Friday, December 31, 2010
A New Type of "Crazy?!"
Here is my latest pass at this scene. I changed up a few things here and there. After taking another look at it, I was wasn't really happy with some of the acting choices. I never really liked the way his head swooped down near the table as he stood up. It always looked like he was about to bang his head. I felt if he stared straight ahead the whole time, it would help sell his "crazy"-ness. I also changed up the camera angle a bit to help the intensity.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
I LOVE this commercial!
I have been in love with this commercial ever since the first time I saw it. I love the music! I love the animated characters! I love the interaction with the live action video. And now I finally found it online. It is done by a studio called CG Brains.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
2010 Resolutions - UPDATE
The year is almost up and it's time for a review. Here is my post from last December with a list of things I want to accomplish in 2010. Let's take a look and see what's happened.
Tighten up my demo reel.
This is a work in progress. I have a few new scenes that I need to add to it. I've done a scene for the 11 Second Club competition. I've also done a parkour scene. Plus, I'm almost finished with Dana's scene. They've come a lot further than they were earlier this year. I do want to light and render a couple of the scenes before I ship it off.
Finish up work on the scene's for Dana's short film.
Not quite complete but I'll check it off anyways. I'm almost done with two of the scenes and now I'm working on the one in the middle to bridge them together. The last one is pretty much complete. I need to resubmit it to her and get her final notes on it before we can mark it complete. The beginning one is a lot closer to completion. Just a few more notes here and there and it should be done. The one I'm working on now is the one in the middle. I'm having to start with the last pose of the first one and end with the first pose of the last one. It took a while but I was able to do it. The difficult part of this scene is bridging them together so it moves smoothly. In the beginning of the last scene there is a balloon that falls out of frame. In the second scene I am having to track the balloon movements and match up the speed and trajectory so there isn't a pop in the animation. It's coming along, just need to block out the character animation and we should be good to go.
Continue work on my Bowfinger scene.
This is one I really need to work on. The difficult part is that the dialogue moves so fast that it's hard to sync up the mouth and make it look natural. What I also need to do is sketch out what I want one of the characters to do. I have it blocked out but I really need to find the right poses then work from there. I was never really sold on the acting choices I made when I first started working on this scene.
Compete in at least one of the 11 Second Club monthly competitions.
I entered the July competition and came in #59 out of 233. I had a rating of 5.14 stars out of a possible 11. Not bad, I think, for my first outing. I have since adjusted the layout and the lighting and plan to add it to my reel by the end of next week.
E-mail Robin Linn and the recruiters at Reel FX.
I didn't end up e-mailing Robin but I did call the studio a few months ago. I went up to Fort Worth to visit some friends for the weekend. Since I was going to be in the neighborhood, I decided to call them and see if I could meet with someone there. Unfortunately, no one was going to be there on the weekend to handle requests like this. Also, the lady said it would be more welcomed if I came by next year when they start looking at submissions for the next apprenticeship program. The deadline is January 3, 2011. Hopefully they will be seeming me soon.
Keep checking the Animation Mentor job board.
It's been a while since I've checked the board. A lot of what I've been seeing has been the same jobs that I already applied to once before. Plus, they said not to submit the same reel over and over. So, I need to finish up my reel with a few new shots before I can start submitting again.
Become more familiar with the Flipbook program.
I have not become as familiar with it as I would have liked, but I did experiment with it a couple of weeks ago. I was trying to plan out a scene for another 11 Second Club competition. I didn't make it in time to submit, but I still want to finish the scene. It sounds like a lot of fun.
Purchase animation paper to experiment again with traditional 2D animation.
No, still haven't purchased any animation paper. Funds have been a little tight throughout the year that I can't really afford this at the moment. However, I do have some regular 8" x 11" paper that I can add to some peg strips that I can use. It's a bit time consuming to get it done but I can make it work. I just need to straighten out the studio a bit, move the light table to the other side of the room, then I can get to work.
Well, looks like I'm at 50% so far. I still have another week before the year is up. I still have time. I'm also running out of time. The deadline for submissions is fast approaching.
