Demo reel tips from Sony!

Hey check it out, Sony featured my work (as well as some incredibly other talented individuals) in this video on demo reels!


 

Something I've Been Thinking About Lately

Here's a post on Matt Williames' blog about acting and performance. He talks about the need to create perfect arcs and technically appealing spacing over focusing on the performance.

This is something I've been thinking about with my own work quite a bit, so I thought I'd share.

"This is something I feel that within the last year I've really had to come to grips with myself as an animator. If you're like me and known you wanted to be an animator since you were 9 you've been hearing for most of your life "animators are actors". You would have heard that if you could focus on one thing it should be performance. You've been hearing that animators are actors with pencils and all the other cliche things to be said. WHY then do so few of us really understand or impliment this? No doubt I include myself in this list.
We all have to come to a point in our artistic lives where we sit down with ourselves and have a very brutally honest heart to heart. We have to ask ourselves "Am I REALLY an actor/artist, or am I just a good technician?"
It's painful... growth, however necessary can be extremely painful at times. Growth shows us where we were/are weak, and sometimes it's embarrasing that we didn't see how weak we really were/are at the time. I bring this up because i feel like being vulnerable is a key elemant to personal growth but also the growth of others around you. We have to be honest with ourselves: are we really good actors, or can we just convincingly move stuff around. Understanding good weight, spacing, drawing things well or even convincingly ISN'T ENOUGH. It's something i feel like exists a lot today unfortunately (animation that is merely technically pleasing)... I wish i could say i have not contributed to it. There are so many animators out there (and I am talking specifically hand drawn although this does not solely apply to the hand drawn animation) that are very technically sound animators who blow you away with there tech. prowess. They understand drawing, and spacing, control their volumes well, blah blah blah. But they don't tell you jack squat about the characters they are performing. They don't THINK about their characters, instead they overindulge in squash and stretch, through in fancy smear drawings, flaunt their beautiful arcs... all at the price of a better pose that could have told you something important.
I think this can be partially attributed to the fact that we as a generation stand on a lot of brilliant work from the past guys to look at and be inspired by. And if you're like me you could sit around all day staring at Milt or Frank drawings/animation. It's our blessing and our curse-- we subconciously revert to what we know will work, we play it safe. That's how acting patterns begin, and cold sterile art is born. Ironically the old guys had NOTHING to look at (animation wise) and found their inspiration from life or other areas of art.
This is a tough thing to do (not copy the past)-- I am not just talking to students, I am talking to every animator: Pro, amateur, retired vet, whoever... no once escapes this question. But here's the GOOD news, no one has to create only technically pleasing art. You absolutely can create a moving performance. YOU have something special to say in a way that only YOU can say it. That is what will set you apart... the challenge is can you call a spade a spade and realize that maybe you've just been a good technician all these years/months/whatever! I know I had too and still daily ask myself why i am doing what i am doing.

The real turning point or inspiration for me was actually being rejected. I applied and was rejected from Pixar. No pity party here man, it's what woke me up! It hurt my pride a little, but that isn't necessarily bad. More importantly it showed me that I wasn't focusing on what really makes animation work, I was a technician who was fascinated with charts, solid drawing, interesting design, fun timing... so what man. So what... if none of that has something personal behind it, it's just mechanical. It set me straight--
I share all these thoughts not to discourage and get down on anyone, but to encourage everyone that they can be amazing! The trick is are you willing to look at yourself in the harsh light of day and really ask yourself this horribly honest question? I know if i want to do something special with my art, I have to every single day. NOW GO KICK SOME BUTT!"

Here's the original post.

Advice from Bobby Pontillas

Here's an email response from the very talented Bobby Pontillas.

Hey Omar!  


Thanks so much for the message dude! Sorry for the late response, we're pretty crazed around here and I wanted to set aside some good time, so pardon my stream of consciousness answers =).


Yeah so, As much highly as I think of online courses like Animation Mentor, IAnimate, etc, and lord knows its done so much for me,  I would always recommend having the experiences of an actual brick-and-mortar school, and obviously Sheridan is in the top-tier of animation schools, But man, there's just something about the energy, and the esprit-de-corps you get with the other students, on campus, pullin all nighters in the lab, stressin to make deadlines, that sort of thing yknow?!  You learn so much from each other, and it really brings everyone together.  I only had about 2 years of that at the Art Institute of Seattle, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  So , the Sheridan route, can bring nothing but good things for you, especially since you already seem to have a firm grasp of the fundamentals of animation.  Sheridan can push you to be an artist!


It was tough transitioning from games to film actually, really tough.  You spend all day animating for your day job, but at the end of the day, none of that work is really applicable for a reel you might submit for a film job.  So you're animating around the clock, doing new work after hours, taking courses like AM or I-Animate.  It didn't happen right away for me either,  it took years and years and a lot of rejection letters!  So at times it's discouraging.  But you know what they say, if you really want it , you'll keep trying and eventually you'll get it.  


For me specifically, what happened was, a fellow student from AM, Rich Fournier, landed a temp gig at Blue Sky on Ice Age 3.  He got that temp gig because he made a good impression on one of his mentors from AM.  He busted his ass and performed well on that movie , so they eventually called him back for a full-time gig !  We had always kept in touch, he asked me how I was doing one day, and I remember that time in 2009, I had just been turned down for the Disney Animation internship, so I was feeling pretty down.  He mentioned that Blue Sky was hiring full-timers, I thought I had no chance but he encouraged me to send him my reel anyway, and he would put in a good word because he knew my work and work ethic from AM.  At the same time,  I met Jamaal Bradley back in Seattle,  Jamaal had worked at Sony for a few years and was then doing a stint in games at Valve, but was going back to Disney for Tangled.  I had never worked with him before, but he came across my blog , saw some passion and potential, and knew I was trying to break into feature films.  He took it upon himself to contact me, impart advice, take me to lunch, all to just help me get my foot in the door.  It was amazing!  So when I told him I was applying to Blue Sky, he was like, "Oh?  Well I know supes over there, let me shot them your demo reel, they'll have some influence."  And he did that, so I was attacking Blue Sky from several angles really.  So that's really how I got their attention.  It was all people that did me favors, and went out of their way for me.


