Teresa!!! :O)

Opening Weekend for Hop!

2011-04-01T23:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, please excuse the cobwebs. I've been in crunch and have fallen quite behind with this blog...

Just wanted to give a little shout out that Hop opens this weekend! A lot of my really good friends and co-workers worked super hard on this. Check it out. :)

I animated the shot at :11 where Carlos closes the door on the bunnies as well as the shot at :19 "we da bosses.. we da bosses."
(hehe, and right before that it almost shows some effects animation I helped with.. slow motion whiskers ;)

During production I was on mostly the full CG factory shots. I only have one with a live action plate.
(Where EB has a little bit of stage fright).

Anyways, now we're switching gears and moving onto realistic creature animation on Mr. Popper's Penguins which will come out June 17th!

Rhythm & Hues!!!

2010-06-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

I received EXCITING news over the weekend!!! I'll be joining Rhythm & Hues this summer as an animation apprentice! On top of that... there are at least 6 AMer's starting at the same time! I can hardly believe it! :)

As promised here are 2 of the 3 shots I've been working on. They're not done yet, but getting closer!

Anyways, I absolutely can't wait! YAY :)

"I remember Daddy told me: Fairy tales can come true. You gotta make 'em happen, it all depends on you" -Almost There, Princess and the Frog

Thumbnail Sketches!

2010-05-26T23:13:00.001-07:00

Whew, so I have been quite busy lately working on new material. I'm so excited to finally post it here!!! I've had the absolute pleasure of studying under Wayne Gilbert this term( http://anamie.com/ ) and I'm currently working with him to polish up 3 new shots! While they're not quite ready to be revealed, I thought it'd be fun to give a glimpse into the planning process and show a few of my thumbnail sketches.

These are thumbnails from one of the three shots I'm working on. Having never tackled a quadruped before, I felt it was important to delve into it before I find myself in a production setting. I did extensive research to really figure out how dogs move. After sorting through tons of reference footage I found a clip that I wanted to attempt. I was then told to cover half the dog with my hand and study the two ends separately. I decided to draw separate thumbnails for both ends of the dog before looking at how the two sections of the body worked together. It was a lot of work, but paid off hands down in the end. By the time I was done sketching I had a much better grasp of the mechanics and knew exactly what I wanted going into the computer.
It's so less intimidating when you know what you want and how you're going to get there. Don't underestimate or skimp on planning.. even if nobody else can make sense of your sketches, it doesn't matter. Taking that extra time in the beginning and having a clear idea in your head will save you massive amounts of time in the long run!

I'll post all of the shots in the near future! I'm actually even more excited about the other 2!!! It feels like a light has just turned on and I've had one "aha" moment after another lately. I'll try to share more about those "aha" concepts... but they have mostly been:
- Rediscovering the importance of planning
- Experimentation with different workflows (I really found one that clicked)
- and the last one is hard to describe.. The best way to say it is animating force versus form. Where you animate based on feeling? Feeling out the poses, feeling out the character? As I said.. not quite sure how to describe it?
Okie dokie, that's all for now. :)

*I uploaded the thumbnail sketches for educational purposes only. They are watermarked just in case. I put a lot of work into these and plan to use the shot on my reel. Please do not copy or reproduce. Thanks!*

Staying up in the downs

2010-05-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

I want to take a moment and talk about something often avoided/overlooked/not talked about. Something I feel that is important to discuss and hopefully helpful to others.

How to stay up in the downs:
Too many times we push this conversation to the side. It's not easy to admit you're feeling down, and who likes to hang around negative energy? No one.
I think that, however, is EXACTLY why it's beneficial to talk about it here. If you can acknowledge those feelings and deal with them properly, it's much easier to convert it back into that positive energy we all know and love!

The job hunt can be a roller coaster of ups and downs, waiting, and what-ifs? The animation industry is hard to break into!
Whether you're just coming out of school and looking for the first job, or in a down time between gigs.. it's important to keep your chin up, as hard as it may be. Days can stretch into weeks and weeks into months. It's important to have a plan, find balance, and learn how to manage your time. Setting goals and holding yourself accountable is essential, but at the same time don't be too hard and beat yourself up. (the last bit is something I'm working on).

Rejection letters happen-

"But I believe brick walls are there for a reason. They're not there to keep us out. They are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something." -Randy Pausch

Don't worry and don't let it discourage you. Use that fuel to power yourself forward. Whatever you do, don't stop animating! Keep working on new material and keep learning. Perseverance, determination, and motivation are key. Getting feedback during this time is more important than ever. Whether that means signing up to take more classes or teaming up with friends, stay connected and involved. Find a way to keep moving forward!

Stay happy, stay healthy.
Remember taking care of yourself includes both physical and mental aspects. If you're feeling similar emotions related to burnout- take some time out and relax. Revisit the wonderment that drew you to the magic in the first place. Exploring other creative outlets can help too. Playing fiddle, mandolin, drawing (or teaching the 1st graders how to draw) help keep me inspired! Sitting down with a good book, watching my favorite movies, and of course hanging out with my family are also great for the soul!
Main point: Set time aside to take care of yourself.
Including, physical health! For me this is running and going to the lake. I love to run and I feel so much better afterward. Get up and go outside, take a breath of fresh air and enjoy life!

Remember a good animator is always in need. You'll get there. We're all in this together. Follow your dream and never ever ever give up! It's just a matter of time. :)

"Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen." - Conan O'Brien

"Why do we fall? So that we might learn to pick ourselves back up"

Anyways, I cannot rightfully take credit for this advice. I just wanted to pass it along and pay it forward. I hope it was as helpful to you as it was to me. :)

(new shots are coming soon from my new AM refresher class with Wayne Gilbert! I'm very excited to share them along with some of my thumbnails. Stay tuned!)

New Demo Reel

2010-03-29T21:58:00.001-07:00

I just updated my Demo Reel and Resume!
I also started my 3rd Animation Mentor Alumni Refresher course today,
so new work is on the way. Thanks for stopping by. :)
Check it out at www.teresanord.com

How to Train Your Dragon

2010-03-29T21:47:00.001-07:00

WOW! Huge congratulations to my mentors, friends, and the team at Dreamworks! I went to see How to Train Your Dragon last night and was absolutely blown away! What an AMAZINGLY AwESoME and incredibly well put together film on every level... story, art direction, animation.. everything!

If you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for? Seriously. You won't be disappointed. ;)

Running Update!!!

2010-03-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

I'm going to run the Disneyland Half Marathon this fall!!! So EXCITED! It all started out as just a joke between some friends, but it's official. I absolutely can't wait!

Anyways, needless to say I've started training again! My hope is to run the half marathon barefoot, or, well I should say practically barefoot. I've been running in my new Vibram Five Fingers. :)

I first heard about the benefits of barefoot, or minimalist shoe, running from Christopher McDougall's New York Times Bestseller "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes, and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen." It's one of the best books I've ever read and I highly recommend it (even if you don't like running). It's incredibly inspirational and makes ya want to get up and move!

Anyways, I'm absolutely hooked! I don't think I'll ever go back to regular running shoes! My feet just feel so light and my runs are so much more fun. I find myself running over different terrain just to see what it feels like.
I thought I had good running form before.. but I instantly noticed my stride shortening with these. I use so many muscles in my legs that I never knew I had! I can't even describe how sore my calves were after my first couple runs! Barefoot running truly takes some time to adjust and it's important to start out slow. I'm only up to 4.5 miles so far.
Instead of going into details about barefoot running and why it's beneficial, I'll direct you to an awesome post that Alexiss put together on the subject. :)
http://www.alexissdawn.com/gioiosa/?p=1768

I was so excited to get my Vibrams I could hardly wait! None of the local stores carried them though, so I had to order online. I went through REI since I had a gift card there.. but they're also available online at:
Vibram Main Site
KayakShed
If you buy Vibrams online, just be sure there is a good exchange policy in case you need a different size.
I had read online that everyone instantly loves Vibrams. I was pretty disappointed the first time I slipped them on though. Hahaha, well first off.. slipped on is the wrong term. My first time putting on the KSO's took quite a bit of effort (I'm much faster now).
I just wasn't use to having things between my toes and I didn't like how snug the Vibrams fit. There was absolutely no extra room and my toes kept going numb. It didn't feel like I was barefoot at all and they felt really restricting. I was about ready to exchange for a size up, until I did a google search and found out that Vibrams need some time to break in. I forced myself to wear them around the house with tags on and sure enough about a week later they were so comfy I didn't want to take them off! :)

Anyways, I LOVE them now and I can't wait to run the half marathon with an amazing group of animators!

Mark McDonnell on Gesture Drawing

2010-02-02T15:55:00.000-08:00

I know it has been awhile, but I just stumbled on this goldmine today and wanted to share, because it's AWESOME! Mark McDonnell is posting tutorials and samples of gesture drawing instruction done instructing artists at The Walt Disney Company and more.. and he's posting it on Youtube!

How to set up for Gesture Drawing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WxjwTttv8w&feature=related
How to Warm-up for Gestures Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga6WjxaXRC0
How to Warm-up for Gestures Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eW7EHQZ9_I&feature=channel
Character Design Intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me8iHlpjpRI&feature=channel

His website is http://cre8tivemarks.com/
and he has a group on Facebook that you can follow if you're interested. It's called Fans of Mark McDonnell's The Art And Feel Of Making It Real.
Anyways, I feel incredibly inspired and want to go draw now...so, Enjoy!

Speaking of Animation

2009-12-10T12:18:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to add a new link to the side bar.. This looks to be a promising new resource for animators, be sure to check it out. :)
http://www.speakingofanimation.com/
The awesome new site was started by 4 working professional animators who work at this mysterious studio? haha, I wonder if you can guess which one? ;)
Anyways, there will be podcasts as well as tips and tricks! Enjoy!

Disney is on a roll

2009-12-09T12:39:00.000-08:00

I apologize about the lack of updates.
I wasn't sure if anybody reads this blog.. but I've received quite a few messages from readers! I will try to be better about posting, promise.
Thanks so much for continuing to stop by during my blogging hiatus. :)
(after this term at Animation Mentor is over I'll post my shots on Ice Age 3 and maybe some of my new school work)

Anyways, last night Disney aired the premiere of Prep and Landing on ABC. It was incredibly well done. Really really enjoyed it. I wish it was longer.. I want to see more! :)

Last week they also had a special on tv called "Dreams Come True." Here's the first part:

and to top it all off... The Princess and the Frog comes out this Friday! I absolutely can't wait. (I have to wait until Sunday though, because that's when I turn in my last assignment of the term at Animation Mentor ;)

I'm so glad Disney is on a roll. It's such an exciting time to be in animation!
I've always loved the magic of Disney! I grew up with all the classic Disney movies like most everybody.. and it is truly the reason I wanted to become an animator. All of this fantastic new material from the studio inspires me and takes me back to being a kid. It completely reminds me why I wanted to do this (not that I had forgotten.. it's just so refreshing and makes my passion to pursue this dream that much stronger)! Thank you Disney! :)

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them" -Walt Disney

Current Projects

2009-08-29T23:01:00.000-07:00

So I'm super stoked! I think I already mentioned in my last post that I'm signed up to take an AM refresher course, starting Sept. 28th. However, I also have other plans to stay busy until I get another job..
I've been watching tutorials all day in order to learn Cinema 4D and help work on the pre-viz and then animation for The Ottoman!!!!
(I posted earlier about this project, but now I'm actually going to start working on it. yay!)
I'm so excited to be a part of this short film and help pitch in. The artwork that the guys have done so far is amazing and super inspiring!

