is a sneak peek at what the logo looks like so far.