Happy Feet

I was lucky enough to have an all expenses paid stay in Sydney Australia for four months working on Happy Feet for Animal Logic. It's about singing and dancing penguins and in case you haven’t heard about it… it’s the one that won the Oscar!

After a couple of weeks learning XSI I started an audition piece along with all the other animators, to learn how this production wanted us to do things. Most people got a week or two to work on these and had numerous sessions of feedback with the Animation Supervisor. Unfortunately my department was busy and I was pulled off it to get started on some proper work after just one day. I stuck with the audition pieces though and worked on them every chance I had with very little feedback until I came up with something I was happy with. Most of the rest of the time I was problem solving and picking up the pieces of other shots that needed something or other to be polished. I switched from XSI to Maya and back again to deal with every penguin related issue you could imagine. What you'll see on this main video is just a tiny sample of some of the shots I contributed to in some small way amongst the sea of talent that was the Happy Feet team.

Other than the audition pieces the work wasn't as involving or interesting as other projects I've been a part of but it opened my eyes to a number of aspects of the industry. It was a strong reminder of what it takes to be at the top of your game in this industry and has affected my career choices ever since. It even gave me the boost to work on my own animation in my free time.

The film has done very well at the box office, much better than anyone could have expected and the awards it's attracted has certainly been a bonus.

What sticks in my mind afterwards are the friends I made, the experience of living in Australia and being part of a big feature film release. I worked with some great people while I was down-under, and made so many new friends, many of whom I hope to work with again some day.