emmyymme

Storyboards

2011-10-27T23:56:00.001-05:00

Now that Fringe festival has come and gone, I've been focussing on some more detailed storyboards (as well as illustrating a kids book, more on that later!) I wanted some better quality pre-visualization drawings while I'm still figuring out the aesthetic. More to follow!

CBC.ca | Manitoba Scene | Brain Cravers: The Curse of Extollo

2011-07-17T15:40:00.002-05:00

CBC.ca | Manitoba Scene | Brain Cravers: The Curse of Extollo

5 star review - sharing my 100th blog post to celebrate the great news!
Congrats to everyone involved, it's an amazing event I'm thrilled to be a part of!

Brain Cravers!

2011-07-16T16:46:00.003-05:00

Zombies have overrun the Winnipeg Fringe Festival!

World-famous director Vanguard Braun unveils his riveting new play Extollo. As this gripping futuristic drama unfolds, a terrifying deadly curse is unleashed on the Winnipeg Fringe. You're dying to see it … but will you survive?

Warning! Deadly zombie curse in effect. Symptoms include ravenous craving for brains, rapid bodily decay, zombification and death. Attend at your own risk.

I recently was given the opportunity to do the makeup/special FX for a live theatre show created by the incredibly talented Scott Cranwill & Kevin Doherty (Magic Toaster Productions and Soapscum) I was all jitters opening night but it was a blast - anyone in Winnipeg should come check it out this week - it's got it all! http://www.winnipegfringe.com/2011-Fringe/fr_perflist.aspx#Magic+Toaster+Productions
(literally has it all... warnings for subject matter, language, gunshots, strobe lights, cannibalism... don't bring little kids but it's an amazing time!)

NW Animation Festival & New sculpt

2011-05-23T12:39:00.006-05:00

'Light' got into the Northwest Animation Festival!
http://www.nwanimationfest.com/

I'm thrilled to be included with such amazing films and wish I could be there!

My partner designed the creature in the balcony (for the ballet animation) so I've been working on the sculpt. Above are the sculpt, and what the character will look like finished. It sits in the balcony and controls the world on the stage. Dave Hettmer is making the armature and I can't wait too see how it looks finished!

I'm also doing fx/makeup for a stage production this summer - will post pics when I get some - it's a zombie stage show which should be amazing!

I'm finally hitting the stage of the animation where pre-production is finally having things to show for it so updates should be more timely - excited to be animating again :)

Faces - keyframe test

2011-03-07T22:11:00.004-06:00

I've finished the first 16 replacement faces - keyframes will be made after they're all sculpted (as some will function as keyframes for others)
Resin cast into a silicone mold, then filed away and built up with epoxy clay.
And a festival I'm going to submit to - aside from the opportunity to support a SMA member (Chestnut, whose replacement face tutorial was invaluable to working with them!) it looks like it's going to be a great festival! Check it out at http://www.nwanimationfest.com/

And the faces sequenced! (Roughly... only keyframes for now)

Painting Update

2011-01-23T15:29:00.003-06:00

Progress is a bit slow at the moment, mostly working on a series of replacement faces for the girl puppet (photos soon!)
But I've snuck a bit of time for the painting - still in progress, but it's coming along!

Painting in progress

2010-11-25T19:53:00.002-06:00

The Imp is in the process of having the seams cleaned up so no picture yet, but here's the progress on the background painting for the new animation. I went more realistic so the puppet wouldn't look so out of place.

New Projects!

2010-10-24T14:06:00.003-05:00

I've been sculpting away at the Imp, as well as a new character for a new animation. Currently untitled, it's going to be a lot of fun to work on.
It's an idea I've wanted to make for years. An old discarded puppet/creature sits in an attic, locked into place and staring at this painting (heavy Van Gogh influence in the painting). In his mind the character comes to life, and it evolves into a power struggle between the two. I've never thought of a way to do it before - it involved massive sets and props. So - I've decided to do it as a stage production (in stop mo). The lead puppet (sculpt below) and characters dressed in black puppeteering the main elements. It lets me tell a bigger story without needing a big team to do it. And I can focus on movement!

Here's the preliminary sculpts of the Imp (waiting to hear back from the director before continuing on). He'll have little wings which'll be really fun to animate. There'll be two but since it's greenscreened we'll film one, mod him up a bit, then film as the second one.

He's a little too friendly in these pics, need to devil him up a little bit!

New Reel

2010-09-30T03:45:00.001-05:00

I just finished putting together my 2010 demo reel:

Up next - Imp puppet! The head is sculpted and the body will soon follow - the temptation is to try casting silicone into a silicone mold! A little risky if the release doesn't work but would love to try silicone molds.

