At long last...

Whoooo boy! Have I got a pile of poor quality amateur animation for you! Projects at school have been getting bigger, better, longer and uncut. They are taking more time and energy and making me feel tired all the time. It's a pleasant exhaustion however. One mixed with the satisfaction brought through completion of assignments. I really haven't been getting out much so my only real news is my completed assignments. Here are four for your viewing pleasure:

The flame with real smoking action! -
This was the first experiment in our new effects animation class. We were supposed to create a flame and then blow it out and have it continue to smoke for a bit. I tried to be clever when I shot it by mixing drawings up but it just turned out looking glitchy. Next time it will be better. I promise. Mother Nature deserves more.



Water drop with super-bonus ripple action! -
This was the second experiment in effects. Water is not easy to animate well. However, it only takes a week and a half to squeeze in enough time to animate it poorly. Observe:



Head rotation with spinning action! -

This was an attempt to rotate a head 360 degrees in order to illustrate the challenges of maintaining correct positioning, sizes and volumes of the facial elements. I had one of the simplest head designs in the class and I still managed to get lost. I'm actually quite proud of these 16 drawings despite the amount of help I received from the instructors.




The take with super crazy bug-out-eye, tongue-wiggle, body-jolt action! -
This was our try at the classic cartoon take. Cartoon sees something, freaks out in a big way and takes off. Sounds simple, but as in all things animated, it isn't. I received a fair amount of help on this after my vain attempts yeilded nothing but a freaky hippy cartoon floating in space. It has a few pops in it where I should have smoothed out the transitions but it's still fun. Enjoy!

Can I get a what, what, er uh, what? Huh?

"Sometimes, you just gotta turn on the hose and let the lawn get watered" - Anonymous
Potentially wise words, too bad nobody smart said 'em. They do however have something to do with the feeling of high water pressure building behind me as I continue to complete assignments without posting them to the blogorino. It shouldn't be more than a couple of days before I have for you a small handful of delicious atrocities. Yes, through the skillful mangling of pencil lines on paper, I have rotated heads, started, then snuffed fire and even conjured the element of water. Just wait for the glory!

Snow Job!

Hey! I made my own short! This wasn't an assignment but I needed to create something other than a line test or I was going to start feeling terrible. It's super short but I had a lot of fun making it. It's a new take on an old gag, kind of like TV is to fire. I put up a nicer quality video on Vimeo if you want to see it in all it's glory:

http://www.vimeo.com/7589515

Anyway! Enjoy!

Holy Moly this things getting moldy!

Wow! It's been a while since I last put something up, but with good reason. I've been super busy working on assignments at school, and well, I can't really remember anything else. I've sneaked back and forth to Seattle a couple of times, got stopped at the border on the way back this time (big surprise!). I think I'm on a list. If the CIA or NSA or the Department of Homeland Security or FBI (why do we have all these?) or whatever the Canadian security agency is called are keeping tabs on me, know this:

I don't smuggle drugs or weapons or want to overthrow the government. I just want free cheeseburgers on Sundays.

Love, Peter

This weekend I came down to visit some good friends visiting from Japan. They gave me some awesome Makoto-chan t-shirts. It was also the auspicious occasion of my Dad's birthday. We put on dumb hats and ate pumpkin pie. It was great. We proceeded to watch Burn After Reading, which I though was great but I think it just confused our guests. I know I'm leaving things out but I've been really frazzled lately and I can't remember any real stories. I do however have some animations!!! Since the last time I posted anything I completed three assignments that required a line, or pencil test. They are:

Stumpy Santa: A Santa with no arms or legs (for the sake of simplicity, not morbid humor). It is supposed to be played as a loop, so figure that out if you want. I'm not really happy with the hang time at the top of his bounce, but I like the way the hat reacts and I think the bounce is fine.



Repeat Pan (Mountain Scene): This was our first layout assignment. We had to create a background for a camera pan that looped. They use these in cartoons all the time. Next time you watch any keep an eye out for rocks or trees that keep popping up again during a walking or running scene. I got this one to repeat really smoothly. Ignore the Wite-Out towards the end of the cycle. Once again, this one is meant to be looped.