This is a work in progress. I have a few new scenes that I need to add to it. I've done a scene for the 11 Second Club competition. I've also done a parkour scene. Plus, I'm almost finished with Dana's scene. They've come a lot further than they were earlier this year. I do want to light and render a couple of the scenes before I ship it off.
Not quite complete but I'll check it off anyways. I'm almost done with two of the scenes and now I'm working on the one in the middle to bridge them together. The last one is pretty much complete. I need to resubmit it to her and get her final notes on it before we can mark it complete. The beginning one is a lot closer to completion. Just a few more notes here and there and it should be done. The one I'm working on now is the one in the middle. I'm having to start with the last pose of the first one and end with the first pose of the last one. It took a while but I was able to do it. The difficult part of this scene is bridging them together so it moves smoothly. In the beginning of the last scene there is a balloon that falls out of frame. In the second scene I am having to track the balloon movements and match up the speed and trajectory so there isn't a pop in the animation. It's coming along, just need to block out the character animation and we should be good to go.
This is one I really need to work on. The difficult part is that the dialogue moves so fast that it's hard to sync up the mouth and make it look natural. What I also need to do is sketch out what I want one of the characters to do. I have it blocked out but I really need to find the right poses then work from there. I was never really sold on the acting choices I made when I first started working on this scene.
Compete in at least one of the 11 Second Club monthly competitions.
I entered the July competition and came in #59 out of 233. I had a rating of 5.14 stars out of a possible 11. Not bad, I think, for my first outing. I have since adjusted the layout and the lighting and plan to add it to my reel by the end of next week.
E-mail Robin Linn and the recruiters at Reel FX.
I didn't end up e-mailing Robin but I did call the studio a few months ago. I went up to Fort Worth to visit some friends for the weekend. Since I was going to be in the neighborhood, I decided to call them and see if I could meet with someone there. Unfortunately, no one was going to be there on the weekend to handle requests like this. Also, the lady said it would be more welcomed if I came by next year when they start looking at submissions for the next apprenticeship program. The deadline is January 3, 2011. Hopefully they will be seeming me soon.
It's been a while since I've checked the board. A lot of what I've been seeing has been the same jobs that I already applied to once before. Plus, they said not to submit the same reel over and over. So, I need to finish up my reel with a few new shots before I can start submitting again.
Become more familiar with the Flipbook program.
I have not become as familiar with it as I would have liked, but I did experiment with it a couple of weeks ago. I was trying to plan out a scene for another 11 Second Club competition. I didn't make it in time to submit, but I still want to finish the scene. It sounds like a lot of fun.
No, still haven't purchased any animation paper. Funds have been a little tight throughout the year that I can't really afford this at the moment. However, I do have some regular 8" x 11" paper that I can add to some peg strips that I can use. It's a bit time consuming to get it done but I can make it work. I just need to straighten out the studio a bit, move the light table to the other side of the room, then I can get to work.
Well, looks like I'm at 50% so far. I still have another week before the year is up. I still have time. I'm also running out of time. The deadline for submissions is fast approaching.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
"Wisdom Teeth" by Don Hertzfeldt
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I'm a fan of Don's work. One of my favorite shorts is "Rejected". But this one really got me, especially at the end. That's all I have to say. You'll have to see what I mean. AND DON'T SKIP AHEAD!!
Here's my first introduction to Don Hertzfeldt. I remember years ago my uncle told me I had to see this short. Now, I'm quoting its lines all the time.
And then this one. It's kind of sick but for some reason I can't stop laughing!
Here's my first introduction to Don Hertzfeldt. I remember years ago my uncle told me I had to see this short. Now, I'm quoting its lines all the time.
And then this one. It's kind of sick but for some reason I can't stop laughing!
Disney / Pixar on The South Bank Show
Some of the things I post here are not new discoveries. They are mostly stories and videos that I've come across on other websites. I mainly put them here so I have an easy way of tracking them down whenever I want to see them. Like this documentary, for instance:
Thank you to the site On Animation for posting these videos!!
Thank you to the site On Animation for posting these videos!!
