Sunday, November 22, 2009

My latest student's comments :

Once again I received some feedback
from my students at Animation Mentor.
I teach class 5, which is story.
I help the students with their ideas for their short
films to be completed in class 6.
The process being that of having them come up with
3 original ideas to develop, then over the weeks,
narrow it down to the 1 idea, storyboard
and then create a layout pass for the film.
{ with camera moves and sound if needed }
At the end of the week 12, they will be able to jump into
just animating the performances of
their films characters {class 6}.
It's been another positive class and I'm proud to
have been a part of it, being able to help guide.
Here are some of my students comments:

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Mark's ecrits are always super helpful and makes me think of my assignment
in a whole new light. He gives lots of ideas on how to approach a certain situation
and lets us choose the path we like to take, without making it a requirement to
do any one thing. We still have plenty of artistic freedom to take our
short films in the direction we want =)
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Mark is great. He makes sure everyone gets camera time, and gets their thoughts
in for the assignment of the week. Some things I really like that he did a couple
times was when he drew examples of whatever he was talking about on his
cintique for students to better understand him. All in all Mark is doing a fine job.
If i were to ask if a cherry could be on top, I would like to hear more stories
about his career as animator. They're just fun to hear on top of the lectures we get.
.......................................................................................................................

Overall, Mark has been great. It's a different class, since it's story and most of our
Q&As have just been saying Hi to everyone and answering any questions
about our shorts. He has gotten our crits done in a really quick manner.
The truth of the matter is, Mark is pushing us like we would be
pushed in the studios.
......................................................................................................................

Mark is simply brilliant with what he does. He really takes the time to see how each
of us is doing and would devote his time in helping each of us to acheive what we
are trying to do. His q&a's are very informative and fun at the same time.
The crits have been great because Mark can spots problems really quickly and is
able to give us solid advice on how to go about it. He is extremely friendly and
professional and it has been a blast to have him as a mentor. Simply a great guy!
.....................................................................................................................

His concerns are Valid and handles every situation with at most care and strictly
adheres to the school curriculum, his comments have been very helpfull in
understanding the showreel requirments, and also prepared us well in advance
for the next term. it is really great to be mentored by a great human being and artist.
.....................................................................................................................

Think my mentor gives good and informative critiques.
Helps me seeing new ideas in my short.
......................................................................................................................

He's been very good at taking a kernel of an idea an helping me develop it.
This process is new to me, and he's doing a good job of breaking it down
into manageable steps. I like how he gets everyone on camera during
each Q&A and gives individual attention. We get a lot of information and help,
but always seem to stay within the timeframe. He gets his ecrits done early
in the week, sometimes Sunday night! This is much appreciated!

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

20 Animated Features for 2009 Oscars


As reported from Beverly Hills today :


20 Animated Features Line Up for 2009 Oscar® Race

Beverly Hills, CA (November 11, 2009) — Twenty features have been
submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film
category for the 82nd Academy Awards®.
The 20 submitted features are:
“Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel”
“Astro Boy”
“Battle for Terra”
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
“Coraline”
“Disney's A Christmas Carol”
“The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”
“Mary and Max”
“The Missing Lynx”
“Monsters vs. Aliens”
“9”
“Planet 51”
“Ponyo”
“The Princess and the Frog”
“The Secret of Kells”
“Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure”
“A Town Called Panic”
“Up”
The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on
Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in
the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009
will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010,at the Kodak Theatre.
( btw, my bet is for Coraline to take the gold } -mark

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

'How to train your Dragon' - trailer



Here's the latest release from DREAMWORKS. The 'How to train your Dragon' trailer.
Very excited about this next Chris Sanders directed film. I have some good friends { and poker players ... when I lived in LA} who are animating on this one. Very good comments from them regarding the story. No details, only to say it is VERY emotional. NOT a crazy paced gag-filled film, but a very emotional film. They love the whole production. As one of them mentioned to me, " I haven't been this excited to animate on a film in years. Because it's so good! "