MU Progression Reel

Here's a glimpse behind the scenes of one of my favorite scenes from Monsters University. I always wanted to hear the rest of that "Tentacles and Serpent Wings" song.

8 days...

Monsters University Premiere Day!

It's opening night and we couldn't be more excited! We held a big pep rally last night, just to get fired up for the big game.

 

It's become a tradition for Good Day Sacramento's Mark S. Allen to stop by Pixar each Summer during premiere time.

This year, MU story supervisor Kelsey Mann taught Mark how to draw Mike Wazowski.

I did a little drawing lesson of my own...

Turning Mark into his very own MU character!

I think this kid works for the school newspaper.

All in all, it was a great start to opening day!

I can't say I've ever looked forward to summer school as much as today.

GO MU!

27 days...

Amateur Armature

The beta version of my horror-themed boardgame, Camp Grizzly, is coming to Kubla Con this weekend. Our masked killer, Otis, is doing a little pre-show killing to warm-up for his debut. Knock 'em dead, big guy!

If you'd like to create your own horrific clay-mation, Here's a handy how-to:

It's helpful to keep a toolbox full of clays and armatures so you're ready to animate at a moment's notice. I recommend an oil-based modelling clay like Plastilina.

Next, twist yourself up an armature with soft aluminum modelling wire and prep some "guts." Guts are used to build up the form around your armature without wasting valuable colored clay. I usually recycle Plastilina from old animation to form the guts (hence the cool, swirly colors).

Once your figure is formed, it's time to create a color palette. I wanted a muted, grungy palette, so I mixed a lot of brown and grey into my colors.

Finally, you sculpt up your character! I'd recommend not adding too much detail, because once you start animating, your fingers are only going to smash it away. I'm still pretty new to stop-motion, so let me know if you have any other clay modelling tips. 

Have a bloody good time!

23 days...

Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013)

I met Mr. Harryhausen while I was a student at CalArts. At the end of his animation lecture, a student asked if there was a trick to animating something as complicated as a seven-headed Hydra. Harryhausen simply cocked an eyebrow, gave a wry smile, and replied, "Yeah, you unplug the phone and CONCENTRATE."

Phones were plugged into the walls those days.

And animators were titans.

Farewell, Mr. Harryhausen. You will be greatly missed.

31 days...

March Madness

 That's right, even the boys down at MU aren't immune to the effects of the madness!

I had the pleasure of participating in the brainstorm session for this one. Sketching gags of angry/disappointed monster jocks is no bad way to spend an afternoon!

11 days...

SEVA Talk

Here's a talk I did last month for the Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium regarding creative storytelling. My audience ranged in scope from elementary schoolers to college professors. Warning: I get very loud, so you may want to turn down the volume. For maximum educational value, go ahead and mute me altogether.

28 days...

The Boss Man Brings Home the Gold!

Mandrews brought the Oscar around for a bag-pipe laden victory lap around the studio. The first stop: the Animation Department.

If anyone is wondering: no, we don't all get an Oscar, we just share the one. We place it on a stone plinth and surround it with booby traps and interns.

Alba gu bràth!


32 days...

School's in Session!

You can only imagine the sort of "research" trips we had to do for this one!

34 days...

Adam and Dog

 A lot of you guys have been asking for it, and here it is! Minkyu Lee's Oscar-nominated short film, "Adam and Dog" in its entirety. Enjoy!



If you dug the film, or if you dig animation in general, Minkyu's Adam and Dog tumblr has a peak inside the garden and some wonderful pencil tests by folks like James Baxter. They spared no expence!

33 days...

Nom Nom Nom'd

Congrats to Minkyu and the rest of our fantastic crew! I had the pleasure of working on this beaut, and I told Minkyu the first time he pitched it to me that he'd be taking home the Oscar. An amazing film with a wonderful message. Can't wait to share Adam and Dog with the world!

24 days...

Enroll Today!

What better way to kick off 2013 than with a taste of things to come? 

There's still time to sign up for the Spring semester!

32 days...

Disney Acquires Lucasfilm

Maybe now we can finally answer the age-old question: who shot first?

1 day...

AM vs PM

Sometimes my co-teacher, Paul, and I disagree in the class. When this happens, we always settle our differences amicably. Then I stab him in the back.