Long time no Post!

2010-09-27T01:19:00.003-05:00

Been keeping busy! I have some a new puppet (photo soon, just seaming some edges) and while Soma Foama is tricky to work with (very fast cure time) the lightness and feel of the puppet is amazing - so soft and flexible.

Which is great.... as I have my first puppet & animation commission! It's for an independent film and will be a small devilish imp - will be my first character with wings and I can't wait! It might even be shot on film which I've always wanted to try - though if I use a webcam as live assist I can still get away with using Dragon ;)

I've been also practicing on the scroll saw, and made a few geeky puzzles:

Zombie bookmarks:
And a puzzle from a photograph of my friends son.
A fun way to make things and get much better for cutting new props!

Animation relevant photos coming soon!

I love animating!

2010-07-16T01:01:00.002-05:00

I really do - tried animating to sound for the first time today and it's a blast! It really guides movements and has a great feel when animating, really enjoyable. Another test with the ballet puppet and a slight costume change. Final version will have that sheet in the back ironed! And those sunflowers glued down a bit more.

Long Time No Post!

2010-07-13T00:19:00.001-05:00

Ages without posting! Real world events (job issues) caused alot of stress and got in the way of animating! The nerve. But is all now resolved and I'm taking some time off to focus on animation - the goal is to get a job related to this! We'll see how it goes, all I can do is try to get better at what I do and go from there.

On that note, a short test with the ballet puppet:

Thoughts and crits always welcome!

Puppet progress

2010-05-25T23:36:00.003-05:00

Ain't he a pretty flower - once I finish up the costume (and re-make one missing eye) he'll be good to go!
And a quick puppet still in the seaming stage - I wanted to make a little gag I thought of and thought doing an extra walk couldn't hurt a demo reel. He's only 6 1/2" tall but the ball & socket armature (armaverse) is so nice to work with! The arms/hands are wire replacing the thicker ball joints that were originally part of the armature.

Seams on the jeans are done, rest still needs some finishing.

Monsters coming along

2010-05-16T14:36:00.005-05:00

So - mold is made (check out here to see a great tutorial by Nick Hilligoss for making far better molds than the one seen here!) And the armature is fit to it. 1/16th armature wire, 4 strands.
Next the wire is tied together using embroidery cotton (have quite a bit kicking around). I much prefer armatures this way - no twisting the wires together - it has a very nice feel to it. I also don't use epoxy for bones - I use a small piece of cheapie stainless steel wire, bent a few times for strength, then lash that on in place to act as bones. (Mentioned a few years ago on SMA) It's cheaper, faster than waiting for epoxy, allows very thin limbs, and puts little strain on the joint as there's not one little spot that takes all the pressure. I did this for the bones on Henry and he lasted an 8 min film without breaking (admittedly he was a pretty mellow/non-jumping around character)

Next is the skull. I used some clay to create a space for the silicone, then clay for the eyes as well to create a gap. I used Sculpey Light for the skull. It didn't want to come out cleanly at first so I lined the cavity with plastic wrap so it could remove nicely for baking. Very simple skull with movable jaw, and decently light.
Here's a bit of cushion foam to bulk out the large belly. There's a wire going through the stomach as well to keep it from moving too much when animating. Very roughed-in shape - the silicone still fills a 1/4" gap or so.
Here's the first casting, a fail. I used Monster Makers Med. Flesh Tone pigment to tint the silicone before pouring it which works great, and a small container will last forever. I hadn't put enough silicone in the mold and ended up with large empty pockets on the back of the casting. The shiny bit on the back is from a failed attempt to fill the cavities - any silicone against the plaster will come out with a matte finish but left on it's on it's quite shiny.
Here's casting attempt 2 with the first layers of paint. I picked up some Speedball water-soluble block printing ink which is fantastic! Highly recommend it. Just mix a little into a bit of silicone and paint on - and $20-ish gets you 1.25 liq. oz. of 6 different colours each which should last a few dozen puppets.
Here he is in his tutu - just need to clean up some loose threads on the inside. It's a thin veil-like fabric with quite a few coats of a fabric-stiffener on it. He still needs a few more coats of paint, a final coat to remove shininess, gloves (to look like flower petals) and some nice ballet slippers and he'll be ready to go! I hope to have some animation tests up by the end of the week. It's a very quick cheapie puppet, but I can't want to animate!

Monster's Ballet

2010-05-03T00:54:00.003-05:00

"Light" if officially finished! I'll be photographing all the props, getting my website up and running, and posting some behind-the-scenes shots soon...

In the meantime, begin the new project! I decided to celebrate finishing by spending May making a 10 sec spot for SMA as was mentioned on the site. Since it's for the internet I'll be documenting every stage of it here.

