The Animator's Journal

The Daily Sketch

2012-02-09T19:12:00.000-08:00

BART drawings of the day.

The Drawings Continue

2012-02-08T23:13:00.000-08:00

BART and the AAU Library

Drawing On The Go

2012-02-07T16:47:00.002-08:00

My drawing on-the-go continues.

Guys on the Bart.

Tech Guy at the 3D Lab. He realized I was drawing him but he didn't mind.

Folks studying.

Girl at the AAU Library copy machine.

Girl at the AAU Library study lounge.

Three students studying at the AAU Library.

"Hugo" and the Artistry of Film

2012-02-07T12:52:00.000-08:00

Few films enable you to walk out of the theater feeling like you can overcome life's obstacles while delighting you at the same time. Such is the case with "Hugo" Martin Scorsese's most recent film. It is, in a word, stunning. As I sat in the theater and the film began to play, my first thought was "this is alright. Not bad. Kind of interesting." Something happened though as I watched this movie. Before I knew it, I realized I loved this film. It draws you in, and by the time the credits roll, you marvel at the wonder of it all. It is that beautiful.

Hugo tells the story of Hugo Cabret, (Asa Butterworth), a young orphan living within the clock system at the main rail station in France during the early 20th century. His father (Jude Law), a clock maker and curator, died in a horrific fiery accident at a museum, and young Hugo is whisked from his melancholy yet somehow joyful life with his beloved father to living with his drunk uncle among the clocks, and told only to bring what he values most. Those things are the automaton that his father found in the museum, and a notebook of his father's sketches on how to get it to work. The machine, a little metal man filled with beautiful gears, pulleys and bolts, is able to write, but requires a heart shaped key to come to life. When his uncle disappears, it's up to Hugo to keep the clocks running and to figure out how to resurrect his only friend. He must also steal food from vendors in the station while trying to avoid the ever watchful eye of the delightfully rigid Station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen), who is all too eager to send orphans to the orphanage.

But when Hugo pilfers gears from the local station toy shop, but is one day caught by the toy maker (Ben Kinsley), who takes away not only the gears he stole but the notebook with the drawings created by his father. After meeting the toy shop's goddaughter, Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz), the two embark on an adventure to locate the notebook, fix the automaton and in so doing, discover the toy maker is actually famed movie creator George Melies who was presumed dead after WWI and whose films were all destroyed. And the creator of Hugo's wondrous machine.

Little Hugo, though tenacity and a fighting spirit, ends up with so much more than a notebook and working metal man by the end of the film. He resurrects George's soul, as well as helping to unite the Inspector with his beloved Lisette (Emily Mortimer), the flower merchant, and gives Isabelle a purpose, that of writer of tales, including Hugo's.

Why does Hugo remain hiding in the walls like a little mouse, fixing the clocks without any appreciation from anyone? Why is he so obsessed with the notebook and the automaton? Fixing things is what he does. As he tells, he imagines the world to be one big machine. And no machine has spare parts. Which means that he is not a spare part, and has a place in this world. And for that same reason, Isabelle has a place as well.

The excellent performances delivered by every single person in the cast, the fine cinematography, and the quiet fortitude of the story deliver the type of cinematic experience rarely seen in films today. Butterworth is by far the most expressive young actor I have ever witnessed on screen. The look in his bright blue eyes speaks more powerfully than a dozen pages of script, ripping out your soul with his absolute earnestness. The artistry of film is presented as a way to live your life adventurously, to encourage and impact people, to inspire them to dream even when all seems lost. In this age of economic disaster, war, famine and plague, it is uplifting to know that dreams can come true, even if only in the movies.

As an artist, the film ignited something deep inside - the desire to create, to uplift, to encourage people through storytelling. I sat in the darken theater, thinking "this is what I do. I make movies. I can make something as beautiful and wondrous as Melies. I can impact people the way he did." It creates the desire to aspire to make something greater than yourself, through collaborating with other people, to put on a show.

Scorsese, he of "Shutter Island," "Goodfellas," "Taxi Driver," and a host of other classic films, proves once again why is one of the leading artists of the medium, (and delivers a good cameo as the Photographer). In an interview with The Daily Show, he expressed to Jon Stewart that he realized he had not made any films his young daughter could watch, and set out to make something that she too could enjoy.

And we are all the better for it.

My New Toy

2012-02-05T22:23:00.000-08:00

My good friend graduated last semester, and gave me the light table her husband built for her while at AAU. A great piece of equipment expertly constructed. No surprise, as her husband is an engineer.

He built it using two pieces of pre-cut plastic, and three pieces of particle board that he sawed himself.

