Welcome Back and Screening of Fall Class Projects:
-CTAN 579: Expanded Animation- Eric Hanson, 1st Year MFA Projects
-CTAN 525: Gesture Movement- Christine Panushka
-CTAN 544: Intro to the Art of Animation- Lisa Mann, 1st Year MFA Projects
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Scratch
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Pixilation
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Food
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Final Projects
SPRING 2016 SEMINAR 
Good to see you again, animation people!
What I did during this winter break was very simple. I took lots of rest.
I went to Big Bear for skiing(It had been more than 10years since the last time I did ski but I was still pretty good at it! I skied in the most advanced slope!)
After coming back from Big Bear, I bought a lot of food, like cakes, cookies, ice cream, and so on and stuck in my bed, watched many many many movies and dramas. I gained weight at least 10 pound(I guess), didn’t do anything else much, but I was the happiest break ever!
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Winter break for me was a much-needed step away from LA. I flew back home the day after classes ended and didn’t fly back until Friday last week. Reconnecting with a lot of friends and missing a few others left me with a sense of peace about the whole thing. Towards the end of break I found myself eager to re engage with Los Angeles and hop back into the hot pot of grad school. Those few weeks stranded on the fringes of the city that I used to live in the center of has alleviated some of the nostalgia, which created an idealized view of my time there. I am back and ready to be here for a long while, doing good work, cultivating new communities, and devoting to an established existence in my new space. Bring it on, semester two!
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had a severe cold at the end of last term, and later I was diagnosed with pneumonia.
My aunt lives in Texas, she let me go to Austin, and take care of my life, accompanied me to the hospital.(In fact I have been almost recovered at that time). Of course, a little bit of sequelae I need to rely on these drugs friends to help me breathe every day.
Austin’s very beautiful quiet city, I was surprised that Texas had the winter rain. I like the rain very much, if some where is no rain, I may be crazy (that’s why I hate Los Angeles, no rain, no snow, not even cloudy and foggy!) Is a happy holiday, in addition to disease. I like Texas, Texas people, and barbecue!
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Hi,good to see you guys again!
I basically did nothing at the beginning of the winter break, I took a lots of rest of course ,stay at home ,watching lots of movies with my roommate, he is a good fan of movies. And then he went back him own home for Christmas .Chinese people don’t celebrate Christmas but we did hold some party at Christmas Eve, I met lots of new friends there. Then I went to San Francisco,Seattle and Portland with one of my friend who is currently working at LAIKA as a animator. I was supposed to do some visiting at LAIKA but there was snowing so the company just closed at those days. Bad lucy for me. But I did get some good experience during that trip. Seattle is a really modern city, Portland is cold and cloudy all day,just like the feeling in Carol. And SF is beautiful , I wonder the windows on the house in San Francisco are always that big?
So I am looking forward to visiting more city in the future, also looking forward to semester two! Fight on!
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Hi guys – so great to see you all again!
So my holiday was a little all over the place. I first flew to NYC where I got to surprise friends and see Star Wars opening night. We dressed up for it… I was Luke with one hand. One of my friends wrapped my right hand with a bandage and secured the fake hand on, so then we’d use a light saber to ‘cut’ the hand off. One of our other friends was Lando Calrissian and he stole the show – all the fellow nerds wanted pictures with him.
From there I went to New Jersey to see my grandparents, and then off to Virginia to be with my family for Christmas. I also went with my sister to visit her in-law’s in Delaware, and then we all went to New Jersey again, and then Virginia again, and then I went back to New York for New Years! (Whew!)
It was so great to see family and friends and spend time with them, I was happy to feel like not much had changed since I had left. That’s something I worry about sometimes, that you go back and everything feels weird, and you don’t have anything to talk about anymore. We all just picked up where we had left off! I also loved being able to visit my favorite places in New York, and go for a few jogs in Central Park.
All the bouncing around though left me super drained, so when I came back I just slept, read books, got busy work done, and read more books.
