Jazimated

Sketchbook Journal 6

2011-11-08T23:31:00.000-05:00

I decided to put the next few sketchbook journal drawings in a separate post from the last one, since some of these are nsfw. I draw some weird stuff when I'm sick/delirious.

While I was drawing the fruit stand, an old man walked up and looked at my sketchbook. He said, "Great! Looks just like what it is. Now, draw how it makes you feel. You know, after you're done with that one." Then he walked away. Random. Deep, but random.

More pictures after the jump.

I'm not sure what medication I was on when I drew this one. It was definitely a combination of meds, lack of sleep, and sickness-induced delirium.

Watercolors are fun!

Sketchbook Journal 5

2011-11-08T23:12:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted any of my sketchbook journal entries. Here are a few from the past few months.

"One time, when I was eating gummi bears, I looked down and noticed I as eating a gummi broom. And I wondered if I had eaten an entire gummi house, just arbitrarily, without realizing it."

Kina Grannis "In Your Arms"

2011-11-04T18:15:00.003-04:00

This is 288,000 jelly beans and almost two years of work. Directed by Greg Jardin. You can find a full credit list on Youtube, as well as a "making of."

Drew Turns The Lights Off

2011-11-04T10:43:00.005-04:00

Hopefully, at least some of you are familiar with Left-Handed Toons (By Right-Handed People). The webmasters, Drew and Justin, decided a couple of years ago to draw comical cartoons with their non-dominant hand. The idea was great, and the webcomics are hilarious. As time went by, they started added tiny bits of animation into the comics, and now, Drew has animated a music video!

The incredibly catchy song, "Turn The Lights Off," is by Tally Hall, and the video was made in After Effects. Drew notes that he had some assistance from Sean Donnelly of Awesome + Modest, who made Tally Hall's video for "Ruler of Everything." Take a look!

You can see the animatic for this video at Drew's blog, Spinnerdisc .

Detroit Gumby

2011-10-12T09:57:00.004-04:00

Today would have been Art Clokey's 90th birthday. Google did a doodle for him. :)

Not only was Clokey born in the greatest city on Earth (Detroit, MI), but he was one of the best and most well known stop motion clay animators out there. Ask anyone who Gumby is! In fact, here is Gumbasia, his first film, and the film that inspired Gumby:

Clokey was working under the tutelage of Slavko Vorkapić, with a style called Kinesthetic Film Principles. Clokey was, as the kids say, pretty badass. Here is Gumby's first appearance: Gumby Goes To The Moon. Enjoy!

More Hand Attmpts and Other Things

2011-10-09T11:02:00.002-04:00

Working in ballpoint pen is soothing. Now, if only I was better at drawing crossed legs.

Lastly, here is a quick Rosalina sketch, featuring the two main characters: Rosa and her dad. Again, I edited some notes out. One day, I'll learn to use lined paper for messages instead of cluttering my sketchbook with them. Or, maybe not.

The dad's arms in the lower picture are funky. I don't know what was going on with my drawing hand that night. Maybe I'll go leftie next time? He is an early design; I think he needs more "dad" to him.

IndiGoGo for Off The Leash

2011-09-21T17:22:00.005-04:00

I've spent the better part of a month away from this blog, but I return bearing news:
The Off The Leash team needs your help!

Now, I am not a part of this team, but this promo is definitely something I am proud of by association. A group of young people, some of which I know, got together, focused and made this happen. In order to keep it going, they have started an IndiGoGo fundraiser. Do yourselves a favor and check out the page. Do yourselves an even bigger favor and donate a few bucks to help them reach their goal. I know we're all as broke as your mama's favorite sculpture that you tried to fix with super glue in the 9th grade, only to have it fall apart right away and end up sadly occupying a storage shelf (*cough*), but this project is too good to just go by the wayside. If it doesn't get made, you'll end up kicking yourself. Or I'll find and kick you. I haven't decided whether or not to put my stalker skills to the test yet.

I mean really, folks! Check out these credentials from the promo page:

"The team attached to "Off the Leash" might be young, but we have a lot of credentials. Walter Wertz, the head writer, has been doing coverage work for various film companies all over the country for the last three years. Rachel Gitlevich, our director, has just completed her internship on the Comedy Central show Ugly Americans and she has shown a film at the Nicktoon's Film Festival. Lastly, Brian Lonano and his production company Robot Hand has won two Telly Awards. "Off the Leash" has also been a finalist in the Philly Pitchfest 2010 contest, giving Rachel and myself the distinct honor to pitch our idea to several high profile production companies. This review can be read on our web site (linked below and in our video)."

Read the rest of the info at the site, and send some love and dollars (or Euros, if that's what you're into) their way. They've got some great "thank you" gifts! You can also follow their progress on the Off The Leash blog.

Hand and Face

2011-09-03T21:46:00.003-04:00

I don't do nearly enough figure drawing these days, so I sat down and attempted to remedy that.

Oh, Look At That. My 100th Post.

2011-07-20T14:04:00.002-04:00

I suppose I should celebrate or something.

A friend of mine sent this to me; it's the animation/writer's bible for Batman: The Animated Series.

I'm posting it in honor of Helen Wallace. Batman was her favorite superhero. Batman was her favorite anything, actually.

Here's the link to the rest of the Batman stuff on the site.

...and here's the site directory itself, in case you wanna peruse some more shows.

Happy Hundred. :)

"Up," Reimagined for the 1960s

2011-07-13T15:11:00.000-04:00

This is just wonderful. ^_^

Alma Feature - Updates?

2011-06-27T14:40:00.002-04:00

Does anyone know what's going on with the Alma feature film, supposedly to be directed by Guillermo del Toro? The last update I can find is from last October, and I'm getting antsy.

The short film by Rodrigo Blaas:

DreamWorks jumped on this last year, for obvious reasons. It's a bit creepy, but not too much. Did they drop it, and I just haven't heard? That's entirely possible, but not knowing is buggin' me.

Howard Schatz's faces

2011-06-20T14:48:00.002-04:00

Howard Schatz is a photographer who gave a group of actors various scenarios and then photographed their facial expressions. I think it's worth studying. You can see some of the images HERE, on Vanity Fair's website, and more in his book In Character: Actors Acting. John Goodman's and Ian McShane's images are pretty darn awesome.

Perfect Placement

2011-06-20T14:30:00.019-04:00

Two films I recently saw were The Illusionist by Sylvain Chomet and X-Men: First Class from Matthew Vaughn. I saw First Class twice; the only reason I didn't do the same with The Illusionist is because it was someone else's copy of the film, although I will look at it again plenty of times. One thing that stood out to me the most in both films was the layout of each shot. I am certainly no layout genius, but thanks to my old teachers Mike Manley and Lowell Boston (October Studios), I can appreciate a good setup when I see it.

Let's start with The Illusionist. Check out the still above. Everything, from the lighting, the colors, the placement of the characters, and even the perspective of the room, all draw the eye to the central figure.

These two images are very well thought out, although at first glance they seem only like beautiful backgrounds. The image of the town moves the eye upward; the general height of buildings in any particular area, paired with the direction of the road and the lighting create this movement. The beach uses curved lines to keep the viewer focused on the two characters in the front.

X-Men focused on the interaction between a group of people, rather than one or two individuals. At almost no point were any X-Men or X-Men-related characters blocked off by the rest of the group. As you can see above, each shot was perfectly set up so that there was a clear balance, and everyone could be seen. The most important characters (Xavier, Erik, Moira) are up front, but no one is entirely diminished. Occasionally, Mystique is up front with Xavier, but as her character develops to love her mutant side, she is shown more an more as part of the general mutant group.

As in The Illustionist (and all well-storyboarded films), X-Men used line and placement to draw the eye to a specific point or points on the screen. Charles' arm and the design of the aircraft he's in not only keep the viewer focused on him in the above scene, but also on Moira sitting in the back. She's out of focus, but she is clearly there.

All this to say, I love seeing films that look like someone thought things out a little bit. Also, I like superheroes...and magicians. But mostly thinking things through. :)

Newly Looney

2011-05-31T23:04:00.002-04:00

I should really get a working TV, so I can keep up with these things.

The Looney Tunes has gone through a reboot. At first look, I was less than pleased. I'm so used to watching the old cartoons, hearing the old voices, and mimicking the old jokes that I immediately rejected the thought of a new series. Then I kept watching. I know I'm going to catch a lot of flack for this, but I honestly didn't hate it. I even found myself giving a knee-slapping chortle once or twice. Maybe my sense of humor has dwindled, but once I stopped directing hateful glares toward my computer screen, and started thinking about The Looney Tunes Show as a completely new thing and not a reboot, I wasn't all that disappointed.

The characters are a bit different; Lola (you'll remember her from Space Jam, the greatest basketball player movie --yes, it beats out Kazamm!) is presented as a psycho clingy girlfriend. Pepe lePeu doesn't have a cat to pine over, but is an all-around womanizer, and Bugs and Daffy are roommates, Odd Couple style. The animation style is, of course, not the same, but there are -- dare I say it -- in-betweens. It actually looked like someone animated something.

I don't love it to death, but I'd certainly watch it. Bugs even dresses up like a woman here and there.

I do miss the musical numbers, though.

Sandy Fishnets Teaser

2011-05-19T22:34:00.003-04:00

Vince Mascoli, awesome animator, was given the task of directing the music video for Sandy Fishnets by Evelyn Evelyn (the great musical duo of Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley). After 2 years of hard work, it's finally completed. Yours Truly got to assist on the light painting parts, and I'm excited to see it put together with the rest. Here's the teaser:

Sandy Fishnets Teaser! from Vince Mascoli on Vimeo.

Check out Vince's other work here. It's worth your time.

Fifty Percent Grey Vs. Aliens

2011-05-12T12:20:00.000-04:00

...because every film nowadays is "Something Vs. Aliens." Not that I'm complaining.

I hope everyone remembers this guy. If you don't, get up on that.

The director's name is Ruairi Robinson, and he made a short animated film a while back called Fifty Percent Grey. The film is about a soldier who wakes up in the afterlife, and the only thing around him in the white expanse is a television that drives him nuts. The film was short but good.

According to Animation World Network, Ruairi's been selected to direct a new sci-fi movie called The Fallen.

"The story follows special ops team sent to wipe out a crashed alien spaceship in Russia that is creating a 400-mile wide electronics dead zone. The budget is set at $35 million. The studios hope to start production at the start of 2012." -Rick DeMott

I'm just speculating here, but I think $35mil is a huge jump from whatever budget this guy had on Fifty Percent Grey. This proves it; there is hope for our financial futures, ladies and gentlemen!

Non-Profit Storm

2011-05-10T22:39:00.007-04:00

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post, so I wanted to come back with something interesting. Below is the short film "Storm," by the KerShoot production team. It's pretty darn well-made, and it's also non-profit.

I've always been curious about non-profit film making; I'm sure many people can attest to wanting to do a great film but needing the funds that come from commercial work. I myself have finally gotten past the point of eating ramen at every meal (*crosses fingers*), but I can already tell that Rosalina's little flamenco movie is gonna take a good long minute to make. "Storm" took over two years.

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I was able to email the KerShoot team a few questions about this masterpiece, and not-for-profit work in general. The producer, Tracy King, got back to me:

1) First off, what drew the KerShoot team to non-profit film making? How does doing non-profit compare to commercial work?
The main reason Storm is non-profit is because we didn't want to make it under any commercial constraints. The minute you have to worry about whether something will sell (or in the case of a ten-minute pro-science rant, *how* it will sell), the project changes. The only way we could make Storm exactly how we wanted was to agree up front that the intention was not for it to make a profit. That way we could take as long as we wanted, too. We also do commercial projects and they are very different in terms of deadlines and expectations. It's worth bearing in mind though, that being non-profit is not the same as free. Storm cost a lot of money to make, as do commercial projects, but the difference is we didn't make it with any expectation of making our money back or making a profit. If we did, that would be a bonus!

2) What kept you motivated during the 2+ years of working on Storm?
Belief in the quality of the poem and Tim's performance, mostly, and also the constant reminder of why we were making it (to get the content to as large an audience as possible, by giving it a visual dimension). It was very hard at times though.

3) How long has the KerShoot team been working together?
We founded the company halfway through working on Storm, so about a year ago.

4) How many projects do you normally work on at one time?
At the moment all of our commercial resources are taken up with animations for a major game which sadly I'm not allowed to discuss yet. It's out in November. We're hoping to start the next non-profit animation at the end of July.

5) What project did you most enjoy working on?
Storm :)

I'd like to thank Tracy for emailing me back, as well as the entire team for making this film in the first place. Credits:

Tracy King- Producer
DC Turner - Director, Animator
Tim Minchin - Writer and Performer of the awesome poem that started this whole thing

www.stormmovie.net
www.timminchin.com
www.kershoot.com

Filler Post

2011-04-21T00:07:00.003-04:00

Another sketch dump. I've been running around like a chicken with her head cut off lately; I'll post progress on Rosalina soon, as well as some other things. Meanwhile, here is a drawing I did of her whilst avoiding human contact at a bar:

The personal journal drivel has been edited out. Don't wanna bore you. :)

Figure drawing. I'm incredibly rusty.

Sketchbook Journal 4

2011-03-22T20:30:00.005-04:00

Another sketch drop.

On another note, I am fairly in love with the new Yahoo! Mail ads. Each one is animated in a different style, and they are all delightfully fun to watch.

There are more, and you should check them all out.

As usual, I can find the ad agency that put these out (Goody, Silversetein & Partners), but I haven't yet found any info on the animators. They don't seem to be credited anywhere. Serious, serious bummer. If anyone can find out, please let me know!

Where Is My Lotte?

2011-03-07T23:24:00.002-05:00

When I first learned to animate, I had just started high school. I played with claymation and mostly did traditional. By the time I got to college, I was obsessed with creating the most beautifully done hand-drawn films. Halfway into the first semester, a professor showed me the work of Lotte Reiniger, and my entire world stopped. It took me a year to process the new information, but second semester of Sophomore year, I focused completely on recreating and then building upon Lotte's work. Due to external factors, I lost focus on everything in the second semester of my Junior year, and sort of stayed that way until graduation.

I'm slowly finding a love of animation again, and having had a year out of school to marinate in everything I've learned, I'm creating things I actually like; but there hasn't been a moment like the time I saw Lotte's work for the first time. There were small excitements, like when someone introduced me to BLU's work, or Megan Brain's imagery, but nothing that turned my entire way of thinking about art upside-down. I know I should keep working and discover new things myself, but I can't help but wonder. Where is my Lotte Reiniger moment?

Sketchbook Journal 3

2011-03-06T19:21:00.004-05:00

Not sure how I feel about the brown layout yet. I just needed a change from the normal blue.

I don't have much to update, so I'm posting some recent sketches. I'm working with the International Office at UArts again, this time assisting with a week of activities between the students in a Japanese-centered class and 20 or so visiting Japanese students and their teachers from Osaka. I haven't been able to do much yet besides take pictures and sketch, but those are two of my favorite pastimes, so it works out just fine.

Sketchbook Journal 2

2011-02-26T13:36:00.003-05:00

A rainy day is so much better with good food. I stopped at a café and got vegan shrimp sushi and jasmine tea. It was so good, I had to draw it. The bird at the top is a developing idea for a tattoo; it's based on the Sankofa Adinkra symbol.

The other sketch is a character page for Rosalina. I think I should develop her as a character more before I try sculpting a paper version of her.

I loosened up a lot more on the second drawing (at the bottom). Her proportions are still a bit off. I changed her hair up a bit, adding some curly-cues coming out of the buns. Since she'll be stop-motion and not hand drawn, I might add some extra details, like polka dots (a popular design on flamenco dresses), and flowers in her hair.

Day at the Academy

2011-02-20T20:03:00.004-05:00

Today, I went to the Academy of Natural Sciences. They were having their Paleo-Palooza festival (dinosaurs!!!), so obviously I nerded out entirely. After freaking out over dinosaur bones and the possibility of cloning and riding one (and afterward remembering the plot of Jurassic Park and scrapping that idea entirely), I did some sketching in front of the museum's many dioramas.

