To Do is to Be and to Be is to Do...so DooBeeDooBeeDooo

Sorry for the delay, but here's the super rough blocking I've done. It's in 3 parts all mashed together and you can see where changes were made as it progresses. But hey, this is also educational right?! I also posted a few pics from the Roller Derby that I am affiliated with, but if you follow me on Facebook, you already are aware of this.

Happy Zombie Jesus Day!!!

So yeah. Easter. Not a big fan I must say. Then again I'm not religious. However I am satirical
and I like the whole Zombie Jesus thing that's been sweeping the interwebs as of late. It only makes sense that if someone comes back from the dead, they'd be a zombie, right?! If you're curious you can check out this website for a little info on that: http://www.zombiejesusday.org/ And also I found a little snippet on the mythos of the Easter Rabbit and what it's all about, which is below. Also after the short read there is a picture I'd like to share of my personal experience with the Easter Bunny. Enjoy!

The Goddess Ostara and the Easter Bunny

Feeling guilty about arriving late one spring, the Goddess Ostara saved the life of a poor bird whose wings had been frozen by the snow. She made him her pet or, as some versions have it, her lover. Filled with compassion for him since he could no longer fly (in some versions, it was because she wished to amuse a group of young children), Ostara turned him into a snow hare and gave him the gift of being able to run with incredible speed so he could protect himself from hunters.

In remembrance of his earlier form as a bird, she also gave him the ability to lay eggs (in all the colors of the rainbow, no less), but only on one day out of each year.

Eventually the hare managed to anger the goddess Ostara, and she cast him into the skies where he would remain as the constellation Lepus (The Hare) forever positioned under the feet of the constellation Orion (the Hunter). He was allowed to return to earth once each year, but only to give away his eggs to the children attending the Ostara festivals that were held each spring. The tradition of the Easter Bunny had begun.

The Final Stretch...Again.

Today was the first day that I got back to AM after my little LOA I took for a few months. I'm psyched to get things rolling, but also wanted a little feedback before I turned this animatic I did yesterday into the full blown animation. I'm in the process of collecting the 3d props and sets I'll need, so I can at least have the layout done by Friday and for Sunday I'll have to do at least 1/3 of the 'blocked' portion of the animation. So lots of work to come. If you are able to leave comments for this blog, then by all means let me know what you think of this as it it so far.

I'm Back...and with a quick update!

Well I guess I slacked it at the end there in December when things didn't pan out the way I had hoped and planned them to. I ended up just barely 'not passing' my final AM class, hence me not ever posting the final animation. At that point I just stopped using Maya and animating altogether.

You could say I was a bit disconcerted and distraught at the turn of events, feeling that I was judged rather unfairly by my Mentor and even protesting with him as well as the school about him not passing me in class. For better or worse I didn't graduate either as a result and went into hibernation or LOA as it is called at the AM school.

I ended up buying a PS3 and immersed myself in my old habits of a whole lotta gaming and watching movies, skating more often and just generally taking a big ol' break from all things related to creating an animation (still watched abundantly though).

So now at the end of this month I'm going to start Class 6 once again and re-take it, hoping for a different Mentor of course, and am just now getting back into the swing of things. I am not going to use the same animation as I had prior for class, but a whole new idea that will show my other strengths and also using a different character rig that isn't as troublesome as the one I used prior.

I'll be posting my new idea storyboards soon enough (next week hopefully) as soon as I finalize the idea. For this short 30-second piece it is going to end up being a tiny part of something much bigger I'm planning on doing beyond class and possibly turning into a series or creating a whole back-story with it afterwards.

I don't have any new pics or vids to share really, so here's some doodles I have done at work during our meetings. Very spontaneous and odd, but here they are...

Blocking Plus update of short film...

Howdy all. Sorry bit late on posting something, skipped last month altogether. I've uploaded the 'blocking plus' phase of the assignment for you to perview so you can see the steps it takes to get to the final product. Lots of issues are evident and I am fully aware of them, this is more the 'see how its done' type of upload, so stay tuned for more. The next upload will be of the 'almost finished' product and will look substantially different. My final fully rendered production copy may not be finished til late December or possibly even late January, depends on the help I receive or if I can figure out Maya a little better. After this assignment is done, I'm going to immerse myself in books again!! I just bought the collection as seen below, and intend to read them all within just a few months before attempting to finish the whole dang series. Cheerio!

Greetings...from Beyooonnnd!!

Ok, so its been a few weeks and I have a few things to share from my 5th class at Animation Mentor. This whole class was pretty much pitching/storyboarding and then laying out the idea that will become a newborn cartoon short in the next and final class. I was trying to think of something else to share, but nothing crosses my mind at the moment. At times I feel vain just for writing on here since I don't get many replies or comments on my work or entry's, like being out in the wilderness and talking to yourself out loud...hmmm.. But at any rate, thanks Kelly and Mayra for leaving me some notes, hopefully FAMILY will take the time to do the same someday as well!!
:p !!YOINKS!! d: Here's the goods, tell me what it makes you feel after watching it, first reaction. That to me is usually the most helpful for giving anybody feedback on work they've done than anything else.

At last, I am back with some goodies from Class 5!!

Helllooooo once again (speaking to the void that is the interweb), I have been neglecting my 'blog' recently until I had something somewhat substantial to put here, so I present you with my 'animatic' and storyboards for my idea I've come up with currently in my 5th class at AM. I'd love anyone that views this to leave me any comments/feedback they may have on ways to strengthen this piece as far as camera angles/cuts/etc. I'm going to begin the actual animation portion of things during my final class, so this is the time to get things cleaned, clear and concise. I've also included a few pics from the Cali trip in July. I went to L.A. to become the Godfather of my little brother at the Baptism. While there I also enjoyed some wine tasting courtesy of my Pa. Anyway, enjoy.











Here are the Cali trip pics: