Sorry for no posts

As you can see- I have been working. I won't apologize for that. I am sorry that I haven't updated. So as a treat, I will show you ART!

Missed Friday yet again...

Okay, since I missed the update date again, I will try to appease you few readers with some artwork!

This is all life drawing from last year/semester. As the day goes on and I collect more drawings I like, I will add more to this post. Please forgive me!?

Waiting on my laundry...

So I missed my update of Friday again... I am starting to wonder if I should just change it to Saturdays? XD But then again- I have a lot of very busy-looking Saturdays coming up, so then I would miss those.... whatever! I am updating!

(and guess who got the dysfunctional dryer.... AGAIN!) ~_~

So, lots of stuff is happening at school... Not all of it great, but busy. I am truly excited some of the upcoming stuff too! OMG! I wish I could tell you, like... two, readers about it!

So this is what Animation classes are like- we get to sit in a huge room, with a HUGE projector and watch AWESOME movies! Like Iron Giant! XD Actually, we just watched a smidge of it- this is Layout class with Dan. We are learning about lighting and how it affects a scene, I think.
(Oh yeah.... the guy with the AMAZING hair in front is Jason Reicher- bad-ass extraordinaire!)

Here's what I looked like in class that day... Because, you know, it was HALLOWEEN and NOT because I am some freaky art school kid! pshaw! As if! I got a lot of compliments and a LOT of people asking what I was.... I had to admit that in fact the only reason I did all that painting was so that I could wear the black feather eyelashes! XD They were AWESOME! And so light! (But I felt like I was wearing a hat or a hoodie all day...)

And this is me when I read about dance for my Modern Dance History class.... I can't help it.... I miss dance... And anytime I read about it, I want to do stuff... XD *is embarrassed and proud at the same time...* I am a complex person! XD *snort*

So Friday night, the 48 Hour Films were announced. The inculpable and amazing Mr. Tom Law is running the show. And what did I happen to see in front of me today at the James Baxter lecture? Oh, Mr. Law had shaved this into his hair! XD Tom- you totally win.

Now how about some actual ART on my blog?! YES?!

My roomie, Hannah, and I are both hoping to go into story someday, so we decided to do a little practicing. We put on Forrest Gump and paused every few scenes and had 5 minutes to board the shot. It was MEGA-FUN to do and I hope she and I can do it every week.

And here are the "finished" Star Wars boards I did. I've been working on them off and on for a few weeks. They make me happy. What you are seeing are 9 of 130 BOARDS and I am STILL not done with the entire scene! I have killed countless markers (and I bought more today...) and while I can't really use them for much since Star Wars is heavily copyrighted or whatever, I am thinking of scanning them all in and timing them out exactly to the film during Winter Break and having them as an animatic. Any thoughts?

To top the evening off- I just got to swing dance in the Main Gallery! <3 I love this school...

Also- I got new jammie pants today! XD They're orange (fav color) with polar bears all over them (my grandfather's favorite animal!). I had to have them!

Told ya I'd blow it...

I knew I couldn't keep the updating on schedule... but I'm going to keep going.

So, this is my idea of a wonderful weekend... Storyboarding for class. Jim Hull, seriously awesome dude, asked us to board 3-5 minutes of our favorite scene from our favorite film... Well, how could I friggin' resist?!

Don't ask how long it took, because I couldn't keep track. HOURS were spent in the comfort of the CalArts Film Library, and many markers were sacrificed. My record was one marker in 3-4 hours. I was pretty high on the Sharpies after each session, which technically I did not care for because I just got a headache... Where's the appeal to sniffing markers?! Was I using the wrong kind?

Been having a tough time lately... Got nothing truly done last weekend, so I am paying for it now... In a funk, I heard that someone was hosting a Rocky Horror Picture Show viewing in the Bijou... so of course, not doing anything better, I went!

There was rice and waterguns, and someone beaned me in the head with a piece of toast... Still don't know if they aimed for me or not...




Tonight is the CalArts Halloween Party- but I'm not going. Just not in the mood. Got stuff to do. Since we are locked out of the building, I thought it'd be a great time to update this and just get various other stuff done before tomorrow.