Artwork by Vincent Morin

Artwork by David Ward

Artwork by Vincent Morin

I pulled this concept art from The Ottoman blog.. if you want to keep your eyes on the progress of this project you can follow the blog here http://www.the-ottoman.com/blog/
I personally cannot wait to see this short film to completion. It is going to be great! :)

In other news I've been fiddling around a little bit lately...
These are just bits and pieces from familiar songs I've picked up by ear, mostly Disney songs. Anyways, I just kinda mashed them together when I was playing around with my fiddle yesterday. I think there are about 15 or so different songs in there? I also tried to play it with the bow between my knees again, but it really doesn't sound too great... so I stuck it at the end.

-Kung Fu Panda, or supposed to be anyways.. I dunno I probably have it wrong , it was the most difficult to sound out.
-Pirates
-Flintstones
-Star Wars
-When You Wish Upon A Star
-song from Shrek
-A Whole New World
-Cruella de Vil
-Peanuts
-Mickey Mouse
-Mario
-Tale As Old As Time
-Harry Potter
-You've Got A Friend In Me
-Woody's Roundup

Uncategorizable gianormous update

2009-08-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

Wow. Alright, so it has been forever since I've updated my blog.
I can't believe I haven't posted since Ice Age 3 was released!
It was such a surreal moment sitting next to my family in the exact same theater I use to work at... I can't even describe it. All the memories of sweeping up popcorn or dealing with customer service issues and longing to be making the films instead.. all of those feelings came rushing back.. Watching my name go by in the credits along with all of my friend's names in the first feature film I've worked on was crazy exciting.

Definitely a moment I will never ever forget as long as I live.
I've been dreaming of working on feature films my whole entire life and never did I expect to reach my goal so quickly. (especially one that is doing so remarkable.. now, the 22nd top grossing film worldwide..ever! That is insane). I had done my research on the industry and was fully prepared for the long hard struggle to get my foot in the door. I know I put in a lot of hard work and did as much as I possibly could, but I still feel like I owe a lot of it to just being in the right place at the right time and getting an extremely lucky break. I've looked to this quote for some time now and never has it rang so true...

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity"

It feels incredibly odd to achieve my life goal before I turned 21. In a way I feel like the fish in the bags at the end of Finding Nemo "now what?" Although, it's not so much a question of "what?" as it is "how?" or "when?"
I know that this is only the beginning and I know I want to continue animating on films for audiences to enjoy. I'm now in the long hard struggle to try to keep my foot in the door and prove that I really want this.
hehe, I now have a more realistic experience of the job hunt... but I'm ready for it! It's really about time I probably pay my dues :)
Anyways, I've applied to a bunch of studios and had some dead ends as well as some possibly good leads. I'm still short experience wise, which is frustrating at times, but then I remind myself that I'm young and experience will come with time. :)
I've been continuing to animate in the meantime to keep learning and push myself forward. I'm planning on taking a refresher course at Animation Mentor until I find another job. I may have achieved my goal of working on a feature film, but I never want to stop learning and I hope to animate on many more. I figured continuing my education in a more formal setting is probably one of the best ways to keep moving forward.

One thing I miss most from Blue Sky are the people. Animator's are such amazing people and I miss all of the friends I made. It's the same withdrawal I feel after I get back from Animation Mentor get-togethers, such as the BBQ/Grad/or Siggraph. All of which I attended again this summer and had an incredible time. Siggraph was in New Orleans this year and was fantastic! I can't believe I'm going to wrap up BBQ/Grad/and Siggraph with 2 or 3 generic sentences about them being amazing! However, I cannot possibly cover all of their amazingness details right here. There is just too much... so I'm going to move on to some other news...

I finally bought myself a domain name... and switched the template on my website.
I now officially have my own .com for a year.
www.teresanord.com
I have updated it with my new resume and reel breakdown (including the shots I worked on in Ice Age).. but I still want to double check with the studio before I upload my new demo reel with Ice Age 3 material. I promise it's coming soon!

I also heard this really cool quote the other day and included it on the banner of my site mostly to remind myself...and I just sorta wanted to explain it.
(anyone who knows me knows I love motivational quotes, anyways here it goes)

"Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C s. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence." -Walt Disney

I really liked this because I know my greatest weakness is confidence. I've learned a whole lot about myself lately and know that it is something I need to work on. Going through Animation Mentor I was told that as an animator you need to have a thick skin so you can handle feedback. At the time I was convinced that I had thick skin.. I wanted my mentor's and fellow classmates to tear my work apart, because I knew it would only make me stronger. I loved a good thorough critique. I thought that was the whole definition of thick skin, being able to accept constructive criticism and being willing to take direction. I was great at that, I had it down. I know now, however, that I didn't understand the whole definition and wasn't as thick as I thought. Having thick skin means being able to separate yourself from your work. I'm not exactly sure how to explain it.. but being able to accept critiques is one thing and letting that effect your self confidence is another. I now understand and know what I have to work on. I'm prepared now to make that separation and I honestly think that is one of the most valuable revelations I had during my first work experience. I guess what I mean is, separate your critiques from your self confidence. You will be in a much better place emotionally. If you don't it can really start to drag you down... Just remember that you were hired for a reason. They saw talent in you and you do know what you're doing. Just believe in yourself... and yeah.. was that a little too sappy? I don't mean it to be.. but jumping into crunch time on a major feature film is a positively frightening experience when it's your first job, trust me. It feels like trial by fire. Even if it's the best experience ever and the people are incredibly nice and helpful.. it can be downright overwhelming.. and just going through that process I discovered lots of things. This being one of them. Anyways, it feels like the biggest accomplishment to come out at the end and say that "yeah, I did that and I made it through... and I learned a lot." There are lots of ups and downs in animation.. but I think having self confidence is definitely important. (lol, not too much self confidence that you're arrogant and have too much attitude or anything.. but don't have too little self confidence where you never stand behind an idea of yours or beat yourself up over everything). Anyways, there you have it.. one of the biggest most valuable lessons I've learned recently. :)

Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs Sneak Preview!

2009-06-18T13:25:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness, Oh MY GOODNESS... I'm so sO SO EXCITED for this! YaY!

http://www.iceagemovie.com/sneak/

Here's the website that has the list of theaters that are showing the sneak, so you can find one in your area. :)

Animation Mentor Student Testimonial

2009-05-28T21:39:00.000-07:00

lol, here's the new Animation Mentor Student Testimonial video.
I'm on it toward the end (2:30) for about 2 seconds (the part about how would you describe AM in one word). I was a bit excited and used more than one word. I love Animation Mentor. Best school experience I've ever had! :)
It's so cool to see my friends on there!

The Magical Music of Walt Disney

2009-05-19T13:19:00.001-07:00

Last Friday I saw an excellent Symphony pop concert for my birthday titled "The Magical Music of Walt Disney." It was truly amazing! I can't even imagine how wonderful it must be hearing a full orchestra perform the pieces for the first time in a recording session.
They performed everything from an opening Disney Medley to “Tarzan,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Mary Poppins,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Rescuers Down Under,” “Aladdin,” “Mulan” and “The Lion King.” For an encore they played "Pirates of the Caribbean."
Along with the music they had rare Disney stills as well as fully animated scenes projected on a screen. Anyways, this concert really inspired me and reaffirmed why I went into animation to begin with. I'm so excited to be telling lasting stories for a living! Animating is the best job in the world! :)

These are just some videos I found off youtube.. not the same symphony or even the same songs.. but still good :)

This is the same song they played for the encore, but different group.

Acting and Believability in your Characters

2009-05-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

The other night Tom Hanks was on Charlie Rose. It was a fascinating interview, however, I found one part of it particularly valuable.
(it's something I want to be sure and remember to make my animation stronger)
He talked about why some of his most successful performances were successful (almost every role Tom Hanks plays is believable and convincing).

Anyways, his trick is to find out how his character is alone in the world and think about that as much as he can.
"In the past, Hanks has described himself as, deep down, a loner. ‘Everybody has something that chews them up and, for me, that thing was always loneliness."
Loneliness is something everybody can relate to. We all realize we are alone in the world and desperately try to form relationships to appear otherwise.
This is something everyone in the audience can relate to, because everyone knows what it feels like to be alone.
Tom Hanks thinks about this and incorporates it into his character's body language throughout the film.
Anyways.. I just thought it was interesting and a good thing to think about when animating characters and making them come to life.

Here's the full episode if you're interested.
(it's mostly on the upcoming Angels&Demons)

Fiddling Around...

2009-05-13T00:08:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I hope to be posting my latest animation shortly.
I'm working on the current 11 Second Club entry. This will be my first time entering the competition after year or so of watching from the sidelines. I reckon there will be a lot of entries this month as the audio clip is particularly sincere and exciting to animate too!

In the meantime....
I've been playing the fiddle/violin for an awfully long time. Anyways, I normally try to find weird ways to hold it and attempt to trick fiddle. It just spikes my interest and challenges me to try to get it to sound good.. sometimes I'm successful..sometimes not so much.
Last summer, however, I was inspired by the Beverley Hills Hillbillies at Disneyland to try and play the fiddle in a completely different way!
Lately I've been practicing holding the bow between my knees and playing like that.
It's still pretty rough.. but I'll get there :)

The first song is "In the Mood" and the second is a little bit of "Orange Blossom Special" (haha I have a long ways to go with that one for sure)

Anyways... I'll keep working on it.. but I thought I would share :)

My Website is UP! :)

2009-05-06T23:09:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,
Just thought I'd let you know that I created my first website today! yay!
I will still be blogging.. I just wanted a site to keep my demo reel, resume, and everything together on. :)
Anyways, you can find it at...
http://teresanord.synthasite.com/home.php

By the way I'm horrible with HTML and everything website related... huge thanks to the person who told me about yola.com! Free web hosting and step by step instructions!

Oh, and by the way... Animation Mentor has a new video up featuring my mom and pop! They interviewed them after my graduation and I was super excited to finally hear what they said while I wasn't around! I love them and feel so lucky to have such supportive parents! Thank you mucho!

The video is located here if you're interested!
http://www.animationmentor.com/promotions/2009/ParentTestimonial/

Art with Teresa (the art of giving back)

2009-04-29T23:27:00.000-07:00

Upon my return home from New York I have started volunteering weekly in my mom's 1st grade class. I love it! I go in every Friday and teach art for one hour and it is SO much fun, the kids are so cute!
Anyways, this weekly lesson has somehow gotten the official name "ARt with Teresa."
The other week the kids wrote a poem about our lessons and surprised me with it...

I can't even say what an amazing surprise it was.. it feels so great to be giving these kids an experience they might not have had otherwise. I myself always sketch in pen.. there is something about overcoming the fear of messing up and not having an eraser.. so I have passed this along to the kids. In my lessons they are allowed to use whatever drawing tool they want... as long as it's not a pencil (hence the markers part of the poem).
I was so excited that the next part of the poem was "we think." I honestly could not believe one of the kids had put that in there... that is exactly what I have been hoping to teach them. My goal is to teach them how artists think and how drawing doesn't need to be intimidating if you know how to think and observe. I'm teaching them to break things down into shapes. Drawing is like anything else, in that the more you practice, the better you are. For some reason or another, however, we are told somewhere early on that some people can draw and some can't... so those who can't and need to practice don't even try, because they are worried about how it will turn out. Everybody has 5,000 (or whatever it is) bad drawings inside of them and the faster you get them out the better! I want to teach these kids not to be afraid to make mistakes... not to be afraid of a blank page. I scribble in the corner of a page if I think I'm afraid to mess up, so that way it's already messed up and I won't worry about it. If a drawing turns out poorly and not how I planned, oh well, it was one of the 5,000 bad ones and the next one will be better.

Anyways, the first week I went I decided to stick with just teaching them how to draw Ice Age characters to get them excited. We drew Scrat and Sid and they turned out soo soo cute... I wish I would've taken my digital camera.. but I wasn't thinking. I taught them that even famous movie characters are made out of basic shapes and I challenged them to design their own character. They were all given the assignment of designing the Easter bunny being as it was Easter weekend. Some rabbits had round heads while others were more realistic.. some had clothes, while others had fur, jewelry, and uni brows. It was entirely up to them and they turned out brilliant! (lol, I never liked the coloring dittos in school where we colored in a bunny holding a basket and eggs.. it's so much cooler to design your own).

