One for the history books...

I've put off writing this post because, frankly, I wasn't sure how to put my reaction to Wall-E into words. Especially since anybody who reads this is most likely an animator and probably loves the movie too. Regardless, if you haven't gotten to see it yet, shame! Make time for it, and buy your tickets now, because you have the chance to witness something truly special.

**SPOILERS** (best not read more if you haven't seen it yet)
I've been thinking about the themes in this movie over and over, and I saw it twice this weekend already. Obviously to say the ecological themes are strong is an understatment. At first, I was a little put off by the slightly cynical and satirical view of the future, as for some reason I always seem to be pretty optimistic about the future. I don't think people are stupid, and while I see people as flawed individuals I usually don't think of them as defined soley by their flawed characteristics. I think many judgements on other people can be avoided if there's merely an effort for sincere understanding. So seeing a movie where humanity has utterly failed and has become an entire race of fat babies just comes off as a little unbelievable and cynical to me. At the same time, that I definitely feel we have a responsibility to take care of the planet, and that there are many things we need to do better.

I think some people will love and some people will hate this movie for its anti-consumerism "agenda". But regardless of if you praise or scold that message, to leave an analysis of this movie at that point would be superficial, and would ignore the complexities and truths that are revealed throughout the story. At first I saw the movie portray humanity in a negative view, but what I didn't see was that the story actually is oddly one of hope. It says, that even *if* worse came to worse, to a satirical level, there's hope for recovery. In this movie, that hope is Wall-E. And what's more, even according to Andrew Stanton's comments in "The Art of Wall-E", love is what has the power to make that change.

Wall-E changes everyone he comes in contact with. Eve, the two humans on the ship, the captain, even the typing robot by the elevator. And he does it through his sincerity, his innocence, and by being "the most human thing left in the universe" (As Stanton has put it). The only character he can't change is Auto, the robot auto-pilot who can't overcome his programming, a character with no love. Wall-E's yearn for love, and his genuine nature is felt by everyone who meets him. And what's more, he's gained that personality, that yearn for love, by collecting "junk" on Earth. See the paradox? Consumerism ruined the Earth, but also was the instigator of its salvation? No no no, it must go deeper than that. What ruined Earth was people's loss of humanity on the Axiom (ship). That was what caused Earth to never be re-settled, even though it could have been earlier. It's only when people start relating to each other again, when the captain sees what was lost on Earth, that things start going back to the way they should be. Did consumerism cause the loss of humanity? Did the loss of humanity cause consumerism? The interesting thing about Wall-E is that it doesn't damn everything consumerism produces, if you look closely. There's beauty in the rubik's cube, in "Hello Dolly!", in everything that Wall-E collects. I'm not defending consumerism here, I'm not saying that there isn't a lesson to be learned from the movie. What I am saying is that this is a complex movie that reveals a lot of lifes truths, and as we all know, life is not simple. We want it to be. We want to divide everything and everyone into "left" and "right". But life's just not like that.

I don't think Wall-E can fully be defined as a movie with an agenda. We're not talking Michael Moore here, what Andrew Stanton has done is take his views on the good and bad aspects of humanity, things he sees as truths of life, and created a masterpiece that makes you think, cry, laugh, and dare I say love, instead of creating a platform of division, all the while making you think about how we can improve. I know, I'm sure someone disagrees with me right now...that's fine! This is the type of movie that will be interpreted in various ways. There's no way I could ever sum up this movie in a single blog post, and maybe even my interpretations will change with time. It's complex, and though this is what I think now, I don't have life figured out ;)

I could go on and on about the artistic accomplishments of the movie as well, but that's best left for another post...if I get around to it ;) Wall-E is simply amazing, and what an incredible accomplishment. Critics are comparing it to Chaplin, and other things that usually only animators talk about. Flip through the "Art of" book after you see the movie, and don't just look at the cool designs, read what people have to say about the movie.

Oh yeah, and go see Wall-E, err, again...cause if you haven't yet I hope you didn't read all of my spoilers! Don't forget about Kung Fu Panda too!

Batman: The Animated Series

It's always great when I revisit my favorite animated shows as a kid, and find out they're just as good as I remember them--sometimes even better! Unfortunately many times that isn't the case. Thankfully Batman: The Animated Series is in the former group. I grew up watching this show after school, and even years later I find the stories very compelling, and extremely well written. Just check out the intro:



The poses and silouettes are amazing in this intro. I love when Batman jumps and flips over the "bad guy"! It's so dynamic and moody! The art direction is something that the show was known for, and the phrase "Dark Deco" was used to describe it. I love how the Gotham Police ride around in blimps--I mean really, is that the best mode of transportation for police? But it fits completely in the world they created, and makes it unique.

The tone of the series is so incredibly dark, with some very dramatic scenes that usually aren't played in kids entertainment, even today. While the episodes need to move fast for the half hour length, it doesn't talk down to kids, or explain everything through cliche dialogue. I don't understand the perceived need to dumb down stories for kids to "understand", and while I can understand Batman on a different level now, I would say I understood it when I was a kid too. Kids understand much more than we give them credit for, and just because they usually aren't burdened with the cynicism that adult life can bring, doesn't mean they don't understand certain truths of the world.

If you want to hear some behind the scenes comments on Batman The Animated Series, there's a good commentary on YouTube. Here's Part 1:

Cookie Monster not eating cookies??

Skidoosh

Thanks to my friend Jon, I got to check out an ASIFA-Hollywood preview of Kung Fu Panda last night! My buddy Ben Willis has been animating on this film for the past 2 years, so I've been waiting to see it for a while. Congrats to the folks at DreamWorks, great job! The action sequences in particular really blew me away, and the movie itself was thoroughly entertaining.

