Animation Production Studio

:// INTRO

When I switched to the current version of this site (which is version 3.0), I did it because this new layout allowed me to to something I’ve always been interested in doing. And that is showcasing a “making of” or “behind the scenes” if you will. Unceremoniously though, I call it “production notes”.

I think it was around the Deport Ramirez project (which itself might require a second entry as that project lead nowhere fast) when I started posting production notes.

Every so often I jump into each site and re-check each section to see if there is any fat that needs to be trimmed or if there is any content missing. Then I realized “holy shit, I’ve never posted notes for ALL of my projects”. So here we go: an oral history of the biggest achievement during my college career.

:// ANIMATION PRODUCTION STUDIO

So in school, the Graceland was reaching Animation Production Studio (APS). This was the class that made or broke students. This was the class that made everyone in that damn class room put up or shut up about how serious they were in pursuing a creative career. This was also the class that got you a job offer.

All in.

During my years leading up to APS, you would hear tall tales of how grueling the class was. It was 1 class spread out through 2 semesters, culminating in a screening for friends, family and students.

I’ll be honest, I never attended any APS screening until our own. Not for being a jerk, but I wanted my only APS screening to be my APS screening.

If all went well, you ended up in a group with about half of the students being 2D Animators and the other half being 3D Animators. Some groups were smaller, some groups were bigger. I was extremely (retard-idly) lucky to end up in a group with an (almost) even split.

My Dad used to give me a ride to school whenever he could (he was retired by then, so he would offer to do it pretty often). I guess we all felt it in the house, my senior year was here (at that moment I was the first of their children lined-up to get a degree).

I remember that first ride well.

It was the first week of September so the weather didn’t suck, there was this one girl riding her scooter on the street. Her helmet which was covered in sunflower decals matched her scooter. She looked even happier than I was, she turned a few blocks before school, so she went somewhere else.

Head in the Clouds team 2008 – 2009

I got out of the car, said good bye and looked up at the Animation Building. Something which I had done many, many times before. But this time it felt different. As I saw that White Behemoth look down on me I made my way through the entrance, as I had many times before. Rode the same elevator up (as I had before), and walked into the class room. I said hi to the few familiar faces I recognized, we had shared some classes together.

Then he walked in.

Our instructor: Jim Rohn.

He glowed like a rockstar, his aura (or what ever you call it, I saw it) lit up the room.

As he stood up and introduced himself, we went around the room introducing everybody.

Then he said it: “So you guys want to be Artists, huh?” “Poor souls.” “Well, you’re already behind schedule”.

That was the second that production began on “Head in the Clouds”.

My body was ready. All the years of doodling, re-watching making-ofs on DVD over and over, every single creative thought I had in my life up until that point lead to that moment.

Put me in Coach.

:// HEAD IN THE CLOUDS

The first semester was spent in pre-production. There were many ideas discussed, the most promising concepts were voted on, and a visual style was explored. Once we settled on the idea of Head in the Clouds we started exploring characters, environments and fleshing out the story.

There were a few gems proposed that would have made great shorts as well.

I remember an idea about an ice cream sandwich which is looking for his better half as he is slowly started to melt away.

Not to toot my own horn but (toot!) I had a pretty cool idea about some crooks who entered a home to rob it in the middle of the night. Only to find the furniture and appliances come to life and defend the property. Imagine that final scene in Beauty and the Beast where Gaston and his mob fight the furniture in the castle.

This is where I was basically taken to school every day in terms of just complete awe of what everyone in the group was capable of. My peeps Adrian Navarro and Ashley Ramos really took charge when it came to creating, establishing, and maintaining the visual style for the project. Man man Masahiro Fujisawa showed us how it was done when it came time to model (and rig) a hero character. My brothers-from-other-mother’s Drake Kazmierczak & Ryan Hannapel were beating the shit out of that timeline while they laid down frames of animation. The sexiest man from the burbs TJ McKimmey insisting that the main character have a bulge.

Shit!

I’m a soccer guy, so imagine my lame ass getting picked up by a super team in Europe trying to compete everyday in order to make the main squad.

Every damn day was like that, we were there from the moment the school opened until the cleaning crew came in at night to kick us out. I would catch the bus home at around 10pm, I would just sit there in awe about that day’s events.

I’m a simple man. But a man of taste. And I have an addiction problem.

My addictions are: My Wife, Resident Evil, and Production.

It’s funny how you dream your entire life for “that one day”, the day where that one thing you have always dreamed about is within reach. Let me tell you, it’s a kick in the balls when you realize you are living that day.

I was extremely lucky to live that day over and over for an entire year.

My College Education not only cost $xx,xxx K. It also cost me 40+ lbs

:// GRADUATION

As the day of the screening finally came, the house was literally packed with friends, family and students.

We had our moment to shine and we presented our work with pride.

It’s easy to forget no (12 years later) the long journey it took to get to that day. And not just the year of production, but the three years before that. Completing every single class in order to finally reach APS.

We all went our separate ways after graduation. Three of us (myself included) basically got hired right out of school because of that class.

Some packed their bags and headed to LA to pursue Production out there.

There is only one thing I regret, I regret not having the foresight to have documented every second of APS. I should have taken more pictures of us in the lab working everyday. I should have kept ALL of my sketches, even the ones that were rejected.

I basically had to raid Gabriela Rodriguez’s Facebook in order to get these images and video (thanks Gaby!).