Jumping frog: A frog that jumps down a dock, sees a bug and eats it. I think the emphasis was on the frog's jump for this assignment but I was more excited about the bug being eaten so I spent all my time on that. I call this one Frog and Bug: A Love Story. It's about a Frog that jumps down a dock, sees a bug and eats it. The frog, despite it's natural ability to grab the bug with it's tongue, decides to use it's wit instead. The frog, knowing the bug's weakness for donuts, lures the bug inside his mouth with a flashing donut sign. Stupid bug. I wish I had spent more time on the jump and slowed down the bug eating part. Oh well. I'm not in school to do well the first time. I'm here to fail! Constantly! That's how you get your money's worth! Failure! Woohoo!

Enjoy!

Skunks like recycling too!

I finally made time for myself this week to come home and cook a proper meal. It felt so good as I've been getting home after 11 pm lately. I really like getting work done, but relaxing with the Pipester is one of my favorite activities. I made some type of curry. It's allright. I can eat it for two more meals. Any more and I'll crack. On the other hand Piper has been getting new wet food from those little made-for-prissy-cat packages. She's nuts for that stuff! She's constantly hounding me (yes, like a dog) for more food. I'm excited because it means she's happy and I've felt bad for leaving her alone so much during the week. Though, we do have a house full of people now. The woman who rents the up-upstairs has returned from her work in the North and is currently filling the house with good fire-creating vibes. After I finished dinner I stepped outside and then immediately back inside. The reason for my doorway hokey-pokey was a skunk hanging out in the recycling bin outside the front door. I don't know why he was in the recycling bin, but he was there when I checked on him about an hour later. He must have been reading the newspaper. The Dalai Lama is visiting Vancouver and has been on the front page. I'm glad I live with Earth-conscious peacenik skunks. Better than the Hells Angels skunks nextdoor. In animation news: We had our weekly History of Animation class today and we saw some of the most AMAZING animation I have ever scene. It actually expanded me as a person. I forgot what it felt like for my eyes to feast on visuals as though they were a Thanksgiving meal (which, by the way is coming up for Canucks). A short list of the artists and films which made an impression on me: Alexander Petrov The Old Man and The Sea (1999), Ryan Larkin Walking (1970), Chris Landreth Ryan (2005), Lotte Reiniger The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1908!), Suzie Templeton Peter and the Wolf (2006) and Erica Russell Feet of Song (1988). They would all be better seen on a nice big screen so try and find these on DVD and watch them at your-friend-who-has-a-huge-flat-screen-tv's house. Oh yeah! The photo is of my desk at school! Hopefully it will become more cluttered with time!

Home sweet home!

Here are some photos of my pad. You can see that there is quite a lot of "stuff" around the house. My landlord has a small collection of cars, most of them in need of some "love". If you look carefully at the picture of my room, you'll see Piper in the background, my nifty VFS backpack in the foreground and a copy of The Illusion of Life on my bed.

P.S. I just noticed that Piper is somewhere in the photo of the whole house. Can you find her?

Under where? Under Sea!

Whoooo! I finally finished my latest animation. Once again it's just a pencil test but it took alot of work. Most of it unnecessary but all of the mistakes were valuable lessons. Simplified and distilled, here's what I learned from making the latest piece of animation: Time management is key. Concentration is key. I am terrible at both.

Time use and concentration are all I can effect. I'm going to wear earplugs at school and assign a set amount of hours to each project. That's right. I'm taking my biosuit, made of recycled animation paper, Dr.Pepper cans and eraser bits and taking a space walk in the Nerd-o-sphere! Enjoy!

Knife Fight!

