Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Happy Holidays!

It's officially winter break and I am so far enjoying every moment of it!
Because it's so close to Christmas and things are getting hectic, I won't be posting for a bit.
I want to update my blog and post the work that I've been doing at CalArts.
I also want to summarize my first semester at CalArts... as I've already mentioned in the previous post :P

The only thing I can change for now is my blog heading.
And I realize my blog is bombarded with cats. But that is what my first year film is about!
(My profile picture needs some changing too...)
But until then, I have posted a Chinese painting that I did for the holidays.
Plum blossoms in the snow!

Happy Holidays everyone!
and Merry Christmas!



Sunday, December 12, 2010

last week of school + red cat scene

This is the last week of my first semester at CalArts!
I am swamped with work, but when winter break starts I'll post more work and summarize my first semester at CalArts.
For now, I'm posting the red cat scene for the digital methods collaboration project.

Where will the red cat and his jellyfish friend go next ?



Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Celebrities!?

So... these few weeks must be celebrity week.
Today my friends Nicky and Dario and I ran into Danny DeVito at CalArts!
It was a really weird and cool experience even though it was short.
We turn the corner, and Danny DeVito is walking towards us with a few other people.
We just stared at him with wide eyes and open mouths... we just didn't know what to do.
Danny DeVito took the initiative and shook hands with all 3 of us.
He's so nice :)

Now I know that I act like a fool around celebrities that I like.... :/

aweeeoommee!!


Also, Jordan Gordon-Levitt will be visiting CalArts to give a lecture on acting.
I signed up for the talk and I'm really looking forward to it!

Seriously... celebrity time.



Sunday, November 21, 2010

CTN!

This year's CTN kicked butt!
I am extremely grateful that we have this event to bring the animation community together.
And I'm so glad to be a part of it.
I got the chance to talk to so many people today who are very talented.
All these people are sitting right there, behind their booths waiting to meet people.
I can't wait for next year :}

I brought my cat designs to show to some people at the expo.
And I got some great feedback from some of the artists who were attending.
I'm posting the designs I showed at the expo.
I have 12 cats, but I was so inspired that I'll be drawing more!




I'm going to catch some Z's now.
Because tomorrow, I'll be attending the Tangled premiere at Walt Disney Studios!!!!!

Friday, November 19, 2010

More animations and CTN!

I am posting 3 more animations that I have been working on for my 2D animation class.
As usual, all of them need some tweaking :P
Especially the backgrounds.
My animation assignments require backgrounds and different layers.
I didn't plan out it out properly at the time.
So I apologize about my first flour sac animation. It is WAY too light.
Also in my second flour sac animation, the ground disappears -____-

But now I've figured out how to put everything together properly!
So my next animation won't be all wonky.

Also, this weekend is CTN animation weekend!
I'll be going tomorrow with some friends.
I'm super excited! I'm planning on bringing a small portfolio for my first year film.
I'm hoping I can pitch my story and character designs to a few people and get feedback.
This time, I'll be brave enough to talk to people.
Not like last time....

Hope to see everyone there!
and enjoy these small animations :)



Monday, November 1, 2010

Animations

Here are some 2D animations that I have done for my class.
Both of them needed a few corrections.
But they are decent for someone who's only been animating for about 3 months I guess.




and this one is just for fun

Digital Methods After Effects Critter from Tammy Chang on Vimeo.


This one is dedicated to my teacher at Otis, Keith Downey, who has taught me so much about After Effects.

He would be so proud of me and my After Effects Critter :)

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Happy Halloween!

Just wanted to wish everyone an early Happy Halloween!

Below is a little ghoul parade done in the style of Tim Burton.


The feeling in my thumb has almost completely returned!
It's going to get crazy after Halloween.....

