Tis the new year and a time to get things done. I have some old Maya files of the Alien and the Farmer character as well as the beginning designs of props and locations which everyone can use to rebuild.
Neil Bonsteel has been working on rigging the Alien character and figuring out how to make the tenticle arms and legs move. He also is designing a rig which everyone can use for the project. Once he has tested and retested the Alien, I will let the animators take the Alien and get use to the rig before scenes are assigned.
I am considering a solution to finding a modeler/rigger for the Farmer and Pig characters. From the beginning of this project, I was animating this in 2D and thought it might be interesting to combine 2D with the 3D, CG world. The farmer and the pig characters would be composited together in a CG world where all the models, props, background elements, Aliens, the ship, tractor,etc.I will compiled a complete list of what needs to be build and or rigged. I would like to do a few test scenes with the Aliens to see what kind of look we can get using this process. I want to avoid a flat 2D cartoon slapped on a 3D render, so any other thoughts would be welcomed.
The Aliens should be able to do a lot of things.I want everyone to have fun with the Aliens, whereas the Farmer and pig will need to be treated more real in their motion. Being Aliens, they can squash,stretch and be more cartoony in general. They're bodies float above a scramble of tenticle legs that chase after the floaty upper half of the body. Here's a short test of what I'm talking about.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
A Whole New World...
Ok, let's make this official and legal. Welcome to what hopefully will be the shortest "end of the world" film in history. You all have permission to add to any discussion here, provided you don't post any "dancing kitten" videos.
Jim
Jim
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Dancing Reptiles
Life imitates Art in this photo from November 2009 issue of National Geographic magazine. When I saw it, it reminded me of the famous scene in Fantasia. Here's a drawing from Preston Blair's animation book.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Ancient History
When I made my film "Cat & Rat" in the dark ages, it won a student academy award and before I knew this, all the winners were flown into LA for a week for the ceremony. I was living and going to school in Chicago and before I left, I starting working on my next short film called "Once upon a Canvas". It was a story about an artist struggle to paint a canvas and finally in the end it becomes a work of art by mistake.
I had storyboards all done and was starting to begin animating before my trip to LA. I figured people would be asking me, " So, what are you working on now?" And I thought I could show them my idea and someone might say, "Bingo Babe, We want to finance this puppy, sign here." Then I would make the next film and then a TV series would pop up, I would soon be elevated to Superstar statis and have to get hooked on some drug in order to write a book or movie about it in years to come. I had it all planned out, my next film was already to go.
So, I fly to Los Angeles from Chicago and am treated as royality by the Academy's Student Award division. I had two beds in my room, a desk and even a phone in the bathroom, very close to the toilet. Extremely fancy, wealth and fame floated in the air and I felt like a hick from Florida, which I sort of am. But that week, all your personal flaws, your self image, you felt like you were constaintly being watched and I think I got a taste of how it feels to be a celebrity.
The first night was a reception at the Yamashiro in LA where we got to meet the other filmmakers who were up for awards as well. Groups suddenly formed, the screenwriters, the short film directors, the editors, documentary filmmakers and lastly, the animators. It was like a small high school in one room of the Japanese resturant and the animators where the geeks. Some might argue about this fact, but we were labelled, "Oh them, there animators". I felt we were the lower class, although we got along with documentarians. Screenwriters were ok, but you felt like they were taking you in when you talked with them. Some would stop you in midspeech as says, "Hey! That's good, I'll have to use that one." Then fumble to write it down on a napkin, eventually winding up in their next screenplay.
Someone asked me the question, "So, what are you working on now?" And I was ready, calmly I explained my concept to this person. "Hmm, that sort of sounds like Richard's film..." and then walked away to be with the live action people. I met an animator named Richard Quade, kind of shy like me at the time and a little overwhelmed, but he lived in LA, so he knew the lay of the land. He told me a little bit about his film and I tried not to fall over and shatter into a million pieces.
