Quote of the Month:
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
Aristotle
What makes a good animator? Is it getting great poses? Understanding timing? Paying attention to arcs?
How about being a good actor? Actually, it's all of this and more. But one of the key ingredients not discussed often enough is having a positive attitude and being able to work with others.
I pull my little Honda Accord into a vacant parking spot just outside of ILM's G building. ILM is composed of a large number of buildings and G is the designated name for the one that a large group of the animators including myself occupy. It won't be long until we all move to the Presidio, but for now this facility is still home. As I step out of the car and make my way to the building I pull out my keycard. I rest it into the keycard bed that lies next to the building door. Within seconds the keycard is read and the security lock on the door releases to allow me access to a world beyond imagination... literally.
Realizing it wasn't magic. There was a point around five years old when I learned that there was a process behind it all blending science and creativity.
The European student gathering was an awesome event for the people whoattended it, Now I can't speak for everyone or describe everyones reaction so instead I will try to give you my experiance, and how the day looked, from my perspective. A person that had never met another animator face to face, never seen a studio, and got to interact with people who shared his passion. To me, it was a blast !
I feel that my path into animation was different from most animators, as I didn't have the traditional education that most animators have. My first contact with animation was directly on the computer, and I had to learn my way "backwards" in order to get back to the basic foundations of Animation.
We've been talking so far about the importance of planning. Last month we covered the importance of observation, but this week we're going to get a little more practical and tackle the concept of reference materials.
Did you know that in his lifetime Chuck Jones has worked at all four golden major animation studios? He worked at Walter Lantz Studios, Warner Bros. Studio, MGM and Disney.