Sunday, October 24, 2010

My Thumb is Numb

So this weekend, I've been sleeping at 3am every night because of some huge assignments that are due this week.
Mainly, a complicated animation and a silhouette project.
This silhouette project was extremely grueling. But what kept me going was knowing that it was going to look really cool in the end.
I just finished it today, as I have been cutting away at this thing today for almost 10 hours straight with a #11 x-acto knife :P
And while I was doing so, my thumb and index went numb. My thumb and index finger kept asking me why I was torturing them and what they did to deserve this punishment.
I told them... because I am a student at CalArts and this is just what happens.
After I finished, I put the x-acto knife in a place where I can't see it because I'm kind of traumatized.

At least my silhouette project turned out the way I wanted it to!
It is 5 pieces of 9" x 12" black paper put together which makes it 9" x 60"



I'm glad all this silhouette hullabaloo is over because I need to focus on my character designs for the guest lecture workshop held by Shannon Tindle and Shane Prigmore!
This week's workshop was cancelled. It's sad.. but also a good thing because now I have more time to work on my character designs without the silhouette and crazy animation waiting in line.
(I will post this crazy animation next time)
Speaking of the guest lecturers... I had Shannon and Shane sign my sketchbook.
They're the nicest guys ever and they gave a great lecture. I'm super nervous to have them critique my character designs but it's going to be a great opportunity.
My character designs are kind of weak, so I hope to get some good feedback from them.
Don't know if they will come back this week, but we'll see.

Also, I had Mark Andrews sign my sketchbook as well!
He's also super nice and I'm so glad that he gave us that lecture about story.
I don't even remember when his lecture happened... everything's happening so fast ;__;
His lecture made me realize that I have a lot to learn and to be patient.
And I agree that story can be hell...


I'm still doing Chinese painting as well. It's kind of tough balancing the Chinese painting and school stuff but I'm managing. I had to cancel class this weekend though :(
I wanted to post my recent paintings of some koi.
They look much better now! I remember posting my first painting of a koi and it looked like some kind of flying lizard...
I'm also posting a painting of a lucky bok choy!

I can't believe it's November already!
I'm barely catching up with posting on this blog -____-
Next time, I will definitely post the box fold animation that kept me up until 2am on Friday!






Monday, October 11, 2010

a month gone by

A month of school has passed by. And again I can say, with confidence, that I am getting my butt kicked.
But in a good way. Because I am learning so much and I'm surrounded by soooo much talent.
It feels like it's been a year!
I remember when I was at Otis, I took a maximum of 7 classes. When my friends told me they wanted to take more I would talk them out of it because 7 classes was already kind of tough :P
But at CalArts, the minimum amount of classes is 9....

To summarize...
1. 2D Animation - I really love class :) I thought I would suck
in this class, but turns out I'm doing pretty well. I guess I kind of have the instincts and gut for animation. My teacher Scott Wright is really cool. I'm so glad I have him as my 2D teacher. But when I think about animating my student film I freak out @_@

2. Digital Methods - A chill class about computer programs and file management. My favorite part is when my teacher Fran shows us different films. We are learning about Final Cut Pro right now. We'll be going over Photoshop and other programs soon.
Here are some links to the animations that I have seen in this class:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR2nUYLFmNw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPPtxyubCoI

3. CG Foundation - Just another intro to Maya class. This class is a little more slow-paced because Maya can be difficult to teach.

4. Color and Design - This class is mostly about homework. I really like Brooke Keesling. She's a very sweet teacher. We end up doing a lot of work for this class because the assignments are a bit time consuming. But at least the assignments are fun to do.

5. Story - This class was hell for the first 3 weeks. We were required to draw storyboards and animatics for our student films within 2 weeks without much instruction. We were basically getting thrown into the assignments just so we can do it and feel what its like. But now were slowing down and really learning about story now. Whew! This class is fun but it nearly killed us the last few weeks.

6. Writer's Color - This is my critical studies class. It's really interesting because it's a cultural studies class and writing class. And my classmates are really intelligent. It's refreshing to take a class like this amongst all my other crazy character animation classes.

