***The 2024 Summer Epic Intensive is OVER***
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Read on for details of our last Epic Intensive Event
July 1, 2024: Lessons Learned – 25 Years of Animation
A collection of stories and insights from my time at Pixar, through examples of the films I’ve worked on.
Victor Navone
Animator
Pixar Animation Studios
Victor Navone is an artist, animator, and teacher. He has a degree in Fine Arts and worked for several years as a Conceptual Designer and 3D Artist in the computer games industry. Navone taught himself computer animation as a hobby, and one of his early exercises, “Alien Song”, went on to become a viral internet clip. It caught the attention of Pixar Animation Studios, who hired him as an animator in 2000. He currently resides in Oakland, California with his wife and two children.
Navone’s feature animation credits include the films “Monsters, Inc.”, “Finding Nemo”, “The Incredibles”, “WALL-E”, “Toy Story 3”, “Brave”, “Coco”, and “Luca”, as well as numerous short films. He was a Supervising Animator on the film “Inside Out” and co-directed a series of short “Cars Toons” for television. Navone has been teaching animation since 2005.
July 8, 2024: Inside the Animation of Nimona
Take an in-depth look behind the curtain “Inside the Animation of Nimona.”
Ted will share the philosophies and techniques used in the making of the fun, complex and yet nuanced animation of the film by walking through the movie’s comprehensive animation style guide.
Ted Ty
Global Head of Character Animation
DNEG
Ted Ty serves as Global Head of Character Animation at DNEG Animation with over 30 years of experience and a deep understanding of both 2D and 3D animation. Ted started his career at Walt Disney Animation where he worked as a 2D animator under the mentorship of animation legends such as Mark Henn, Ruben Aquino and James Baxter on animated features such as Mulan and Lilo & Stitch.
Following a move to DreamWorks, he contributed to major 3D animated features such as Puss in Boots, How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Rise of the Guardians. His most recent work was as Head of Animation and Co-Director of animated action-comedy feature Fireheart as well as Animation Director on the Academy Award Nominated Netflix feature film Nimona.
July 15, 2024: Eyes. Eyes? Eyes! – Understanding the Windows of the Soul
Eyes play the most important role in a believable performance, but are often overlooked.
In this talk, we get into what to pay attention to when crafting a convincing performance.
Ere Santos
Animation Supervisor
Disney
Ere Santos has been a professional animator since 2017 and is currently an Animation Supervisor at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Ere has worked at prominent studios including Sony Pictures Imageworks, Pixar, MPC, and DNEG, as well as being an Instructor at Animation Mentor, and a TEDx Speaker.
He is known for his animation and post-production work on films such as Spider-man: Across the Spiderverse (part 1), Addams Family 2, and two sequels of Hotel Transylvania.
July 22, 2024: Too Long, Didn’t Read (TLDR) – Acting for Animators
The talk is a blitz of all the most important things I learned about acting for animation since leaving college. Each section alone could be its own masterclass, but instead I do a high level run through of the most important concepts that helped me become a better actor and animator. We go over what good acting is, how to add convincing thought to your work, how to add more specificity to your character and more.
Benjamin Willis
Head of Character Animation
Dreamworks
Benjamin joined DreamWorks Animation in mid 2006; and has worked on 17 feature films and 2 short films. Prior to this he was an animator at CHRLX in New York City, as an animator on the short film On Rat Short. Ben was nominated for an Annie Award for “Outstanding Character Animation in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production” for Trolls Holiday Special.
He has been an animator on films such as Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2, Rise of the Guardians, Shrek Forever After, Puss in Boots and Home, to name a few. Ben worked as Supervising Animator on Trolls, Trolls World Tour, Trolls Holiday Special, The Boss Baby, and The Bad Guys. Most recently, Ben was Head of Animation on Trolls Band Together is currently serving in that role on Bad Guys 2.