Jure Prek:
This was not my original idea. I was 100 percent sure that I was going to do another story at the beginning. But you know things change. Usually I would think about ideas on my long drive towards my work place every day and Crash was the perfect idea for the situation I was in every morning: sleepy... There are a lot of annoying drivers out there who think that the streets are theirs and they act really selfish driving by other cars really fast. But on the other hand, there are a lot of jokes about policemen too, so I decided to do a turn around. I decided that the policeman would be the moral winner in this story and the funny part would be on the civilian.

Jure Prek:
First off I learned that a person needs patience and a lot of will to finish his short film in a way in which will satisfy his desire for quality. I learned that it creates a lot of joy and also suffering. Because I love animation, the first parts of creating the short were amazing to me. Getting the idea, making the storyboard, doing the layout, the blocking and then the ANIMATION (my precious polished animation). The second part was not so fun to me — rendering and lighting. Phufff. I wished I could go to sleep one night and that it would be magically done for me. But it wasn't. So on the side I learned a bit of rendering and lighting and all the pipeline problems that come along with it. It was a great experience and I learned so much more than just animation. Going towards the end I was frustrated by everything but when the film was done I felt that big relief and happiness again.

I definitely want to do it again !!!

Jure Prek:
Since I had a full time job and I needed a bit of rest after I graduated Animation Mentor, it took me almost a year and a half to finish it. But I have to tell you that when I graduated from Animation Mentor I had three quarters of the movie done. The last quarter took me almost a year.

Jure Prek:
Planning is the mother of all animation. Without it I would be lost. And I strongly suggest to every student that he plan and plan as much as he can. I and my great mentor Pepe Valencia found and removed a lot of big problems while planning the short and that was a big time savior.

Jure Prek:

Camera Plan

Jure Prek:
The biggest obstacle was time, since I was working full time and doing the film on the side. Another obstacle was rendering, I was a total noob there but through long hours of getting the right settings and fighting with Maya (read: usually my fault ) bugs I made it. But this part was very frustrating for me. One other obstacle was that at the end I didn't like the acting choices at all (maybe because I was doing it too long), but I said to myself that I have to finish it no matter what. Because in the end the finished piece of work is much better than having it half done.

Jure Prek:
I have just one thought about that: If there were no Animation Mentor there would be no short and I wouldn't be working in the industry today, or at least not for a long time.

Thanks again!