7. Character Design - I am having trouble with this class. My teacher
Rik Maki is extremely harsh and so far doesn't really like my work. In fact, he doesn't like the majority of the work that the class does. This class is frustrating but I'm learning a lot. This class is really good for me because I need to push my character design. The main issue I need to work on is shape design. This class also demands a lot of work. But I know that I will definitely improve by the end.
Rik Maki is harsh but he's super nice at the same time.

8. Life Drawing - Fun class! It's a 6 hour class that is about anatomy during the first half, and experimental during the second half. This class is also pretty chill and my teacher is super nice.

9. CG Character Animation - I really like this class because of my teacher, Robert Domingo. This is my 3rd night class and he makes it very bearable because he's super nice and a great teacher. We're just animating some very simple objects in Maya right now and developing a sense for timing.

I really want to post as much as I can. The next time I post, I want to post about a certain event that happened at CalArts, but I want to make sure I have permission to do so :P

Also, I'm posting a picture of the night the freshmen camped out for the animation cube sign ups. I took this picture from my fellow character animator Amanda Candler. (i love youuuu amanda!!) I don't know where I am in this picture...


Also, I'm posting my bouncing ball animation. I'll try to post my 2D animations because they are definitely a landmark for me. I think I can say this is one of my favorite classes.
I know the bouncing ball is nothing special, and my teacher added a few corrections...
but all the animations I have done for this class are very special to me :)


Bouncing ball animation from Tammy Chang on Vimeo.

More to come later!

Friday, September 17, 2010

First Week of CalArts

I am proud to say that I am now officially a BFA-1 Character Animation student at CalArts.
Only because I survived the first week and it was already a crazy hot mess.
But in a good and awesome way :)
The first week was very hectic and I am already sleep deprived.
And it's good knowing that my fellow animation students are on the same page.
I'm very lucky to be among a group of awesome and talented classmates.
I kind of feel like the apple super hero in the picture below.


But I'm pretty sure I'll be feeling like this real soon:


I probably won't be posting as much, as I never did :P
But I want to share my experience at CalArts as much as I can.
Being at CalArts has made me realize how fortunate I am to be who I am today.
So I will definitely live up to my own expectations and kick butt at the school!

Let the work begin!!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

CalArts Orientation

This week has been kind of hectic with all the orientations at CalArts.
Orientation is basically 3 days long including class sign-up.
It's been a blast and I've been meeting all kinds of people, especially fellow character animators.
I'm really excited to start working with my peers.
They all seem so talented, it's really intimidating. We're all saying how we all think everyone else is better than ourselves.
But it's going to be great.
I'm pretty much just waiting for school to start now and to finally begin my journey at CalArts.

But until then, I will be going to the Toy Story 3 panel at Gallery Nucleus this sunday :)
http://www.gallerynucleus.com/event/274

There's a really big smile on my face right now because I'm really excited to go.
And what better to way to start the school year?
I'm definitely looking forward to speaking to the story artist James Robertson.
I want a signed book but I don't know if I can afford it at the moment :(
School and art supplies are a priority right now...

I'm almost thinking of taking my Toy Story 3 poster there to get it signed by the artists.
But the poster is obnoxiously big...
I'll figure something out!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Otis

Today is the first day of school at Otis.
And I just wanted to wish my friends at Otis a wonderful junior year.
I hope they work their butts off and be proud of the awesome work that they will create!

I'm kind of sad that I will not be returning to this campus.
Even as I look at these pictures that I found online :P
I reminisce on how every day I would walk through those automatic doors to go to class and my friends.
But I will be at a new school in about 2 weeks making new memories and friends.

I'm getting even more antsy now
I kind of want school to start already at CalArts :P


Monday, August 23, 2010

CalArts Schedule

My CalArts schedule came out kind of a while ago but it's made me just that more excited to start school.
I'm especially excited for the story class, the character design class and life drawing.
I transferred a lot of units over so I won't be taking as many critical study classes.
But I'm considering enrolling in the creative writing class.
Fall semester is going to be crazy :P


I also did a sketch recently in photoshop of me and my boyfriend.
I'm pretty sure that's what I would look like if I were a monkey.
For some reason, I've always been interested in human-animal interactions... maybe it could be a short film?