In other respects, today was a highly productive day. I did laundry for the first time in two weeks... I was so busy last weekend that I just didn't have a chance and it was getting pretty hairy there at the end. But fresh laundry abounds now... XD Gawd, what fascinating stuff for you, eh, my dear reader? XD LOL "Jesus, the girl talks about LAUNDRY and NEVER posts any art- WTF?!"

Okay, back to art-related stuff. I am trying to storyboard my film and hammer out the story at the same time... It is harder than it sounds... Wish I had some art from that to show you, but don't yet. Sorry. Will try to get to that soon. Maybe after this weekend? I have basically decided that my film this year WILL have watercolor backgrounds. Now, whether they will be digital or tradition remains to be seen... Any input? Digital means they will be lovely and possibly changeable? But if I made them for real, that would be something I would have forever. Something tangible. I must admit, there is a great appeal in that to me. Someone give me input?

I think that's about all for now... Gonna do something- ANYTHING!

Belated post

Sorry to fool you (the, like, ONE person who probably actually reads this blog! XD ) this is not the official post. This is the post to let you know that a real post is coming soon. I promise!

Yup, I was right.... I couldn't keep it up.

I missed my update by a day already... I can see this is going to fail epically... It is just the way of things...

So, I ~HAVE~ to post about this because it might have been one of the COOLEST single classes I have EVER been to! Our Digital Methods: Sound professor, Ben Huff (imdb the man! WOW!) had a friend of his, Crispin Freeman (imdb him too! OMFG!) to talk to us about working with voice actors. If he had just TALKED to us about this, it still would have been in my Top Ten Favorite Single Classes ever, because he gave us SO MUCH information that REALLY cleared a lot of stuff up for me! However, to really let us get an idea of what it feels like to work with a director and what a voice actor has to work with, he took us to the CalArts Sound Booth. OMFG!

BESIDES just SEEING it and learning about what you can do in there, HE HAD SOME OF US READ DIALOG! Two to three people were chosen to read parts of a script written by our very own peers! They would read it once, just to get an idea of the dialog, then the "director" (student who wrote it) would give notes and then they would read it again, until it was what the Director was looking for. OMG! It was so cool to see how that worked!

And I guess it was a good thing that I was listening, because I got chosen to read for a part for my friend/cubemate, Louise! OMFG! I was terrified. Because all 28 of my other classmates were on the other side of a piece of glass, STARING at me! XD Thankfully, I got to read with Erica and Aksel, so I wasn't alone. But it was SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!

Oddly enough, going through that- the performance anxiety, etc. I was rip and roaring ready to go to my next class. Interesting how that works. More on that other class some other time.

One night after class, my other cubemate, Portlynn was having a tough time and basically, it ended in all of us in the hallways around our cube, doing caricatures on the walls... NOT doing our homework! XD But it was nice and now the walls are not nearly as naked. I hate plain white walls.

That's Bo (my OTHER cubemate) with her caricature, as drawn by Portlynn.

In personal news, my story got it's ass kicked this week. I pitched my film idea to my Story professor, Jim Hull (CONGRATULATIONS to him, btw) and he tore it APART! Basically, it was an animation-heavy film. He said that he recalled that I wanted to go into Story and I said I thought I still did and he said I needed a story-heavy film then... So I am back at square one. New beatboards, story, script, and storyboards. Thankfully, I got some AMAZING help from Louise today in the Kafe, so I am on my way! <3

Meanwhile, HOW THE F&^%ING NAME OF HADES UNDERWEAR DID IT GET TO BE MIDTERMS ALREADY?! WE JUST STARTED SCHOOL!!!!

Big stuff coming up in the next few weeks! OMG!

Trying to be better at this...

I really am going to try to update this weekly... Let's see how long I can keep that up! XD *personally thinks she'll fail in less than a week*

So, this past week at school has been SUPER AMAZING and super down for me... personal rollercoaster, if you will... Trying to remember what I am here for. I know it sounds like it's super easy to answer, but there are a lot of things at work internally at the moment, so... yeah- moving on.

I am finally officially and literally moved into my cube now. My room looks better because all my crap is out of it and my cube looks better because all my crap is IN it! XD

(drawing courtesy of Louise Smythe- who amazes me every day!)