(oh, I do have a couple of Sid and Scrat pic's because of this darling little girl who went out and bought a sketch book after I showed them mine and she practices in it constantly. She was so excited to show me it the next week and I was able to snag a few pic's of some of the pages)

Week 2- I sort of jumped into the deep end for week 2. The lesson was extremely challenging and I could definitely tell it was a stretch for the kids. I started off making them draw hands.. one of the most feared subjects of many artists.. and not just draw hands... I had them draw their hands as a blind contour drawing. They were not allowed to look at their paper or worry about how it came out.. Blind contour drawing is one of the best ways to force yourself to really really concentrate and observe what you're drawing instead of drawing what you think you see. It was a struggle for a number of the kids. Some were just not okay with drawing a drawing of their hand and not having it look like a hand. Many peaked and just drew 5 or 8 little generic fingers and didn't want to try again. Somehow by the early age of 6 or 7 the notion that some people can't draw has already been implanted in them. I was impressed to see some of the kids truly going completely blind and drawing detailed scribbles of their hands over and over again.. one on top of the other. I was so excited that I held them up and showed them what a cool design it made when it covered the whole paper and how some artists do this just to create an interesting background. Showing this example seemed to help some of the kids who were struggling. The reward for this tough lesson was another movie character, Manny, the woolly mammoth.. granted not the easiest character to draw in the world, but yet again they turned out adorable. (I brought my camera this week, but the batteries were dead and I unfortunately don't have any pictures)

Week 3- Was super successful. I started off yet again by telling them that artists look for shapes when they draw. I also touched on how we see in 3 dimensions.. but paper is flat.. so artist need to find a way to draw shapes that have dimension. We drew a couple cubes and cylinders for practice. I then asked them how many people thought drawing people was hard (almost all the hands shot up, not surprisingly)... I then asked how many people in the room could draw stick figures...
I told them that lots of the time artists just start out with a stick figure, because it's fast, easy, and you can get all the information you need before the person moves. I then continued to show them how it was easy to draw people if we broke it down into simple shapes (I had my little wooden art model with me). The results were amazing! I was so proud of all of them! (pic at the top)
Oh, and lastly.. we ended the lesson with movie characters (again) that were made up of extremely simple shapes.. and this time I had my camera ;)

Anyways.. I really can't wait to continue teaching them all these things I think everyone should be taught at a young age. I don't remember being taught how to draw people when I was in elementary school.. All the art projects were always geared toward having a pretty result to take home to mom and dad (cut and paste, make it pretty, color inside the lines)All of the stuff that makes drawing seem intimidating later on, because you're so worried about the final product. You just have to turn part of your brain off in a way and not worry about how it turns out. That is how you truly learn.. by making mistakes and loads and loads of bad drawings!

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Final Trailer

2009-04-17T00:27:00.000-07:00

I'm so ExCitEd for this movie!!! Honestly! I really can't wait!
I was so upset when they pushed back the release date from last November to July...
Oy.. it really looks amazing!
I just re-read book 6 last week.. and it was just as good as the first time.
I have grown up with the Harry Potter books and love them so much! I received the first one on my 11th birthday from my mom, because the boy in the book was 11, lol. Didn't even know they were going to become popular!

There's a slew of movies coming out soon that are on my list of must sees for the Spring:
The Soloist
Up
Ice Age 3 :)
and HP6!!!!

How awesome is that? I can't remember a time I've been so excited about so many movies coming out so close together!

BTW- I have no clue why my blog is so skinny that the youtube clip hangs off the side.. frustrating, but oh well :)

The Waiting Game

2009-04-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

Alright, so one thing I've always been horrible at is waiting patiently for a package to arrive in the mail.. but what I've discovered I'm even worse at is... getting overly excited when applying to animation jobs/internships!!!

I'm pretty sure I'm driving my parents crazy! Every couple minutes I get this sparkle in my eye and blurt out "wouldn't it be cool... if this works out. Do you know how awesome that would be? I can't imagine! ... Somebody has to get it... but I know the odds are huge.. I shouldn't get my hopes up, but wouldn't that be cool" :)
and then I stare off into space with a glazed look as I daydream.

I've been getting as much sleep as a little kid the night before Christmas, seriously .. but every single night!!! I just can't stop daydreaming about how awesome it will be if any of these job opportunities work out... but I know that I won't hear anything back for weeks and weeks.. if at all...

lol, how do I clam down and not get so ahead of myself? lol :) help!

Back Home

2009-04-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

I just realized I never posted a picture of my puppet or the last Lost Boyz episode! Here it is even though it's late :)

Warning: language as always...

I had a WONDERFUL last 2 months!
It was TOTALLY AWESOME.... :)
I learned so so so so so so so so so so so so so so SO much!
The team at Blue Sky is super amazing and talented.
I can't even begin to tell ya how thankful I am for the experience.
lol, it was by far the most challenging and overwhelming thing I've ever done, but definitely the most rewarding.
I made so many friends and just had a wonderful time!
I really really can't wait to see the movie on the big screen!

Anyways, I spent one week in New York with my mom and dad before I came home.I absolutely love Broadway shows and we saw two amazing productions!
The first one we went to was a Broadway Play that won 4 Tony Awards and named August: Osage County.

It was incredibly well acted and so intense. I've honestly never ever seen such an intense play as this.... Oh, and the set was amazing! I found a picture of it online via good ole google images :)

We also visited the Natural History Museum where I was able to pay my last respects to Manny and Ellie....

I thought it was pretty interesting that most of the dinosaurs were dug up in Montana.. I didn't know that...

Oh, and we also sat in a box seat at Carnegie Hall which was super fun! It was such a great place to sketch... here are a few scribbles I did...

The second Broadway show we saw was the musical Billy Elliot, which had the most amazing dancing in it!!! (more pics found on google)

Oh, and on our last day we rented a car and drove up to Connecticut to see Mark Twain's house. It was super interesting! I guess back when he built it the average annual income of a working man was $300 and he spent $40,000 on this house!!!
(yet again more google pics)

This is the room where he wrote most of the books he's famous for like Huckleberry Finn.

Anyways, everything feels like such a whirlwind since graduation in January... I still can't believe all that has happened.
For now though I'm back home where I plan to continue animating and continue applying for summer internships and the sort :)

Almost time to go home

2009-03-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's crazy to think about everything that has happened so far in 2009.
Very very crazy.
Time is flying so fast. I can't believe I only have 2 more weeks at Blue Sky! I'll be home before I even know it and wonder if this all really just happened?
I have had such an amazing experience, it really is incredible. I'm so thankful that I was able to have the opportunity to come out here for two months. All of the people at Blue Sky are extremely talented and fun, they have helped me learn more than I could have ever imagined. I'm really going to miss everyone.
(although at the same time I'm totally excited to see my family and everyone back home, yay!)

Going into the city has been so much fun... but when I was there last night.. all the bright lights and advertising made me SO excited to go back home to this....

As for what comes next.. or what the future will bring I don't know... I'm going to go home, keep animating, and keep applying... I'm just super happy to be doing what I love!

Oh, I do know that no matter where I am come this July.. I will be visiting a movie theater for two highly anticipated films.... I cannot wait to see Ice Age III and Harry Potter! :)

Treehouse Stuidos!

2009-03-03T20:23:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd post the latest episode.. I think it's my favorite so far!
(if you look carefully you might even be able to spot me :)

The Ottoman

2009-02-06T20:46:00.001-08:00

Oh, I wanted to post about this too...
I've been lucky enough to be let in on a short film project that my good pals Mike Stamm and Dimos Vrysellas have been working on (on the side) for awhile now.
It's not quite ready for animation yet, but the rigs look fantastic and fun to work with. I'm super excited about the concept art and just really excited to help contribute when the time comes.

The site is up though and finally public, so I can share it with all of you!
Take a look if you want to see more or just let us know what you think! :)
http://www.the-ottoman.com/blog/

Lost Boyz video about Blue Sky Temps :)

2009-02-06T20:05:00.000-08:00

hehe.. so I thought I would post the new Treehouse video, because my family wanted to see it! (btw hi family and welcome to my little blog that probably not that many people read..anyways, I miss all of you :)

So here's their most recent post... and I'm also going to include their disclaimer ;)

"This industry survives on temps….and a lot of them. So here’s an insight on what it’s like to train them during “crunch”. Although this video makes them seem like a bother, the truth is that we couldn’t finish any films without them. So special thanks to all you temps out there!!"

Oh, and here is the link to their blog if you want to follow or look at the other videos..
http://treehousestudios.wordpress.com/

Blue Sky!

2009-01-29T18:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I wasn't able to update my blog right away, because I was too busy packing and moving!!!! :)

I'm in NY working at Blue Sky Studios for a couple months as a temporary animator on Ice Age 3!
It's incredibly fun and exciting. I know I'm going to learn a ton!!!
My first day at the studio was Monday and everybody is so helpful and friendly, I love it. It was really great to finally meet everybody!

If you haven't checked out the Treehouse Studios Lost Boyz videos... take a look :)

http://treehousestudios.wordpress.com/2009/01/24/episode-6-pete-makes-it-on-tv/

These guys work a few rows away from me and are hilarious!
I'll embed their last episode here, because it has a real tv interview at the studio.. :)
here's the real tv interview:

lol.. now here's the Treehouse episode..

So funny! I love work! :)

Animation Mentor Graduation 2009 and more!

2009-01-20T01:01:00.000-08:00

Wow... so I know it has been awhile... so this is going to be a big post!

It's entirely too late to be typing this but I can't sleep, lol... I'm too excited for sleep ;)

This last weekend was amazing (to say the least)!!! I honestly don't know where to begin... so I apologize if I jump around :)

How about starting out with my first ever animation demo reel...

Teresa Nord Character Animation Reel 2009 from Teresa Nord on Vimeo.
Since my last post I have been super duper busy finishing up my short film in class 6 and putting this reel together.

I honestly cannot believe how much I've learned in such a short amount of time. It truly has been an amazing 18 months and I wouldn't change it for the world. Thanks so much to all of my friends, family, mentors, and of course all of the staff at Animation Mentor.

So.. I flew down to San Francisco Friday morning with my parents and we just got back tonight. Friday was a long haul since we got up at 3:30am to catch the plane in time to make it to the Animation Mentor Job Fair by 1pm. The Job Fair was so amazing though! I had such a great time not only talking to recruiters but also seeing all of my friends again and just ... I don't even have words for it.. it was awesome! I'm so convinced animators are the most fun people to hang out with ever! :)

btw- I didn't take a whole lot of pictures myself.. but I love a bunch of the photos Alexiss Memmott took and I dare say she wouldn't mind me posting them :)

Ok, so moving along..... Saturday... Saturday was a HUGE day :)
I graduated from Animation Mentor at Fort Mason, oh and btw the weather was beautiful.... (70 degrees in San Francisco in January and crystal clear? honestly? who could ask for anything more? ;)

TO BE CONTINUED IN SAME POST
(I don't think I can possibly write this entire post tonight.. I'm finally tired...so I'll try to get back to this tomorrow and finish it the rest of the way)

Short Film Update- blocking plus

2008-11-09T04:17:00.001-08:00

BLOCKINGPLUSshortFILMmusic
Originally uploaded by teresan18

As you can tell...I still have a lot of things that need fixing and a long ways to go... but I thought I might as well update this. :)
I'm really having a blast animating my short!...but I'm very tired at the moment and need to go to bed...so here it is....

(oh, and what do you think of the music? I'm in search of some kind of soundtrack???)

Universal Short Film?

