Two Months Later...
Yeah, so it's been two months since the last post. So much for keeping things up-to-date, huh? :-)
The reason for the lack-of-posting is simply - time. Between work and school, I was getting about 3-4 hours of sleep a night for 8 weeks solid. Needless to say, it's been a bit rough.
First, here's where the last assignment for Class 4 stands - it still needs some little refinements, but it's very close to final at this point. (Gee... You guys haven't seen this since it was in Blocking. It's changed a bit since then!)
Two weeks ago I spent the weekend in San Francisco with Kim & Fox, primarily to attend the Animation Mentor BBQ. I went up last year for the BBQ as well, but this year we took an extra day, and stayed at a hotel right in the city, three blocks from the bay, and about a mile-and-a-half walk to Fisherman's Wharf (and no, the bum who said "Why lie, it's for the beer" was no longer there.)
On the drive up, we had breakfast in Santa Barabara and walked the pier. I was sure to make Kim and Fox stop at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo so they could see that frighteningly garish dining room and the waterfall/urinal in the basement.
Friday we found a coffee shop in the Mission district that had imported coffees from Rwanda (I never knew they grew coffee there), and we swung by the first Amoeba Records store in Haight Ashbury (bought 4 DVDs and a CD for $30), and we found a weird little greasy-spoon restaurant under the Bay bridge with chaep food and booze.
Friday night, we went to an opening night screening of Wall-E in Emeryville with about a hundred students and staff from the school. In fact, the entire audience was comprised of professional and student animators (a bunch of folks from Pixar walked over for the screening, since the theatre was only two blocks away from the studio.)
The next day was the BBQ, which was quite amazing. I met about a zillion people, and got stranded there, which was probably the best thing to happen that night...
Fox and Kim had left early to go find coffee shops and bars, and I was to call them when I needed to be picked up (Kim had the only car.) So, around 6pm, when things were dying down, I called them up - and they were in the Mission district, about a 20-minute drive from the Presidio (where I was,) and they really didn't want to leave. So, I had to find a ride. I wound up hitching a ride with a guy from EA Games, and wound up at the Hard Rock Cafe' with about 20 animators, some students, a couple guys from Blue Sky who worked on Horton Hears a Who, and Carlos, a Pixar animator who also co-founded the school. I had some pleasant conversations, and then hitched another ride to a bar where about 30 more people from school were hanging out, where I talked Cameras and video equipment with Carlos for about an hour, before adjourning back to the hotel.
Needless to say, it was a good day.
The next day we drove back, with a brief stopover at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose (which was not nearly as weird as we had hoped.) And that was about it.
And now, I have started Class 5 - Short Film Pre-production. Yes, kids, the tough stuff begins now. My new mentor for this class is Kenny Roy, who was one of the animators on the dinosaur stampede in Peter Jackson's King Kong. He's also regarded as one of the toughest mentors at the school, which honestly, I couldn't be happier. This will give us first-hand experience at the "tough love" we can expect when we all get jobs.
The excitement builds....
The reason for the lack-of-posting is simply - time. Between work and school, I was getting about 3-4 hours of sleep a night for 8 weeks solid. Needless to say, it's been a bit rough.
First, here's where the last assignment for Class 4 stands - it still needs some little refinements, but it's very close to final at this point. (Gee... You guys haven't seen this since it was in Blocking. It's changed a bit since then!)
Two weeks ago I spent the weekend in San Francisco with Kim & Fox, primarily to attend the Animation Mentor BBQ. I went up last year for the BBQ as well, but this year we took an extra day, and stayed at a hotel right in the city, three blocks from the bay, and about a mile-and-a-half walk to Fisherman's Wharf (and no, the bum who said "Why lie, it's for the beer" was no longer there.)
On the drive up, we had breakfast in Santa Barabara and walked the pier. I was sure to make Kim and Fox stop at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo so they could see that frighteningly garish dining room and the waterfall/urinal in the basement.
Friday we found a coffee shop in the Mission district that had imported coffees from Rwanda (I never knew they grew coffee there), and we swung by the first Amoeba Records store in Haight Ashbury (bought 4 DVDs and a CD for $30), and we found a weird little greasy-spoon restaurant under the Bay bridge with chaep food and booze.
Friday night, we went to an opening night screening of Wall-E in Emeryville with about a hundred students and staff from the school. In fact, the entire audience was comprised of professional and student animators (a bunch of folks from Pixar walked over for the screening, since the theatre was only two blocks away from the studio.)
The next day was the BBQ, which was quite amazing. I met about a zillion people, and got stranded there, which was probably the best thing to happen that night...
Fox and Kim had left early to go find coffee shops and bars, and I was to call them when I needed to be picked up (Kim had the only car.) So, around 6pm, when things were dying down, I called them up - and they were in the Mission district, about a 20-minute drive from the Presidio (where I was,) and they really didn't want to leave. So, I had to find a ride. I wound up hitching a ride with a guy from EA Games, and wound up at the Hard Rock Cafe' with about 20 animators, some students, a couple guys from Blue Sky who worked on Horton Hears a Who, and Carlos, a Pixar animator who also co-founded the school. I had some pleasant conversations, and then hitched another ride to a bar where about 30 more people from school were hanging out, where I talked Cameras and video equipment with Carlos for about an hour, before adjourning back to the hotel.
Needless to say, it was a good day.
The next day we drove back, with a brief stopover at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose (which was not nearly as weird as we had hoped.) And that was about it.
And now, I have started Class 5 - Short Film Pre-production. Yes, kids, the tough stuff begins now. My new mentor for this class is Kenny Roy, who was one of the animators on the dinosaur stampede in Peter Jackson's King Kong. He's also regarded as one of the toughest mentors at the school, which honestly, I couldn't be happier. This will give us first-hand experience at the "tough love" we can expect when we all get jobs.
The excitement builds....
posted by Rich at
6:52 PM
4 Comments
