Animation Mentor had 51 mentors, students and alumni who worked on Ice Age 3!
This is one of those proud moments where we get to step back at Animation Mentor and feel proud of what we've helped create. We had 51 mentors, students and alumni work on Ice Age 3!
I was lucky enough to catch the film opening night with several Animation Mentor students and grads, some who worked on the film. It was a special moment watching the credits roll and seeing so many familiar names. Watching the folks in the room who worked on it with their significant others so proud of them was so touching. I remembered back to seeing my name roll up in the credits on my first feature film (Virus) and feeling that sense of pride and accomplishment! Congratulations you guys!!! We couldn't be more proud of you and all your hard work!
I'm so happy that we took this tack in our lives to help people fulfill their dreams. Although I don't animate anymore, I get to live vicariously through the many successful people who go through our program. Today I'm giving thanks for being part of something that feels like magic!
Animation Mentor : New lecture with Bret Parker on "Mechanics and Acting"
Bret Parker was at the Animation Mentor Head Quarters this past weekend doing a lecture for The New Animation Mentor Curriculum. We're finishing up the last few lectures for this program before moving on to new SUPER exciting stuff. Bret gave her best in this lecture. The cool thing is we got permission from Pixar for her to use one of her shots from Ratatouille to go over in her class! This marks the first time we've been able to use Pixar footage in our classes. More of this type of thing to come in the new curriculum and this is so freaking cool!!!
Front Row Left: Jonathan Gomez, Front Row Right: Heather McNabb Back Row Left: Veara Suon, Back Row Right: Nicole Demas Part of the New Curriculum format is doing classes where we invite several students to participate in the lecture. This way we get the student perspective right there inside the lecture and we're so proud of these guys as they asked some fantastic questions which really helps take the content to a whole new level! Thanks guys!
It's so great to be at a level where studios like Sony, DreamWorks and now Pixar are recognizing the importance of allowing footage in our classes to help make for better, more relevant instruction. So cool!!!!
Part of the new stuff is letting you guys get a sneak peek into the behind the scenes world of what we do here at Animation Mentor. I hope you enjoy this super sneak peek of what's to come!
It's always fun when we get all the students and graduates together at Animation Mentor. Even though this is an Online Animation School it's so fantastic to hear in the student's words just how personal an experience it is for them. When we started the school that was one BIG area we feared would not work so well; would people make friendships that would last even though they were esentially working from home? You've got to remember this was well before communities like FaceBook existed. Now we know, more than ever, this is a solid way to learn, people DO make friendships, build relationships that last and learn in a way that is absolutely mind blowing! Every day I'm so proud to come to work and be a part of this magic. I can never get enough of the good vibes that people feel and I will continue to push the company forward to being the best place to learn animation on the planet and the best place that the team ever works! This is my personal mission!
Wow man, this is absolutely amazing. Alli took a big risk doing something this bold and I have to say it paid off nicely. I'm completely impressed and inspired by the work for sure! Congratulations!!!
A couple weeks back we had our much anticipated winter graduation ceremony and it was a HUGE success and massive blast! I can't tell you how much these graduations serve as crazy inspiration to all of us involved. The mentors are now playing a BIGGER and BIGGER role in the whole thing because they get the pump up just as much as the student's do! I've never experienced anything like this at all. So much energy all in one place and it's really positively overwhelming to hear so many inspirational stories about people's journeys in making it to this particular point in their life.
Despite the state of the economy I am more than optimistic about how well the animation Industry is doing as a whole world wide. Yes, some studios are closing, however I can only judge how we are doing based on our placement rate. We review this often and report on our number every 6 months. Last time we reported it was at 78% worldwide placement which is HUGE. We just ran the numbers this week and I can't wait to share the new numbers when they are official. Keep your heads up, keep on animating and never let your fire die. It's all possible and WILL happen for you. Never doubt it. It's really just a matter of time! Until then I'll be riding high from the amazing energy that this place seems to breed. I LOVE it!!!!
This response was drafted internally here and sent out to folks who were worried about the state of the global economy and how that fared for the entertainment industry. Please, if you are interested, take the time to read this very informative and positive outlook. Even though it was written for Animation Mentor students I think anyone in the animation industry and students at other schools will be able to take comfort in these words. Enjoy!
