I had no intention of attending Comic-Con this year but little did I know that I would be driving eight hours south to San Diego where a convention full of madness awaited. As fate would have it I did in fact attended Comic-Con for my 9th year in a row! To make things a little more interesting my sister, her buddy and I put together a list of Comic-Con treasures if you will, our list consisted of things we would more than likely see even if we didn't want to. On the list and one of my favorite pictures would be the little Jedi up above there and his bounty hunter friend? Click the image for a like the rest of my Con photos or here.
I picked up prints of both these pieces. By the very talented Dustin Nguyen his blog is here.
It was very cool to see such a huge presence of The Clone Wars at the Con and it was the first time that I realized how massive the Star Wars universe is to the fans. The main presentation was really cool in Hall H but from my understanding the real prize was attending the 3D Story panel called "3D Story: The Making of Clone Wars which can be found here. As for other happenings the Star Wars "The Clone Wars" movie hit the theaters last week and allowed the world a visual glimpse of what the tv show will have in store come this Fall. This show really is going to give other 3D animated shows a run for their money, once The Clone Wars airs I think people are going to really take notice of how beautiful this show looks and how cool it is to have an on-going animated tv series for Star Wars.
As well I'm sure some of the hard-core fans have been poking around on-line but there have been a series of really cool interviews and web videos posted from a press release that George Lucas had at Lucasfilm Animation Ltd.
I heard the New York times was doing an interview with George but I didn't know they would be posting these great sketches of Asajj Ventress! Not sure who the artist is but I'm sure I'll find out from the guys, it's always funny to end up seeing something new or really cool on the internet but it's something you've never even seen it at work.
The article was a pretty good read, nothing all that new but there were a few bits and pieces that I think alot of industry people will pick up on. It's worth giving a listen as well to the mp3 files they have posted, they're pretty short but give a little more insight that the article may have missed.
I think this was the best quote pulled in the piece, or at least what I think kind of sums things up, even for the haters out there is this. “He’s the guy,” said Dave Filoni, director of the “Clone Wars” show and movie. “Chewbacca exists because he named him, thought him up, put him in the cockpit.”
Man what a cool movie, way entertaining and still holds up watching it at home. When I first watched Cloverfield at the local theater I was just happy that I didn't barf but I still couldn't help but think how exciting (and rare) it was to be entertained at a movie again. I don't know, maybe it had just been awhile since something cool came along that didn't really suck?
I just picked up the dvd and can already tell that I'm going to regret not waiting for the special edition, not to ruin the fun but don't miss this like I did in the theater...make sure to watch the end credits (and listen to the amazing movie theme by Michael Giacchino)...when you see the last film logos running up the screen crank up your tvs volume as loud as you can for a nice little treat.
As well here are a couple cool variations on the movie posters that were released (or maybe not?). Can't say that I ever saw any of them other than the iconic Statue of Liberty one.
In all honestly when I spotted the Clone Wars sneak peak about two years ago I was a skeptic. At first glance I thought it had some what of a video game quality about it. The designs seemed considerably different than that of Paul Rudish and GenndyTartakovsky's Clone Wars which I like most nerds am a BIG fan of. Although the new Clone Wars would be in 3D I had no idea what I was in store for.
Soon after thinking that I ran into Justin Ridgeat Comic-Con he's a really great guy and at that time he was Assistant Director on the show, when I asked him how the show was coming along he said "Were trying to make it look as much as 2D as we can while still doing it in 3D".
Fast forward to the present...I've been consistently amazed at the development of the show. All it takes is a stroll over to Star Wars dot com for a behind the scene look at some of the amazingly talented people they have on the show. One of my favorite video spots shows the sculptor who solidified the designs that were later transformed into the 3D models.
The 3D designs really look great, I think they've been able to take some of the influence from the 2D designs and make them look cool in 3D. The textures on this show are very unique as well and for a 3D show I think the art direction is amazing, I really dig the painterly quality of the show. If you look at the teaser trailer you can really see how different this is from any 3D show on tv.
As for the animation and the story, it's really hard to judge based on the teaser...however everyone will just take a look at your local animation pub Cartoon Brew.
All I can say is in the past four months I've seen some really kick ass stuff and animation that goes above and beyond what television animation is usually capable of, I think that the fans are in for a real treat once the show gets rolling. More to come.
So I guess I'm officially a big-time-nerd...I just signed up for the Hyperspace Membership I was looking over the Star Wars site and noticed they have an "Hyperspace Exclusive" about Ahsoka...and even though I get to see this stuff all day long...I couldn't help myself, I joined!!
As a perk to you I've posted the screen savers that seem to now be exclusives.
As a kid I can remember my first day of school, the excitement and the wonder of experiencing something new and adventurous.
So when I started my first job working in the Animation Industry it reminded me of what it was to be a kid again and to have the opportunity to experience something adventurous and new in a new light, it was pretty much like being a kid again.
I had kicked the idea around a while (a few years now) about setting up a blog where I could share my personal experiences as I work in animation and try to figure out what I'm doing as an artist in this crazy industry. It's my hope to share some of the challenges I've faced getting my "foot in the door" and what it's taken to keep it firmly wedged in.
Currently I am lucky enough to say I am working for one of the best animation studios around Lucasfilm Animation Ltd., although not the most well known I'm sure you've heard of the guy who started it. Yep, I work for George Lucas and for the past two months I've been working as a 3D Story Artist on the television series The Clone Wars.It's been better than any dream I could come up with and it's been better than anything I could possibly imagine!
So here's to our first days and to many more adventures in life and animation!
Comic-Con isn't just for big kids
