Terminated...

That's right - my gig on Termninator Salvation has finished. It was a hectic three months, but interesting as this was my first live-action storyboard job (and hopefully not last). It was surprisingly not all that different then a job working on an animated feature with some elements of TV/DTV storyboarding thrown in as I already mentioned. But that might have more to do with the writer's strike going on at the same time. At least, that's what the other board artists said. The big difference is the speed at which we had to get things done - which is why I felt it had a lot in common with TV/DTV boarding. One of the other big differences that I noticed was the fact that whatever was boarded had to have some foot in reality at all times. Whether it was due to location, the physical realitues of what a camera can and can't do, FX budgets and a host of other minor things when working in animation absolutley anything is possible and the only restriction tends to be schedule and budget to a much lesser degree. But on the other side some concerns in animation - like number of characters on screen - are not such a big issue in live-action. As time goes on I'll probably post more about the differences between live-action and animation boarding, but right now I'm still processing it all in my own head.

So now the big search for a job begins and I do seem to have some possibilities. I'll let you know where I finally end up. Though it's not like I'm just sitting around. I'm still working on a couple of freelance jobs as well as trying to catch up on some commissions (thanks again to all of you who have been so very patient).

The other thing I'm working on - the big secret project - that all of you have been trying to guess at (unsuccessfully I might add) is still a possibility, but is also a long shot though I've got great faith in the project. I've seen a lot of interest in it, but finding the right studio, company, person to take that final step has been dificult. Originally I didn't want to disclose what the project was because of some superstitions about revealing a project before it was picked up, but since that hasn't seemed to help I might reveal it after all. I'll have to think about it.

Since I still get a lot of questions concerning X-Men: Evolution I'll answer them now for everyone. I do not know when season 4 will be released onto DVD. Wolverine and the X-Men is not a continuation of the XME conituity and I do not know when or on what network Wolverine and the X-Men will broadcast. I suspect most of you will know that before I do.

And now tonight is the 80th Academy Awards and I'm curious to see if the films I voted for (especially Best Animated Film) actually win. My guess is that the film I voted for Best Animated Film, Surf's Up, will not win and that it will be a toss-up between Ratatouille or Persepolis. I give the edge to Persepolis and not because I liked it better - I didn't - but because it seems to be an important film in the way that Crash, Babel and Happy Feet did. But in my opinion none of these were important films in the way Academy voters thought.

Another thing I'd like to point you all to is a fairly new blog put out by an old friend of mine, Tina Price. She was right there at the beginning of the CG movement at Disney and has quite a bit of history to share with everyone and is worth checking out if for no other reason to see me slimmer and with less gray in my hair. It's also a place where other animators and artists can post their memories and thoughts. It's called Drawn 2gether and I think you'll enjoy it.


Well since you made it through that long 'catching up' I think you deserve something a little new. This is a detail from a commission I finished awhile ago.