I'm fairly pleased, since I haven't drawn from "life (get it? cause they're stuffed...*cough*)" in a long time--especially not animals. I wish my collection of objects to draw was as expansive as a museum.

I was so inspired by these guys. Like, insanely so. I need to put them into and onto everything I make now.

*drool*

*double drool*

Sketchbook Journal 1

2011-02-15T19:55:00.004-05:00

My sketchbook doubles as a personal journal. The pages are fuzzy because they are warped, and the scanner couldn't deal with it.

While I was at the café, I got sick of everyone speaking to me in "Starbucks terms." No, I don't know what a "Venti-whatever" is. No, "frappuccino" is not a real word, nor a real drink. Vegan vegetable soup is not fattening, and when someone stares at the ginormous menu for 5 whole minutes, I expect them to not ask me what drinks the café serves.

To be fair, 90% of my customers were amazing; it was the other 10% that inspired most of my lunch break artwork.

...like this guy in the upper right corner. He was a regular, and British. He always leaned in and swept his hair back when he ordered (usually tea). I even managed to get a "Thanks, love," out of him once. The parade of kids at the bottom always rolled past the window around noon. They were always overdressed for the weather.

The sketch of Rosalina is plopped on there to cover up some airline flight info I don't want getting out. Paranoia is my friend. ^_^

The function at the bottom right is for someone I used to work with.

Valentine's Day sketch. Japanese notes and a Stegasaurus.

Lame Backgrounds, Scanty Drawings

2011-02-15T18:17:00.008-05:00

I doodled a little fanart of Scanty and Kneesocks a while ago, and since then have been failing at coming up with a background for it. As you can see, I left it a lame solid black until my brain stops being stupid. I know I should have thought of this beforehand, but I was too focused on Scanty's hair and Kneesocks'...well, socks.

If you're not aware, these two are from a show by Gainax called Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. While the style of the show looks like The Powerpuff Girls had a baby with The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, I assure you that this show is not for kids by any means. In fact, it's fairly NSFW.

Scanty and Kneesocks are two of the recurring "bad guys" in the show. The main characters, Panty and Stocking, are "angels" looking to kill ghosts and collect coins from Heaven. When a ghost explodes, the show goes from 2D to stop-motion. Simple plot, crazy style. If you're not easily offended--and I mean REALLY easy-going, cause some of the plots are pretty WTF-- give it a look-see. It's quite immature, and many times unnecessarily scandalous, but interesting.

Where Have I Been?

2011-02-01T22:45:00.004-05:00

Not sure. Maybe La-La Land.
Downside: I've been slacking.
Plus side: I got over that.

One of my favorite manga writers, Naoki Urasawa, has a series that I haven't read. Gasp. I'm a bit late on it (try a few years and three movie adaptions), but it was a fanta-bu-lous surprise. It's called 20th Century Boys, and even though I've only read the first one, I am throroughly enjoying it. After Monster, I didn't know if I would find another Urasawa manga at a place like Borders. Surprise! Happiness. Now I just have to go back and find other series of his.

This is my "excited over a book" look. It's similar to my "don't touch my pie" look.

I also stopped at Atomic Comics and got this guy:

It's a book on storyboarding, because Goodness knows I need it.

Skirt Paper Tests 1 and 2

2011-01-13T19:19:00.003-05:00

I've been testing out different ways to make Rosalina's skirt using scrap paper. There is wire inside each skirt layer, held in by different materials until I find the best one.

Test 1 is made from an old H&M bag. I used tape to hold in some of the wire, and hot glue for other parts. The hot glue didn't work so well. I also need a better way to attach all the skirt's layers together at the top.

Test 2 is just a paper bag, in one layer to see how well the paper would bend with the wire. It didn't work out very well.

Re-Inventing Rosalina

2010-12-27T19:48:00.004-05:00

The above is from my final project for the Drawing For Animators II class I took in my last semester of school. It's the inspiration for my next personal film. The girl's name is currently Rosalina, although I may change that in the future, and she is a child flamenco dancer performing in an out-of-the-way bar in Barcelona, Spain.

I created the character from a memory I have of Spain, of walking through a dark alley in Barcelona and ending up at a little bar where flamenco dancers performed. Everything was dark except for the stage and a few other elements. Even the guitarists were mostly hidden from the lights. Strangely enough, the strongest memory I have of that moment is of a spectator in the back of the bar, completely silhouetted with the orange lights behind him outlining only his frame and the light of, and smoke drifting up from, his cigarette. At the moment, he's playing an integral part of the film.

The piece won't be completely serious; I need to have some fun, after all, and I'm not good with heartbreaking masterpieces. This film is going to take some time, but I'm glad I finally feel loose enough as an artist to create something like this. So far, my brain and hands are connected. I'm really hoping I don't lose that during this process.

Merry Christmas, Y'all.

2010-12-25T10:19:00.002-05:00

Destiny's Child, Rudolph style. :)

My Life is Now Complete

2010-12-02T17:21:00.007-05:00

Well, maybe not my life. My apartment certainly is. Check this baby out!

I don't think it still works, but whatever. I love it.
(What's that, you say? A makeshift green screen for dorking out on a regular basis in the background, you say? Why yes, it is. Don't you judge me. Don't you do it.)

Simmons and Mars

2010-12-01T16:53:00.003-05:00

I've mentioned Erika Simmons before. She's the previously well-known, currently very well-known cassette tape artist.

Recently, her artwork inspired the Bruno Mars video for "Just the Way You Are." I contacted her about her thoughts on the piece. Her email was so nice, I don't want to cut too much out of it. Here's what she said:

"Let me start off by saying that I didn't contribute much to the video. The director Ethan Lader and the team of animators did almost all the work. A few months ago I got a call from Ethan - he explained his concept for the video and basically just asked my blessing for the go-ahead. I also got a licensing fee for their use of the concept. I thought it was a wonderful idea to use animation to make the artwork come to life, so I was thrilled to participate. I'm not very tech-savvy, so it was an opportunity to see what could be done using techniques I'll never use myself. The team did all the work, but they kept me in-the-loop and I got to help out here and there as more a consultant than anything. The only actual cassette tape sculpture I made was for the girl's hair in the video... I made that and shipped it out to LA so they could photograph it. The rest is all them- they did a fantastic job! And it was very gracious of them to include me in the credits."

Simmons is quite pleased with the new exposure to her work. She also added a note for independent artists:

"Its hard to make a living as an independent artist, so I know exactly what you are feeling.. I waited tables for years making experimental artwork on the side. I never even sold a piece of artwork until I started making the cassette tape sculptures. All I can say is hang in there and follow your passion. There are loads of ripe ideas out there just waiting to be plucked!"

Here is the finished piece. I'm not personally a fan of the song, but I rather enjoy watching the video. Also, check out the director Ethan Lader's work. He's doing some interesting stuff.

Animation Books, Part 1

2010-12-01T14:59:00.004-05:00

I got some of the books I ordered in the mail recently (I love snail mail!). So far, I've received The Art of Pocahontas; The Art of The Hunchback of Notre Dame; Tale As Old As Time (The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beast); and Shadow Puppets and Shadow Play.

I'm halfway through Tale As Old As Time. Disregarding all the grammatical errors, it's chock-full of great information. It sets up the context for Beauty and the Beast, it's predecessors and how they influenced the film, and the creation of the film itself. There are lots of sketches, backdrops, and early studies for characters and settings. The work that went into creating just Beast is incredible.

Shadow Play looks really interesting. It talks about different puppet techniques and how to implement them. I like that, because once one knows the proper way to do things, one has a much easier time breaking the rules. I can't wait to pour through that book, as well as the others.

The 12th Annual Animation Show of Shows

2010-11-22T12:28:00.004-05:00

I went to the 12th Annual Animation Show of Shows at UArts last Thursday evening. Needless to say, it was a good time. Ron Diamond, the curator of the show and President of the Animation World Network, put together an eclectic mix of films; the directors ranged from students to professionals.

