Mighty Mouse Story Meeting

A really cool behind the scenes look into the animators working on a story session for Mighty Mouse in January 1988!



Found at Flooby Nooby

2010 In Film

I was wondering what were my favourite and least favourite films of 2010. There were so many films last year, it's hard to choose. I've managed to find and list 10 in no particular order. And don't worry, they're not all animations, in fact most of them are live action films. I was a little bit disappointed by Dispicable Me and How To Train Your Dragon and as I haven't seen Megamind yet I haven't included it.

Best in 2010:
Toy Story 3: What else is there to say about the movie. Not much. For me, it sealed my dream to be a character animator.

Inception: The story was brilliant and had me thinking all the way through. The second time I saw it I didn't have to think about the story so much, and just enjoyed the great effects.

Shutter Island: Another great story which had me thinking throughout. 2010 was a good year for Leonardo Di Caprio films!

Four Lions: Immensely funny, but nothing less was expected from Chris Morris. I'll be getting the DVD soon and watching the special features.

Exit Through The Gift Shop: I just enjoyed watching this story unfold. The centre character (not Banksy) was very interesting to watch and it was interesting to learn a bit more about Banksy and go behind the scenes so to speak.

Worst in 2010
The Expendables: I knew it was going to be so awful, that's why I watched it, but it surpassed all my expectations. The cameo of Arny Swarch was utterly laughable with a hint of cringe.

Clash Of The Titans: A really poor film and the only reason I watched it was because Smoke and Mirrors (or maybe The Mill) made the title sequence! Not a good reason, but the only I can think of. The original is so far better as far as I remember it.

Kick-Ass: I just didn't get what was good about it. Effects were nice actually, but story wise it didn't appeal to me.

Prince of Persia: Sands Of Time: This had so much potential; good actors and a long successful history in the games market, but it failed for my tastes.

Here's to another year of awesome films to be made, watched and enjoyed!

Soundtrack: Frank Zappa - Packard Goose

Merry Christmas From...

I've only just seen these brilliant Christmas videos from various artists and studios. All of them brilliant and well worth watching, even after the season.

Daniels


Kilogramme


Realtime UK


John K

A New Business Model for the VFX Industry

I occasionally follow some of the online VFX and Animation industry blogs such as TAG, VFX Soldier and VFX Law (if you know of any others please leave them in a comment for me). There seems to be a strong growth of these blogs about the interweb and they are very interesting to read. Quite recently, VFX Law has posted on the subject of suggesting a new business model for the VFX industry, because the current model is seeing good companies bleeding to death. What VFX Law suggests also applies to individual artists and other businesses outside of the VFX industry. So if you are interested in a new business model for this new year, have a good gander...

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone enjoyed leaving 2010 and entering 2011. The feeling I have for the new year is one of clarity and optimism. Whether or not I find the way into a career in animation, I know that I will be happy and that's more important. I still have goals though, as with every beginning, here is what they are:

1) Finish a new showreel. I want to have a new Winter 2010 Showreel ready by the end of January. This will follow the great advice I was recently given at BYOA in London.

2) Move to London.

3) Learn to play the Chinese Guzheng [pro: Goo-jung]. It was a fantastic surprise Christmas gift and I want to learn one of the traditional songs.

4) Draw one thing at least once a week. After a while I'd like to do one drawing a day.

If you've set yourself goals for the year, I hope you can achieve them to move on and create more goals.

Peace on.

Soundtrack: Gentle Giant - Free Hand (live)