Disney Internship: Merry-Go-Round

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I spent a solid day exploring Disney World and sketching. This was a merry-go-round at Disney World. Late in the internship I would use a merry-go-round as inspiration for some story boarding I did.

I had already finished the second animation assignment which was a jump. I was feeling guilty that I finished so fast. So I started a second jump but abandoned it since I like the first animation better.

For some reason I had been given a Snow White poster and I wanted to give it to my niece Nikki. I was also given an Aladdin tape and I probably still have that packed away in some box somewhere.

24 at the Renaissance

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24 is set in a 1920s speakeasy. An email arrived that gave the secret password to be given at the door. I met Seth and Genevieve in the line to get in. They didn’t get the email, so I filled them in on the Latin password. Genevieve memorized the password immediately but I forgot it the second I told them.

Security is tight at the Renaissance Theater Company, 415 E Princeton St, Orlando, FL . I didn’t bring my art bag since bags are not allowed. I just brought my iPad. Getting through the metal detector with all my change, pencils, phone, keys, wallet and iPad took some time. We were all issued bright green arm bands.

Once inside I masked up. I was one of two who did. At the foot of a tall staircase we were introduced to the mantra of mother. A woman complained bitterly about the religious fervor of mother and the endless debauchery we were about to experience. Then we entered a laundry. The man behind the counter lamented the recent violence in the city. I was in his line of sight and he called me over. He asked if I wished to place an order. Since I didn’t know what he was talking about I said “no.” He told me to step aside and asked the next guest the same question. That person said “no” and was told to stand beside me. Finally the third person said “yes” and whispered the secret password in the mans ear. They were let into the venue through a beaded curtain. The laundry machines were actually doors to back rooms. I had to scan a code with my phone to get more words of wisdom from mother.

I was allowed in and sat at a table in the corner which was marked with my name. The woman seated beside me looked stunning in her vintage flapper dress. Quite a few woman had taken the trouble to dig out their flapper dresses and bejeweled headbands. A six piece band provided the music though I never caught sight of them. The singing was stellar. The show itself featured some fast paced dancing mixed with dark undertones. The dancers were in constant motion so I only ventures to capture a few fast gestures. Detail had to be lost. I switched my attention to the large vagina scrawled on the wall. Though celebrating sensuality there were was also resistance and counter protest.

Overall it was a mysterious and jubilant evening. A group of people tried to exit the way we came in. It turns out that lead to a backstage maze. The actual exit was at the back of the venue.

Disney Internship: Mad Hatters Tea Cups

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With the third animation assignment finished for the Disney Feature Animation Internship, I decided to spend the day at Walt Disney World sketching. This was the third sketch for the day.

Of course the challenge with this sketch is that those tea cups just keep spinning, making it a challenge to sketch any detail.

As I recall that darn door mouse kept popping up and down out of the tea pot as well. Despite that challenges of sketching in a park setting, it felt good to just sketch from life rather than getting Disney characters to move.

Disney Feature Animation Internship: Tiki Room

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I had a full day off from animating in the Disney Feature Animation Internship. Some of the interns pretty much chained themselves to their desks to keep animating. There was so much on the line if the assignments sucked then it was very possible you might not get hired. I had finished my assignment and felt my mental health was just as important as cranking out drawings. so I went to Disney World as an employee.

This is a third sketch done on the same day in Disney World. This is the Tiki Room or, Sunshine Tree Terrace. Years later I would sketch one of the Tiki birds on display at the Orange County Regional History Center. All the birds inner gears and gyros lay open and exposed. I think I was just so excited to get away from the animation desk where I was sketching Mickey and Goofy. Having a solid day to just sketch on location felt like a real vacation. Some of the early animation assignments just felt silly and it was nice to get a dose of sketching from reality back into my blood.

Well I suppose sketching in Disney World as far from reality but it was a fair recreation of an exotic and new location to sketch. All these sketches were done as post cards. I would mail one off each night. The advantage is that they are all post marked which further verifies the dates.

COVID Dystopia is Heading to Iowa

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My short film, COVID Dystopia, is an official selection at the Iowa Independent Film Festival in Mason City, Iowa. When looking up the city on Google, the first image I saw was of a grain silo. How cool would it be to project COVID Dystopia on the side of a grain silo? That dream might not happen since Mason City does have a Community Theater. The city even have an airport but I have to figure out if an airline from Orlando flies there.The airport might only be for crop dusters.

The Film Festival ruins from September 5-7, 2024. I have to figure out what day my film is screening. This film festival has been running for 17 years so they must know what they are doing. Now you might be saying to yourself that Mason City in Iowa is in the middle of nowhere. If by nowhere, you mean America then you are absolutely correct. The primary reason I submitted to the Iowa International Film Festival is that Chris P. Chicken is one of their board members. I had a chuckle when I saw his pointy beaked expression and knew I needed to show my film there.

The meandering Winnebago River winds right through Mason City, which is the River City referred to in The Music Man, the hit 1957  by Meredith Wilson.

The Music Man Square is right next door to the Community Theater and has an indoor recreation of the 1912 main street featured in the musical. It has an ice cream parlor and a gift shop. The gift shop even  had a Trouble themed face mask. It is cloth rather than an N-95 so I will pass on picking one up. But clearly the folks of Mason have a sense of humor. I plan to take a sketch selfie at the entrance to the River City High School!  A large Victorian home on the property is the boyhood home of Meredith Wilson who wrote the book, music and lyrics for the Music Man. The home is gorgeous and another great sketch opportunity.

