Ive won a Green Card... what now?

So... im one of the selected people of this years Green Card Lottery...
Im still halfway paralized and dont know what to do first and what to think at all...
But i think this is a good opportunity to somehow document the way to obtaining that Green Card so that interested people who are in the same position in future can get some info from it...

So stay tuned for more to come in the following months... For all ive read, its gonna take a while untill this stuff is over. They dont start interviewing people before October. But that also gives me enough time to gather all the materials i need :-)

Serious topics in animated films

I had to get sick to finally watch The Incredibles again... And while watching it, i noticed something i hadnt noticed before.

But let me start somewhere else first... over a long time ive been complaining about studios not having the balls to put more adult material in their movies. That was one of the things that "disappointed" me the most in Brave... that there wouldve been a chance to make it much darker.

Anyways... while watching Incredibles, i realized that Pixar had already done it.
There is LOTS of pretty adult stuff in there which would, shown in a live action movie, most likely make the movie not very suitable for kids.

But somehow Pixar (and Brad Bird) packed a plane crash, a father thinking he has lost his family, a woman who thinks her husband is cheating on her, open street violence and much more in a movie... and its absolutely suitable for Kids...
My admiration for Pixar (And Brad Bird) just grew even more when i realized that...

Go, try to watch Incredibles, and imagine some of those scenes in a live action movie...

Man Pixar... you just rock... :-)
You guys really just rock... i hope theres gonna be more of that in future (Like in Toy Story 3 f.ex.) and i hope the company doesnt get too corporate...
My hopes are high, especially for "Inside out"

Please dont disappoint me :-)

Kai the homeless guy

This guy is so genuine... i LOVE it... so unspoiled and straightforward.
And i totally buy it. Im sure this guy is real...

i want to meet more people like him...

i friggin LOVE animation...

After ranting around i just thought im writing something positive today.

I dont know if its because im super sensitive to caffeine or because im in love with a beautiful woman or whatever that im feeling such a rush at the moment, but i just realized once again how much i LOVE my life and what im doing with it.

Im working on two shots in my spare time at the moment, and both are a struggle, but every once in a while they take a step forward and i feel that im taking steps forward with my shots as well...
I can see how my work improves... i can see that with every shot im getting closer to accomplishing the dreadful task of making my stuff look the way i see it in my imagination...

I see how much that life drawing class helped me understand how to pose characters... and this was only the start... im gonna take more classes soon!
Also, by reading blogs about filmmaking, animation and art i feel so incredibly inspired...
There is still so much to explore... Drawing... i dont draw enough... if i look at Andreas Dejas fantastic blog im constantly reminded how amazing it is to be able to draw...
Music... there is no better way to express a feeling than through a song... i want to learn playing the guitar...
Photography... inspired by my friend Simon Christen i really want to get into photography too... learn about composition and the craft... i want to do a nice timelapse short about the beautiful city of Toronto...

But... a lot of the stuff i just mentioned has to wait because of my biggest passion...
Animation... i LOVE how im improving... Animation Mentor and iAnimate are the best places to be... its so inspiring to work with and learn from all those amazing people around me...There is so much to explore... so many stories to tell... i have at least 6 ideas for short stories that im bouncing around since about 2 years... i hope i find some time soon to actually produce one...

But there is also so much more in animation...
I wanna try 2D... by doing all the Assignments from AMs basic foundations class in 2D im learning so much more, especially about timing and spacing... i can only encourage EVERYONE to try to do this... it will give you a much broader view and understanding on how animation works...
I also want to try stop motion... after seeing Pirates, Paranorman and Frankenweenie this year i gotta say... those guys have my biggest respect...
Its insane how tedious the process of stop motion is... but i can only imagine how incredibly rewarding it must be...

An amazing year is ahead of us... im looking forward to what all you guys out there create...
And i hope i can share some of my creations too at some point... :-)

a rant...

This year ive seen more movies than ever before.
I tried to see every animated film (made by the bigger studios) that came out...
And of course i also love to discuss the quality of each and every movie.
I love to comment and analyze and hear peoples opinions.

And especially ive made an observation recently, that really brings me to the edge... i dont know why... my girlfriend says im stupid for getting annoyed because of something like this, but i think i just appreciate and love our beautiful art form so much, that it really upsets me when people argument unreasonably.

Maybe its also just about the words people use when they state their opinion about a movie...

Unless a movie was really bad... i mean: Bad animation, Bad visuals, crappy effects and the worst story ever... i would never say things like: "It sucked!", "It sucked soooo much, from beginning to end!", "nothing good about it!" "the best thing was my friends name in the credits" and so on...
Remarks like this really really REALLY get me going and i always find myself loosing a lot of respect for people who let themselves go like this... especially when they work in the same industry and should at least bring up some respect for the people who worked on it.

I just dont understand how someone could talk like this... Brave wasnt perfect... Madagascar 3 was clearly made for kids... People from Blue Sky even stated that they didnt make an effort to tell a story in new compelling ways...
Why people would dislike Rise of the Guardians except for the maaaaybe a liiiiitle to kiddie like story is a mistery to me... and i even heard someone completely dismissing Wreck it Ralph... i mean... WTF people?

