April Blocking

So I have finished my blocking pass for Aprils animation. Still rough obviously but it shows where things are and what will happen. I'm just wondering how hard it will be to tie things down in flash rather than on actual paper.

Animation is Fun!

Just had to say even though nobody reads this, Animation is fun! I can't wait to post my newest work in progress for the April Competition. Its only been a couple hours of work so far and its really just blocking and staging but it so cool how just a few sketches can create movement and emotion. Had to share. And even though I didn't get into Animation Mentor for the Summer, I'm gonna try again for the fall when my 90 days are up.

I also need to start storyboarding my short film about Henrietta and Ramon (or Renaldo), my raccoons, cause I think thats the piece I'd like to work on for my final project. We have to storyboard the whole thing. Animate one scene, and do the final of what the overall design and color of one image will be. (basically do one frame of what it would look like in the final film). I of course want to do more than that but can only do what time permits. Now if my boss would hurry up and get me down to three days a week I could spend more time on this stuff. Animation rocks! Tee Hee.

Animation Essentials Class

I have been working on a number of things in class lately. The first is of a Dog and a Duck. This was done using modern methods of rotoscoping. I downloaded a clip and then traced the images in flash. Then printed out each from which I edited by hand making each frame different from the last. It was meant to be random and even though I think its a little weird it was educational.

I had another one that is done with cut paper and though it took a long time to put together it doesn't take up much time at all when played back. I will have to work on the timing in Final Cut to make it last longer and highlight certain parts. It won't load at the moment so I will probably fix the timing and then upload the updated version when I get a chance.

We are also working on Lip Syncing in class. I have chose to work on part of 11 Second club's April competition. So far I have worked on two previous months competitions doing all the planning and thinking up characters but haven't ever finished anything worth posting. I am hoping that I will be able to get out this months animation or at least some form of clip. This is roughly what I have so far, it just being a focus on lip sync and using symbols. When I actually do the animation for April I want to break it down into poses and what not.

"Subterranean"

Finally another Illustration Friday post for "Subterranean." This was drawn and colored in Flash. First time coloring and drawing a full picture in flash. Took forever and the colors aren't as great as I would like but pretty decent for a first try.

I did the mole on a different layer so if I want to I can come back in an animate this.

Tablet

So I got my tablet back from Cat and I've been fooling around with it. It's tough to get used to but fun to use once you sort of get the hang of drawing. Here are a few little animation clips I've been fiddling with in Flash.

An Attitude walk, just key frames for now but its a start.

Cool little bag dude, was fun to do.

Little chubby buddy, he was fun too.

This is the one I started with. A dog barking/ howling. Then I decided to go for an easier character to draw cause getting used to drawing with this tablet is hard. Especially cause its so old and the delay time between drawing and screen is a lot.

Animation Essentials

So I have been taking "Animation Essentials" a class at MassArt. These are a few of the animations I've been working on. The first assignment was supposed to be a loop that I made very roughly on the first day of class. Its of a frog sticking its tongue out and eating a fly. Its pretty much my first animation ever (which of course I seem unable to load at the moment).

The examples below are for an assignment to animate the eight actions (see "Acting for Animators", by Ed Hooks). The actions are: flick, thrust, dab, slash, wring, press, float, and glide. The ones I have posted below are slash, thrust, and I have combined press, float, and flick in the last one. I also quickly added sound effects using Final Cut Pro, first time with that. Yikes!

"Anomie"

Just got digital copies of the concept art I did for Amaranth Media. Will publish it to my website eventually but for now its easier to post it here. "Anomie" is a short independent film that is a psychological commentary on how the different sides of a person's mind perceive, define and act in different situations. The characters are faced with a world of abuse, both mental and physical. I worked on the art that was used as a template for the graphic effects. The website for the film is www.AmaranthMedia.com and it should be submitted to festivals sometime in 2010.

"These Goddamn Whispers"

"Multiple Selves"

"We Are All Separate"

"We Should Have Seen It Coming"