Shaffer Creative: Conversations with Creatives

Bazin. Truffault. Godard. Varda.  What do they all have in common? They were part of the French New Wave. What are they doing on this podcast? Plenty. All creatives can learn from the the audacity of their convictions that created a movement that changed cinematic history. The French New Wave was a revolutionary force that should never have happened. When the movement started, it was unwanted, it was resisted, it was criticized, it was in French, it had every reason to fail on the world stage. Yet it changed the cinema, and it’s impact is still being felt today. 

My guest in this episode has written one of the most lively, insightful and readable books on the French New Wave, titled A History of the French New Wave. He’s the Wheatly Professor of the Arts at the Univerity of Georgia, teaching film history and theory. His name is Professor Richard Neupert. 

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Chris Wieme is an incredibly capable and efficient animator, and he has carved out a lifelong career in 2D animation in central and western Canada. In this episode Chris talks about some of the key lessons he's learned as an animator. For anyone embarking on a career in animation Chris' wisdom will take you far. 

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Canadian animator Chris Wieme trained in animation and fashioned an early career in the most unlikely of places: the prairie provinces of Canada. Yet his work is as strong as any who have trained at the more prestigious animation schools or worked at the bigger studios. Chris demonstrates that having a grasp of the basics, with determination and hard work you can develop the skills to compete with the best. 

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Phil Lockerby has managed to carve out a long and successful career as a character animation outside of Hollywood. And though he has long distinquished himself in animation, he still works hard to grow in his craft, and can find child-like joy in the little things of his work. Phil is also one of the rare animators I know who has made an effort to learn about acting, and I can tell you from working with him, it shows. 

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Animator Phil Lockerby is a highly talented animator who has survived some of the roughest years for 2D character animation. From humble beginnings training at Michael Mills Studio, Phil is among the best animators working today.  He was an animator on The Triplets of Belleville, The Little Prince, and directed a number of the animated episodes for Steven Colbert's Colbert Report. 

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 I've always admired people who do one thing in life and they do that one thing well. It's even more admirable when they still have that same spark of passion in their twilight years. Maritime painter John Stobart is just such a man.

In this episode John talks about the development of his career from that first painting sale he made as a student at the Royal Academy. John gives us a window into the meticulous research process he goes through in the creation of his historic maritime port scenes. He also talks about his Worldscape video series he produced for PBS.

One of John most admirable achievements is the established The Stobart Foundation, which is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to help support emerging artists who paint from life. You can find more information about the Stobart Foundation, and apply for a grant, at stobartfoundation.org.

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My guest is John Stobart. John studied painting at the Royal Academy of Art in London, and has enjoyed a long and successful career painting pictures of ships, focusing period harbor scenes during the age of sail. He is meticulous with the historical accuracy and detail of his work, and his final paintings are stunning.

John also created two seasons of Instructional painting shows for PBS called Worldscape. These shows are available on DVD and they are great inspiration for outdoor painting. 

As a young animator early in my career, I was terrified of paint. But John's work and his Worldscape series encouraged me to "get out and paint," as he said. And I did. 

In this episode, John talks about what he's doing now, and tells us a wonderful story about his schooling at the Royal Academy, and the circumstances of his first sale as a painter.  John is 89 years old and he's still going strong.

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Mike Surrey lived through one of the most unthinkable moments in animation history -- the day that Walt Disney Feature Animation would close it's door to an 86 year lineage of hand drawn animation. The Princess and the Frog was the 49th, and final, 2D animated feature to be produced at Disney. 

In part 5 of my conversation with Mike Surrey, Mike chronicles his career from Huntchback, working on Tarzan, Atlantis, and Home on the Range, while he was a witness to the monumental changes in the animation industry, the departure of Katzenberg from Disney, the formation of Dreamworks Animation, Disney's purchase of Pixar, and the end of the traditional animation era.

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 After the huge success of The Lion King, Mike's involvement with Disney began a slow decline, beginning with his next role of Clopin on Huntchback which took him to Paris. From there the roles and shows became a tiring grind that eventually led him to Dreamworks which had a completely different approach to animation that frustrated him and drove him into the story department. In part 4 of my conversation with Mike continues to chronicle his career, provide interesting tidbits about the departure of Katzenburg, and the arrival of Pixar. 

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Mike's big break came on Disney's animated production of The Lion King, but it wasn't smooth sailing for Mike to land the role. The Lion King wasn't expected to perform well at the box-office, the big film was Pocahontas where all the heavy hitters were. And to everyone's surprise, The Lion King saved the studio and it changed Mike's life. 

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From the Sheridan Animation program to Supervising Animator on The Lion King. Michael Surrey's fascinating journey continues in part 2 of our conversation. 

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He was Supervising Animator for Timon on The Lion King, Clopin on Huntchback, and Ray on Princess and the Frog. In the first part of my conversation Mike talks about his development as an animator, his years at Sheridan, and his first contact with Disney Animation.  This is part 1 of my conversation with Mike Surrey.

