Monday, April 25, 2011

ELMO

I LOVE MY JOB! Where else do you get to take your 4 yr old son to see Elmo on your lunch break.

A new film was shown at Sundance called 'Being Elmo' about the life of Elmo's puppeteer, Kevin Clash. I can't say enough good things about this film! Even if your not a Elmo fan (personally I'm more a Gonzo guy!), the story is so inspiring watching a young boy making puppets out of his dad's old coat to a young man actually getting to perform next to his idol, Jim Henson.

I'm proud to say I cried 3 times during this film!

'BEING ELMO'
Elmo and his puppeteer, Kevin Clash
Elmo and Kevin spotted Jackson in the audience and came up to say hi!
Jackson and his new best friend Elmo!

A young fan watches Elmo up on stage.

If you ever get a chance to see this film - do it! I filled up my 'inspired' tank after watching the film.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Cars 2 - My Finn Shots

Disney / Pixar released a viral video for Cars 2. In the video, if you look closely you can find a link to a few minutes of some footage of Cars 2. To view both of these videos, click here!

A few of my shots I animated shows up at the end of the Cars 2 footage. Below I animated all the shots of Finn McMissle getting cornered, rev'ing, then hitting reverse and going off the edge into the water.
Cars 2 was a big challenge for me. When I was 25 I got into a car accident - it was bad enough for me to vow not to drive for awhile. 10 years later, leaving NYC to come out west, I knew it was time for me to get behind the wheel again. As I was re-learning how to drive, I was going onto Cars 2. For a guy who took public transportation most of his adult life - animating cars was pretty nerve wracking at first. I had no idea how to make a car move believable.

Being part of such a great team - Animators showed me how a particular car should move. We took a class from a professional race car driver. About halfway through I felt like it was all starting to sink in. Needless to say, I'm a total pro behind the wheel now. I drive to work with my eyes closed! kidding ;0)