Welcome!

I set up this blog to share my past weekend to New York. On a spur of the moment decision I decided to go NY to see the Pixar exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. What could make a better museum exhibit than one about Pixar? Well, that and maybe a dinosaur petting zoo . . . It was the last weekend for the exhibit and for some time I had wanted to go, so after much discussion among classmates (I'm a 2nd year animation student at Seneca Collge)we decided to just go for it, our teacher had been down the previous weekend and said it was definitely worth it! The exhibit was to commemerate Pixars 20th anniversary, and I had just turned 20 as well, so why not?
Unfortunately it got a little tricky trying to organize everyone in just one day, so it ended up that some couldn’t make it and I had to travel with my mom if I was to go! The idea of a bunch of college kids driving for 9 hours to a huge city and back with little road trip experience didn't sit well with my parents. But hey I got to spend some quality time with my mom, and this way we got free plane tickets from our good friend Gonz Moreno from Moreno Travel, a huge gesture of kindness. I’ll have to ransack an entire neo natal unit for all the first born children I owe him. So at 4 am I got up on Saturday to get to the airport. Funny, since less than 24 hours ago I had no idea I'd be travelling to the big apple. The plane ride took no time at all from Toronto to New York, and by 9 I was in Manhattan!




Trying to draw like James Jean . . .



Getting There

We looked around town and then arrivied at the MoMA shortly after it opened. I thought maybe I would see my friends who went down seperately, but even the museums and galleries are huge and crowded, so I didn’t see anyone I knew for the entire exhibit. The place was already bustling, nervous we would have a long wait to see the exhibit we hurried on in. I remember our teacher mentioning about a “meet-the-animator” type of luncheon, so I asked information if anything like that was going on that day. Im glad I remebered to ask because there was to be a lecture by two Pixar animators that morning in the theater! Unfortunately it was completly sold out! I wasn’t ready to give up, I hadn’t come this far to only have take in half the exeperience, so we decided to head on down to the theater where the presentation would start soon and try to sneak in. We got to the entrance and asked the ticket-taker if there was anyway to get in and she said it was doubtful. We didn’t give up though, instead we just stood there pensive, trying to get the nerve to approach someone and ask if we could buy there ticket right there. I must have looked pretty sad because someone gave the woman an extra ticket and she let me in. Woo Hoo! Mom was great and said she would wait around and look at the exhibit. I was fortunate enough to encounter so much generosity on this trip.



The Encounter

The presentation was mainly aimed at young children, but everyone including parents and older kids really enjoyed it. The speakers were animators Doug Sweetland and Kareha Yokoo. Sweetland worked as an animator on Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo and Boundin'. He was a directing animator on Monsters Inc. and storyboard artist for The Incredibles. Kareha animated scenes in Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles and animated crowd sequences in A Bug’s Life. They started off by showing clips from Wallace and Gromit’s The Wrong Trousers and My Neighbor Totoro. They asked the audience if they could distinguish between these different types of animation. Doug then showed how you could do your own animation: On the corner of two the pages he drew key drawings of a cat with its mouth closed and then open. By rolling the corner with his pencil he made it easier to flip, and then proceeded to make sound effects to accompany several of these. They had one prepeared with a fish, so with a few more key drawings a pinao was lowered and he played it in two drawings with music playing. The kids got a real kick out of it, and I have to admit i did too, it’s great to see someone demonstrate their enthusiasm! They then went on to explain how 3D animation is done, by manipulating a character. So Doug stood on the stage like a mannequin as kids shouted ways Kareha could pose him, disco dancing etc. They also showed a clip form The Incredibles where Helen drops the phone talking to E. Inset was the video an animator took of himself acting out the scene. The floor was then opened up for questions.




Apparently animators do not photgraph well, either before or behind the camera. Bit blurry, sorry.



I was too nervous to approach the pair when I first entered the theater; they were doing little drawings and talking to kids before getting started. Luckily we could still approach them and ask questions after the discussion was over and they were very nice. I talked with Kareha first and she explained how you don’t neccesarily need to work at another studio before applying to Pixar. Sometimes a person’s reel is at the level without having work experience. Still it will take a tremendous amount of hard work . . . . Kareha and Doug explained how they both got started in their careers; Doug always knew from a young age what he wanted to do, but Kareha said she didn’t get into animation until after graduating from college. I know a few people who have done the same and it’s always fascinating to hear how they made the decision. Kareha saw Toy Story and from that moment on was gung ho about getting in on the action. She said she had to find out how to do this and after looking around found that Pixar was holding a workshop. She took it, developed her reel and then presented it to the studio, wich then hired her.
The two were kind enough to sign my sketchbook (just about the only thing on me) and Doug flipped through it-which I had just gotten and so was full of just a few crappy scribbles! Oh well, the exhibit was amazing, with tons of interactive exhibits and concept art you can’t find in the art of books. The even had stuff from their early shorts Luxo, Red’s Dream, Knick Knack, Tin Toy, The Adventures of André & Wally B. and upcoming Cars!




I sleep with this underneath my pillow


Over all this was an amazing experience and it’s something else to see these works in real life. It makes everything look so effortless and tangible! The rest of New York was really something; Times Square, the Empire State Building, Central Park and the petting zoo and the American Museum of Natural History! If you ever have a chance, do go visit, whether you are an artist or not. This is one of those experiences I’ll remeber forever.




Pamphlets