I just updated my Demo reel to include rendered shots of Paraworld. Other than that not much is different.  I posted a small 17mb quicktime and a larger 33mb version. Check it out and feel free to leave feedback. Thanks!

I really liked the way the Message interpreted this chapter. I won’t type out the whole thing but I’d like to share a few of my favorite parts.

“Keep your eyes on Jesus… Study how He lived. He could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you. Have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as His children? “My dear child, don’t shurg off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.” Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At this time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feel like it’s going against the grain. Later it pays off handsomely. It is the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.”

I really like this part:

“Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. Work at getting along with each other and with God. Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time. Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God’s life-long gift in order to satisfy a shrot-term appetite.”

This reminds me how important it is to not just go to church but to be involved with the family there. I heard one good illustration earlier this week–if you pull a coal away from the fire, it will slowly cool down until it doesn’t even burn any more. I used to think I could have a much stronger relationship with God by staying home on Saturdays and having my own worship time, but I think that attitude is just asking for trouble. I think it’s really important to try and step out and be a part of the family at church so that you can have that assurance that someone else might stop you from “stepping in that hole and spraining an ankle.”

I rencently noticed I had two broken links on this page, my Demo Reel and Employee of the Month. Those are fixed and soon I will have an updated Demo Reel posted. I also updated the “view” link for Paraworld on the animation page, so check that out for a higher resolution version of the video. That’s all!

Open Season. Not to bad for Sony’s first full length animated film. Not to good either. There’s no denying the beauty of it all. The character design is top notch, the technical aspect of every shot is executed to near perfection, and who wouldn’t love those adorable rabbits. It seems like in every high budget CG film that comes out the technical sides are getting better and better. The fur, water, and entire forest almost makes this film worth seeing.

In my opinion the animation was lacking, or maybe just inconsistent. Parts of it I thought worked really well, but I was slightly disappointed in some shots with the bear and pretty much every shot with a human. As for the voice acting… For me this was the lowest part of the film. Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher make terrible cartoon characters. After a while I kinda got used to Kutcher, but Lawrence never seemed to fit his character. The story was also lacking but that was to be expected after noticing it’s 49% on Rotten Tomatoes, which I think is right on. Overall a pleasing film to look at despite a few manufactured accidents. Just try not to listen to it. Thus concludes my lame attempt at a Movie review.