2008-10-29T17:35:00.001-07:00

Digital Camera 001
Originally uploaded by teresan18

Lol...
My mom teaches 1st grade and one of her students created this today in writers workshop. The translation is...
"I had to share my barbies with my sister Reina, she wanted to play."
What cracks me up is she has herself as the girl on the left..in the exact same position as the girl in my film.....on her knees and her sister comes in on the right standing up... and waving the barbie around.
heheh anyways, I just thought it was cute! :)

Acting and Physics

2008-10-29T13:49:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to link to some things that we've been talking about in class. Mostly for future reference so I can always find them! :)
This site is a great resource for animation physics...
http://www.animationphysics.com/

and here are some great Michael Caine videos on acting...

Acting is sooo important in animation!
I really am convinced I need to watch The Odd Couple now... what a great example of power centers and really great acting!

lol, while I'm on a youtube posting spree... I might as well throw this one in as well! :) I just re-watched Beauty and the Beast the other night after talking about James Baxter and spacing... what an incredible movie.. I love this one so much... and to slow-mo through parts of it...so amazing!

Oh, and I found this too... animated by my mentor Sean Sexton!

Anyways, enjoy!

Pet of Horror Sketch

2008-10-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick little sketch I did for fun.
The theme of this week was Pet of Horror.
I decided to go for a pun on a horror movie...

Secrets of Body Language Summary

2008-10-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

The History Channel had a special on the Secrets of Body Language and I found the show super interesting. It could almost be a school lecture in itself!(if you missed it they are replaying it quite a bit I think) Anyways, I just thought I'd take some notes here on what I think the most interesting parts were (well notes as in, going back through it, pausing, and trying to type out what they say in the most interesting parts of the show).

The explanation of the show states "Experts report that 93 percent of all communication is through gesture, facial expression and body movement, not words."

Body language says it all if you look beyond the words.
"When you can read body language...every moment you spend with others you can make it valuable and if you're in business profitable." I would say it's crucial for animators to read body language so we can put our observations from real life into our animation and make the characters really come to life!

They described a video clip, of Vladimir Putin and President Bush,as a striding contest between two powerful world leaders. The faster you stride..the more powerful and fit you are. (I tried to look on youtube for the exact clip, but can't find it)
It's not just the speed of walking that sends out messages. Vladimir has an animal power, a strong man power. He walks by having his shoulders bounce back and forth and he makes gestures and is very active (described as a sexy walk). Bush on the other hand has a traditional American power. There is very little movement above the shoulders, he's trying to look controlled, there is no extra wasted energy.

The next clip shows 3 world leaders trying to go through a door. There is great meaning behind who goes through the door first. In the west it doesn't really matter, it's polite maybe... but in the Middle East it has significant cultural impact. The host, power person, says I'm in control I'll help you through the door and show you the way. The last man through the door is the winner.

Even when friends and allies meet subtle cues reveal who's top dog. (George Bush and Tony Blair are the example here). Tony Blair should be in charge and the boss, but he accepts the seniority in place here is Bush. So the president is in charge of the choreography and goes through the door last, even putting his hand on Tony Blair's back to help him through. He then gives him three little taps on the back. A tap on the back is one way to demonstrate power, getting the upper hand is another.

(picture from www.gwu.edu)
When world leaders get together they know there is one sure way to show power and that's in the hand shake. They always want to be on the left of the picture so that they can be on the top of the hand shake. The visual impact of important hand shakes was first appreciated in 1970 when Elvis Presley famously visited Nixon at the white house. Nixon has the upper hand. They then had a clip of Putin greeting other world leaders, where he was positioned to be on the left of all the photos. When George Bush comes in he realizes he's on the wrong side and immediately crowds Putin, so Putin's left arm is in no position to grab hold of Bush's right arm. As soon as Bush turns out he immediately goes to tap Putin's back, to actually give him a push, but not to be out done Putin puts his right arm out and gives Bush a tap as well.

(left to right, Winston Churchill, FDR, Joseph Stalin)
Even seated the bodies of world leaders can speak volumes. February 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill famously met at the Yalta Conference. The allies had worked together for 3 years, but with the end of the war insight that was all about to change. We see three men wanting to dominate. Visually Roosevelt was in the center and the center figure always appears to be the most important. Even when Roosevelt is talking to Stalin he turns the opposite way and Stalin leans in and follows FDR, Roosevelt is the real leader of the two. Churchill's body language is conveying Britain's diminishing status. He doesn't look like a fully engaged participant, he has both of his elbows out. You can see how each of these men, each a master in their own country, interact with each other on the world stage.

A politician's body language can easily give him away, especially when he's under pressure. November 13, 1973 Watergate is at its height and Nixon holds a live televised question and answer session. His body language says it all.... (I couldn't find a very good clip online..the show had a much better one where you could see his hands behind his back and how he really was leaning on the podium). He has his hands behind the back that gives the indication that he has nothing to hide, open front. However, he is holding his wrist and rubbing his arm, which is called the self-touch gesture. His words are combative but his body language betrays anxiety. He's holding himself away from the podium like he's going to be attacked, he's trying to defend himself from searching questions. After he says "I'm not a crook" he immediately goes into retreat. When somebody makes a definitive statement and immediately retreats we know they didn't tell the truth, they're escaping that lie. Then he crosses his arms right away to protect himself. He displays tellingly defensive body language throughout the speech.

Reading body language you look at what is normal for that situation and what is normal for that particular person. That way you have a "norm." If someone's body language departs from the norm it can often be a sign that all is not well.

My favorite part of the show was when they talked about President Bush's body language! I don't know why but it really reminded me of talking to Carlos and how they animated Skinner in Ratatouille. Carlos said that they animated Skinner with the attitude of a 5 year old I think (or something along those lines).. and he would pout. Anyways.... it's not the same because Bush doesn't act like a little kid when he gets angry.. it just reminded me of that conversation for some reason.

One world leader has a unique way of using body language to slide through any situation no matter how embarrassing, George W. Bush. The thing with Bush.. no matter if he says something wrong or makes a mistake, he gets like a kid. He becomes this little six year old kid, like "oh, I made a mistake." It's this playful likable trait that if you saw your 5 yr old kid you'd want to pinch his little cheeks..but it's the president.

This is a classic example of George Bush getting lost in what he's saying. He pauses a long time and knows the next word is "shame on you," but he also knows he's completely lost the next sentence. Then he comes up and misquotes the next part. There is a long pause where he is evaluating whether he's made a complete fool of himself, but then carries on regardless.

Image is everything!

Politicians realized body language was powerful in 1960 where John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon debated in the first televised debate. Nixon looks far less assured in front of the cameras than Kennedy. Nixon had only just come out of the hospital from an injured knee and he refused makeup for the camera. He also sweat under the lights, he compared unfavorably with the tan and fit looking Kennedy. In the polls after that debate, Nixon to the radio audience that only heard him, won by a landslide..but the poll of the audience that saw the debate, Kennedy won by a landslide.
Many politicians employ coaches to shape their image.
These clips about body language in politics on youtube (these aren't from the show, but I just ran across them on youtube trying to find clips and thought I'd include them)

Coaching give aways, are when the gestures don't feel natural, when the beat is off slightly... when I'm thinking and then I'm showing. When you coach a politician you have to create an illusion that they're loved by many... so to do this you pretend there are people out there that you know personally, people you are thrilled to see. They point to the audience and say "hey thanks for coming." Then when you watch it on tv you think "wow, she knows so many people."

Every good speaker expresses from the heart. Bill Clinton expresses from the heart, he gestures on the beat. In telling whether somebody is authentic you want to see if they're gesturing just a second before they say it.
You feel it, you show it, and then you say it.
The real mark of a body language master though is how they deal with a difficult situation. They show a clip of Bill Clinton where he gets a question he's not happy with and he does this little thing with his mouth where you can tell he's unhappy..but then he quickly gains his composure and answers it.

Ok, well I need a break... so I'll post this for now..and maybe later I'll finish going through the show, lol. :)

Edit--- So I ran across a few quick clips of the show on Youtube. Here it is if anybody is interested:

Actually.. it looks like the whole show is up.. it's just broken up into lots of little segments. Travel over to this youtube user if you want to view the whole thing. :)
http://www.youtube.com/user/91ilargia#p/u

Thoughts... and hunting the dream!

2008-10-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

I was reading the Tips and Tricks article, in this months AM newsletter by Shawn Kelly, and it really hit home for me. I could completely relate to everything Shawn had to say. His article really solidified my dream to animate and I am actively hunting that dream down, now, more than ever! :)

It's easy to get discouraged with graduation looming.. (which is indeed a most happy event!)... but with it comes the worry about looking for a job. Questions arise, like am I good enough? Will anybody see my potential? Will my dream really come true? Who am I kidding anyways? What in the world am I going to fall back on if I don't get a job in animation? It's all I've ever wanted to do since I was 7! (that's right..7) I have no back up plan and to be honest, that's a bit frightening.

Anyways, if you let yourself get caught up in all this worry it can be downright miserable... I have been trying my hardest to push all of this self-doubt aside and remain positive. After talking with my friends, watching The Pixar Story, and reading Shawn's article I feel like I did when I was 7. I feel like anything is possible and I can't give up... no way.... not after I've come this far. This is my dream and I'm going to give it all that I've got! The older I get and the more research I do... there is all this talk of how much competition there is out there..and how unrealistic it is to dream of getting into Pixar or a big studio.. but you know what? I'm a big believer of if you want something bad enough and work as hard as you can to get there, then why not give it a shot? Somebody has to work there. My high school teacher always repeated the quote "luck is when preparation meets opportunity." Well... when that opportunity comes knocking, I'm going to be ready! I love how Shawn said that you shouldn't be afraid of the competition, and that if you want it more than anyone else and work harder than anyone else.... it's them who should be afraid of you. I've got to start telling myself that so I don't get freaked out and fall back into that self-doubt.

When Shawn talked about wanting to animate on Star Wars even though they hadn't announced plans to make any more of them... that part was completely relatable to me. When I was 7 and saw Toy Story in theaters... I knew that's what I wanted to do more than anything else in the world! I wanted to animate Toy Story... so from that day forward I made Pixar my goal. Now they have plans to make Toy Story 3!!! oy... anyways....moving along...

I'm not exactly sure how to put all of my thoughts into words... but I kind of want to talk about why animation is my dream and how long it has been a dream of mine. I say that it was when I was 7 and watched Toy Story in theaters for the first time, but I think the seeds of it started even earlier than that. lol, who knows maybe it dates all the way back to my Mickey and Minnie Mouse birthday cake for my 1st birthday!

or the Mickey and Minnie Mouse birthday cake my dad made for my 3rd birthday... :)

I guess I really can't pinpoint exactly when any of it began because I feel like animation has been such a big part of my life all the time. I'm really not sure how my parents didn't see this coming.. lol, no actually they realized I wasn't going to grow out of it early on. In fact my mom has always told me to go for it!
My passion for the art runs so deep.. I get so excited just thinking that this dream could really come true! I grew up on all of the classic Disney and Pixar movies and I can't picture a more rewarding career than getting to be a part of that process and make films that will be enjoyed by generations... by kids you don't even know, but have the ability to inspire them to dream big! To just be able to give back to what I've enjoyed so much growing up would truly be a dream come true.
I loved so many great characters growing up.. and to be able to be one of the ones behind the scenes giving those characters life and personality would be so much fun!
All of the great stories touched my life and shaped me to be who I am today... a dreamer!

I really can't put my passion and love for the art in words.. but I think you get the idea...
I will end this with some of my favorite inspirational quotes from movies!

