woo, new responsibilities

ok, i was thinking of taking a months break during april to do some freelance stuff and also improve on my animation and work on my own stuff. So while talking with the GM of the office, somehow instead of getting my vacation, i've been asked to lead a team to do an Ironman teaser for marvel. Marvel have never done any CG animation before, and if the teaser that we do is really good, this could really be a good thing for the company. It is also good for me to step up to the plate and really show what I can do. Although the GM already recognizes my worth(she said i'm one of best animators in the studio, although i know i still have a looooooooong way to go), i haven't really proved that I'm capable of taking a production under my control and getting good quality under a tight deadline. We've been giving only 2 weeks to get the teaser, and i chose my team today. I do believe we can do something really cool and this is a real opportunity for me. She also told me that the studio wanted to make my job permanent. So right now i should show them how good i am so that when time comes to discuss the terms I will have more leverage.

so thats the update for now, over and out!

no update

well, sorry for no update guys but been pretty out of time lately.

I managed to continue my dante sketch but forgot to bring it home so i could take an image and show the progress.
I think i've gotten a bit lazy though, my rendering has become really rough rather than meticulous like the way i did the first 2 characters.

Anyway, i think i must have scared off the 2 companies that i went for interview. They have yet to reply, even though the boss in the first company said that he would try to work out a package...etc. Anyway, the GM at my present company talked to me the other day, she said she heard rumours that i was going to resign. I told her i had to look for options because my contract was ending anyway, and she told me to stay. I said that i'd go where the cool projects are. My company is now doing a teaser for an ironman CG series, if they do get this job i will definitely stay...and ask for salary increase too..hehehe. I just found out that my friend in australia gets around 60k AUD a year!!! gaahhhh...i don't even get that in ringgit! damn, really underpaid here!

job hunting again...

well, i've gone for 1 interview with another one to come soon. I've been asking for a quite high salary, so i think it might have shocked some of the employers. One of them said, "Don't scare us giving such high salary expectations!" But i sort of persisted, saying that i'm worth it and that i have a degree in computer science as well and that i've worked on a high profile animated series... well, the first company is still discussing it and they said that they are trying to work out a package that will be around that region. Who knows whether it will work out or not.

But i have another interview coming up, and i've already told them my expected salary and they still want to interview me, so i guess we'll see what happens.


In unrelated news, I just found out that one of my relatives has just passed away. I used to visit him when i was a kid, and he was a nice friendly guy. Every chinese new year I(along with our extended family) would visit his house as well as another relative's house which are side by side and hang out for a long time. I just met him this chinese new year and now he is gone. I really feel for his wife as she must be really lonely now, that the man who has been by her side for what must seem like forever is just gone. really sad.

well, my contract is ending May and i'm wondering what my next step should be. I originally wanted to take a break and do freelance as well as work on an animated short film, but i am wondering about finances. Freelance was ok when i didn't have bills to pay, but now that i have to pay my car $350, tithe $200, Astro $50, Internet $125, Mission pledge $20, car park $60, phone bill $50, that is an automatic 855 deducted! From a salary of 2k, that leaves me little than half to pay my petrol, food and various other costs... how am i supposed to live like this? I have managed to survive so far because of the incentive scheme of my company. I actually earned more than 3k the last 2 months. This is actually thanks to the technical director who couldn't solve the problems. I, therefore had to solve the problems and thus got incentive for it. Unfortunately, the disney project is now officially over and the projects we are doing now do not have incentive.

I need more money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm currently thinking whether i should look for another job or not. unfortunately, studios that do long form animation in malaysia are sparse. In fact, my present company is one of the biggest that focuses mainly on that. But they are so freakin cheap! they even want to rip off their staff.
Ok, the parking in my company is completely insufficient for the amount of staff that we have. Right now we have to triple park our cars, and by 5pm move them out somewhere. Now, another branch of the parent company is moving into our building and we have had our permanent parking areas cut by half to make way for them, AND are only allowed to double park. The company made no offer of solving the situation except this, and this is a funny one folks, they said that they could offer a shuttle service if we parked our car somewhere else(which is around 10 minutes walk away), BUT we have to pay them $100 a month each for the priviledge! WTF!!!!!!! i could not believe my ears, not only do they screw us over, they stab us in the back and try to earn money from us!!!! what the hell kind of company is this!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!