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TeHP1nkSh33p

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Heyo everyone!

It's been a year or something since I last touched DA, but I felt it was time to finally update it. So I did.

During the year I've been mainly focused on my tumblr account: thepinksh33p.tumblr.com/

Most of the stuff I do gets automatically posted up there first, including short animations and other drawings done on impulse. I'll try to keep both DA and tumblr up to date from now on!

Project-wise:

Last February, I collaborated with a friend and made a short animation called Tranquility as our submission for my first 5-second-day at Titmouse, the animation studio I'm now working for.



Then earlier this year, together with some friends, I directed and made a short film called Wonder once again for my studio's annual 5-second-day. Not gonna lie, it was pretty tough pulling off a 2 minute+ short in 2 weeks on top of working 9-5 everyday, but hey, it's doable, here's proof haha. I was very fortunate to acquire for free the help of a talented professional voice actress and a professional sound designer. Without them this would not have been possible.



I'm currently working on a sequel/followup to Forever More, a short film I made in 2 weeks back at VFS. So that should be fun!
Here is the original! I actually didn't know it blew up as it did until a friend linked me the youtube link. After reading the comments it became pretty clear that people want more, and it would be a waste to not seize the opportunity.

 

So look out for updates! I'm aiming to get this sequel film done by the end of this year.

-Michael
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Happy 2016 everyone.

First of all,
My Portfolio is done!

In it you'll find a bunch of things I've done this year which won't be on my DA: my 2 short films (FOREVER MORE and HONEY), demo reel, storyboards, animation, illustrations, character design, background designs etc.

Check it out! There's actually quite a lot of stuff in there.

------------------

It's been a while since I did a rant. I don't really know how it started but these journal entries have really started to become some sort of a convenient diary for me at times when I just feel like expressing something big.

So here goes.

2015. Whew. What a year. It's really amazing how much you can change in such a short time, and how much you can really learn about yourself.
For those of you who don't know me, I was at Vancouver Film School this whole year doing my classical animation course, which I have now graduated from.

Where do I even start? First of all, my journey here began as a reward in itself. I was finally able to get away from Hong Kong, a place where I had associated so many negative things with. For me, it really was a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively. Just to know though, Canada was a place my mind had painted out to be perfect long before I even came. Hell I even almost planned to come here after running away from home when I was younger. Though of course, now that I've actually lived here, I can say that I much prefer Sydney's weather, and beaches. mmm... Anyways, I originally thought it would become like my first year university all over again, having to go through the all-by-myself-because-I-don't-know-anyone phase, not that I mind since I was used to it, but it turned out totally different.

My class at VFS, is wonderful. The experience was something different entirely. In uni, many people already have their own friends, or go to class and leave right after it's over. Not only was it harder to connect in environments like that. There was also way less opportunities to really get to know people. It's obviously not impossible as I've made great friends over the course of my 3-years-degree, but 3 years is a long time. Now after finishing VFS, in this short 1 year, I feel like I knew almost all my class for years. It's reached that level if you know what I mean. We're family. I was thinking that maybe it's really just all about time spent around each other. Even if it were different people, would it have turned out similar? I think so... Maybe.

Relationships-wise, I took a big leap in my life this year, and I feel touched by the results. Following on my 2015's resolution, I decided to trust people more, open up more, listen more, and overall just be more positive. I started crashing at people-who-I-barely-knew's houses, talking properly to strangers, and slowly I felt more confident being around people in general. Just be yourself, so they say. What other way can you be? There were people from all around the world in my class. Lots of Latin-Americans. I feel they helped me through this the most, consciously or not. Their culture was so open, it's all they ever knew. Hugs were given out 24/7 nonstop. The affection and love was unending. It was crazy, and I loved it. It was so different from what I was used to so at first I was taken back. Hug?! Again?! haha. You should've seen some of their faces when I told them some of the less affectionate experiences I had. They made me feel like I was some alien from a dark, grim apocalyptic world or something. haha

There was nothing really going on in the girlfriend-department this year. My excuse is that I was way too focused in my studies and on the production of my films. Sure, but it wasn't nothing completely. There were a couple romantic scenarios I got myself into, which was nice. Shame I didn't really act on any of it. Refer back to my excuse. Don't worry, my 2016 resolution adds a couple of changes to this department.