"You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can’t do it. You want something? Go get it. Period."
‘Pursuit of Happyness (Will Smith)’

"Working hard is important, but there's something else that's even more important: believing in yourself. Look at it this way: every great wizard in history has started out as nothing more than we are now - students. If they can do it, why not us?" Harry Potter 5th book

Josh Groban song from the end of Polar Express...
"Believe in what your heart is saying
Hear the melody that's playing
There's no time to waste
There's so much to celebrate
Believe in what you feel inside
And give your dreams the wings to fly
You have everything you need
If you just believe"

"But I've always said to myself.....if I could do it over again, I would follow my dream. You've got greatness in you, Rodney. Never doubt it. You go to Robot City. You go meet Bigweld, and you show him your big ideas. And, Rodney.....never, never give up. " Robots

(lol...sorry about another "lengthy" post) :)

Short Film 2/3 Rough Blocking

2008-10-12T15:45:00.001-07:00

twothirdsROUGHblocking.1
Originally uploaded by teresan18

Just thought I'd post some progress on my film.
This is the first two thirds of it in rough blocking..
lol, there is so much left to do and change, but I want to get the last third blocked in before I go back and fix the stuff in here.
Oh, and I stumbled across Jack Johnson's 'The Sharing Song' this past week... and I thought it fit pretty well. I dunno, anyways.... I digress.

Progress Reel old update

2008-09-29T12:23:00.001-07:00

progressreel3kungfupanda2
Originally uploaded by teresan18

This isn't anything new... but I guess I should post it on my blog.
It's my progress reel after I finished up class 4 Advanced Acting.
I was waiting to post it until I had polished it up some more, because I didn't finish my 2 character shot... but I don't think I'll get a free chance to polish it up for awhile so I might as well post what I've got.
(I do plan on going back to finish it up eventually :)
heheh when I put this reel together I was really wanting to see Kung Fu Panda again... hence the music ;)

Short Film Progress

2008-09-29T11:59:00.001-07:00

pass4
Originally uploaded by teresan18

Well, here is an update on my short film. This is the rough layout/blocking... very rough. :)
I'm really excited to start class 6 and really get some work done on this thing and bring it to life!

The Jaw Bone is Connected to.... Chin Bone

2008-09-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, so be forewarned that this post has entirely nothing to do with animation... I just feel like writing about my past week and other happenings. As many of you know last week was the end of class five for me at Animation Mentor and I will be starting class six already come this Monday! I can't believe it! Class 6 already! Holy smokes time flies when you're having fun! Anyways, I can't wait to start! But as I said, this post isn't going to be about animation... no, instead it will be about my one week break. lol, I always manage to find something to do on break that isn't.. well let's just say, not so much a good time sometimes and this break was no exception. ;)
(last year on this week break I recall getting my wisdom teeth out and well this year...I can safely say that I out did myself)

Last Friday I went in for double jaw surgery. Why? lol, I honestly don't know... ok, ok, ok, I do know sorta. lol. I got it to correct my bite. Now, from just looking at me beforehand you probably couldn't tell that my bite was off... it wasn't a major over or underbite... I liked to call it a straight on bite. Neither my lower or upper teeth were in front of one another, but instead straight on top and only two of my teeth in my whole entire mouth made contact with each other (two molars way in the back). Anywho, I didn't mind my bite, I have had it my whole entire life after all and I was use to being the last one done at the dinner table... and eating pizza with a fork, avoiding cup of noodles...as those two were especially hard to eat. Anyways, I didn't mind it and I liked how I looked so why would I ever consider jaw surgery? lol, I didn't.... well, it wasn't on my own accord. My parents were upset that I had spent 4 years in braces and in less than a week my bite had gone back to normal even though I wore my retainer faithfully. It took them at least a year before they could drag me back to the orthodontist after a discussion with the dentist as well... I'll let you know that I didn't go quietly at all.. I put up a lot of kicking and screaming. As far as I'm concerned I would be quite content with my bite the way it was... it wasn't worth wearing braces again. Well somehow they managed to get me in the door and the orthodontist agreed at the major changes my bite had made since I had gotten my braces off. My teeth were still straight they just said that my jaw had grown and that it wasn't my fault so they were willing to correct it and put me back in braces free of charge... free of charge? shoot, that didn't help my argument at all... how could I convince my parents to not let me go through with this again? I couldn't.... so about a year ago I went in to get my wisdom teeth taken out before the dreaded braces were put back on.. and then I went in for records. Turned out that they felt that braces alone couldn't fix my bite, I would need jaw surgery. Wait a sec? Jaw surgery? your joking me? There is no way I'm going in for jaw surgery... braces were a bit of a reach, but jaw surgery? your joking me? I really can live with the bite I have now I don't mind... Well we did a lot of talking and lots of persuading and in the long run they convinced me that it would be worth it. Well, okay. I guess.... but I still wasn't 100% sure... so the braces were put back on and it began.

Right, so as I was saying last Friday is when I went in to get this surgery over with. (scheduled it on a break so it wouldn't interfere with school ;) Well it was completely and udderly miserable. I mean it didn't sound pleasant, but I'm a tough person and I figured.. ya know.. get in get out and get it over with. hahaha well... it turned out to be a bigger deal than that! ;)

I woke up at the crack of dawn Friday morning and arrived at the hospital for my 5:30am 2 hour check-in. That's when the fun began. lol, I received my one size fits no one hospital garb (2XL) hahah I was swimming in it. Anyways, and then I waited around for the blood test and IV thingy majig. I've donated blood before and I have veins that are really easy to find so I shouldn't have been nervous, but I hate needles and I couldn't watch. Then at 7:30am I hugged my mom and dad and went into "the room." (I've never had so much as stitches or a broken bone before, so the whole experience was quite new and intimidating). I had a really great doctor and anesthesiologist though so I knew I was in good hands. I had been told that they normally ask you to count to 10 and that you're out before ya get there... but I didn't even make it to that question. The last thing I remember was them asking me where I went to school. I said "I go to Animation Mentor for character animation." They asked me where I wanted to work... and I had planned on answering "Pixar or some studio like that"... but "Pixar" was the last word out of my mouth and I was out. :)

The recovery room is a blur. I don't really remember it. All I remember are bright lights and loads of people around me and I believe I was throwing up quite a bit. Then I remember all of a sudden being in a room and them asking me to move over onto the bed from the wheely cart. My parents came in before I knew it and I was still pretty out of it and throwing up I think. They seemed quite concerned because I guess that I was in ICU instead of a normal hospital room. The nurses said that was standard procedure with jaw surgery patients, but they didn't know that I would be in ICU beforehand and were a little upset no one had told them.

The surgery had only been 2 hours and I was in the recovery room for 2 hours. I slept quite a bit when I got into my room, but when I did wake up I had no strength to open my eye lids... so I just pretended to be sleeping. The last time I was in ICU I was standing by my grandpa's bed as he passed away... memories from that made me remember how we had talked to him like he could hear us even with his eyes closed... and now I am so glad we did, because you really can hear everybody talk when you're in there and they don't think you're listening. Anyways.... I did pretty well later that afternoon, I took a quick glance in my mom's mirror to see how funny and swollen I was and I also communicated via pen and paper. I even felt well enough to eat. However, I was banned to a clear liquid diet for the first 24 hrs. so I couldn't have a milkshake. :( My mom ordered me some apple juice, chicken broth, and jello though. Everything tasted delicious and went quite well... until I realized that it all left a horrible after taste in my mouth and my teeth were rubber banded together. I had a suction thing by me, but that could only get out the stuff in front of my teeth. Anyways, that night was horrible... by far the longest night I've ever experienced. First off the hospital bed was super uncomfortable! I was tired but I could only go back 30 degrees in the bed they wouldn't let me lay all the way down, so my tail bone was killing me. They were also pumping so much liquid through my IV since I wasn't eating that I had to go to the bathroom constantly and that wasn't fun. Worst of all though... I felt incredibly nauseas. I could have easily put up with the rest, but the nausea was murder. I shouldn't go into detail, lol, but I've literally never seen anything like it.. so if you're queasy skip to the next paragraph... but at 1am I all of a sudden threw up so much blood and it went all the way to the foot board of my bed and filled up 3 of their plastic containers... it was nasty. I had to change my gown and sheets and everything. They decided to ban me from jello so they could tell the difference between it and blood. I didn't particularly feel like eating anyways so I didn't mind... but the jello was my favorite out of everything. The worst thing was though that my teeth had been rubber banded shut during this whole ordeal, so just like earlier with the bad taste in my mouth I had a super hard time getting the new taste out of my mouth. I felt miserable. Not long after I had another episode, however, it wasn't near as bad except I couldn't stop convulsing and shivering and my monitors were going crazy. I spiked a fever and my nurse was worried that I could get liquid in my lungs and get pneumonia. Luckily I was fine after that and nothing else went too horribly wrong. (btw all the nurses I had were incredibly awesome)! My surgeon visited at 6 in the morning and cut off the rubber bands holding my teeth together and we were free to leave. hahaha and I was wheel chaired out of the hospital after jaw surgery, I thought that was pretty funny.

We were staying with my Uncle since I had a follow up appointment 5 days later. I slept for a great deal of it in his recliner (which was greatly welcomed after the hospital bed, much much more comfy..well for the first 3 days anyways). I quickly exhausted my whole collection of Pixar movies that I had brought with me to re-watch for something to do. I had taken my laptop and a book to read, but I never did get enough energy to ever read anything or work on animation. My mom and dad were so wonderful! They took turns sleeping downstairs on the couch with me and waking up every 2 hours to change the ice in my ice pack that wrapped so nicely around my head. I actually didn't mind the ice pack too much at first... but I started hating trying to sleep with it. The recovery wasn't painful at all.. just kinda uncomfortable I guess. Everything from my chin up to my eyes (except my nose) is numb.. and I heard that this lasts for about 6 months and sometimes it's permanent. I'm not worried about it being permanent though since I'm young and my chances are better, plus no place on my face is totally numb... I mean I can feel when things touch it sorta, it just feels plain odd. I was really regretting having gone through with the surgery in those early days of recovery. "why the heck did I do that?" was the most common question running through my head. Then I decided that I was stuck and couldn't undo anything so I would just have to deal with it and move forward. The self pitty didn't last long, because I thought "if this is the worst experience I've ever been through (which it was) than I am truly lucky to have such a wonderful life." Many people have been through much greater atrocities than that. I wasn't expecting to be so nauseas, but 2 or 3 days after surgery when my swelling peaked I felt awful and threw up some more. Once the nausea went away though everything else was much easier to handle. When my swelling peaked I think that I looked like John McCain.... Anyways, my appetite came back about 4 days after surgery and the commercials on tv for food were driving me nuts. I couldn't wait for my appointment the next day to see how long I had to be on liquids.

Oy, turns out that the orders are not to eat any food that has to be chewed for 8 weeks! 8 weeks! What? That's a whole 2 months! :( If I would've known that bit of information beforehand I think I would've really considered not doing this surgery more. I love chips and salsa and sour gummy worms and food! I miss food! Anywho, November 14th is the day to look forward to. On November 14th I will feast like never before! I tried to eat as much as I could before the surgery to try and gain weight, because those of you who know me know I'm not too large to begin with.. in fact I'm muy pequeno. Well... one week later I have already lost 5 lbs. my goal is to not lose anymore. Oh, and my swelling has gone down so much I almost look normal now... now it just looks like I got my wisdom teeth out. I can't wait for all the swelling to go away! Oh, and I can't wait for the feeling to come back, especially in my lower lip. (I make quite a mess eating, but that's also because my mouth doesn't open too far yet either). One really annoying thing I didn't expect is that when you sleep and you're whole face is numb.. you drool... and it's really gross, I hate it and can't wait for that to go away.

Oh, but I forgot to talk about the appointment 5 days later. They took new x rays to see how the surgery came out and to show me what all they did and it was super interesting. My dad counted like 16 or 17 screws I now have holding my head together! They ended up cutting my chin bone and pulling it apart to align my bite sideways or something like that and make my chin wider? I didn't know they were going to do that, so that was a surprise. I now have a plate and screws holding that together until it grows back together. They also broke my lower jaw on both sides and scooted it forward, so 4 screws on each side hold that together. I only have stitches a little bit on the outside so they could get those screws back there at the right angle. Then they cut my gums or something along the top front to slide my palette forward or something? I have a number of plates and screws holding that up and they stitched it closed on the inside. Anyways, they said it's basically like any other broken bones in the body and will take 8 weeks to heal, so they don't want me to ruin it or off set it by biting and chewing or lifting heavy objects... so now I have 1 week and 2 days down... only about 7 more to go! btw... as each day goes by I get considerably better and now I'm super happy I went through with it. My bite looks like it's perfect now and I've never felt my teeth come together like this.. I really can't wait to try it out!

