None of these videos are new, there's a good chance you've seen them all before. This combination of videos is what I think most animators need to see and to keep in mind as they more forward in their lives and careers. They're worth watching again.
The first is Saul Bass, if you don't know who Saul Bass is he is, just take a look at the graphic designs he did for movie posters and you should have a good idea who he is: http://www.cinemacom.com/saul-bass.html His work is amazing, the clarity and creativity of his design is unsurpassed. He is able to distill a complex idea into one graphic shape that anyone can understand in a second. This kind of clarity is what many of us struggle to get in our staging and animation. I feel like it is something that every animator should strive for. Here he is on the most important thing you need to learn:
Doug Tennaple is a great illustrator and comic book author. He mentions this same thing in every lecture he gives, and it's important every time he gives it: Artists are inherently lazy.
Besides learning to draw, working hard, Ralph Bakshi I think has the right entrepreneurial spirit that we all need to embrace.
Ira Glass is not an illustrator or an animator but he nails the idea of finding a voice, this is part three in his series, all four are very much worth watching. Here Ira does a great job nailing down what it takes to find your own voice:
Learn to draw, don't be lazy, make a film and find your own voice. This is the theme that I hinted on in my last post. The theme that I'd like to explore more of in continuing post. What these four things have in common is the push to encourage us to be artists and not just cogs. It's this idea that I don't feel like this idea is being stressed enough in schools today. The idea that you have to make films and lots of them. Not just shots for your demo reel, but true ideas, ideas you can build on, learn from and be proud of.
