Friday, May 15, 2009

That House can Fly!


Over the 10 or so years I've been at this profession, one of the cooler moments definitely came when I got to work with the filmmakers on the style guide for Up, the latest Pixar film. It's always an honor to get to see one of their awesome creations come together from initial story pitches and character sketches, to animation tests and final renders. It takes years and years of hard work and long hours for them to get to the hour and a half or craziness you see on screen. With anything I do for them, I really hope to put in as much effort as I can to do justice to their film. As long as I've been working with them, the pressure's always on to create something that they can appreciate.
With Up, I got to work really closely with their Character Artists Ricky Nierva and Albert Lozano. They went out of their way to make sure I got to the essence of this film and its characters. You definitely can see the passion they have for everything they do and it's inspiring to see. Even Director Pete Docter would always be on hand to throw overlays on top of my individual poses and let me know if i was doing anything out of character or not in line with the story. They have an innate attention to detail and i got a kick out of hearing how they justify everything they do in the film. It was such a positive learning experience and I surely hope I get to do it again.
This time around, I ended up with 6 posters and about 12 character poses for the guide. Here's one Acme Archives offered as an exclusive print at the San Diego Comic-Con last year. Hopefully, I'll get to post the rest as soon as they are made available to the public.
Now, I'm headed over to Party City to snatch up every balloon they have so I can float over the Miller Beer factory and drop into one of those huge pipes into a beer vat. Yup, that's a good way to go.

13 comments:

  1. I'm impressed with your balloon/beer idea...and, of course the poster! Can't wait to see the rest :) Let me know if that beer vat flight works..

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  2. Whaoooooo!!!

    Can't wait to see the rest too ;-)

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  3. Arn't some of the other posters already public on zazzle?

    http://www.zazzle.com/228007105148125385

    I think there's 3-4 on there, right?

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  4. I picked up the very last of this print at Comic Con last year! I was so excited to get it. It hangs in my bedroom, I love it! Awesome work.

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  5. That's a beauty, Eric. Looking forward to seeing the others.

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  6. Thanks for the compliments guys! I'm very fortunate to get to work on these things and I'm glad all the hard work is appreciated.

    John, I had no idea about Zazzle and I'm glad you pointed that out. It's actually a really cool idea and I'm thrilled to see that these prints are affordable and already accessible. I'll definitely post the rest and link the site as soon as I can.

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  7. Balloons and Beer! Great work as usual, as we've come to expect from Tan the Man. I enjoyed reading the editorial too. We work down the hall from each other, but I didn't know about any of that!

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  8. Thanks Ry! Every now and then at work, we get these little projects that they leave us alone to do. Kinda like those photo shoots you do for the lifestyle guides. Because it's just you (and maybe a few others) on it, it really doesn't get that much attention around the office. Up was like that. It's a really small guide and because it was under the radar, I didn't have 30 people all trying to jump on it and it allowed me to get all this crazy access to the filmmakers and development art. It was pretty amazing. I just wish it happened more often.

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  9. Eric - there is one poster available from the Comicon edition, if your fans would like one for their home:

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120450777506

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  10. FANTAAAASTI WORK! CONGRATULATIONS, MAN!!!!!!!

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  11. Just came across your blog, and I've been wondering about those Up posters for awhile ... I don't suppose you know if they're out there to be snagged? I'd love to get the scoop if you happen to know:
    kelleyellek@gmail.com

    ps: Fantastic site! Love your work!
    pss: I work in animation, and swear I'm not some random crazy stalker type. I just really appreciate super cool art.

    Thanks much
    -Kelley

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  12. I don't know how, but I stumbled upon your See the World by Balloon poster and have since become obsessed with finding it. I'm a child psychologist and want to put it in my office but can't locate a vender... not on e-bay, acme archives, or craigslist. Do you have any suggestions where I might find one? I don't want to be one of those therapy offices with boring walls and landscape designs. I want something unique. Help!

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