AWN Interview with 2009 Oscar Animated Feature Nominees

Animation World Network's Bill Desowitz recently spoke to the directors of Oscar-nominated films Bolt, Wall-E, and Kung Fu Panda.  Each of these films is fantastic, and I'm glad they are all nominated!  In the article, the directors (listed below) discuss their processes in creating each film, as well as reveal upcoming projects.  You can read the interview here: http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&category2=&article_no=3914&page=1

2009 Oscar-nominated animated film directors...

Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda)

John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda)

Andrew Stanton (Wall-E)

Chris Williams (Bolt) 

Byron Howard (Bolt) 

It's All in the Eyebrows!

Top Pixar animators Carlos Baena and Victor Navone have written invaluable information about how the eyebrows are useful in conveying what a character is thinking and feeling. They discuss different brow shapes and uses, and give several examples of visual reference from drawings and acting clips. These are great resources for animating faces... check them out and book mark it for the future.

Victor Navone: The Brows Have It
Carlos Baena: Eyebrows

Additional Links:
John K. Stuff- Hierarchy- 3 Eye Area- eyebrows, irises, wrinkles

New Animation Mentor Assignment

I made some revisions for last week's assignments and finally have them ready to post! The first one is a ball traveling through an obstacle course. I used squash and stretch in the first few frames to show anticipation as the ball leaps into the course.

The second part of the assignment was to pose our Stu character as if he were devastated. Take a look:

Here are the drawings I created to plan out the pose:

Slashfilm Interviews Up Producer & Director

Interview with Pete Docter & Jonas Rivera
Early Buzz: Pixar's Up
Docter Goes Halfway Up
New Up Trailer!

More on Andrew Stanton and Wall-E

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-647332385884976683&hl=en

2009 Oscar Nominated Animated Short Contenders

Oktapodi


Lavatory Lovestory

Alternative link: http://video.aol.com/video-detail/lavatory-lovestory/2873334156

La Maison en Petits Cubes (Clip only)


Presto


This Way Up (Clip only)

Coraline Behind the Scenes

Video: Coraline Featurettes

Article: On the Set with Coraline: Where the Motion Doesn't Stop

Article: Selick Talks Coraline: The Electricity of Life

WATCHMEN!

After much anticipation, Watchmen will finally hit movie theaters on March 6, 2009! Director Zach Snyder, who also worked on the film adaptation of Frank Miller's 300, began filming in 2007 after several script revisions and creative disputes. Alan Moore and artist David Gibbons created the original Watchmen comic book series, which has been regarded by many as the best graphic novel of all time.

I am very excited about this film! Check out the trailers and video clips below and see what you think.

Watchmen Trailer Blogspot
Yahoo Movies- Watchmen


Meet the Characters: Director Zack Snyder introduces the costumed heroes of the movie's alternate reality

WATCHMEN trailer 1


Trailer 2

Watchmen - Theatrical Trailer 2 | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

Watchmen- Comic-Con Footage

Watchmen - Comic-Con Footage | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

The Pixar Way

"The core skill of innovators is error recovery, not failure avoidance." - Randy Nelson
(Taken from Learning and Working in the Collaborative Age: A New Model for the Workplace)Someone at Animation Mentor recently showed me this video clip of Pixar University's dean, Randy Nelson, giving a brief 10-minute talk to an audience. In it, he discusses new hiring methods and team collaborative tactics that are currently being used at innovative companies like Pixar. With numerous awards and worldwide respect from animators and audiences alike, Pixar's unconventional take on the workplace has garnered attention. At Pixar, the people behind the ideas are far more important than the ideas themselves.

"We've made the leap from an idea-centered business to a people-centered business. Instead of developing ideas, we develop people. Instead of investing in ideas, we invest in people."
-Randy Nelson
(Taken from the article "How Pixar Adds a New School of Thought to Disney")

Pixar has designed a culture of innovation in order to provide their employees with the opportunity to learn and grow as creative thinkers. At Pixar University, employees can improve their skill sets by taking classes on drawing, filmmaking, and even business management. A vital part of this learning process is being able to take risks, make mistakes, and trust that constructive feedback and collaborative teamwork will help to solve the challenges.

You can learn more about Pixar's workplace philosophy in these articles...
How Pixar Adds a New School of Thought to Disney
Innovation, Inc.
Wired: Welcome to Planet Pixar
Brainstorm Zone
Chris Spagnuolo's Blog: Pixar's Randy Nelson on Learning...
How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity

Ping Pong Ball & Bowling Ball Faceoff

Here's one of my latest assignments from animation class, where we studied spacing and timing through the use of two balls with contrasting weights. I tried to depict a bowling ball and a ping pong ball.