4 puppets - 3 background dancers and 1 lead. The background dancers are quite awful, and bring the whole thing crashing down around them. Oh, and they're monsters. Wearing tutu's, and dressed like flowers.

Here's the two sculpts underway - I've been working on them whenever the computer was busy saving, loading, or exporting, to keep myself busy.

Rig Removal

2010-04-19T15:23:00.003-05:00

Editing has begun! I've finished 10 of the 35 shots that need some form of editing - the majority of it is deflicker (pale walls really catch the light!) and some rig removal and 2D effects added in. It's going pretty quickly so far.

I'm posting a video on editing a rig out of one shot - normally I'd take a blank frame at the beginning or end of the animation, line it up, then erase out the rig revealing the normal background behind. But this shot had tiny amounts of camera shift and a little flicker, which is a real hassle when the background's blurry. So I created a half frame then did a loose rotoscope of Henry to make it match. (If I'd roto'd out the rig it would cause an outline showing the difference, but since Henry is moving, any slight changes aren't as visible)

So we've got the original file, the roto'd layer, and the final composite.

Finished Filming!

2010-04-15T00:53:00.003-05:00

Filming has officially wrapped! I've been shooting like crazy the last few weeks and finished the last shot tonight - bringing the film length to just over 8 min (before end credits)

I'd love to say it's a breather to have finished filming, but I have 2 weeks left for alot of editing and effects before it has to be all wrapped up. Still, I'm excited!

I'm going to photograph all the props and get a website up and running with a demo reel (try to get myself out there a bit) The reel should include a few scenes from this piece I haven't posted which is going to be fun - looking forward to sharing them.

Henry - stills

2010-03-30T23:17:00.003-05:00

I reached 6:05 tonight. I think, with the long weekend, and if I don't take any days off and get home straight from work, etc - that I can finish filming a week Sunday. So close! Then get the final time-locked piece to audio - amazingly fortunate to have Brett McCoy and Don Carlson working on the audio. (Brett did a beautiful job on "Judder"!) while I spend the last 3 weeks deflickering, effects, etc. Crazy to think that in a month a piece I've spent the last year on will be wrapped up.

A few new stills - I kept them high-rez - that silicone picks up texture so well, I love how it catches the light.

As much as I wanted a more articulated face, I'm finding the limitations really push me to figure out the body language instead which helps me think in terms of his mental/emotional state for the shot - hopefully some of that will come through!

Moving Along!

2010-03-22T21:44:00.004-05:00

5:11.

Just completed some easier shots in a row which brings the film length to 5:11! 23 shots left to go, with a crazy filming/editing/finishing schedule to end at the end of April. Who needs sleep!

Originally I'd wanted to do the facial animation with the puppet itself, but size and time conspired against me, so I'm using TVPaint for blinks/eyes scrunched shut. Here's the original image, editing, and composite. (Great way to improve painting skills!)

Newest Additions

2010-03-14T20:54:00.003-05:00

Now sitting at 4:30! Animating like crazy, 3 shots left until I enter the final chapter of the film. Still alot of editing to do though.

Keeping some of the later parts of the film quiet for now so instead I'll share our newest addition: Oliver. A 5 month old lab-shepherd cross from a rescue shelter. Such a cutie!

Nap time:
Loves attention:
Winston and Timberay playing outside:
Winston and Oliver waiting for treats:
Making faces:

Past the 3 min mark!

2010-02-17T23:34:00.004-06:00

This glove is approx 1" long - done on 00 needles, knitted with silk thread (the tears were all built into the glove design, not sure I'm brave enough to fray them afterwards!) I'm really enjoying how the camera picks up the stitches.

And.... I'm now proudly sitting at 3:11. Still a ways to go but filming is picking up - camera is set up for tomorrow's shooting, finding that's a good way to end a day. Progress!

Shadow Puppets

2010-01-23T00:25:00.003-06:00

I make puppets who make shadow puppets... where does the cycle end?!

(final version will have a bit of a pause in the middle of the clip there... hopefully it reads? I'm a little too close to it all to tell sometimes)

Animating!

2010-01-04T20:42:00.003-06:00

Had a great Christmas and few days off of work, and been animating!After transferring images from the camera, I load the whole sequence into TVPaint, create a small file, and play through it to find the sequences and frames I'm using. I thought the whole sequence made for a pretty entertaining play through!

This does give away some terrible cheats - the rig is made from Helping Hands linked together, which proved too weak so it's wrapped in armature wire, glued to a piece of wood and weighted by a clamp. (Take a pic of the set without it at the end, and it's very easy to edit out). Same cheat for editing a book that gets kicked - animate only the book itself by just holding it in place. Later cut it out and super-impose it on the scene. Sneaky, not at all elegant, but it works.