I doubt very many people, if anybody will read this since it's so long winded... but I really wanted to write about it since it was such a big experience and it just kept coming and coming and I kept typing and typing. :)

Thanks so much to everybody that has been here for me! You guys are all incredibly awesome and I love you all very much!
(lol, and my siblings know me all too well... I got some really cool Pixar stickers and I also got a Po stuff toy from Kung Fu Panda that talks when you hit or throw him) I'm having so much fun with him!

Anyways, until next time!
Teresa over and out ;)

Huge Update

2008-08-19T11:10:00.001-07:00

Play Right
Originally uploaded by teresan18

Wow oh wow... so much has happened since I last posted.
I need to get a bunch out of my system so I can get some work done. :)
So here goes a gigantic post....

I'll start off with an update about school. I'm almost done with class 5, which is crazy! I can't believe it's going so fast! Anywho, I finished up my animatic and I'm just starting to block my short this week. I have Elliot Bour as my mentor and he's insanely awesome! If you want to read more about his awesomeness he has a sweet site at http://www.elliotbour.com/

hmm this is the first time I've blogged a video from flickr...so I'm not sure I can get photo's in this post too...so I will continue the update in another post :)

Huge Update Cont.

2008-08-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

Alright, so now that I posted a brief school update....
Here is a long overdue update about everything else!

First off, I'm really sorry about not posting about the AM BBQ. I just couldn't figure out how to summarize what a good time I had. It was so exciting to meet everyone and oy it was amazing....

I went down to the bbq with my boyfriend Mike and we had such a great time seeing the sites and visiting the AM office! This trip was just all around spectacular! I think one of my favorite parts was seeing WALL-E opening night with an entire theater of animation students! This pic is the line of all of us AMer's....

Adjusting to life after the June trip to San Francisco was difficult to say the least. It was an amazing trip, however, soon after returning home I got stuck in a real rut. I really wanted to be back in California hanging out with everybody. The trip was just too quick and so much fun. I think that starting class 5 really hit me hard too. I realized how close I am to finishing AM and all of the doubts about being good enough flooded my mind. I've read enough posts by fellow students though to know that all these feelings were normal. I just kept trying to push on knowing that those feelings would eventually pass and I now can say they have! :)

I spent this past week down in LA at Siggraph and to say that it was amazing is a complete understatement! I've never had so much fun! I was able to spend a whole entire week with my friends from Animation Mentor and my batteries feel so recharged.

I went down to Sigg as an 18hr student volunteer, so I ended up getting the full conference pass for free! I flew in Sunday night and met up with everybody to have some Pizza and we ran into all of the fjorg animators which was fun! Then I spent most all of Monday volunteering, so I unfortunately couldn't go to the Ed Catmull talk. :(

Tuesday though I was able to sneak into the AM job qna panel before I had another SV shift. I must give a big 'Thank You' to the AM staff for all of the events they put on, because they all turned out to be so informative and well put together!

Tuesday night was the Animation Mentor party..but being as I'm 20 and not 21 I couldn't get in.. which was a bummer, but I found something totally wicked to do instead! I spent most all of my night at the Nokia Theater! I watched the computer animation festival and then after that they had a Pixar Studio night! I sat in the second row when John Lasseter presented Frederick Back's "The Man Who Planted Trees." It was such a surreal moment I was beside myself, lol. First off "The Man Who Planted Trees" was an amazing short film and I couldn't believe the quality of the film and all the hard work that went into it. Hearing Frederick talk and his passion was so inspiring! Hearing John Lasseter talk was extremely exciting as well, lol, it was weird seeing him right there in front of me and not on the bonus features on my dvd. :) Then he introduced Leslie Iwerks and they presented The Pixar Story documentary. (which I must say is my new favorite movie) :) lol, I can't wait for that to come out on dvd...it'll be a keeper for sure. I walked out of that theater with all the passion and inspiration in the world... I was just so recharged and confident that "this is what it's all about." My passion and drive to succeed are back and stronger than ever. I feel like a little 7 year old again with the burning desire to animate for a living.

(here's a pic of Shawn Kelly crowd surfing at the bird's of a feather..lol, it was seriously way too much fun!)

I thought for sure that night would be hard to top, but then came the Frank and Ollie tribute on Wednesday morning. That just solidified everything I had felt the night before! It was incredibly inspirational to hear the wonderful panel talk about two of the greatest animators! AM bird's of a feather was Wednesday afternoon and was yet again another great time! Robin Linn talked to us and I learned so much about how to get in the door and just tons of helpful information!

The best part of my week though was Friday by far. It was just such a magical day and great way to wrap up an amazing trip. I spent the day at Disneyland with a group of 12 AMer's! Talk about a great time! We were double bounce walking down main street to the Hello Dolly songs in WALL-E, analyzing how a duck's feet kept slipping as it walked across in front of us... It was just so great to be surrounded by a bunch of cool animators in such a fun environment! I truly felt like a kid again! The fireworks show and fantasmic and all of their "dreams really do come true" theme just really rang home for me. The whole day was just so much fun! I feel so lucky to have been able to share that experience with all of my classmates... lol, I'm so glad they put up with me when I was extremely hyper and when I crashed energy wise as well...hahaha, man, such good times.... I can't wait to do this again! Thanks to everybody I was with, for truly making this one of the most unforgettable moments ever. This trip will continue to inspire me as I crank away on my short film!

Oh, and I have to add a pic of Johnny V in here! :) he wasn't able to join us a Disneyland, but we gave him a right good scare in the stairway of the hotel, lol...which was indeed the hotel that parts of the Shining were filmed in ;)

San Francisco!!!!!

2008-06-30T00:16:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness! I have so much to write about!!
I just got back from the Animation Mentor BBQ in San Francisco and it was amazing!
I can't write about it all tonight...(I just got in and I really need to go to bed so I can wake up for work in the morning..yuck!)
I uploaded a few of my pictures to my flickr though so I'll just put the link to them on here and write all about it and stuff tomorrow....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/teresanord/

I Can't Wait for the BBQ!

2008-06-05T21:35:00.001-07:00

lol..I'm getting so excited for the AM BBQ in San Fran!
It's getting so close!!!!
Oh, and watching WALL-E opening night down the street from Pixar!
Holy cow, I can't wait!
Ok....gotta go finish animating my 2 character dialog...crunch time!

Mike Stocker!!!! Recognized Locally!

2008-06-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

So... Mike Stocker is super inspiring and I really look up to him!
He is truly one of the reasons why I wanted to pursue this as a career!
We're from the same home town and I can't believe how long it took Spokane to recognize that they have an animator at Pixar! Mike's brother Kevin played major league baseball and he has a whole shrine on the wall at Applebee's...they also have a wall that is decorated with movie memorabilia but no Pixar posters signed by Mike? Finally, however, Spokane has written an article about him and put it in the newspaper! I couldn't be happier for him! What a great surprise to read! It's about time ;)

The online article doesn't include the cool picture with Mike and Mr.Incredible, so I'll just have to throw in the pic's from when I visited him!

Living A Truly Incredible Life
Jun. 3--Unlike his siblings, Mike Stocker's athletic career did not go beyond high school at Central Valley. Inspired by a cousin, however, he has cut out a career as enviable as if he'd played professional sports and is certainly as rewarding.

Stocker's work as an animator on seven movies for Walt Disney Studios, including such Oscar-winning works as The Lion King, and computer generated cartoons The Incredibles and Ratatouille, among several from Pixar, has delighted millions of movie goers.

"I was affected early in high school by my (artist) cousin, Craig Shillam," said Stocker, in a phone conversation from his studio in California. "Animation was not in the plan, but illustration and commercial type art was."

However, as careers can go, Stocker's round-about path to his ultimate destination took him from art school at Spokane Falls Community College to advertising agency work that included designing conceptualized interiors of Boeing aircraft in Seattle before a move to California.

"I love what I do," said Stocker. "Animation is one of those things that's a lot like baseball. You are your own freelancer in a way."

Stocker, 44, graduated from CV in 1982 and played two years of varsity baseball and one abbreviated varsity basketball season for the Bears.

He was a near double figures scorer midway through his senior basketball season, with a career high 20, before breaking a thumb skiing. After a long layoff he had a 12-point effort in the season finale.

"What can I say?" he said with a laugh. "The only way (coach Stan Chalich) was OK with that is I think he was skiing on the same day."

Like his brothers, ex-Major Leaguer Kevin and Steve, who played one year professionally, baseball was Mike's forte. A second-baseman who believes he hit around .320 for two seasons, he had the quickest first steps of the three, said his dad, Chuck, and developed power during his senior year when the Bears finished second in the Greater Spokane League. But no college baseball offers were forthcoming.

By then he had immersed himself in art in high school. A three-year program at SFCC followed and featured one film analysis course.

Boredom set in on the job in Seattle.

"I saw a Roger Rabbit commercial on TV and that was it," Stocker said. "I realized I could take my skill and do that and wanted to get into it somehow."

He worked out a plan to take a job with McDonnell Douglas in Los Angeles so he could enroll in the Disney-founded California Institute of the Arts where, he said, he fell in love with cartooning. An internship followed with Disney in Florida where he worked on The Lion King and met his future wife.

"I was a cleanup artist and learned about animation," Stocker said.

It also gave him the opportunity to watch Kevin, who was helping Philadelphia to the 1993 World Series, play in Atlanta.

After working briefly for Ted Turner on a cartoon called Cats Don't Dance, Stocker was hired full time with Disney Studios. He said he's going on six years with Pixar.

Learning about his work is fascinating.

"Animation is unlike live action movies which happen so quickly," he said.

From the supervising animators in charge of one character on a cartoon to the supporting illustrators who draw each eye blink and finger move, the crew is large and the tasks time-consuming.

The story line comes from a director-driven idea, Stocker said. Story boards are created and actors brought in to voice the characters.

"They record lines as written and might record it 15 different ways," he explained. "For a voice actor that can be frustrating. There's not a lot of spontaneity."

The animators then create the characters for the movie, often borrowing from physical traits of those actors. One second encompasses 24 frames of film and roughly 12 drawings, he said, adding that there were 60 or 70 animators on Ratatouille.

"It could take a month or two to do one shot that could be 15 seconds of film," said Stocker. "After you figure out how to do it, it's amazing how you make an inanimate thing live. Once you get going you're blasting a scene a week from each person."

Since moving from the traditional two-dimensional drawings of traditional cartoon movies, he is now immersed in the computerized world of three-dimensional models, digitally structured characters and stop-motion movie frame.

"When I came up here (to Marin County and Pixar north of San Francisco), I saw the writing on the wall that computers were taking over," he said. "They trained me prior to The Incredibles and I picked it up quickly."

Mike and his wife Tamara, a story artist animator as well, have been married 11 years. They have a son who Mike coaches in baseball and watches play hockey, and a daughter.

As an animator he said he can tell people he loves his job for its creativity. Like anything, he continued, it's a fickle industry and an artist must be ready to go where the best opportunity is.

Pixar, however, is planning at last to produce Toy Story III in a couple of years.

"I would love to animate Buzz Lightyear," Stocker said.

