Category Archives: Artists Interviews

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Jason Fittipaldi

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Jason Fittipaldi – Animator

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Putting letters on those signs that fly behind planes. You would have to construct the sign banners (kind of like putting letters on a movie theater marquee) in this hot, buggy field. Then, you would set it up on this goal post construct with a tight rope across the top. The plane would fly low with a big hook hanging from the bottom and (most times) snag the tight rope at the top and take off with the new sign. You would have to break down the one it just dropped and set up another for the next round. We had an ongoing wager with the company next to us in this makeshift airfield that any signs that went up backwards, upside down, or wrong and you had to buy the other team a case of beer.  Right before going into animation full time, I wore every hat possible at a small construction company that sold prefabricated buildings worldwide. Everything from Marketing and Sales to IT and Conceptual AutoCad project drawings.  What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?  I really enjoyed the creature work we did on Underworld: Awakening. We got to work very closely with the directors on that project and had a lot of creative freedom for some of the sequences (which is not always the case).  Thor was one of my first professional projects, so that definitely sits pretty high on the memories list as well. Animating some of the Destroyer shots on that show was a blast.  Right after that, we moved onto X-Men: First Class, but we didn’t get to do any character or creature work on it (other than digital doubles for vfx). We did animate a lot of the super power fx for Havok, Banshee, and  Darwin. X-Men was one of my favorite comics growing up so the younger version of myself was hitting me with all kinds of high-fives from the past.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I grew up mostly in Southern New Jersey and have spent a lot of time in Florida as well. When I was younger (about ages 4-5), my grandmother had a couple of flipbooks of things like ballroom dancers that I found. They were incredibly fascinating to me and I started to make my own flipbooks on sticky note pads. Every single one of Continue reading

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Bill Dunn

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Bill Dunn. I just recently completed my stint as background paint supervisor on“Batman: The Brave and the Bold”. Currently, I’m doing background paint and development on a yet to be announced DTV movie for Warner Bros.

How did you become interested in animation?
Like most people who grew up in the 70’s, I had a steady viewing diet of the classic Warner Bros Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, Tom & Jerry, and Hanna Barbera cartoons like the Herculoids. Back then, unless you didn’t have a T.V. as a kid, I think it would have been hard not to have at least a passing interest in animation.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I was born and raised in a part of New Jersey that was a mere stone’s throw from New York City. I originally started my career as a professional artist in the comic book field. I was a colorist for comics during the 90’s, but by the end of the 90’s, the comic book industry was imploding. I got a few freelance gigs from small animation houses in New York, but Continue reading

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Vitor Lopes

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What is your name and your current occupation?
Vitor Lopes. Animation teacher and freelancer.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I was a security guard for three years and a field operator in a chemical plant for ten years. It is enough crazy?

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Unfortunately I cannot congratulate for having participated in many important and recognized projects. But there is one that make me proud of it: I’m one of the three directors that bring to life the first Portuguese animation feature film in 2008.

How did you become interested in animation?
When I was a kid there were no great entertainments for children, except the fields, the river and a small local cinema. Me and my brothers were lucky to be neighbors of Continue reading

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Todd Hampson

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What is your name and your current occupation? 
Todd Hampson, Founder/CAO of Timbuktoons, LLC, a 2D animation and IP/concept development company.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I grilled and/or burnt many steaks at a cafeteria style steakhouse in the 11th grade and delivered food to (and occasionally had food thrown at me by) elderly patients at a hospital during my first year of college. Good times.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Character Design room murals for 3 episodes of Extreme Makeover Home Edition (2 episodes will run the week of Christmas).Visual development and animation production on 9 DVD’s for Phil Vischer’s (Creator of Veggie Tales) latest DVD series “What’s In the Bible?”.  Action Comic Illustrations and Animation for a National Archives traveling exhibit.  Animated commercial spot for Myth Busters.  Production of Addy and Telly Award winning animated commercial series for an automotive company.

How did you become interested in animation?
I’ve always loved film, animation, story, etc. I saw Jungle Book and Pinocchio as a kid and it blew me away. I never realized I could be an animator, but loved character design and film. If anyone has Continue reading

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Live Twitch feed 11-1 PST

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For anyone interested I will be doing the streamy thing again on Twitch tomorrow morning from 11am to 1pm PST where I will continue where I left off last week.
If you’re just joining us I will be finishing up drawing and animating the short scene I started last week using Adobe Animate CC 2015.2
So far…
Two bored teens are sitting on a park bench complaining that nothing cool ever happens to them. Meanwhile an elephant comes and sits on the bench next to them catapulting them into the air and making them swap places. This time there will even be lip syncing involved! Oooooo!
Also for anyone interested in watching last week’s feed of me animating, you can do so by clicking this link…
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Dave Merritt

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What is your name and your current occupation?
My Name is Dave Merritt and I am an Art Director at Mercury Filmworks.

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Washing concrete off of tanker trucks.

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
Probably Toot and Puddle. For adults you need to turn down the sound, but the visuals are stimulating. We had a great team of designers and our director Christian Larocque was always pushing us creatively. I remember our character designer Allan Stuart, Prop master Tom Pajdlhauser and myself were always in early to work. I guess the hard work paid off; I received an Emmy for Location design on that show.

 

How did you become interested in animation?
Like most of us, as a kid watching animation on TV. My favourite shows were: Continue reading