I spoke to current animators. Whether by email or face to face I spoke to animators that I admired. There is so much knowledge you can learn from someone who's already accomplished what you are seeking.
2. Which scenes did you animate in Movie 2?
I worked on the sequence called "City without Kung Fu" and it's the part where the 5 get into the dragon costume and sneak around the city in search of the Kung Fu Masters. I animated the shots where there's a sheep inside the mouth of the dragon along with the cut away shots of the 5 in the dragon. There were a few other shots around the film but these are the most memorable ones.
3. Explain me how and when did you realize that you wanted to become an Animator?
I think I knew as soon as I was able to understand what animation was. Animation, and specifically drawing, was what I spent most of my time thinking about as a kid. I can't remember a time in my conscious life where it wasn't what I wanted to do.
In high school, I briefly turned my back on animation because I thought it was an uncool and impractical endeavor. Most of my close friends were brilliant academics who would go on to study electrical and aerospace engineering, biology, and computer science. I was the odd duck who was really into the art of animation and filmmaking. When it was time to choose a college, that's when I hit the ground running and fully embraced animation as a career.
4. Explain what are some of your favorite projects you're proud to have been a part of?
Lauren MacMullan's short film “Get a Horse!” is a real career high for me. Working with Lauren, Eric Goldberg, and Adam Green on a Mickey Mouse cartoon was something I was pinching myself about on a daily basis.
It vindicated all that time I spent as a kid drawing Mickey and the gang, and absorbing all those cartoons. Lauren and Eric are both geniuses with great minds for entertainment.
Eric's animation on the Genie in “Aladdin” is one of my favorite things ever put on a screen by an artist. Getting his feedback on my work and collaborating with him is something I'll appreciate for the rest of my life.
Rich Moore's film “Wreck It Ralph” was my first project at Disney and it was an amazing initiation. That movie fired on all cylinders: it had a sharp-witted director, it had the complete support and admiration of the crew that made it, it had a fantastic art style, and it was incredibly fun to animate. And on a practical level, the models and rigs were fantastic
5. Tell me do you look for imperfections in your work or just enjoy the film as you watch it?
All I see are the imperfections in my scenes.
6. Tell me what is the most difficult part for you about being in the animation business?
It's very time-consuming work, and it takes so long to get projects off the ground that you might work on only a few amazing things in your lifetime (if you're lucky!) There are so many different types of projects to explore, and so little time.
Animation is expensive in every conceivable meaning of the word. It is generally a massive team sport if you want to make anything longer than a few minutes, so using the medium as a form of personal expression is exceptionally hard.
It takes a rare kind of insane person to use animation (of a feature quality) to tell a personal story the way a live-action filmmaker would.
7. Tell me have you ever thought about directing a Disney movie? Did you ever get a chance to do so?
I like animating, and the current lineup of filmmakers at Disney is terrific.
To me, directing is a means toward personal expression. If I didn't absolutely feel connected to the story I was telling, I would have no interest in going through the half-decade slog of directing an animated feature. However, my taste in storytelling is definitely in alignment with some of the films Disney and Pixar have made in their history.
Milt Kahl from the past, because his animation stood out to me as a kid before I even knew whom he was. It's just so damn nice to watch. I wish I could draw like that.
Glen Keane from the present, because I missed the boat on “Tangled” and I'm very sad that I didn't get to learn from him directly.
9. Tell me what was the most stressful project you worked on?
My most stressful project was a teamproject in highschool were my teammates were not as invested as I was to the project. I ended up finishing the project by myself.
10. Tell me how do you keep track of work so that it gets done on time?
In production environment it is sometime difficult to keep track of work that's why I always make sure that when I start shot I show my blocking to my supervisor asap so if there any changes in it I correct it immediately.
11. Explain why do you want a career as an animator?
I can't see doing anything else. I love the hight of making something move, and how satisfyiong that is. I love to draw, and I would like to contribute to a project to get it up on screen.
12. Tell me why are you the best animator for us?
I know the tools, and I love to pick up tricks. I also tend to gravitate towards cartoony projects, and rick and morty is that style. I am versitile in my work, and can aclimatize to any style.
13. Explain me what are you doing to keep current in technology?
What I am doing is trying to use public technology (like in the library or school) and testing how it could affect my art style.
Anything that gives people a solid and realistic animation education without putting them in terrible debt is good. They have my support.