I bought a bunch of DVDs --a box set and two 3-film discs-- since in my mind, if a purchase is for animation, I'm not really spending too much money (my bank account would argue otherwise). Speaking of which, I also bought a mass of "The Art of" books, which should be arriving in the mail shortly. Excited.

Daily Dose of Doodle

2010-11-17T16:40:00.002-05:00

Hello all,

I just thought I'd share this blog with y'all. It's called The Doodle Daily, and it's exactly what it sounds like. Doodles. Daily.

The Doodle Daily

Enjoy. :)

The Complete Experience

2010-11-02T16:51:00.002-04:00

A few weeks back, I posted a clip of a trailer for The Experience, a stop-motion/live action/3D film by Pirates Pépères about Jimi Hendrix. Someone from their group stumbled upon my post (!), and emailed me about the film. They were pretty excited to find the trailer here, and sent me a link to the completed short. It's over on Vimeo; go check it out! My favorite part is still Jimi's hair--it's made of guitar picks!
The Experience

Andymori

2010-11-02T16:38:00.003-04:00

A long time ago, I mentioned that music and visual art go hand in hand. I firmly believe this. I can't listen to most music without seeing a visual interpretation in my mind. Some songs make me incredibly happy, and the videos for the songs make me even happier. Case in point: Andymori's "City Lights."

Andymori is a Japanese pop rock band with a very chipper sound. I can't help but get into an incredibly good mood when I hear them, and I usually end up dancing around for a bit until I notice someone watching, at which point I stare awkwardly at them until they slowly turn their head away in empathetic shame...but who cares?! Music should do that.

A lot of people associate this type of music with nerds. I am a nerd. So that ends that. Enjoy.

An Unplanned Exciting Weekend

2010-10-03T13:38:00.003-04:00

I was too tired on Friday to do any First Friday activities, so I figured I'd just dork out and peruse the ActionScript texts at Borders. While there, I noticed a sign for a book signing/Q&A with Paul and Sandra Fierlinger, the directors of the animated feature "My Dog Tulip." I stuck around a bit with the three other interested people (unfortunate that there weren't more people there, really). We bombarded the couple with questions, and one guy even started a small argument about the importance of Disney in the history of animation. I got a couple of posters signed, and told them I'd see their film again on Saturday.

For those who don't know, Paul and Sandra Fierlinger were the animators behind Sesame Street's "Teeny Little Super Guy," which was probably my favorite TV short as a child. There are a few miniseries that I remember as well, but I'd watch that one over and over again, regardless of the episode.

I mean, these guys are my heroes. I enjoyed their new film, but I LOVE Teeny Little Super Guy.

They used stop-motion/replacement animation for the episodes, and filmed inside of their own home (and they still live there! How cool!). For their new film, "My Dog Tulip," they used a French program called TVP. TVP allows artists to animate digitally drawn images frame-by-frame; it's completely paperless, without any need for scanners or downshooters. I still like the feel of paper and pencil, but I might try it out one day.

I went to the film screening on Saturday, and again, stuck around for the Q&A afterward. They talked about what it took to create their past works, and explained a bit about their upcoming project. They explained that they don't take interns or assistants, but I gave them my card anyway. I kept leaving and coming back to talk to them...about three times...when I woke up this morning, I realized how creepy that was. Whatever. This has happened with other professional animators I've met; when I find out they were the geniuses behind works I love, I geek out, ask them tons of questions, and pick their brains of as much animation info as possible. That's not always a bad thing, though. :)

If you can, check out the new film. I believe it's still playing at the Ritz Theater on 4th St.

Two Cool Illustrators: Tyler Stout and Drew Falchetta

2010-09-30T16:06:00.008-04:00

I can't stop staring at Tyler Stout's hard-lined illustrations. He's got a ton of artwork over at tstout.com.

Drew Falchetta's work is proof that realistic human figures aren't the key to great artwork.

Ghostbusters and Goonies! This guy rocks.

drewfalchetta.com

Sally Menke Found Dead

2010-09-28T15:17:00.003-04:00

According to CNN, Sally Menke, who edited many of Quentin Tarantino's films (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, and Inglorious Basterds, to name a few), was found dead this morning on a hiking trail in LA. It may have been due to the heat, which was up to an astounding 113 degrees on Monday.

Here's the story from CNN.

Pastel Sketches

2010-09-27T16:27:00.003-04:00

I did some quick pen and pastel sketches last night. Two of them are over at Aurora Sanction, but here's one I did of two characters from a story I've been writing for about 6 years.
The guy on the right is Terran...I always feel bad for him when I draw him. He's so gangly and awkward.

Jimi in Cassette and Otherwise

2010-09-26T17:18:00.004-04:00

You know what's awesome? Cassette tape art. I don't think I've seen much of it, which makes this image of Jimi Hendrix out of cassette tape extremely cool. The artist, Erika Simmons, is one of my new favorites. How cool would it be to make an entire stop-motion film out of these? Probably as cool as this trailer (reposted from Cartoon Brew):

The Experience trailer from Pirates Peperes on Vimeo.

It's a mixture of live action and stop-motion, from Pirates Pépères Pictures.

First Friday, September 2010

2010-09-08T16:11:00.012-04:00

I wandered around for a few hours and came upon a couple of interesting shows.

At Jolie Laide Gallery, there was "Robert Horvath, Recent Works." It consisted of a few paintings in what appeared to be airbrush, and some sculpture pieces. The sculpture grabbed me more than the paintings; they seemed to be a slightly more finalized version of what the artist wanted to express...

I say that, knowing full well that I am no sort of art critic. My humble opinion can be debated, but I enjoyed the mobile sculpted pieces more.

There were some pretty cool paintings, though.

After wandering around Old City for a few hours, I ended up going south to Paradigm for the "Woah, 3D!" show.

The show was curated by Philly famous Yis Goodwin, and the super-rockin band Jukebox the Ghost played. Not a bad Friday night! :)

Russia

2010-08-26T16:16:00.000-04:00

I drew a quick picture of my character, Russia. Crosshatching is soothing,

My last post was exactly one month ago. Wow.

2010-08-08T17:24:00.003-04:00

A lot has happened in the past month. I was working on the 10 second animation deal, I got a new apartment, and then I got a job at an art gallery/animation studio called Motionheads Studio. We had our first show this past Friday, and it was incredible. So many people showed up from all over the place. A couple of pieces got sold, too; one was bought by a guy on his way back to Germany. It was pretty cool. Everyone at the studio is great.

It was pretty packed in both rooms.

I also caught my stride with Aurora Sanction. Things are all over the place for me right now, but they're looking up. Happy but busy is how I work best.
:)

Recent things

2010-07-08T14:25:00.005-04:00

I've been up to...well, the usual.

Paradigm Gallery in Philadelphia hosted part 1 of a three-part film screening last night. For a small fee of five dollars, you get snacks and a great show. Some of the filmmakers were even there with props from their films. Travis Waugh came with a couple of the wolf masks from his recent film "I Am the Mountain, You Are the Water's Edge." Ian Foster's mechanical fish from "Direction Without Instructions" was there, as well as the cocoon from Jason Chen's "Subconscious." Jason Chen is also the co-owner of Paradigm.

For the 3th of July (I didn't go out on the 4th), I went to the Philadelphia fireworks with a couple of fellow animators. That was also when the animator Ashley Hamilton challenged me to create 10 seconds in 2 weeks.

And because I like doing all things crafty, I've been sewing a costume for a friend. Originally, I thought the costume was simple. Of course, it didn't turn out that way, and I've been working on this for far longer than I thought I would. I'm pretty proud of it, though. Here's an arm guard:

Contest

2010-07-04T22:57:00.003-04:00

A friend challenged me to animate 10 seconds in 2 weeks. A bunch of my fellow animators have decided to jump on this, so the Sunday after next, we have to show our work. I've decided what I want to animate, and since the only rules for this contest are 1) it must be a non-looped action, and 2) it must be either traditional or tradigital, I am going to work in *gasp* traditional style. I may hand-color it. I don't know, we'll see.

