Hi Jas, we're glad to have you here on this brand new forum.Here we go for some questions
ANIMATION :
What is your average day at PDI?My average day at PDI starts by showing up between 8 and 9 am in order to grab coffee and breakfast in the commissary. That's right.. breakfast. Every morning between 7 and 9 they have various breakfasts available for free, including toast (oo!), yogurt, fresh fruit, cereal, oatmeal, porridge, and sometimes... doughnuts!!! So I grab my breakfast and coffee and head up to my desk to log in and check to see if the latest renders of my shots look good enough to show the directors. If so, then as soon as the call for Dailies comes through, I grab my tabletPC and head down to the screening room.
Dailies is the time of day when you get a chance to show your latest work to the directors and get notes about how your shot is coming along. As soon I walk in, I get a list of all the shots that the directors will be seeing this morning, and their current status: Blocking, First pass, next pass, close to final, or ready to final.
Grabbing a seat, I?ll settle in for either a super-quick dailies session if it?s early in the week, or one which can take much longer towards the end of the week. Because we try and final a certain amount of work every week, the end of the week is when most people work really hard to final their shots. Friday morning you can usually expect to get a long dailies session with lots of shots going for ?close to final? or ?final?.
As soon as my shots come up for review, I?ll tell the directors what the current state of them is, what the progress is, and what I?m hoping to do to them. Then the coordinator will play the shots for the directors. We?ll go through the shots one at a time, getting notes, discussing the characters and what they?re doing, making sure they shots work together, and not just independently, etc. I?ll take notes in my tablet PC (I love this thing!) and begin sketching ideas as the rest of the animators get their notes.
After dailies is over, I?ll head to the coffee machine for another Latte (ahhh..) and then head back upstairs to my desk. Once there, I?ll start to prioritize the work that I need to get done that day. If it?s early in the week, I?ll start thumbnailing and trying to come up with ideas for the tougher shots. I may head over to the special room we have set aside which has a camera hooked up to a computer so I can record some reference footage. I?ll talk to the other animators in my area to try and come up with some good ideas and business for what I?m going to attempt in my shots. Then, finally, I?ll settle in and start preparing my shots for me to work with them by putting the characters in the right places, setting up various settings within our animation package to make it easier for me to work with the right controls at the right times, and get all the props and environments set the way I like them.
By this time it?s usually lunch time, so I?ll head down to the commissary again with the other animators to see what the chef has made for lunch. If it's Monday, it?s usually fish.. blech. So on those days I?ll grab the vegetarian entr?e. Otherwise, I?ll get some sort of meat entr?e, perhaps the soup, and then settle in for a heated ?bitch? session, which is what always happens when you get a bunch of animators together. Either we?ll talk about the latest mocap craze to hit the industry, or problems we?re having with our shots, etc
Then it?s back up to the desks to continue working on the shots. Around 2 we have animation supervisor reviews where the supervisor on your sequence and animation director on the show will walk around and see if you have any questions about your shots. This is a great time to get feedback from them if you?re unsure as to some of the direction you?ve been given, or if you?re trying to final your shot that week. It?s very helpful to have another pair of eyes just to check your shot for arcs, timing, spacing, etc.
Then sometime between 4 or 5 we?ll have ?walkies?.. it?s basically the same thing as dailies, but instead the directors and their entourage (producers, coordinators, managers, etc) will come around to the animator?s desks to look at shots if you have anything new to show them. So on Fridays, you may have shown a shot for ?close to final? in the morning, received a few notes, and now ?walkies? is the time you get to show the shot to the directors for ?final?.
After walkies, I?ll keep working until I hit a good stopping point, save my animation, set off a render, and head home to my wife and ?kids? (two dogs). Ahh..
Which animated movie or feature movie you would have liked to work in ? I would have loved to work on Incredibles. It was such an amazing film, I really would have enjoyed the intense animation direction that Brad Bird gave. I think it would have been an amazing learning experience not just in animation technique, but also in film making.
Can you listen to music while animating ?Yep! Most animators will listen to something while they?re working. For me, when I?m blocking my shots I?ll usually just listen to the dialogue over and over and over and over and over.. but once I?m just cleaning things up (i.e. fingers, toes, making sure things aren?t popping, etc) I?ll put on some sort of trance music or good folk or whatever I?m in the mood to vege out to and just crank. The important thing is to wear headphones.. if you?re an animator, you?re going to be wearing headphones most of your day (so you don?t annoy your co-workers with the dialogue from your shot, or the music you?re playing), so I recommend investing in a really good pair of noise-canceling headphones that are light on your head. Spend a few hundred bucks.. it?ll be worth it, trust me!