I envision COVID Dystopia sweeping into River City just like Henry Hill and trying to save the quite hamlet from the denial, indifference and gas lighting that has caused them to press the reality of the past 4 years into the back of their minds, about a virus that has caused, and continues to cause, a whole lotta trouble, trouble, trouble. All those innocent boys and girls who got their flutes, trumpets and trombones in 1912 would come to face a whole lot more trouble when WWI rolled around, along with the Spanish Flu epidemic which would kill more Americans than the battle front. There was far more denial in those days about the death toll since a country at war does not want to appear weak. A politicians only way to look strong in the face of a pandemic is to peel off their mask and insist you do the same.

 

Disney Feature Animation Internship: Walk in the Park 2

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This is another sketch done in Disney World on a day off from animating. I had finished a third animation assignment and just wanted to walk and sketch to clear my head.There is nothing like direct observation to calm the nerves and clear the head.

This is the entrance to the Pirates of the Caribbean. I did go inside and sail around the attraction before deciding to do this sketch. I do believe the Tiki Room was right behind me. I loved the Tiki Room. Those animatronic parrots are so simply animated, but the experience was magical.

Flash forward to today and OUC: The Incompetence One, turned off my power after I had paid the bill two weeks ago. On April Fools Day when I moved in to this studio, they also cut off my power even though I had signed up online and in person. They mailed my checks to an address I was at 8 years ago. When they sent me a bill I paid it immediately. Dealing with the phone robots is an infuriating experience they have no sense of humor and put me on hold for well over an hour. I think the OUC robots simply do not understand anything that is not digital like a check. I have decided I have to get out of Orlando just to get away from OUC. Dealing with power company robots is my idea of absolute hell. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Disney Feature Animation Internship: A Walk in the Park

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I had a day off from animating in the Disney Feature Animation Internship and I spent it walking around Disney World Magic Kingdom. I hit up the Haunted House and Space Mountain.I would have loved to sketch in the attractions but it is impossible to get a sketch when you are being shuttled along in a roller coaster carriage.

Actually sketching in a theme park is a real challenge since hoards of tourists are constantly rushing down the street. I chose to sketch the upper floors of Main street to keep the crowds out of the sketch.

It started to rain about 5pm so I escaped and went back to the apartment Disney had put the would be animators into. The rest of the afternoon was spent doing laundry and sketching up on errands before starting another week of animating.

Disney Internship: Mahoney and Webb

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These are the two Disney Feature Animation interns who sat opposite me in the office. There were 4 four animation desks then an opening to the hallway and four more desks in the room.

John Mahoney to the left held his pencil in an unexpected way. He is one of the most gifted visual development artists I ever met. His work today is twisted and brooding. I like it.

While I was struggling with each animation assignment he was creating entire sequences for an animated short. His drawings done in the life drawing classes were also spectacular. He would take the figure and twist it with elegant exaggerations. Darren Webb seated behind John went on to have a long career in the computer animation industry. I tried turning to computer animation but couldn’t take staring at a computer screen all day and started sketching from life once again.

The transition to sketching on location again has been slow. I teach most nights until 8pm which rules out the usual events I used to sketch. Right now I am designing a COVID Dystopia book which keeps me at my desk until I pass out most nights. My schedule is work, eat sleep much as it was when I was an intern. I had Sunday off yesterday and spent the whole day designing. I have decided I need to hire an editor to get the book solidly in the works. I am one of the worst at endless typos.

 

Disney Internship: Inbetweening

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All the Disney Feature Animation interns gathered around Sam Ewing‘s animation desk to watch him point out the mechanics of inbetweening. In an animated scene you often have tow key drawings which show the extremes of a motion.

Sam has Mickey on his desk, so I will use him to explain. If Mickey throws a baseball you will have the arm pulled back anticipating the throw and then you will have the hand extended forward at eh moment the ball is released. The inbetweens fill in the gap between the tow extremes.There are 24 frames of film for every second so it take 24 drawings for a one second movement. It is often possible to get away with 12 drawings and holding each drawing for two frames each. In any scene more that 3/4 of the drawings are inbetweens. in a 2 hour movie that means there are about 172,800 animated drawings that need to be done. That is why a small army of artists are needed to complete an animated film.

After work I walked around the empty MGM theme park with several other animators. The park was closed but the music was still playing. It felt eerie. The whole Disney experience was kind of eerie.

Disney Internship: Tower of Terror Construction

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The Tower of Terror at Disney’s MGM Studios was constructed right next to the parking lot trailer where we were learning the art of animation during the Disney Feature Animation Internship.

The construction itself wasn’t that distracting, but when the ride opened, we could hear people screaming bloody murder every few minutes when the elevator dropped. The ride designers were kind enough to make sure the elevator doors were wide open overlooking  the park and studio, where we were working, each time they dropped.

When construction was complete the designers needed guinea pigs to test out the ride before it was opened to the public. Of course the animation interns volunteered. As the elevator rose I started to think it was a bad idea. What if the brakes failed? What if one of the shaft panels wasn’t bolted in right?