15. Tell me which film(s) was that on? And how did you tackle that problem(s)?
That was for “Frozen”. I often used live reference of myself or my girlfriend acting out a particular situation. I tried my best to contain the broad choices in my animation to bring it to the desired level of naturalism.
Sometimes I would tone it back too far, to the point that it looked dead and rotoscoped. Then I had to amp some of the caricature back up to find the appeal and simplicity (the reason we like to watch animation in the first place!) It was just a lot of doing it, doing it, doing it until it was right. That's the only way to learn and overcome.
16. Tell me what is your favorite 2D or 3D animated film(s) of all and why?
My favorite 2D films are a tie between “Pinocchio” and “The Iron Giant” .
Disney's film is an absolute masterpiece of the classical animation art form, just gushing with charm and amazing music.
Brad Bird's film is probably the most sophisticated and intelligent filmmaking ever applied to traditional animation. It made me want more!
My favorite CG films are a tie between “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille” . What can I say? The animation, voice acting, art direction, and filmmaking are just flawlessly executed. Brad Bird and Pixar are gifts to the art form.
17. Tell me does Disney provide constant training to animators? How do they keep the level higher?
We have fine art drawing classes available to us twice a week, and frequent seminars from animators that instill the value systems of the department. These talks could be about appeal, design, acting, tools, technology, filmmaking, and more.
They are sometimes project-specific, but no matter what there is always something to learn. The great thing about the computer system at Disney is that almost all presentations are archived so they can be watched again in the future, or seen for the first time by new people.
18. Tell me what was your first work you ever worked on? How did you get it at first?
My first job was illustrating a book for a friend of my dad. I was twelve years old. It felt good to have professional validation at such a young age, but now I can't look at those drawings. It's like a completely different person made them. It's an adolescent style that imitates classical cartoons in a clumsy, awkward, overly rendered way.
19. Tell me are there any upcoming films that you are excited to see?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I'm a huge huge fan of the books and films and have been looking forward to this film for a long time.
20. Tell me do you ever go to the movies and watch one of your own films?
Absolutely! There's nothing like it. We as crew get to watch the films over and over again but always with industry people or the crew that worked on it. There's a certain amount of predictability watching it like this, that's why I enjoy just going into the theater and watching it with a crowd of fans. It's always so exciting to hear them laugh and cheer... especially if it's a shot you worked on.
A typical day would be coming in and grabbing a quick breakfast before heading to my desk to check on my overnight renders. I then head into morning dailies where I show my work in front of the director and supervisors. I get notes and head back to my desk. I work on the notes for my shot. Lunchtime rolls around and I head down to the commissary with some friends and eat. We wrap lunch in about an hour and I head back upstairs to continue working on my shot. I sent off a render and get prepared for afternoon rounds (which is the same thing as dailies except at the end of the day) I get a buy off from my lead and submit for afternoon rounds. I meet again with the director and hope that I addressed all his notes. If he's happy he'll approve the shot, if not I'll get some more notes and continue the same process the next day until the shot is approved. There you have it.
No, I think it really depends on the individual person. There are some people who are simply natural animators and that have never needed the formal education, they already know intuitively the animation principles and are amazing animators. Then there are amazing artists who just need the structure or knowledge that the formal education can give them.
My very first job was as a "3D Technical Artist" at Lucasarts. I had just graduated from Ringling and to be quite honest, I just wanted to get my foot in the door. To just get the smallest opportunity at a studio where I could grow. Luckily I had a friend who was already working there and she gave my name to another production who was looking for an Entry Level Artist. I basically took the animations created by animators and putting them into the game engine. That's the short of it. It was a great beginner job and helped me learn about every aspect in the game industry. It helped me connect with other animators and gave me production experience that I needed.
24. Tell me is there anything that you would like to do as an Animator that you haven't done yet?
I would really like to start on a film at it's early stages and help develop the characters from the ground up. That would be a truly great experience.
I usually decide after I'm issued a shot if I'm going to film reference for it, or if I'm just going to act it out at my desk and "feel" it out. If a shot involves a lot of mechanics or realistic behavior, then reference is generally a must.
Whether I approach a shot from reference or come up with a graphic solution, I always like to work in stepped key-frames. This really allows me to focus on the poses that communicate the story beat in the most entertaining and clear way.
I like the challenge of making each scene as simple as it can possibly be, while also milking the part that's most compelling about it.