Got to pitch story boards for an assignment in Story last week. A fun time was had by most!

This week, Dave Pimentel of DreamWorks came to talk to us. AMAZING visit.
Also had a guest in Digital Methods: Sound class- Crispin Freeman (voice actor extraordinaire!)

Other than that, still working my @$$ off... I am an authorized Institute Driver now- HAHA! So yeah- next week, same animation time, same animation place? (We'll see!)

Last Weekend of LIVING- First Week of My SECOND YEAR!

I blew out my last weekend before school started with a BANG and now my second year has officially BEGUN!

On Saturday, I went to Little Tokyo one more time then got OBSCENELY drunk with friends here in the dorms.

On Sunday, I went with a bunch of unbelievably sweet girls to the LA Zoo for some Animal Drawing then to Portos Bakery for Noms!

After that we went to the El Capitan Theatre to see Beauty & the Beast in 3D!

That night, the dorms played JAWS out at the pool. Of course I watched it! It scared the living daylights out of several obvious first-timers! XD <3 I LOL'ed NUMEROUS times! Today was my first day of classes AND being a TA! OMG! So scary and SO FUN! I got signed up for my cube. I am next door to my old one. Will post pictures of that when there is something to see... Before I go- A quick look at the freshmen, who are AS WE SPEAK, spending the night in the Character Animation Hallway, camping out for their very own cubes.... D'awwww! They're so cute! XD

TOO FUNNY ~NOT~ to share!

Filling the Gap: How to Fund Your Way Through College

See the bottom!

Summer Stuff and Busy Work

Okay, so now that I have finished my huge mega-project for the office, I am left with very little to actually DO!  That'll teach me!  I should stop working so ... hard...  and fast...  Yeah, THOSE are bad habits!  XD

In other news, one of my two papers for my incomplete is done.  Now to hammer out the second before school starts!  Actually, before I leave for Houston.  I am seriously excited and nervous to be going back to Texas...  I miss my friends and family (exactly one year since I have seen them!) but I have so little time.  I am terrified that I won't be able to see everyone.  Also food...  there is SO MUCH FOOD that I want!  Oh man, I never thought I would miss some of these places!

I'm glad I have roughly two days off once I get back before school starts though.  "Vacation"- aka: traveling and visiting always takes more out of you than what a "vacation" is supposed to do, which used to be RELAX!  But it will be the good kind of exhaustion when I get back!  I look forward to it.

Summer's been busy.  Not as "exciting" as I might have liked, but good.  I look forward to improving upon it next summer!
Also, I am striving to post WAAAAAAAAAAAAY more art here.  I am so sad to see that my 30 followers have nothing to say about this piddily little blog all the time...  I hope to give you guys something to talk about this year!  Keep me honest!  See ya on the other side!

Summer Stuff

Well, I survived the Month-long Two-Job HELL that was my life!

I moved out of the toxic living environment I was in and have moved in with great friends. I am trying to prep for school to start up again in a month. Can't wait to see what this year brings! Hope to update as much as I can. Hopefully all aspects of production will somehow make it onto this blog this year!

See ya soon!

FINALLY! Some PROGRESS!

I started coloring my first year film this weekend. My hope is that before the school year starts (or within a week or so of it), my film will be re-compiled with the coloring and ready to be sent to its first FESTIVAL!

NOTE: I have NO intention (ZERO, in fact) of it actually doing or accomplishing anything. I just want to do it to see what the process is like and therefore, be better equipped for the next time when I DO have hopes for my film!

So yay! Progress and productivity!

Sooooooo tired!

For some reasons that are probably too numerous and boring to list, I am just utterly exhausted! It's summer! Shouldn't I be like... yeah, nvm- I have no energy for that sentence...

I got a second job today. Starting Monday, I will be working the hours I am normally in school.... Interesting. 14 hours of work. But I need the money so badly!

School starts in two months... UGH! GET HERE FASTER SEPTEMBER!