I'm currently experimenting with colors because I'm not very familiar with painting in photoshop -___-
So it might take a while.

And lastly, I wanted to share the trailer of an animated film that is coming out later.
It looks interesting and is also about a human and animal :)

It looks like it might be sad too... it better not be sad!!!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

1 more month of summer

Keeping up with a blog is kind of tough :P
But I have some time to post up a very small amount of pictures that barely summarize the most chaotic part of my summer. Comicon, Siggraph student volunteering and moving to another apartment all within 2 weeks.
I got kind of sick after all the commotion because I wasn't getting enough sleep.
But it was all very fun. Except for moving -_____-
There's one more month left of summer before I start school at CalArts.
Ahhhh! I'm definitely excited to go but scared at the same time.
I hope I can live up to the school and my peers.

But until then...
I now have 4 gentlemen phone cases. None of them properly fit an iphone :p
So I have one more on the way that I'm slowly working on.


I spotted this painting at Comicon. I want it so bad.
But it's about a thousand something dollars or more ;__;
Isn't it so badass :)

I also met with Dan Paladin, the creative genius behind synj.net and all that goodness.
And he signed my Behemoth chicken. I actually wish I got a picture with him but I was scared...



The next few pictures are a summary of my time at Siggraph. Being a student volunteer was definitely a great experience. I want to continue to become a volunteer whenever Siggraph is in LA. I believe it is in Vancouver next year. So I don't know if I'll be volunteering.

I'm also very happy that I was able to get a Renderman teapot this year. I thought I would not be able to because of my shifts. But on the last day of Siggraph I ran over to the exhibition hall and stood in line for the teapot. I thought my sandals were going to break. It was a long line but I got one!




I feel like I've been focusing a lot on my Chinese paintings this summer. I've been sketching here and there, but Chinese painting has taken over my summer :P
It's a good thing though because I won't be able to focus on it during the school year.
I've been continuing my practice in dyeing the paper and adding snow or the moon.



I would like to post a screenshot of my CalArts Fall 2010 schedule for my next post.
I'm actually really really excited for school. Sometimes I still can't believe that I'll be attending CalArts.
And I didn't think that I would be getting a Tuberculin and Tetanus shot for the mandatory physical exam that needs to be done before school starts -____-
But as always, I'm looking forward to the journey ahead :)

Friday, July 16, 2010

iPhone Creature Cases


Summer is a very seductive season and switches on the vacation mode.
And by vacation mode... I mean crafting some iphone creature cases!
I don't have an iphone, but I found a bunch of small pieces of fabrics in my closet that I wasn't using.
And I decided to put those pieces of fabric into good use.

I hope to make 3 or 4 of these phone pouches. I'm naming my series the Gentlemen's Club :)
Because these creatures are well dressed and presentable. Not because... of the strip club thing...
So far I have made 2. The last one is a special one.
The hello kitty gentlemen is a present for my friend.
I'm kind of disappointed with the hello kitty pattern because hello kitty had a very hard time showing up.
The reason why I made the hello kitty gentlemen is because my friend likes hello kitty.
But hello kitty doesn't show up very much...
Also, the owl gentlemen is a bit smaller. So his face is covered when he is carrying a phone.

I hope to make 2 more before I start school.









I don't know if I will be posting anymore this month.
I have to move to my new apartment, and I will also be a student volunteer at Siggraph the last week of July.
So the next time I post anything, it will probably be August :P

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Chinese Painting Exhibition Pictures

I'm posting a sample gallery of the Chinese Painting Exhibition.
There were almost 100 paintings! My internet will die if I try to post them all :P
But here are a handful of the paintings that were up. And a group photo of my teacher and the artists!
Notice that the last painting is a very very large version of the paintings that I'm doing now.
(that painting is taller than me!)

I always fail to capture the size of the paintings -____-
Some of them are very large and taller than me!
I also noticed that I did not take pictures of my own paintings :P
I'll have those up soon!