Neil Gaiman in Winnipeg!

2009-12-19T00:11:00.004-06:00

Whoot! I took an evening off Tuesday to go to the Neil Gaiman signing/reading at the mall. They'd won a contest based on a Halloween party, and you'd never realize how popular he is until you walk into a mall with a line already snaking through it!

My friend Vanessa and I went, go there around 4:30, checked our coats in the mall and got in line. At 5 they let us into the store (closed ahead of time to set up) and found a spot. I brought my Coraline Box, and bought a copy of 'The Graveyard Book'. Very crowded - he signed for 869 people -- this is on a day that meant facing -40 temperatures just to get there!

Around 6pm he came out, talked about the contest and the round setup of the area (he rotated periodically), did a reading from 'Odd and the Frost Giants' and answered some fan questions. Very entertaining all around! Then, the signing line started. Wow. We were divided into 7 quadrants (not sure how that math works!) and given numbers. Everyone under 12 went first, which is good since the signing went until 1:30am. We were section 3, and the mall had closed by the time we got into line. Probably 2 hours standing, following a winding path through the store. Great advertising - we spent quite awhile looking at those shelves! Aside from the standing (and lack of foresight to bring food!) it really was fun - we had some great conversations with the people around us. Like minded people make for great fun, especially when the tired-hungry-sleep-deprviation humour starts kicking in!

Getting the box signed was really cool - he asked what my site was, and if I'd played with the arms at all (I have!) and thanked me for promoting the movie. Overall super cool! Got home around 12:30 - my friend and I both staggered through work the next day, but was well worth it!

2009-12-10T00:24:00.004-06:00

Have to admit -35C weather is a great motivation to stay inside and get some work done!Henry's graveyard of burnt out bulbs surround the ceiling light...

There's some crazy dust on the lens, seems to jump around a bit sometimes, and the dust blower did nothing - any suggestions? I'll probably stop by the camera shop tomorrow to see what I can find.

Blew a fuse!

2009-12-03T23:43:00.002-06:00

A few quick shots finished before I blew a mini-fuse in my lighting kit:

Fortunately I was able to pick up a new fuse in the city, but it took out my mini-light string and a bit of my momentum with it. I've got it back up and running now, replacement mini-lights are slightly different, hopefully it'll still flow! This weekend should finish up the burnt out bulb sequence, which is exciting, fun, and sad too - I really enjoyed playing with such a limited light source. Also a bit intimidating - the first shot up with the normal lighting setup is one of the most complicated ones in the film. Many elements to keep track of, as well as a moving camera.

Should be fun though - strangely my process has really changed during this film. During Judder I was OBSESSED with X-sheets - had to use them to keep track of the kids moving at different framerates - but I was trying to mark out everything, when I thought a leg should land, when an arm would stop moving... it got pretty obsessive. This film it's all much more intuitive, and Dragon is a huge help with the different playback options! It's really about thinking how I want elements to move, checking where they are in their arc, and trying to force myself to do longer holds then I ever think is necessary (4 frames seems like a long time until it's playing back!) But I'm finding the intuitive way much more enjoyable and better results - should be interesting to see how it plays out with the complicated stuff!

Searching in the dark

2009-11-18T18:05:00.002-06:00

Actually pretty happy with this shot which is a nice change from wanting to reshoot so much! I just passed the 1 min mark, and am really enjoying animating!

A few Stills

2009-11-10T23:25:00.002-06:00

With the replacement lights set up, I can return to filming Henry dealing with his burnt out light. These little things make lighting really fun.
And a still from a scene shot a few days ago; Henry with his music box (potters circling a vase/pot)
Backing up files I found this - my attempt at traditional animation, using a homemade light table then scanning the images in. (Blink and it's over!)

Slacker Henry

2009-11-03T18:09:00.005-06:00

The computer is back from the shop! They never did find out what was wrong, so I bought this guy :A tv tuner that works as an analog/digital converter for my camera - it's cheaper than the heavy duty options, but better reviewed then the cheapie converters. Should work out well.

Working with Dragon is amazing, love it! It just feels more intuitative - I still want to get a small monitor (shockingly hard to find) to keep near the set to watch feedback on.

Hmm based on this clip I think I put too much Slacker in Henry's Silicone (bad bad pun, bad me!)

Thanks so much for the comments - you guys/gals/stop mo puppets are keeping me motivated and going!!

First Shots and Technical Glitches

2009-10-25T12:37:00.004-05:00

Filming has begun! Still hampered by the technical issues - the main computer is still in the shop, and the older one isn't up to running Dragon, so it'll be nice once I get the new setup up and running.

