Monday, February 25, 2008

Third Time's a Charm

I think this version works the best so far. I really like all the green and feel like the main character will really stand out since he's a red squirrel. You guys can take a look at Jennifer Hager's film here http://film.calarts.edu/main/streaming/2005/charanim.html if you'd like to get a feel for the style I'm trying to achieve. I really love how simple her layouts are but I felt like I had to put more shading on mine since my professor pointed that out in class today.

Do Over pt2

I went over the layouts in class to see if I could add some depth without having to completely redo everything. I think they look much better now. I hope my teacher will like them enough to let me keep them this way. I'd still like to loose the dark outlines though. I didn't bring the painter file with me so I wont be able to fix that until I get home. The shading will also improve when I get home since I had to make the lighting changes with a mouse.

Do Over

Hey guys,

Unfortunately, my professor wasn't happy with my layouts so I'll have to redo them. She said they didn't have enough depth and suggested that it would be better if I stuck with black and white since I doubt I'll have enough time to color everything. I took another look at Jennifer Hager's reel again and realized my environments are too detailed. I really like the soft look of her layouts in Sky Bound and was using that as inspiration for my film. I showed the reel to my professor but she said the layouts in that film were flat as well.

I'll see if I can go back after classes today and rework my images. I really liked the children's book illustration feel so I'll try to create a better sense of depth and lighting without loosing that style. I also think the black outlines are too extreme and are taking away from the softness of the piece.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Another One

Shot three from my senior project. I'm not thrilled about the perspective on this one. I think it looks off because the wood on the tree isn't slanted like the fence and the trees in the background. I'll see if I can fix it tomorrow, I'm not sure though since I have another shot to finish animating by 4:30pm.

First Layout

Hey guys,

Here's the first of many layouts to come for my SCAD senior project. This one is a two field pan layout for the shot where the main character runs and jumps into the water to retrieve his dead wife's ring. I wanted a muted watercolor palette but wasn't sure which brushes to use. I tried Painter's digital watercolor splatter brush and liked it enough to use it for the whole piece.

Friday, February 22, 2008

It's That Time

That's right, it's internship time! Pixar is already accepting reels for their program so I need to re-render my Scare Tactics shots asap. I wont be applying for Dreamworks Outreach program since I'm still not finished at SCAD. I have yet to hear back from Disney about their talent development program, but I'm going to apply for their internship program if they're still having it. I'm also going to look into Sony's internship program as well. I checked the R&H website and it looks like they wont be having interns this year. I hope Disney hasn't stopped as well or else I'll only have two studios to apply to.

I hope I'll get in this time, especially since this is my last chance to apply for internships. This time next year I'll be looking at apprenticeships. =D

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Banjo Jump

Hey guys,

Here's my finished Banjo animation. It's all cleaned up and turned in now. I wish I could have held his antic before the jump longer, but Gary required us to stay within the 4-00 frame limit.

Banjo's Coming

Hey guys,
I have some more Banjo animation to show you! I'll post it as soon as I have the shot cleaned up, which will be later today. Now I just have to work on my Dirk the Daring shot and the art direction for my senior project. I really want to make a maquette of my squirrel character, but I'm afraid to take the time to do it. I'm sure it will help once its time to start animating, but I'm worried about it taking time away from my current assignments. The quarter is almost over and I'm staying in Savannah over spring break, so I'll work on it then if I don't get a chance to sooner.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Reference Sketches

Hey guys,

I did a couple of pages of plants and rocks reference for my SCAD short film during concept development class. This week's assignment is to work on art direction, so you guys can expect to see some finished line art, and some colored/painted imagery before next week. Unfortunately, my Dirk the Daring assignment is also due next week so I wont be able to put 100% of my time into concept art. I'm going to try to finish it as soon as possible though since I've really been looking forward to painting and developing the look of my film.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Re-render

Hey guys,

I'm working on relighting shot 5 from my short so I can use the same lighting scheme for the rest of the bedroom shots. Everyone said it was too dark before. I hope it's alright now. Please let me know if you think it's too dark or to light.



After receiving some awesome feedback from my fellow alumni, I've adjusted the lighting according to their advice. Here's the new version...

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Here Comes Another One

Hey guys,
Another finalized shot from my short film Scare Tactics is on the way! I need some help with lighting though. I'm still unsure if this shot is too dark or not. I remember quite a few people said my previous shot was too dark so i tried to lighten this one up. If any of you have any comments on the darkness/light of the test image please let me know! I would like to have a really nicely rendered final product and the image I have below isn't cutting it.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Progression Reel

Hey guys,

Here's the first draft of my progression reel for my SCAD senior project. I've cut a good amount out of it and it's still pretty long. If there are some shots that you guys think last too long, please feel free to tell me. Some of them that are held will have more going on than what's been drawn. I didn't want to draw out my character's entire performance only to end up cutting it out.


Friday, February 08, 2008

More Panels

Hey guys, here are some more storyboard panels. I have to have my whole film storyboarded by Monday. It's 32 shots long so far, which is way too many. My professor said not to worry about length for now so I'm going to keep going. I'll have to pay a visit to the professor my friend had. She said he can cut any story down to 10 shots, so I'm sure he'll be able to do wonders with mine lol.

There are a few panels missing between the fade out/fade in. Larry's memory montage about what happened to his wife will go there as soon as I draw the panels for it.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

My Website

Hey guys,

I got a copy of Frontpage yesterday so I'm able to update my portfolio site again. I'm going to post my demo reel there later today.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Dirk the Daring Roll

Hey guys,

Hey guys,

Here's a shot I inbetweened in Gary Goldman's 2d Production Class. I didn't come up with the keys so I have no idea whats going on towards the end. I just followed the animator's timing charts and this is what I got.

I'm not a big fan of drawing carton people, so this exercise was a bit challenging for me. I spent forever on frames 3 and 5. The foreshortening was hard. Gary worked with me to get it right though. He said he knew this was a difficult shot and wanted to give us a challenge. Despite the number of problems I had with it, I'm really glad he gave us his assignment. I leaned a lot from it.


Storyboards

Hey guys,

Here's another pass at storyboards for my senior project. We were only supposed to do three panels for the assignment, but I figured I might as well get started on my whole film. My professor wanted me to include a part where the main character is forced to go outside at the beginning so we can establish how he feels. I wrote out the first third of my short shot by shot and it's 15 shots from start to the part where the squirrel creeps off screen to investigate the sound of breaking glass. The whole bit with the newspaper added significantly more shots to my short and my friend is convinced I wont be able to get the project done. I'm starting to agree with her. I've been trying to keep things short but my teacher keeps telling me not to worry about that. I've learned my lesson with long projects and would like to actually finish this one...