Like you, we’ve been hearing the scary news about the economic downturn and how it is impacting financial markets across the globe.
Some of you have asked us how this is impacting the animation industry and wondered whether or not there will be any jobs available when you graduate.
While we can’t predict the future, there are certain facts that we do know.
1. We have an excellent relationship with the animation industry; film, television, advertising, gaming, and more. 2. We are still receiving requests from studios all around the world for well educated, character animators. 3. There are over 25 games and movies scheduled to be released in 2009 and 39 in 2010 from U.S. based companies alone. This does not include television or advertising. 4. Our alumni enjoy a 78% placement rate. That’s one of the highest in the industry. And we continue to have a department dedicated to creating relationships with new studios to increase that number.
So we feel, the answer is YES – there will be jobs. And now is a great time to get an education and ride out a year of slow growth while the rest of the economy gets back on track.
Now for some Fun Facts that Should Make your Day:
1) According to an October report, titled World Economic Outlook, created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an international organization of 195 member countries established to promote international monetary cooperation, stability and economic growth, we are experiencing a slow down in growth from 5% in 2007, to 3.9% in 2008 and 3% in 2009. Although financial and real estate markets have been hard hit, the balance sheets of non-financial companies in the US and Western Europe look to be a source of resilience for the economy. There is an anticipated recovery of the economy in late 2009.
2) According to an article called Is Your Job Recession Proof? on CareerBuilder.com, employers are still hiring and certain industries not only survive, but thrive in hard times. In fact 32% of those surveyed plan to continue adding staff.
3) Even better news for future animators: the two main industries we work in are virtually recession proof: Gaming and Movies.
4) The movie industry has historically been recession-proof because even during bad times people need entertainment. They still date, spend time with family and friends, and movies at an average price of $7 per ticket are an outstanding entertainment value. After the stock market crash of 1929, attendance levels at movies grew by 58%.
According to John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners in America, in a recent interview in these pages, the numbers don’t lie. “In the past four decades there have been seven recession years in this country, and the box office has climbed strongly in five of those years,” he said. The strongest of those years was the most recent, in 2001, when US box office receipts rose by $650 million. (Source: The Times, October 16, How Will the Recession Affect Film?)
5) Just like movies, games also provide an inexpensive entertainment experience. According to an October 16 article in Reuters, titled Video Game Sales Still Strong, Despite Economic Tough Times, the video game industry is thriving.
Professor of media and technology at NYU Stern, Al Lieberman said although luxuries are often the first to go during tough economic times, the video gaming industry continues to do well.
“There have been many recessions before and there are certain things, certain elements and sections, sectors of the economy that survive straight through and electronic games is one of those," said Lieberman.
Dan Ackerman of CNET.COM said people are turning to video games for light relief, like they turned to movies, during the Great Depression. "They say that video games are essentially a recession-proof product, kind of like movies were during the Great Depression where people still wanted to be entertained," Ackerman told Reuters.
The industry made 10 billion dollars (USD) last year, and is expected to make 14 billion annually by the year 2012.
Although there is plenty of bad news to be heard about certain industries, we feel the future of entertainment and gaming continues to be bright. We encourage you to stay focused on your studies and concentrate on becoming the best animator you can be. There will continue to be a demand for great animators as these two recession-proof industries continue to grow.
Best regards and good luck with your studies!
If you have any further questions or concerns we encourage you to contact your student care representative.
[Anthea, me and Jason Martinsen at Kom-Ombo Temple, Egypt]This morning I went to Kom-Ombo Temple And ran into Anthea (Animation Mentor's first class student and now pro animator) and Jason Martinsen (the traveling mentor)!!! It was so crazy awesome running into someone you know in the most unexpected place! I think I just about gave Anthea a heart attack. Ha ha. Having a blast here as we wrap up our Nile cruise and head down to Abu Simbel on Monday! Over and out for now :)
So, besides a mix up that sent out emails to people early for having late grades before the term started (whoops) we launched version 3.1.0 today without a hitch! This is HUGE because it's been about a year in the making. Most people will not notice much of a difference right off the bat. However, on the back end the site is completely new and the server environment is 100% brand new and co-located at a new, super reliable location.
