Pitch Perfect!

    Hello again, fellow artists and animators!

   On April 25th, TAAFI will be holding their annual 'Welcome to the Industry' party at the Vogue Supper Club. With so many gathered in one place, I figure there is no better time to talk networking.

    Networking, in short, is building mutually beneficial connections that last. Getting to know people, and more importantly getting people to know you. Employers are looking for personality that will best fit the collective team they are looking to complete. If they feel you are the right piece, the skills (though important) are secondary.

     Presenting yourself in a natural, confident way is always the best. Confidence can be gained through a little prep-work (check who is going, what company they are from, and have an opinion on that companies work), as well as keeping in mind that we are all human and we all are here to do the same thing. Finally never be afraid to say hello; worst that could happen is getting a cold shoulder that you probably don't want to work with anyway.

   Keep this in mind, and I promise networking can be equal parts business and pleasure!

  Jacob Whyte
Max the Mutt Student ambassador, TAAFI 2014





 

Weebly Update

Hey everyone, short and sweet post today.

Big update to the weebly, added some newer works as well as old.

http://jacobwhyte.weebly.com/

Enjoy!
Jacob Whyte

Dressed like a little girl.

 After the stress of a long few weeks, nothing feels better then to get home and unwind in your favorite mini dress and leggings an...

Ok, Ill stop now.

    Evening all! Lots of happenings happening over the past few weeks and since weebly is not the best place for a blog I'll keep this puppy going.

   Last week, York Regional Skills competition was held, including an animation division where high school students created a storyboard and characters to animate in a 30 second short. Their theme was imagination is more important then knowledge.

  

     Only one problem, they only had four hours to animate, some only with a mouse, in 2D.

   

    Needless to say quality suffered. It was a real shame especially considering teams (of two) that took the time to make good characters suffered in the end because they could not draw them in time. A solution I think would be to make it an animation exercise instead, such as a lift or a quick acting sound bit even, and have them create one character to work with.

   Also, in relevance to the odd title of this entry, earlier today was the first of a two day TAAFI master class with Mr. Mushu himself, Charlie Bonifacio.

  A practitioner of tai chi and animation for almost 30 years, Charlie spoke softly about the definitions of drawing, finding line, rhythm and direction as we drew everything from blind contours to gesture to other exercises I haven't tried before. There was a nice blend of old review and new incite to the whole day, and I am very much looking forward to tomorrow.

  Hats off to our model as well, who took some phenomenal poses while dressed like Penny from Disneys' Bolt. We were first asked to draw normal proportion in costume, then apply her pose to the character herself.

All for now, more for later.

Jacob Whyte

The lead runs deep...

Hello, everyone! Yes, it has been a long time. Yes, posts have been few and, yes, that is going to change (sort of). To supplement the lack of art, I'm going to disperse it throughout this post.

















This past three and a half months have been devoted to our final traditionally animated short at Max the Mutt. As the first semester ending last year was preproduction, second semester is bringing it all together.

Its very exciting, having done some shorts in the past I'm familiar with the huge feeling of accomplishment that comes from completing a short, so its almost more exciting to be working beside others who are going through the process for the first time.



 However, theirs a lot of weight on the whole groups shoulders at the moment. We are working on our films, but at the same time are dealing with the average Max the Mutt homework load (aka a hell of a lot).

  Even with my little bit of experience ( The amazing feeling of having a short to call your own ), I'm finding it hard to stay focused and meet expectations in all areas. I could only imagine how others are coping, if at all.

  It would be such a shame for anyone of our group to come so far, to learn SO MUCH! Only to have their first shot at a creative vision squashed by process of creating it. We made it all the way to the third year, we KNOW we know what we are doing otherwise we wouldn't be here.

If anyone from class reads this, hang in there. Pain is only temporary, and watching the final product in motion you will remember the hardships only with a grin glued to your gills.

Cheers, everyone! This will be my lasts posts on blogger as im setting up a weebly site. That way all the work is in one place and organized along with the blog.

Jacob Whyte.