What is your best animated shot ?I?m not sure what my ?best? shot is. I have some shots that I?m very proud of that were extremely difficult, and some shots that just came really easy that I?m happy with. One difficult one from Madagascar was when Alex was running down the beach, crying about going back to New York and Gloria grabbed him and wrestled with him to try and keep him from drowning (he didn?t know how to swim). This was a very difficult shot, not just for the intense amount of contact the two characters had between them, but they had to be acting and struggling and fighting with each other. In addition, Marty was doing crazy breakdancing/football moves in the background, and Melman also had to come running in and out of camera. It was a lot to work out in a very short time (I had 21 days for the shot, and finished it in 20).
Another shot which turned out really well that just came really easy for some reason was at the end of the movie when Julian picked up Maurice and swung him around while they were in a tree. Julian says ?Give me some LOVE! My plan worked, my plan worked, I?m very clever!!? He hugs Maurice, leaps and spins, holds him up, and then tosses him in the air. I was expecting it to be a very difficult shot, but it was just one of those that simply flowed. I love shots like that.
You're quite a good drawer as everyone can see on your blog. Any 2d animation envy ?Hah! Actually, I?m a pretty pathetic drawer. I would love to have half the talent as some of the animators around me. I?m just trying to get better day by day. I?d love to be able to do quality 2d animation, but alas, I don?t have the drawing skills to really pull it off. Maybe with tons and tons of practice.. there?s something just so wonderful about 2d animation. Especially when it?s really loose and free.. it just feels emotionally present. Know what I mean? Like you can actually feel the animator breathing those lines..
You are quite involved in Animation Mentor. How much teaching is important to you ?I totally love the experience of Animation Mentor. It?s quite a bit of work, and a bit scary at times? knowing that the students are paying for a quality animation really makes me want to be sure that I?m giving them as much information as possible. I want them to feel like each q&a was worth whatever it cost for them to be at the school that week. But I love it. I love the fact that I'm seeing such amazing progress with the student?s work. It?s something that I would have loved to have while I was in school. I went to a non-animation related school.. in fact, the only ?official? animation training I had before getting into the industry (i.e. from an actual professor who was focusing on animation) was a history of animation course at the University of California, Santa Barbara by Dana Driskell. He was fantastic.. a real mentor, and I loved his class. But I didn?t learn any of the tips and tricks that we?re teaching here at Animation Mentor through a school? I had to learn a lot of them through trial and error, and by other animators around me once I got into the industry. I was extremely lucky to be given a chance to animate while working at Alias|Wavefront, and then again to have a great mentor in my Animation Director at Weta, Randy Cook. The animation supervisors at Weta,Adam Valdez and Richie Baneham also gave me tons of inspiration. If I can give half of the inspiration and instruction that I received from them, then I?m doing a good job.
Did the transition between WETA and PDI has been tough ? The animation style is obviously different from one to each other.
How did you managed that ?The transition wasn?t too difficult moving from visual FX to feature film animation. I find that feature film animation, or really stylized cartoony animation, is just as difficult and rewarding as realistic cg animation. In both cases you?re trying to create the best performance which adheres to the rules of the world you?re animating in. Personally, I enjoy both for different reasons, but I absolutely love doing cartoony motion. It's kind of what I skew towards naturally.. if you?ve ever seen me talk in front of a group of people, you?d understand.. my natural sense of timing and acting is ridiculously cartoony.
Do you miss Gollum ? I miss certain things about Gollum. I definitely miss the challenge, but after a few movies with the character.. you get pretty excited to not be working on him anymore. Every once and a while I?ll move a character a certain way and think ?ooohh.. oops, that?s a Gollum move..? and have to tone it down, or do it another way.
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Ok let's get more in details : a quick review of your workflow ? on a weekly basis, how much time will you spend drawing, shooting video ref, blocking etc... ?If I have a week to work on a shot, I?d say my sketching/reference/etc pass is usually just about half a day. I?d love to spend more time planning my shots, but I find that if I do I end up rushing towards the end, and with the amount of work I?m trying to get through, that?s the only time I have to physically ?plan?. That being said, I?ll THINK about my shot for quite a long time. If I get a shot given to me on Monday, and I shoot reference and thumbnail in the morning, then put rough blocking in Monday afternoon, I?ll still be thinking of the shot that night and the next day I may still shoot more reference, or change the blocking completely based on what I was thinking about or sketching that night. Sometimes that process of blocking/reworking my thought/etc will take 2 or 3 days. I try and keep it to 2 days so that I have enough time to show the directors early enough in the week so I can get my shot far enough along to allow for the time it takes to ?finish? it. So for me, my thumbnailing/reference/blocking passes kind of blend together into a couple of days. However, it?s a very RARE shot that doesn?t get at least part of it re-blocked, re-timed, or re-worked when I?m in first or second pass (sometimes even as I?m trying to final it, I may have to re-work a few of the poses and change the timing).