"The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story"
I have been wanting to see "The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story" for a while and I finally got my chance tonight from Netflix. It was an amazing story of the songwriting team that created so many memorable songs. These are the songs that stay with you for the rest of your life.
You hear them tell their story from when they were kids up to just a couple of years ago with the Broadway debut of Mary Poppins. They tell the stories of when Bob Sherman joined the Army during WWII and was injured in the line of duty. They didn't know if he was going to make it or not.
Also of the time when Richard Sherman was trying to decide what to major in in college. He went for a walk trying to figure it out when he started to hear music. He looked around and realized that the music was coming from his head. He rushed home and jumped on the piano and started to play what was in his head. His father Al Sherman heard this and told him right there and then that he was going to be a music major.
The one story that really blew me away was how they came up with the song "A Spoonful of Sugar Helps The Medicine Go Down" for Mary Poppins. Robert's son Jeff had just come home from school and had received an immunization shot. He found his father sitting in a dark room with all the shades drawn. His father asked him how his day went. He told him he got a shot at school. "Did it hurt?" "Well, yeah, but they put a sugar cube on a plastic spoon and then you take your medicine so it helps it go down." "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down?!" Robert called Richard and just said "A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR HELPS THE MEDICINE GO DOWN!!" I couldn't believe that some of the greatest songs are inspired by such simple situations.
It's times like that when a true genius can find the beauty and art in anything.
They even wrote the one song that seems to get stuck in everyone's head every single time
They also talk about the first time they met Walt Disney. It was amazing to see them to this day still get choked up when they talk about it.
The one thing that was unbelievable to watch was how different they were. To see these two men who through their songs have brought so many families together, they own families were so far apart. Their sons Gregg and Jeff directed the movie but hadn't seen each other in about 30 or 40 years because their dads kept them apart. They would say, "It's just easier that way."
I highly recommend to anyone who is a fan of these great and classic songs to go out and watch this movie right now!!
Click here to go to the official website for the film.
You hear them tell their story from when they were kids up to just a couple of years ago with the Broadway debut of Mary Poppins. They tell the stories of when Bob Sherman joined the Army during WWII and was injured in the line of duty. They didn't know if he was going to make it or not.
Also of the time when Richard Sherman was trying to decide what to major in in college. He went for a walk trying to figure it out when he started to hear music. He looked around and realized that the music was coming from his head. He rushed home and jumped on the piano and started to play what was in his head. His father Al Sherman heard this and told him right there and then that he was going to be a music major.
The one story that really blew me away was how they came up with the song "A Spoonful of Sugar Helps The Medicine Go Down" for Mary Poppins. Robert's son Jeff had just come home from school and had received an immunization shot. He found his father sitting in a dark room with all the shades drawn. His father asked him how his day went. He told him he got a shot at school. "Did it hurt?" "Well, yeah, but they put a sugar cube on a plastic spoon and then you take your medicine so it helps it go down." "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down?!" Robert called Richard and just said "A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR HELPS THE MEDICINE GO DOWN!!" I couldn't believe that some of the greatest songs are inspired by such simple situations.
It's times like that when a true genius can find the beauty and art in anything.
They even wrote the one song that seems to get stuck in everyone's head every single time
They also talk about the first time they met Walt Disney. It was amazing to see them to this day still get choked up when they talk about it.
The one thing that was unbelievable to watch was how different they were. To see these two men who through their songs have brought so many families together, they own families were so far apart. Their sons Gregg and Jeff directed the movie but hadn't seen each other in about 30 or 40 years because their dads kept them apart. They would say, "It's just easier that way."
I highly recommend to anyone who is a fan of these great and classic songs to go out and watch this movie right now!!
Click here to go to the official website for the film.
"I'm A Monster" by Headless Productions
Some very clever and well done 2D animation. Hope to see more from this studio!
I'm a monster from Headless Productions on Vimeo.
Merry Christmas
I have't really been in the Christmas spirit this holiday season. Not exactly sure what it is, though. So to help me spread the holiday cheer, I'll let other animators do it for me.
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