Thursday, November 20, 2008

The man, the myth, the banana.


I was lucky enough to get one of the hot tickets to see "An Evening with Don Hertzfeldt" last night. The NYC animation community and droves of fans filed into the IFC Center last night for the chance to meet the filmmaker at a rare public appearance. Originially, only a 7pm screening was offered, but when that sold out so quickly, a 9:15 show and eventually an 11:15 show were added.

Audiences were treated to Rejected, Billy's Balloon, The Meaning of Life, Intermission in the Third Dimension, and the first two films of his in-progress trilogy -- Everything Will Be OK, and (the NYC premiere of) I Am So Proud of You.

The new film was both new and familiar -- utilizing more non-linear storytelling and the same type of divided frame lighting effects as were used in Everything Will Be OK. We learn more about Bill's daily life and a lot about his family and conditions to which he is genetically predisposed. I thought it was great -- the writing, the timing, the sound, and the incredible range of subtle emotion that Don can get out of his simplistic characters. It was funny in an absurd, honest, and ordinary way while being sad and dreary and philosophical. Such an exquisite blend.

The screening was followed by a Q&A moderated by Cartoon Brew's Amid Amidi. Don was really relaxed and open about talking about his process and his passion. Seems like a super nice guy. That's always something I hope for when meeting someone I admire -- and unfortunately a lot of those people can be cold, distant and uninterested -- but Don lived up to and exceeded my hopes. Hope he comes back around with the next film. I can't wait to see it.

Don signing my Bitter Films Volume 1 DVD.

View Don's Blog.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Pier A

Here are a couple sketches from a beautiful day spent at Pier A park in Hoboken.




Friday, August 15, 2008

gone fishing


Here's a new render from an upcoming project. Credits to myself & Adam (and free fishing rod & lure models). Oh, and thank you V-ray!! You make the most mundane stuff look delicious.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Pearson NSM Intro

After a few absolutely crazy busy weeks at work, our nearly-insane deadline has successfully come and gone! Below are a few stills from the 3D animated short that we just finished that will serve as the Intro to the Pearson Careers August National Sales Meeting (which, I think, starts today). Should we get permission to post the video up for the masses, I'll be sure to post it. My primary roles in the piece were production managing, rigging the characters and animating the last scene. Credits to Adam, Keith, Chris, Dave and Rob for making the impossible possible.







Thursday, July 3, 2008

Animation Block Party!

Happy 4th of July weekend everybody!

We just got the news that "Conflict Resolution" will be featured opening night of this year's Animation Block Party in Brooklyn!

Friday July 25th
50 Bedford Ave.
btwn N 12th and Lorimer,
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Tickets and info available at www.animationblock.com/summerfest08

Friday, June 6, 2008

as promised... Opie and Anthony short #2!!

Children may want to leave the room. This is an explicit cartoon.

Without further ado... I present "Conflict Resolution"

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Opie and Anthony Animation Festival

I dropped off the face of the earth for the last few weeks (sorry) because we had to finish our second Opie & Anthony animated short. It will be premiering at the O&A Animation Festival tomorrow, June 5th at Roseland Ballroom in NYC. The show is sold out and we're all looking forward to a fun night of animation and comedy!

I'll be posting the short online after the festival... so check back soon!

Monday, May 26, 2008

crag


A background painting for an upcoming short.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Rigid Body Dynamics test


3DS Max Reactor Test Simulation from Kat Hulka on Vimeo.

This video was created using 3D Studio Max's Reactor simulator. We needed to test out our new render farm at the office, so this was the guinea pig.

Friday, April 25, 2008

my first modular function!

To share with you my nerdy(er) side, I'm starting to learn ActionScripting, and starting with AS3. I wrote my first custom modular function today and I'm super excited! Horray!

function moveShape(shapeName:MovieClip, vertMovement:Number, rotAmt:Number, alphaAmt:Number):void
{
shapeName.y -= vertMovement;
shapeName.rotation += rotAmt;
shapeName.alpha = alphaAmt;
}

moveShape(blue_mc, 120, 5, .3);
moveShape(orange_mc, -30, 12, .9);
moveShape(purple_mc, 175, 50, .5);
moveShape(yellow_mc, 30, 0, 1);


I know I still have a loooong way to go, but hey, it's a start!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

M&Ms Indiana Jones game is live!



The M&Ms Indiana Jones game (with a number of mini-games woven in) that we've been working on is now live on mms.com! Click the link on the green M&M on the left side to bring up the link to the game. For optimal performance, use Explorer or Safari instead of Firefox. Enjoy!

Friday, February 29, 2008

Human Giant - Season 2

The hysterics of Paul, Rob and Aziz continue with season 2 of MTV's super sketch comedy show Human Giant. Adam and I were brought back on to create new animations, including the clip below. Watch the show! It rules.


Human Giant Spaceship Battle from Kat Hulka on Vimeo.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Opie & Anthony short

Below is the short I just worked on for an Opie & Anthony animation contest. Credit Adam for directing and designing, and the crew at All Things Media for production and animation.

Whoo hoo!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Vacuumania!

Check out the new Goldfish game I worked on! It's called Vacuumania and you can play it in the Arcade section of pfgoldfish.com

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Thursday, January 31, 2008

work




Above are a couple room renders of a larger 3D environment I've been working on in the last few months. Users of this software will be able to navigate through the whole environment and interact with certain elements in the world, play games and watch videos on selected topics. These rooms were my first venture into the world of 3DS max. I found the switch over pretty easy.

Below is the first of maaaaany concepts for a new project taking place inside a computer. Just a little RAM hotel for ya. Still under major construction.


I did a little work on the M&Ms "Green is the new Color of Love" campaign for this Valentine's Day (including a 3D rotating m&m).
And lastly, an environment made of partially turbosquid models and partially my stuff for a virtual product demo. (product not included)