Tuition Prices

From article on Yahoo! today:

"A pricey four-year private college will set you back by a lot more, however: Bates, Connecticut, Middlebury, Union, and Colby Colleges all had tuitions of more than $50,000 per year, including fees and room and board. After scholarships and grants are taken into account, the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., is the most expensive, at $39,672 per year."

Man! And people say CalArts is expensive! So many people want to go to Art Center College of Design rather than CalArts, claiming it's "cheaper"! Whew! Funny how CalArts is not mentioned on these kinds of articles!

Lost

I feel like a soldier
Marching through a field of mines.

Explosions going off all around me
Marching towards God knows what.

The sound is excruciating
I feel deaf, dumb, and blind.

I have no path
I have no plan.

I feel pain
The hits connect and I am wounded.

And still I march forward
Please God, let it stop soon.

Article on Cars 2

Article on Cars 2

The Tokyo party sequence was inspired by an experience Lasseter had in Italy while researching the "Cars" sequel with his co-director, Brad Lewis. The filmmakers were following Red Bull's Formula 1 racing team, observing their pit crew, noting the design of their cars, and, one night, attending a glamorous party the team threw. Lasseter donned his own take on formal wear — a blazer over one of his trademark Hawaiian shirts — and strode into the event at a modern art museum in Milan.

"It was unbelievable how beautiful the people were," he said. "Models. Everybody dressed in Armani. I just felt totally out of place. This beautiful museum, the lighting, the music, the glitz, I felt like a little animation geek."

HAHA!

I HEART Austin's Alamo Drafthouse!

Anyone up for a movie in Austin? There's only ONE place to go for a good, quiet, text and cellphone-free film- ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE!!!!!!!!

Motion Capture is NOT Animation

Perspective: An animation producer says performance capture is not true animation

A FABULOUS article on what really makes animation great.

Handmade Buttons for Sale

If anyone is interested in soda cap buttons from Pixar's UP, please let me know. I am selling these handmade babies for $5 each. I have the well-known Grape Soda and the less-known caps from the credits: Lemon-Lime Soda, Strawberry Soda and Cherry Soda.

BEST! WEEK! EVER!

I won't go too deep into it now, because I don't have the photos uploaded yet- but this was simply the BEST week I have had in a LOOOONG time! I am so happy!

Ghetto-life

"Sometimes you need to go to the ghetto, not only to see how far you've come, but to remind you why you don't want to go back..."

I am so spoiled at CalArts. I miss school.

Groveling

Normally, I would never do something like this, but things are getting very hairy on my end...

I am now accepting donations. Whether it be $5 or $10 or $20, I don't care. Seriously. I just need help and every little bit helps. If you can help me in any way, shape, or form, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for reading.

It finally sunk in...

I started crying tonight saying goodbye to my friends. Everyone is starting to leave. It hadn't sunk in as much until someone came over to hug me tonight in class. My last class of my first year at CalArts. I am so sad right now.

Packing continues. Don't want to leave.

My First Year Film

Random Dump

I don't plan on staying long. It's 2:45 AM and I am pooped. I have class at 9.

So just quick stuff.





Also, Accepted Students Day is this weekend! I can't believe it's been a full year since the first day I set foot on campus of CalArts.



I love it here so much! Alright- off to bed now! Toodles!

Disney's INSPIRE DAY!

Just a quick note, because I need to get back to my film:

I am one of the luckiest damn people on the face of this planet. I LOVE this school! I am truly where I belong!

Back to work!

Avalanche

This semester is starting to win...

I am officially worried.

Wish I had more time.

My Secret (but perhaps not for long) Nook

I just found my favorite little spot at CalArts. It is quiet, it is fairly comfortable, but most of all it has one of my FAVORITE THINGS! Well... it has over 9500 of them!

AHH! My little slice of heaven!

Mental Disorders

I feel like I am having one of my own....

I'm supposed to be writing a 4-5 page paper on Fight Club and I just CAN'T seem to concentrate! GUH! I wish I were working on my film...

I hate this paper...

Films

I so wish I could make my classmates understand how lucky they are- to be able to work on their films right now while I am sick as a dog and unable to! They are so lucky! What I would give right now to kick this fucking illness and get back to my cube! I never thought I would miss it this much! I want to work! I want to do stuff!