Hmm.. what else. Work? Haha the boring stuff? Actually it wasn't boring at all. See since I was studying my passion, I was not once bored, but I was very tired, very often. I was doing 9AM to 12AM almost everyday including weekends, plus the frequent all-nighters. Mostly due to the large workload. There's this thing in my class where people are pretty divided on: all-nighters - good or bad? Honestly? Personally I think if doing a couple of these improves your work shitloads, then you should do them if you're able. Unless you're physically sick or something, doing a couple all-nighters is not going to kill you... unless you're seriously unlucky. I see several people spinning the whole "you need balance, and doing all-nighters mean you're bad at time-management" crap, but they're wrong. Unless you're doing it all last-minute, which then kind of proves their point right, It is in fact the exact opposite. It was only by doing all-nighters was I able to accurately grasp both my limit and my potential for amount of work done per unit time. Not sure if it's the best comparison, but it reminded me of how I discovered my limit for alcohol after going over one day, and afterwards, never went over without my own rational consent again. By the latter half of the year, I felt so in control of my time, that I was able to go way over what I could've done had I slept more, because I knew precisely where my limits were, and how close I can get to them to actually be able to honestly say "I've tried my best." And I definitely did try my best. My teachers would tell me I was crazy for attempting my ambitious projects, but I made it regardless.

If you can't already tell, I really am proud of what I've achieved this year. Sure, in physical amount, I have stacks and stacks of artwork and animation frames I've drawn just pilled up at home, but I think more importantly, I'm proud of myself for being able to endure this without help, for not giving up, and ultimately for finishing what I started. I really hit some serious low points this year. Even though I was working on it, I couldn't bring myself to express it with my classmates, who were all likely feeling similar things. The stress was insane, and some days I simply could not get up to go to school. Stack a couple of these days in a row and you got yourself a bad habit. Stack a couple of bad habits together and you got yourself a wasted year. Fortunately, I just managed to not stack them together, and I pushed through it all myself. The amount of willpower and discipline this course forced out of me was one of the greatest lessons I've ever learnt, about life, and about me.

If you're passionate about the arts, put the time and effort into it, and it will all be worth it in the end. There's no shortcuts to developing artistic skill. You just have to keep at it and work hard, no excuses. I have learnt this first hand. The world doesn't owe you anything. You have zero right to complain about your skills if you're shit and you're not putting in the effort to get better. Be open-minded and be open to new innovations in the field. Creativity is all in the head. 2D animation/3D animation/graphic novel, whatever, they're all just mediums, tools to express it. Just, tools. Don't hate the tools, because it will only be your loss in the end. Like an instructor once told me at the start of the year, "If you want to make a living making silly relatively-unimportant cartoons, you better be damn good at it."

He was right.

Rant end.

-Michael
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PORTFOLIO: thepinksh33p.tumblr.com/


Hi peeps,

I know I've been pretty much slacking on maintaining my DA but I'm still here and will be for a long while.

Started putting together an animation-related portfolio on tumblr! It's got a lot of new stuff organized into a number of pages like animation, effects animation, character design, storyboard, illustrations, backgrounds, etc. I'm still working on the demo reels but if you like some of the stuff I made, follow me for more!

:D

Michael
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Life Rant

6 min read
Journal,

Got accepted into VFS (Vancouver Film school) and will be going there for the whole year of 2015 doing its 'Classical Animation' course!!! The acceptance letter even has a shiny gold stamp on it. Naaaice.

This is actually me passing one of the biggest hurdles in my life yet. I've always wanted to do animation since I was a kid and have applied for VFS before but had gotten rejected due to the incredibly little amounts of available spots (around 20-30 now I think). It was my initial destination of post-high-school learning but my parents talked me out of it, telling me I should get a bachelor's degree first before doing something so specialized. It is expensive, but according to all the reviews I've read, it's worth it. I will literally eat and breath art over there. Definitely will make the most out of it.

So since graduation last year, I've been working full-time for 7 months now as a graphics designer/video producer and administrative work/general office assistant, and I gotta say, the change from the free-ness of uni to the structured schedule of full-time work hit me pretty hard at the start, but as all things go, after awhile, habit sets in and days are passing by a lot quicker than they used to. Is that a good thing? Arguable, but with the prospects of leaving to go abroad once again on 2015, it's getting me by.

Which reminds me, why do so many people panic about what would happen after finishing university and entering 'real life'? I vividly remember at least 8 long conversations surrounding this approaching my final month of university, which I had to sit through painful periods of time of them just complaining and sulking to me. When it's not to me directly, they would complain and sulk to each other instead. Is it just an easy conversation topic? Or are they actually worried? But why would they even be worried in the first place if they did what they were supposed to do in university? That is unless they didn't. In which case... meh.

I did a Bachelor of Digital Media, and it really surprises me that there are actually quite a lot of people who manages to fail its courses. It really isn't that hard, seriously. 12 hours of classes a week? That's nothing. Remember how many hours of class you had in high-school a week? 40 hours? That's only 30% of what you used to do. At least have the drive to work the minuscule minimum of 5 hours a week (imo this is the minimum you need to pass the course) outside class. Also, no exams? What seriously? Yeah I'm serious. Having a final project as a replacement for exams is the same as going into a exam room with all your textbooks available and months to do it. For those who failed due to unforeseen circumstances or family tragedy, I understand, shit happens. But for the rest that failed from lack of motivation & work, like what the fuck are they even in university for? Get a grip. What a sour feeling it would be knowing you finished university without trying your best in at least one part of it. 