Huge props to the Animation Mentor Software Development and Network Operations teams!!!
What 3.1.0 gives us is the ability to have both Alumni and Student sites in one place. I'm an admin/beta user so when I log in the site chances color to reflect alumni or student. It also allows me to co-mingle with alumni and students together in one place. My buddy list has students AND alumni in it! So cool. We're testing this out and are not releasing it this year, however the "pipe" is laid and we're SUPER excited to be moving in the right direction. After some testing we will slowly open it up to both students and alumni together. Once we do this the community will feel so much more robust and solid. Becoming an alumni will be that much cooler and we have a lot of awesome stuff that we can now begin working on which will make the alumnni site super duper crazy awesome! I wanted to share because I'm a bit excited about this project. :) I know it's a little early to be celebrating as we can only see and feel the results internally, but I see the future of AM and it looks awesome!
Also, a little birdy told me that there is a brand new Animation Mentor public site launching some time tomorrow! So stay tuned for that at www.AnimationMentor.com . WOOT!!!!
Remi Tjon Ajong from Amsterdam and Animation Mentor graduate just released this great short! I got a PM from him on the Alumni site and I did a little interview with him, posted below! I hope you all enjoy as I think this is great, look, feel and the animation is excellent. Way to go Remi!
INTERVIEW BELOW:
1. Q: This is great stuff! What is it for and how many people worked on it (what did you do on it)?
RTA: Thank you very much!!! Well I recently graduated from Animation Mentor, but looking at my short, there's so much I want to "fix" on it that I felt I needed to do something else to re energize! My pal Niels had this design and idea floating on his computer somewhere and thought it would be great if I animated it! And so did I :) So basically it's just the two of us. Niels did all the design and technical stuff, and I did the animation and sound design.
2. Q: What was the inspiration for this piece?
RTA: For me the inspiration came from the design and basic concept of the original idea! When I saw the character design for the first time I knew Immediately how i wanted to make him act I was lucky that Niels allowed me to make the animation my own! This way I could come up with the timing and acting.
3. Q: Are we going to see more of this character or not now that it's splattered on the screen? :)
RTA: Haha, that's a question we've asked ourselves as well ... We thought about keeping him alive... but i think we can reincarnate him if we want to haha!
4. Q: What's next for you?
RTA: Well, this month I am pretty busy with a children's series for the dutch Jetix. They have asked me to direct it, it's a combination of live action and flash animation! (eleven songs in one month! I'll never show it hahaha!!) After that hopefully finish my AM short, and come up with a new one. WORLD DOMINATION! or just happy animating.. I can never decide...
-End
Great work my man. Keep it up and keep us inspired. This is really fantastic and fresh to see!!!
I just saw Brad's finished short film and I have to say it's polished to the MAX! It turned out great and I can see there's been a lot of love put into this one. Congrats Brad! Great work!!!
Animation Mentor Rigs: Don't ruin your chances of getting a job
This is a tough one for me to write about. I'm not sure the best way to say this so I'll need to come out and say it. Animation Mentor rigs are meant for AM students and graduates. When people outside of AM use these rigs or distribute them to non AM students it creates a lot of problems; let me explain:
The biggest problem is that Animation Mentor is recognized in the industry now quite visibly. So, if a studio (especially the major studios) see someone's work with AM characters they will inevitably ask that person, "Did you go to Animation Mentor?" or, "Who were your mentors at Animation Mentor?" If they find out that the person did not go there this could blow up in the persons face. This is worth noting as it has happened. Ouch! Talk about uncomfortable.
Because we have so many animators, mentors and studio recruiters that know us they will really take offense at this. Why? Well, who's to say that this person won't steal their rigs and put them on the net, or take footage that is not yet released and put it on their reel? These things are BIG flags for studios.
I wanted to mention this on my blog so that people are aware of this and can pass the word on. If you are not an AM student or graduate and you are using our rigs I would point out that you're doing yourself a huge disservice. Why take the risk?
At the Animation Mentor graduation this year the grads made this fantastic "Thank You" video that really touched everyone.
It's things like these that make AM so completely special to us. This comes 100% from the heart and it shows and that's why it hits us so hard. Thanks to GC7 and GC8 for your awesome energy, talent and enthusiasm!