As it is, I will be working this weekend anyway... I am reboarding my film- Sickness be damned! I must work. I may not get better because of it, but I am not waiting anymore!
I think I can do it, but I'm not sure. But I HAVE to do this this weekend and send it out to my professors to see if it reads better. Plus my poor composer! I need to give him something SOON! Poor poor guy!

Off to eat and then work!

Still Sick

I am going back to the doctor in the morning. I am SICK of being sick like this! I need something better. I have a frigging FILM I need to work on, dammit!

Speaking of which, renovations of my story are underway. After the doctor and my FAFSA, I am redoing my storyboard and emailing it out to my professors. It's a three-day weekend, so I have three days to get better and get my film ready to GO, right out the fucking gate! I have catching up to do!

But now, rest... I need to rest up and get better. My film is more important than this!

From the mind of Amanda, the "Mucus Machine"

After some serious consideration (and possibly due to my illness and the related craziness?), I have come to the conclusion that I need to do a complete overhaul of my film. I have to simplify it and bring it back down to where it is easily understood. I have been getting NUMEROUS notes from all over that it is not clear. I am not exactly happy about it, but I think it is for the best.

Meanwhile, my illness (a viral infection of my sinus cavity) is raging. I have moved into my dorm room for the recovery period. And I am SO NOT HAPPY about it! I want to work!!! I also missed my SECOND opportunity to go to the LA Zoo, only this time it included Deborah Ross!- one of America's leading wildlife artists.... I cried already. That also might be in part related to being sick. Nevertheless, I am miffed about missing it! But I know deep down that I would have only suffered had I gone. As it is, I am beyond thrilled that I got to see Ralph Eggleston in the Palace last night. <3 The suffering was worth it. I even sat in the front row. Since I have so much free time now, I will download those photos and post them today.

In other news... I am tired. School will be interesting this week as I cannot do homework. Also, I feel SO behind on my film now! As of this moment, I have not animated a single frame yet. But hear me now- I WILL finish this film!

Also- guess what my doc called the cough syrup he put me on! "A heavy narcotic!" BWA-HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Off to feel better. Later!

Animatic DONE!

While it may still need some refining, the animatic is for all intensive purposes, DONE! I'm a little behind schedule, but I do not have plans to make the film entirely finished-looking. In fact, there seems to be some sort of strange animation renaissance going on in the first years' ranks.

The hallway screen has been featuring student films from the 80's as some sort of a Flashback thing. (Films by current professors and current big-time people like Chris Sanders, Andrew Stanton and Sue Nichols, YES PLEASE!) Anyway, though the films are still unbelievable to watch, they are ALL pencil tests! Okay, there are a few cut-outs and such, but these are PENCIL FILMS! There are no After Effects, no 3D rendering! All the effects are done in camera and are STILL beautiful! I just thunk of this! These films are almost as old as I am... That's sad.... Moving on!

But I don't know if it is because we are so inspired by these films or if we all had the idea before they started playing, but there is a significant number of freshmen who plan on doing this. And I am proud to say that I am one of them. I want my film to be clean, beautiful animation, not some ritzy effects on craptastic, half-assed animation! So... work moves on!

See ya later!

Illusion of Time

Is it REALLY bad or just a lot bad when you start getting MAD at food and bathroom breaks for being so frigging distracting from the work you need to get done?

It is bad that I am so early to these thoughts? The semester just started, right?

USB Key Delight!

So I got my WALL-E USB key in the mail today!

I am happy.

Illusion of EVERYTHING!

Is it sad that a HORRIBLE review of the Star Wars prequels on YouTube brought my clarity in my own film?! OMFG!!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!!!

This Is Getting Serious...

And now I am to the point where I want to push my body to the peak of physical exhaustion... Something is seriously going on with me now... I am officially concerned.

Starting Again

I just trashed half of my storyboard/animatic sketches. A complete overhaul. That's what is happening.

I think this might be the good one. Now to just finish it.
Films start in 13 days. Mine starts NOW!

OMG! What a way to start off the New Year!

SNOW! SNOW in VALENCIA!!!!!!



My first year here and the first snow in LA since 1962! Coincidence? You decide!