The Revolution of Community Gaming Could anything top a career in which you are doing exactly what you dreamed when you were a child? A career, say, that puts you inside a feature animation studio after growing up with such beloved films as Aladdin, Lion King, Toy Story, and then Shrek.

Winning an Annie award might be better. Just ask Animation Mentor alumnus Philip To. In February, the 27-year-old animator received an Annie for the Best Character Animation in a Television Production for his work on DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space, which aired in October 2009.
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Woot! Animation Mentor Celebrates 7th Graduation
Hey Animators! For those of you interested in animation events, here's a list of the upcoming animation-related conferences and film festivals throughout the world for March to mid-April 2010.
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Check out this month's short film:
Bandito by Animation Mentor alumnus, Brad Kinley. Read further to discover Brad's process of his short film from conception to completion.

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Animation Mentor:
What inspired you to learn character animation?

Chad Stewart:
I can still remember sitting in my neighbor's house before school seeing my first Chuck Jones short. The only thing more thrilling than what I saw on the screen was what he told me after: "There are a lot more of these."

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Animator's Journey: A Pianist Pursues Her Dream of Animation
Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to be an animator. I didn't know that was the name of my dream job, but I knew that it was what I wanted to do.

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What's the Most Rewarding Thing About Being an Animator?
Timing is everything isn't it? When starting out, beginning animators have so many workflow obstacles to overcome that a shorthand for timing choices would be very helpful. When you finally get to dialogue, timing sense comes naturally. But for physical and pantomime actions, it can be very difficult in the beginning to develop a sense of timing that naturally fits with your performance choices. Luckily, I have a little trick. What I like to do is use the character's "inner monologue" as a stand-in dialogue track to give me hints at good timings for a shot.

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Did you know Nick Park's Wallace and Gromit series has been nominated for 5 Oscars and won 3 times? Although, the 1989 Wallace and Gromit short lost to the short Creature Comforts and it lost this year to Logorama.
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The Animation Mentor Newsletter is your inside guide to U.S. movie and game releases and the visual effect companies who make movie magic.

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