The main thing is trying to keep fluid.. I keep telling myself (and I?ve been telling my students this semester) that you OWN the curves in your shot. You own it completely. If you need more time in a pose, or if something?s not working, it?s easier to just chop that section up and force it to do what you want than to try and ?massage? what you?ve already got into ?kind of" working. For example, if I have a move and I decide I need more time in it, I?ll set a key for everything when I want the extra time to start, set a key for everything when I want the extra time to end, then push those bits apart to give it the space, and then fix the animation so it looks good instead of just going into the curves and trying to fix things a little at a time. I?ve found that by being ?cruel? with my curves.. being comfortable going ?no, like THIS?, I can get to the look and animation I want much faster than struggling to re-work something which isn?t working.
When you're animating or even just blocking, do you think in terms of principles sometimes or is it just natural to you now and you know what's right or wrong in your animation ? It?s tough to say.. many of the principles like weight and anticipation and spacing start to just happen because they ?feel? right. The more you work with them, the more you need to have them because things feel wrong with out them. But I still look at the shots and think ?how?s my spacing here?? especially when something isn't working right. If a shot is having trouble, I?ll step through and check the spacing and arcs and weight and just work it until it IS right.
Do you still have those butterflies in your stomach when you're turning your blocking to splines ? It?s still tough, but because I have a ?system? for it I?m not all that concerned about it anymore. I KNOW it?s going to look like poop at first, so I?m not ?shocked? or ?freaked out? when I convert to spline.
My ?system? is actually pretty simple.. I break the shot up into easily digestible ?chunks?. I?ll split the shot up into certain ?moves? or ?beats? that are easy to break apart. Then I?ll start with the torso, because that?s where most of the motion is being driven from in most of the shots. Also, the torso affects everything else.. you can?t clean up an arm animation if your torso is still in blocking. So I?ll hide the arms and legs and get my torso working correctly.. not necessarily getting it to ?final?, but just cleaning up the motion so it doesn?t have any weird pops or anything. I still want to keep the animation curves relatively clean and easy to work with. Once I?ve got the body moving cleanly, then I?ll show the arms or the legs, depending on which is more important in the shot, and work them until their animation is clean. Then the next important body part and the next. Then I?ll work with the whole shot, cleaning it up where necessary. By doing it this way, I?m making it so I?m focusing only on one part of the body at a time, which keeps me focused, and keeps me from getting overwhelmed by trying to clean the whole shot at once.
How far can you go from the first blocking ? Do you restart from scratch sometimes ?Sometimes, yeah.. sometimes you have to start from scratch. My first pass of animation after blocking will usually be everything in the body working in terms of weight and spacing and timing.. it won?t have all the offset and overlap of the fingers and such, but most of the body will be working and be in there. The face will have rough facial moves for emotional beats, but nothing very complicated. Again, the idea with first pass is to show what you?ve got to the directors and get notes.. and for it to be easy for you to make changes if necessary. Some directors can?t really give quality notes until they see it in first pass, so it?s important to be able to make the changes the request at this point.
LIFE :
You can jump back 10 years ago, and have the chance to pick a different job.. what would it be ?Oh man.. I can?t really imagine a different job I love this one so much! Maybe a shoe salesman? Or a musician.. I love music. If I had a chance, I'd go back and spend more of my childhood learning guitar or bass so I?d= be really good at it by this point.
What do you do to relax ? How do you get away from animation and computers ?I read quite a bit.. watch movies.. watch Tivo (ahhh.. tivo). I?ll hang out with my wife.. walk the dogs.. hang out with friends. My favorite thing to do right now though is just sit and listen to the ocean, or watch trees, or be in the sun. I love relaxing. I think it?s something I learned while in New Zealand. Over there, it?s a big part of your life to have time ?AWAY? with the family, hanging out with nothing to do but relax and enjoy life and your friends and family. In America, people are too hell bent on succeeding in their business and career. They forget what it means to relax and how important it is to have a life outside of career.
