I'm REALLY looking forward to this film. It looks fun and witty. In watching this I spotted our very own John Yoon (the guy in full Kung Fu uniform with glasses near the end) from DreamWorks leading a class on Kung Fu for, what seems to be, the animators! So cool. I love seeing all this behind the scenes footage and from the looks of the animation it could be a freaking geek fest of goodness! Enjoy!

Labels: Films

"… i thought i was crazy since i started all i dream is to work in big studio like Pixar or ILM and everyday i come to work people are cynic and sad, and me always happy to work in a company where i always wanted to work, but people always look at me like why are you so happy ... or stop to be so optimistic, life is harder than you think, or stop dreaming you will never achieve that, seriously this is so good to hear that i'm not the wrong one, and that people have to be optimistic and stop to complain about their life but start to move and change what they don't like and not drown the people surrounding them." - Samy aka Oddjob


In response to “Oddjob’s” reply to my “what is your potential” post I wanted to elaborate on this. I will tell you that the industry is definitely a tough place and many people are indeed jaded. However, I don’t think this is limited in any way to just the animation industry, nor do I think you have to become jaded to be a great animator or to “make it” in this industry.

My wife often tells me that I’m a magnet for “negative people.” Ha, ha! It’s funny but somewhat true. (If you haven’t read my “what is your potential” post that will give you some context) A lot of people can not deal with positive energy so they try to crush your spirit and I’ve had so many tough times dealing with this issue. At one point in my life I actually tried to change this part of me due to peer pressure and I can tell you a big part of me died. After much struggle and conflict in my core being I had to really build this part of me back up and I can honestly say that this is me; “I’m genuinely happy! I’m a positive person, so what!? Take it or leave it!”

Positive energy CAN throw people off. It can come off as “too loud,” or “obnoxious.” I think professionally you do have to keep yourself “in check,” but know who you are and never lose who you are at your core. You can be positive and energetic without being loud and jumping on tables. But, the cool part is, if you do want to jump on tables just close your office door and do it!

It’s important to be aware of the overall energy of the group/team and that took me some time to figure out. Ultimately I will tell you that there are GREAT studios out there where your enthusiasm will be admired and encouraged and many that will not take to it. You’ll have to find a match that works for you as this is key to being fulfilled as a person. There’s no worse thing than continually being crushed for who you are. You NEVER want to lose who you are, no matter what! No matter HOW cool the job is.

Ps. Note that no one is "wrong" in who they are. They just are who THEY are. Please see my post below about "Role Models" for more info on the only thing you are in control of in life (yourself).

Labels: Animation Resources, Animation Studio, Bobby Beck

Role Models, we all have them. People we look up to or who inspire us. I have many role models that I look up to and who influence me so much. I don't mind "putting myself out here" to talk about these kinds of things because this is the stuff that I enjoy most in life; connections, sharing cool ideas and inspiration.

I have an outlook pop up reminder that comes up every Monday morning with lots of quotes i've collected throughout the years. I was reading the pop up just now and one stood out to me:

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi.

When I think about role models in my life Gandhi always comes to mind first. Although he was not a "perfect person," nor do I think he would claim to have been, he has made a tremendous ongoing positive impact on the world. I admire him on many levels, namely, standing up for what he believed in as well as the political impact he made through non-violence. Ultimately he made his life his message and he lived true to that vision through the toughest of times.


Although the world at large can be an overwhelming place to be, I always try to think about his quote:

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

This gives me peace of mind that although I may not be able to change the entire world, I can feel good knowing that the one thing I can truly control in this life is myself, my thoughts and my actions.

I'd love to hear from you. Who are your role models and why?

Labels: Bobby Beck

Check out this crazy slow motion reference. The cool part happens when they start showing the impact of the punches. Not sure if this footage has been manipulated but there's all sorts of drag and overlap going on all over the place! WOW.

Click here to check out some crazy Squash and Stretch Action!

Labels: Animation Resources, Video

So many great things have been happening inside the walls of AnimationMentor.com. This term we launched a beta program for people coming in to the program who have never animated before. This workshop has had a lot of love and heart put into it by dozens of people and we’re so excited to see that it’s going great so far! Learning the software is a small part of this art, but it is a critical piece to be comfortable with so that is what the workshop is based around. It’s optional but for those coming in to the program “cold turkey” into the animation world, however we know it is a nice addition and has the love and thought that we like to put into things.

We also invited Jason Schleifer and Victor Navone to the office this week for “media training.” This is was great. Especially from the perspective of an animator. We learned about body language, voice patterns, rhythm in our speech and how to speak more comfortably when it comes to doing interviews with news and press. It may sound silly but we all confessed afterwards that if/when we need to animate a sequence where someone is being interviewed we have an arsenal of cool tools and subtleties to exploit! We also did mock interviews and they were filmed. Woo hoo. We each got a copy of our respective interviews so we can study them later. Ha, ha. So funny, but it did feel like an “acting for animators” class for sure.

We had two “Horton Hears a Who” Q&A’s which were packed with great info for both our Alumni and students. We’ve taken a bit of a break from doing Guest Speaker content for a while. We’ve been working HARD on several upcoming projects that you guys will be excited to hear about so stay tuned!

Dana Boadway gives the Animation Mentor Critique this month at the 11SecondClub. Be sure to check it out. It’s very in-depth packed with great information!

We’re gearing up for Summer graduation and Siggraph. We have some cool things planned and some tentative things in the works that might be very cool. We also have several Animation Mentor student films that have been accepted into the Animation Festival (formerly known as “the electronic theatre)! Woo hoo!!!!!

We hop you guys enjoyed the webinar stuff we did a while back. We’re already in the works on some new cool stuff which will be greatly improved.

Labels: Animation Mentor, Animation Mentor mentors, Animation Resources, Events

We are just wrapping on a big promotion at Animation Mentor. The whole point of this promo was to give back to people and share what Animation Mentor is all about. It started with Shawn's eBook and then went on to a Webinar with Shawn. We recorded the webinar and have now made it available for people to view:

Click here to view a replay of Shawn's Webinar

We finshed up the promo with a webinar hosted by myself giving people a taste of what Animation Mentor is all about and what it takes to become a professional animator. Aja Bogdanoff, Animation Mentor graduate and the co-creator behind The 11 Second Club joined in to share what her experience has been like after graduating Animation Mentor. This webinar was also captured and will be replayed soon.

Of course we want to get people excited about Animation Mentor but even more I feel it was something of high value for people and for free. In my heart I know we're elevating animation education and it feels really good to be able to give back on a variety of levels like this.

We also did this promo video for people who want to know more about the school and the application process. We had so much fun filming this and putting it together.

Click here to view the video

It's so awesome to be building such a fun and energetic place for people to learn the art of animation. It's really becoming more than we could have dreamed of and we will never stop pushing it forward to make it better. Thanks for your support!

Labels: Animation Mentor, Animation Mentor alumni, Animation Resources, Video, Webinar