The Devil Wears Prada

I finally went and saw the movie The Devil Wears Prada starring the amazing Meryl Streep. I had listened to the audiobook a year or two ago so I was interested to see what Ms. Streep would do with the role. I had heard some comments from friends before it came out, wondering if she was perhaps too old for the part, but I knew she would be stellar. And I was right.

I don't think I have ever seen her misstep. Her performances are always so genuine, so honest, so fresh, even if the level of the filmmaking isn't up to the level of her acting. She truly is an inspiration and I can safely say she is my most favorite actor to watch.

Anyhow, I get these fashion emails every week or so from The New York Times called "New York Style" which showcases the latest and greatest - and this week there was a slideshow from London Fashion Week featuring the lovely getup you see in my drawing, designed by Giles Deacon. Piano fringe and feathered hat, says the caption.

The image just struck me, especially since in the photograph, as you can see, the face of the model is totally covered (I decided she needed a face - at least part of one). The flow of the fringe, the legs that go on forever, but mostly the shapes that were being created. A towering triangular mass of feathers atop chopsticks. And the silhouette was really amazing. I had to draw it.

I also recently watched 101 Dalmations, one of my favorites, and this image was reminiscent of some of the beginning scenes in that movie where Pongo is checking out all of the ladies and their pooches, looking for a mate for his "pet", Roger. The all walked with purpose and attitude - some fancy, some stuffy. Maybe I should add a pooch to go along with her other accessories...

So yeah, I'm trying to do more drawing. If I ever hope to be a traditional animator, I need to get a few hundred thousand more drawings under my belt. Besides, since high heels feature so prominently in my short film, it pays to pay attention to how they are worn and how the body moves (or is made to move) when wearing them.

Hope you like the sketch.

Broken Links

So I'm still not sure what the problem is, but my site is still down, and all but one of the animation file links were on that site, so please forgive me. I'm looking into the matter and hope to have it resolved soon. Just wanted to let you know why so little was available.

- The Management

Leave of Absence

Okay, not really. I haven't gone fishin', but I have decided to take a leave of absence from AnimationMentor for the last two weeks of Class 6, the final class, and then come back full force for another 3 months in order to finish my film properly.

There are big sections of the film that need some re-working, and if i'm going to do something, i want to do it right, so even though the prospects are a little scary, it feels like the right thing to do.

The school has been very generous and supportive in helping us to finish our films, so I'm very happy about that. And they are planning lots of services and programs for the graduates in order to maximize our job opportunities. It's pretty amazing how far above and beyond they are going for us, but if you knew the founders of the school and the staff that works there, you wouldn't be surprised at all. They are the most giving and dedicated bunch I have seen.

So in the meantime, I have several things planned. Going to finish a grant proposal for my film, going to clean my studio so I can start painting again, going to do a few freelance projects so I have money to eat with, going to finalize some story points in my film to present to my new mentor when I get back...

Lots to do, and little time to do it, but it's nice to have a little bit of a breather before the hurricane slams again. The 12 hour days were starting to get to me.

New Musical Score

I almost forgot to mention another exciting bit of news! You will probably notice that the music in my film has changed. Well, I got back in touch with a good friend of mine, Michael Brennan, and learned that he was wanting to get into film scoring. So when I told him I was working on a short film myself, he wanted to try his hand at scoring my piece. I am very happy with the work he did and would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a talented composer that's just a pleasure to work with - very open to feedback, works very fast, and very creative.

I was also impressed with how well he understood the story and wrote music to support what was going on onscreen. It's just such a pleasure collaborating with another artist that really knows what he is doing and adds such quality to the work. The creative banter is also very fulfilling and inspiring, my images sparking ideas in him, and his music sparking further ideas in me.

This kind of thing reaffirms why I want to be a director.