I am now an Animation Mentor Alumni!

After 18 months of study, focus, weekend sacrafice, and amazing growth, I have finished all 6 classes at animationmentor.com!

I have made many new friends, industry contacts, and memories that I will never forget! My time at AM has been way better than I ever imagined it would be and I am so proud to have been a part of such an amazing school, and to now be part of an exclusive group: Animation Mentor Alumni!

Take a lot of my progress reel that shows all of my work from Class 2, to Class 6, including a WIP look at my short film "Superdumb" which I hope to finish by the end of the year. I now move on to the Alumni site and will continue to be involved with the school as much as I can.

I now have a Diploma in Advanced Studies in Character Animation! This is an awesome addition to my Bachelor of Fine Arts focused on Animation and Digital Media.

AM Grad videos

Since I won't be able to attend Animation Mentor Graduation in July due to the birth of my first child, I was asked to make a short video to thank and congratulate everyone at the ceremony. I was told to keep it under 30 seconds and make it fun, but I had a hard time doing that. So I made two videos, one serious and meaningful, and another that is just me impersonating the three founders of Animation Mentor, Bobby Beck, Sean Kelly, and Carlos Baena.

I'm torn about which one to send... maybe both? I'm thinking I might need to work on the impressions a bit more as it was my first shot at it, and I'm affraid of getting blacklisted in the industry for poking fun:) I think they all probably have a good sense of humor... right?!

AM Short Film: Blocking Plus

Here is an update on my animated short "Superdumb". While some shots are basic layout animation, most have been taken to the "blocking plus" stage and are ready to be splined out and polished. I won't have the whole film finished by Animation Mentor graduation this June, but just about half the shots should be final by then.

I am still playing with timing and making adjustments to help things read better. Let me know if you see anything that is unclear on first viewing.

Thanks!
-Mark

AM Short Film: Final Layout

Here is my final layout for my Animation Mentor short film "Superdumb". I've got all the camera angles, action, and timing layed out with a temporary sound track. Now I am onto Class 6, the final term at Animation Mentor where I will animate at least 30 seconds of this short. Unfortunately since my film is clocking in over one minute long I may have to finish this short after I graduate but thats ok.

Let me know what you think and if anything is unclear or timed wrong!

Thanks!

Giving the Netbook to my Mom

Last night was a lot of fun! I finally got to give the Netbook gift to my Mom who is now home after being in the hospital for over a month straight. She looked and sounded great! It was so nice to see her rested, comfortable and smiling.

I borrowed my friends tiny Flip video camera (thanks Bruce!) and had Heidi secretly record the moment. She loved it! In the video you can see how blown away and overwhelmed she was with the thoughtfulness and generosity of everyone around her. It was a lot of fun to give it to her and set her up so she could use it right away. We even signed her up to Facebook last night!

Thanks again to everyone involved. You made this a very special moment for our family.

**Note: the video may need time to buffer. Hit play once, and then wait for it to go.**

A gift for my Mom

My mom has been battling a rare cancer called Mantle Cell Lymphoma since September and I am happy to say that she is finishing her final round of treatment and is officially in remission. But the battle isn't over just yet as she now has to build up her strength and immune system for the next 100 days. During this time she will be at home resting and looking to connect with others.

To help her do this I decided to get my mom a netbook computer that is light and portable so that she can connect to the interenet from anywhere in her home.

In order to make this purchase I asked her friends and family if they would like to contribute and the response was overwhelming! So many had donated more than I had originally asked for that I was able to get her some essential accessories as well.

This video is for those who donated so that they can see just what we have gotten my Mom. Thank you all so much for your support!

"Farmer Jenkins" gets a positive review!

My short film "The Legend of Farmer Jenkins" got a positive review from an underground film site called Bad Lit that was doing a full review of the DVD "Festival Of Horrors: Volume 1". Jenkins was featured as a bonus short on that compilation which can be purchased online.

Here is an excerpt from the review:

"The Legend of Farmer Jenkins, dirs. Mike Tonder & Mark DeRidder. While I’m usually not too crazy about the type of computer animation used for this film, this is such a fun, well-done short that the animation didn’t matter. While sitting in a treehouse one night, two older kids terrorize a younger kid about Farmer John, who fell into a thresher and now his zombie self roams the countryside looking for little boys to eat. Like a good campfire tale, this has some good gags, some actual scares and a great ending."

Full review