Completed Essay

     Tim Burton was born in Burbank, California. Since he was young, he loved painting, drawing, and watching movies. Several times he would make his own short films with regular cameras. He liked poems by Edgar Allen Poe and he enjoyed watching "old-school" horror films. Burton has always been a very introspective person. One of his classmates at the California Institute of the Arts was John Lasseter. He was hired by Disney when he graduated.
     While working on concept art for The Fox and the Hound, Tim Burton began working on his own project. He drew art of a skeleton and wrote a poem, each being Jack Skellington and the Nightmare Before Christmas respectively. He was inspired by the many Christmas movies Disney would make. Since Disney didn't quite accept his style of art, they gave him the freedom to work on his own projects. Although the poem was originally meant to be a children's book, it eventually became a stop-motion animation movie.
     Tim Burton did not enjoy working with Disney very much. His style of art clashed with the "kid-appropriate" style of Disney. They did not like his art for The Fox and the Hound, therefore they gave him free time for his own projects. During this time, he made his own film called Frankenweenie, however Disney didn't think it was very appropriate for their targeted audience so they shelved the film. Overall, he felt bored and "constrained" by the type of art that Disney wanted him to make.
     Although Tim Burton has made many animation films, he himself does not like working as an animator. When he worked for Disney, he was hired as an animator. When Disney saw that he wasn't doing as good as they wanted him to, they made him a concept artist. Instead of being an animator, Burton is usually a director, producer, or writer. He likes expressing ideas in movies but he doesn't like to animate them. Burton has directed 19, produced 13, and written 5 movies.
     His movies have been very well acclaimed by both critics and regular people. His movies have been praised for originality and for making stop-motion animation successful. The musical scores in his movies are praised as well. Critics also enjoy the themes of his movies. The Nightmare Before Christmas was called "a stunningly original and visually delightful work of stop-motion animation" by Rotten Tomatoes. Corpse Bride was called a "sweet and visually lovely tale of love lost" by Roger Ebert. Overall, Burton is praised for being original.
     Burton enjoys collaborating with a lot of the same people in his movies. He often casts Johnny Depp in his movies, as he is a very close friend of Burton. Burton also casts Helena Bonham Carter, who is his wife. For the musical scores, he often works with Danny Elfman, who was in a band that Burton was very fond of. Burton either works with close friends of his, or people that are "up-and-coming". He works with the same actors and actresses because they all share the same vision that he does.
     In conclusion, Tim Burton is an introverted yet creative director, producer, and writer, who loves watching movies and telling stories through movies. He doesn't like to conform to society, instead he likes to introduce new things in the form of art. He is a very well acclaimed director, and is widely known for his quirky movies. Overall, Tim Burton is a very influential person and role model.

5 Paragraphs

     While working on concept art for The Fox and the Hound, Tim Burton began working on his own project. He drew art of a skeleton and wrote a poem, each being Jack Skellington and the Nightmare Before Christmas respectively. He was inspired by the many Christmas movies Disney would make. Since Disney didn't quite accept his style of art, they gave him the freedom to work on his own projects. Although the poem was originally meant to be a children's book, it eventually became a stop-motion animation movie.
     Tim Burton did not enjoy working with Disney very much. His style of art clashed with the "kid-appropriate" style of Disney. They did not like his art for The Fox and the Hound, therefore they gave him free time for his own projects. During this time, he made his own film called Frankenweenie, however Disney didn't think it was very appropriate for their targeted audience so they shelved the film. Overall, he felt bored and "constrained" by the type of art that Disney wanted him to make.
     Although Tim Burton has made many animation films, he himself does not like working as an animator. When he worked for Disney, he was hired as an animator. When Disney saw that he wasn't doing as good as they wanted him to, they made him a concept artist. Instead of being an animator, Burton is usually a director, producer, or writer. He likes expressing ideas in movies but he doesn't like to animate them.
     His movies have been very well acclaimed by both critics and regular people. His movies have been praised for originality and for making stop-motion animation successful. The musical scores in his movies are praised as well. Critics also enjoy the themes of his movies. Overall, Burton is praised for being original.
     Burton enjoys collaborating with a lot of the same people in his movies. He often casts Johnny Depp in his movies, as he is a very close friend of Burton. Burton also casts Helena Bonham Carter, who is his wife. For the musical scores, he often works with Danny Elfman, who was in a band that Burton was very fond of. Burton either works with close friends of his, or people that are "up-and-coming".

3rd URL

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000318/bio

• How did Tim Burton come up with the concept of The Nightmare Before Christmas?
• Disney gave him freedom to work on his own projects alongside Disney's. During that time he wrote a poem and drew concept art of the Nightmare Before Christmas.

• Did he enjoy working with Disney?
• Disney didn't accept most of his ideas because they were judged as too dark or unsuitable for children. He didn't like having to conform to Disney's style of animation.

• Does Tim Burton enjoy being an animator?
• He doesn't enjoy it as much as directing or writing. He likes expressing stories through the art of animation but he doesn't like actually working as an animator.

• How have critics generally reacted to his movies?
• They like his originality.

• Why does Tim Burton cast a lot of the same actors/actresses in most of his movies?
• One is his wife, the rest are close friends. Some may not be close friends, instead they are his "heroes" or he admires them.

