My animation for the NATA open round is DONE! Though, I'm gonna keep editing bits and pieces until the deadline. Better safe than sorry, right? Especially considering who's entering.

From the looks of things, I've got some stiff competition. A few of last year's competitors are entering again, including emrox and sandwich-eater, both semi-finalists. Dave Pagurek van Mossel's also thrown his chips in, and the kid knows his stuff. I've also seen some posts from Jomillex and BobyB64 saying that they've entered. This ought to be a really fun. :)

I'm already thinking of what I could do for next round. It sounds weird, considering they announce a theme to stop people from starting early, but I think I've found a way to do some initial planning. I mean, no matter what, you're always going to need a set of characters and a setting, right? So why not just list out a few different options (say like two kids in a garage, or say a dog in the park). So, when the theme is announced, you have a whole list of characters and scenarios to choose from already. It becomes as simple as choosing out a combination that you think will work best, then changing and writing the story from there.

I guess there could be some downsides with this approach, though...

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Released! I call it "The Quantum Freezer Theory." Also, don't get your hopes up for a laugh. I'm just as unfunny as I've ever been.

So: I just barely finished the script and storyboard for my entry to NATA. I've got to say, the concept of time travel really brings some inspiration to the table. The idea I finally settled with was going back in time to pull a prank. I know,really original, but just trust me. It's a simple idea, with room for creativity. Its light hearted, and easy(ish) to follow.

If anyone's interested in criticizing-erm-"Beta Testing" my work while it's in progress, just give me a shout out. I can never get enough opinions. :)

if you aren't sure if I'm worth watching, just watch my latest submission to newgrounds, "Aminal Crossing."

Hey all!

I just wanted to let the ENTIRE UNIVERSE know that I got accepted to Brigham Young University! That's right, I'm headed to Provo!

Anyone who might not know what that means for an aspiring animator might be interested to find out that BYU has the best, yes, THE BEST animation program in the US. No lie, nor exaggeration. okay, well maybe a little. But I'll have you all know that pixar has given more jobs to BYU alumni than to any other university graduate. And for me, that sounds like more than reason enough to be excited.

"A door was opened more than five years ago when the first BYU student landed an internship at Pixar Animation Studios. Since then, many students have earned internships, worked on some of Pixar's big animated movies and been retained in full-time positions. Pixar likes BYU's program so much that its animators mentor their students."
-The Deseret News

Blam. there it is. And that was as of last year.

Now all that's left for me is to make it into the animation program itself, which is said to be ridiculously competitive. Wish me luck! :D

woot!

Hey! Calling all animators!

I've been getting a butt load of PMs from people asking to do their stuff! if anyone wants to collab, lets get something together! I can't do all this alone!

The projects still need:

-a background artist
-another character animator
-a voice actor or two

-Leave me your comments!

For anyone who believes that the Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney is just a mouth piece for policies of the Mormon Church, you may rest easy. The Church does not take political sides, and has never dictated that members vote a certain way in a presidential election. Please, simply understand that Romney, though a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints, still makes his own decisions independent from any Church views.

The following is a direct quote from Mormon.org concerning Agency and Political Neutrality:

"Though we believe in taking a stand on moral issues, as a Church we remain neutral in matters of party politics. Church leaders don't dictate which candidate Mormons should vote for even if a candidate doesn't agree with a publicly stated Church position. Neither does it dictate policy to elected officials who are Mormon. The Church may communicate its views to them just as it would to any other elected official, but it recognizes that these men and women must make their own choices based on their best judgment and with consideration of the constituencies they were elected to represent. Mormons align themselves with whatever political party they believe best represents their individual views."

That said, as far as I am aware (and I do have reason behind this conclusion), Romney is an upstanding citizen and dedicated servant to both the country and to his religion, whose goal as president is to bring prosperity to the Nation, just as any decent presidential candidate would want.

if you have any questions, I'll try and answer them as honestly as possible. Though I'd recommend checking the church website, since my recollection and experience only goes so far as a teenager.

The other day, I had a kid in my government class come up to me and ask one of the most bizarre questions about my faith (me being Mormon, odd questions are a common occurrence) . The kid asked me, "Hey, what about magnets? You guys believe that anything that can move on its own can go to heaven, right?"

Now, I know that whole joke about asking how magnets work to a Mormon, but i didn't think that anyone ACTUALLY BELIEVED that we believe such bizarre things as that.

How I wanted to respond to the guy: "Are you kidding? Who in their right mind would believe that inanimate objects go to heaven? Why would you even bother wasting your breath to ask someone that?"

But that would've been too mean, so instead I said: "No, of course not. That's just silly."

Oh, yeah. And then some dude in the back corner started going off about Mormon temples being space ships...

Look, if any of you hear something that sounds outlandish about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it's probably misinformation. And if you aren't sure, just check what mormon.org has to say about it. You might as well get the truth from somewhere accurate.

tell it again.

I just got done downloading 770 separate sound effects from this one website. I mean, HOLY CRAP, thats a lot of sound bites! As far as i can tell, that one website has given me more raw sound material than I've been able to collect over the four years that I've been animating.

If you've been having trouble finding sound effects, this is definitely the place to look.

Alright, I've been stewing on this one for a little less than a week now.

In English class on Monday, my teacher showed us a lecture on you tube about making a change in the american education system, the basic point of the lecture being that as the U.S. enforces standardization in schools, kid's creativity and attention span dwindles. The professor gave the example of a case study in which a number of kindergarten students were asked to see how many uses they could find for a paperclip. 98% of the students tested were within the range of creative geniuses. Every five years after that test, the students were asked the same question. Unsurprisingly, the percentage of students who maintained their creative proficiency quickly fell as the students aged and progressed in school.

It is with this that I set out a new challenge: the Paperclip Challenge.

The objective is simply to come up with as many uses for a paperclip as your mind can conceive. But their are a few restrictions and guidelines that I dare present:

1. The task must be your own. The point isn't to see if you and a group of friends can come up with 200 uses, but is a test of YOUR OWN creative capacity.

2. The challenge must be completed in 24 hours, ideally in one sitting. Any moron can come up with 200 uses in 200 days, thus the time constraint.

3. Each use must only use a single paperclip, or in other terms, a paperclip chain jump rope is not considered a valid use.

4. The paperclip does not necessarily need to be small and metal like most would assume.

5. Uses are encouraged to be enthusiastically imaginative, as long as a (somewhat) believable explanation is presented.
ex. "Using a paperclip as if it were a quill, I can write the next great American novel."

and for grins, I thought I'd add a little grading scale, to measure yourself up to:

0 uses = Vegetable in the head

1 - 10 uses = The Average P.E. Teacher

11 - 25 uses = Some Random Street Guy

26 - 50 uses = The Average 10-year-old (surprisingly a compliment)

51 - 100 uses = Imagineer

101 - 200 uses = Black Belt in Paperclip-ology

201 - 999 uses = Creative Sevant

**1000+ uses = Paperclip Mastermind

**the exception to rules 1 & 2 are in this case: When attempting to think up 1,000, you will be given a week to complete the objective, and minor assistance from friends is acceptable, but not fully encouraged.

And with that, I leave the internet to accept my challenge... >:)