They say that manual labor doesn't pay as well as work of a more cerebral nature. I used to think that was just an excuse propagated by the rich in an attempt to justify paying low wages to workers. I'm starting to think that there might be something to it other than pompous elitism. I've been so tired lately and it's not because of any intense marathons or all the bench pressing I've been doing. I think it's because of all the brain activity lately. Constantly problem solving and adapting to daily changes and challenges is seriously tiring. It's no wonder humans like to settle into a nice comfy zone most of the time. I've been having a lot of weird dreams lately too. I dreamed that I was working in the garage at my parents house working on the Falcon. Everybody had gone somewhere, like a fair or some kind of event. A young man with a red baseball hat and a white jacket came up out of nowhere and said he was looking for car parts. I looked at his eyes and I saw malice in them. I said "and you don't want to pay for them? Right?" "No" he replied. I then got out my knife and we got into a knife fight. We kept circling each not really ready to hurt each other let alone kill each other. I just wanted him to go away. I kept swiping at him, giving him little cuts but nothing that bad. I kept getting sliced because I didn't want to fight really. We were also carrying on a conversation the whole time. I finally had it and I stuck him in the ribs really hard. It went deep but it was gross and not very satisfying. I don't think the fight ended at that point, but I don't remember much beyond that. See? Weird. Had Animation History today. We looked at propaganda films from the war. My favorites were a Disney one about bacon grease and a more somber one from MGM which was actually nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize! We also looked at UPA which shook up the animation scene in the 50's with their modern style. Then some of the animators (who had defected from Disney) came under the scrutiny of the McCarthy commie witch hunt after a paranoid Walt Disney ratted them out! That killed the sudio. Enjoy!

Fight on!

I'm going to bed now. I think most of these posts will be written at the end of the day simply because of my new schedule. I'm going to try my hardest to fall asleep quickly. I have an assignment due tomorrow and I haven't made much progress. My plan is to wake up early and work at school until class starts and then work through lunch and then turn it in at the last minute. Clap your hands if you believe in Peter! I'm a little behind because I made it down to Bainbridge Island this weekend for the Blackbird Bakery 10th Birthday Party! It was great. Beautiful weather, good people and a beer garden. I wish I could have stayed longer but I had to get back to school. I was so tired today. I fell asleep on the bus coming home and missed my stop. I woke up half way up the mountain. Finally got home, ate some pizza, watched tv, fell asleep. I dreamed that somebody was telling me what they thought of my blog. They said it was too wordy and not very interesting. I tried to explain to them that it was more of just a journal, keeping track of my daily exploits, but that didn't change their mind. I think the dream was an internal conversation with myself. I'll try and keep it interesting by sneaking links in. I can't think of any right now. I guess I'm just tired. In more school news, I keep finding out more about my instructors. They've all worked on some amazing projects. My character design instructor worked with John K. on Ren and Stimpy! He says he's crazy. I believe it. I saw him on the introductions to the Lost Episodes. Nuts. Perfect role model. Goodnight.

Long daze.

Just like the last time I wrote a post, it is after midnight. We gon' let it all hang out. I spent 15 hours at school yesterday and 14 today. We had class from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and I stayed late to finish some work. I really wasn't under any pressure to stay that long but I'm trying to avoid having homework this weekend. I got other stuff to do. There was great fruit born from my labor, however. I present to you the Jumping Flour Sack! I was so excited when I saw this thing move. It's about 3 seconds long and it's all dark and it's just a pencil test but it was so fun to make! I hear that there's a point at which it becomes work, but I'll hold out as long as I can. Enjoy!

Whoops.

It's midnight. I just woke up to get ready to go back to sleep. I fell asleep around 8:30 after taking my roommate to Ikea with the intent to buy a desk. Our intentions were met with success, and we made it out alive. I didn't however, make it out without having eaten 15 meatballs, a side of mash potatoes and gravy and a frozen yogurt cone. We were talking it over and figured that Ikea with it's sales genius, discovered that well fed people, are happy-to-spend-money-on-crap-from-Sweden-with-weird-names people. Keep them full and nourished during their 40 years of meandering, lost in the wastelands of consumerist quintessence and treat them to delicous cheap treats after they reach the promised land of the cash registers. In order to squeeze every last drop of spending compulsion out of their customers, they give us $1 frozen yogurt and 50 cent hotdogs. Anyway, that's my 52 cents on Ikea. In fun news, we started our flour sack animation today! I finished it in about 45 minutes I was so excited to see it move. I have to add some frames to give it a little more oomph, but I'm proud of my first attempt. I'll let you see it when it's done. I have however, created a quicktime movie of my first foray into classical animation: The Bouncing Ball. It's only a pencil test and it's about 3 seconds long (if that). But I like it and so does the little steamer that's in it!