To see more of The Spokesman-Review, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.spokesmanreview.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

I don't think you read my blog Mike..but if you do...Congrats! and I'm super proud of you! Thanks for everything! :)

I got a Cintiq 12WX

2008-05-27T17:35:00.000-07:00

Wooo, I'm so excited.
So...for my birthday I got some help buying a 12inch cintiq!
We bought it used off craigslist and it came in the mail last week! :)
It was quite a deal and only has a few minor scratches that don't bother me at all. Heck, I'm going from having no tablet at all to a cintiq! So I'm super hyper.
I've mostly just made a lot of doodles and erased them on it.
I really love drawing on it actually.
It so slick and smooth and I'm not afraid to have it turn out bad..because I can just delete it! (don't even have to waist paper)
Yep, I love it so far!
It's everything I thought it would be :)
I'm sure there will be much more to come on this...

Good Cause :)

2008-05-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

I thought I would pass along the message on my blog... because I just think this is really neat.

If anybody wants a good cause to donate to, follow this link and support this adorable little girl! Her goal was to raise $500 for her 7th birthday to go toward childhood cancer...and she has greatly surpassed her goal ($2,650 so far)...
Let's keep this number climbing (every little bit helps) :)

http://ccfc.akaraisin.com/Pledge/Participant
/Home.aspx?seid=512&pid=38996&mid=9

(drat, I don't know why I can't link things properly on here. It won't link normally, but then the url is too long for the page...so it's on two separate lines...You'll have to combine them, sorry)

Shawn Kelly QnA

2008-04-19T03:17:00.000-07:00

So if you missed Shawn Kelly's webinar... or you want to see it again...check this link out! :D

http://www.animationmentor.com/tipsandtricks/replay.html

It will only be up until April 26th so be sure to watch it!
(as it is quite amazing!)

AskTheAdmin Contest

2008-04-04T02:38:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,
Just thought I'd let you all know about a cool contest AskTheAdmin is doing.
(and I get 10 extra entries for blogging about it :)
Anyways, I still don't have any sort of mp3 player (I know I'm behind), so I thought I'd give it a shot and enter for the ipod nano and Toast 9 :D
Check it out here if you're interested!
http://www.asktheadmin.com/2008/04/first-look-at-roxios-toast-9-titanium.html

Spring Break Project

2008-03-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

Well I'm officially a nerd...
Winter term ended Friday at noon and Spring term starts Monday, which equals 1 weekend for spring break... and I spend it animating :P
It's blizzarding outside anyways, so might as well :)

This still needs lots of revisions, but I made the whole thing on Saturday pretty much. I spent all day working on it Saturday (14 hrs) and then 1 hr today.
I could've saved myself a lot of time if I would've done thumbnail sketches first...bad me. I had it all really really clear in my head, except for the ending (which I animated 4 different ways!!!)
Anyways, it was just for a bit of practice and fun!
I textured Bishop on Friday (making him a robber) and I really wanted to animate him, so that's how it all got started.
Oh, and this is the first time I switched between FK and IK hands.
I definitely want to polish this one up :)

Class 3 Dialog Assignment

2008-03-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

Alright, here it is... :D
My most recent animation from Animation Mentor!
I can't believe class 3 is almost over. This term has gone by so quickly! I'm super excited for Advanced Acting and I can't wait to start the facial animation and lip sync on this one!

Horton Hears a Who

2008-03-16T02:31:00.000-07:00

So I went and saw Horton yesterday...and it was awesome!
It is definitely a must see!
Also, a TON of AMer's worked on it (both mentors and students) so it was super fun to see all of the familiar names in the credits!

Oh and Nick Bruno posted a reel with his work from Horton here...
http://www.bruno3d.com/NBrunoHortonReel.mov

ps- sorry my links aren't working :(

AM Newsletter!

2008-03-16T02:22:00.000-07:00

LOL...so this post is a month late, but I almost forgot to mention that I made the AM newsletter last month! Super fun stuff!
I love AM!

Oh, and in the newsletter this month they have a free eBook of all of Shawn's Tips and Tricks! So if you haven't seen it you should definitely check it out!

http://www.animationmentor.com/newsletter/0308/index.htm

School Update!

2008-03-12T01:12:00.000-07:00

So here's my latest assignment... (still in progress obviously :O)
I need to work on the spacing at 50-51 ish and I also need to polish the arc on the leg swing.
I can't wait to start the dialog, but I still have 2 1/2 weeks before class 4 starts, so hopefully I'll get this really polished up!

(shoot...I can't get blogger's video to work...?)

I realize that I haven't exactly kept this blog up to date on my school work...but I think that's because I usually post it here...
(and I can't get the video clips uploaded on this blog..or the link to link? :)

http://www.ama.luckbat.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=349&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

I guess I normally don't feel like posting it again after I've posted it there...so I just thought I'd put a link up to where my school progress is really kept, in case anybody is interested! I dunno? :)

Snow Spike!

2008-02-21T13:48:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I forgot to post this!!!
I made a snow Spike when we had all that snow..he's gone now..but I have pictures!

(Spike is Animation Mentor's mascot..for those that don't know)

What makes a good animator and running!

2008-02-21T13:33:00.000-08:00

So I have posted this elsewhere...but I wanted to add it to my blog.
This is my personal take on what I believe a good animator to be...
and it's also about how much cross country taught me... and how I carry those lessons over to other things such as animation! :O)
...and it's about how I find running so inspirational, ok, so it's kind of a huge big metaphor of sappiness...but hey..here it goes! (just promise not to laugh);)

Good animators have great technical skills (weight, timing, spacing) along with a great attitude. I feel that they are able to make a shot their own...make it entertaining, but not over the top...They can get the right balance in there. They just really pay attention to the detail and add the little bits that make the shot believable, fun, and unique. They add in those bits that they observe in life that take the animation a step further!
Good animators are definitely able to step away from their work and are open to critiques... Understanding that the critiques they get are making them stronger...not personal attacks on them.
I also feel that a good animator will help critique others. One can learn so much from their peers it's amazing!
Motivation and the drive to succeed are huge factors as well..
I ran cross country for all 4 years of high school...and well...that's a very mental sport. My coach always told us that running was 90% mental (because of course there is a tiny bit of natural talent that plays a factor as well). But 90% mental is a huge part! Instead of thinking negatively, we'd just phrase everything positively to keep a positive atmosphere..."alrighty well that's 1 mile repeat down only 6 more to go" ^_^ During a race or a practice run, no matter how out of breath you were, we always let out a "good job" to the person we were passing even if they were our opponent (because we all knew how hard it was and we all had great respect for each other). There were of course times where you wanted to quit..create an excuse...I could trip on this rock or root flying down this hill and it would look like an accident..nobody would know that I did it on purpose (I equate this to not accepting criticism on animation...I meant for the arm to move all choppy like that...? It's creating excuses)....but you could just never bring yourself to actually do this. Your will power would kick in and think "what am I doing even thinking this way"... when the going gets tough the sprinter stops...you would just keep putting your all into it and it would pay off. There is always somebody else out there who is faster than you...just like there will always be somebody else who is a better animator than you..but that is no reason to give up. "If you give it your best you'll have success." Or "luck is when preparation meets opportunity"... you have got to want it and work as hard as you can to achieve this goal.
I know that this all sounds very sappy...but I got through all of my long runs and races off of those silly quotes (or roughly about 2,000 miles during those 4 years).. You wouldn't believe how powerful they can be as you would just keep repeating them over and over as you powered up the hill or kicked it into a sprint at the end of a 3 mile race to pass one girl then one more... I carry that same drive that same work ethic over to animation. (not the whole passing thing :P) but the mental attitude...there are so many similarities that will help you go far....
-always keep a positive attitude
-when the going gets tough, the tough get going
-you've gotta give everything your best effort
-oh, and there is always strength in numbers..it was always so much easier to push yourself when you were running along side a friend or a group...you encourage each other and make one another stronger... my cross country team was a group of 50 girls and when we all ran together...I can't even explain it...dropping out of the run was not an option..if they can do it, so can I :O)
Ok...I'm going off on a tangent... I just had to touch on how powerful attitude and your mind set can be!
lol...this is making me want to go for a run....

edit- oh, and cross country, although, it is a team sport in a way it is also individual. You couldn't get discouraged just because you couldn't run even close to the speed of that girl who won state... Instead you had to look inside yourself and just see how far as an individual you had come and be satisfied with that.

I have to throw in a pic of one of my favorite runs (i'm one of the ones on the left hand side ;) ......this is what I look at when I need to remind myself to feel inspired...

I know that this wasn't related to being a good animator..I mean it was, but wasn't...I just find talking in metaphors way easier...:P You don't have to be a runner to be a good animator obviously...but runnning is where I personally learned so much about myself and I think it is what shaped my "go get it, permanently positive" attitude. So I just thought it was a good place to share it! :O)

Ok, that's all for now! I'm just feeling very inspirational at the moment..maybe it's because I'm listening to Phil Collins "Strangers Like Me" as I post this lol..I love that song! :)

The Beginning of the Ice Age!!!

2008-01-29T17:23:00.001-08:00

Alright...so I have to post about this on a side note...because it's just crazy!

I don't remember ever seeing this much snow ever! (well in town anyways)
We got 13" in one day! Wow! Plus, we're supposed to get 9-15" more by the end of the week! All the schools are having snow days...well, except for mine :O)
That's ok though because I love Animation Mentor!

My arms are so soar though...shoveling snow is consuming my life!

(maybe I'll have to take more pictures later this week...we have snow expected on every single day of the 7-day forecast!)

Why I Like Pixar so much :)

2008-01-21T03:57:00.000-08:00

So besides making awesome movies....
Pixar makes me feel good about my current job :O)
Here's a quote I ran across from this site
http://projection.pixar.com/

"Pixar sees projectionists as part of the team that gets our movies to the audience. We rely on your professionalism and expertise. You're truly a part of the Pixar family, and we care about the effort you put in."

...makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside ;)

Oh, and here's a picture of my workstation and all of my Pixar toys and animation books ^_^

Traditional Artwork

2008-01-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

While I'm in the process of getting this blog updated.... I thought that I should throw in some more recent artwork.
(The Disney movie covers thing was done 3 years ago and since then I've grown a ton as an artist)
I have attend the fine art program at my local community college for 1 year and a quarter. I had previously planned to earn my associates of fine art degree... but instead I ended up just taking a ton of drawing classes for my own personal benefit instead. I ended up taking the Fundamentals of Drawing, Color and Design, Installation Art, Photoshop for Fine artists, and 5 figure drawing classes!!! The figure drawing classes are where I've seen the most improvement. I was told by every animator that I've ever talked to and I read it in my animation books...that figure drawing is super helpful for animators. Man, they weren't kidding. It has helped me so much...from posing, clean silhouettes, weight, balance...everything! I would definitely recommend life drawing classes to other aspiring animators!

Here's a couple of my drawings
(I haven't scanned my work from this most recent quarter yet, but I'll post a couple of those once I do)
-this first one is one of my favorites! I didn't like it at the time (very frustrating and lots and lots of hours spent on it) but I made it in Experimental Drawing class. It's a huge abstract/self portrait made entirely out of those little black rubber stamps!

(wow-that seems like a lot in a strand like that...so that's all I will post for now)

I have decided to take a break from the art classes for now so I can focus solely on Animation Mentor and devote every little bit of time I have to it. I've heard that the upper classes 3,4,5, and 6 require a lot more time, so I'm prepared and pumped for it! If it's true that you get out of it what you put into it...I'm going to give it my all. (don't worry though..I will always have my sketchbook!)

Behind the Scenes: My day job :O)

2008-01-02T21:52:00.000-08:00

When I'm not working on my animation...it's normally because I have to go to work...
but my job is pretty fun sometimes, so I thought that I'd share a little about it here.

I'm a movie theater projectionist in a multiplex (that is only until I find a job in animation, hopefully)!

It's really a blast though to be practically what I consider to be the very last last stage of production.... my job is *simple* lol.... to make sure the audience enjoys a flawless presentation! My favorite part of it is watching my mentor/classmates names go by on the credits...that really is a fun feeling. Oh, and another highlight of the job was entering the perfect projectionist contest that Pixar put on for Ratatouille projectionists and they sent me a Ratatouille hat...that made my day for sure! (I still have the envelope it came in!)

