iAnimate Student Spotlight - Kentarou Niina 新名健太郎

Birthday from Kentarou_Niina on Vimeo.

Kentarou Niina 新名健太郎 was my student this past summer block in Feature Workshop 5 - Full Body Acting at iAnimate and he did a fantastic job on the shot above. Kentarou made a lasting impression on me in my WS5 class because he understood that re-recording reference will give you specifics to your acting.  Every time, I would ask if he could re-record just a small section of the shot above... he jumped on it, pluss-ed the acting and made it his own!  He also had a female friend create reference for him to get even more specific to how a female might act this assignment out.  Finally, what sets Kentarou apart was his attention to detail on fingers, facial and spacing.  All of these specific placements give his shots life and that is what we are all about as animators.

Check out Kentarou's work here!

A Few spots still Open at iAnimate for WS5 - Instructor Angie Jones

I have 4 spots left in my WS5 course at iAnimate... 

Click here ianimate.net/workshops/feature.html 

to learn more about the workshops at iAnimate.

iAnimate Student Spotlight - Matt Roe

Matthew Roe 2014 Showreel from Matthew Roe on Vimeo.

Matt Roe was my student last Spring 2014 in the iAnimate WS4 - Facial Acting and also my student for WS3 - Advanced Body Mechanics Fall 2013 at iAnimate  Matt killed every shot he started.  

The piece with the church door he is trying to open was a VERY long piece of Advanced Body mechanics and I worried he might not finish... but he completed it in spades.  The piece with Sheldon playing a mafia type from around the way (Deniro's voice) is definitely my favorite, but he also nailed the subtlety on the last shot of his reel with the clip of the character against the fridge.  I am so proud of Matt's work and I know he will not be a free agent for long.

Check out Matt's work here!

iAnimate Student Spotlight - Ngan Chung

Animation Reel 2014 from Animator Ngan on Vimeo.

Ngan Chung was my student last Fall 2013 and she blew me away.  She has an incredible sense of timing and her dramatic piece was as good as her comedic work in my class.  The first shot is my favorite of her work though.  She used smear and blur frames effectively and her personal acting reference was spot on the first time she posted.  She would probably kill me if I posted her reference here, but there is a lot of Ngan in that first shot and I think that is why I like it so much.

Check out Ngan's work here!

iAnimate Student Spotlight - Rod Dimayuga

Animation Demo Reel - Rod Dimayuga from Rod Dimayuga on Vimeo.

Rodolfo Dimayuga was a joy to teach at iAnimate. I seriously looked forward to his submissions every time we met. He also pushed past the basic criteria of a closeup for acting and added psycho logic gesture and attitude beyond the original acting clip had.

Rod took my WS4 - Facial and Dialog Acting Class Summer of 2013. He did two great pieces with me in that class and I show the work on my WS4-5 student example reel as some of the best.

(Clips are on the reel above)
1 - Chief Orman clip.
2 - Passed Gas clip.

Rod is normally a humble shy guy, but when he created reference for his shots the true thespian came out. He also entertained my idea of using other student performances when he animated the female character and chose the best selects from that to work from for his animations. Rod has been hired at Rainmaker now, and I wish his all the best in his career.  He is very talented and will go far.

 Check Rod Dimayuga's Work out here.

Workshop 4 and Workshop 5 Feature Student Work iAnimate - Instructor Angie Jones

Workshop 4 and Workshop 5 Feature Student Work iAnimate 

Instructor Angie Jones from angie jones on Vimeo.

This is a collection of the best of the best work by my students at iAnimate in Workshop 4 - Close Up Acting and Workshop 5 Full Body Acting. Above is a sample of the past three years. Each student's name is located in the top left corner and workshop level in the bottom right.

I will be teaching my usual three Workshops this Summer, at iAnimate.net starting in May... and the classes are filling fast!

Workshop 3 - Advanced Body Mechanics - 1 spot open

Workshop 4 - Close Up Acting - 2 spots still open

Workshop 5 - Full Body Acting - 4 spots still open

Click here ianimate.net/workshops/feature.html to learn more about the workshops I teach at iAnimate

I like to combine the lectures for WS4 and WS5, since I teach both.  The energy from students is both workshops is similar and I like to house everyone in one place.  The WS5 students push the WS4 students and more time than not the WS4 students also inspire the WS5 work, too.  The only real difference between these two workshops is the camera is pulled back a bit in WS5 to incorporate more acting and gestures which can complicate the approach.  