MC Dumbfoundead is also holding his music video contest until July 15th. Of course, I just recently got an idea I'd like to use for it, and I may not have time. If I can pull it off, great. If not, well, so much for that.

Should be fun!

I've been thinking.

2010-07-03T17:12:00.002-04:00

It's about time I started working on another animation project. I don't know if I'm quite ready to re-work my senior thesis, but I can do small projects until I really know what I'm doing. There are two ideas I have swirling around in my head right now, and I want to get them out on paper. Expect a few sketches soon.

DC and Disney

2010-06-27T23:55:00.004-04:00

Batman will be in TWO new animated films. The first is Superman/Batman Apocalypse, and the second is Batman: Under The Red Hood. I am super-excited for both.

On a completely unrelated topic...well, sort of unrelated, Disney's live-action version of The Sorcerer's Apprentice will include the infamous mop scene that made up the entirety of the original. Does that make me excited for this movie? No. But it eases my woes slightly. From the trailer, I don't doubt it'll be a decent summer flick, something fun to watch on a lazy afternoon. Still...something irks me about the idea of turning a scene from Fantasia into a full-legnth film. Fantasia was a collection of animated sequences based on music. They were the rendition of what a group of artists saw when they heard the songs. Yes, they were worked and re-worked, as most films are, but they had a certain purpose.

On the other hand, there are a couple of sequences from Fantasia that would be cool as feature-legnth films, but whatever. It's late and I'm tired. This mop scene actually looks pretty fun.

Paul Keene and the International Hallway

2010-06-24T12:11:00.013-04:00

I went to the Paul Keene opening reception at the Sande-Webster Gallery. Keene's work was very eclectic...each decade or so was completely different. I don't know if I liked that, but I did like certain pieces.

This was my favorite, I think. It's just a sketch, but it reminds me of a storyboard.

I absolutely loved these two pieces, although neither of them are by Keene. The man on the stool is by Ibn Kendall; the woman is by Jas Knight.

On the art note, I hung another quick show in the Gershman Y building, using pieces from the OtherWise Exhibit. It was pretty simple; I've gotten better at museum-style hanging.

The two closest images in the picture are posters done by Taewan An, and they are quite cool.

Azureus Rising = Concept Art Drool

2010-06-16T18:04:00.003-04:00

If you haven't seen Azureus Rising - Proof of Concept yet, you are missing out.

Even better (if at all possible) than the actual short film -- which is just a CONCEPT, by the way; how cool is that? -- is the concept art for it. Apparently, it's a test for a feature film trilogy.

"With 5 minutes - how much story can you really get? I knew I could not get a emotional reaction with only 5 minutes of screen time. There's no time to set up the characters so you feel like you can relate to them, and then watch how they handle and react to the events that unfold around them. For me story is about showing change. The change in a character - or the changes in the world and the hero's impact on those transformations. So instead of trying to half ass my story into a 5 minute short film - I opt to make a exciting visual display of the world and the character in action."
-Producer/Director David Weinstein on Azureus Rising - Proof of Concept

I also love what Mr. Weinstein says about 3D animation:

"I feel 3D is an amazing tool to help draw the audience in. It doesn't create better stories and help cover up a poor plot. It's just another visual element to help immerse the viewer into the character's world."

The same goes with any animation medium. If you don't have something people will want to watch, it doesn't matter what style you use. I can only hope to be as effective with my animation as people like Lotte Reiniger, Glen Keane, and Pat Smith are.

Definitely check out Azureus' website. It looks pretty drool-worthy so far, in my humble opinion.

http://azureusrising.com

The Karate Kid (remake)

2010-06-16T17:28:00.005-04:00

When I first heard that someone got the bright idea of remaking The Karate Kid, I was a little upset. I didn't think there was any reason for it whatsoever, and loathed the idea of Ralph Macchio being replaced yet again.

But then I went to see the movie, and I really enjoyed it. It had just enough of the old one in it to not seem completely different, but it certainly wasn't an exact remake. My favorite parts happened during random throwbacks: a character would recite a line directly from the original in a new conversation, and one or two songs from the original were remixed for the new one (I can't be exactly sure about that, but if my memory serves me right, there was at least one). I won't ruin the ending for those unfortunate souls who haven't seen the original, much less the remake, but I like how it was the same basic idea, not copied to a T.

Normally, I can't stand remakes; for whatever reason, this one was great. Jaden Smith is just like his dad was when he was younger, except that Will didn't act as well back then -- sorry, Will. Your son's pretty good.

I noticed that the director really liked using silhouette shots with fog. It gave certain scenes a nice feel, although I felt it was overdone when Dre and Mr. Han practiced in the yard after the whole "crazed-smashing-of-the-car" thing.

All in all, it was a great movie.

Photo © Jasin Boland 2009

Two Questions:

2010-06-11T21:05:00.002-04:00

1) What is this tomfoolery?

Michael Bay Takes on Live-Action TMNT

2) When does it come out, cause I kinda want to see it...

I mean, it's TMNT. I wasn't a huge fan of the 90's turtles, what with all the skateboarding, pizza eating, and the styling of the show itself, but if Michael Bay goes back to the original turtles, and does a live-action version of that? Well...I'd just have to squeal a little from delight.

Tangled Trailer

2010-06-11T12:56:00.001-04:00

The new trailer for Disney's "Tangled" is out. I like it, but I'm not sure how I feel about having a Pink song in the background. It seems a bit too "we-tried-really-hard-to-make-this-appeal-to-a-teenage-crowd."

Pyro

2010-06-06T15:16:00.018-04:00

Pyro is a character I created about ten years ago. She is very near and dear to my heart, and over the years, her world has grown immensely. These are some images I created last year based on the characters in her story.

They include Pyro, her sister Turbo, their friends London and Runner (Runner is the kid), and Pyro's arch nemesis, Russia.

When I came up with the names, I didn't really think about them; they just fit the characters. I don't put much of my artwork up here besides animation, but I do love to draw, so here you go. These were created on paper first, then scanned and inked in Illustrator. The black fill was done in Illustrator, too...nothing fancy, but I like the result.

My New Demo Reel

2010-06-03T10:50:00.001-04:00

Hello all,

I have updated my demo reel. It is available for viewing on Vimeo, on Youtube, and of course, here. :)

Janelle Smith's Demo Reel from Janelle Smith on Vimeo.

So I Have This Hobby...

2010-05-31T14:52:00.002-04:00

And have found a way to incorporate films into it. As it should be. :)

The girl is me, and the guy is my good friend Tim. As you can probably tell, this didn't take very long. We made one more, and I'll post that one up later; it involved a bit of compositing (my favorite!).

I graduated!

2010-05-20T20:06:00.006-04:00

That is correct, folks. I am now an official member of grown-up society.

That's me with Tori Cook, animator extraordinaire.

What do I do now? Well...keep animating. I'm going to get back to Aurora Sanction, and start up a secondary (or third, depending on how you look at it) blog for all the stuff I do outside of animation. Jazimated will be regularly updated, of course -- animation is always my number one love.

Oh yea, and you can see a low-quality version of my senior film here:
youtube.com/bugsymalone1102
It's called "Zone."

The OtherWise Exhibit

2010-05-16T14:57:00.013-04:00

My last gallery show at Uarts was the OtherWise exhibit. It was installed in two parts; the first was hung in the Caplan at UArts. The pieces in the image to the left are frames from a monotype animation done by independent animator Claire Fouquet.

I, along with my friend Michelle, installed the blue room in the above images.

We deinstalled on Friday, and re-installed in the B2 Café on the same day. It took us 9 hours, but it was a lot of fun. The café has amazing food and the best vegan smoothies I've ever tasted. I'm not a vegan. I love steak. But those smoothies were freaking amazing. B2 is located on the corner of Dickenson and Passyunk. Go there. Get a smoothie. Enjoy.

I, Mara, Michelle, and Rachel stared at that wall and moved stuff around on it for hours...

The show opened Saturday evening. I wasn't in town for it, unfortunately, but I know it turned out great. I'm not sure what I'm going to do without Gallery One, the gallery I've been a part of for the past four years, now that I'm graduating. I love installing work in new and old spaces. I think I'm going to find another gallery job to go with animating. The two go great together; create frames and then display them, either as a film or as artistic stills in a gallery. I don't know, I'll figure it out.

