Future Business Plans

Hello everybody! I've completed a couple drawings based on what my future animation studio could look like. I made these about a month ago, but I thought I could share these with you all now. 

The first photo consists of my studio, complete with animation, video production, web, and graphic design rooms. There is also music, stop motion, voice recording, meeting, and marketing rooms. There's also bathrooms, which every building needs or else where would we go? The roads on the left lead toward a mini shopping district. The road on the right could lead to various apartment buildings. It's like a paradise for digital media people!

The second photo consists of shopping, dining, and crafts stores. There is a restaurant, cafe, arts/crafts store, movie store, arcade, bookstore, and a mini grocery store. There is also a service building to learn about the studio and various job opportunities. There is also a parking garage located in the middle of the road and a courtyard to relax and enjoy the outdoors. Hopefully everyone can enjoy it! 

Animation Studio

Shopping District  

You never know what future possibilities life could bring. Dream big, follow your passion, and work hard to achieve it!

Scatty Cat (Rough)

Hey everyone! Here is a rough animation I completed over the past few days based on my character called Scatty Cat. It is hand drawn stop motion animation and I thought it turned out pretty well.

There is a total of 51 images throughout the animation. I had to draw a picture then capture it on my digital camera. After that, I drew over the character again with my sketchpad, but I moved various parts of his body to capture a different emotion each time. Enjoy! The link is below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT1OXhOfOPY

My Animation Influences

Hey everyone! I would like to start off by saying that the following people listed got me started on my whole animation dream. Animation is a big part of my life and I plan on continuing to pursue it in college and beyond.

Mike Nawrocki and Phil Vischer

Ah, yes. The VeggieTales guys. I have so much to say about them! They are two of the people who made me want to pursue animation. I may be 18, but I won't ever grow tired of it. If you gave me a VeggieTales film right now, I would watch it and the bonus material non-stop. There's something about the lessons and values they teach that make you want to watch it over and over again. They can even make you become a better person. Plus, the morals are timeless. Vischer and Nawrocki have inspired me to animate and to always follow my dreams. I also aspire to build a company just like Mr. Vischer and Mr. Nawrocki. I could listen to their character voices all day!

Tim Burton

My obsession with Tim Burton started when I watched The Nightmare before Christmas in 3rd grade. Can you believe that film took 3 years to make? His stories may be on the darker side, but his style is absolutely amazing. I will always look up to him when I want to be influenced. How could you not love his movies? He is dedicated to what he creates - I aspire to be that kind of filmmaker. He is a wonderful storyteller, writer, and has the right style of quirkiness!

Wes Anderson

I adore his quirky style. He seems to be so organized with all of his shots in the very middle. Fantastic Mr. Fox is one of my favorite movies because of the style, story, characters, and dedication to stop motion animation. His films have a flavor to them and I believe I can achieve something based on that. I've loved him ever since my sophomore year of high school. Almost all of his shots in The Grand Budapest Hotel look like candy. I hope to have a good sense of style in my animations like him one day.

SpongeBob SquarePants

I still watch this show today and it's just as funny. I've loved it my whole life, and you are never too old for SpongeBob. The voices, humor, and stories are just amazing!

Martin Short

Kind, funny, and entertaining are words I would use to describe Mr. Short. He is a big influenece of mine, and a hysterical one at that. He's so talented and seems like such a sweet person. I would love to work with him one day.

Jeff Daniels

Let's admit it. We all know who Harry Dunne - uh, I mean Jeff Daniels, is. We've all seen Dumb and Dumber. The guy has range, for goodness sake! He is someone who seems super nice, down to earth, and talented. He can be Harry Dunne all he wants if I ever get a chance to work with him,

e-Comm Reflection

My time in e-Comm has been a wonderful and beneficial experience. I have been able to create computer art that not very many people have had the chance to do yet. From Sophomore Year (I joined the program my second year of high school because I realized animation was what
I always wanted to do) to Senior Year, my time in animation will give me a head start in college and realize that this is what I want to do as a career. I couldn't imagine anything different. My teachers have been so helpful and encouraging to push me to create something I've never done before.

PROGRAMS, ANIMATIONS, AND WHAT I CAN WORK ON

From Photoshop to Illustrator to After Effects to Maya, I have made animations that will stay with me forever. It's always nice to look back on them and realize what a great opportunity this was. Everything seems better when you're passionate about what you love and can't wait to get started.

During my time in the program, I have worked on projects such as rotoscoping, a holiday greeting animation, kinetic typographies, animating a house, a glow animation, a stop motion animation I completed with a group, (I helped out with editing, taking pictures, and moving our group's character's around) and so much more.

If I had to do anything differently with my animations, I would probably draw more to my characters to add a bit more depth. It would add a lot more emotion. I don't draw as much as I should, but I know I'll have to practice more in college. Take my college animation, for example. It was a simple animation that took me a month to finish and all I did was have her eyes move around and only show a front view. I'll have to add various views next time, but I thought I conveyed the emotions pretty well. I'll definitely begin to draw more when I take art classes in college.

