2D Animation Wave

Traveling off the beaten path right now; into 2D land. In preparation for my program's industry day and my eventual excursions out into the working world, to find that first job (yikes), I am bolstering my portfolio/demo reel with 2D animations. This first one is a lip sync, which took my longer than I expected it too; since I've been doing stop motion exclusively for quite a few months now that it's a very different flavour, I enjoy doing both, and I've got the feel for drawn animation back, a plus. I'm planning on doing three in total for now, as there's still so much that I want to get prepared; and from those three I'll choose one to clean and colour. That in mind, this animation is rough, and could use some more refining but I felt its at a place where I can start to show it off.

We'll Spin Right Round, Puppet Right Round

As I'm getting towards the end of the (school) year I've gotta start putting together my portfolios and demo reels for my inevitable job hunt. Lets celebrate by spinning some puppets!

Remember Swambert; well the little guy's been sitting around and he's still perfectly animatable, he's also getting a new 2D face since I've misplaced (lost) most (all) of his paper ones. So, I'm preparing to do two additional animations in conjunction with my thesis film. One is a walk with my main hunting couple, Mac and Ern, and the other is a sit between Bigfoot and Swambert. The later however may get the time cut since the performance walk cycles are a higher priority, but if I have the necessary time to do it right, it will get done. 

Good Old Flat Art

Just a nice little drawing I did of my film characters but in exciting 2D

BuB- Puppets

 A touch of aesthetic; as of right now I consider these puppets too be complete. Since shooting is still weeks off there may be extra things added before animation starts. Apart from that, I'm still quite pleased with how the group turned out.

Mac the head Bigfoot hunter.

Ern, Mac's sidekick.

ANDDDD.... BIGFOOT!!!

Ensemble cast with some early facial tests.

Film Updates: Bringing Up Bigfoot

Getting full into pre-production with my film now and that means puppets; and puppet updates for my blog and adventure. All of my puppets are still in their armature stages and my sets and props are soon to come underway. There are three main characters in my film; Mac the Bigfoot hunter, Ern, Mac's sidekick and Bigfoot the Bigfoot.

Each of my armatures were constructed using the same technique. Their core blocks are made from hard woods with a nut and bolt system drilled in to hold their various wire limbs in place. Their heads are left as sculpey as their faces are going to be composited on post animation. And for any of our portlier characters they have been shored up with upholstery foam.

First up is Ern.

Mac

Bigfoot

The gang's all here for a scaled lineup.

This is an early test of the facial composite; I'm very excited about the look that I'm getting with my characters and I think I'll stick with the design I've created. (Ern's mustache won't be a composite, btw, but he looked weird without it so I've put it in as a place holder.)

That's it for now, more updates to come with the next major production mark I reach.

Cheers

Prepping for 4th Year

Oh, my poor neglected blog; I suppose updates would be in order. I spent my summer interning at Cuppa Coffee Studios, a large stop motion house located in Toronto, Canada. It was a great experience that left me largely drained at the end of the day, but it was the good kind of tired. Now, I'll be heading into my fourth year in Sheridan College's animation program where I am obligated to make my thesis film. Additionally I had to petition this idea to the school in order to win one of the stop motion studio spaces, my choice medium; but if my own petition fails I will concede to Flash if it comes to that, and I won't argue to the fact.

My film idea is to make a Bigfoot mockumentary with an emphasis on being fairly ridiculous and hopefully a load of fun, not just for myself but for those who could potentially be watching. The film will primarily focus around the interview setup in which my main character Mac will lead us through the trials and challenges faced in their hunt for the legendary Bigfoot.

My two Bigfoot hunters Mac (Right) and Ern (Left)

Just some of the story beats and ideas from my film; as it is fairly early I could still change my mind, but  at the moment I am fairly satisfied with the product I am currently making. Although, once fourth year starts up I'll receive a teacher as a mentor and opinions from my peers so you never know what can happen.

James T. Pork

Well this is really nerdy; but oh well.... it's James Tiberius Pork.

Tinny Puppet

When I was deciding what kind of puppet to make next I figured why not make the character I've been helping to design over the past term... Tinny

Tinny's blueprint: figuring out her dimensions and shape.

Tinny's skeleton: Baked Sculpy head, with an epoxy and wire body.

Tinny's "Musculature": Un-baked sculpy hair to keep it springy, cotton batting to bulk her up and she's wrapped up in medical tape to keep her all together; also I used it on her hands to help adhere her latex skin.

Tinny: Yeah!!! Tinny is all finished up and ready for some animation tests. Applied her latex skin over her bandaged hands, painted up her epoxy feet, and made her some fancy duds: experimenting with a paper mouth right now, but she's all finished up.

Tinny!!!

In the third year of my animation program we have to produce a group film; these were some of the concept girls that I came up with whenever we would change up the story. Her name is Tinny.

Flapper girl Tinny when we were based in the 1920's

Modern day Tinny when we were experimenting and trying to find her look.

This was my final version of our character, which I'd designed after the group had chosen the final design of our character but I wanted to have a short-haired girl to make a puppet.