Now, I feel bright eyed and bushy-tailed, and am ready for the onslaught of Spring Semester & Prod1.
HUZZAH!
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I had been in Tokyo Japan over the winter break. I spent a lot of time with my mom and my mom’s dog named Olive.
I had ramen each day, and saw my friends. I spent a lot of time with sensei, my professor. We went hiking to Tsukuba mountain. Because sensei was working on a thesis that collaborated with some manga that related to phycology, and anime called ‘Tiger and Bunny’, we read the comics and watched the anime, and some movies.
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Winter break was a very relaxing time for me. I wasn’t able to go back home to Texas for Thanksgiving, so seeing my friends and family after a while was a refreshing experience. It was interesting to see how some of my high school friends had changed over the course of their semester; many of them go to school all over the country, so it was nice to reconnect and talk about their unique experiences. I have a younger brother in middle school (I think I missed his humor and company the most last semester), so it was great being able to spend time with him as well. As much as I enjoyed things slowing down for those few weeks, I found myself constantly looking forward to this semester. Unlike last fall, when everything and everyone was brand new, I feel like there’s a sense of familiarity now. I enjoyed coming back to see the friends I made last semester, and I think I hit the ground running with the organizations I’m involved with. I’m hoping to get more involved with the research here at SCA, so I’m also looking forward to many new experiences this spring!
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We are so happy to have you in this class and we welcome you with open arms! -Maggie
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I went back to Taiwan during the winter break. It’s not pleasant to stuck in the airplane for 14 hours, but all of these were worthy to see my friends and family. I found myself indeed miss them so much as soon as I saw them. I didn’t realize that before for burying myself with works in the whole semester.
I almost had dates with friends or boyfriend every day. It’s good to catch up with them and got a good news from Vivian—one of my best friend who we know each other for over 21 years— is going to marry! The wedding will hold in summer next year. She wants me to be her made of honor. Despite I don’t know what should I do as the made of honor yet, I said yes anyway!
I also ate all the food I miss in Taiwan. I think I get some weight from doing that. People around me fed me with lots of things, too. I just let it be and secretly hoping that my weight will lose again as the new semester begin.
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Nice to see you guys again, I miss you all.
I spent whole winter break to stay with my boyfriend, he came here to see me at the beginning of the winter, and we went to Six Flag park and Joshua Tree National Park and we have driven on the Freeway 1, so much unforgettable memories in this winter. Although we Chinese people do not have Christmas, we still miss our hometown so much. We went to the city hall to celebrate the New Year on 12/31/2015, we thought there would be firework, but it was just screening on the building. It was kind of disappointed. But we had a lot of fun with friends to cook a feast at that night, and my boyfriend took me to the roof of our apartment building, its too high that I would never go there alone, we saw a amazing view of downtown of Los Angeles, it was cold but romantic, I remember that moment’s feeling till now.
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Hi Everyone, returning back to school gave me some sense of purpose not to say I don’t miss the lazy days I had over the winter break(ifAny). hmmm lets see if I can highlight what I did
I started of my winter break with a ‘planned’ dedication to frequently go to the gym but 4days in I realized I was on ‘break’ and had to take a ‘break’ from it too
I Helped a couple of friends on their thesis.
I finally visited Eric Hanson’s awesome studio.
A colleague and I went back to polish our production 1 and we did this simultaneously with the first frame submission procedure.
I did a couple of babysitting for my aunts notorious kids.
I Lost a FIFA bet and had to run around my apartment in my green screen suit yelling ‘where’s my ufo’.
Spent Christmas in Pasadena.
Then prepped myself for thesis, reworking my script, puns, gags and plot twists.
I’m Happy to be back……….