Inside he attached a fluorescent bulb that is easily replaced.

And used household screws and little soft discs to keep the table from scratching surfaces.

Beautiful. Simply beautiful. And free!

Around Town Drawing Extravaganza

2012-02-05T22:17:00.000-08:00

This week our homework assignment is to draw people from life. In other words IT IS THE BEST HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT IN THE WORLD. I am being graded on doing what I normally do - albeit with winter break thrown in the mix.

So instead of sitting at home at the drawing table, I explored the wonderful world of the city.

Ocean Beach:

These kids were awesome. The little boy and his sister walked around with a metal detector, stopping every few seconds to dig for buried treasure.

(And here are some fun photos as well):

Millbrae Library:

This guy realized I was drawing people and I could tell he was visibly upset. Too bad I finished drawing him thirty minutes before he realized what I was doing.
Heh heh.

The San Francisco Zoo:

Penguin feeding time. The Animal Keeper stopped to answer peoples' questions.

John Flynn works with Savannah, a 23-year-old bald eagle who weighs 11 lbs. She was shot by hunters when she was 3 weeks old and brought to the zoo. Now she gets to hang out and amaze people.

Union Square:

The worst place to draw. Art Vendors set up shop every day so I thought Union Square would make the perfect place to draw people. Wrong. People only look at art for a grand total of ten seconds before walking briskly away. Tough. Fortunately, this guy decided to take a breather. He reminds me of Skeeter from the Muppets with his satchel, glasses and hair cut.

Fortunately, this young lady was lost long enough to stand still.

And she needed to call someone.

In hindsight, I got some good drawings out of this place. But at the time it was aggravating. People move too fast.
And of course, Starbucks:

Same girl, different poses.

Lady standing and listening to her friend. And that same girl again in the corner.

Why so many places? For starters, I had no desire to sit in Starbucks everyday for a week for hours on end. Second, the more places you go, the more opportunity to view different types of people engaged in more activities than talking on their cell phones. You think people talk on their phones a lot? Try WATCHING people. Everyone is connected to some type of electronic device. We're becoming more and more like those folks in "The Matrix."

Excellent First Week Back At School

2012-02-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

First week back at school and I am loving it already. This semester I'm taking ANM Figurative Concepts aka Life Drawing for Animators. I have an excellent professor who worked at Disney for a number of years, so I am psyched to be in this class.

We learned some important concepts for drawing the form, mainly - STRUCTURE is everything. No amount of detail can correct a badly structured drawing. When you think of structure, think of the skeleton, or the support beams of a house. Or this quote that our professor passed along from the great artist Henri Matisse:

"You have to build up the figure like a carpenter builds up a house. Build up with parts but create a unit. Everything must be constructed. A tree like a human body, a human body like a cathedral."

Today we focused on creating the proper structure by learning about standard proportions and focal point. A focal point is where your eyes naturally travel to when you are looking at something. For a portrait, the focal point is most often the eyes of the person in the painting. This is why it is imperative to capture the correct likeness. The focal point is the highest contrast between light and dark and the sharpest point of the drawing or painting.

Below are my drawings using the concepts that we learned in class. I am happy to report that after a month away from drawing nudes I have not forgotten how to draw. Life drawing is like riding a bicycle it turns out.

First drawing - 15 minutes. The form is alright, although the face is off.

This is a ten minute drawing. Starting to get the hang of things.

5 minute drawing. Much better. It's coming together now.

Page o' 1 minute drawings. This was fun.

15 minute drawing. Our professor challenged us to draw with our opposite hand. I drew with my left hand. It came out quite well - I expected a scribbly mess.

I believe this was 20 minutes. After the left handed experiment things got looser. My professor gave me some tips for improving the facial features, mainly by drawing the shadow shapes first.

20 minutes with shadows.

10 minutes. Started going off the rails...

But returned with this much better 10 minute pose.

And finally this 20 minute pose.

This semester I will intensively practice faces and hands. Onward!

Muir Woods

2012-01-25T14:32:00.000-08:00

I had the great pleasure of visiting the fantastic Muir Woods, located in Mill Valley, a few miles outside of San Francisco. Drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, through twisty, windy roads, and you're there. According to the lovely brochures at the park, the land was purchased by William and Elizabeth Kent in 1905 and President Theodore Roosevelt turned the land into a state park in 1908. They named it after conservationist John Muir, and today it is one of California's national treasures.

I loved every moment of it. There are red woods in the park that over 1000 years old - that's right, before the founding of all of the current civilizations. And they are HUGE. There are also vultures, crows, chipmunks and banana slugs lurking about, all of which we saw, one of which I photographed.

