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Education n n n n he adds, “about separating it from mechanics to concentrate on the heart of the shot, to get into the head of the character. Every lecture was amazing. I re-watched lectures.” To cites Scott Carroll, now at Blue Sky, as especially helpful. Class Five, though, was To’s last. Jordi Girones, a fellow Anima- tion Mentor student who worked at Framestore in London, submit- ted To’s work to his animation supervisor—without To’s knowledge. Framestore offered To a job. “I couldn’t turn it down,” he says. So, the animator left home and flew halfway around the world. At this time, To and Girones had never met; they had conversed only through e- mail and chat, but they ended up sharing a flat in London. “You know, Animation Mentor talks about the mentors and their great teachers from places like Blue Sky, DreamWorks, and Pixar,” To says, “Tey don’t sell the social aspect. But, that’s really strong. You see each other’s work and get to know each other through on- line interaction. You meet people who will become lifelong friends. Tat’s massive.” After working on Golden Compass and Prince Caspian at Framestore, To sent a demo reel to DreamWorks Animation. “I had always wanted to work on a feature animation,” he says. “Caspian was cool, but it was more about battles and less about performance. On a feature animation, you get to do more acting. At Dream- Works, the director is here every day talking about shots.” To arrived at DreamWorks to join the crews at the end of produc- tion for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Monsters vs. Aliens. Ten, while waiting to start on Megamind, To worked on TV specials. And, that led to the Annie for character animation in Mutant Pumpkins. “I had some fun performance shots with BOB, who is a really cool character, and some action shots that were physi- cally quite complicated,” he says. “But, I still can’t believe I won,” To says. “I’m pretty stoked.” n Barbara Robertson is an award-winning writer and a contributing editor for Computer Graphics World. She can be reached at BarbaraRR@comcast.net. DreamWorks’ Halloween television special, Mon- sters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space, features many of the lovable characters from the movie. To especially enjoyed perfor- mance shots with the one-eyed BOB. October 2010 43