A Screening at Pixar

Thursday night I had a rare opportunity to go to a screening of the Australian animated feature film Mary & Max at Pixar Studios. It is complete Mecca to any animator or animation fan!
Pixar invited 50 ASIFA members to attend the screening and I managed to nab a spot. ASIFA is the San Francisco chapter of the Animation Association. The guard at the gate printed out a visitor's pass for me, I parked, and then walked to the main building.

As I walked to the front entrance, I saw yoga mats on the ground, people doing tai chi over the the left, a group beginning their jog, and a bunch of people Barbecuing in the front. A very nice security person held the door open for me and I became really excited. The inside had beautiful hard wood floors with Pixar paraphernalia all over. On the left side was a cute little eatery/cafeteria:
There were figures from Cars & Monsters Inc greeting you at the entrance.

On the right side was the company store. Sadly it closed two hours before I arrived. Maybe next time I'll be able to buy a fun sweatshirt. As I continued, I came across the game room where people were playing air hockey. They had a foosball table and some video games as well. This definitely looked like a fun place to work. People borrowed Razor scooters at the security desk to get around faster.

I couldn't help taking a photo of a cool UP marketing sign that I hadn't seen.
The theater was across the building, opposite the entrance. It was big, plush, and very red. I didn't see anyone I recognized so I picked a seat towards the center. The guy next to me was on his iPhone the entire time while we waited for the film to start. Some ASIFA members sat behind me so I chatted with them until the Director, Adam Elliott was introduced. One special design of the theater was when the lights went out. The red light that was being projected on the screen went out and a cricket soundtrack came on as it darkened. White lights twinkled in the ceiling and then a shooting star went across it. What a surprise!

Mary & Max is an incredible feature film animation. I really enjoyed its dark humor. Mary is a lonely little girl growing up in Australia and she decides to write to a person she finds in the New York phone book. She writes to a man named Max and asks him a lot of random questions. The art direction and story line are incredible. It is definitely one of those movies that I hope to see at least 2-3 more times to catch all of the nuances thrown in by the incredibly talented film crew.
There was a Q&A session directly after the screening and then I had a chance to meet Adam and tell him how incredibly powerful his color choices were. What a night!
I befriended a security guard and found out that there was a concept artwork section that I could view. I spent quite a while admiring how talented the conceptual artists are. I wish I could make such beautiful work with gouache. It really makes me want to take some painting classes.

My favorite sketch done by two artists was Russel's wilderness explorer patches. Some of the more memorable ones were panhandling, 2d animation, lawn mowing, and talk to the hand badges.

As I was leaving, I realized I was in such a rush to go to the screening that I walked right past the desk lamp and ball without even noticing their significance. I'm sure if you've seen any of Pixar's older material, you've seen this short. Another member of ASIFA was sweet enough to offer to get a photo of me with Luxo Jr.
I was on such a high as I drove home. Pixar Studios was everything magical I had imagined and then some. I hope that someday I can go back and go on the full tour. If anyone knows someone, you know I would be forever indebted to you. ;)

The One With All The Summer Movies

With summer starting, I've been enjoying the longer days and sun. I've found a bit of time to catch up on the summer movies. I saw Star Trek in the theaters a few weeks ago. It was cute. It explained where a lot of famous sayings came from. I had no idea where "Beam me up Scotty" actually came from. I know, I'm sheltered.