When they actually watched my reel, they said, "Well, you need to work on your polish.... but we like your ideas."  I had a bit of my short film, and assignments from AM.  But I think the ideas in my short film got me hired.  So one thing I like to tell students now is to push for the best ideas, and specific characters.  You'll spend your whole life refining your craft, but the things that will help you stand out are your ideas.


Breaking in is the hardest thing to do, but once you get in, don't half-step.  You'll start to meet tons and tons of amazing animators, and your reputation and work are your biggest assets.  You have to hit the ground running.  Come in, do your best on your first shots,  you'll get cast better shots, the better shots you get cast, the more opportunities you have to shine.  


One thing I would always always recommend too is to get to know as many people as you can.  Not to say you have to be schmoozy and talkin up everyone.  But most of the opportunities that came my way, came because someone put in a good word for me,  and that only happened because I made great relationships with people.  Back at Blue Sky, and even here at Disney, my favorite animators are always hard-working, extremely humble, talented, and won't ever hesitate to help other people.  And there aren't a lot like those people.  Start that work ethic even now, in school.  Be that guy.  And as karma works it's magic, you'll find others are more than willing to help you out with things.  There's no room for arrogance.  Because what starts to happen when you think you know everything, besides being known as an a-hole, is that you stop learning.  One of my supes here at Disney, Tony Smeed, asks anyone, even trainees, for feedback on his work.  He's very talented, but one of the reasons he's so good is because he's humble enough to learn from anywhere or anyone.  Those are the kinds of guys that succeed in this business, they are constantly students and people want to work with them/ hire them.


Anyway I think I've rambled on enough!  Again I appreciate the message, best of luck and remember to stay humble!


-Bobby P

Jason Schleifer Advice On Stepped to Spline

Here's an email I sent to Jason Schleifer, Dreamworks supervising animator and great guy.

That definitely is a reoccurring critique. I guess I need to think about my character more.
Also, I was wondering if you would be able to answer a question I have - although it might be a little to substantial for an email.
Why is switching to spline/linear so odd? I usually like my blocking, but when I make the transition it's almost like I'm working on something completely different! Maybe it's just me though.

Anyway, thanks again!

And his response.

Heya!

The main problem people seem to have when switching from stepped to spline is that they didn't define their breakdowns enough before the switch to really define what's going to happen. Usually people will put in their stepped poses at say 1, 10, 20, etc.. and those are their extremes. Then they'll put in breakdowns at 5, 15, etc as the inbetweens. When they watch it in stepped mode, it makes sense.. but that's because they're not seeing that interpolation between 1 and 5.. they're just seing 1---5. Know what I mean?

So what I like to do is put a stepped key on 1, then another on 4 which is just slighly different than 1.. about 5% towards my breakdown. Then I'll put my breakdown on 6, then another pose at 8 that's about 5% of the way to 10.

does that make sense? The more breakdowns you do that really definte the action, the overlapping action, the contrasting motion, etc.. the closer your blocking will look to your splined animation.

hope that helps!

Followed by another question of mine.

OK, I kinda think I get what your saying,
my only thing with that is this:
if you keep favoring the previous key/bd like that, wouldn't that cause a start stop thing?
I just don't see how that would work if you keep favoring the previous..

And his response.

You just favor what you need to get cleanly between the poses.. the whole thing is to keep it clean and simple. Add breakdowns where you need them, make sure you have keys that help define how you get into and out of your poses, and don't let the computer do it for you. Does that make sense?

Keith Lango Advice

A while back I sent out an email to Keith Lango, now an animator at Valve.
He was kind enough to get back to me with this advice.

For a younger student I would always suggest they work on their mechanics- getting the motion to look right. You can work on acting along the way, but at this point I'd put it second. Animation, like any form of artistic expression, is a two sided coin. There's the art side- what do you want to say and how do you want to say it? Then there's the craft side- the technical skill needed to express the art in a manner that is clear and understandable. Acting is the art side, mechanics are the craft side. You can have the greatest idea in the world but if your mechanics and craft are not well developed you will have a difficult time finding success in expressing that great idea in a way that the audience can connect with. I hope that made sense. :>
Any collge or university you go to will usually have a much broader program of instruction than just character animation. Sheridan is a fine school and has some really good teachers and faculty. You will be exposed to more than just animation. You'll get color, design, composition, lighting, 2d animation, life drawing skills- all stuff that I think is important to learn. I never went to college for animation, so those are all things I have had to learn on my own over the years. If I had a chance to go back and do it all over again I'd try and get into an animation/art/film school first. There's so much to be learned there. AM is just animation, so if you're absolutely certain that's all you want to do then AM makes sense financially. But I actually think Andrew makes a lot of sense when he suggests a traditional art school and then AM. In the end I am always a believer that the broader your range of understanding and experience the better you'll be as an animator. Too tight a focus leads to a shallow view of film and art. There are so many things I've been able to experience in my career that were beyond just animating and each one was cool in it's own.

As for getting to the big studios, just keep practicing and making animation. Eventually if that's your goal you will get there.

I have a few emails like this which I'll definitely start to post.