Gonna be out of touch for a month or two, because work has really heated up. That title above is just about all my little brain has running through it right now.
So, I’m reposting a panel I did that was part of a strictly volunteered sample and isn’t related to the actual film ‘9′ in any respect. (It’s from a sequence I made up before I got the job). Needless to say, I’m having a ton of fun on this production even though it’s heavy work.
Plus I have the pleasure of working with other boarders like Ryan O’Laughlin, Tom De Rosario, Cal Brunker & Norm Lemay, and Troy Quane, Jeff Dickson, the unforgettable Angelo Libutti and the indomitable editor Nick Kenway…not to mention the two hundred or so talented animators, layout & BG artists, art directors, programmers and everyone else at Starz Animation in Toronto.
You can read more about this awesome project at the director’s site HERE, or on an old Cartoon Brew post HERE.
Using other new materials, some [scientists] are working on rudimentary Harry Potter-like cloaks that make objects inside of them invisible under the right conditions — the pinnacle of stealthy technology.
The other day I was supposed to meet some fellas for a few pints in Toronto, but I couldn’t make the 200 km drive…
So, I decided to stay at home & play in the snow with my boy…
After that I went snowboarding…it was pretty good.
I like snow.
So does my son.
It runs in the family.
No, really, it does.
Last post from the home studio for a while. Next week I’ll be in a real-life Studio with honest-to-gosh peeplez in Toronto (working on this cool looking feature)! I’d better wash and put some trousers on…
Long time no type. Can’t sit & chat, so here’s some of what I’ve been up to all January in no particular order. Shield your eyes. All work-for-hire/specs/pre-prod for other people’s stuff . Someday li’l Billy’s gonna draw his own stuff…
See you in January! Until then, here’s a bit of holiday spirit - Frédéric Back’s wonderful 1981 film ‘Crac’. A multi-faceted family classic Québecois style - Joyeux Noël !
Banff New Media Institute has announced their ‘Story, Character & Interactivity’ workshop for January 24- 27, 2008. If you do story work in animation or games, I highly recommend it if you can afford it. I’ve been to each one since the beginning in 2005, and with guest speakers like Ronnie del Carmen (Pixar), Kris Pearn (Sony Pictures Animation) and game guru Josh Staub (Cyan Worlds), it’s never disappointing.
Each trip had great creative vibes, good food, nice places to stay on campus, and fantastic company for three days of intensive story workshopping. I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s a great way to relax, jam on some stories and keep your chops up. Book a few extra days and go skiing in some of the world’s best resorts when you’re done.
Last week marked the end of my first session as a teacher of the Cartooning course at the Bay School of Art. It was the first class I’ve taught in a long time - almost 12 years ago I helped out with the kids’ class at Quickdraw Animation Society when I was a student at Sheridan - so I need improvement there, but the boys seemed to enjoy it and said they learned a lot. I took them through Preston Blair’s book on constructing characters for the first part and then into basic storytelling with pictures (establishing shot, midshot, close-ups and screen direction). I don’t know how much of it stuck because they were between 8-11 years old and I’m pretty rusty as a teacher/sitter. I probably should be a little more strict. At the end I composited their assignments into one big comic book (64 pages!). You can see it above in the pic on the right.
Man, I tell you, these kids needed no help in finding ideas - they had a million of ‘em! The hardest part was calming them down enough to actually draw them and stick the story out to the end. That part takes patience, concentration and some discipline, qualities that most younger kids have in short supply.
For the last class we jammed on a few comics together! At one point we had 5 stories going, each person drawing one panel and passing it on. Here’s my favourite one. It’s based on Nicholas’ character ‘Super Baby Watermelon’ and he started it off with the first panel:
(click to enlarge)
I believe the next session will start on January 10th, and run every Thursday from 4 - 5:30 pm in Collingwood, ON. If you or someone you know (there’s no age limit) wants to join us, get a hold of The Bay School of Art for details! I’m no expert, but come on by & I’ll try to help you out with your stuffs, yo.
If you’re a professional cartoonist in Ontario, and like to ski/snowboard, come on up and be a Guest Star! I’ll feed you and you can go skiing/snowboarding at Blue Mountain! Contact me HERE and we’ll talk!