In the meantime I started filming.

The main room light has burnt out; Henry pulls down some Christmas lights he'd strung up in his room so that he can light his way to find a new bulb and fix the main light. Ironically, the Christmas lights burnt out just after this scene. I'll film other scenes while waiting for the replacement, but thought I'd post this one for now.

(edit - looks like it's playing a bit choppy, hopefully it'll play properly!)

Finishing Details

2009-10-18T23:14:00.003-05:00

Henry's bed in the semi-attached room on the set. Some mini-ceramics lining the walls. There's a great trick to making them - use the cheap white Sculpey (very important to use it and not Super Sculpey) bake, then use a bit of matte gel or light paint and powder with embossing powder. Put in the oven on broil for a few min (watching very closely). The powder melts and takes on a ceramic-glaze look, and the Sculpey browns.
Henry's a bit obsessive over keeping his mugs in the right spot.
The trees are going feral in his paintings, crawling onto the walls.
All the clutter is glued or museum-wax'd down. Such a different scale -bottom shelf is the girl puppet from Judder.

A few things slowing me down - the computer's AV in suddenly stopped working, so it's in the shop being diagnosed, which means no live feed from the camera - so filming begins with the old computer and camera if necessary! Tonight I sleep, for tomorrow I film!

Henry!!

2009-10-05T00:47:00.003-05:00

I still need to fix up the chest block and the foam on the main body, but I couldn't resist!

Stainless Steel Pre-drilled Balls

2009-09-27T20:33:00.002-05:00

I've posted this on the forums and thought I'd post here as well;

Awhile ago I bought some stainless steel balls, meant for jewelery purposes, predrilled and tapped. I thought of using them for a ball and socket armature, but haven't had a chance to try them out yet, and won't for awhile. They were wholesale, so I've got a ton of them kicking around - so, if anyone would like some to try out, just let me know and I'll mail them out. No worries about postage or anything like that - more people experimenting with different mediums is always good!

They're 6mm and 4mm, predrilled, though I've no idea what hole or tap size. If you'd like some just send me an email with your address and I'll ship them off!

Smile, Henry

2009-09-23T23:20:00.002-05:00

Show the nice people your new teeth.

Henry's Studio

2009-09-15T00:27:00.002-05:00

A few notes - the lighting is just a quick setup while the final version is in the mail, along with the baseboards! The camera is just on a small lazy-susan sort of deal, but will be using the Manfrotto for the animation's moves. It's a bit dark - might try re-uploading a brighter version in the morning, but I'm off to bed!

A few more pics

2009-09-01T22:16:00.003-05:00

A few more (larger) pictures of Henry - I initially planned on making 3 casts of the head for safety's sake, but since the head rigging became much more simplified (just a jaw bone) I'm wondering if one will suffice.
Henry, posing with the backside of a canvas.

If you click on the image below to enlarge it - the light really catches the texture on the silicone. It's going to be fun to light (or a headache, will find out which!)

Translucence shows in the cheekbone - Henry looking contemplative.
Eyelashes might need some trimming based on this one.
Showing off his plugs..

Henry got plugs!

2009-09-01T00:59:00.004-05:00

Henry gets hair! Using a bamboo/silk blend yarn (untwisted and pulled apart) and a punch - a very small sewing needle with the end of the eye cut off to make a mini U shape that pushes the thread into the silicone, held in a mini grip I got from Animate Clay with a set of Delrin eyes.

Easier to punch the hair in while it's long and trim down...
Leading to some fun hair styles before it's barber time.
And looking more the respectable aged artist he's supposed to be. Once the hair is finished I'll go back and add a few more skin highlights, once I see how it all interacts. He's getting closer to his big film role!

Walls up and papered

2009-08-26T00:18:00.003-05:00

Eeks! Somehow it's been another month since I posted - been working away busily. We finally got a break in the weather (most rain I can remember) and I was able to get some more set pieces chopped up - the walls are now up and wallpapered! Some overlaps for removable walls that'll be tacked down during filming. Baseboards and a bit of finishing touches on the floor are next. Over half the paintings are done, and all but a mini fridge and heater are built. It's getting closer!
It's a great motivator to see it all coming together, each day I can't wait to add more and get even closer to starting filming date - which'll mean many more well-lit (forgive the flash lighting here) updates and clips, can't wait!!!

Arms!

2009-07-20T23:11:00.004-05:00

After many discarded castings figuring out how to get the armature to register properly in those little fingers, I have finished my first arm! Aluminum wire armature wrapped in thread, silicone arm and paints.

Progress!

