Animation Inspiration

Thought I'd take a post and just talk about some of the stuff that's inspired me over the years. There has been tons, for sure. I grew up watching cartoons. I remember when I was young, I'd try to draw stuff I'd seen on TV - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Simpsons, X-Men, Garfield, all that stuff. I was pretty crappy at it, but hey, it was fun! Then I kind of put that stuff aside and focused on math and science, which I didn't mind. I wish I'd developed those core art skills though, because it's biting me in the butt now. When I got to college I actually tried being an art major for while. I took 2D design, drawing, art history, all that stuff. Then I switched over to computer science. Why? I'm not sure. I guess at the time it seemed more 'safe'. I still loved to watch movies and play games, though. I was really into games, moreso than I was into movies (I actually still am today, I think).

Unlike most people, it wasn't Pixar / Disney / Dream-works that was my initial inspir-ation. I think I'd always admired them, but I wasn't focused on that kind of stuff so much back then. It was actually SquareSoft. When Final Fantasy VIII came out, I remember being floored by the emotion brought through those characters. The CG was absolutely beautiful for the time... I think it still actually holds up well today. But at its core this was a love story. I don't remember many CG features that had touched on this element beforehand, and I think this is one of the reasons this game was so inspirational to me. Looking back on my work, I can see it's been influenced heavily by Square's style.

Nowadays it tends to be more traditional/acting-type animation that inspires me. The three I mention above, of course, plus all skilled animators I come across on the internet. It's funny how once you learn what animation really is, how your influences are significantly reshaped. Anything that will make me feel something, I think, is inspirational.