End of Class 1
So, Class 1 ended a week or so ago. It was far more time consuming and difficult than I realized it would be, but a much better learning experience than I could have imagined. Sean was a great mentor, and always had excellent advice in his critiques.
I was a bit disappointed with myself, because I never really found a groove in managing a full time job, 2 kids, and class. I didn’t think it would be an issue, because I’d done lots of freelance work and personal projects the last couple of years, but that was with only 1 kid. The freshly christened Daciana made the time problem escalate exponentially, and I just wasn’t prepared. She’s 7 months old now, and a more regular routine is established, so I’m hoping I’ll have an easier time making time in class 2.
Class 2, which begins today! In a couple of hours the student site will open up again (students have lost access since the end of Class 1) and I’ll find out who my new mentor and classmates are, and what time my new Q & A is.
While we wait, here is my progress reel from Class 1. I hope to post more than my progress reel for class 2 
First Q&A Tonight
Tonight I get to meet my mentor, Sean Ermey, and fellow classmates in the first of 72 Q&A sessions I plan to attend.
I’ve spent the last couple of days in the thrall learning the student site. Checking out the forums, cruising the campus, downloading and trying out tools, watching the myriad videos available. I used my Dex puppet to record my first Video Journal, which was fun, but not well-planned. Good way to verify my webcam and microphone are working, though. Haven’t gotten any feedback on it yet. Managed to use the AM Chat tool to chat with classmate Michael Petro, who is also living in Central Florida. He’s already got some nice animation skills, which can be seen at his website.
Class 1 Begins
Finally got to login to the real site. It is more awesome than I imagined. So many wonderful resources! Watched my first lecture, which was an hour long video that mostly consisted of Shawn Kelley being uncomfortably close to the camera talking about how awesome animation is and letting us know what to expect. There were also numerous interviews with animators working at various big companies (ILM, Pixar, Blue Sky, etc.) sharing their passion and their stories of why they got into the business. It felt a bit like, “We know you just committed to spending almost $20,000 on us so we’re going to use this opportunity to make sure you’re really excited about that fact.” In this capacity, I must say that it worked on me 100%. I didn’t think I could be more excited about the program, but I was quite wrong. It is great to see people who are so passionate about what they do, and are genuinely eager to share that passion with you. There has not been enough of that in my day jobs. I tend to only find that sort of passion when I get to work in the arts. Maybe that’s just because that’s where my passion is…
My first mentor is the Dallas-based freelancer Sean Ermey. You can find his list of credits on the IMDB, and you can find out more about him on his blog. He seems like a very cool guy, living out some of the things I dream of: freelancing, traveling Europe, animating for a living, animating Ninja Turtles, etc. I look forward to learning from his experiences!
It is quite late now, but there is still so much I want to see on the AM site. I could spend all day on there and not be satiated!
I hunger for art and animation, and now I have claimed my seat at the buffet. Time to feast!
