Learning 2d Animation!

I have always been inspired by the many Disney greats like Milt Kahl and Frank Thomas. Their work is one of the main reasons why I got into animation. So in an effort to keep improving as an animator , I have begun to learn 2d animation! Above is my second ever attempt at 2d animation:)   I submitted it  for http://www.11secondclub.com/ November competition.  I  placed 44th in that months competition. I was only able to spend between 25 -30hrs on it but I  learned a lot from that test and hope to continue to do this for the next several months. What I like about the 11 Second Club is that it gives me a deadline that i must try to reach. As the above entry, I will continue to submit what ever I may have been able to do for that month. The knowledge that I will gain from these exercises will be like gold to me:)  Wish me luck on next months test!

Go Watch Cloudy!!

I went to see this last friday and it was a blast! I laughed through out the whole movie, it was truly a very enjoyable experience. Congratulations to the whole crew at Sony for pulling of yet another impressive animated film. If you haven’t had a chance to see it, GO NOW!! I gotta watch it again:)

Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs -done:)

So Dawn of the Dinosars has been out for  two weeks now and its great to hear ALL of the feedback, good and bad.  The critics were not very kind to us but the general public seems to of enjoyed the ride. As I’ve said before, I am proud of what we were able to accomplish in this film but now we look forward to improving everything on our next film “RIO”.  As a studio we are hungry to reach the great heights that  we know are within our reach. It is a struggle and “RIO” will be no different.  I totally believe though that if we continue to push ourselves in all parts of film-making, we will reach our full potential. I’m definitly willing to give it my best shot.  Once again I want to give thanks to everyone (vets,newbies,temps) that worked on this film. It was a tough  ride for everyone:)

Gobelins – Annecy 2009

Sweet Stuff from Gobelins!! Very inspirational Stuff , Check them out!

Their webpage

http://www.gobelins.fr/galerie/animation/

New Ice Age clips on-line

Some new footage was released today! I hope you enjoy this small bit:)

BlueSky behind the scenes footage

A news crew came to BlueSky  Studios recently to get some behind the scenes footage of Ice Age 3! I’ve always said that we are the smallest of the big studios but that our passionate efforts are just as grand.  I hope that you enjoy this small piece of our studio:)

http://www.cptv2.org/allthingsct/positively-connecticut/blue-sky-studios-greenwich

-Paul

Ice Age 3 almost done, next up “Rio”!

Wow! Its been a while since my last post!  In case anyone really  reads this blog, I apoligize. I thought it would be easier for me to post  but finishing animation on   Ice age 3  and getting back to family life ate up all my time:)  Animation for Ice Age 3 wrapped up in April  and now the finishing touches are being done before it opens on July 1st!  I am really proud of this movie, everyone from vet to new dug in and did the best they could under another tight scheduale. I will go and say that its our best production and cant wait for everyone to see it:).  As many of you know by now our next feature was anounce a couple of weeks ago!  Its called   “Rio” and its slated for a 2011 release.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118003473.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2562

Its a project that director Carlos Saldanha has been wanting to do for years and it will definitely push us creatively and  technically  into a new direction.  Right now we are in pre-production learning tons about the characteristics of macaws (new world parrots) and defining our style for this feature. I’ll post more about it when more info is released. Thanks for reading and I’ll do a better job posting:)

Horton Reel, and BlueSky Moves to CT!

My “Horton Hears A Who” animation reel is finally up! One of the reasons I wanted to come back to  BlueSky was to work on this movie.  I had seen the test that BlueSky had done while I was a temp on Ice Age 2 and hoped that I could get a chance to work on Dr. Seuss’ wonderful story.  The film was definitely a huge learning experience for me.  I will always be grateful to all the great artist that I bug everyday:) By all means the film was a  challenge, creatively, technically and schedule wise.   In the end we overcame a lot of obstacles and I’m proud of  what we accomplished.  Yes there are things that I hoped would be different but that’s how it goes in this business:)  The studio has changed a lot since we finished Horton. A lot of friends have moved on to other studios and we have gained a lot of new faces. On top of that, BlueSky has just moved to its new facility in Greenwich, Connecticut!  The new studio is a great improvement and finally puts us all on the same floor. I feel that there is great sense of starting something new so its very exciting to be here. I’ll hopefully post some pics of the studio next week.  We are all back Jan 5th for the final push on Ice age 3.   Yep its going to be tough but I think its going to be the best one!!

My new BLog!

Well hopefully now I can start posting more than I did on my old website:) This blog wil be about my experiences as an animator through life and work. Talking about work, we are in total high gear. I believe that this could be the best of the Ice Age films, we just have to get through the tough schedule. In case you haven’t seen it, here  is the latest trailer. I’ll post more soon:)