A Life In Motion

I bought these books early on in my animation education and it is so amazing how much more I love them now than when I initially cracked them. I guess that proves that the more you know or have experience with something the more you are able to make connections and associations between seemingly unrelated bits of information. I wish I could explain as well as he does but that’s what the books are for right? You can tell he was an amazing teacher and animator and he just loved doing and sharing this stuff as much as one possibly can. I’m about halfway through the first one in my much slower (I’m letting it really soak in this time) second reading and I’m just blown away and falling more in love with this art form with every page. The thing I love the most though, is how he doesn’t just talk about animating but the life you need to be living in order to be an animator as well. 

The best stories for me usually involve crazy writers on a journey of finding the story and in the meantime finding themselves, discovering a common truth among people or just maybe figuring out what they were searching for turned out to be different than they expected. I feel a deep connection to these stories and I still read On The Road, The Rum Diary and The Great Gatsby every summer. It doesn’t even feel like summer until I am on a towel, flipping the wavy pages completely lost in those sun faded words. Lately my favorites are all being made into movies and it’s not always a good thing. I have decent hopes for The Great Gatsby this summer - I think Leonardo could be a great choice and I think Carey Mulligan is amazing, and yet I know it won’t come close to the book. That said, the whole thing looks like the major summer blockbuster it should be. Then there is On The Road, indie release just came out but I’m not sure of it yet. Looks okay but the casting bugs me. And don’t get me started on the disaster that was The Rum Diary - Johnny Depp is just too old to still be playing a young and hungry Hunter S. Thompson and they shouldn’t have tried to force it. Besides awful casting the entire depiction was completely off for me and I’m sure anyone that hasn’t read the book won’t even get it and will forever be turned off of reading it…I’ve never read Kerouac’s Big Sur and now I realize a 2013 film is in development so better get to it!

Just finished Class 4: Intro to Acting with Nick Bruno. It was a roller coaster ride of highs and lows this term, which thankfully ended on a high note. I was surprised to find I am natural with the acting stuff, still solid when planning and blocking things out but still struggle with the execution. I pretty much ruined and reworked my shot every single week, and as tiring as that was I really found a great workflow in the process. As my mentor put it, “It’s always when things are going the roughest that we learn the most. I guess it’s the lemonade to be made from those lemons, right?” In the end I did come out alright —  after learning more than I even have been able to comprehend just yet. Time for a short leave of absence to focus on my new discoveries and amp up for the final 6 months which will be crucial for a killer reel, and I think it’s time to get out and explore my city since I have been holed up and tied to my macbook for the past 6 months here. I haven’t minded the sacrifice while it was so blustery out but things are now in bloom. Been having dreams of the ocean and feeling the rhythm of the waves, all I want to do is go jump in. So off to see some local beaches, I need to spend some time in Montauk on Long Island, do some camping and exploring some national parks. See the Hamptons and Rockaway. Live music shows. Then there will be our East Coast drive to Virgina Beach in May. Spring Break starts now.