Our rocky relationship is made easier by the desserts that our students bring us every week. These desserts are a requirement of the course, and you teach any kind of class at all, I'd recommend the same for your syllabus.

While munching desserts, I like to catch up on what films my students have been watching. When a student told me they'd just seen The Fly for the first time, it made me wonder what a reverse-Fly flick might look like...

Between the sword fights, decadent desserts, and insectoid mutants, the AM/PM class tends to keep things interesting.

42 days...

ParaNorman

Getting in the mood for ParaNorman with some zombie sketching. I heard the hero is based on a professor of mine from CalArts, Norman Klein. I always suspected Norman fought monsters in his spare time...

15 days... 

The Children's Creativity Museum

Last Saturday, I taught a storyboarding class for kids at the Children's Creativity Museum, nestled in San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens.

We started the class with a few improv games outside to get everyone's creative juices flowing. Apparently kids dig playing outside--who knew!

When we came back inside, I explained story structure (using the most important film in cinema history as an example). We also discussed protagonists and antagonists, and why it's important to have contrast in those characters.

The children did an excellent job pretending to listen.

I told CCM that the class would be best suited for ages ten and up. Eight year old Allison weaseled her way in, and ended up being the best student in the class. Here Allison is explaining to me the components of a storyboard.

The kids came up to the whiteboard one at a time and created the hero of our own story, the bank-robber George "The Muscle Man" Jefferson. I created his antagonist, Det. Jimmy.

Using the formula I'd taught them at the beginning of class, we brainstormed the first act of a story. The students then had to storyboard acts two and three and pitch them to the class in groups.

I thumbnailed out my own version of the story on the whiteboard, to show them how to pitch.

Then the students went to work pitching their own boards.

My braintrust (the CCM faculty) chose their favorite pitch, and I drew pictures of George "Muscle Man" Jefferson and Det. Jimmy for the winning team.

In the end, everyone lived happily ever after!

If you're interested in visiting CCM, check out their website, Creativity.org. Ask for Heather, she's the best!

6 days...

Olympic GOLD!

The 2012 Olympics open today in London. That is, unless the UK's finest felon is there to steal all of the gold medals!

For more Dick Figures shenanigans, check out their website, richardfigures.com.

0 days...Let the OLYMPICS begin!

The Fart Knight Rises

Sure, The Avengers and Spider-man were fairly eagerly awaited. But there's one super hero finale that we've all been foaming at the mouth for: DICK FIGURES.

Tomorrow marks the season finale (and last episode ever) of the YouTube phenomenon Dick Figures. I will be making my return as Earl Gray, the dastardly ne'er-do-well with a penchant for the finer things in life (you can catch my previous episode on YouTube).

If you dig tomorrow's episode, you can stop by the Dick Figures Kickstarter and fund the feature film. If the project is funded, I'll be back for the third time as Earl Gray, and we all know great things come in threes! Okay, so do not-so-great Star Wars prequels.

0 days...Comic Con Begins!

Monsters University

With Brave debuting to the tune of bagpipes worldround this Friday, it's time to roll out a preview of our next little film: 

I may have majored in Animation when I went to school, but I had a minor in Scaring. Anyone who participated in Fright Club at CalArts may remember those days. Now all of my practice stalking my friends through the CalArts cubicles finally pays off!

2 days...

AnimC

For those Bay Area animators looking for a good place to hone their craft, AnimC (The Animation Collaborative) offers some fantastic workshops taught by Pixar animators, designers, and board artists. There are still openings for the Summer courses, so stop by their website and sign up!

AnimC is located right across the street from Pixar (and CVS!), so if you do particularly well in the workshops, you may even get a tour (or an internship)!

17 days...

A Poster for Ariel

My friend Kai asked me to draw up a poster for a girl named Ariel who has been struggling with cancer. Kai's idea was to have Ariel's 'Avengers' (her favorite characters) assembled to support her. I'm glad Merida made the cut!

Here's Kai with the final poster. When I was a kid, I was always comforted by visuals of heroic figures like Superman and Luke Skywalker, so I hope this poster does the same for Ariel, who is as brave as any hero could hope to be!

23 days...