Welcome to my Animation and Design blog. I've been working in the film business for over twenty five years, fifteen of those as a CG animator. This is my current animation reel. Please check the other pages to see a sampling of my art, design, and mechanical work.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Current Reel
Shot Breakdown
"Star Wars Kinect"
Rancor animation. Maya 2011.
"Dinosaur Revolution"
Dinosaur animation. Maya 2011.
"Poseidon Rex"
Dinosaur animation. Lightwave 11.5.
"Dinosaur Revolution"
Dinosaur animation. Maya 2011
"City of Dreams"
Dragon animation. Maya 2008.
"Warbirds"
Pterosaur, airplane, and camera animation. LightWave 8.5.
"Jaberwocky"
Jaberwocky animation. Maya 2011.
"Arachnoquake"
Spider animation. LightWave .
"Banjo-Kazooie"
Banjo and Kazooie animation. LightWave 9.
"Personal Projects"
Model, lighting and animation. LightWave 8.5.
RESUME
I am an artist. I love to create, working with my hands to grapple with challenges that test my resourcefulness. My 28 year journey through the movie industry has made it possible for me to acquire a variety skills, such as; designing and creating mechanisms for animatronic puppets, sculpting, molding and casting creatures, props and miniatures, as well as designing and animating stop-motion puppets.
Ultimately transitioning to the digital world, I've been animating and creating computer generated characters for film and video.
I have worked on over 60 films as a mechanical designer, machinist, sculptor, mold-maker, painter, model builder, stop-motion animator, puppeteer, CGI animator and modeler.
Animator
Rogue State
2010 – 2014 (4 years)
My main contribution at Rogue State was as a character/creature animator. That included camera set up, initial blocking and animatics, rough lighting, and final animation. There were also opportunities for modeling, texturing, and rigging. We worked in both Lightwave and Maya.
Animator
Rhythm & Hues
August 2006 – November 2012 (6 years 4 months)
I worked in "The Box" which was one of R&H's commercial departments. My responsibilities included, character animation, scene blocking, animated camera, mo-cap manipulation, modeling and texturing.
We produced spots for "Microsoft's Star Wars Kinect", "Devil May Cry", "Call of Duty 2,3", "Splinter Cell:Double Agent", and "Fable 2".
animator/ lead
UFO Films
2001 – 2004 (3 years)
I started as a character animator in 2001. Eventually my responsibilities expanded to include storyboard, character design, and animation lead on several projects. As a lead my responsibility was to assign and review animators and compositors shots, work directly with the editor/director to design the sequences, and to execute my own shots.
Key Assistant Animator
Walt Disney Feature Animation
1996 – 1999 (3 years)
I worked at Disney Feature Animation for 3 years on "Dinosaur", their first CG feature. My two responsibilities were first, as a 'workbook' animator, (that's Disney's term for animatics). Very detailed animatics were created and we were responsible for both character and camera blocking. Second, when the animatics were complete, the assistant team was responsible for creating large numbers of cycles and behaviors for use in crowd scenes. These were executed under the direction of animator Atsushi Sato.
Mechanical Designer, puppeteer
Amalgamated Dynamics Inc.
1991 – 1993 (2 years)
I started with ADI as an mechanical designer on "The Santa Clause" working under key mechanical designer Mike Elizalde. I worked on several films as both mechanical designer and puppeteer. Design tasks often involved creating machined parts that worked within the confines of a rigid shell, adding lifelike movement to rubber or silicon skins. These mechanisms would be controlled with either multiple cables or directly with radio controlled motors.
While at ADI I worked on "Tremors 2", "Jumanji", "Michael", and "Starship Troopers".
Mechanical Design, puppeteer, stop-motion animator
Dave Allen Productions, Kevin Yagher, Ted Rae, Chiodo Bros.
1989 – 1991 (2 years)
From 1989 to 1991 I worked for Dave Allen Productions, Ted Rae, Kevin Yagher, Chiodo Bros. My responsibilities usually encompassed mechanical design, armature design and machining, sculpting, mold making, animation, and puppeteering. At that time I worked on projects like, "Childs Play 3", "Puppet Master 2", the 1990's iteration of "The Land of the Lost", and several commercial projects.
Mechanical Designer, Model Builder
freelance effects
1989 – 1991 (2 years)
Worked as a freelance mechanical designer and model builder for The Puppet Studio and for an independent film maker. I designed and machined radio and cable control puppets for a childrens T.V. show called "Riders in the Sky" and two cable control eye mechanisms for a T.V. pilot show. I also designed and modeled a 1":7' scale model of the U.S. Capitol building using woodworking, miniature vacuforming, sculpting, styrene plastic build-up, silicon molding, with urethane castings.
Designer, animator
Doug Beswick Productions
1985 – 1990 (5 years)
Worked with Doug Beswick as a mechanical designer, stop-motion animator, sculptor, mold maker, machinist, and puppeteer. My responsibilities included machining Doug's designs, as well as my own, for stop-motion armatures and cable control puppets. I was involved heavily in designing shots and visual effects as well as providing storyboards for several projects. Some of the projects we worked on were, "Nightmare on Elm Street 3", "The Abyss", "Beetlejuice", "Ticks", "Gremlins2", and "Cabin Boy"
EDUCATION
California Institute of the Arts
Certificate of Fine Arts, Film Graphics and Animation
1977 – 1981
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