My New Favorite Commercial

2010-05-13T00:35:00.001-04:00

Willy Wonka song + animation? Yes, please.

Love.

Finally!

2010-05-07T12:14:00.003-04:00

I just turned in my senior thesis. There are definitely issues with it, and I wish I'd put more "animation" in it (it's a lot of pixelation with even more composited special effects), but I learned so much from making this film. I actually like it enough to work on it more after graduation...and I think I'm going to have to. I'm satisfied with it for the Film and Animation Show this weekend, but not forever. Oh well. :)

Here's a clip:

I need a blueberry pie break.

2010-05-02T22:25:00.002-04:00

I feel like some pie would really help my production speed right now...any sort of homemade pastries, really.

I am getting closer and closer to the due date for my film (Thursday), closer and closer to the Senior show (May 8th and 9th -- this coming Saturday and Sunday), and closer and closer to actually sort of kind of liking what I'm making. The more I work, the more I learn about compositing-- which is why I'm doing it in the first place. If I don't learn while I'm animating, why on Earth would I spend my time on it?

I may not get a full night of sleep every night this week, but I'm going to enjoy it, because the end of this week will mark the end of my animation courses in college...so far. Graduation is May 20th. I can't wait.

So Many Masks...

2010-04-30T01:01:00.002-04:00

I am working on a scene where music bars and notes "grow" across a city scene. I am using a blasphemous amount of masks. I'm sure there is a better way to do this...there always is...but this film is about learning, and this is where I am currently at, technique-wise.

But hey, it looks pretty good. :D

Charles and the Notes

2010-04-16T13:24:00.005-04:00

I did my last shoot with one of my actors, Charles, yesterday. It went really well.

He managed to stand incredibly still while I animated on his face, neck, and arm, and I actually checked the camera settings so my ISO wasn't off. The first time I shot with him, my ISO was way over 500, and the images turned out very grainy.

I have my final shoot with the last actor on Sunday. After that, I'm done with the camera work and it's all about the compositing and rendering. Fun...

A still of my film made the headline of the UArts Animation Senior Show poster.

I like how the still looks, but I'd like for my film to be done even more.

Oh Hey, Blog. What's Up?

2010-04-13T23:42:00.006-04:00

I haven't written a progress update in a while.

I've been slowly working on my senior film. It isn't killing me out of impatience anymore; now it's killing me because I need to finish so many things in so little time. That's OK though. I like working, it makes me feel accomplished. Without something to work on, I just feel like this:
...and with work, it's more like this:
Btw, if there are any über-nerds out there, the necklace I'm wearing is an alchemy circle from FullMetal Alchemist. Yes. I am that person.

I finally got some shots done on my film, and I am in the business of editing said shots during this and the coming weeks. I've been tweaking the same sequence for days...although I'd like it to be finished, my OCD won't let it.
It's driving me nuts! There's a very *slight* camera shake that I MUST fix, and I want the yoga character to get all "glowy," but it looks too artificial right now....ARRALGJD'LVN'LKAGUIHAG why....

I had to take a week off because I had a terrible allergic reaction to some mango I ate (I know, right?! Random devil fruit!). I know that's not a good excuse for not compositing, but darnit if I didn't feel terrible.

I hope to have some clips to post here soon. Right now I've got to go through all of this footage and throw it together into some sort of coherent order...oh wait, no, that's my documentary film project that's due Thursday. Great.

16bit Blog

2010-04-02T15:45:00.002-04:00

16bit has a blog now. :)

http://tv16bit.blogspot.com

Be sure to stop by for news about 16bit, as well as game, anime, and other news updates.

2010-03-23T12:29:00.002-04:00

The new Hotels.com commercials appear to be done in clay animation, but there are spots of 3D animation. The technique looks interesting; if I worked in clay, I'd definitely want to try it myself.

Two Things.

2010-02-27T11:30:00.004-05:00

One, I updated my demo reel.

Two, I did a documentary on Dar-rell K. Henderson, the creator of the Rath comic book series. This is the short version.

Point and Shoot: Snowman Edition

2010-02-11T15:30:00.009-05:00

Dinosaur!

Exploded Snowmen

Snow!

2010-02-10T16:36:00.004-05:00

There are like a ka-jillion feet of snow outside (for you Europeans, that's about 6 ma-drillion meters).

The city is having a giant snowball fight tonight, but today, everyone and their mothers built giant snowmen. I didn't have my camera (never when I need it!), but I managed to snap a couple shots on my phone.

I also fended off the weather by watching the superbowl. I was far more interested in the food than the football, though.

Giant Freaking Pizza!!!

Some Sketching

2010-02-08T22:25:00.002-05:00

I rather enjoy figure drawing. :)

All images (c) Janelle E. Smith. Images are not to be used without express permission by the artist.

TMIA: A Promo

2010-02-02T23:19:00.001-05:00

BTW, my youtube name is BugsyMalone1102. :)

I Can't Believe I Missed This!

2010-02-02T14:22:00.003-05:00

I know it's way past Christmas, but I had to talk about this. Meredith Gran, the author of one of my favorite webcomics, Octopus Pie, animated some of her characters in a Christmas music video. If you haven't read the comic, I highly recommend it.

All I Want For Christmas Is The Octopus Pie Christmas Special from Meredith Gran on Vimeo.

I'm always pleasantly surprised when comic artists delve into animation.

Remember, you can support webcomics by not only reading and sharing them, but also purchasing merchandise, like these awesome shot glasses. It takes money to make comics, even independent ones. Just sayin.'

In other news, I'm in the process of moving this blog to another location, as well as setting up an actual website...right after I update my demo reel. Again. Between that, my senior film, two personal films, and a bunch of other stuff that I can't really talk about right now but will mention later, my life is mostly composed of staring into a computer screen and running around the east coast. I'll try to keep this blog updated so I don't lose my head completely.

Zombie Apocolypse!

2010-02-02T13:54:00.003-05:00

Ben Hibon directed this fun little teaser trailer for A.D., a zombie film which right now is still in the "idea" stage. It looks pretty badass.

-Found on GeekTyrant

I'm not dead, I promise.

2010-01-26T13:28:00.003-05:00

I've just been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

When I get everything together, I'll post some images. For now, enjoy some lego animation by Rymdreglage:

I apologize, Mr. Cameron.

2009-12-25T22:57:00.004-05:00

I had serious doubts about Avatar. Sure, James Cameron wrote the Terminator films, Aliens, and Titanic, but earlier this year I read this in an interview, from his producer, Jon Landeau:

"Our goal on this movie was not to replace the actor, it was to replace the animator. If you think about it, what a great actor does and what a great animator does are antithetical to one another."
(quote taken from The Australian)

...and it got me a bit peeved. I thought, "What do you mean, 'replace the animator?!' You jerk!"

Then I actually saw the film. I have to say, Mr. Cameron, that was beautifully done. I understand what he was going for now. I enjoyed this style much more than the mo-cap in other films. Not to mention, ILM and the concept artists on this film are my new heroes...well, ILM has always been a favorite of mine, but still.

Mice on Drugs!

2009-12-24T23:23:00.001-05:00

Fun website -- and educational -- from the University of Utah, about the effects of various drugs on mice. Enjoy.

Mice on Drugs

Claymation!

2009-12-24T01:01:00.002-05:00

I was up late tonight (as you can see by the time on this post), watching whatever came on TV after Glee, and The Bernie Mac Show came on. I absolutely love that show, but I somehow managed to miss this episode. It was called "Tryptophan-tasy," and it was a Thanksgiving episode from season 2. Bernie Mac accidentally under cooks a turkey and gets sick. His hallucinations include a leap into the television, where he and his nephew Jordan are transformed into clay animated figures. They fight with exagerated cartoon violence -- which Bernie explains is OK when he breaks the fourth wall to speak to the audience -- and it was amazing.

I can't find a clip of this episode anywhere! It's driving me nuts. The episode was funny already, but the transition into animation made it 10 times better.