Here is a sample of some of the topics I cover in lecture for WS4 and WS5:

• Character Analysis
• Maya How To's Advanced
• Using Reference
• Workflow
• Workflow Checklists
• Roadblocks
• Eyes
• Lipsych and Facial
• Lipsynch Workflow
• Pushing Poses
• Hands and Gestures
• Staging
• Laban
• Comdey VS. Tragedy
• What is Funny
• The Comic Hero
• Career Strategies
• Progress Reels
• Moving Holds
• Phrasing and Texture
• Animation Styles
• Polishing

ianimate Student Spotlight - Kevin Nguyen

Kevin Nguyen turned out to be one of my favorite students last block.  Every week he surprised me with more attention to detail and some of the funniest reference I have ever seen. Kevin is dedicated to becoming the best animator he can be and I believe he will not be a free agent for long with these new shots (the first and second shot he did in WS5 with me) on his demo.

Check Kevin Nguyen's Work out here.

ianimate Student Spotlight - Chris McCormick

Chris McCormick Demo Reel from Chris McCormick on Vimeo.

Chris McCormick was one of my very first students at iAnimate in the Summer of 2011.  

He took my WS4 - Facial and Dialog Acting Class.  Chris did two great pieces with me in that class that I still show as examples of great acting and dialog.  (Clips are on the reel above)
1 - The Wrestler Clip and
2 - The Saving Silverman clip.

I remember being so proud of the work on The Wrestler clip because the character is trying to avoid any and all contact.  Every moment he does have eye contact with the person he is speaking to, becomes even more important this way.  Also, with the Saving Silverman clip where he repeat "Come on" over and over again, it is a challenge to say the same thing over and over in different ways and I think Chris nailed it.

Chris just finished his internship at Pixar and on his exit interview they told him the piece he worked on with me at iAnimate with Mickey Rourke from The Wrestler is what got him the internship.  Yay!  Chris is looking for work again, so check his demo reel out!

Chris McCormick on Vimeo

ianimate Student Spotlight - James Maloney

JamesMaloney 2013 Animation Reel from James Maloney on Vimeo.

James Maloney was unstoppable in my WS5 Full Body Acting Class Summer 2013.  James gets it.  I would just suggest a couple things to make his work better and he would take that morsel and turn it into a fantastic performance.  James is coming out to LA in November, so grab him for your next project!

Check out James Maloney

Update:  James is now a cinematic animator at Blizzard Entertainment and he said they really liked the last shot he did with me from the movie Love Happens.  Congrats to James!

SuperBeard!

SuperBeard! from Brian Horgan on Vimeo.

One of my students at iAnimate did this little test and I think it's SUPER!

Erica Wins 11 Second Club with her short Trouble in Paradise

11 Second Club August Winner

Congrats to my ianimate student

- Erica Pinto - 

for winning first place in the August 11 second club contest!

ianimate Student Spotlight - JinngHwee Tan

August 2013's ianimate Student Spotlight is - JinngHwee Tan!

JinngHwee worked very hard in my WS3 Advanced Body Mechanics Class Spring 2013.  It was tough because he experienced the layoffs at Lucas Arts in Singapore while taking my class, but he always surprised me with his ideas.  he is working on a website right now to find work, but in the meantime, you can watch his video on his youtube channel.

Check out Jinng Hwee Tan!


Update: Jinng Hwee is now an animator at ILM!

iAnimate Student Spotlight - Emily Harrenstein

Emily Harrenstein Animation Reel 2014 from Emily Harrenstein on Vimeo.

July's 2013's Student Spotlight is - Emily Harrenstein

Emily was one of my first students at ianimate - Summer 2011. She did an amazing job on her Bird Cage piece (last shot) on the reel above in my WS4 class.  She really embodied the character Agador that Hank Azaria played.  Equally funny was to see the ianimate scarecrow rig act so effeminate.  She has a very subtle touch, especially for an animator who has never worked int he industry before!

Check out Emily Harrenstein

iAnimate Student Spotlight - Gabriel Martinez

June 2013's ianimate Student Spotlight is - Gabriel Martinez!

Gabriel is one of my students who stuck with me from Workshop 3 - Advanced Body mechanics, to Workshop 2 - Closeup Facial and Dialog Acting and finally Workshop 5 - Full Body Acting.  It was so inspiring to watch his growth from trying to get mechanics right in WS3 at ianimate all the way to complex pantomime and dialog scenes.  I am so proud of my baby bird, all "growed up!"