IMPROVEMENT AND THE IMPORTANCE OF A GOOD ANIMATION

I believe I have improved as an e-Comm student by telling a story and having good time management. I never miss a deadline. Whenever I don't know how to work on a specific effect, I always ask my teacher or go to YouTube for help. Practicing various effects in the programs can help you improve as well. Also, I always worked hard and used my time wisely and diligently. I believe that will take me far in life and I have improved as an animator by following these criteria.

I have also learned the importance of patience. It's not going to be done in a week or two; you just have to take the time to make it how you want your animation to look. For example, my rotoscoping animation took me two months to complete. I started it in the middle of September and ended before Thanksgiving. I storyboarded then filmed the animation like a real music video, collaborated with a few video friends, and imported the clips into Photoshop to draw over frame by frame. It was hard work, but I loved how it turned out. It was fun, but at times it was a hassle because it was late in the semester and I wanted to get the animation done. But patience is always a virtue and I loved how it looked in the end. I lost track of how many hours I worked on it, but I averaged about a week per shot. That's what makes you a successful animator - working hard, keeping track of deadlines, being patient, and learning how to tell a good story. It all makes for a good animation.

WHERE I CAN TAKE WHAT I LEARNED AND WHAT I CAN CHANGE

I believe I can take what I've learned about animation in high school to college and life. From the Senior Show to Open House, it's beneficial to talk to people about what you have learned and where your passion can take you. I can take my skills from high school to Missouri State University and beyond. I would like to inspire kids and adults with my stories.

Also, if I could change anything to my animations, I could change the views to a side view or a 3/4 view to my character in my college animation. I can also use different kinds of type in my typographies. I believe I could change that criteria someday because I know I'll need to show a variety of emotions, character angles, and stories. There's so many things I could improve on. 

CONCLUSION

I'm almost out of high school, but I've got a long way to go professionally. I can't wait to see where my animations can take me and I want to meet new people who are just as passionate as me. It's just the start of a new life and new beginning. 

Senior Show Analysis

I believe my Senior Show was a success.

How was it so successful? Well, I got to talk to potential clients and school friends, of course! I got to talk about my years in e-Comm and showcase a demo reel. I joined e-Comm my Sophomore Year, so I got to show everything from that year to now. Everyone seemed to enjoy my videos and I even gave them my business card, which I was able to create in Illustrator. I believe I have improved as an e-Communication student by telling so many good stories. It's all a part of good animation.

I told people about my favorite project, my time in e-Comm, what kinds of animations I completed, how I improved as a student, and what college I will be attending. Everyone I talked to wished me good luck in the future. I even got to talk to other animation students in different grades who were in my teacher's class. They all seemed to really enjoy it! Everyone who participated in the show got to share their work, including the video, graphic design, and web design kids.

Everything seemed to work well, including my demo reel. I received wonderful feedback from parents and professionals. I also brought in my sketchbook so people could see what I drew over the years. I thought I could work on decorating my table to be a bit more professional, but less is always more. It's best not to make it too flashy. I also thought my sketches could have been better, since I don't draw as much as I should. I think they turned out nice and organized though.

Before the show, we need to mail five invitations to people who wanted to come. A couple were not able to be there, but I got to talk to my old piano teacher and he couldn't believe I'm graduating!

In all, it was such a fun Senior Show. I got to talk to so many people who I could potentially work for. It was a fun experience to see what I could do with my talent. I can't wait to see what my next journey will bring at Missouri State University. I will be majoring in Electronic Arts with an animation focus and minor in Marketing.

Thanks for reading! You can also take a look at my demo reel below my clicking on the link. Hopefully an experience like this will land me a great job in the future. I hope to start my own company, but I'll need professional experience first. Whichever comes first, it'll give me a great start for my future. You can also take a look at some pics below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X7IWYtnRt8

Me and my piano teacher. Please notice how short I am.

Jason and Kelsie

Video section

Part of the video section

Kinetic Typography Re-render

Here is my re-rendered version of my latest typography. I went through it with my animation teacher, so I fixed a few mistakes. Some of the changes are noticeable, but I am satisfied with the final look. 

Some changes I made were fixing the space between the fonts so I would have more room between the screen, positioning other type so it wouldn't interfere with another word, working with Illustrator pics (one picture was blurry in the original, so my teacher helped me fix that by working with a shape outline in After Effects) , and positioning a camera angle to a different location. It took me about a week to fix everything, but I am satisfied with how it turned out.

Enjoy and let me know what you think! Video link is below.

Marina and the Diamonds: Kinetic Typography Re-render

Final Kinetic Typography

Hey everyone! Here is my final kinetic typography to Marina and the Diamonds' Savages. I like the message it portrayed in the song so I thought that criteria could make a neat animation. The main fonts I used were Futura, Monotype Corsiva, and Perpetua Titling MT. I also had the opportunity to create various pictures in Illustrator for a specific line. I drew over pictures I found on Google Images.

There were no major problems with the project, although it did take quite a bit of time. But what animations don't take long to make? I hope you enjoy it as I had a lot of fun making it! Link to the final video is shown below.

Marina and the Diamonds: Savages Kinetic Typography