Thanks for Carlos Baena for hosting this video from his site:
Okay, so I talked to a few other AMers who were staying at the same hotel and we all had the same "56k" slow internet experience. Eeek! Sorry the updates were not as often and vivid with photos as I would have liked. I thought I lost my camera at the Birds of a Feather event, but Michael Dauz grabbed it. Sweet. I'll pick it up on Monday so, for now, no pics.
I just got back home and I'm filled with inspiration and good vibes! I had such a great time with everyone. It was so fun getting to get to know so many of you. There are so many highlights to the whole event.
Animation wise, the Frank and Ollie tribute we hosted was a MASSIVE highlight for me. There were 600+ people who attened (or so they told me) and I think everyone left that event with crazy inspiration!
DISCLAIMER: If you did not attend Siggraphh the below comments may not make sense to you.
MEMORABLE "NON-ANIMATION" MOMENTS: 1. The big group walking "in a straight line" at the Animation Mentor Industry Party. 2. Dancing like maniacs at the Blur party. AMer's know how to dance and have fun! NO DOUBT! 3. Mel's diner at 4am: singing Beatles songs, pancakes, meat earings (ha, ha!, sorry Alexiss) 4. Hanging out at the Sheraton lobby in the wee hours on the couches talking about life with AMers! 5. Eduardo, I will NEVER forget your name! 6. "Teresa, my one and only blogger friend!"
Hopefully this will get the words flowing in the comments section. I'm inspired by all of you and the friendships you share with us and with each other! This week has been a MASSIVE battery recharge!
4th Graduation at Animation Mentor a HUGE Success!
This year we held the graduation outside at a new location in Berkeley. It was fantastic! The weather was great and the energy was SUPER high. The graduates were bubbling with enthusiasm and it kept the mood on the highest note!
There are so many details that go into an event like this and I have to thank Molly our super NINJA event coordinator for making this one of the most memorable graduations we've done at Animation Mentor yet! And leading the fantastic team of Animation Mentor staff! This was one of the coolest yet!
Chris Derochie and Luci Napier hang out backstage with one of the Mentor Choice awards! This year we had a host of mentors present awards and it was so great! It was super touching for them to see their students glowing eyes and enthusiasm. They all explained it was a tremendous experience for them too as it really made the impact of what they are doing as mentors so much more powerful to them! COOL!
Glen McIntosh was our special guest speaker and he did an excellent job inparting his words of wisdom to the 7th and 8th graduating classes of Animation Mentor! Thanks Glen!
We took all the mentors to lunch before the graduation which was great to chill out a bit and exchange stories about their experiences at Animation Mentor as well as some cool inside scoop on what's going on in the CG world!
Here's a snap of Shawn, Carlos and I at the graduation event! WOO HOO, it was so great, we all spoke from the heart and it made the experience one of the most memorable graduations for me yet.
At the end it was so much fun as the graduates put together a video of them all saying, "Thank you" to us in their own words and different languages. It was so touching. Shawn, Carlos and I thought we'd get through a graduation without shedding tears, but when this went on it really hit us again at how many lives this place changes and even though the 3 of us came up with the idea and got it rolling, we owe the success all the many people who make it so great; The Staff, them Mentors and the Students. Honestly, I'm in awe of what we are doing here and I'm proud to be a part of it!
It was awesome hanging out with the graduates and getting to meet everyone and hear their fanstic stories of the journey they've been on to get to this point. Meeting the spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends and families is so outstanding. I feel a close connection to each one of our graduates in so many ways. I told many of them that these events are equally as much for us as they are for them. It keeps up in check on what we're doing and where we're going!
After the graduation we had dinner with Robin Linn from Sony Imageworks. It was great! We were able to finalize some of the details of a fantastic addition to Animation Mentor with Sony IPAX which we will be announcing at Siggraph. I met Robin Linn in Siggraph about four years ago which was my introduction to the cool things they have been doing at Sony and in particular with IPAX. Robin has been a big instigator in fostering the relationship between Animation Mentor and Sony and we're excited to be growing that relationship to the next level! WOO HOO!!!!