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Yay! Your thesis is gonna kick butt! Welcome back to the grind! 🙂 -Maggie
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As your SA and I’m not “required” to post a comment. I don’t want to talk about what I did over the break, I would rather talk about how impressed I am with all of your hard work and amazing talent. I wanted to verbally make a comment after the class, but I missed my opportunity. I witnessed how hard you all worked in Goldberg’s class last semester. Seeing what you did on top of his assignments blew my mind! You were busy! First semester is always hard, but I can honestly say you guys hit it out of the ballpark. You put my class to shame (don’t tell them I said that.) I must say that the class of 2018 is not only insanely talented but diverse and so incredibly sweet. I am genuinely impressed with all of the work you shared and I loved being able to predict who made what. 🙂 I can’t wait to see even more amazing work from your class! You guys are lucky, there isn’t a single “weak link” in your group. Keep it up and keep supporting one another! You are a super talented bunch and I’m already in love! I look forward to getting to know you all even more!
-Maggie
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Over the break I painted a 26’x6′ mural in Alturas, CA for the good old Holiday Quality Foods. Then my Grandfather died after Christmas–at least it wasn’t before Christmas cause that would have been a bummer. I swore to sing a song at his funeral once upon a time so I stayed in Sonora, CA for an extra week to practice “Coyotes” by Don Edwards with my brother.
Then my other brother Michael got stranded in an out of bounds area of Powder Mountain, Utah: http://fox13now.com/2016/01/02/crews-rescue-skier-who-got-lost-on-powder-mountain-man-suffered-minor-frostbite/
He suffered minor frostbite on his toes and fingers, but says it wasn’t that bad. That and promoting a documentary called, “Freedom Rides” for an awesome Director named Sarah Pia Anderson took up most of my time.
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My break was good. I had a lot of plans to get started on animation and do some painting, and was really happy to see the new Star Wars movie 3 or 4 times. Opening night in LA was a sight to behold. A lot of costumes and a wookie dancing while Jesus played guitar. But weirdly my back started hurting. It got worse and worse and all of a sudden it was near Christmas and I couldn’t walk. The doctors where scared so I went to the hospital, which was terrifying. Luckily nothing was broken, but it turns out I have an issue with my nervous system that apparently runs in the family. Got some medication and then a week later I could walk again whew. It sounds bad, but really I feel grateful that I can walk so it has given me perspective on my life. I spent the rest of break discovering the libraries around LA and reading. Books are my addiction Hehehehe 🙂 I can’t wait for this semester. I feel I had a rough start last semester, so I am looking forward to moving on up from there 😉
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I had a really relax break. During the first week of break, I went to Georgia to visit my friend, we visited the Georgia aquarium, the largest aquarium in the western hemisphere. And we went to Florida together, there were few days cloudy but beside that it was really nice weather there. After that, I went back to China, I spent lot time with my family, and visit my friends. Compare to Los Angeles, my hometown is really cold, there were few snow during the winter, I had really bad flow for a week, missed lots of delicacy. After all, it was really great break for me, it was nice to have time relax and refreshing after hard work, looking forward to the new semester!
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I went back home to New York for break. It was very relaxing. I was trying to have some “me-time” and try to work on drawing more and getting better at Photoshop. I spent a lot of time with family and close friends and got fed, A LOT (NY pizza and mom’s cooking :)). It was also nice being able to play the piano again at home, while catching up on my village in Animal Crossing New Leaf, haha. Though it was fun at home, I’m looking forward for the new semester. I’ll be taking a lot of classes outside of my major and I’m excited to learn other things!
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I spent my break back home in Sacramento doing absolutely nothing and it was glorious. My inner voice tried to make me feel guilty for not doing anything, but I earned that break so I told it to shut the hell up! I got to read some new books, watch some new movies, and spend time with my family and my cats.
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I spent my break at New Jersey and New York with my brother. The most significant thing that I did was going to movies I watched 8 movies at theaters including The revenant, The Room, Mustang, Hateful 8, 45 Years, Carol, Creed, Brooklyn. I also spent a lot of time in one of my favorite places in the world, Strand bookstore at Union Sq, New York City. I bought lot of books mostly plays. It was fascinating as always to find some prestigious books in this place like Chekhov’s Play Collection or Simon de Beauvoir Second Sex and some others for only 48 cents.
