Over the past couple of months Animation Mentor has been out in the world discussing animation and making its mark!  Co-founder Shawn Kelly and mentor Charles Alleneck gave a presentation at the ADAPT Conference in Montreal, mentor Mike Belzer gave a talk at the Creanimax Conference 2007 located in Guadelajara, Mexico, and European students had a gathering in London that was quite a success.  See below for descriptions of the events, and re-caps from those who participated in their own words:

ADAPT Montreal

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At the //ADAPT Conference this past September, close to 3600 visitors including attendees from around the world, renowned local and international studios and master artists joined in a week long event that allowed creative minds to unite. More than fifty-two speakers hosted an array of classes on subjects such as concept art, digital and matte painting, modeling, rigging to 3D animation techniques and much more.

 “ADAPT’s mission is to teach the most advanced digital art production techniques that touch every facet of digital art creation in film to video game development.  Not only is it designed to teach, it also aims to inspire digital artists and help excel their career, and it all takes place right here in Montreal,” said Emile Ghorayeb, CEO and co-founder of the //ADAPT Conference.

In addition to training, attendees had many opportunities to network and interview with major studios at the //ADAPT Job Fair in Collaboration with CreativeHeads.net. Participating companies included; Walt Disney Animation, Lucas Arts, Bungie, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Beenox and A2M.  Social activities surrounding the event included the //ADAPT Art Expo presented by COREL and the //ADAPT Theater presented by Digital 04 Animation which showcased some of the worlds most spectacular works created by major studios, independent artists and students alike.  Open to the public, these activities offered additional inspiration for visitors and attendees.

To know more about the //ADAPT Conference and the activities visit www.adaptmontreal.com.

And from Shawn Kelly:

Bonjour Montreal!

Charles Alleneck and I had the honor of being invited to speak about animation at ADAPT Montreal - Canada's premiere computer graphics conference.  Given carte blanche to come up with something worth talking about, we finally settled on giving a talk about how we still apply all the same traditional animation concepts and principles in our "realistic" work at ILM.  More specifically we showed how those classic animation ideas were all used in our work in Transformers.  We had an amazing time, met a TON of great people, and the conference was terrific!  I can't wait to get back up there again next year.  One of the highlights for us was getting to hook up with a gang of Animation Mentor students who found a fantastic burger joint to take us to!  Too much fun.  Thanks to everyone for the warm reception, for showing up to our talk, and for making the trip such a blast!

-Shawn Kelly

Creanimax Conference 2007

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Dates: October 5 – October 7, 2007
Where: Guadalajara, Mexico
Location of Convention: Expo Guadalajara
Website: http://www.creanimax.com/ing/

What is it?
The purpose of Creanimax is to promote the creation of content regarding 2D and 3D animation, special effects, and videogames.  It also serves as a space of expression and interaction with developers in Mexico and Latin America.

Mike Belzer’s Presentation:
Sunday, October 7, 2007 @ 10 AM – 11:30 AM
Mike Belzer, Supervising Animator at Disney Feature Animation, was one of two speakers from the US who attended the Creanimax conference in Mexico on behalf of Animation Mentor and gave a talk titled: “Pencils, Puppets and Pixels… It’s All Animation.”

In his own words:

Hello all,
 
Creanimax was a very positive experience!  I’ve attended many festivals both as an observer as well as a presenter and I have to tell you I was very impressed with how they managed the event.  What I found most impressive is that this is only their second year running it.  I believe Creanimax will continue to grow over the years.
 
There was a mixture of people who attended the event from some professionals from abroad (mostly of whom were speakers) as well as professionals from all over South America to many students from all over Mexico.
 
What was nice to hear was how many people knew of Animation Mentor.  There is such a positive buzz with the school that I don’t think you can fully comprehend it until you talk to people who speak of it in such high regard.

The mixture of media in the films I saw also impressed me.  There were some good computer pieces as well as 2-D and quite a few stop motion pieces.
 
My talk seemed to go over very well.  I was hammering the point of animation is an art form no matter what the process of computer drawn or puppet.  People responded very well to it and were curious about Animation Mentor.

I met up with about 7 Animation Mentor students down there and they were so fun to hang out with! It was an honor to represent the school and I had a blast as well.
 
Adios mi Amigos—

Mike

2007 European Animation Mentor Student Gathering

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London, UK September 27-30, 2007 – Students and alumni from all parts of Europe traveled to London for the 2007 European Animation Mentor Student Gathering.  It was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to finally meet each other face-to-face and get down to the serious business of talking about animation!

The group went on tours of some of the major London Studios: Framestore CFC, Passion Pictures, Double Negative, Studio AKA, and MPC.  This included viewings of company showreels, sneak peaks at a few scenes from films in production, demos of new animation tools, and even an animation lecture from Eamonn Butler, the animation supervisor on Chicken Little!  Afterward, the students had the opportunity to ask questions and personally pass their showreels to representatives from the studios.

There were a wide variety of other activities to keep everyone occupied.  A highlight was a visit to a local animation gallery that stocks many animation-related items, including Disney drawings from the 1930’s and Looney Tunes cels.  The group also enjoyed visits to local art galleries, sketch sessions, a walk around London’s major landmarks, shopping for books and art supplies, sampling the local food and drink, and exploring the London nightlife.

All in all, it was an excellent event with lots of exciting things to see and do.  However, the true value of the event was in establishing new friendships and strengthening old ones.  As one student remarked, “It is so great to meet like this.  Everyone is so different, and yet we have so much in common!”  Indeed, he was correct.  Although a wide range of personalities and backgrounds were represented (not to mention many languages), it was as if everyone had been best friends for a lifetime.  Another student noted that “it shows the quality of the Animation Mentor community, that so many people will make an effort to see each other!”

The students also gained a great deal of animation knowledge from the social aspect of the event.  They gathered in huddles to view individual showreels and provided on-the-spot critiques to each other.  Alumni provided tips for applying for jobs and a candid explanation of life inside the animation workplace.  Internet reference information was passed around, contact details were exchanged, and books and DVDs were recommended.

There was a hint of sadness on the final day as one by one each person reluctantly left the group to return home, but one statement kept being repeated: “I can’t wait until the next student gathering!”

Here are some additional quotes from those who participated:

“It was so much fun to see all the avatars come to life and have a beer with them.”
Tobias von Burkersroda

“London’s weather alone is always worth a Europe Gathering.”
Arno Franzl

“The gathering this year was AWESOME! I had a lot of fun and it was great to meet everybody.  I just want to say THANK YOU to all of you. I look forward for the next gathering. Muhahahahaha!”
David Martinez

“I couldn't have asked for a better time!  Look forward to next year…”
Chris Page

“A pint at the champion was surprisingly cheap.”
Kris Hadley

“Just amazing, I never want to miss a gathering again!”
Nenad Mitrovic

“Had a really good time! Seeing everyone in person makes a big difference, a pint over the webcam just isn't the same!  I saw the tours on Thursday and really loved them!”
Michael Auerswald

“Thank you all for a great time!”
Luis

“It was just GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!  It was so funny meeting old and new faces! Great schedule, great studio tours.”
Juan Vilato

If you have any events that you’ve been a part of – conferences, festivals, or gatherings, etc, please feel free to notify us so we can include you in future newsletters!  Send your photos and write-ups to newsletter (at) animationmentor.com.