My Character Animation Demo Reel Aug'06

So...all these years of hard work, all nighters,stress etc etc and all i have to show for it is this 2 min video clip!?!?
Just seems SOO wrong! lol
Anyws...here is my demo reel that i put togetehr in the last few days, this one is geared to show what i have done in a capacity of an animator(2d&3d) and animation director and story/character devpt. stuff that i have done.

End Of All Things School

Finally, after 21 years of formal education, i think i am DONE! Its a strange feeling. Even though i have been out of school for a few years in between when i was working in the industry, its nice to know that i will never have to be a "Student" again.

Sorry about the lack of updates...been running around trying to put together a rushed demo reel and stuff...thankfully i had a descent response at the Industry Day, so also been going to various studios for interviews and such!
Hopefully would be employed soon....fingers crossed!
Will post more stuff real soon :-)

The Amazing Computer Animation Class of Jan'2006
Sheridan College

WDCC: "Mistress Of All Evil"

Malefeciant, Marc Davis's most elegant designs and one of the most striking Villains ever is captured in her climatic element in this spectacular sculpture by Kent Melton.
Much of her designs "coolness" comes from the amazing use of her Black/purple gown throughout the film.The way it moves and the fiery shapes it makes.
And this sculpture does a wonderful job of capturing that same majesty as a very furious & frustrated Maleficiant casts a spell of thorns on Sleeping Beauty's Castle to prevent her evil spell from being broken!
This piece was sooo hard to find...its a piece from 1997 and was the first in the Villains Series. :-)

"Blvd.Efil"Premier Today

Finally, its done!!!

It will be screened today at the Sheridan College Auditorium. Looking forward to seeing for the first time with an audience.
I know most of u are not local...but for whatevr its worth, woudl have loved to have u in the audience!
Here are some images of the look that i was experimenting with in the last few days...but i finally ended up taking it in a totally different direction(as per the Main Title).

"Blvd.Efil"Scene 11 Rough Animation

YAY! I just warapped the animation last night! 10 days to go and have to come up with the look , enviorment, lighting, rendering etc etc!
This is the rough animation for the last scene i just finished...the camera is temp..not the final angles and moves.

"Blvd.Efil"Scene 07 Rough Animation

To Touch or NOT To Touch....THAT..is the question!!
:-)

LAst 13 days..nearly done!!:-)

p.s The ribbon is hand animated not a Dynamic simulation or whatevr...and i guess it goes without saying, that by the end of this film i HATE ribbons!!

People & Places

I took this pic last year in a small villiage in India. Something about the young & the old i find quite fascinating.

They both represent such contrasts in terms of what they represent & where they stand in life,but yet also so extremely similar at the same time !

2D Feature In Develpment At WDFA!!

OKKKkkkkk....finally the news people like me have been dying to hear!...it seems its confirmed...there IS indeed a Definate 2D film project under development at WDFA.
And its being developed by (not so surprisingly) Ron Clements & John Musker.
And the project is..."The Frog Princess"!!!
Was hoping for (the now canned??!?)"The Snow Queen"to get the honour of bringing back the great Disney 2D Animation tradition, but hell...am not complaining,this will do just FIIIIINE!!
Yay! :-)

TB's Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3D

One of my fav. original story /characters ever....cant wait to watch it in theatres and in 3D!
Here is the poster for the Re-release.

WDCC: "You So Totally Rock,Squirt"

This JUST in!!:-)

I could not seem to get the pics i wanted with this one. A really weird shape...but amazing though!!
Its cool that both the turtles are connected to the wave at only one place (Crush's right hind fin)...it actually looks like they r floating...simply remarkable design and weight balancing!!

In Theatres : POTC Dead Man's Chest (Review)

Yes it a bit too long, yes its a bit too overly complicated (or tries to be)... BUT i thouroughly enjoyed it!
Considering the genre it belongs to...i think its the best "Summer film" of this summer over the impossible missions and super heroes.