If it's to do with the issue of hating your course, then first of all, why even enroll in it to begin with? It has the lowest requirements? Okay, then at least work hard enough for a semester to grant you the opportunity to transfer into a course you actually enjoy. In the end, it's your life. When you're 40 years old, nobody's gonna give a flying fuck whether you did you degree when you were 21 or 25, but they will if they find out you failed it. So take your time, get into a course you actually enjoy and therefore have the motivation you need to do good in it.  If you feel like you need gap years to replenish drive, then do it, just don't fail for dumbass reasons.

That just reminded me of a quote I read from Reddit- 'Youth is wasted on the young.'

haha... fuck.

So where I?.. finished uni.. got into VFS... work... ah. right.

I would like to rant a bit about a personal issue.

I feel great difficulty in being able to get close to others. Before we go into that, I would like to ask- When are the times that friends turn into real friends? I believe the most common answer, is that it happens at a time of need, a time of distress or sadness for one, granting the opportunity of aid for the other, be it physical, mental, or emotional. Being there for the other person at a time they need it most, or doing something beyond the norm for the other person when they least expect it. I am short of the receiving end of both of these examples.

What I mean is, I no longer get down, I am never emotionally unstable, and I very rarely have any drama in my life that affect me negatively. Why? Because I am detached from mental constructs of attachment and expectations, plus the fact that I handle these things very well on my own. So while I have motivated and inspired many friends to get pass their own genuine deeply-seeded problems and guided them to rediscover the strength to continue, I have not received any in return due to the reasons above. Don't get me wrong. This is not a complaint and I have never expected anything in return for the things I've done for others, but... ..it will be nice to have once in a while... you know what I mean?

Describing my issue in the most basic of words - They trust me, but can I trust them?


I would very much like to hear some thoughts on this, but feel free to write a comment about anything I've discussed.



Rant end,
Michael
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Meditation

3 min read
<RANT ALERT>

Went to my first 1 hour session ever because I was curious and my dad was the teacher. Hosted at some alternative medicine institute, about 21 people showed up. The place was damn posh with perfect lighting and sweet decorations to make it look as spiritual as possible, haha.

We sat in a circle and my dad began to talk about meditation and a show of hands of how many newbies were there in which most people including me put our hands up. People were of all varying age groups but there were 2 girls around my age I think.. I noticed them because they had such low cut shirts and were pretty hot. welp. He talked about some science things to do with meditation and how it trains focus, and training focus is pretty much the whole point of meditation (at least that's what I got from it.) Side effects of that trained focus will then include relaxation, happiness, an organized mind, and oneness with your body. Pretty cool eh?

Eventually we finally did some actual meditation and were told to focus on our breath, basic stuff. After 7 minutes or so we were told to stop and were asked who wasn't distracted at all during that time. I raised my hand and people were looking at me like WTF?! Looking around I quickly noticed I was the only one who raised my hand. Hm, interesting. Honestly speaking, I was shocked that nobody else was about to concentrate their focus for a meager 7 minutes without thinking about things and being distracted by noises or other bodily sensations or what not. When I was doing it I completely zoned in and my mind became silent, letting it focus purely on the sensations of my breath (feeling & sound mainly,) and afterwards I had a strange 'hot' feeling coming from the exterior of my body which I cannot quite explain. My mind was clear and it was pretty awesome.

Blahblah, we did it another time this time for longer which the same thing happened for me, talked a bit more about the stress of everyday work-place and how attempting to multitask is the source of suffering - this I found quite true. People are only able to concentrate on one thing at a time, this is how misdirection works, and how top pickpockets loot your whole arsenal without you knowing even when you know they're trying to do it.

Moral of the story? People get distracted easy. They forget about their goals and what really benefit them and do silly things (distractions) that provide temporary stimulation instead. I learnt from that class that I have a talent (not gonna lie) in focusing my attention, and that meditation doesn't have to be done sitting down or idle. I could be doing it while walking down the street or anything, but what really mattered ultimately was how I used it. Even though I could turn it on whenever I want, I don't. Instead, like others, I get sucked into distractions because they're pretty awesome. But I guess sometimes you gotta learn to give up good things to get great things.

End.
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Featured

Updated Gallery! (finally) by TeHP1nkSh33p, journal

Portfolio and New Years Rant by TeHP1nkSh33p, journal

Putting together a Portfolio on Tumblr! by TeHP1nkSh33p, journal

Life Rant by TeHP1nkSh33p, journal

Meditation by TeHP1nkSh33p, journal