2009-07-15T00:56:00.003-05:00

Henry has an arm! Still needs to be trimmed, and now that I'm more confident with painting inside the mold I might write this one off as a test. But I love this stuff! It's got this great feel to it and can do a complete fold at the elbow without any problem or distortion at all. I ran out of time with the armature so I'm chalking the wooden experiments up to experience, and am going with wire wrapped in thread.

It's been a whole month since I last posted which is a bit scary! In the time during I lost a week to some sort of cold/flu, but have been making progress... The main newness is a new scroll saw! New to me - bought it from someone who bought it used 40 years ago. So it's got a history of lasting! This is Henry's giant art unit - the two side pieces will hinge open revealing all the shelves stuffed with paper and tubes of paint.Some more scroll-saw fun - a mail-desk (still needs full length legs) and a little dresser, awaiting knobs.
This was made for me - Henry's bedframe! Instead of a mattress he'll have a quilt tied to the posts like a hammock. The quilt pieces are painted up and ready to sew.
Henry's skull - he has a removable armature wire lower jaw. The holes were originally for small wires to manipulate the mouth but it's so small I'll probably keep it very simple and push it a bit further in TVPaint afterwards.

Some paint bottles for that big unit - I made some out of Sculpey, cast them in DragonSkin, and have been making plaster copies - 50 so far. After casting in Silicone I can't think of anything else I prefer! It's amazing stuff for making molds.

Set progress and updates...

2009-06-10T01:28:00.005-05:00

The set is up! Though it'll need some structural reinforcements - had to bring it in before it was ready to avoid a series of rain-storms lately, soon as we get a nice few days it'll be fixed up. This is the flooring so far; the wood is from a bamboo rug from JYSK that's been sanded down, cut to size and stained (rest to be stained tomorrow). The set is 5' across and has one extra room at the back still to be added on.
1 lb of Sculpey to make this tile piece!
Mostly out of focus, but along the lines of some of the shots in terms of perspective to the set.
Henry now has hands!! Which is good since...
He also has gloves. Just set on top since the clay is still quite squishy, will be able to put it on properly once the silicone version is cast.
His other glove (mis-matched) is also quite worn out - the fraying is knitted in by dropping and adding stitches. Can't sew this one shut until it's right on the hand with all those loopy bits.
And his first painting - there will be visible cross-hairs over it as it hangs in replacement of a window.
Some lightbulbs - still need to make the boxes for them. These will all be burnt-out ones (42 in total) and will be airbrushed greyer.
The gray on the floors is just some slip, I'll wipe it back until I get the levels right. Pretty behind schedule, but it's slowly coming together!

Painting

2009-05-20T17:31:00.004-05:00

I had a great chance to try out the airbrush - painting a mural for a new library opening up in Dugald, MB. This one measured about 5' across - it was alot of fun trying out the airbrush on the book and worm.Now heading out to Dugald means seeing... the Praries. This one was taken just beyond the perimeter. It's crazy how fast you can be surrounded by one massive field...

Normally I'm not much inspired by the praries, and always find it exciting to go some place with hills, let alone mountains! But this trip came at just the right time - figuring out what Henry's paintings will look like. I shot about 300 pics through 3 trips out there, and will be using them as the basis for compositions of Henry's painting - happy to be inspired!
Henry is a painter, an artist... though he hasn't really done anything in a long while. This is about to change. Here are his canvasses - currently 30 plus some stretcher frames, will see if I need more once the set is up. Some will be painted right from the get go and others done during the animation - but I'm waiting to see how they look in the set before painting them. There are 2 stains of wood, and differently primed canvasses;
Adding the mini staples (some back, some side) took about 1/2 hr per canvas - each is made out of jewellery wire and had to be bent to shape and holes punched in the canvas frame.
And this is the floorplan for Henry's studio, very excited! The set room was re-cleaned tonight and set building starts tomorrow. Since storyboards are finished I mapped out each shot - each layer of gray is what that shot sees, so the darker the area, the more popular it will be. The set is 5' across and will break away in a few places for access, with all removable walls.

Storyboards....

2009-05-05T02:35:00.002-05:00

are complete! After much time and effort, I have finished storyboards to work from. Much thanks to Strider/Mike for all his help and encouragement!

It's very tricky to post any without giving away more of the story than I'm ready to, but I'll have a look through in the morning and see if I can pick a few. In the mean time, 2:40 am and the alarm goes off at 7 for work!

All in all the animation is timed out to be 8:55 long (I was aiming for 6-ish minutes) and I'll figure out scene count tomorrow. Progress!!