Laborious Day

Tomorrow is Labor Day. I will be laboring. I have to finish one more assignment before we go back to school but I have no reason to complain since I'll just be drawing! I want to try having weekends free when I can, so this week's personal goal will be finishing all assignments before the weekend. Yee haw! There's only one class that looks boring this week and that's a seminar on copyright. Boo! Free the ideas! They're like Doritos "Crunch all you want, we'll make more!". I'm particularly excited for Animation History. Seriously, we watch cartoons for three hours. What the hell?! I'm in heaven! Last week the instructor started us out with some of the first animated films. By the end I had much new found respect for Disney. In particular the Ub Iwerks works. Mickey too, I never knew he was so violent. He also had us sing along (by us I mean the five of the 4o who have no shame) to The Three Little Pigs animation. I found myself singing "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?" while I cooked some delicious bacon the next morning. In other news I have a new roommate who is into modular analog synthesizers and has been toiling away, soldering and drilling since he arrived on Saturday. His room looks like a science lab from a '60s space movie. Awesome. Oh yeah, did I mention that I live in a windmill?

The short of it:

I've been here in Vancouver 2 weeks now. In chronological order beginning 2 days prior to my original departure from Crystal Springs on Bainbridge Island, here's what's happened: I cleaned my house and got it sorted with the invaluable help of the Jayne 'rents. Packed up my car with the bike on top and Piper, the cat, in the front seat. Left for Vancouver on Sunday the 23rd of August. Piper made weird noises, wet herself, bit the bars of her cage and made her paw bleed from her violent outbursts during the ride north. Made it to and through the border without problems but with a vaild study permit. Arrived at my new home in North Vancouver. Unpacked. Ate a Teen Burger at the A&W that's a block from the house. Went to bed. Woke up on the 24th and attended the Vancouver Film School orientation in Downtown Vancouver. Had my picture taken. Smirky smile. Next day took the Sea Bus to get a cell phone and bank account set up. I spent the rest of the week cleaning my room and getting it organized and cleaned. I found a desk at the Salvation Army. Piper had her first encounter with the family of skunks living in the bushes around the house. Luckily it didn't get stinky. I have noticed some pugent odors wafting through the windows lately. Cute as they are, I wish they wouldn't hang out here. Sister Carrie came and became my very first guest last Saturday. We managed to do some exploring around the area. The highlights include: The Lynn Valley Canyon, The Rusty Gull (Carrie was pretty aprehensive at first), the one-man-band at the Rusty Gull that played Bob Seeger and Santana covers and the new Ang Lee movie Taking Woodstock. The lowlights were pretty much that downtown Vancouver, without proper knowledge of the city is really expensive to hang out in. I said goodbye to Carrie last Sunday and got ready for the big day on Monday. Since starting school on Monday I've had ten different classes and 5 assignments. Due next week are a fully designed character, line test of a bouncing ball with dope sheet, one-point perspective drawing, concept layouts with thumbnails and animation assisting in-betweens. My class is full of 22 people who all share a passion for drawing and animation and will all share a similar case of carpal tunnel syndrome in a year. BRING IT ON!

In the beginning...

...There was the void. It was empty and lifeless, then God, having infinite wisdom, created the Internet. But God's other creation, Man, was without a modem and could not connect a computer to this glorious connector of minds. So God sent him a wireless modem, but Man had to wait a long ass time for it. Meanwhile Man kept having to use the WiFi at coffee shops (which were other creations that popped up, seemingly, out of nowhere) in order to do even menial tasks like check email and stuff. So anyway, God finally got around to bestowing the gift of the Internet upon Man. Man was pleased. And so it was that Man got his Internet back, kind of like Stella but not in Jamaica and Taye Diggs wasn't there. Our story however, concerns a specific man, whom they call Peter. He has recently left his home of three years on the lovely Island of Bainbridge in order to pursue a most peculiar means of artistic expression known as "animation" in the neighbouring land of the Canadians to the north. Let us begin there...