I think it just comes down to the old rivalry amongst fanboys (and girls), mostly students or people fresh out of school... who see the films of their favourite studio with other eyes than any other movie... or even dismiss a movie just because it was made by a certain studio... And people like this... i just cant stand...
No one likes it when people talk bad about a movie youve worked on... we all pour our hearts and souls into each and every shot we work on... so a little respect should be given... dont you think?

And IF you go and talk bad about a movie... have a friggin reason why you didnt like it... "oh im just no gamer" or "it was just boring" doesnt cut it for me... especially for a movie that has such a beautiful and well crafted story like Wreck it Ralph...
Or when someone compares the Croods with Brave, bringing up stupid narrowminded comparisons without even having seen the movie... that really gets me going...

There is something beautiful in every new movie that comes out and i dont think that this is a matter of taste. I like or "dislike" certain movies myself... but in the recent years i have never seen a movie coming from the bigger studios, where there wasnt at least one small cute, nice, beautiful, astonishing thing in it...

There are AMAZING artists working at EVERY studio... People working in the industry should know that... and students definitely shouldnt bash movies, made by companies, they would give a kidney to work for.

Im done now...
just one last thing guys...
We are working in the ultimate art form... can you think of any other medium that combines so many disciplines together? Dont we have the f**** most awesome job in the world? Isnt creating those films together, by pushing each other and finding the coolest solutions for every problem, the best thing about it? And dont you LOVE it when you see how people get moved by it... how Kids admire the characters we created?
Isnt that the most important thing?

So... does it really matter that much, where we create our art?

Brave or... ill keep hoping for Pixars comeback...

Brave is out... and as many of the people i have to say that my feelings are mixed...
On one side it looks AMAZING... The lighting turned out to be better than i thought. And of course the animation is absolutely breathtaking...
The characters are very cool, and the very core of the story is beautifully drawn out (even thoug a bit too simple)
And i truly think that Pixar has made a step forward in many ways...

But on the other hand i have to say... this film had so much more Potential, so this step was actually just a tiny one...
I think the main problem of this film is, that they had to fit it for all audiences.
I would have preferred either a total kids movie OR a much darker and mature piece.
And since im a bit older and also since a lot of the trailers (and the whole visuals) gear it more towards the latter, i think it would have been better to make it like this...
Darker!
 Why not leave the Queen as a Bear? Why cant the suitors not be a bit more "suitable" so merida would actually be tempted?
Why not kick out the triplets completely? Bring in some more girls that maybe want the same as merida but arent strong enough?
Why do we need this cheesy sooo convenient happy ending?

To be honest, after the first 30min i was actually really worried...
That song when shes riding out ugh... please... we dont need that... disney does that pretty well already... we also dont need all the slapstick humor... i was really worried that it would stay like this... and then luckily got surprised when elinor turns into the bear and i though "ooooh THATS how its gonna go" i was happy that the story gained some depth there... But still its a bit too simple... Some stuff obviously reminds of brother bear... and i couldnt help but having this deja vu feeling of elinor and meridas facial expressions at the end when they look at each other and everything is well again. Its the same as in tangled...

I teared up several times... most of them were just beautiful filmmaking moments (like when she splits the arrow... or when they intercut meridas/elinors conversations etc.) where i started thinking "YEAH thats what i wanna do someday" And i have to say... Pixar is still my mekka... the dream i want to come true more than anything else... i live for this one dream... but as i mentioned in another comment...
It feels a bit like Pixar is over its peak...
Its become big and slow... Doesnt take as many risks anymore... i wish someone would rattle up the good old Brain Trust and tell them to keep going... OR to change something inside the company... Maybe create a "experimental" department where artists could create smaller more radical films under the safe umbrella of the mother company...
Something has to change in emeryville... and i mean this! It would destroy me to see Pixar become just another film studio... i want them to lead the way... to try new things... to push our wonderful art form to new heights... Discover new ways to tell stories... and most of all... TELL NEW AND EXCITING STORIES!!

Thats why we love you Pixar... Thats why im so obsessed with you...
And i cant bear the thought of Pixar being "just another studio"

The next step...

After one brilliant year at Pixomondo, i unfortunately had to leave the company along with a couple of other people because there wasnt enough work to do.

But once again my "theory" that fate will open a door if you work hard enough, proved right and after having an interview 2 weeks before i left Pixomondo, i got a Job offer right in the week after i left Pixomondo. And now... another week later im just 5 minutes down the street, working in a well established and cool VFX house.
(I might have to add that im sure i also got the job due to politics and MANY soho people who left to work at Pixomondo instead... so im pretty sure that a guy COMING from Pixomondo might be very welcome at soho)

But anyways... im determined to show that i have more to offer than just my "heritage" hahaha

And the coolest thing is yet to come... while the others are finishing up Jack the Giant Killer and other projects... Me and a couple of other animators are ramping up a new Project. Which is what i always wanted to do... super fun cartoony animation.
It is "just" for a Kids TV show but after a year of working on Big Budget Projects and even being part of an Oscar winning team, i realized that it doesnt matter how big the Project is, if you dont feel fulfilled in it.

So im super happy right now...

Lets see where this part may lead next :-)

Cheers everyone!