My favorite piece he did with me in class was the last on the reel above, dialog from the tv show Modern Family.

Check out Gabriel Martinez's Blog for more of his work!

iAnimate Student Spotlight - Lorenzo Colaiori

Lorenzo Colaiori - animation reel 2013 from Lorenzo Colaiori on Vimeo.

May 2013's ianimate Student Spotlight is - Lorenzo Colaiori. Lorenzo always went beyond expectations in my class.  He even donned a girl's pink wig!!! when acting out reference for one of his close up acting shots that was driven by a female character.  Lorenzo is now a graduate of ianimate and I couldn't be more proud!

Mr. Colaiori took my WS3 - Advanced Body Mechanics course AND the WS4 - Closeup Facial Acting and Lip sync course at ianimate Spring 2011 and Fall of 2012.  You can see how both his body mechanics and facial acting are top notch!

Check out Lorenzo Colaiori's linkedin page.

Update: Lorenzo is now living in America and working as an animator for Riot Games!

iAnimate Student Spotlight - Yukari Kawasoe and Pedro de la Llave

I fell behind this month on the student spotlight, so it's a double feature!  Two for the price of one!

Forgive me from Yukari Kawasoe on Vimeo.

My student last block Yukari took WS4 - Closeup Facial Acting and did an amazing job!
She is now working for Luma Pictures in Australia.

Pedro de la Llave - IA Progress Reel WS4 from Pedro de la Llave on Vimeo.

This is Pedro de la Llave's work from WS4 with me and he has been doing an amazing job!

You can see more of his work here!

USC DADA Student Spotlight - Ashley Armstrong

Swan Song Preview from Ashley Armstrong on Vimeo.

She only needs 800$ - help a fellow animator out!

Swan Song IndieGogO Campaign

Ashley is one of my students at USC - Division of Animation and Digital Arts.  She is working on her undergrad thesis film and is trying to get the cash together to hire some people to help.

About the Project Swan Song is the senior film of Ashley Armstrong, an Animation and Digital Arts Student at the University of Southern California. Ashley has had a passion for animation since she was a child, beginning with the first animated film she ever saw: 101 Dalmatians. As she grew up she recreated those worlds and stories with toys and eventually created her own worlds through collaborative comics with her sister.

Now she attends USC and aims to be a story artist for feature animation. Swan Song is the story of a frustrated composer who is lured by a haunting melody and crosses paths with an injured swan maiden. With her as his muse he finds inspiration to write music again. Contributions to this project with help elevate the quality of art, animation, and music of the film. Several talented artists and animators are all ready working on this magical film.

Contributions to this project will aid in compensating them for their time and efforts. Additionally, with your aid a live orchestra will be hired to perform the film's score for recording. If you can please help support this project. Even if you can not contribute yourself, please help get the word out.

iAnimate Student Spotlight - Matt Egler

Matt Egler Animation Reel from Matt Egler on Vimeo.

Starting the New Year off right!  January 2013's Student Spotlight is - Matt Egler!  Matt is that kind of student you hope for. He was a sponge soaking in every note and adding to each idea to plus it beyond my wildest dreams as a teacher.  I love the last piece on this reel with the new ianimate rig - "Billy."  It's the perfect example of how you can take audio out of context and make it even funnier. His weight assignment with the little girl trying to push a plug into a socket is equally fantastic.

Matt took my WS3 - Advanced Body Mechanics course AND the WS4 - Closeup Facial Acting and Lip sync course at ianimate Summer and fall of 2012.  His body mechanics work was equally impressive to his facial assignments and the piece where the girl is trying to plug in the outlet was a great exercise in staying true to scale.

Matt is an animator now at Nerd Corps!

Check out Matt Egler's website

ianimate Student Showcase - Richie Prado

Richie Prado animation showreel from richie on Vimeo.

December 2012's ianimate Student Spotlight is - Richie Prado.   Richie had an amazing talent for finding subtlety in his work quickly and focusing on the details.  His poses became stronger everyday in my class.  He took my WS3 - Advanced Body Mechanics course at ianimate Summer 2012.  His work is fantastic!  The "waiting for the elevator" scene, above is the one he did with me last summer, but you can see how great his body mechanics is getting in all of the shots on this reel.

Richie is a freelance animator based in the UK.

Congrats Richie!