What kind of books are you reading ? what kind of music ?I love all kinds of books.. I just finished reading Lucky by Alice Seabold. Her previous book, Lovely Bones, was one of the most amazing books I have read in years. Fantastic.
Music-wise my tastes range from trance to folk to grunge to .. well, everything except country and rap. It all depends on my mood. Sometimes I can?t listen to anything other than Jack Johnson and Annie DiFranco.. other times, I?m listening to Global Underground. Still others, I?m stuck on New Zealand bands like Fat Freddie?s Drop and the Flight of the Conchords.
What do you rememberthe most of your trip to New Zealand. What was the life choices you had when Weta called ?It was a great time for me to move to New Zealand when Weta called. I was ready for moving forward in my career, I wasn?t involved seriously with anyone,and I wanted an ?experience?. I didn?t know much about New Zealand, other than that they were doing this ?movie? there.. and after being in Santa Barbara for 8 years, it was time for a change. My experience there was more than I can explain. It was amazing, awe-inspiring, phenomenal. I made some of the best friends I?ve ever had in my life there. I met my wife, bought a house, and got 2 dogs. I helped produce one of the most awesome series of films ever seen. I got to pet a sheep. I just ?experienced?.. it?s hard to say what I remember most other than it was everything I wanted it to be and more.
More than just a film, Lord of the rings has been a huge adventure for you and for everyone who worked on it. You had to move to a new country and for quite a long time. The film seemed to be a constant challenge for eveyone.
What do you miss the most from those times ?My friends, definitely. In the early days at weta, you could TASTE the excitement.. you could feel the pulse of every one working on this project. We worked our butts off trying to make this thing real.. it was fantastic. But most of all, I miss my friends from New Zealand. I?ve been lucky that some of them have come back out to the states and I get to see them occasionally.. but there was something incredibly special about living in Wellington, with every friend being at MOST 10 minutes away. I miss them all terribly.
FUTURE :
Easy one...Where do you pictured yourself in the next 5 years ? Still animating ? more teaching/mentoring ? may be directing ?Hah! Not such an easy question. In 5 years? I?d love to be animation supervisor on a project that I?m really passionate about with an incredibly talented group of animators working with me who can animate circles around me. That would be fantastic.
What your future would be with you stay in PDI ? Do you imagine yourself in another studio sometimes ?
It?s tough to say. I love the work and the people at PDI, and I?m getting a chance to really stretch myself there and the company is treating me well. That being said, you can never say ?never?, right ?
The Pivot Questionnaire
I'm sure you will be agree to say that animators are definitely actors.
So actors got the actor's studio". Let's have our "Animator's studio" with "The Pivot Questionnaire" :
What is your favorite word? It?s more of a saying.. ?hmm.. not sure how to do it, but let?s figure out it..? I love ingenuity, people who aren?t afraid to search for an answer and won?t accept ?impossible?.
What is your least favorite word? ?Can?t?. I don?t like it when people say ?we can?t do that.? Especially when the end it with a ?period?. There is nothing we can?t do, nothing is impossible. It maybe difficult, sure.. it may be too expensive.. or unwise.. but everything's possible.
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Sensory experiences.. Burning man was a great example. I love people being people.. learning.. experiencing.. not being afraid to see something they haven?t seen before. People discovering.. I love it when you see that snap of ?AHH!? in kids. Watching them furrow their brows to figure things out is fantastic. Smiling.. laughing.. those things make me thrilled to be alive.
What turns you off ? Negativity and anger. It?s not worth it.
What is your favorite curse word? Ah soo many.. probably PANTS!! I love hearing someone yell ?PANTS? when something happens.
What sound or noise do you love? The sound of my wife laughing. Nothing makes me smile more.
What sound or noise do you hate? I don?t like the sound of people whining. Oh! CLOSE YER FRIGGIN MOUTH!! Gah, that?s just disgusting !
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Clown. I ?d love to be a clown . But not the scary kind with the crazy hair. The kind that?s actually entertaining for adults.. the kind that makes you in awe of their talent and insanity.
What profession would you not like to do? Surgeon. The money would be nice, but good lord, keep me away from that blood.
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? WAZZZAAAAAAAAP!!!!!
Conclusion
Our next interview will be with Shawn Kelly. What question would you like to ask him/her ?What is the most inspiring thing you?ve ever seen?
Jas, it has been a pleasure to have you for this very first interview.It?s been a huuuuuge honor! Thank you so much and good luck with the web site !