Last weekend, my lovely friend Kate and her husband Chris joined Dan & I to see Up. It made me so excited about balloons! We had fun taking silly photos afterwords with the 3D glasses. I found a really cool program called Poladroid, which allows you to take digital photographs and "make" them into a polaroid! How cool is that? I went just a little bit crazy with it tonight. It allows you to make 10 before you have to close the program and restart it because the "cartridge is out of film." Totally cute!
Tonight we saw The Proposal. I thought the previews had so many funny things that it would be a let down. I hate when the previews give everything away. Not even close with this one. I laughed pretty hard, the majority of the time. And it was actually supposed to be funny too! Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds were incredible. I think I might even have a mini crush on him now. Loved the movie, go check it out! Today was my day to blog over on the Everything Scrapp'n blog. Which means I have another creation to share! Working with Fancy Pants' On A Whimsy was just perfect for a recent visit to the zoo with my friend and her children. I love how playful and colorful this line is. Its great for any spring or summer outdoor activities.
Products used:
Fancy Pants On A Whimsy Fresh Air paper
Fancy Pants On A Whimsy Happy paper
Fancy Pants On A Whimsy journaling spots (from book)
Jenni Bowlin Calendar Cards 3x3 Brown
Hambly Classic Animals rub ons-Brown
Doodlebug Designs Bon Bon Loopy Lou Alpha stickers
Hambly Frame wallpaper screenprint-Green, special edition
KI Memories Love Elsie Forrest Shaped chipboard buttons
Heidi Swapp Family clear corner stamp
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist-Petina
Colorbok tab-green
Staz On Ink-Brown
Zig Writer Pen-Brown
Hero Arts lower classic alpha stamps
ribbon

Social Butterfly

Challenge 15 is up at Scrap Mojo. The challenge is to use fashion as inspiration. I used my pj's as inspiration. The second part to the challenge was to use some sort of tape on the lo.


I lifted the title idea from Sally Hana. I stepped outside of my comfort zone, but I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Thanks to Jenna for the super cool vintage button!


Dan & Zena's cousin Peter, was here in San Jose for the Adobe conference last Thursday. He is a super cool Adobe expert and we love seeing him when he comes to visit from Oregon! Left to right: Peter, Helen, Zena, & Dan. We had an entertaining dinner at Thai Time in San Carlos.


Friday was my day off! I drove to visit my Grandma in Walnut Creek. It was around 99* by 11:30am. It was so nice to visit with her. I also got a chance to stop by My Daughter's Wish and have a little in store shopping. I was really happy that Sheri (owner) was there.

I headed over to SFSU in the afternoon for Animation Finals. Each year the Animation Society edits select animations and puts on a show in the Coppola Theater. Two senior thesis projects really impressed me. I will definitely post links to them once my friends wake from their well deserved, overdue naps. :D Here is a photo of a professor, speaking with the family that set up a scholarship fund for the Animation Department.

Friday night I went to Redwood City to celebrate Syttende Mai, which is constitution day for Norway (May 17th). Zena was performing with her dance group and we thought it would be fun to see everyone. Here they are in their Bunads:

Saturday was really special because Kelly, Jessica, & Brice met Dan & I at Dolores Park in San Francisco. My friend Amy organizes these really fun get togethers once a month that she likes to call Social Squittens. She did research and found out that Wizard of Oz was going to be played during movie night. They project the movie onto this really big bounce house-esque screen.


It's not San Francisco without a drag queen Dorothy!


A bunch of Animation friends:


I got a picture with Amy (thanks Eric) before it got too dark. We were so lucky that Dolores park was last to get hit by the fog bank. It was so weird for us since we had a heat spell for 5 straight days!

Don't you just LOVE garage sales?

Leo and my mom both love to go to garage sales. Which means I get calls when they find something neat. One day not that long ago my mom was walking during her lunch break and found an enlarger for the darkroom on the street. Of course I made her bring it home! I dream of having my own personal dark room some day. Leo surprised me with a great find as well. He found a really cool Animation book for 50 cents!


Yesterday I saw the movie Finding Neverland. That movie was certainly eye candy. The art director did an amazing job and the special effects were beautiful. I'm quite surprised I didn't hear more about how wonderful the story was. If you haven't seen it, add it to your must see list!

Wednesday I modeled for a fellow photographer, Mr. Gino De Grandis. This was the longest shoot I've done and it was incredibly windy. I think that there will be some fantastic shots coming this way soon. Here is a photo that I was sent to hold me over until I see the rest.


Weather forecasters keep saying its going to rain and I get so excited since we're having a drought. I just love the clouds we've been getting lately! I am so happy I live in such a beautiful place.