My friend David and I hiked along the Ocean View Trail, Sun Trail, Dipsea Trail and Fern Creek Trail - about seven miles in all. Here are some photos taken along the way of the trek:

Close up of moss on the tree. Many of the trees were covered in the stuff.

The majestic redwoods. These are between 500 and 800 years old.

The winding creek.

And even more of the creek. We saw several creeks throughout the trip.

We walked across this tree being used as a bridge. It is as structurally unsound as it looks.

Behold the majestic red woods!

Banana Slug! We found five of these - they're about the size of your hand.

Here I am next to the trees for scale.

David looking up at the trees.

Here's an abandoned, rusted car frame.

Through the dark trees - these were closer together than any of the other trees we saw.

This reminds me of "Lord of the Rings."

And here I am again.

A great view.

Another great view.

The End of the Journey

"Arthur Christmas" delights and stumbles into the collective Christmas tradition

2011-12-01T06:50:00.000-08:00

     Christmas brings a myriad of traditions, including the annual deluge of holiday films. There are three types of Christmas cheer movies. The first are those permanently burned in America’s collective conscious like “It’s A Wonderful Life.” The second tier is at least watchable, like “Ernest Saves Christmas.” The third category is reserved for yuletide kindling –films where Santa is saved, Santa is missing, a holiday romance is almost dashed, and other such drivel.

     “Arthur Christmas,” belongs in category two, whimsical enough to make children glad and entertaining enough to not make parents cringe. The Sony/Columbia/Aardman collaboration answers every child’s question about Santa Claus – how on Earth can one man deliver presents to over two billion children in a single night? The answer is that he can’t – by himself. The North Pole is less holly jolly and more expert precision. Santa, (voiced by Jim Broadbent), is a figure head in an operation led by his techno wizard son, Steve (Hugh Laurie) and an elite team of thousands of elves who seem plucked out of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. Santa and the first team of elves fly faster than the speed of light in an Enterprise-like red aircraft capable of cloaking itself lest anyone mistake them for UFOs. Hundreds of elves repel from the ship and it is they who do Santa’s real work – delivering presents to nice children. Meanwhile Steve and his team operate from the North Pole’s NASA-like mission control center overseeing every part of the operation. The opening scene is the best part of the film, brilliantly staged and animated with a healthy dose of slow motion action.

     Trouble, for both the stars and the plot, starts when Santa’s younger and more Christmas spirit aware son, Arthur (James McAvoy), discovers that one toy was left behind. And no child gets left behind on Christmas on Arthur’s watch. This starts a chain reaction involving Arthur, Grandsanta (Bill Nighy), and Bryony (Ashley Jensen), the wrapping expert elf who found the gift, racing through the night on the original sleigh to complete the mission.

     This is where the film becomes unhinged. Like most live action and animated films, the main issues with “Arthur Christmas” are due to story problems, not the visuals. Four problems prevent it from being truly exceptional. The less offensive of the group, weird jokes, and stiff facial expressions, are forgivable, in part because Grandsanta is so endearing that you (almost) forgive him for the politically incorrect flubs that tumble out of his mouth like mashed fruitcake. The stiff facial expressions are due to the fact that 3D people are still difficult to animate. Although technology has vastly improved over the past 20 years, even films made by Pixar occasionally fall flat in the face department. Everything ends up looking plastic, which helps explain why there are three “Toy Story” films.

     What are not forgivable are the excessive uses of dialogue that grind the movie to a halt and the introduction of outside antagonists nearly halfway into the film. Several times throughout the movie Santa, Steve, Arthur and Grandsanta begin to pontificate about whether it is necessary to worry about delivering one gift to one child – and these conversations are long. We’re talking now’s a time to get more popcorn long. One could (and should have) easily cut the arguments in half.

     The other damaging aspect is that the film introduces characters from the UN who mistake Arthur and Grandsanta for UFOs due to their lack of flying expertise. This would be an excellent set of scenes if they were introduced 30 minutes earlier. However, due to their late arrival in the film, they feel almost tacked on, as if someone in the final part of the production asked “Hey wouldn’t anyone notice two dudes, an elf and reindeer flying over Idaho?”

     Animation-wise, the film is nearly solid. Story-wise, it needs a little work, but the emotion is displayed expertly on screen. And in a field where lousy Christmas tales and trite sentimentalism are usually the norm, especially for family movies, “Arthur Christmas” has the distinction of rising above the holiday morass.