Go check out Kung Fu Panda when it opens this week!

Freelancer's Guide #10: AM Newsletter--"Survive as a Contractor"

In the college years of animation, a lot of time is spent learning the art, honing your skills, etc. But not much time is actually spent preparing you for the career part of it all. If you're lucky you get a professor or someone to teach you how to make a good demo reel, resume, portfolio. But what I failed to really think (or worry about) in college, was not the first job, but the second, third, fourth...

Here is possibly the single best article in an Animation Mentor newsletter yet. Shawn Kelly's Tips and Tricks are great, but this month's feature by Jake Friedman on surviving as a freelancer sums up a lot of what I've learned and thought over the past 2 years. The thing about this article is that it talks about things that everybody working in the animation industry should know, but is more obvious and immediate to freelancers. Jake (a fellow New Yorker) talks a lot about the nature of working job to job, how you prepare for it, and how it prepares you for this crazy business. He says:

The fact of the matter is there’s very little security in the animation industry, and the independent contractor knows this better than anyone (other fields are beginning to follow suit as well, but that’s another story). The contractor never takes the next paycheck for granted and, Zen-like, understands the impermanence of everything.

I never set out to be a freelancer, it just happened out of necessity. More and more jobs, even at the large studios, are contract/per project jobs. And ever since I came to New York I knew one thing: I didn't know where I'd be in 3 months (to throw out a random length of time). Where would I be working, where would I be living, would I move out west? etc. At first that really freaked me out, but eventually I got to a point where I just accepted the element of the unknown that goes with freelancing. 2 years later, I'm doing fine.

When you stop to think about it though, that unknown element is a part of every animator's life, even if they are in a comfy staff position somewhere. And in general it seems that people outside of that lifestyle don't really understand it. But aren't they in a simliar situation? That 3 year contract they signed is temporary, isn't it? What happens after 3 years? What if the industry goes into a slump? What if the company lays people off?

As a freelancer you ask yourself where your next job will be before your current job even ends...heck, maybe even on your first day of your current job! The key is to not get freaked out by that. Some people adapt to that situation more easily than others, and obviously you will be more freaked out if you don't have the finances to help you through the down times. So what do you do?

You prepare!

You update your demo reel frequently. You talk to your friends, you make new connections on Linked In, you keep your ears open, you promote yourself. An updated website is a must. It's not as hard as it sounds, you're really just doing things you should be (and maybe are) doing anyway. I actually feel very fortunate to have started out freelancing, because it has forced me to think of myself in a much different light--I am a business. Of course the IRS tells me that every April 15th, and that's the biggest wake-up call. But thinking of myself as a business has helped me to learn more about self-promotion. But the more I read from sites like Freelance Switch, the more great advice I find that is really just basic business advice. How do you successfully promote yourself? What skills do you have that places need? How do you keep good business relationships with your clients? How do you get job offers to come to you, without you having to search the job boards? How do you network? After all, being a business isn't all that bad even at tax season. Just keep your receipts for all your animation/computer equipment, movies, and business expenses, and you can write that stuff off. All of that, and I still don't have to wear a suit to work! Sweet!

Stability is one of those human desires that everyone strives for in some way or another, in both healthy and unhealthy ways. By being driven into the NY freelance world mostly out of necessity, I've sacrificed one type of stability. But I've gained another, and something I think might be more long term. I've learned how different studios function, what I like or don't like about them, I've had to ask myself the tough questions of what I can do better, what I need to improve upon in order to hopefully increase my job offers, length of employment, etc. But even more important than all that, is that somehow I've gotten (more) comfortable with that unknown element. Some of it is knowing how to prepare, saving money, and just being fortunate that the industry is really healthy and there are a lot of jobs out there. But as I've said before, for me, so much of it just comes down to a simple faith. For a perpetual doubter like myself, it's no easy task, and I really don't mean to make light of the real and founded fear of the unknown. But I said it before, freelancing is like farming, you can prepare the best soil and best seed, but you still can't control the weather. That's why so much of it is up to just getting comfortable with the unknown, and doing the best you can in the here and now. After all, isn't that life?

"Pencil"--Open Source 2D Animation Software

Lately I've been sketching with the tablet and trying some quick pencil tests, using the free version of Plastic Animation Paper, and Flipbook. But last week I saw a post on Channel Frederator's blog about an open source program called Pencil. While PAP and Flipbook give much more functionality in their Pro versions, I've found the free versions difficult to perform simple tasks, such as holding a single drawing for more than one frame, and adding multiple layers of animation. (PAP: free makes you duplicate a drawing for the number of frames you want to hold it, meaning if you want to change that drawing later you have to change the first, delete all the duplicates, and then re-duplicate the new drawing.)

Pencil doesn't have the bells and whistles of the other programs, but for simple pencil tests I find it's much easier and intuitive to use, if you're already used to using programs with keyframes and timelines, like Maya, After Effects, etc. Its timeline lets you hold a single drawing, move around keyframes, and add extra layers (using either bitmap or vector lines). The onion skin effect isn't as powerful as PAP, as it only lets you see the drawings before and after your current drawing, but I'll take the timeline functionality instead. I've only tried it out for a little bit yesterday, but I plan on using it to plan out my 3D stuff. Did I mention it also lets you import sound? Something that I think PAP: free doesn't let you do.

I haven't fully tested the software, since it's free and open source there could be some bugs, but I just wanted to let people know it's out there, and it's worth taking a look.

Team Fortress 2: Meet the Scout

This stuff is awesome. No more explanation necessary.