Edinboro

God Bless Ativan. Seriously.

I conked out for most of my flight from LA to Cleveland and anyone who flies with me knows what a miracle that is. I'm generally the white-knuckled passenger who flinches every bump of the flight. But I'm  working really hard to change that. It's called Ativan. 

I was a hazy mess when I landed in Erie and was picked up at the airport by an Edinboro student named Andy. He was a super nice guy and would later earn the nickname Derpy because of our love of My Little Pony. 

I met up with Brad, my favorite Edinboro professor (just kidding, I love you all the same, but then again, Brad is probably most likely to stumble across this....) He took me to my hotel and I prepared for my talk later that night, aka I slept. 

Next was dinner with the Profs at Edinboro's first non-Taco Bell Mexican restaurant, Compadres. A burrito later, I was in front of a packed lecture hall of eager animation students.  I talked about my animation career and it was probably the closest to feeling like a rockstar that I will ever get.  It was a lot of fun and hopefully the students learned something. 

Edinboro Day 2: Go Big or Go Home

Brad picked me up bright and early Thursday morning for his advanced animation class critique.  I enjoyed the student work and the opportunity to provide feedback.  I ended up critiquing 3 classes that day and I liked that I was able to approach each professor's class a little differently.

Brad- from a filmmaking/story perspective

Steve- from a client/professional perspective

Mike-more technical animation/performance perspective

While I would love to go into a more detailed explanation of the technical aspects of animation, timing, pacing, and story, I will just leave you with this hilarious and strangely relevant cat video:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Veg63B8ofnQ

You're welcome.

Later that evening, I gave another talk on animation.The guys of www.moreframes.com were kind enough to attend and show their support.

 As customary, afterwards we headed to the Coin, which I refuse to call Fat Willie's, for drinks.  And drinks were had. (Damn you, Andrea) All I can say is that I had a wonderful night out with my friends, former professors, and I hope that my behavior at the bar didn't invalidate the "classy" example of a working professional animator I displayed up until that point.  Or maybe it was just a realistic example.  

Anyway, big thanks to my friends at Edinboro University for having me (way to put it all together Gabby) and thanks to everyone who made my visit extra special!

-Bacon