The ESPYS

Anyone going to watch the ESPYS tonight? Well, if you are, you'll be in for a treat. Along with some fellows over at Mocap NYC, I worked on cleaning the mocap for some cool character stuff. I'm not exactly sure when you'll be able to see the pieces I worked on.
Here's the info for the ESPYS: http://espn.go.com/espys/#!/behindProduction/video=6764850/
It was a fun project and I enjoyed working with the fellows over at Mocap NYC.

Reelly?!

I just looked at a bunch of reels for fun, and I'm not afraid to admit, I like to sniff out the competition, but it seems like a good portion of them put a little bit of everything they've worked on. Even the not so pleasant looking stuff. I know. They spent a lot of time on it. That's fine. I just want a quick taste of your talents, not to watch every single thing you worked on.
Does this bother anybody? I'm used to thinking that 1 to 2 minutes tops is what a good reel should be. What's with the 3+ minutes for a personal reel? Studios can do more than a person. I've seen some awesome reels for some larger studios that got close to 10 minutes. I didn't get bored cause it was all cool stuff. But someones personal demo reel doesn't need to be that long. I was watching a few were I kept looking at the timeline. If I look at the timeline at all, there has to be something wrong. (Or maybe, again, that's just me.)
And what is with the focus on stuff that looks like it might be student work? I like looking at student stuff. As a matter of fact, I think I have bits and pieces of my own student stuff on my reel. I can understand people right out of college doing it, but if you've been working awhile and have the ability to make a reel that is 4 minutes long, cut the student stuff! Not all of it, just chop it down to a few seconds, maybe like ten. And if you really want to show you student stuff, put it on your site as such. Put your thesis up, put assignments up. I'm not opposing the whole student work. I just want to see what you can do, personally and professionally. Is that too much to ask?
Sorry for the ranting, I just get passionate at times and want to slap people onto the correct path in life.

Updated Reel

I've recently updated my reel. Its almost there. I've gotten some feedback already, but I can always go for more.
What do think? Any parts bother you? Let me know!

LizzKupfer.com

How Long is your Reel?

So, I've seen a bunch of reels and I've made a few myself. My own reels are almost all under a minute. In and Out. No extended cuts. Simple and to the point. But does there come a time when a minute is not enough? I posed the question to a few friends and most agree. Get whatever message you want to convey in a minute.
How long is your reel? Do you agree? What reasons do you have for having a longer reel?

Been a few weeks

Well, its been a few weeks since I last updated my blog. I've updated a few things on my site and resume. Haven't done that in awhile. I don't like updating the info, but its necessary. How else will people know what I've been up to? I'm working on getting some animations polished up and hopefully posted in the next week or two.
Working on my own stuff can be kinda awesome and daunting at the same time. You can only blame yourself for failing. But then you can also only credit yourself for succeeding. And you can never know with out putting yourself out there.

Ideas!

So, I've actually been playing with this in my head for a little, and I think it'll make for a great short animation. It's pretty much a modern take on a classic dance scene starring Fred Astaire and some dancing shoes. Having a background in dance, I've always had an admiration for Astaire's handsome footwork. So smooth and confident.
Anyways, here are some images of what I'm thinking of doing as far as the style of the shoes go.

These are a pair I saw on that were nice and clean with some great color (black is cool too, but I'm really feeling the color). You can see more angles on this blog: http://www.indigofan.com/tag/shoes
I am also playing around with the idea of woman's shoes.

Aren't these shoes darling? I thought so too. Maybe I'll do a dancing pair of shoes.
If your having trouble trying to figure out why just shoes, here's what I've been watching over and over: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xsddz_the-best-of-fred-astaire_fun I wish musicals would make a big comeback, the choreography is always awesome to look at. And when you have dancers like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to stare at, its always a great show.
Well, that's all I have for now.

Lip Sync

So, I started this with the intention of actually finishing it. It's not, but I think its a pretty good start. Again, this isn't finished, just showing you what I got so far.

Comments are very welcome!

P.S. I will be doing some body animation. I'm taking a break from this animation and working on some walks. Feel like I need to brush up on that.