Kesa Animatic

2011-11-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

Met with Tom Bertino last week and got some good tips to improve my animatic. Better camera angles and stronger poses = a better story. So here is the new and improved version. I also changed the main character from a guy to a girl - which was actually my original idea. I'm glad that I went with the original idea:

Kesa is a girl living in a tribe at the end of the Ice Age. Mammoth herds are growing thin so her tribe is having a harder and harder time searching for food. Due to her brother's death and father's illness, no one in her family is able to join the hunt. She goes off by herself and finds a baby mammoth - with surprising results.

And here's the new animatic!

Kesu Animatic

2011-11-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

Here is my animatic for "Kesu", a short film debuting next Spring.

Kesu Production Stills

2011-11-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

A Hunter seeks out a Mammoth with unusual results.

Thus begins my animated short "Kesu." Why do a 15 second animated short for class when you can create an entire thesis-film like project for the Spring Show? Sounds like a plan to me. The first 15 seconds are my class assignment, then next minute and 25 seconds are the rest of the film.

One day I will create a short subject. But I love fully fleshed out stories. It's why I write screenplays instead of short stories and novellas.

Our professor gave us excellent advice - create 10 to 20 story ideas with 5 unexpected outcomes and 5 reactions to each of those outcomes. That led Alice down the rabbit hole of discovery. I planned on filming "The Fighter." I had created preliminary storyboards, character designs and was ready to go. But something did not feel right. So I followed my professors assignment and started writing ideas last Saturday at Chipotle. And then the 11th idea came to me.

So don't listen to anyone who tells you wait around for inspiration. Get out there and churn out as many ideas as possible. That's how you come up with something. Blood and sweat. (And good food - that helps.)

Here's the set up of the storyboard that I pitched in class:

Home office set up:

Preliminary stick-figure like storyboards:

Kesu (originally named Kesuk) turnarounds:

Alamet turnarounds:

Size comparison chart:

Kesu and Alamet in action sketches:

San Francisco International Animation Festival

2011-11-12T17:51:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Martha Wilson - the Story Development professor at the Academy of Art and my friend David I was able to get a free pass to last night's animation festivities at the New People Cinema.

And what a show it was.

I am astounded by the excellent films coming from Europe. None of the animated shorts were anything like what I have seen here in the states. Due to history the US has a limited view of what animation can and should be. For example, that animation is a medium for children, that it is a genre of film, rather than quality film itself, that it has to be funny, that it has to be linear, etc. Studios like Pixar are changing this but even Pixar has its own style and many other studios are struggling to copy them and DreamWorks rather than create original material.

Not so with the films I watched last night. They were the best of Annecy, a film festival held every year in France. And one gets the impression that only in Europe could such masterpieces be created. There was stop motion, 2D, 3D, figures made from foam core, painted backgrounds, stories about life, bugs, zombie attacks, chickens taking strolls, people dressed as bears, fighter pilots in a dance of death.

I have been to many film festivals, most of which I have chronicled in this blog. But last night's showing was special. Never before have my eyes been opened to what animation can be. What I saw was nothing short of visually stunning, and inspired me to one day create something better and different than what has come before.

I believe that is the nature of true art.

The Flour Sack

2011-11-09T17:10:00.000-08:00

Animation Project #2 - The Flour Sack

The second triumphant video in my ongoing saga of pencil test masterpieces. Look out, world.

NINJAS! Animation Drawing Workshop

2011-10-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Everyone loves a ninja (because those who don't are carried off into the night).
Here are some Ninja drawings from Animation Drawing Workshop from the Friday before last. This model was AMAZING. She's part of the guild too.

Zephyr Animation now on Twitter

2011-10-30T12:59:00.001-07:00

Hey folks,

I've joined the rest of the social media wave and created a Twitter account.
Mainly so that I could claim Zephyr Animation before someone else takes the name.
Don't worry I don't plan on tweeting what I had for lunch (yet.)

hashtag @ZephyrAnimation

Rock on.

Costume Carnival Prt 1

2011-10-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

The Academy had a MASSIVE Costume Carnival at Bradley Hall yesterday. Four stages with 2 - 3 models each in scary costumes with super cheesy scary music playing in the background. I stayed until the room became claustrophobic - seriously there were at least 70 students standing on top of each other and sitting at your feet drawing and taking pictures. Like the BART station for artists.

Here are some drawings from the little sketchbook - more to come from the big sketchbook later this week.

Lucky Lenny

2011-10-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

TA-DA!

Here is my first animated short from Animation I class. I am super excited about this. After years of researching schools, taking drawing classes, reading books, attending seminars, and watching cartoons, I have animated something. Huzzah.

