Books! Books!Books!

(Click on the respective covers for a flash preview of the books)

This aint really a review but rather a sales pitch! I JUST got these books in the mail, so havn't really read them... but my immediate reaction to them was so strong I just had to get on and tell every Art/Animation/Film fan to do themsleves a favour and run out and grab these 2 books.
They are absolutely exploding with art and that too amazing art.Not a millimetere of a page is wasted.I have my share of Art Of...books, but not even the best Disney ones can compare to these 2 Sony Animation Art Of books. And if you thought Pixar made the best Art books nowdays, these will seriously make u reconsider.
Besides the art, they have cool guides, stickers, notes, journals, posters and all that stuff much on the lines of the Disney Keepsakes and Disney Treasures books by Robert Tieman.

These books actually justify these average movies by honouring the amazing art that went into them.It really does not matter wether u liked the movies or not, or if u prefer 2d/3d....JUST get the damn books! You SO wont regret it!

from The Art & Making of Monster House

from The Art of Open Season

WDCC: "I'm Losing To A Rug"

Got this one a month or so back, but with the moving and all I did not get around to taking pictures until now.
This piece from "Aladdin" was realsed as a Numbered Limited Edition in 1997 and has the Genie stressing over loosing to Carpet which seems to be floating effortlessly at the other end of this amazingly well designed sclupture by Valerie Edwards (also an Imagineer).

"Nuit Blanche"2006

Last night I made a brief visit to Nuit Blanche.For those who do not know, its a very cool event that happens only for ONE night in the year in Toronto from dusk till dawn. Where not only all the museums and art galleries are open all night for FREE but the streets, monuments are converted to pieces of art by artists from all over the place.
Practically the whole city is on the streets with their umberellas, fall jackets and walking shoes with an amazingly festive energy in the air.There are food and refreshment kiosks all over the city and the artworks sometime quirky, sometime mesmerising but always surprising!
From a video of grazing sheep on the exterior of a planetarium to a very cool landscape swamped with fog to create a visual striaght out of a Tim Burtom film!
Here are a few pics from last night. Cant wait to be well prepared and make the most of the Nuit Blanche next year!

Some Cool Poster Art !

Soom real nice, dark ,moody ,poster art that i lliked over the last few weeks...!

In Theatres : "The Last Kiss" & "Scoop"(Review)

After weeks of a dry spell at the cinemas, things are finally begining to pick up.Movies that actually make u wanna go check them out, some bad , some good but atleats have your interest.
So after a couple of disspointments (Hollywoodland, The Black Dahlia), i saw a couple of movies back to back which i really liked....The Last Kiss & Woody Allen's latest Scoop. Also since both the movies kinda-sorta fall in the same genre, thought i'd do a semi-common review.

Both these movies boast of no fancy special effects or fantastical settings and dramatic twists & turns. Very simple, linear charchter driven plots and with intresting screenplays.
Though they differ in tone, TLK (The Last Kiss, not to be confused with the Lion movie) is a bit more on the serious/mature side and Scoop being ur typical Woody Allen nutty comedy caper (quite the contrast to his last last year's Match Point ).

What i liked about the TLK was, though it fits into the cliche : guy having perfect life has a mid-life crisis, panicks and takes some worng turns...its really well written and the charcters and their motives are quite belivable.
The supporting cast also have their own issues to deal with & do it well.Great performances by all the major characters.I really liked Tom Wilkinson as the father in a very small but important role.People dont always make the right choices, and there are consequences, and the movie does not have to have a perfect ending.It was slick and honest. Highly recommended!

Scoop on the other hand is just a breeze to watch! It aint gonna alter the course of your life, but it will be a fun 90 mins. i cant seem to get enough of Woody Allen's sense of humour.People say its the same stuff every time, but i think if it aint broke, dont fix it!
Its silly, and it KNOWS its silly and just goes all out. It hilarious to just see his expressions as he does those magic tricks at the begining of the movie. I dont think that was meant to be funny, but he just makes me smile! I throughly enjoyed it, ist totally his movie, Hugh Jackman & Scarlet Johansen though good are over-shadowed by Woody Allen's presence.See it to relax and see how a non- lowbrow movie can make you laugh just as much!

"The Little Mermaid" Re-Union at El Capitan

Part 1 of 5
Click HERE for rest

A couple of weeks back there was a re-union of some of the Cast & Crew of The Little Mermaid at the El Capitan, much like the one featured on the Aladdin Platinum Edition DVD.However this wont be on the forthcoming Little Mermaid DVD.
But we can still see it cuase someone put it up on You Tube in 5 parts.
Its features Glen Keane, Ron & John, Menken among others.Worth a watch for sure.
Cant wait for this (hopefully loaded) 2 disc DVD, its been looooong over due!:-)


Add the The Little Mermaid trailer to your site at www.LittleMermaidDVD.com

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?