Princess and the Frog

Hey guys,

The teaser for the Princess and the Frog is up. Check it out:

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog/

I watched a screening of the film a few weeks ago and it was really fun. I'm looking forward to it's release and hope it does well. It's also really amazing to be able to watch and study pencils tests for the film as it's being made. Mark Henn pencil tests are astoundingly simple yet filled with sincerity. I cant wait to get a chance to talk to him and learn as much as possible!

Earthquake!

Wow, a hour ago a 5.4 earthquake hit CA. I've never been in an earthquake before and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. In my mind an earthquake means buildings being torn apart, the ground splitting, fire, screaming, death. Thankfully there wasn't any of that today. I didn't know what was going on at first. It felt kind of like being in a boat as it rocks back and forth. It wasn't nearly as violent and jarring as I expected a quake to be. I guess the feature animation building has and awesome earthquake proof design or we were simply saved by all of the Disney magic. The only damage done was a light fell from the ceiling not too far from my office.

The sad thing is, while people huddled under desks and stood in doorways I rushed back to my computer and hit save. Lol, we all may fall into the ground and die but at least my animation would be saved. XD

Once it started to die down people started cheering and clapping, lol. I wonder how the people in the ABC building across the parking lot reacted. When I went over there for lunch all of the business people were walking around as if nothing had happened, whereas everyone in Disney building had stopped working and was wondering around laughing, talking, and cheering.

Coming Soon

Hey guys,

Everyone on the AM alumni site is working on an awesome collaborative short film project. I'm going to be working on my shot after work and on the weekends. Here's a rough scene that I threw together in an hour to start blocking in my staging. I'm not happy with the giant post that goes through the middle of Bishop and his wife. I'll see what I can do about getting rid of that later, cause now it's time for bed.




In my scene, Bishop will be struggling with not being able to fall asleep. A ball will come in and bonk him on the head, knocking him out cold. I'm going to have him look at his clock and see that it's an ungodly hour in the morning. He'll be upset and try to take more sleeping pills only to discover that he doesn't have anymore. Then the ball will come in, hit him, and then bounce off screen.

The Dark Knight

BEST BATMAN MOVIE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker was phenomenal! I'm going to stop right there to prevent any spoilers. If you haven't seen The Dark Knight yet, drop what you're doing and run to the nearest movie theater to get tickets for the next available showing right now!

Letting Go shot list

Hey guys,

After some great advice from my mentor at Disney, I now have the shot list I should have had back in Concept Development class. My mentor made some changes to all three acts of the film to make things read clearly. He also gave me a wonderful ending, which is awesome since my ending was discombobulated and crappy. If I keep all of these shots I'll have to finish three shots a week. I'm not too sure about that since I'm at work all day.

If there are any shots that you feel can be cut or reduced in some way, please let me know!!!!!!!!

Letting Go Shot List

1. Establishing vertical pan down to Larry’s front door. POS: Establish where we are. No Anim. (done)

2. LS Horizontal pan through Larry’s disheveled house. POS: Show how Larry’s grief has caused him to stop caring about the upkeep of his home. No Anim.

3. LS Larry sits at his bedroom table looking frail. POS: Introduce Larry and his state of being. Very little to no anim.

4. MS Larry’s looking down at his wife’s wedding ring and sadly looks up to the picture of them on their wedding day. POS: Establish that it’s his wife’s ring.

5. CU Larry puts the ring in the box and lowers the lid. POS: Clearly show the ring’s new position.

6. MS: Larry gets up and leaves the room. POS: Establish that he’s no longer in the room.

7. LS Larry trudges out into the living room and dozes off. (wip)

8. ECU Larry’s eyes POS: begin dream sequence. (done)

9. MS Larry and his wife are having fun at a carnival. Fade to white. No Anim

10. MS Larry’s at his wife’s hospital bed. It turns out she has pneumonia. Fade to white. No Anim. (done but want to redo)

11. LS Larry visits his wife’s grave. It’s under a small weeping willow sapling. Fade to white and end animation-less montage. (done but want to redo)

12. ECU A crashing sound startles Larry from his memories. (done)

13. MS Larry’s disoriented and confused from the jolt back into the real world. Another crash helps him remember where he is. Larry gets up and goes to investigate the sound.

14. LS The thief hulks in the foreground. He hears Larry coming and takes off. Larry enters the doorway a moment later. (wip)

15. LS(Over the shoulder) Larry sees the thief’s tail disappear out the broken window. He looks over to the jewelry box. Very little anim.

16. CU The jewelry box is broken and empty. No Anim. (done)

17. MS Larry is horrified and runs to the window.

18. MS Larry squints as he looks out into the woods sadly. He realizes he’s in the light and steps back into the shadows.

19. LS Larry sulks for a bit within his gloom before deciding to go after the ring. He runs for the window and jumps out.

20. CU The thief’s feet tear through the grass with Larry a bit behind him POS: Establish how close Larry is to catching the thief. (done)

21. LS The thief comes to a dead end. In a ditch effort to save himself, he throws the ring into the nearby lake.

22. LS Larry spots the ring as it falls into the water and changes course immediately. He dives into the lake. (done)

23. LS He drags himself out of the water. Larry lifts his hand to look at the ring. (wip)

24. ECU Larry’s hand opens to reveal his wife’s dirty ring. Very little anim.

25. MS Relieved, Larry proceeds to wipe the ring off. The sound of happily twittering birds interrupts him. He looks up and realizes for the first time that he’s actually outside.

26. LS Pan of the wonderful outside world. Stop at the weeping willow. No Anim.

27. MS There’s something familiar about that tree, but Larry can’t place it. He goes closer to get a better look.

28. ECU Larry pulls back the leaves to reveal his wife’s grave beneath the branches. Very little anim.

29. LS Larry approaches the grave, in awe at the size of the surrounding tree. Has it really been that long?

30. MS Zoom in on grave as Larry approaches it. Allow time for its inscription to be read, as if Larry is reading it. No Anim.

31. MS Larry smiles fondly at what he’s read. He looks down at his wife’s ring and tenderly places it on top of the grave. Larry notices his own ring as he brings his hand back. He considers it for a moment, before sliding it off. He reaches forward to place it on the grave.

32. CU Larry gently places his ring beside his wife’s. He waits a moment before slowly turning to leave. The camera zooms in on the rings slightly as his shadow moves away from the grave, indicating that he’s leaving.

33. LS Larry emerges from the willow tree. He takes a deep breath, smiles and walks down the sunny path before him.

The End