My First Mentor

Charles Alleneck

So, I have been assigned a mentor for my first class at AnimationMentor.com: Charles Alleneck.

BIO: Charles is a graduate of the CalArts Character Animation Department, with a BFA in Character Animation and several short films under his belt. He worked briefly as a traditional animator on the television show The Simpson’s before coming to ILM to learn CG animation. Charles has worked at ILM for almost five years, with credit on seven feature films including "The Mummy Returns", "Hulk", and "Star Wars: Episodes II and III". He has served as a Directed Study Mentor for the Academy of Art in San Francisco, and has lectured on animation both in the U.S. and abroad.

I found after doing a simple Google search online that he did a traditionally animated short film called "Onion John" that did well at animation festivals. I read one person's review of it, saying that it was the funniest film of the bunch.

I'm in a group with 9 other people (that I know of so far) - most of them in the bay area, one in Phoenix, and one in Tahiti.

The site launched briefly at 10 this morning, but I guess they are experiencing a few technical issues, because now the site is inaccessible. This week will be mostly orientation and getting everything set up so we can get to animating as soon as we can.

My biggest task right now is to get on a schedule that optimizes my time. I will have to be very organized if I am to work full-time, do school, exercise, eat well, and take care of housework and not burn out. That will be an education in and of itself.