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...

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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...

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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!

Shawn brings it to the point...

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Here is a blog post from Shawn Kelly which makes me feel proud of being part of this family.
What he points out here, is exactly what i keep telling everyone who asks me how it is at AM...
Everyone knows that the curriculum is very strong and the mentors are the best in the world.
But what many people underestimate is the power of our community.
Its not just "networking" it truly is friendship and that... is priceless!

Thanks Bobby, Shawn and Carlos!

Thats the way to do it...

Not only is it a pretty cool product and i might get one as soon as i have my own place... but coming from an advertising background i have to say... these guys just know how to do commercials! You can say what ever you want about their products... but damn... they got style! :-)

Thought of you...

I remembered this piece last weekend when i showed it to someone really special.
This truly is one of my favourite pieces... it feels like its speaking from my heart... so absolutely beautiful.

Love it!

Brave Trailer - What it was really meant for...

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At least in my opinion :-)

Ive seen it a couple of times now... ok lets be honest... i framed through again... :-)
And of course its amazing... i cant judge the shitty lighting some people pointed out because i really havent digged deep enough into that topic, but what i strongly believe is, that this trailer wasnt meant to show some new footage or show some new visuals.

Weve all seen this set, we also know about the story. And yeah... im pretty sure it wasnt the final cut of this sequence... there was some stuff that didnt fit together nicely (like in the first trailer btw.)
Which actually also makes me worry a bit... the edit of the first trailer and also of this one didnt really seem right to me, and together with the apparently boring lighting (i cant judge but trust the people who say it) im really starting to question whether they really can fully recover from the Cars 2 pull back...

Anyways... what i wanted to say in the first place is, that what we dont know, is the characters...

So i really think that this was a simple character presentation.
We get a look at a lot of the characters and their behaviour.
For example Meridas Mother... in this one she comes out much much more stronger but narrow minded and patronizing.
The relationship between merida and her father was already established, but i LOVED how extremely clear the three lords sons were shown. I love those three guys, together with their three old mans. Im sure this will give us a LOT of comedy.

Heres the trailer:


Id love to hear your opinions.

What is animation...

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Today i stumbled upon an article on cartoon brew which had a link to ANOTHER article also on cartoon brew about the common impression people have about animation.
It had a quote from Brad Bird in it wich just made me smile because he absolutely nails it:

“People think of animation only doing things where people are dancing around and doing a lot of histrionics, but animation is not a genre. And people keep saying, ‘The animation genre.’ It’s not a genre! A Western is a genre! Animation is an art form, and it can do any genre. You know, it can do a detective film, a cowboy film, a horror film, an R-rated film or a kids’ fairy tale. But it doesn’t do one thing. And, next time I hear, ‘What’s it like working in the animation genre?’ I’m going to punch that person!” 

Thats why im such a big fan of Brad Bird... he is so straight forward. He doesnt  try to put lipstick on the pig just to not offend anyone. These Days you dont meet people like that very often.

The Gruffalos Child

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I really loved the first one, and i didnt know theyre doing a sequel, but its so beautifully done again. You have to love it! :-)

Definitely worth checking out!

My Favourite parts (the last one) - 8 - Tangled

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I wanted to write this entry a long time ago, but kinda forgot about it over time. But yesterday it came up when i was talking to a friend on skype.
Tangled goes hand in hand with all the other films ive already listed. It is simply beautiful, with a nice well told story, cool characters and it has written Glen Keane all over it. I cant imagine how amazing it must have been to work with glen on this one. I just recently also saw Tangled ever after and its such a nice addition to the movie. It also was like a get together with old friends :-)
My favourite part in this movie are the two sequences when Rapunzel and Flynn are coming to the castle. First there is this AMAZINGLY MAGICAL dance sequence, followed by the lanterns. What moves so much here, is the pictures combined with the amazing music.
In this part it doesnt even bother me that they have to break into song again because it somehow just fits right in.
To go a bit into depth... There is also some pretty darn awesome animation to see, specially in the lantern sequence. For example when Rapunzel sees the first lantern. Gets up and "stumbles" over the boat... If you just look at the technical side of this its already amazing and how it turned out is even cooler. The next one is following the moment when rapunzel turns around and sees flynn holding those two lanterns... The way she sits down... its not just sitting down... there is so much character in it. She is about to give the diadem to flynn... and just by the way how she sits down, how much this moment means to her. Its not just giving it to him... she shows her trust for him... its so beautiful...

Some people might say its  too cheesy, but in my opinion they really found the balance here... i dont think its cheesy at all... (ok, maybe the singing a bit... but well... its disney...)
To me the group hug and falling on their knees all together at the end was much cheesier and a bit too much for me...


Anyways... I love this film... and here are the two sequences i was talking about.