Escrow

I'm finally in Escrow. It's amazing how much the process of finding a new home can sucks the life out of you. Another thing I learned by moving back to Los Angles. There are three things you do not bring up in polite conversation while in Los Angeles:

1. Religion
2. Politics
3. Housing

The market here is so tight, even for renters, that everyone has an opinion and everyone is passionate about their opinion! But I think I can finally put that behind me and go back to focusing on animation and my family.

Sony:

Everyone has been asking me about Sony. I have to say I'm very impressed with the arrangement here. They're really dedicated to doing great animation, so far they seem to be doing everything right. The film I'm working on, Open Season, looks like it'll be a lot of fun. It looks like it'll be genuinely good and funny. I can't say much about it other then it looks great, and I'm very lucky to be a part of it. I can't wait to show it to you.

Development Work

widgetdevelop
Originally uploaded by ejhdigdug.

There are a lot of animation studios don't like show their development work. They'd like the general public (or is it the stock holders) to believe that their creations springs fully formed from their brow. It's alwayse refreshing when someone is open enough to show how a design can evolve. The Wubblog has a great post showing how a character design can evolve. I love simple characters like these. Every tilt of the line can add great life to a character. Check it out:

http://wubby.typepad.com/wubby/2005/03/evolution_of_a__1.html

AnimationMentor

AnimationMentor
Originally uploaded by ejhdigdug.

The classes at Animation Mentor start today. I can't wait to see how this thing turns out. I've read over the course notes and I have to say they've really put together a great school. It's really well thought out. I don't know if I could have done better myself!

Vampire Bat Running, Muybridge Style

Vamp Bat Running
Originally uploaded by ejhdigdug.

Vampire Bats are the only kind of bats that are know to run. A bunch of scientists at Cornell University were able to video tape a bat running on a treadmill and have published the pictures and the video on the web. It's worth taking a look at. The bats have a really interesting way of running. The longer arms/wings really give them a push up, it's more like a hop then your traditional gallop, all the limbs seem to come down at the same time.


http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050319/fob2.asp

Video found Here

Found via: Boing Boing

In The Rough, by Blur Studios

This is probably old news to a lot of you, but new to me. I finally saw the short film "In the Rough" by Blur Studios. I quite like it, it has really good posing and snappy timing. Great job guys! Check it out:

http://www.blur.com/shorts/in_the_rough/index.html

Also I understand that Blur studios has a feature film deal that's being funded by Vin Diesel himself. This isn't the first time that a big named actor pushed out an animated film with their name on it. Think: "Eight Crazy Nights" or "Rover Dangerfield". Anyone care to chime in and say if it's true? Is Blur doing a film with Vin Diesel?

Animation Blog Roundup

So I haven't been posting very much while I look for a new house to live in. But that doesn't mean I haven't been keeping up with my favorite blogs. I thought I'd post a list of new blogs that have popped up that I like.

I highly recommend using some sort of RSS agitator to keep up with the blogs you read. It saves you a lot of time. Every time someone updates their blog you get a notice. I use Bloglines, but there's a lot of different websites you can use. I like Bloglines because it has a lot of neat tools, and you can do searches on only the blogs you subscribe to. Very useful.

Anyhoo, here's the list:

http://animationrollercoaster.blogspot.com/

http://drawn.ca/ <--I can't believe how cool this one is!

http://wubby.typepad.com/wubby/

http://pyatyletka.blogspot.com/

http://trnorton.com/pdplog.html

http://www.hiddentower.com/Melanie/blog/

Woops, Just Added:

My friend Jason Schleifer reminded me that I forgot his:

http://jonhandhisdog.com/shh-life-er/

Woops again;

Crap! I didn't list: "The Ward-O-Matic" because I thought I had included it in the first Animation Blog Roundup. I've been following Ward Jenkins's blog for about as long as P.O.V. has been around, so it surprised me that when I didn't see it in my archives. This list wasn't supposed to replace the first, it was just to add to the ones that I had already listed. Sorry Ward, don't cry.

http://wardomatic.blogspot.com/

Spanish Madagascar Poster

Spanish Madagascar Poster
Originally uploaded by Jason Schleifer.

Look it's a new Madagascar poster. Cool, I can't wait for this film to come out. I had to leave before this film finished. I didn't want to but that's how it happens sometimes.

I know I haven't been updating this blog as much as I wan to. I figure it'd be better to be silent then to constantly blog about excuses why I haven't been blogging.

So my excuse as to why I haven't been blogging is that I'm in the middle of trying to buy a house. That's taking all of my free time. The California market is tough. I'll be back at it as soon as I can.

Sony so far has been great. Animation Mentor starts up on the 28th (That too has been taking all my time). Other then that I've just been animating away.

Keep on animating.

Oh and a lot of cool new blogs have popped up, check them out. I'll make a list of my favorites soon. There's a lot of production blogs, I wish I could do that, but I'd never work a gain if I did. That's one big difference between making your own film and working for a big company.