First of the Batch

Hey guys,

I received the first rejection letter of this year's internship time. Not surprisingly it came from Pixar. My reel needs a major revamp. I don't really have any acting on there. I'm trying to put some subtle acting in my senior project, but I'm still unsure of my 2d skills.

The two remaining studios are Disney and Sony. I high doubt I'll hear back from Disney. I think they're still having issues with whatever's going on there. I dont know about Sony, I applied to them last year and never got a response either.

Next year I'll be able to widen my search since I'll be finished with school in March. I'll be adding Tippet, ILM, July Films, Dreamworks, Rhythm&Hues, and Blizzard to my list. Hopefully I'll hear something positive back from one of them or Pixar, Disney, and/or Sony.

Senior Project Update

Hey guys,

I know I haven't posted an animation update within the past week. This is because I'm making some changes to my story. I've spoken with Prof. Webber here at SCAD and he suggested making the squirrel afraid of facing the outside world, rather than being scared of germs. He said that will have a greater emotional impact whereas being a germaphobe is more of a comedic situation. I met with my Senior Project I professor and he agrees. Luckily, changing the story will allow me to remove eight shots while adding one completely new one and making some simple changes to others. I know my friend who's doing my fx animation will be pleased since there wont be a need for disinfecting spray anymore, lol.

Prof. Webber also made some awesome lighting suggestions for my film. He said to keep everything outside bright and happy, and to make the interior of Larry's house gloomy and dilapidated. That way I can have a shot of Larry slamming windows and closing himself off from the outside world. He also said to make sure the raccoon jumps through Larry's window into the light to push the contrasting locations. These are all awesome ideas and I'm very happy that friend who is an equally awesome painter and layout artist has offered to color my backgrounds. =D

The only super challenging part is the shot where Larry has to decide whether or not he will follow the raccoon outside. I have to really sell his internal struggle as well as make it clear that he fears facing the outside world, rather than simply being afraid of going into the light. This will require some major acting skill to pull off, and I'm unsure whether or not I'll be able to do it successfully. I'll have to find a balance between keeping it simple yet still conveying the proper emotion in a sincere manner, which is something I've been struggling with all quarter. I'll do my best though and hope everything works.

This Week's Progress

Hey guys,

Here's this week's progress. I wont say too much about it since it's almost 2am and I need to hurry up and go to bed. I'll comment on the shots tomorrow. Some of the videos are missing, since I just realized I forgot to put them on my flash drive when I was at Monty. I'll get them at some point tomorrow and will post them then. Sorry about that.

Shot 2 (Revised)



Shot 5



Shot 9


Shot 14


Shot 17


Shot 20 (90% unhappy with)


Shot 21 (unfinished)


Shot 24


Shot 25


Shot 29

The Results

I think my interview went well. The representative from Blizzard really liked my work and said she'd show it to the lead in the pre-rendered cinematics department. The Blizzard internship program is starting for the first time this year, so they're only accepting students in southern California. The HR rep wants me to keep in touch though and has urged me to apply for the program next summer which is when they'll be accepting people from all over.

I'm glad I went to the interview and enjoyed being there. The HR rep got me all excited about working in their award winning cinematics department, so I was pretty disappointed to hear I won't be able to go this year. I'm definitely going to apply for the program next year though. The WOW cinematics are beautiful and I really look forward to contributing to them in the future.

My First Interview

...will be starting soon with Blizzard! =D

Moving Up

Hey guys,

I watched my demo reel today and was displeased with it, which is awesome. I've liked my reel for about a reel now and I think that was way too long. I'm really happy to say I no longer feel is represents my best work. I cringed when I watched my two character dialogue stuff. As much as I would like to have an internship this summer, I wouldn't be surprised if I don't get any responses again. The work on my reel is just not up to par. I dont even like my scare tactics shot anymore.

I feel like the acting in my first two shots aren't nearly as good as they could and should be. Lol, I actually feel ashamed that I sent my reel out. It's not an accurate representation of my work at all, and it truly is great to feel that way again. I can't wait to have a chance to animate to dialogue again. In the mean time, I'll have to settle for making the money shots in my senior project as good as possible. I definitely plan on having a 100% new reel by this time next year, cause my current one isn't cutting it.

Progress Report

Hey guys,

Here are all the shots I worked on this week. I'm really unhappy with some of them and need help with figuring out how to animate to camera moves. I also need help figuring out how much a character should grow/shrink when moving in perspective. Unfortunately, my senior project I teacher is a 3d guy and cant really help me with those particular issues.

Shot 2 (500% unhappy with)


Shot 3



Shot 16 (50% unhappy with)



Shot 23


Shot 26



Shot 27 (need help creating camera pan and zoom, need help figuring out character's size in relation to the camera move and perspective)



Shot 30



Shot 31

Not A Chance

Hey guys,

I figured I might as well give you all an update on the Pixar opportunity in case any of you were as excited about it as I was. After standing in line for two hours I got to the booth only to find out they didn't have anything to view reels with. I was extremely disappointed since that was the whole reason I went to the job fair. I did meet an awesome animator who won an award for her work in Ratatouille which was awesome, but not even having a chance to show my work has really put a damper on what originally was a very happy and hopeful day.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow will be either one of the happiest days of my life or a normal day with disappointed undertones. Why? Tomorrow is SCAD's career fair and Pixar will be there accepting reels for their internship program. We were told that if Pixar likes our work they will call us later that day for an interview!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited! Most of me knows I wont get in, but I still hope I have some kind of chance at actually obtaining a position in the program. =D