Armaturing

2009-05-03T18:17:00.007-05:00

Progress! This weekend was beautiful out and was time for some armaturing.
Necessary supplies: dremel tool, assorted bits for it (sanding drum, cut off disc and drill bits being the most handy), goggles, jewellers saw, 4-40 thread tap, jewellers pin vice (amazingly handy thing!) and some oak.
And, of course, an entertained shop dog. He won't go in if I'm out - I think he's convinced I run around with a frisbee and tennis balls the second he looks away.
The armature design is inspired by various types posted on the forums, and by Andrew Brown's work. The oak is a pain to cut, but makes up for it with sanding beautifully! Rods will go into the bottom of these pieces with balls on the end (wooden) to make ball & socket ankles/feet.

This is a shoulder piece - b&s joint on the shoulder, and hinge joint with elbow. (Will be a hinge and swivel combo on the lower half of the arm). After basic shaping is done, a burred ball bit for the dremel is used to curve out the inside of the joint.
Once the inside of the joint is shaped, it's placed over the ball and pounded down until the ball pops in place. Then a hole is drilled through to add a tension screw. Initially I tried threading the hole in the oak, but the threads gave before the oak tightened, so a nut is still necessary. The nut will be slightly indented into the wood then glued in place. Once I know what hardware is needed the screws will be replaced with appropriately long hex screws.

One of the completed segments - ball and socket hip joint, hinge knee. Metal rods will be picked up tomorrow for more assembly!
End of day, and a dog tired from the day in the sun.

Keeping me amused...

2009-04-17T22:40:00.003-05:00

While script writing/storyboarding, getting so close to the end but that means so much more fine tuning! More sculpting and some armature pics coming soon.

In the meantime, these keep me happy;
An Easter chocolate worth having - the Defiant! They were selling them this year and I couldn't resist.

And a movie worth seeing: Repo! The Genetic Opera. Alot of fun to watch and some great lighting as well.Updates within the week with more sculpting, and the armature begins this weekend! After pricing out metal options (don't have the tools, or the room for them) I'm definitely decided on a wooden armature. Should be fun!

Sneak Peek at Henry

2009-04-10T22:07:00.004-05:00

Introducing Henry - just about ready to cast, and a previsualization of what he'll look like painted. He'll be done up in Dragonskin, Delrin airbrushed eyes, and will have a moveable jaw for speaking.

Progress

2009-04-07T19:13:00.003-05:00

Reunited with an old friend this weekend - my kit! John Grey Autocrat - a kit made in the U.K. in the 60's. The ride is a 20" Streamer - haven't been able to track down much info about it, but wow does it sing! I don't get a chance to play much but I love the feeling when I do.On the animation front - the rough draft of the storyboards are complete, and have evolved quite a bit - a huge thanks to a certain dark Strider who's been very helpful (and patient) - I can't wait to finish up the revised storyboards!
In the mean time I've begun working on the sculpt of Henry - can't wait to have a completed main character! This month is devoted to finishing props, starting the set, and hammering out the rest of those storyboards!

Dragon Skin Tests #3 - 3D object

2009-03-06T19:51:00.006-06:00

Just a quick update - along with scripting I've been doing more DS tests - this time in a 2 piece mold of a 3D object (a cute little Sculpey turtle). The airbrush compressor has been delayed so the pigmenting is ground pastel powdered between 6 thin layers of silicone.

Dragon Skin Tests #2 - Pigments

2009-03-02T00:07:00.010-06:00

More tests - now with pictures! I was very worried about pigmenting Dragon Skin given it's picky reputation, but so far have been pleasantly surprised. This is 5 test strips, made from a plaster mold. A bit of white remains on the surface from treating the mold cavities with white acrylic paint to act as a release. It worked, but took some of the paint with it.
Details below 1 & 2.
1 is: thin coat DS brushed on, baked (1/2 hr 150F), layer of black acrylic paint and DS mixed, bake, layer of red acrylic and DS mixed, fill rest of cavity, bake.
2 is: Thin coat of DS brushed on, baked, layer of soft pastel scraped off with a blade and mixed with DS, baked, repeat, fill, bake.

Details below 3 & 4.
3 is (my current favourite) thin layer of DS brushed into mold, soft pastel sprinkled on, baked, layer of DS, sprinkling of soft pastel, bake, fill, bake. Smaller shavings will result in a finer detail for the future.
4 is: thin layer of DS brushed on, baked, thin layer of DS followed with red FW Acrylic inks (brushed on very lightly), bake, thin layer of DS followed with green ink, fill, bake.
Details below 5 and closeup, 3.
5 is: Black Liquitex paint mixed directly into the DS, baked. Small white flecking on top is the acrylic paint pulled from the mold; for two things that aren't supposed to get along the paint was very successful and the only material change was increasing the stretch of the DS and making it slightly tacky; talc would be needed.
Closeup 3 details a small diagonal red line where too much pigment fell and the DS didn't stick to itself properly; after rubbing the surface the top layer slightly peels.
The setup - a chocolate milk container and popscicle stick were used to mix the DS, oversized eyedroppers to measure.
Hard to make out (bit of motion blur on the first) this is 100% DS and 70/30 DS/Slacker in the second.
Same pieces, stretched. Hard to see much difference from the pictures but the Slacker mixed piece stretches much easier and has a more organic feel.
As all pieces are holding up well this is very encouraging for colouring!

