We Had a Jam
How we did a 48(ish) hour animation jam (as adults with jobs)
Last weekend, my studio mates and I conducted an animation jam from Saturday morning to Sunday evening. It was around 15 people, all working solidly for two days in our humble warehouse-like space, determined to complete maybe 20 seconds of solid animation. Some were in teams and some went solo. Our studio is pretty 3D-heavy, so most of us worked in Blender and VR. A few were 2D or hand-drawn, and one group animated stop-motion with hot dogs (which Popcorn LOVED).
I got together with my studiomates Chris and Hugo three weeks before to plan it out. We decided on the theme ‘Dinner is Served’. We’ve had 24-hour game jams at our studio in the past, but this was the first-ever animation jam, and the first one to be two days long. I think we knew what to expect format-wise, but not how it would go down as finished works. There’s something different about doing a jam as an adult who’s worked animation jobs now and has experience in the industry. It is definitely not something I would encourage students to do as a way of working. I would not work like this now in a paid gig situation, and would encourage everyone to strive for better. But when you are in full control of your own process and output, this shit is FUN. You really get into making stuff when you’re on a deadline but setting your own perameters to what you make. I definetly got carried away at times when the food could look smoother, or move slower, but knew there was a small margin for correcting.
At the end of Sunday, we had our own little screening for the total 9 minutes (!!) of animation made. Friends and loved ones joined us as we watched our hard work, and then played it again for fun, and then one more time on shuffle. It was such a funny experience seeing everything you were working a solid chunk of hours result, in maybe 30 seconds of a spinning scene of food on a dinner table.
Monday hit me hard, though. I was pretty spent and took the day at a slower pace than I originally intended. But for the love of animating, it was all worth it. So, in conclusion, get some enthusiastic friends and just do a jam! It makes finishing things so fun and worth it. As always, it’s about the journey, not the destination!
We set a premiere for the jam on Youtube, tonight at 7PM PST!
Stuff I Made
If you haven’t been paying attention, Meeble & Creeble is all out on Adult Swim’s Youtube. I was honored to be able to make 3D environments for the third episode. Check out the episode here!
Stuff I Saw
Stuff Going On
LA Loft Movie Club is back and they want you to make something Quick & Dirty! Sign up here
Silver Lake Shorts announced an incubator program with Bandera Entertainment. Learn more and sign up here
March 26 at 2220 A+A - Lightstruck presents Polish Animation #1: Flames in Dark Places (1962-74). Tickets here
March 27 & 28 at PRS - JIM HENSON: EXPERIMENTS IN VISUAL THINKING, a special gathering of the experimental and philosophically-minded short films of one of the most imaginative creative forces of the twentieth century, Jim Henson — featuring a rare screening of his surreal and cerebral 1969 film THE CUBE in its entirety. Tickets here
& another Loose Frames is in the works at Heavy Manners Library… stay tuned.
She loves getting lost in the weeds
Popcorn Picks
Sniff of the Week: It’s tangerine season, folks!
Loving: Cuddling :)
Unforgivable: The hot sun :(