#calartssummer

[caneatcalarts]

Final Day: Goodbye, CalArts

The Residency’s over.

It was all worth it. It was worth everything.

The faculty and staff put everything they had into making this the best possible “taste of CalArts” summer-camp-for-adults, and it showed.The lessons were high quality, the events special, and the atmosphere welcoming.

I made friends (and I’m the most wallflowery type you’d see!). Literally everyone I met there were wonderful, truly good people, and with the common ground of a passion for animation linking us, we forged some serious bonds.

For five too-short weeks, we Residents got to live our dreams. We became actual members of the animation community. Skills were grown, friendships formed, memories made.

And now the Residency’s done. Our keys were returned, our farewell hugs exchanged, and our homes returned to.

Goodbye, CalArts. Goodbye, everyone.

Until the next time we meet, at least :)

[caneatcalarts]

Day 16: Quirky CalArts, Part 2

It’s time for more weirdness! If you missed Part 1, check it out here! 

CalArts has one of the best, if not the best, animation programs in the world...so naturally, its students see everything as a character.

It doesn’t even have to look like a face! Just a couple of googly eyes, and...

CalArts is an art school. Artist types tend to celebrate diversity:

...And honestly, we need a lot more of this kind of thinking in the world.

All right, that’s enough of quirky sightseeing for today. Time to head back home and get some food from the fridge...

THERE’S NO ESCAPE.

I have one more part of this series planned, but as for NEXT TIME: My first Featured Resident!  

[caneatcalarts]

Day 1: Orientation

Hoo, what a day! After a hectic morning (long story), a normal flight (no story), and some good ol’ LA traffic (same ol’ story)...I’m finally here! 

First stop, Housing Check-In. The very first people I met on my adventure were Chris and Dionne (who were, naturally, awesome).  

Next up, after ditching my bags, it was time for the Program Check-in.  It was a quick rundown of rules and things, intermixed with some banter on Weeping Angels. Not counting the Friendly Neighborhood blogger taking a selfie, we have this motley crew of wonderful folk pictured below: 

From left to right, front to back: Hilary (DON’T call her Hil), Beth, and the van guys, Mike and Jagger (COOLEST NAME EVER!).   

Next, I settled into my new home for the next month (meeting some of my suitemates along the way).

And then, it was time for the orientation proper. Lured by the promise of pizza and information, we slowly trickled in.

And so, after a rather icebreakery icebreaker (state your name and your favorite thing that starts with the same letter), Orientation was a go! 

There was still one more thing to do: stock up on supplies! Our carts filled with groceries (and the odd pillow), it was time to head back...once the vans came around again! 

And so, it was time to call it a night (after sharing Instagram handles with my suitemates, naturally). 

NEXT TIME ON CALARTSBALL Z: A pool party?

[caneatcalarts]

Day 25: Quirky CalArts Part 3, The Mural

It’s time for the final part of my “Quirky CalArts” segments! Part 1 is here, and Part 2 is here.

Take a trip with me, down to the very depths of CalArts (or put less dramatically, the basement sublevel).

Let’s visit my absolute favorite place in CalArts: the graffiti murals!

Entire corridors wherein all the pent up artistic desires of CalArts students are allowed to be vented (though as we’ve seen before, it does spill out a little into the campus proper). It changes from year to year, as new Calartians paint over older art.

Like any situation where you can anonymously post whatever you want, there’s a decent amount of obscenities (lately directed towards a certain individual in particular):

However, if you look closely, you can find some genuine rays of positivity and optimism:

But honestly, the majority of the stuff on these walls are neither mean, nor nice. I’ll let “Alex” tell you what to expect:

Yep. The majority of the art on the mural is...

QUIRKY.

  (Maybe a little TOO quirky, sometimes)

NEXT TIME: The beginning of the end. :(

[caneatcalarts]

Day 35: The Last Supper

One last event. Another potluck. 

This time, I actually made a Calzone, if only for the sake of a pun:

People brought their best dishes out again...

And we began to dig in.

Dan, one of the guest animators at the beatboard presentations I blogged about yesterday, wound up popping by.

And we residents concluded the night drawing and writing in each other’s sketchbooks, yearbook-style!

Then it was time for us to say goodbye. We have to check out by 12 tomorrow, so we probably won’t be seeing much of each other for a while after tonight. 

A lot of hugs were exchanged today.

Next time: To be concluded. (It’s over, isn’t it, isn’t it over?) 

[caneatcalarts]

Day 30: Odds and Ends

We’re in the homestretch, but there’s still quite a bit of loose ends to finish off before we go!

Foremost on everyone’s minds are our assignments, and we’re focused on our one-on-ones with Linda and Píxote, and especially engrossed in preparing for our big Story class final. To that end, on Sunday, Robert embarked on the Herculean task of meeting with all 40-odd animation residents one-on-one to critique our progress.

While waiting for our turn, we got into groups and hashed out our stories a bit in preparation: 

By the time Robert was done with everyone, the sun had long since set. It was about 14 hours of work in total!

As I type this, one of my suitemates has come back from her one-on-ones and is discussing it with the others. 

It’s really wrapping up, isn’t it?

Next time (not for a few days): It all wraps up.

[caneatcalarts]

Day 29: This is Incredible!

Question: 

What do you get when a CalArts animation residency coincides with a much-anticipated Pixar movie release?

Answer:

A more-profitable-than-normal weekend for Valencia movie theaters!

We residents went off on our own to see Incredibles II. It’s a really fun afternoon normally, but actually being in CalArts (however briefly) gives the experience an extra dose of relevancy.

For one thing, I’m recognizing far more animation names in the credits.   

Plus, spotting the A113 gag takes on a new meaning when you’ve actually seen A113 in person.

NEXT TIME: Odds and Ends.

[caneatcalarts]

Day 28: “According to All Known Laws of Aviation...”

Our final Guest Animator was Doug Rogers, Art director of Shrek, who also worked on various other movies such as Tangled, A Shark’s Tale, and Bee Movie (this blog being on Tumblr, I’m obligated to post the Bee Movie script copypasta). He also designed various parts of Shanghai Disney, like the castle, the glockenspiel Tower, and...the bathrooms.

He’s really expressive, by the by:

First we watched Shrek (and then were reminded very abruptly what platform we watched it on):

Then, one slideshow full of production art later, it was time to go back to the Lounge for some food. But there was a trap waiting for us: Every Flavor Jellybeans. 

Fortunately, I was warned beforehand, but I still wanted to join in on the fun, so I tried one. This lightish yellow one couldn’t hurt, right?

VOMIT FLAVORED.

Next Time: I honestly don’t know?