Today I went to TAAFI (Toronto Animation Art Festival International). The first thing I saw was John Kricfalusi's "Cartoony Animation" panel. It was pretty entertaining, and afterwards I got to talk to him and he drew a caricature of me.
I also got to shake hands and speak very briefly with Kaj Pindal. If I wasn't already scheduled for something, I'd probably go to the Retrospective panel on him tomorrow.
After seeing John K, I went to the "Indie Animators - Making It Work" panel, which dealt with time management, self-promotion and distribution for independent animators. It was fascinating. On the panel was Nick Cross, uber-talented artist and all-around awesome guy. I definitely learned a few things from the discussion that I want to apply when I do my next project after this upcoming Fester Fish short.
I ended the day by going to a screening of the Canadian cult classic Rock & Rule. When I first discovered this movie as a teenager, I was kind of obsessed with it. I made VHS copies for my friends, who were completely uninterested, and forced them to watch it. It's been years since the last time I last saw the film, so I was expecting my fond memories to be shattered, but while it does have some story issues, it also has a lot of really interesting stuff in it and I had a great time watching it, especially with such a big audience. Afterwards, there was a with a Q&A session with many key members of the original staff. It was fascinating, and there were some funny moments as the filmmakers recalled the agony of the production.
So I got to meet some of my heroes, watch some amazing animation and I learned a few things. Not a bad day overall! And now to get some rest before heading out again for the Sunday events.
I also got to shake hands and speak very briefly with Kaj Pindal. If I wasn't already scheduled for something, I'd probably go to the Retrospective panel on him tomorrow.
After seeing John K, I went to the "Indie Animators - Making It Work" panel, which dealt with time management, self-promotion and distribution for independent animators. It was fascinating. On the panel was Nick Cross, uber-talented artist and all-around awesome guy. I definitely learned a few things from the discussion that I want to apply when I do my next project after this upcoming Fester Fish short.
I ended the day by going to a screening of the Canadian cult classic Rock & Rule. When I first discovered this movie as a teenager, I was kind of obsessed with it. I made VHS copies for my friends, who were completely uninterested, and forced them to watch it. It's been years since the last time I last saw the film, so I was expecting my fond memories to be shattered, but while it does have some story issues, it also has a lot of really interesting stuff in it and I had a great time watching it, especially with such a big audience. Afterwards, there was a with a Q&A session with many key members of the original staff. It was fascinating, and there were some funny moments as the filmmakers recalled the agony of the production.
So I got to meet some of my heroes, watch some amazing animation and I learned a few things. Not a bad day overall! And now to get some rest before heading out again for the Sunday events.