The animation DP was Michael Eder, but he's difficult to track down, too. He did some stuff for Adult Swim, MTV, and Sony PSP.

On another note, while trying to track down Mr. Eder, I found this video, and it made me smile:

I wanted to do something similar for a project last year, but unforeseen circumstances prevented me from finishing the film. I'm pretty inspired by this, though. I think I'll give it another shot.

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-22T18:56:00.005-05:00

I am a firm believer that music inspires visual art, and vice versa. While this may not inspire you, it involves some of my favorite Korean musicians, and it makes me want to draw happy things. :)

[MV] Fluxus Variou Artists - All I Want For Christmas Is You
Uploaded by Rinoa_Selphie. - Explore more music videos.

Also, my recent blog posts are looking a little wonky because of the new layout. I'm going to fix that.

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays.

Mario vs. Pac-Man

2009-12-22T15:06:00.002-05:00

I saw this over on GeekTyrant.

I rather enjoy it. :)

Things To Note

2009-12-22T14:53:00.002-05:00

R.I.P. Alaina Reed-Amini
("Olivia" on Sesame Street)

R.I.P. Roy Disney

Victoria Cook on Cartoon Brew!

2009-12-09T00:09:00.003-05:00

Victoria Cook of UArts (woot!) earned a post on Cartoon Brew with her short film Poezenklass! We here at the university are all very proud of her.

Finals are in full swing. I'm finally shooting my senior piece (I know, it took me forever, right?), and even though there were some hiccups, it's going OK. I've got a ton of stuff to do for all my classes, so no sleep for me! Yay delirium!

I also finished a short ID spot for "24 in the OC," CNBC's Orange County, California station. I worked on it with Mike Englisis, who does graphic design, film and music. It's not an overly complicated piece, but I liked working on it. And hey, it's on TV. That's always a plus.

Things to finish: A screenplay, an animation bible, my senior film, and a soundtrack piece.

Dragonfly + Face = Fun

2009-11-28T22:06:00.004-05:00

I did a test (I know, another one) for my senior film. This time I used the actor. I'm going back in about a week to actually finish a shot. :)

Also, the writer of Aurora Sanction, Althea, posted some of her thoughts on what we're doing over on the other blog. Check it out: aurorasanction.blogspot.com

Hop...Hooray!

2009-11-18T17:03:00.033-05:00

I was rummaging through the library's basement today, going through a collection of Life magazines from 1941, and I found some pretty cool stuff. The above image is for Blue Ribbon Ale. The ad was about the Ale's "hops." Get it? Haaaaaaaaha....ha.....

The little guys were just so round and fun. There were other crazy ads for things like stockings and cigars...lots of cigars. And cigarettes. And liquor. Basically whatever you'd find in an inner-city corner store.

Apparently, 1941 was also the anniversary of the Green Giant, so Disney had a big ad in there, too. Snow White and other Disney characters were featured in a double-page spread. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a color copy of the ad.

It was pretty cool to see all this stuff. I mean, I love the internet and all, but there's something about old books that will always seem better than anything electronic to me.

On another topic, I've been sick for about a week or so. It should have been a shorter period of time, but I kept going outside into the cold and drawing things. Stupid artist's brain. I managed to get a couple of sketches in before passing out in my apartment from fatigue (on a completely unrelated note, does "Fatigue" sound like a ghetto name to anyone else?). A few of them came from class, but it's nice to go outside and jot people down on paper.

6th Test

2009-11-07T12:35:00.002-05:00

I did one last skin test for my senior film.

Who knew Crayola washable markers worked so well for this kind of thing? I'm pretty happy with the control I get with the markers, as well as the darkness of the line and the ease of application. The removal could be a bit easier, but overall, I don't mind it.

Now I just need to set up lighting and start shooting. I'll be testing an explosion that happens in the piece later. I originally wanted it to be all handmade. At this point, I'll try it, but if the Particle Generator in After Effects works better, I'll do that.

Senior Test Numero Cinqo

2009-11-04T22:14:00.006-05:00

Shouldn't the leaves on the ground be red and brown, not green?

University of the Arts had a screening of The Animation Show of Shows tonight. There were DVDs for sale after the show...there goes my paycheck.

Senior year is hopping along nicely. I finished my fifth test:

The quality isn't so good; I may need to change the contrast. This test was done with black and brown eyeliner, the "good but cheap" kind -- i wouldn't really know about eyeliner since I don't wear makeup, but the nice lady at Walgreens helped me out.

I really hope I can actually animate a shot in the next two or three weeks. I've been playing around with different ways to mark skin; so far, I've been using the same technique to remove each marking, but I got a few ideas today (thanks Maya!) that may take me in another direction. My top two choices for the actual drawings are the "good but cheap" eyeliner (for the control), and Aquacolor theater makeup (for easy application and removal, although control is a bit of an issue). I have a couple more tests to do.

On another note, there is an amazing Tibetan monk doing a sand painting in the Gershman Y.

He works on it line by line. Sometimes each line is only a grain of sand thick.

Aurora Sanction is slowly but surely updating. Stay tuned.

"Open up your third eye, so you can envision a better livin'."
-Tablo, Epik High

Lui Lui on Cartoon Brew

2009-10-03T16:41:00.001-04:00

Cartoon Brew threw a spotlight on UArts grad Vera Lui's senior thesis! It's a great series of short films, and definitely deserves notice.

Lui Lui in Amelica on Cartoon Brew

Also check out Lui Lui in Amelica's blog.

Have I Mentioned How Much I love Blu's Work?

2009-09-26T10:57:00.002-04:00

If I haven't, I apologize. This is a new film he and David Ellis made:

COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis (2 times loop) from blu on Vimeo.

It plays twice. Also check out MUTO, another of BLU's films. It played at Annecy.

You've Probably Already Seen This...

2009-09-23T20:49:00.005-04:00

But I wanted to re-iterate how cool I think this video is. As always, there's some controversy over the animation, and if the company that directed it stole the idea from another individual. That aside, I love it.

Strawberry Swing, by Coldplay

Coldplay - Strawberry Swing (Official HD Video) from swashbuckley on Vimeo.

In Other News

We all know that Disney, the giant that owns our souls, recently bought Marvel. Unfortunately for Disney, they may not get everything they want. Jack Kirby's children are trying to take their father's work back. You can read more about it here.

Even if Disney doesn't get all of the rights to Marvel, they've still got Paramount Pictures, ABC, SOAPnet, ESPN, Radio Disney, the resorts, the animation studios, Disney XD, parts of Lifetime and A&E, Hyperion, and everything else we know and love.

I've Been Busy.

2009-09-23T14:56:00.006-04:00

I've been up to a few things lately:

1) Senior Thesis
I've got my storyboards mostly worked out. They just need a few tweaks; once I put together the animatic this week, I'll post it up here. Comments/advice will be much appreciated!

2) Traipsing around the universe
...and getting to sketch all the while. :)
I modeled for a friend of mine, and decided to draw her as she was drawing me. It's all squiggly because I couldn't move very much.

I saw this guy in Chinatown in New York. He stood like that for a couple of minutes, just enough time for me to jot him down on paper. He was wearing an awesome lavender jacket.

3) Why was I in New York? Well, I was coming back to Philadelphia after meeting Lisa Crafts for an internship. Crafts is a fantastic stop-motion/computer animator. She is working with the photographer Aura Rosenberg on a short film; it looks like a really cool project, and I'm excited to work on it with them.

4) 10FieldDesigns
I've got a couple of new bags up at my Etsy account. One is a sketchbook bag that I hand-appliquéd and hand-inked, and the other is a tote for general art supplies (i.e. sketchpad, pencils, etc). You can purchase them here.

5) Aurora Sanction
Last but not least, Aurora Sanction is finally getting off the ground. The comic is still in the planning stages, but now you can follow along with its progress! aurorasanction.blogspot.com
This is another project I'm very excited about. Bookmark it; on the blog will be sketches, updates, and general rantings about the comic.

That's it for now. I've got a couple more things under my belt, but I'll post about them later.