Anyways, now on to describing a little bit more about what goes on up there in the booth... I'll do my best to describe a Thursday night...because Thursday nights are always insane.... (that's because movies most always open on Fridays and the projectionists need to build and break down all of the films).

(note the film I'm so carelessly handling in the pictures is actually a really old trailer that was being thrown away...so no worries..film always has to be handled with the utmost care)

The time it takes to build a movie varies on quite a couple different factors...how many reels, how experienced you are, and how many other distractions you're dealing with...such as threading and starting projectors.
If the movie is 4 or 5 reels and I'm not starting any movies I can normally build the whole movie in one hour...but normally I average an hour and a half.
Building a movie is when you take the reels that come in the boxes or canisters and splice them together onto 2 large metal reels. While you are putting the reels together you also check for factory splices, and any other abnormalities. This is also the stage where you position the cue tape (that will signal the lights to turn down and such). Film is super easy to scratch as well...so that's another thing that you have to be very careful of during the whole process.

The movie trailers also have to be spliced on to the movie. (they are the things in stacks sitting on the shelves in the pic) They are probably my least favorite part in building the movie, because you have to put 6 or 7 of them on and you have to leave black on the tale ends of them...so it takes a little bit longer to make sure that you cut on the frame line. After the movie is assembled on the two large reels it is time to load it onto the platter system. You take the reel with the first half of the film and load it onto the "mut" which then takes at least 20mins it seems to load it onto the platter. Then you do the same with the 2nd half of the movie and splice it onto the first half.
Success!!!! Well...not quite...
It is now time for another manager to preview your movie before it plays in front of an audience. This preview is to make sure that the movie was assembled correctly... You make sure that the reels were all placed in the correct positions...that the splices go through okay...that there aren't any misplices (causing the film to go out of frame)..check for scratches...make sure all the soundtracks match. It's pretty funny when a trailer gets put in backwards ;) the picture is upside down and all you can hear is gibberish. I accidentally made that mistake on a trailer during a sold out showing of Transformers..the print was not previewed due to time restrictions..and I was so embarrassed...but it received a round of applause which was cool...I'm happy to report that I've never made that mistake again. Previewing movies is my favorite thing, just the concept of being paid to have a private screening before the show opens is great! I rarely get the chance though..since I always work Thursday night projection shifts...and it's just always too busy.

To break a movie down it takes about 15-30 minutes. You have to wait until the last show drops on Thursday nights before you can break it down (so it is always such great news when you hear no tickets were sold to the last showing)!!! I hate having to wait until it drops at 1am before I can break it down. :( Breaking down though is basically just using the "mut" to rewind the movie back onto the original reels so that it can be shipped out again.

Some Thursday nights are so insane though...when you have 7 new movies coming in and 8 leaving all in one night...things can be a little hectic. But it's still pretty fun!

I do love Thursday nights though in a way...because sometimes projection shifts are a little boring...just threading and starting movies day in and day out..."AT&T asks you to silence your cell phones now" ringing in your ears..cause you've heard it so many times... Sometimes I spice it up and see how fast I can thread a projector (my record is 1 min 30 sec)!

Yep, anyways...that's kinda projections in a nutshell...there are of course a bunch more things that go on..like the ghost stories from the booth, and the dreadful brain wraps...but we'll save those for another day ;)

(Oh, and you have to hop all of the movies to the correct platters on Thursday nights...those suckers are SO heavy...and the canisters they come in are monsters as well...the little metal handles just dig into your hands..ouch!)
Someday I'll make a great animation conveying weight...with those memories in mind...

I almost forgot the best part of my job....FREE movies!!!!! Yay! I finally went to see National Treasure 2 today and I absolutely loved the new Goofy short...it's SO good! I also enjoyed Enchanted a lot too!

2008-01-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

LOL....so, it's been quite awhile... I'm a bad blogger. :(
I have recently had a New Year's Eve resolution suggested to me and I think that I will accept the challenge....to Blog more this year! Yay
(since I have only posted 4 times since July of 06, I can't get any worse ;)

I can't believe that I haven't even posted any of my animation yet, so I think that it's only fitting that I start with that...

This is my progress reel from my first two terms here at Animation Mentor. I have had so much fun, I just love it! In fact I'm going crazy during this two week break and don't know what to do with myself...I miss AM so much!!! I can't wait until school starts again! (never thought I'd hear myself say that)
Anyways, last term I had Dimos Vrysellas as my mentor and he was amazing! I love the traditional workflow that he taught me to work in...it just made so much sense to me! Oh, and Fredrik Nilsson was my first mentor and was amazing as well! I can't wait until I find out who I have for Intro to Acting!!! It seems so bizarre that I hardly knew anything about animation just a short 6 months ago...I came into AM with pretty much no previous experience and I have already learned so much it's crazy!
Man, I love that school!

Animation Mentor Student Showcase - Fall 2007

2007-10-16T09:56:00.001-07:00

Ahhh, I know I haven't posted on here in ages. I'm so busy with Animation Mentor! I absolutely love the school and couldn't be happier. Anyways, thought I'd post the incredible new student showcase! :O)

Animation Mentor!!!!

2007-06-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it! I decided on a school! I will officially be starting at Animation Mentor on July 2nd!!!! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. :O)
I will try to keep this blog up to date as best as I can with my student work.
I'm soooo excited.
I can't wait to find out who my first mentor is....

Visiting Animation Schools in California!

2007-04-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

Alright, well, I just got home from California today and it was the best vacation ever!
I normally never use this blog ... but I think I will for this, since I'm on a bunch of different forums and I don't want to repost the same thing in different areas ... ya know?

Ok, so about this trip ... I have been researching and investigating and picking peoples brains for a year or two now to find out what school I should apply to (in order to have a good chance at making a career in character animation)! (I also know full well that you can be successful at any school really, because it has to do with how much you yourself put into it, but I also want to attend the best school possible). This fast fun-filled family trip down to CA was to visit four of my finalists in this extensive college narrow downing process thing and figure out for sure what path I'm going to take! :O) On our trip we visited Academy of Art, Animation Mentor headquarters, Calarts, and Laguna College of Art and Design! (and PIXAR animation studios!!!!!) I know that Ringling should be on my list of consideration too ... as well as Sheridan ... but I don't want to go that far away from home.

Academy of Art was our first stop in San Francisco. This tour was incredibly professional and wonderful and I absolutely wanted to sign on the dotted line after this stop! It was just perfect! I liked it much more than I had expected to. The housing was great, the school provided shuttles, they had meal plans, they had Pixar classes, and they just looked really impressive... but it did have its draw backs as I came to find out ... the Academy is Nationally accredited, but not Regionally (like state schools and such), so if I ever wanted to transfer anywhere ... say such as Calarts ... I couldn't. So that's not good. Also the 80% job placement of graduates looks impressive, but I also heard that they count any job for that percentage (not necessarily jobs in the industry). What worried me the most however, was that their program just seems to be more so on the side of CG and computer effects, not so much the character animation side of things ... but maybe I'm wrong ... I dunno ... that has just been my impression.
I absolutely loved the location and almost everything about the school ... There are so many things to sketch in San Francisco! (in this pic my lil sis is on the left and I'm on the right)

Alright, next was the most fun part of the whole trip!!!!
Visiting Pixar!! This was definitely a dream come true for me, as I have been a Pixar fan since the age of 7 when Toy Story first came out! It was so exciting just to be on the inside of the gate!

I only have 3 pictures from Pixar, because of course you can't really take pictures inside ... besides the atrium, but even though I didn't get a picture of the Luxo Cafe ... I did eat there and it was absolutely delicious!

Basically, it was just unreal and really really cool! Ed Catmull just strolled by while I was talking to Mike in the lobby! I think the best word to describe it is ... "surreal." :O)

Pixar was by far my favorite part of the trip! I even left a piece of me in Emeryville ... my cell phone :0(
Unfortunately discovering the loss of my phone dampened the best day ever, as I didn't realize its disappearance until after the plane ride down to LA. Luckily for me though the Marriott has the best costumer service ever and sent it to my house priority mail ... it arrived home before me!!!

Next on our trip was Animation Mentor headquarters, where I didn't take any pictures, but ... I got to sit down and talk with none other than the awesomely famous Carlos Beana who I've heard so much about! That was definitely one of many highlites on this trip! Everybody at animation mentor was extremely nice and friendly and most importantly of all ... passionate about animation! I was impressed ... a little hesitant, just because it's online and not exactly the same as face to face hands on learning, but it looks like a wonderful program nonetheless. Also, it seems like Animation Mentor is the most bang for your buck. I could complete a whole 18 months attending Animation Mentor and it would cost tons less than tuition alone for one year at any of these other schools.

Calarts was next on the list of schools to visit ... Calarts looks to be "the" school of animation! 70% of Pixar employees are Calarts alum ... and they have countless other success stories. The most appealing thing about Calarts is how connected to the industry the students are. The acceptance rate of 1 out of every 10 applicants getting accepted to the character animation department is pretty daunting, but it's nice that the class size of new freshman in the program is about 30. I was pretty frustrated at first with Calarts, because I thought I had arranged to sit in on the info session at 11, but turns out I wasn't on the list. However, after showing up in person they squeezed us in and also took us on a tour afterward. (I'm pretty sure I saw twitchy kris at calarts that day too ... from the animatedbuzz.com site, or there was someone who looked extremely like twitchy kris's self portrait). Anywho, I was hoping I would be able to sit in on Corny's life drawing class, but it turns out that couldn't happen either, because I misunderstood and Corny's class is on Sunday's not Tuesday's. I was pretty disappointed, but I did have the opportunity to have somebody review my portfolio and that was super beneficial! (she said that she would've introduced me to Mario, but she didn't know where he was at, so that was a bummer).

After Calarts, my family had to make a stop at Six Flags ... mostly for my little sister's sake (she was tired of visiting schools)

btw- the i love roller coasters where you stand up (that was soooo much fun!)

Next was Laguna College of Art and Design ...
Everyone was extremely extremely friendly at this school. The tour was by far the best, however, I had a couple issues. The character animation program at LCAD is way smaller than I would've liked and they have no on campus housing or cafeteria ... which becomes an issue when it's located near Laguna Beach (where everything is spendy). As far as fine art goes, this school was spectacular! They had their student work up in their gallery and everything was fantastic! I just don't think this is right for me.
(i just have to post this next picture, i think that all these signs sharing the same post are bit confusing and extremely hilarious)

Oh, and sketching on Laguna Beach was super fun! (I ended up sketching a lot on this trip, I'll have to post some of them later)

I have come up with a plan though that I'm excited about! I really really really really want to go to Calarts ... super super bad ... so I plan to apply next year by the early deadline of Nov. 30th. Hopefully, I'll get in, but if I don't ... I apply the next year and the next year. In the meantime I don't want to sit around and do nothing, so I'm considering Animation Mentor as well! :O) (I will also continues taking a figure drawing class to work on my fundamentals).
Anyways, that's the plan for now!
I found this trip to be incredibly helpful in making my decision for which school(s) to attend! ;)
I've gotta hand it to all of the four of them though, they were all really great schools, and I would do well at any.
All the schools were super friendly and made me feel really comfortable!
The thing that helped me more so during these visits than seeing the campus though was reviewing my portfolio with an array of different artist. I now have the feedback I need to work on my weak areas and the confidence to know that I'm heading in the right direction. All I want to do now is draw, draw, draw! My portfolio is going to really benefit from this experience!

Doodles/Drawings

2006-07-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

This picture and my profile picture are both pictures I've drawn for fun. I love to look at Disney movie covers and draw them free handed.
http://flickr.com/photos/teresanord/
Here's a link to more of my doodles and some pictures...

I just started my blog

2006-07-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hello,
I'm just starting this blog. I don't really know what I'll put on here.
I really really really want to work for Pixar one day though :)