2nd URL

http://www.timburtoncollective.com/

• How did Tim Burton come up with the concept of The Nightmare Before Christmas?
• He was inspired by the Christmas films Disney would make. Disney didn't accept most of his conceptual art, so he decided to work on his own side projects. He drew art and made a poem that would become TNBC

• Did he enjoy working with Disney?
• Not much because his style of drawing and ideas weren't "acceptable" by Disney. He didn't like having to follow the standard Disney structure.

• Does Tim Burton enjoy being an animator?
• No, he enjoys drawing but hates animating. He is usually either a director, a producer, or a writer.

• How have critics generally reacted to his movies?
• His movies have been praised for originality, the musical scores, and high-quality stop-motion animation.

• Why does Tim Burton cast a lot of the same actors/actresses in most of his movies?
• Helena Bonham Carter is his wife, while the rest are close friends of his.

1st URL

http://halloweentown.org/about-tim-burton/
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/Tim-Burton/biography/

• How did Tim Burton come up with the concept of The Nightmare Before Christmas?
• He wrote a poem and drew illustrations while working on The Fox and the Hound for Disney. It was originally meant to be a children's book in rhyme.

• Did he enjoy working with Disney?
• No, Disney refused to accept his designs for The Fox and the Hound because they were deemed unsuitable for children. Disney also thought that his film, Frankenweenie, was inappropriate, so they shelved the film.

• Does Tim Burton enjoy being an animator?
• Not as much as directing movies.
  

• How have critics generally reacted to his movies?
• Critics have become more open to stop-motion animation due to the success of Burton's movies. They praise the originality of his stories.

• Why does Tim Burton cast a lot of the same actors/actresses in most of his movies?
• Johnny Depp is a close friend and godfather of his son. Helena Bonham Carter is his wife. Danny Elfman has scored all of but 5 of his films and gave the singing voice for Jack Skellington, the singing skeletons in Corpse Bride, and the voice of the Oompa Loompas in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

5 Questions/10 URL's

1. How did Tim Burton come up with the concept of The Nightmare Before Christmas?
2. Did he enjoy working with Disney?
3. Does Tim Burton enjoy being an animator?
4. How have critics generally reacted to his movies?
5. Why does Tim Burton cast a lot of the same actors/actresses in most of his movies?

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_burton#Filmography
2. http://halloweentown.org/about-tim-burton/
3. http://www.timburtoncollective.com/
4. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000318/bio
5. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/Tim-Burton/biography/

Future Career and Animation

I want to go into Psychology, so maybe a job as a Layout Artist or camera person would be the one for me because it is the one that focuses on how a certain angle can evoke a certain emotion. It is the job that makes a movie either funny or dramatic.

What I Learned (Tutorial)

I learned how to properly manipulate pivots and how to animate objects. I learned how to use keyframes and change their properties. I learned how to edit the history and how to remove objects without actually selecting them. The only problems I had was finding the settings in the menus.

4th Object - Animated Butterfly

3rd Object - Customized Helmet

3rd Object - Helmet

2nd Object - House

1st Object - Bed

Original Bed

Customized Bed

New Things

Today, I inserted a pivot. In order to insert a pivot an INSERT key is necessary. I learned that there is no INSERT key on a Mac keyboard so I had to press the fn key and the left button at the same time in order to insert a pivot. I also learned how to delete unecessary items without actually clicking on them. Instead, I used Window -> Outline and deleted them from there. Lastly, I learned to properly use the frames when animating and how to make an object follow a path when animating.

Unfamiliar Things

• EP Curve Tool
• Surfaces Menu Set ; Surfaces -> Revolve ; Surfaces -> Planar ; Surface -> Extrude
• Pivot
• Delete by Type -> History
• Component Pivot
• Window -> Outliner
• Animation Preference button
• Press 'P' for Heirarchy
• Modify -> Freeze Transformations
• Key Selected
• Auto Keyframe Toggle
• Window -> Animation Editors -> Graph Editor
• Curves -> Post Infinity -> Cycle
• View -> Infinity
• Animation Menu Set ; Animate -> Motions Paths -> Attach to Motion Path ; 

Maya Tutorial

http://www.cgonlinetutorials.com/tutorials/flying-butterfly.html

I picked a butterfly. I am going to model it and then animate it. After that, I am going to use Jorge's grass method to make the scene better.

The reason I picked this tutorial is because it is easy to understand and it shows me how to animate alongside modeling.

Edge Loop Tool Settings

The purpose of changing the settings is to put in more edge loops at a time and on one face. Changing the Multiple Edge Loops will allow you to put in more edge loops at a time. Changing the Number of Edge Loops will let you choose how many edge loops you want to put in. Changing Auto Complete will allow you to put in an edge loop wherever you want by allowing you to put in the vertices.

2 New Things

Append to Polygon Tool:

This was used to create the shield. It "bridged" the gap between the "chin" of the helmet and the "forehead".

Split Polygon Tool:

This was used to create 4-sided polygons on the shield of the helmet. The vertices of the polygons were changed to make the shield more smooth.

Plan of Action

I think I will use vertex the most out of all techniques in Maya. I plan on using cubes or pyramids to create the house. I think the images are not very symmetrical so I will have to edit it as a whole rather than create half of it.

Reference Images

I picked a sort of gingerbread looking house.
I picked it because it looks cute and pretty easy to make.
I think my biggest challenge is making the pushed in parts of the front side of the house.