Artists, Exhibitors, Workshops

Michal Makarewicz Directing Animator Pixar

CTNX 2012
On location, Burbank CA

Please help CTN welcome Michal Makarewicz, award winning Pixar Directing Animator and co-founder of The Animation Collaborative, which offers focused, professionally instructed, a la carte education, in the San Francisco Bay Area.  We are proud to announce that Michal will be instructing a workshop and will be on the exhibitor floor all weekend.

Workshop Title:
“Live Animation Demo, “Timing” Lecture and Q&A Session, with Pixar Directing Animator, Michal Makarewicz.”

Timing Lecture, followed by brief Q&A session. Saturday.

This informational workshop presents Timing from a graphical, musical, acting, animation and film perspective.  This lecture discusses timing from all angles, breaking down and explaining the simplest to the most complex timing choices.  Beats, Rhythm, Texture, Variety and Entertainment, Relatability, Phrasing, Thought Process, Minimalism and Editing are discussed.  Using technical and graphical examples, sound clips from great composers, video clips of famous actors and film scenes, this lecture demonstrates the dynamic, subtle, humorous & startling effects that various timing choices will have in your work and explains how you can apply them.

Live Animation Demo: Animating a “Take”, followed by brief Q&A session. Sunday.

This workshop teaches a layered approach to animating and keeping a clean workflow.  Using a modified “Norman” rig, this demo shows students how to take one of the most common acting shots, from blocking to polish, demonstrated live in Maya.  Michal will discuss his animation techniques and Graph Editor workflow, as well as Tips and Tricks- such as the Scripts, Hotkeys and Maya-Setup he prefers.

Born in Poland, Michal Makarewicz was raised in South Africa, Boston and California.  He initially went to UC Riverside to study computer programing, but quickly realized it was not for him.  Mike always had a passion for film and decided to switch colleges, going on to study computer animation.  Mike was fortunate enough to have some great mentors in college and, following his graduation, he was one of two people accepted to the internship program at Pixar.

Mike joined Pixar Animation Studios in early 2003. He has been an animator on The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Wall-E, Up (Supervising Animator on the Up DVD short: Dug’s Special Mission), Toy Story 3, Cars 2 (Directing Animator), and Brave.  He was awarded an Annie in 2008 for “outstanding Character Animation in a Feature Production” by the International Animated Film Society for his work in Ratatouille.

In addition to his work at Pixar, Mike has been teaching animation since 2005.  He has contributed lectures as well as taught classes at the online school Animation Mentor, and instructed classes at California College of the Arts in Oakland and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.  Mike is the co-founder of The Animation Collaborative in Emeryville CA, where he currently teaches animation lecture & demo workshops.

Mike currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he spends his leisure time outdoors and working on short film projects.

. To Buy These Books: Onsite at the event only.

. CTNX Show Schedule: CLICK HERE

. CTNX Register Now: CLICK HERE

. More about this artist: CLICK HERE

“We simply want the best experience for the teacher and the student at Animation Collaborative.  We work hard to maintain the quality of the experience here.” ~ Michal Makarewicz

ASK THE ARTIST NOW: If you could ask this artist about his technique, his talent, what he feels is the next step in his career, or anything at all, what would it be? Share your questions and comments to this amazing artist by posting below and they will be shared with the artist. The artist will answer them onsite at CTNx2012 and the answers will be posted here.

Tags: 2011, 2012, Animators, Teacher