See you guys at Siggraph soon! I'm off to the airport now. Expect daily updates with images. This time I'm bringing my battery recharger so I don't have an excuse. :)
Carlos Baena will be hosting our next Webinar. The focus will be on Demo Reel Tips. Our hope with these webinars is to give outside folks the opportunity to see what Animation Mentor is all about. We will be recording it for all you HUNGRY Animation Mentor students and Alumni and will be showing it shortly after the event. In the mean time, please invite your friends and fellow animators to this event. It should be packed full of goodies. I talked to Carlos and he's been doing A LOT of research for this and I know he wants to make it great so expect a good one! WOOT!
Animation Mentor: An Alumni's Journey into the Industry
I love getting emails like this one. I wanted to share this with you guys because I thought it was a great story about Arne’s journey into the industry and what happened. It’s an exciting tale and one I think a lot of people could learn from. We’re so proud of Arne and when we go see Hellboy in the theatres we’ll all be cheering when your name comes up! WOO HOO!!!
Hi guys!
[Arne here], yup, it is the Norwegian dude again.
As this was my first real studio job I really didn't quite know what to expect, if I would be able to keep up (as I started at the time of crunch) or if I would be way over my head. Actually I would say it worked out perfectly, and that Animation Mentor was the perfect preparation for the real world of production. Here's how it worked out:
During the show I got some very demanding shots, which surprised me as I really was the "newbie" after all (and the only AM alumni). My very first shot was a 500 frames long shot featuring about 35 pixie characters I all had to animate individually... Talk about shock! I had only animated 2 characters in a shot at the most earlier. Lol! I had no animatics or storyboards to work from, and was given carte blanche to do whatever I wanted with the scene, based on a short brief by Guillermo del Toro. All my previous AM classes on staging a shot really helped me getting through that one. And 6 weeks later the shot was done and approved by Guillermo. That was an exciting moment! My first shot done! Who-hoo!
Later on the show I was given what I would consider to be more senior animator shots. Full-on action hero shots with huge robots fighting and stabbing head-on with Hellboy. Everything you learned me about weight came to good use in those. And this wasn't just background characters, but full-screen primary characters in the climax of the movie! I just felt so incredibly lucky.
A funny story is that the first robot action shot I worked on got approved the first time Guillermo saw it. First pass. Done! I was told this was one of only two shots in the entire movie Guillermo had approved on first pass, as he normally sees at least 5-10 versions of a shot until he's happy. So I was teased by the other animators and was nick-named "First Pass Arne" after that... Lol! Beginners luck I call it.
We were about 25 animators finishing about 800 shots of animation in the movie (I did about 5 myself and worked on 5 with others).The film looks awesome and I think you'll love it when it opens in the US in July!
As I had no character animation experience before Animation Mentor, I'd say this is also a great testament to [the program] - It works! And it works incredibly well! I possibly couldn't have been better prepared in any other way. When I got there, I pretty easily got into the workflow and pipeline, getting crit's from the supervisors felt familiar and was like being given feedback from the mentors at Animation Mentor. And the terminology used by sup's and others was familiar as I had heard it all so often during my time at Animation Mentor.
Both my supervisors and colleagues thought I had worked in features before, and that was the best feedback and testament I possibly could have gotten.
You guys really did a great job putting Animation Mentor together the way you did! And I owe you more beer than I can afford... lol!
Thank you!
All the best, Arne :-)
PS! Enclosed is a pic of "da man" Guillermo del Toro and me, taken the day before I left London. [See Image in blog post, above]
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:
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.
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!
Wow, we're so proud to know that we had 22 graduates and former students from Animation Mentor work on Fox/Blue Sky's latest feature animated film, "Horton Hears a Who." 22? Yes, 22 from Animation Mentor!!!!
For more information and full list of names click on over to Carlos Baena's Blog! It's in his news section dated March 21st. Enjoy and CONGRATS!
Ales Mav, Animation Mentor graduate just sent me a fantastic Private Message. It's always great to hear about the positive impact AM has on students lives. It is so uplifting it really keeps us all going! I wanted to be sure to post the link to his short so you can see all the hard work he put in. It's the "full package." He even created his own characters for the film. I would imagine we will have a write up about it in one of the upcoming www.AnimationMentor.com newsletters. Until then, straight from Slovenia:
