Wednesday!

Hey everybody!

Wednesday was a pretty cool day in my book.  We go to tour Nickelodeon studios, and it was everything that I was hoping for when I came out on this trip.  The first thing that made me want to sign up for this trip was the fact that these major studios would be giving us wide-eyed students a portfolio, demo reel, review yet before yesterday the only critiques we got were in the classroom.  So when I heard that we were finally getting one on one time with someone from a studio I was more than excited.

The day began like any other, we met at the classroom at 9am, then sometime time later the bus showed up late, you now usual stuff, and we were on our way!  When we got there we realized that we weren't going to the studio any more.  Instead went to a center for Oral and Maxillofacial surgery!!!

Jonathon was very excited about this.  Can you tell?

And then I got even MORE excited if thats possible because........... GREEN grass!  Not brown dirt or whitish snow!

So first a doctor's office, then grass growing.  What could be better?  Oh yeah, this!

It was awesome to be at the home at some of the first cartoons I have ever watched.  When we first entered the studio we saw early art from some awesome Nick shows, like Avatar: The Last Airbender and SpongeBob Squarepants,  While we waited a little while for the whole show to being you'll never guess what I found!

Thats right, the thinking chair from Blues Clues!  I sat down to think, think, think and before I knew it was time for the day to begin!  Right off the bat we got down to business and got our portfolio reviews!  It was awesome to sit down with a working professional and given advice as to how better prepare myself for the job market.  I realized a few ways to increase my chances at getting hired, and completely plan and taking these actions.  Since it was one on one reviews the rest of us needed something to do while we waited.  So what do you do when you wait at Nickelodeon?  Watch new episodes of SpongeBob is what!

The reviews concluded and we got to take a tour around the studio.  We got to see where all the cartoons were made, as well as some in production shows that haven't aired yet.  Just like before it was awesome to see where professional artists really got to get together in a great community based environment.  After the tour the whole group got to take a picture by Lego SpongeBob.

After this picture we got to see where the new Kung Fu Panda show is being made.  It was a surprise to see where a full CG TV show was being made, let alone it bing an asset of DreamWorks.  With that our trip to Nickelodeon was concluded and we were on our merry way back to class.  We learned more methods of being a professional, cover letters and resumes and such stuff that would bore an observer.  I found it personally fascinating since I've never been taught this stuff before, but don't worry I wont bother you with that.  After that Gary, Shannon, Angel, Jeffrey and I came back to the hotel to play this card game called Bang!.   I assure you it is about Cowboys and such and nothing more... deviant.  As proof here is a picture of Sheriff Gary, the best sheriff around.

After that it was time for bed(ish).  Yet again we got to giggly to sleep and ended up staying up until 2:30.  So in favor of not doing that again I'm going to stop writing and go to sleep now, at 12:30.  If this is a successful sleep it will probably be the soonest I've gone to sleep.  I didn't take any pictures today at Warner Bros, primarily since we had to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement but I will still talk about it tomorrow or so.


Tomorrow is DreamWorks!

Wednesday!

Hey everybody!

Wednesday was a pretty cool day in my book.  We go to tour Nickelodeon studios, and it was everything that I was hoping for when I came out on this trip.  The first thing that made me want to sign up for this trip was the fact that these major studios would be giving us wide-eyed students a portfolio, demo reel, review yet before yesterday the only critiques we got were in the classroom.  So when I heard that we were finally getting one on one time with someone from a studio I was more than excited.

The day began like any other, we met at the classroom at 9am, then sometime time later the bus showed up late, you now usual stuff, and we were on our way!  When we got there we realized that we weren't going to the studio any more.  Instead went to a center for Oral and Maxillofacial surgery!!!

Jonathon was very excited about this.  Can you tell?

And then I got even MORE excited if thats possible because........... GREEN grass!  Not brown dirt or whitish snow!

So first a doctor's office, then grass growing.  What could be better?  Oh yeah, this!

It was awesome to be at the home at some of the first cartoons I have ever watched.  When we first entered the studio we saw early art from some awesome Nick shows, like Avatar: The Last Airbender and SpongeBob Squarepants,  While we waited a little while for the whole show to being you'll never guess what I found!

Thats right, the thinking chair from Blues Clues!  I sat down to think, think, think and before I knew it was time for the day to begin!  Right off the bat we got down to business and got our portfolio reviews!  It was awesome to sit down with a working professional and given advice as to how better prepare myself for the job market.  I realized a few ways to increase my chances at getting hired, and completely plan and taking these actions.  Since it was one on one reviews the rest of us needed something to do while we waited.  So what do you do when you wait at Nickelodeon?  Watch new episodes of SpongeBob is what!

The reviews concluded and we got to take a tour around the studio.  We got to see where all the cartoons were made, as well as some in production shows that haven't aired yet.  Just like before it was awesome to see where professional artists really got to get together in a great community based environment.  After the tour the whole group got to take a picture by Lego SpongeBob.

After this picture we got to see where the new Kung Fu Panda show is being made.  It was a surprise to see where a full CG TV show was being made, let alone it bing an asset of DreamWorks.  With that our trip to Nickelodeon was concluded and we were on our merry way back to class.  We learned more methods of being a professional, cover letters and resumes and such stuff that would bore an observer.  I found it personally fascinating since I've never been taught this stuff before, but don't worry I wont bother you with that.  After that Gary, Shannon, Angel, Jeffrey and I came back to the hotel to play this card game called Bang!.   I assure you it is about Cowboys and such and nothing more... deviant.  As proof here is a picture of Sheriff Gary, the best sheriff around.

After that it was time for bed(ish).  Yet again we got to giggly to sleep and ended up staying up until 2:30.  So in favor of not doing that again I'm going to stop writing and go to sleep now, at 12:30.  If this is a successful sleep it will probably be the soonest I've gone to sleep.  I didn't take any pictures today at Warner Bros, primarily since we had to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement but I will still talk about it tomorrow or so.


Tomorrow is DreamWorks!

Monday and Tuesday!

Hello everybody!

So I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, I was busy for most of the day and then by the time I was back at the hotel I was just too tired to do anything so i just crawled into bed and laid about.  It turns out I won't be taking as many pictures as I thought, the studios have pretty strict policies about taking photographs in their studios.  Also in an attempt to appear more professional, I figured not having a camera appearing to be fused to my hand would be all the better.  So onto the show!

Monday:


The day began at around 8:00.  You all know how I love to wake up early so I practically jumped out of the bed.  Angel, Shannon, and I then all went to class which is only three blocks away, which is awesome.  It only takes about 10 minutes to get to the classroom so the place is incredibly convenient.

We got to the classroom at around 9am, since that is when we were told that is when the class started, but we were mislead!

The class actually began then began around 10 o'clock and we got down to business!

We began discussions in the class about where to look in order to keep current in our field, different magazine publications, websites, organizations, etc.  We also discussed resumes, getting ours critique'd and given ways in order to improve them so that they are more professional.

Then we went on break and discovered an awesome little coffee machine which makes bout 15 different kinds of coffee, tea, and then hot chocolate!

And then Jonathon was being sexy, as usual, during our break.

I also got a few pictures of Raleigh Studios, where our class is.

After the break we continued to discuss how to remain current in our field.  At 2 o'clock the class was over for the day and we began our journey to the first studio on our list!!!

While waiting for the bus I snapped a few picture of the cool landmarks around us.  The Hollywood sign and the Paramount water tower!

Then we got on the bus to go to... somewhere to be revealed later!

So then after driving a short while we arrived at.................!

Oh yeah!  Cartoon Network!  It was awesome to roam around the creative minds that helped to create some of the shows that I watched as a kid.  Yet I quickly found out that I will NEVER work in Television animation.  Almost all of the cartoons produced in the states are outsourced to other countries for the actual production of the show.  The pre-production and post-production are done here in the states, the rest is done elsewhere.  One noticeable thing that I thought was particularly cool was being able to see the actual file and puppets of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.  We then parted ways with the studio and headed back to Raleigh Studio to end our tour. 

We heard that the next day we would be going to see Disney Studios(!) so we decided to go see Tangled since some of us hadn't seen it, this was my second viewing, so we figured everyone should be prepared.  

We went to the Grove Theatre to see Tangled.

The inside was ridiculous!

After the show we all went back to our respective hotels to get some work done before the next day.  I had a few things to get done so I had to stay up a while to fix some things that we had discussed in class.  And then it didn't help that Shannon and I had a giggle fit until about 2:30 in the morning, not allowing us to sleep in then.  But luckily we had to wake up at 8, so it was... awesome.

I am going to get some sleep now because it is 1:50am... yet again we were doing something weird, a card game named Bang!, until late and I couldn't work on this.  Hopefully I will continue to write as I wake up today in 6 hours.  

Good Night!  Hopefully you get to see this soon!

Ugh, I have never been more tired....(thats a lie)

Anywho I'm going to try and knock this out quick before we go to Nickelodeon.  So it may sem brief but I'll talk bout it more later today.

So!  Yesterday we had our tour first, before our class.  We got on the bus around 9 o'clock which then transported us to Disney!

At first it seemed as though it was going to be a pretty unorganized day, we were told to go to like thre different entrances before we foun the first one.  Yet we eventually found the right one and we were given our passes.

We then went in for our tour and I quickly found out that Disney is AWESOME!  We had several speakers for us, some spoke of production pipelines, some Columbia alumni spoke of how they got there, and such spoke of purely animation.  We got great advice from everywhere, whether it be about animating, story, or how to further your career.  We got to see where all the animating happens as well as where some of the higher-ups usually are and a sweet little cafe dressed up as the Snuggly Duckling from Tangled.  

At the end of the tour we even got a little gift!

Before this tour I never really wanted to work at Disney, I heard a few horror stories and they never really seemed to focused on CG animation.  Yet now I see how wonderful of a work-environment it is, where creativity and art are truely king.

Anyway, I need to go now, but I'll try to include more of this tonight when I talk about Nickelodeon.  

LA Trip has Begun!

Hey all!

I got into LA today for a J-Term course through Columbia College Chicago.  During this course 9 other students and I will be touring five different studios and then presenting our demo reels and getting feedback on them.  We will also be learning ways to become more professional when we graduate from school and enter into the job market in the Animation field.

I plan to be a total tourist and take a healthy amount of pictures, which is something that I normally don't do so take advantage of it while you can!  Today I just have pictures from the trip out here.  Angel and I left from Chicago early, for us, this morning.  It all went pretty smoothly until we got to Texas where we were delayed for about three hours because of engine problems and SNOW.  Thats right, a snow delay in Texas... bizarre.  But now we are here and settled in at our hotel which is literally two blocks away from the studio where our class is held.

So first off here is my most recent Demo Reel.  I've been tweaking it for a few days now, putting in more time into it than I have sleep, literally.  Then the final compiling just got done just a few hours ago.  As always feedback is welcome and appreciated!



Now for for the travel pics!  (aka picture of my view from the plane and stuff.)

Goodbye Chicago!

Hello... snowy Texas?

Delayed Angled is delayed.

This was AFTER we boarded the plane the first time... at least I got to charge my DS.

Leaving Texas take two!

Cross plane poke-battle.  Just a little unfair?  Nah.

We literally ended up drawing on the DS for bout an hour.  I was a banana, and Angel's spoon was too big.

Just a cool shot of the mountains.

Home stretch!  Almost there!

Then I stopped taking pictures in favor of getting off the plane and my excitement to be in LA.  I'll update you all again tomorrow after the first day of class and the first studio tour!!!  I hope you're as excited as I am!