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Henry Hensche believed he was part of the painters of the future who took the lessons of the Impressionists to the next level, and John Ebersberger has spent his career trying to carry Hensche's vision forward with his own art.  This is part 3 of my conversation with oil painter John Ebersberger.

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The second great artistic influence in John's life, was a man who not only shared Charles Hawthorne's perspective on color, he took it to a new level. Get ready for a fascinating look at color and an artistic lineage in the grand history of American Art. This is the second part of my conversation with oil painter John Ebersberger.

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 One of the things that fascinates me about artists is how they got to where they are a creative professionals. What were the formative influences that shaped them as artists, and What were the major challenges they faced, and what drove them to overcome them? Annapolis painter John Ebersberger is no exception. After graduating from a prestigious art school, John discovered that his school had not taught him how to draw or paint, and under to tutelage of Cedric Egeli he applied himself to become the brilliant painter he is today.  This is the first part of my conversation with John. 

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In this episode, Mike shares with me a sneak peak at a personal animated project that he wants to make into a feature film. The beauty of this project is not just in it's artistry, but also in it's leveraging of today's technology to achieve it's old school animation look.  This is the third part of my conversation with Mike.

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Michael Greenholt has been working in animation for some time and has lately become a sought-after Animation Supervisor among the bigger studios. His career path is fascinating, and in this episode Mike shares some very helpful words of wisdom from someone who has worked his way through the ranks in LA. This is the second part of my conversation with Mike.

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Michael Greenholt is a CG Supervisor on an upcoming TV series for Disney Toons, and was a 2D animation supervisor on a soon-to-be-released series for Warner Bros. that you are going to hear a lot about very shortly.  A Ringling grad, Mike was one of the few artists who was invited to be part of a Disney bootcamp and went straight to Disney from there. In this episode Mike talks about his artistic formation, his influences, and the importance of being humble in a creative working environment.  This is the first part of my conversation with Mike.

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We gather our family around microphones in Grandma's kitchen to introduce our children, talk about where we are creatively as a family, and what we plan to pursue in the new year. 

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Here are ten things animators need to know about working on a production from an Animation Director with almost 30 years of experience in production. 

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The Promise: Birth of the Messiah is an animated musical that presents Luke's account of the nativity story. It was written and directed by Todd, while I (Melissa) had a hand in the production as a motion-capture performer. Todd tells us how this film was conceived, it's unique challenges, it's handling of Hebrew poetry as music, and favorite moments. And as a bonus, Todd talks about his current production Prodigal the Musical and shares a clip of one of his favorite songs from the show.

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Sam Cabanac is a young animator of great skill, and it’s been my joy to work with Sam and watch his exponential growth. In this second part of my conversation with Sam we talk about how he uses social media to network, how he met his hero Glen Keane, and how young animators need to be humble learners when they are welcomed onto an animation team and use every opportunity to grow in their craft. Sam is an ideal demonstration of the skills graduates of art and animation programs leave school with, and the character and disposition they need to cultivate when they enter the work force. One day we may very well see Sam Cabanac become the Glen Keane of his generation. I won’t be surprised. This is part 2 of my conversation with Sam Cabanac.

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Sam Cabanac is a young animator who I've had the pleasure to watch blossom into a senior level animator within a remarkably short period of time. In this edition of Conversations of Creatives, Sam shares with us his artistic development in childhood, his influences, his first job, and his thoughts about "talent." This is part 1 of a 2 part podcast with Sam. Sam came out of school with the highest degree of animation skill I've seen among graduates of any animation program, and one of my goals in this conversation was to uncover what teaching strategies were being used in the animation program at the superb  Cégep du Vieux Montréal .  This is part 1 of my conversation with Sam.

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Todd interviews Melissa about how the launch of her new photography business and it's origin in a mom blog. shaffercreative.studio

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Guillaume Blackburn is a character animator with a storied-analytical approach, fueled by a bull dog spirit. I worked with him for the past year on a 2D animated project for a major studio. His growth as an animator has skyrocketed in the past few years, and I wanted to find out what drives this young, single-minded animator.

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Character Animator Alain Seguin and I discuss the concept of talent and it's relation to hard work and artistic growth. We attempt to provide students and entry level animators with advice on getting ahead in a competitive industry. This is the second part of my conversation with Alain.

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Montreal character animation veteran Alain Seguin has an ease and proficiency as a character animator that other animator's envy. In this conversation Alain shares about his artistic influences, schooling, first job, and other thoughts on the animation life. 

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He's the baby of the family but that doesn't stop him from knowing his craft. See if you can guess how old he is when he discusses animation. Hint: Too young for a learner's permit, but not too old to catch frogs in the backyard. SHOW NOTES: George Bridgeman’s Complete Guide to Drawing From Life Preston Blair’s Cartoon Animation Aaron Blaise Online Courses New Masters Academy

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Our inaugural episode. What the heck is Shaffer Creative? Family life with six creatives pursuing animation, film-making, painting, illustration, photography and writing. 

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