Skip sharply to the next day and we have a screening of everyone's work. And as Richard's film began it was like watching your life pass you by. It was pretty much the same plot that I had of my film, however it was done in a slight experimental style. It was the same idea, different flavor. It also pretty much ended the production on my film since it was so similiar. Which proves that great minds or is it mines, think alike.
Richard went on to make a second film called "Sand Dance" which won him another Student Academy Award and he was soon snatched up by a place called Pixar. Here's a funny drawing he did for me when he was living in Venice Beach.
I had storyboards all done and was starting to begin animating before my trip to LA. I figured people would be asking me, " So, what are you working on now?" And I thought I could show them my idea and someone might say, "Bingo Babe, We want to finance this puppy, sign here." Then I would make the next film and then a TV series would pop up, I would soon be elevated to Superstar statis and have to get hooked on some drug in order to write a book or movie about it in years to come. I had it all planned out, my next film was already to go.
So, I fly to Los Angeles from Chicago and am treated as royality by the Academy's Student Award division. I had two beds in my room, a desk and even a phone in the bathroom, very close to the toilet. Extremely fancy, wealth and fame floated in the air and I felt like a hick from Florida, which I sort of am. But that week, all your personal flaws, your self image, you felt like you were constaintly being watched and I think I got a taste of how it feels to be a celebrity.
The first night was a reception at the Yamashiro in LA where we got to meet the other filmmakers who were up for awards as well. Groups suddenly formed, the screenwriters, the short film directors, the editors, documentary filmmakers and lastly, the animators. It was like a small high school in one room of the Japanese resturant and the animators where the geeks. Some might argue about this fact, but we were labelled, "Oh them, there animators". I felt we were the lower class, although we got along with documentarians. Screenwriters were ok, but you felt like they were taking you in when you talked with them. Some would stop you in midspeech as says, "Hey! That's good, I'll have to use that one." Then fumble to write it down on a napkin, eventually winding up in their next screenplay.
Someone asked me the question, "So, what are you working on now?" And I was ready, calmly I explained my concept to this person. "Hmm, that sort of sounds like Richard's film..." and then walked away to be with the live action people. I met an animator named Richard Quade, kind of shy like me at the time and a little overwhelmed, but he lived in LA, so he knew the lay of the land. He told me a little bit about his film and I tried not to fall over and shatter into a million pieces.
Skip sharply to the next day and we have a screening of everyone's work. And as Richard's film began it was like watching your life pass you by. It was pretty much the same plot that I had of my film, however it was done in a slight experimental style. It was the same idea, different flavor. It also pretty much ended the production on my film since it was so similiar. Which proves that great minds or is it mines, think alike.
Richard went on to make a second film called "Sand Dance" which won him another Student Academy Award and he was soon snatched up by a place called Pixar. Here's a funny drawing he did for me when he was living in Venice Beach.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Rough Scene_012
I am starting off this project by animating scenes out of sequence. Beginning with the Farmer and his pig. This helps me get use to drawing the characters and keep them on model.
Here's a rough of Scene_12, featuring the Farmer and his pig. At the beginning of the scene, the Farmer is listening to someone off screen. He looks down at the pig and makes a decision to hand over the pig. The pig starts off listening too, but then realizes he doesn't like what's going on. This might not all come together, but the main thing is trying to get the scene to read, even if its very slight.
Here's a rough of Scene_12, featuring the Farmer and his pig. At the beginning of the scene, the Farmer is listening to someone off screen. He looks down at the pig and makes a decision to hand over the pig. The pig starts off listening too, but then realizes he doesn't like what's going on. This might not all come together, but the main thing is trying to get the scene to read, even if its very slight.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Farmer test Take 02
Here's a little more of refining on the Farmer's lip sync as well as some head movement. His head now shakes slightly as he says,"No, no, no,No.". A double blink at the beginning will help to keep him looking alive and not just tilting forward. The shaking hands should be reduced over time as well to avoid looking like a windshield wiper effect. This reduction of waving hands will help focus the viewer's attention to Farmer's facial expression.
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