Never Give Up! Never Surrender: Filmies and Athletes Alike

There is a huge tendancy to give up when the going gets tough. Whether it is a math problem (run to the prof/teacher), essay structure (run to the TA with every clue how to mark you badly but no clue how to help), an athletic injury, or...

...finding a job...
*que Psycho music here*

IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA!!!!!
dUN DUn DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!
..okay seriously

There is a huge trend, although not surprising, of talented young minds with the artful ability to make films or be in film that are giving up. They will build websites, have equipment, make amazing internet videos, and then they tell you "I LOOOVE IT. But. Its too competitive so I'm becoming a lawyer/Teacher.

Not that I have anything against lawyers and teachers but WHYYY!?

In order to maintain a tough goal you need to put your full focus on what you want to do, if you use a fallback degree for those "just in case" or "i give ups" scenarios what was the point of flaunting it all before hand. Let me tell you something. The ones who walked away from their dream jobs, JUST GAVE ME ONE. Well not now but statistically too many are giving up, the film business is cliquy, and not in the high school way but in the way that you need to know somebody who knows somebody who knows and obscure website that helps you apply for these jobs. (and like all others I will give it to you if you ask. Or find it hiding in this post as a link ;))

Facing rejection is a tough road, one in which had taken me 2 years to finally get a solid phone call from a media project. A degree is a great thing to have, but even moreso is a credit in a show/broadcast/film and the experience that follows it. Employers want that, even for small starting Positions (I just became a PA by the way ^_^) because they want maximum efficiency and expect the most from each member of cast crew and post production team.

Over the summer of 2009 I honestly wanted to give up after being empty handed, but when I realized that I needed something to drive me again (after several spells of in-house insanity) I wrote an eight episode webseries. And thus my feather-in-cap, the trailer, began to enhance my need to start applying again, and earlier.

During the same time this year, after suffering a brutal sprain in a fencing competition, I have continued to be on hiatus from training, but it has not stopped me from doing exercise and strengthening. I have just started this now due to my obligations to prepare for my job, but I feel that the film opportunity was a great kickstart to inspire me to kick my own ass and get into shape again. Although somewhat afraid of re-injury, my mental training will flow alongside my physical. Because when you train alone, you need your thoughts clear and will to be fearless if you are going to go back on piste ready to kill.

So Chins up Job Seekers and Invalids, we will Rise Again

Christian A.V. Petrozza

CG vs. Traditional Animation: The Battle to the Big Screen

To Draw or click-and-drag, that is the question that animators and films have been contesting on the screen since the emergence of Pixar's revolutionary technology. With the debut of films like Toy Story (1995) independent and big time studios were beginning to question the future of stop-motion and drawn animation. Although Disney, Treehouse, and countless other studios and networks have embraced this technology their still remained the beating heart of the Anime giant. With visionary directors like Hayao Miyazaki fighting the CG empire's of the west Anime was still able to span some of Europe and North America on the film festival circles as a higher visual art than that of the mainstream CG animations. This small demand for traditional animation sparked directors like Wes Anderson to use stop-motion for his adaptation of The Fantastic Mr. Fox and for Disney to release a traditionally animated fairytale The Princess and the Frog. Many in the industry as well as critics hope that traditional methods will start a renaissance in the film industry.

While the film industry is playing with the idea of balancing traditional animations with CG ones, the television industry seems to still be in different directions on the debate. For some children's stations it is still easier and cheaper to continue using traditional animation rather than converting to CG animated shows. On the other hand, hit claymation studios that brought classics like the Wallace and Gromit series are looking and experimenting with CG integration for their hit franchise. It seems like the battle over CG and Traditional Animation has only begun, I look forward to seeing the work of the next decade, will CG prevail? Or will vintage creativity stand its ground? Only time will tell.

Christian A.V. Petrozza

Articles on the ongoing battle
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theampersand/archive/2009/11/25/wes-anderson-s-fantastic-mr-fox-may-signal-end-of-cgi-craze.aspx

http://www.helium.com/items/617141-animation-3d-versus-hand-drawn?page=2

An original 3D animation test from 1983 when Disney still owned the rights to Where the Wild Things Are. Putting together hand drawn animation with 3D framing and atmosphere.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvIDRoO8KnM

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