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Hello Everyone! Happy New Year to all! Crazy 2016. Although I can’t say that my time away from school was as restful as I would have liked:). I did get to spend it with my family! I am super thankful for that. As I have told some already. I had a visit from a friend from NYC. He has been teaching music in the bronx for the past forty years or so. Great guy. He insisted on getting up and going running before eating breakfast every morning. One day I convinced him to go biking instead. So we biked down Ballona Creak to Marina Del Ray, and then up to Will Roger’s beach. Such a beautiful ride. I have since stop running or biking before breakfast:). Glad to be back, and looking forward to this new semester!
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The climax of my winter break is the day before the school day because it was really my first time to step on the snowy land and touched snow on the Big Bear Mountain. Especially for the moment when I sat in the forest, setting up my easel to start drawing some watercolor sketches in this silent atmosphere. In the crystal clear forest, I couldn’t hear anything but subtle sounds from contacting of papers and brushes. Some sort of ecstasy was rising up in my mind for possessing this uncommon peace which let me get away from the practical and stressful world for a while. Although the temperature and weather was low and windy I could feel how crispy and fresh air kept flowing through my skin like a river. And I entirely soaked in the refreshing scent from pine trees as a fundament. Nothing is more significant than to keep a optimal balance between physical and psychological condition before the start of school ~ ha ! :)))))
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During my Winter break, I went to Big Bear with my family and rented a cabin to relax and snowboard. I have to admit, my body was too tired after the first day of snow boarding, and we ended up just relaxing for the next few days. After, I went up to the mountains with a church group and spent a few days talking about life and planning my future. I really took some time away from the city to think deeply and have meaningful conversation with my peers. I spent the rest of my time hanging out with friends and relaxing with my family back home. During my Winter break, I went to Big Bear with my family and rented a cabin to relax and snowboard. I have to admit, my body was too tired after the first day, and we ended up resting for the next few days. After, I went up to the mountains with a church group and spent a few days talking about life and planning my future. I really took some time away from the city to think deeply and have meaningful conversation with my peers. I spent the rest of my time hanging out with friends and relaxing with my family back home.
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So exciting to see everyone.
During my winter break I had a road trip to Joshua Tree National Park with my friends, we went to the drunk DADA Outdoor museum, it was really stunning. The geomorphology there is kind of like Nevada, when walking in DADA I felt I would be kidnapped by aliens. I am a big fan of his work, love the stem, engine,trash that he applied to his installation. I also found my inspiration of some of the composition of some scene of my Production 1 from there.
Of course, we went to the National Park, hiking and climbing the cliff, I fell down from a cliff, and my shank swell. Haha. Anyway, it was a really fun experience.
I also done some of my own work, draw some concept illustration.
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Over winter break my mother, sister and I flew to my grandparents’ home in Ohio to visit my grandfather who was receiving radiation for lung cancer (though he stopped smoking nearly forty years ago.) Two nights after I arrived, I awoke from my sleep to hear my grandfather screaming for help. He drifted in and out of consciousness, words only sometimes coherent – I woke the rest of my family members after it was clear his mental state was not improving. The next morning we took him to the hospital where things got increasingly worse, then seemingly better. My mother and I took ten to twelve hour shifts at the hospital, a different nurse every twelve hours and a different doctor twice a week. Sometimes I stayed all night and other times I stayed in the day. The cafeteria food was surprisingly good. Better quality and wider variety perhaps than any other institution including all the schools throughout my education. His condition stayed consistent so I returned to school. All in span of a week and a half, doctors told him his cancer had spread throughout his body, he stopped eating, became unconscious and passed away.
I did in the midst of the painful winter break go bowling with my little sister, while my mom was with my grandfather. It was the first time she really beat me at bowling – fair and square. That was an exciting moment for me because it was a super important moment for her. I bought her ice cream after to celebrate.
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