I LOVED the designs & the effects on Davy Jones & his crew! So far best VFX of the year goes to ILM for this!
Some real cool landscapes...& it sure "LOOKED" like it was all REALLY shot on location in the Bahamas and not copy pasted a mountain from New Zealand , a river Europe & the sky from Timbuktoo, and i think keeping it REAL like that,does make a difference.

The best part i like about this this franchise is that its not based on existing & over exploited source materials .And its refreshing to a see a whole new world and charcters being created.
Granted its based on Walt Disney/Marc Davis and other Imagineer's work...but that hardly counts when we compare it to most of the source materials of other franchises.
Besides the Theme Park attraction did not offern much in terms of story and charcter.
I wish more studios and writers put on tehir thinking caps & try and give us more original stuff.
They dont have to be perfect, but it would be nice to see what New stuff people can come up with.Just cause its based on existing material, does not mean its gonan be great (referring to most of teh summer movies of this year or any other year for that matter).
Am not crazy about the cliffhanger ending...though i was pleasantly surprised & excited to see that an older character re-introduced in the end & look forward to seeing him in POTC 3: World's End, May 2007!

"Blvd.Efil"Scene 01 Blocking

Finally...have some work to show...been working on the modeling,rigging,weighing etc etc....
All that is still an ongoing process but have started animating before i fall a bit too behind.
So here is teh Opening SHot with teh credits and we see the man walking carefree as he whistles a tune when suddenly he hears something and looks around and cut!
Its just blocked in temp animation...i havnt even rigged the face and stuff yet...but it jhad just been way to long since i posted any new work!

In Theatres: Superman Returns (Review)

So how do u review a movie which u were really looking forward too...but after seeing it, u neither LOVE it enough or HATE it enough...i guess basically what am trying to say is, does not draw a very strong reaction in u.

I liked it...a few loop wholes..liked the visual fx, teh jet sequence was tres cool, however i am not sure how Lois could survive all that mid air bashing ...i guess sleeping with Superman makes u a demi -Superwoman?
Like the casting...Routh sure looks the part,dunno if he can act...i dont think he needs to in this role anyws.

Singer did mange to make Supes interesting considerng he is so goodie-goodie and lacking a sense of mystery or a darker side.
I was extremely dissppointed with the climax or the lack of it rather. Maybe thats why i walked out feeling a little short changed. What was the climax? Supes in a hospital bed?? will he live? ooooh i REALLLLLY wonder!!!?
I mean there were so many possibilities the moment he lands on that Crystal Rock thingie...but all that ends up happening is he gets bashed and stabbed & left for dead like in any alley way in any gangster movie set in a NYC-esque city!
Come on..this is SUPERMAN!

Also, i wish the kid was exploited a bit more too...he coudl have been an amazing part of the cilmax.He just seems to be in the worng movie for most of the time...staring at people as if he was in The Omen or something!?
The only reason i think he was just used as a tease & the movie was so restrained/loose ended in soooo many ways is, that proabbly this is just a set up for a trilogy or something. But even then...i wanted to be knocked out, and that didnt happen!

I like some of the nostalgic stuff like ,the nod to Reeve with the final closing shot of Superman smiling at the camera before he exits ,the very satisfying use of teh JW theme & cues mixed with new material, the design of the Opening Credits etc etc.
Liked Spacey enough to want to see more of him...and the canible dog was a surprise touch!

WDCC: "Trust In Me"

Sorry for the lack of more updates! Been awfully busy with school, that should change soon!...however have some new pics here that i took.
Its my new-est WDCC sculpture from The Jungle Book featuring Mowgli and Kaa!
Inspiring...aint it?

