The 2008 San Diego Comic Con Comes to an end. A total sensory overload! I was there all day Saturday. This year was casual as I stayed away from the big attractions that were drawing crowds.  The lines to get into panels were incredibly long. You could waste a third of your day just waiting. If you are a single day patron that's a lot of time. 

I was able to hit up the Stuart Ng Booth that held the  Eric Goldberg book signing. He has a bran new book out called "Character Animation Crash Course!". So far I have only thumbed through it but what I have seen looks great. I am very interested in the Disc that comes with it. From my understanding it contains movies of animation examples that you can play, pause and rewind for study purposes.  The line for the signing was relatively short yet stayed consistent in length. It moved pretty fast as well. When I finally got up to see Eric and I did the usual greetings. He was very nice and out going.  It would have been awesome to site and talk to him longer... but I did not want to be "That Guy" who held up the line. He was very nice to pose for a picture. We had a small discussion about me attending Animation Mentor. He had a lot of good things to say about the school!  I can't wait to start implementing the book to use.

I spent a bit more time hanging around artist alley.  I was picking up a bunch of artists printed sketchbooks.  Unfortunately there were more books than bucks in my pocket. I am thinking about making one for next year so it was neat to see what everybody is doing. So much inspirational stuff. To name just a few... Stephen Silver, David Coleman, Erwin Haya, Javier Guzman, Patrick Morgan. Also I picked up a neat book called Depth Charge by Donnachada Daly. It is a stereoscopic 3d book that does not need glasses. You stare past the images until you see three images blurred. You then focus on the middle one and let your eyes relax. The image in the middle then starts to have some depth.

Me and Stephen Silver

I will be headed out the the Comic Con this Saturday. I have a pretty busy schedule laid out with a bunch of meet and greets planned. While I am going for the name sake of pleasure, the con is an amazing place for networking.  I have been going enough times where I am starting to create friends and  acquaintances. I now have a tradition of booths to stop at each year. Some artists are just so popular it does not matter how many times you stop by. There are just too many fans  that pass through to remember.   I am usually slow to upload photos and what not but hopefully within a few days after I will have some updates. 

below is a couple of photos from recent years...

Chris Sanders and Me

I am now in the third week of Maya Springboard class for Animation Mentor. The first 5 weeks can be considered orientation and grace period to buy and get all supplies needed. Each week we have new access to some part of the site. First part was adding your profile informtion. Second week was to buy a webcam and test it out on the site. I ended up getting the Logitech 9000. A pretty sweet camera. Has all the bells and whistles. As well as the camera I finally purchased the tool of tools that will be used. I have my Maya 8 Complete in the mail and on it's way. On top of that I ordered a book that is highly recommended by the AM crew called Learning Autodesk Maya 2008, Foundation . Since I really have never used Maya I will need all the help I can get.

This week we finally got assigned to a class and a Peer Buddy as they call them. They will be the ones teaching us Maya. I also got to meet fellow students yesterday while attending my first group Q&A. I got to hear fellow studets ask questions about what is expected for the course. Seeing the school in action is very exciting for what is to come. Week 6 though 12 is the portion of the class for Maya training. Once that begins we will have two tasks to complete each week.

 
Operator
Directed by Matthew Walker
A fun little quirky short about a man calling God on the phone. It has a very simplistic concept that makes up for it with humor and a good feel. After the show I found myself analyzing the story which added more humor and depth to the film. You as a viewer never hear the answers to the man's dispensable questions. This I think possibly leaves some viewers feeling gypped. However I think this ends up being the films strongest angle. It leaves your mind running to try and interpret what possibly could God have said. Try as we may to fill in the answer, the humor comes from the fact we as the viewer will never know for sure. Only that indeed an absolute answer exists.

This Way Up
Directed by Smith and Foulkes
A very interesting misadventure of two undertakers. The art direction is beautiful. The use of a muted color pallet helps set the mood of the film. Even under grim circumstances the story is able to find humor within the situations the characters find themselves in. Smith and Foulkes successfully create a connection to the film and characters in an otherwise uncomfortable situation most try to avoid even thinking about. Even with a dark tone the film leaves you feeling higher than when you started.


Hot Dog
Directed by Bill Plympton
I have really loved this series of shorts by Bill Plympton. I have been a huge fan of all the short films he has created. In particular I find the shorts from the late 80's to be amazing. The first moment I saw "one of those days" at a festival I was hooked on his films. I played the vhs tape Plymptoons till it was barely watch able. Thanks to DVD's I get to see them clear again...but I digress. When Guard Dog played at the Animation Show I got that same feeling as I did many years before. Each one in the series has delivered. We have a dog who only wants to please by doing his job. In doing so he repeatedly screws up with the end result in loosing his job. In Hot Dog we find him applying for the position of fire dog. While interviewing for the job, an emergency call comes in and he rises to the occasion and tags along to help. From there comedy ensues and delivers. Hot Dog is a great short and will sit nicely along side with the previous two.

I was invited by ASIFA to go see a Wall•E  screening, where else but on the Disney studio lot in Burbank. I was totally geeking out at all the iconic sites that I have seen through out the years on the Disney shows and or photos. I got to see the famous studios street sign as well as the very animation building where some of the greatest animated films have come to fruition. Had a great time. The movie was great. Had a lot of heart. I can't say movie wise it will beat the Incredibles as my favorite...but I think Wall E as a character will. I think he was a great character to watch. I have seen the movie twice as of writing this and each time was mesmerised by his range of emotions.

Just for fun I figure I would try and rate all the Pixar films in order
of what I think is Least to best. Even the one that is last is like saying what is your least favorite ice cream. Still damn great and I am not going to say no if I get offered a dish.  Also I might add that if you were to ask me this again next week I guarantee it would be different. With that said, here we go....

• 9. A Bugs Life
• 8. Cars
• 7. Ratatouille
• 6. Finding Nemo
• 5. Toy Story 2
• 4. Wall E
• 3. Monsters inc
• 2. Toy Story
• 1. The Incredibles