Squash and Stretch

I know it’s been forever since I posted something but I just had to post this….it still astounds me how much awesome work comes out of this school….so enjoy…I know I am!!!

P.S. Don’t forget about #animtip Tuesdays on Twitter…they are always chock full of awesome tips…I try to post something helpful every week…and if ya wanna add me on twitter just click on the box under the Ad banner!

Monsters Vs Aliens

I am in the midst of Class 6 and so far it is AWESOME!!! My Mentor for Class 6 is Sean Sexton, he is currently working on Monsters Vs Aliens at DreamWorks Animation and he is great!!! He has worked on Bee Movie and Over the Hedge and he also worked on Futurama… which rules!!! This term is gonna be hard but it looks to be really fun too……so bring it on!!!

Kung Fu Panda

I know stupid title but hey it rhymes……..anyways my new mentor for Class 5: Beginning Short Film is none other than Jed Diffenderfer from DreamWorks where he works as a story artist….He worked on Kung Fu Panda and is now working Monsters vs Aliens….he is an awesome mentor and I can’t wait for him to help me figure out my whole short film!!!

Ratatouille wins Best Animated Feature

There are all kinds of congratulations to be handed out these days, and I am glad to do it! First off congrats to Pixar for winning Best Animated Feature at the 80th Academy Awards…..some of the mentors at AM worked on Ratatouille….Awesome work guys and gals!!!! Secondly I would like to congratulate Shawn Kelly (co-founder of AM) for his win of “Best Single Visual Effect of the Year!” at the VES awards. This was for his work in “Transformers” specifically in the Desert highway sequence where the robot is running like he’s on roller blades and knocking cars all over the place….Awesome work Shawn….keep it up!!!! Below is a video of Shawn accepting the award.

Monsters vs Aliens

Sorry for the corny title but I can’t help it if it is true!! I was extremely lucky enough to get Dave Burgess for my mentor this time in Class 4…….it is hard to believe that the man that animated some of my favorite characters of all time will be MY mentor!!!! Wow it just blows my mind every time I think about it!!!! He is currently animating on Monsters vs Aliens at DreamWorks (as seen in the pic above)…This is goin’ to be an awesome term I can feel it!!!!

Man this just makes me proud to be a member of this school….all of the amazing work that continues to come out of AM never ceases to amaze me….Keep up the good work guys and gals!!! Here’s what AM has to say about it!!!

“Welcome to the 3rd installment of our Student Showcase Reel to date. We here at Animation Mentor feel so proud of the work that has gone into this reel. 100% student created, 100% solo efforts. Each one of these shots was created by one student alone, though the shots could not have been completed without the support of our incredible student body and the leading industry animators that mentor their work.”

Enjoy!!!

Woohoo!!! Class 3 is a’rocking and a’rolling…….My mentor for this quarter is none other than Steve Cady. He works at Weta Digital as a character animator where he is currently working on Avatar and he also worked on one of my favorite movies (as seen above) …..This looks to be an awesome quarter!!! Intro to Acting here I come!

I love watching one of the greats do what he does best…just watch all the videos below and you will see what I mean!

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Via Cooked Art

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I found out my new mentor for Class 2 is none other than Dave Vallone….this is gonna be the beginning of an awesome quarter!

Surf's Up

I want all of you that read this post to go out and see Surf’s Up now!!! If you don’t want to take my word for it then here’s what Cartoon Brew has to say about it:

“Don’t let this film pass you by. It’s excellent. It’s not just another “penguin movie”. It’s a surfing comedy with funny characters and, bottom line, it’s very entertaining. And you can tell the different penguin characters apart!”

So get up off your behinds and go see it NOW!!