Waaay back in February of 2003 I was looking to leave the company I was at so I could get:
1. Mo'money
2. Green Card
After being urged by my buddy JB and Thor, I applied to Bungie. I was given a test to do at the WORST possible time as we were in intense crunch at work. I was given a 7000-8000 frame two character (chocolate Raccoons) cinematic that was due in a week, on top of this test which I obviously wanted to kick a little ass on. I asked my boss if I could work at home to do that assignment when really my ulterior motive was to do this test during the day, cranking out the chocolate Raccoon work stuff at night.. while pounding down cokes like my life depended on it. Seeing as my work animation consisted solely of animating cartoony chocolate Raccoons, my Bungie test I submitted CLEARLY shows I wasn't used to animating realistic humans.
The test I was given was to animate a soldier walking with his gun and getting shot and dying. I think that's all it was.
Here's my first attempt..How about those legs??? It's like a goddamn Fleischer cartoon!
I remember thinking "Well, I guess this ok." I was also high on cola at the time. I thought that by adding in another guy and having the character jump into the scene and sneak around would be more than they asked and they would be all impressed and shit. Well....as was Bungie's practise then, you were asked to do revisions:
"Completing these revisions will help us gain a better understanding of how you work in a team environment and with constructive critisism. We really appreciate the you taking the time to complete the revisions.
Critique:
We feel the character is too quick on the intial jump/drop from the ledge
We feel the character does not show enough force/weight when landing from the jump/drop from the ledge.
The walk remains a little skewed and awkward. Can you use reference from movies like Black Hawk down for the walk while aiming? The timing of the walk seems a little too cartoony and very loose in the leg motion. Dragging the toes is something marines just don't do, and the toes drag and feel floppy in this animation. Think of him walking caustiously but intently. Precise and deliberate.
On the contrary to "stiffening" up the walk itself, you can afford to loosen up the aiming of the gun a little bit. Again, reference from a movie like Black Hawk Down or other SWAT team reference video may be of help.
Having the another character come out and fire off a point blank shot was very fun and refreshing to see an original approach in the animation test. We really liked that added touch. However, we feel the death fall needs some more resolve. Perhaps more secondary motion and complete recovery on the action. Bring him to rest after he dies.
Thanks again for taking the time to complete these revisions. We really do appreciate your efforts and await seeing the results with great anticipation. "
So...knee deep in sleep exhaustion and 8000 frames of chocolate Raccoons, I sent this piece of shit:
What the hell? Is he wearing high heels? Did he shit his pants?
And once again, Bungie sent more revisions:
"Thanks for sending in those revisions. We had an opportunity to view your recent fixes to your animation test and to be honest, we were caught a little off guard. It is evident that you took the time to slow down the jump/fall and add some smoothness. It is also evident that you started fixing the walk to the specifications we had asked for, though the result you sent in did not fully cover what we felt needed changing. Also, the death felt like it did not change enough if at all, from the original test.
In short, can you make additional revisions to this animation? Knowing what we outlined as changes in our previous correspondence, can you complete the revisions we asked for originally? Can you fix the walk? Can you make the walk less "poppy" and off-balance? By "poppy" I mean that the animation sticks when coming in and out of keyposes/strides. Can you use "ease in and outs" better on the walk? Can you expans on the death a little bit, making him recover less quickly and less "choppy"? ..."
Whoops! I'm a shitty animator, what can I say? Frustrated and tired from a hellish schedule and chocolate Raccoons...I polished this turd:
After I sent in that shitfest, I got this email:
"Thanks once again for completing the requested revisions.
We are currently reviewing your material and will contact you again shortly.
Thanks, and have a great day."
In the end I didn't get the gig and I ended up animating chocolate Raccoons and effeminate Squirrels for 7 years. Looking back, I can CLEARLY see why. Oh well....would have been a good gig....not to mention those cake bonus checks JB received. Shut the F, you know you got some.
What I like:
The characters dying. It's symbolic of my animation talent.
What I don't like:
Chocolate Raccoons.
Conclusion:
When in doubt, blame everything on Chocolate Raccoons.
