I'm a car!

I suppose it was just a matter of time. I've worked on so many Cars-related projects  at Pixar that it was my turn to be immortalized in die-cast metal and plastic.  I've always thought of myself as a cream-colored British sports car...

The World's Smallest Animation

Yay Science!

Basilisk

I'm a little late to this party, but I was blown away by this film from Ami Thompson:

From what I gather, she's a student at Sheridan and has done internships at both Studio Ghibli and Disney.  I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Animator's Survival Kit for iPad

I just saw this posted on The Unofficial Apple Weblog. I haven't downloaded it myself yet, but it looks like they really did it right!

http://www.tuaw.com/2013/04/23/the-animators-survival-kit-comes-to-the-ipad-with-expanded-multi/

Retails for $35 which is comparable to the book, and much cheaper than the DVD set.

Pixar recruiting in Chicago

Pixar representatives will be in the Windy City on March 25th 26th looking for a few good animators. Sign up on the web site if you want to meet them there!

Monsters University

Here is the 2nd trailer for the film, which comes out this June:

I've been helping out on the film for the last month or so, as they were behind on footage and needed extra animators. I'm also still a Supervising Animator on our 2015 Pete Docter film, and it's been very challenging to divide my time, but I'm glad to be able to contribute and help the team. It's a fun film!

Brave animation reel

Here is a compilation of the shots I animated for Brave:

Brave Reel from Victor Navone on Vimeo.

I was just going to animate a shot or two on Brave for fun… I never like to miss working on a Pixar feature if I can help it.  Then Brave production started missing deadlines, and they needed all the help they could get, so I was enlisted to be full-time on the show for about 3 months. Nevertheless it was still fun; working with Mark Andrews is a blast, and I got to do some juicy shots. I especially enjoyed the scene of Elinor eating the cake, and I did a lot of research on people trying to conceal disgust. Emma Thompson's vocal performance was hugely inspirational, and I referenced Lucille Ball and WIlliam Shattner as well.  On a technical note, this was the first time I ever had the chance to animate neck muscles.

As for the triplet shots, the snot gag was my idea. Love it or hate it, I thought it was true to young kids' behavior, and it ended up in the trailer!  I also came up with the chicken-on-the-head idea.  I don't claim think it's funny (mostly I think it's weird).  There were no storyboards for this sequence, and I was tasked with using the chicken in a way that would frighten Maudie but would be funny to the audience.  This was one of about 5 ideas I tried, and it seemed to get the best reaction.

You can see some of my planning drawings here:
flickr.com/photos/victor_navone/sets/72157632560536761/

Enjoy!

How To Ask For (And Receive) Good Critiques And Comments

I just read this article on Fstoppers (a photography blog) and I thought that a lot of it applies to animation too - or for that matter any creative endeavor.  Knowing how to ask for and accept feedback is just as important as the work you do.