DREAM Check - Thunder in your heart- Feature Film Animator- Week 4

Hey Guys!

Gona Kick this post off witha little thing I call {Thunder in your Heart!} Ha!!

I used to watch this film {RAD} all the time as a kid....I mean All the time...ha. When video stores first came out.....and I found this one.....and i must have burnt a whole through the tape.

You dont have to watch it but I promise you will grow to TWICE the powerfullness you were having seen it!!

This Awesome Song of Justice is to celebrate the Official accomplishment of this DREAM....I officially Did my very First Shot and got it approved last Friday!!!!!!!!

Woooooo Hooooo!!!!!!!!!!! SCREAMS of Happyness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....Unbelieveable

now the story behind it.

Last week was the hardest I have had here physically and emotionally

.......I was on Set from Monday till Friday and had a few ups and downs on the animation end of things. This first shot was not going to come easy.

The week started with me shooting a rehersal of the sequence........ that went well enough........... It was Clean animation and Did the job required .

The shot was pretty complex with a flying rig attached to the puppet.

Here is an Example video i found on youtube -No more 5 Pound weights with wire wrapped around my characters- at least for now...






So I shot the rehearsal 3 times before getting to Launch. This can mean.......

Bad animation or Bad Performance-


My Animation was clean but........ I was lacking the performance.


Each time you finish a Rehearsal...the next morning ....you meet the directors inside of editorial.

Waiting outside of editorial feels EXACTLY- like waiting outside of the Principals office.In a scary way.
And Also in a very Exciting Way!!

Especially if your not feeling confident in your performance....like I was the first couple of times.

It honestly was a struggle for me to find these Postures and Poses.

I actually had to watch other people act it out to see what there bodys were doing....Cause Mine wasnt going there naturally enough.

This was the final piece of the puzzle and allowed me to get a performance I wanted.

So....In the Thursday Morning...after showing the directors.......... they wanted it shorter but were ready to launch me on the real deal.

So Now - Down Time begins-
Down time is when any of the departments organize in setting off animators....

You basically sit around and wait for the powerfull folks to Dress the set-
Puppet department to give you or fix up the HERO puppet-check lighting - Photography --3d TEST- Motion controll guys- and rigging department to fix up some broken parts that happened during the tests.

This took till 6 p.m ......and thats when I clicked my very first frames. WOW......big day....just starting. At this point into the week I had already been working 12-16 hour days so I was feeling a bit taxed...

I just kept taking a deep Breath- standing back and looking at the HUGE set I was in- and taking note on where I was.


IN LAIKA- On a FEATURE Animated Film -and my VERY FIRST PRO SHOT!!!!
This supplyed the mustard I needed to get focused and into the shot.

I stayed late and got the shot going with the confidence that I could finish by Friday{they were pushing to get this shot done by Friday which is why I was putting in the crazy hours}

so Friday Morning I come in early and Kick off the day on a Mission- to get my first approved shot for the film.....

6:00 pm...I finish the shot ..... and am looking to go Right to the Apartment and CRASH.... My supervisor saw what I had done...and said it was looking good....so I just had to turn it in and see what the directors thought Monday.

When I got home.....I cooked up some dinner and checked my email- only to find an email from the Animation Supervisor stating - "Excellent first shot" "You're officially a stop-mo Feature Animator"

Wooooooo Hoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was happier than you can Imagine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Dream come TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW guys....Unbelieveable!!!! PRO BALL-
I cant believe It happened.....and I cant wait for more.

Tricks of the Week-


Shels First Dive Roll after Aedon was Born. I know shes waiting for those first moves after the Knees all better!!!




Some Video of another older DREAM come true -Trapeeze DATE-




Me and Shel always wanted to Swing from the BIGTOP....so we just looked it up and a fmaily circus in town does open weekends - classes ....and we couldnt resist. HIGHLY reccomended guys.




and New to the Blog-

FAVORITE FILM SCENE of the week-



this one makes me lump up guys......I loved fishing with my grandpa in Florida where I grew up......

and it makes me miss my little one too. Dads gona go to Laika for a while....

the 80's were awesome ....ha!

Jriggity