Bloghttp://www.srulibroocker.com/blog/en-US2010-07-30T15:45:39ZSquarespace Site Server v5.11.5 (http://www.squarespace.com/)Nachshon taking a Leaphttp://www.srulibroocker.com/blog/2010/7/14/nachshon-taking-a-leap.htmlSruli Broocker2010-07-14T17:13:03ZThere's this great narrative in the book of Exodus, when the Israelites are completely stuck. In front of them is the Red Sea, and behind them is the Egyptian army - out for blood. Some of the Israelites want to pray, some want to fight, some want to go back to Egypt. The Voice calls out to Moses, "What are you waiting for, dive in!" Taking his cue from Moses, a man named Nachshon leaps into the sea. He trudges inward, the water level rising from his knees . . . to his waist . . . to his shoulders . . . until his nose and mouth are completely submerged. Then the miracle happens. The Red Sea splits.

I love this narrative because it's about taking risks when it looks like all is lost.

Living in a time with the economy the way it is, where it's hard to find good, solid jobs - a story like this really needs to be considered. Not everyone believes in a Higher Power, but there's no doubt that taking risks and believing in a positive outcome go a very long way in splitting the sea of stagnation. Here's to thinking good, so it will be good.

]]>Goblin Concepthttp://www.srulibroocker.com/blog/2010/5/31/goblin-concept.htmlSruli Broocker2010-05-31T16:09:01ZSo, I'm currently in pre-production on the adaptation of Eric Kimmel's "Hershel and the Hannukah Goblins." Although I won't be using the original illustrations as a basis for the final character designs (mostly to tone down the intensity of the monsters, so my kids can watch them), I still wanted to try modeling one of them - just for fun. Here's the still render:

 

. . . and here's an animated turn-around, just 'cause . . .

 

]]>New Endeavorshttp://www.srulibroocker.com/blog/2010/4/29/new-endeavors.htmlSruli Broocker2010-04-30T00:37:58ZOnce again, way too long since I've posted anything. So where was I, and what was I doing? Well, I had this outrageous thought that I needed to learn every aspect of CG animation - so I could go on to make my short and catapult into fulltime Careerland. Watching tutorials, reading books, fixing up old shots. A total waste of time? Absolutely not. Delving so deep and wide into the whole process, I became very familiar with what goes into making a CG film.  In other words, it really prepped me to produce and direct animation.

I'd really love to get more into details, but needless to say, I'm keeping busy. No promises, but I'll do my best to update much more frequently.

]]>Subtlehttp://www.srulibroocker.com/blog/2010/2/7/subtle.htmlSruli Broocker2010-02-07T19:49:06ZIt's been a long time since I've posted, but I've been really delving deep into animation technique - trying to take my stuff to the next level. One thing that I find difficult is "subtle" animation - when there's not a lot of movement going on, and a character may be doing a great deal of acting while generally staying in one pose. In my searches, I found a great article by John K (Ren & Stimpy). Here's a snippet to think about:

"Subtle" is a very misunderstood word today. Most people think it means the lack of anything happening-and they think that's good. It actually means that lots of things are happening but they are happening not blatantly obviously and they are conveying meaning even though each individual subtle move is hard to detect.

I'll keep posting as I find out more.

]]>Alfred Hitchcock Presentshttp://www.srulibroocker.com/blog/2009/12/17/alfred-hitchcock-presents.htmlSruli Broocker2009-12-17T17:25:33ZHere's the short film I recently contributed to for Zoetifex, a Pittsburgh-based animation studio that's on the up and up. My shot (3) starts with "forthcoming lecture" up until ,"our good friends." Check it out, spread it around, and leave comments on You Tube!

]]>Magnificent Babyhttp://www.srulibroocker.com/blog/2009/12/11/magnificent-baby.htmlSruli Broocker2009-12-11T15:28:02ZI did some illustration work for the Magnificent Baby company this summer, and their website just went live. Their product is so necessary and long overdue - taking the hassle out of baby clothes. I myself had three little ones that put up the darndest fights when we tried buttoning them up in little outfits that had fifty-million snaps to fasten. Great product, great clients.

Check out their site: www.magnificentbaby.com. I'm featured in the "how it works" section.

 

]]>Candletimehttp://www.srulibroocker.com/blog/2009/12/5/candletime.htmlSruli Broocker2009-12-06T02:14:33ZI enjoyed a brief stint last year at Chabad.org, working on a couple of projects for the site. They asked me to do a commercial for their Hanukkah site that had the potential to maybe go viral. So, I cranked this bad boy out in less than a month - doing the design, animation, and sound design. It was really my first shot at something like this, and considering all of the hats I was wearing for it, I think it came out pretty OK.

 

]]>Stewie and Taylor, Revisited (Again)http://www.srulibroocker.com/blog/2009/11/17/stewie-and-taylor-revisited-again.htmlSruli Broocker2009-11-18T04:26:15ZWell, here's my first shot from my Alumni course at Animation Mentor, Polishing & Portfolio. Man, I'm so happy with this one . . . Compared to the original, I think it really shows how much I've grown as an animator in the last couple of years. Thanks to my amazing teachers.

 

Stewie and Taylor from Sruli Broocker on Vimeo.

]]>Animation Mentor, Round 2http://www.srulibroocker.com/blog/2009/9/30/animation-mentor-round-2.htmlSruli Broocker2009-09-30T05:43:09ZI'm very happy to announce that I just started a new alumni class at Animation Mentor called, "Polishing and Portfolio." My mentor, Dave Burgess, is one of the lead animators at Dreamworks, and before that he worked at Disney on "Aladdin" and the "Lion King," to name a few. With help from Above, I'm hoping to post my assignements as I work through them. This should be an amazing semester.

]]>Distraxion - Mike Sternhttp://www.srulibroocker.com/blog/2009/9/16/distraxion-mike-stern.htmlSruli Broocker2009-09-16T14:09:51ZHere's one more proof of why Animation Mentor is such a phenomenal program. It took Mike Stern two years to make this short, with a lot of trial and error. It does something only great comedy can do: it takes a familiar, mundane situation and presents it in an original, compelling way. You're awesome, Mike.

Here's a link to Mike Stern's site, and if you'd like to read up on Mike's process from pre-production to completion, check out this article from the September '09 Animation Mentor Newsletter.

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