700 sheets of paper later:

The first of many, MANY cartoons.

Enjoy.

The Boxer aka Animation Drawing Friday

2011-10-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

Fun times at the Animation Drawing Workshop. Go get 'em fighter.

Zoo-tacular!

2011-10-15T17:37:00.000-07:00

Today's adventure took place at the fantastic San Francisco Zoo. The Zoo is beautifully designed with wide open spaces for the animals to roam, gigantic eucalyptus trees that block out traffic and only a 5 minute walk to Ocean Beach.

So here's to les animales, including:

Crane studies:

Deer-like creatures:

Super huge mushrooms (didn't even have to pay extra to see these):

A Koala who obviously had better things to do than give me a face view and Cassowary studies:

Portrait-size Cassowary. He insisted I get a nice front view, as both his left and right were his "good" side.

Black Swans:

Grizzly Bear and last Black Swan:

I love to dig. GRRR!

A rhino, a squirrel and a tapir walk into a bar:

Double vision rhino eating:

Yes, these two were quite depressed:

The ever inquisitive ant eater. What do you see there, Ms. Eater? (I know she's a lady eater because her baby was hanging out in the enclosure next door).

Some lovely scenic shots:

And folks at Ocean Beach:

Mine! Mine! Mine!

And finally, Beach photos:

Animation Drawing Workshop Friday

2011-10-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

We had an excellent model pose for us today for the Animation Drawing workshop. Fun poses and good sound track provided by Juan as always.

Here are the pics:

Adios, Cowgirl.

Bay Area Women in Film & Media

2011-10-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

Attended an AWESOME panel this evening hosted by the Bay Area Women in Film & Media. I've only been in this town for four months and I am blown away by the sheer amount of creative coolness swirling about this city. Panelists from ILM, Kabam, San Francisco State University and Pixar were on hand to discuss how they got into the industry and answered numerous questions from the audience.

The best part - even though half of us were not able to register online they let us pay at the door - which I hoped they would. The event was posted at school yesterday, and by then registration had ended. I figured - "What the heck? If they turn me away oh well, but I'm going down there to see if I can get in." And I did. AND I got free parking. AND I met awesome people on the panel, board members, volunteers, as well as some folks from AAU majoring in 2D, 3D and design.

Good times all around. Here's who came:

EMMA COATS, Storyboard Artist at Pixar

LAUREN FREEMAN, Art Producer at Kabam

MARTHA GORZYCKI, Associate Professor, Animation Coordinator at SFSU

GEORDIE MARTINEZ, Creature Technical Director/Creature Trainer at Industrial Light and Magic

LORIEN MCKENNA, Art & Story Dept Manager at Pixar

My favorite speaker of the night was Geordie as he came to animation through a circuitous route. He did poorly in high school, joined the Navy for six years, then went to college and got his BA, and worked while attending Animation Mentor. Out of all of the speakers, I can relate because animation was not in my mind when I was in high school, I had a completely different career path in mind. But after much diligent work he accomplished his goal. Very rewarding to hear a story like that.

And as always, some sketches from the event:

The Sketcher Strikes Again

2011-10-11T23:30:00.005-07:00

Sketches of people at APE:

On BART:

And a family dinner at Pier Market. Whose family? Who knows.

Paintings from Head Drawing Class

2011-10-10T09:19:00.006-07:00

Here are the first paintings I ever did for my Head Drawing Class from this summer. It was the first time I ever used oil paint and I had a good time. Painting is quite fun and relaxing. It's also a lot faster to get paint on canvas than drawing with a pencil or charcoal so you have to take your time, otherwise you don't focus on what you are doing and your paintings start to look messy.

Here's the first painting. Pretty bad. Poor guy ended up looking like Hitler. He said this happens to him a lot in paintings. In real life he is friendly, so this is unfortunate. Fortunately I improved over time.

Much better than the first painting I did. You can tell he is old.

Best painting out of all the ones I did in class.

This painting did not turn out well, which is unfortunate as the model looked cool.

I am pleased with this one. I enjoyed painting her hair.

Kenwood, CA wineries

2011-10-09T21:51:00.006-07:00

My folks were town this weekend so we drove up to Kenwood and visited two wineries. We had fun and had some delicious and not - so delicious beverages of the alcoholic persuasion. Here are some photos from the trip:

Rows of Landmark Winery grapes

Close up of Landmark grapes

Even more Landmark grapes

Landmark lake

Landmark fountain

Ledson Winery Castle

Ledson Winery Castle 2

Ledson roof

Ledson side view

Belle and the Beast are here somewhere.

Ledson fountain

And one last shot