Multiplex

2009-09-18T21:25:00.003-04:00

I've been following a webcomic called Multiplex for a few years now. It's a fun comic about a group of people working in a movie theater. Multiplex has garnered a pretty large fanbase, but like all webcomics, it could use a little more help. Gordon McAlpin, the creator, is trying to raise money to make print anthologies of the series. While I'm sure he'd love straight donations, McAlpin is offering gifts in exchange, including one-of-a-kind, one-shot strips, t-shirts, the book itself, and other cool stuff.

Gordon McAlpin can explain things better than I can.

If you can, help him out. He's even learning Flash so he can animate the characters. Here's what he's got so far for the theme song:

Welcome to the Multiplex 10 Cinemas! from Gordon McAlpin on Vimeo.

Toastbusters

2009-09-18T18:15:00.003-04:00

This was made by some friends of mine and their colleagues, over at Flickr. Enjoy :)

Credits:

Adriel Garcia
Rachel Gitlevich
Victoria Cook
Amanda Zoe
Dani Holuta
Alexander Mostovyk

The Cat Piano

2009-09-08T19:21:00.004-04:00

This has been going around for a few weeks, so I thought I'd add another post about it in the tens that are out there.

The Cat Piano is a smooth, cool animation about cats, Jazz, and some misguided humans. The film was created by The People's Republic of Animation (PRA). You can watch the animation on their site, and also on The Cat Piano's blog, here.

When I saw the film at Annecy, I loved it immediately. Something about Jazz and smoking animals really gets to me. :) I even bought the shirt:

Why yes, I do know the picture is backwards. :)

Anyway, check it out, and look around on PRA's site, too. They have some interesting work.

Frayed Kanye

2009-08-20T19:49:00.008-04:00

I'm sitting here, eating homemade strawberry-peach bread, contemplating my senior thesis. Again. Senior year starts in a couple of weeks, and I am simultaneously pumped and in severe denial.

On to more pleasant - yet still animation related - thoughts.

The musical group The Fray released a video for their cover of Kanye West's "Heartless." Both videos have strong and weak points, but something about animation happening in the real world holds a special place in my heart.

The FRAY - Heartless from IE HAGY on Vimeo.

Kanye even makes a cameo in The Fray's version (he's the adorable little guy bobbing his head with those signature glasses on).

Of course, there's talk of The Fray's version looking just like a video the group Café Tacvba, called "Eres." I've seen it, and the two videos are similar to a scary degree. Still, I can't help but like it. Both The Fray's and Café Tacvba's.

Kanye's original video:

I've heard that Kanye's wasn't actually rotoscope, but rather animated from film, not over it, so that it appears to be rotoscope.

What do you think?
________________________________________________________________________________________

As a side note, I started an etsy account. http://10FieldDesigns.etsy.com
I've decided to start selling handmade, animation-related accessories and things. I love bringing my sketchbook everywhere, but sometimes I don't have room. I rarely dress up, but it'd be nice to have a decent-looking tote to carry around that can still hold my supplies. You know, in case the old couple in the corner of the restaurant is just begging to be drawn, as those types often are.

Two Posts in a Half Hour?

2009-08-05T21:53:00.004-04:00

Yep.

My roommate sent me a link to Little People, an ongoing street art project headed by a guy dubbed "Slinkachu." He takes miniature figures of people, animals, and objects, and photographs them in real spaces. He is also the creator of Inner City Snail, a similar project using --you guessed it-- snails.

I'm probably really late on finding out about this guy, but I still can't help but love his work. You should really check him out.
http://slinkachu.com

Disney, I Feel We Misunderstand Each Other.

2009-08-05T21:29:00.001-04:00

Come back, Disney. I miss you.

Many films Disney is/will be coming out will have left me with an "I'm not sure how I feel about this," reaction. Take, for instance, the re-release of Beauty and the Beast, scheduled for 2010. Disney felt the need to convert that film into 3D. I know they've been working on this for some time, but it still unnerves me slightly On the one hand, I can see the updated film being interesting to look at. But on the other, more sensible hand, I don't get it. OK, so the executives want to gain fans from a new generation. That's commendable. It would also be cool to see the song and dance numbers jump out at me. Still, I like it when some films are allowed to stay the way they are. I loved seeing the flat drawings move. Watching Glen Keane's pencil tests alone requires me to keep a pulley handy for picking my jaw up from the floor. Maybe I'm just really old fashioned. Knowing me, once I actually see it, I'll end up giving a standing ovation or something equally obnoxious in the theater.

Then there is the live action release of The Sorcerer's Apprentice. I'll admit, I am a fan of Nicolas Cage. I am also a fan of classic animation being updated once in a blue moon, depending on what it is and what it's being made into. Unfortunately, I don't know if I like these two things together. Like the comedian Jim Gaffigan says, it's like fruit cake. Fruit is good, and cake is delicious, so these two things should taste amazing together. But they don't. I guess I can't judge the film just yet, and I have a small feeling it'll be better than I think, but I'll just wait and see.

I feel like we're in a bad relationship, Disney. We're drifting apart, and that makes me sad.

In other news, I've been busy with animation and commission work. Yes, I do commissions. I mostly do graphite or ink drawings, but if you want something specific done, email me and I'd be happy to work something out.

As for animation, I have another anticlimactic screencap (that looks freakishly similar to the one from when I first started this little film). Huzzah!

The desktop background this time is from the webcomic Multiplex.

Half-Post

2009-07-28T19:15:00.000-04:00

Another Duckhead sketch. I really need to work on drawing the male form...and camera angles. Working on angles would be good. Hey, if you don't try, you can't get better, right? <--attempt at optimism

Don't let me catch this guy lurking on the internet somewhere other than here.

Gearing Up

2009-07-24T12:00:00.000-04:00

For some ungodly reason, my brain woke me up at 5:30 this morning. So after feigning sleep for a couple of hours, I decided the time would be best spent doing work. I animated something! Well, started to. I'm working on a film based off of my trip to Annecy, France.

Screenshot:

I know, it doesn't look like anything the 9 Old Men would be really proud of, but at least I'm working, right?
My desktop background is an image from Gilda Snowden, one of my favorite abstract painters from Detroit.

I also did this thing:

...which is the first test for my senior film. Again, it doesn't look like much, but I'm trying to see what I can do with a camera. Disregarding the fact that I have a regular digital camera (sans tripod) and my bedroom to work with, I think if I just keep testing, I'll come up with something interesting. Then when I do the same things with a really good camera, lighting, and a set--not to mention a tripod to keep the images still--, it will look 10x as cool.

16bit: Fun for Geeks and Gamers alike

2009-07-22T10:39:00.001-04:00

I've been stuck in the land of nostalgia. A friend of mine found some old pictures of us at the Student Animation Workshop (SAW), a youth animation program in Michigan. It's run by Digital Arts, Film and Television (DAFT), and if you're in Michigan, it's an amazing way to spend your weekends. In 2005, the group I was in created Nubsy, a claymation film about a legless dog who no one wanted. I made the paper puppets, and narrated.

The director of that film is Dee Derusha, who found the pictures. :) She is now the head of Under The Desk Productions, also based in Michigan. You can find out more about what she does, as well as watch Nubsy, here. Her main website is self-titled: Dee Derusha.

As for the title of this entry, 16bit is a group headed by Justin L. and Justin T. They make fun videos like this:

I enjoy watching what 16bit does, because with each video I can see the progression in filming techniques, editing, and special effects. They're also very entertaining. Check them out here. I recommend the Fear the Ninja Skillz and Left 4 Dead videos.

Jury duty, and other American pastimes

2009-07-13T15:56:00.000-04:00

I was called in to do jury duty. After hours of waiting, then lunch, then a couple more hours of waiting, I was told I actually didn't have to serve, as the afternoon court cases were canceled that day. Huzzah American judicial system! I did manage to catch this guy sleeping, though:

I also got to sketch a few people on July 4th, while waiting for the fireworks with a few friends.

Duckhead is watching you.

I've been online too long.

2009-07-06T23:42:00.000-04:00

It may be time to go to sleep. :)

I was looking up random things online, and my long journey of link-clicking led me to this commercial from a few years ago:

It still makes me happy. :D