I'm writing to you 32,000 ft high in the sky. This past week has been non-stop - this is first time i've had a moment to sit, collect my thoughts and write. This past weekend I attended the 2nd Annual CTN-X Event down in Burbank, CA. All I can say is WOW! What a great event. It reminded me of Siggraph in the 90's except take out all the tech and fill it with lots and lots of art. My only complaint is there was sooo many panels that I wanted to see that there was no time to eat or rest.
Some standout moments was watching Peter DeSeve and Carter Goodrich exchange loving verbal blows to one another, AM t-shirts everywhere, the giant Simon Otto taking us threw Dragon's Flight School and Glen Keane drawing over CG animators animation in Tangled. WOW! I said that already didn't I?!
I guess I should mention that I was on a panel as well. Ok, I have a confession to make first. For those who know me - I am a person who likes to be prepared. If I have a job interview, I will drive to the building the day before just so I know the exact route and how long it takes to get to my destination. My wife knows if we are going out to a movie, I have to be there at least 15 minutes early. Yeah, I'm a bit of a headcase. Talking on this animation panel was a class in 'Teaching Aaron to Relax!'
When I agreed to do the panel I started to gather my materials only to have my coworkers go 'No man, we are just going to go down there and wing it!' WHAT?!! 3 to 1, I lost that battle. Then as I sat down to watch some of the panels, it was like the dvd extras come to life. I immediately started to sweat, mumbling to myself 'we have nothing, we have nothing' Walking the halls 'We have nothing' getting up on the stage 'We Have Nothing' Mic'd up to talk 'NOTHING!' Honestly, it was a blur for those 45 minutes. All I remember was one of the animation gods sat across from me while I asked him Chris Farley questions like 'Remember when you animated Jafar?! Yeah, that was cool!', Victor dropping a few F-bombs and Carlos losing his voice. Deja said it best 'In case you didnt know it, this is the Party Panel!'
The best comment I got was 'This was way better then the talk down at Siggraph!' Hats off to Victor, Michal and Carlos. They told me 'if we enjoy ourselves, the crowd will pick up on it and have a good time' How right they were, I had a great time! Thanks Fellas.
Great post Aaron, it was definitely a spectacular event to rub elbows with the legends (you included). BTW, I arrive 1/2 hour before the movie starts to get the best seat in the house ;o)
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing your critiques next semester.
Glad to meet you and thank you in person for the encouragement and knowledge you share to animation community.
ReplyDeletehahah...omg. I'm the girl right behind you in line, with the weird face, in that third photo. I had no idea I was in a shot.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I saw the panel you were in, btw. It was really interesting! Thanks for taking part in it.
That weekend was a blast! Thanks for the awesome time! (It goes down in my record book) ;)
ReplyDeleteLovely post! I was there too, and for a baby-novice it was SUCH a cool experience -- so many greats! I was a little sad that they'd already run out of AM tshirts by the time I got over to the booth on Sunday :( But I did make it into standing room for the Tangled panel (I was standing right near you actually...but was a bit shy)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
The panel was awesome, awesome, awesome. Great stuff. Good to see you again!
ReplyDeletehaha, you guys did fine. and kudos' to a thorough review of a CTN experience. see you around work!
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