In Theatres :"Cars" (Review)

I liked it!!!
Visually stunning!
Cool soundtrack....bucket loads of heart (yes inspite of it being about talking CARS!).
The best animated movie of the year so far, and possibly one of the best movies of the year too.
A bit too long maybe...could have been 15 mins shorter or so but since u genuinely end up feeling for the characters and their predicaments...i can seem to forgive that.
Though i do think the "PIXAR FORMULA" is begining to show now...maybe TOO clearly!...and i think this is the perfect time for them to wake up to that and shake things up a bit before it does them in and thats is in terms of their story telling devices as well as their visual style.
But i am glad to get a break from yet ANOTHER animated movie with cute CG animals!
Monsters Inc Still remains my fav.Pixar movie and Bugs's Life my least. "Cars" probably fits somewhere right in the centre of that scale.
So irrespective of the box office returns...those who keeping score...PIXAR is still 7 for 7 in my books...though i wont add "and going strong"!

"Moments" Scene 15

Currently busy working away on finshing my model and rigging my main character from "Blvd.Efil".That also happens to be the most challenging stage for me in this CG animation pipeline.Hopefully will have somehting to share from it real soon.

Till then here is a rough composite of a scene from "Moments" without shadows,CC etc etc....have to finish this soon too!! geez..so much to do!

BUT...none the less am gonna make it to the theatres to see CARS today!....rest assured,will post my 2 cents after!
:-)

WDCC:"Seaside Serenade"

I was rescently gifted a membership to the Walt Disney Collector's Society by my cousin!
And this sculpture came with it....so i was just having fun takinng pics of it!!!?!lol

I know it look sliek i have a lot of time on my hands...doesn't it?

"Moments" Scene 74

Rough animation line test for this farewell seen where the little girl gets a gift from the old man.This scene was one hell of a long scene and hats off to Yogesh and Nilesh who worked on it and coloured (and re-coloured) every frame by hand with pastels!!!

In Theatres : X3(Review)

Hmmmm...i loved the first 2 X-Men movies directed by Bryan Singer. A fine balance of popcorn Summer Entertainment and beleivable Character Development leading to a very satisfying movie watching experience.
So its was very unforunate for me to find that the 3rd and supposedly the final chapter in this franchise did not do the same!
This one was strictly "OK"...there were just too many things missing...
A) Where was Nightcrawler from X2? is he not there just cause the actor could not make it back?
B) Whats with the pigeon guy..?? why was he even put in if he was not gonna be explored or developed. He seemed far more interesting than the chick running through walls!
C)The "Fur Ball"...u gotta be kidding...his presence on screen drew the most(& there where many)unrequired laughs and snickers from me! not good!
D) Phoenix...i waited the whole movie for a cool..jaw hitting the floor "Phoenix Moment"...but all i got was her floating in the air crying "save me"& everyone around her running and turning into what looked like garnulated pepper balls! Phoenix was just not FIERY enough for me!
E)And at the end,I wonder how those mutant kids will learn to hone their talents in that school with the bald kid there now sucking in all their powers! Could be quite annoying!

I know this review sounds like its coming from someone who does not know the X MEN comics too well and thats true! SO,i dunno if thats how prof Xavier ,Magnetto, Cyclops etc actually meet their end or not...but it sure did not seem convincing in the film.I mean,it seemed too forced..lets just kill peeople off or turn them into "Homosapiens" (which BTW is so simple, like pushing a button...and EUREKA! instant de-mutation!) cause we need to raise the stakes and wind up the franchise!

Cause somehow it seems the story did not demand all these deaths!and that too in such a not-so-glorious fashion!! i mean...they were such super powerful beings ...and u just put a needle in him and thats it?!
Hell,its MAGNETTO we r talking about!!!!

It was not JUST not built up enough...their death was not the pay off that was required to satisfy the script...and i am the last person to have problems with killing off primary characters!
I wish the director/writers chose to explore the very intersting concept about the cure, and the arguements for and against it rather then "lets just kill the next Xmen we can think off"!

I just hope now that Superman Returns is worth this sacrifice, cuase then i will hold Bryan Singer resposible for ruining 2 movies this summer, one by directing it and one by NOT directing!! Now, that would be a first!;-)

"Moments" Scene 10

This is my rough line test for a new scene and it hooks up to another new scene, Scene 9 (posted earlier).
It's after the girl's doll has been knocked over by a man who is in a hurry to catch a bus.
The Girl gives him a displeased look for a short bit and then picks up her doll.