Josh Corken has Moved to joshcorken.com!

It's been some time since I've posted. And I finally can tell you AND show you why! Lately, I have been taking care of a few things...

• Finishing college
• Starting my freelance career
• Beginning a new chapter in my music career
• Launching my new website

...so I have been somewhat busy. You know, the usual. But have not forgotten about you or my blog.

However, I did move. The new address is pretty easy to remember and just as easy to bookmark, joshcorken.com.

Thanks to the help of my good friends, Dave Gable and Allen Pieper, and the StingrayCMS system, the new site will serve as my main hub for everything (portfolio & blog) and more. I won't delete this blog, but I won't update it either.

Yup, this is my last post on good old Google Blogger. I've moved on to bigger things.

Hope to see you on the new site and around Facebook and Twitter, friends! Enjoy!

SIGGRAPH 2010 Los Angeles Recap

This years SIGGRAPH was bar none an incredible experience, during and after the conference. From the busy volunteer schedule, to partying with Crystal Method in Hollywood, to missing yet another one of my flights, it was surely a time to remember.

I'd like to mention that this post is so late because I moved into a new house immediately after the conference, so it has been a hectic few weeks. Oh, and college classes started back up the same week. Talk about bad timing. Like always, though, I made it out alive and am getting back into the swing of things — hence this post!

Dreamworks Tour

As a student volunteer you get a lot of benefits, along with the confere

nce experience. As a team leader, you get a few more benefits. This year, I was a team leader and our extra special surprise was a tour of Dreamworks the day after we all arrived. We quickly learned why our tour guide, who was super down to earth, explained to us that Dreamworks is the 6th best company to work for. Here is me standing in front of their front door.

Their campus is beautiful and the culture seems amazing! I could see myself applying here next year. Maybe...just maybe. Overall, the tour changed my perspective on studio life and really made me eager to find my way there!

Volunteer Experience

Like I mentioned before, we get some special privileges for being a volunteer. Hell, we make the conference run after all. Your welcome! This year I was in charge of registration. This was the picture hanging up in the office all week. I can refer you to my agent if you are interested in giving me a modeling contract.

If there are any art, technology, or creative students reading this, definitely consider looking into this rare opportunity. It is life changing, not only because you surround yourself with professionals from all over the world, but you make friends and network with them at the same time. Did I mention you get to travel all over the place? Ya, pretty sweet gig. Check out more information here.

The Parties

Yep, the parties get their own chapter in this post! Why? Simply because they help make the entire SIGGRAPH experience. After an entire day at the conference, it is nice to get out and let your mind take a break from all the CG goodness filling every inch of your brain. Getting to know other people at SIGGRAPH at the parties is a completely different experience, and a more fun one at that. I mean, when do you all get the chance to see Crystal Method in Hollywood with all the other CG geeks? Not often. Here is the ticket to get into that party. Each ticket let in one guy and two girls. Needless to say, there was a good ratio!

The Last Day...

...I missed my flight! Uhg. What's new? It was actually a pretty crazy story and a very fun one. If you'd like to check out full details of this experience, which is worth a read, check out this post I wrote for xiik. That's where I work! I'll just show you some pictures that will explain why we missed that flight.

The Great Poking Attack of Twenty Ten

The name of the Facebook event was [secret] Poke Josh Corken on Sunday @ 6pm and boy, did I get poked! 50 confirmed guests and 54 "maybes" meant they invited a lot of people! I had a total of around 60-70 pokes waiting for me that Sunday night, thanks to my sly roommate, David, and unpredictable friend, Zeb. Notice the "See All" option at the top of the picture below. That is Facebook's way of taking me to another page to display my 3+ pages of pokes!

Why tell you this? Because, pokes matter! You don't have to be good at it, no thinking required and it only takes seconds.

Let's break down the logistics of a poke. Here's a list of meanings behind a poke (but not limited to):

Hi.
Hello.
Howdy.
Hey there, neighbor.
I like you.
You're pretty neat.
Well, you poked me, so I guess I have to poke you back.
I think you're cute, but can't tell by just your profile picture, so I'll poke you instead.
I'm still alive. In case you were wondering.

To me, pokes are quite nice. Who doesn't love getting poked every once and a while? Here's to the poke!

This post was in no way funded or sponsored by Facebook.

Innovate the Pixar Way Book Review

The other day, I finally finished reading Innovate the Pixar Way by Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson, authors of The Disney Way, which I plan to buy next. It is a fantastic exploaration of how Ed Catmull, John Lasseter, Steve Jobs and the rest of the Pixar brain trust created a company around a simple philosophy: "Quality is the best business plan." And it has worked!

In the book, they have given examples of how it has been done and explains how you can bring these types of business traits to your own company...or life, for that matter. Since I do not own a company myself, it has brought insight to traits I should look for in my future employers or advice I can take to my current boss. Not only do they analyze Pixar in great detail, but they also give you some insight on how Google, Men's Warehouse, Nike, Target and other leading organizations.

I totally recommend this book! It's an easy read that took me way too long, but it shouldn't take you long at all.

A day in the life...

Here is a montage I did for my second project in my first video class. I tried to make it into a short film with a simple meaning. This also acts as visual research for another [3D animated] short film I am currently working on that will be done next year. More on that to come...

A special thanks to my hand actors Danny Kilburn, Nolan Hudson and Nick Truex. Enjoy!