Dragon Skin Tests #1 - Slacker

2009-03-01T00:01:00.002-06:00

Today was the first day of playing with the Dragon Skin silicone. Pleasantly surprised by the lack of odor, but what a sticky mess! I used eye droppers to dispense, which was still drippy and sticky but far less worse than if I'd tried to just pour it... can't imagine. Getting thin layers to paint between should be interesting.

Pictures to follow - I made a simple plaster mold with 6 channels in it (cut pop bottle in half, fill with plaster, use spoon to make channels). I mixed a batch of Dragon Skin (carefully avoiding all of it's sensitivities, I went with half of a chocolate milk carton, worked like a charm) and used 20ml of parts A and B. Mixed with a popsiscle stick.

I put some Dragon skin in each channel, then mixed in increasing amounts of Slacker, channel 1 being pure DS and 6 being approx. 60% Slacker. Then threw in the oven for 1/2 hour at 150F.

The results so far are very promising! The pure DS is nice and stretchy, but a little tougher than I'd like. The last two continued in the oven for another hour to be sure, but are too sticky and unsolidified to use for animation - as fits with this writeup: http://www.sculpt.com/technotes/slacker_info.htm

The 20-30% Slacker tests show the most promise, having a nice mix of stretch, compress and solidity. I'll try to fine tune the ratio, and begin tinting tests as well.

It's up!

2009-02-24T00:32:00.001-06:00

Finally finished... oh how I need sleep :)

Coraline Entry

2009-02-22T23:26:00.002-06:00

My dragon skin has arrived and is acclimating itself to room temperature as we speak :) It required a few days before playing with it, which suited me well as I was finishing my entry for the Stop Motion Animation Coraline contest they've had running. I'll be posting the final version tomorrow (cutting it close!) but in the mean time here's a teaser.....

Then back to our regularly scheduled work on the new animation and dragon skin!

Silicone Puppets

2009-02-11T23:03:00.002-06:00

So, I've decided to give it a go... silicone puppets. A big part of the decision was the Coraline box (dang them and their making me do more work!) I knew I wanted to try something different, and being able to handle a silicone cast piece gives a better idea of the feel and look I'll be pursuing. Foam Latex is a very popular and tempting choice, but as I've never handled it before it's hard to be as concretely sold on it as I'm sure others are.

I've spent the last two days reading everything online I could about Dragon Skin in particular and silicone in general; I've gone through the handbook on SMA, as well as most of the threads referencing it; Strider's blog, and a good chunk of threads about it at the Effects Lab - a great place to catch up on information!! My plan is to paint intrinsically, airbrushing thin layers of FW Inks between thin layers of the silicone, then filling the mold with a mix of the silicone and slacker to create a softer inner bit. I've read this might cause wrinkles, but as it's for an older character I'll be sculpting quite a few into the master sculpture to begin with. The only catch is that it will still be awhile before I can order the materials safe from freezing; in the mean time I can get some NSP clay and start the master sculpt!

As for knitting... the problem with knitting with itsy, bitsy, teeny, small-as-a-hair kneedles is that.... they're a tad easy to loose. You drop one, you'll never find it again. So I'll need to be ordering a replacement before I can finish the gloves!

I've also been creating something for the Coraline contest over on stopmotionmagic - hope to get alot of filming done over the long weekend and soon have something to show for it! I don't want to post any pictures yet, but lets just say that roller coasters are a time consuming prop to make!! ;)

Smaller and smaller we go!

2009-01-28T01:00:00.009-06:00

I've started the gloves! Having Ceri (WoollyMonster) doing miniature work as well is great encouragement. This is using 0.5mm needles with 1 strand of embroidery thread - there are approx. 30 stitches per inch. Since they're fingerless I'm going to cheat and pinch the fabric together between the fingers rather than make teeny individual bits, so the piece below is the pattern to follow. It's slow going - the thread is very slippery and the needles very bendy!
I've also been working on his sweater (he wears alot of clothes, this one!) I couldn't find a properly scaled verigated yarn I liked, so I bought a thicker brown embroidery cotton (original colour seen in the second pic) then dyed it with black and white acrylic ink.

I like how the colouring turned out, but it turns my hands gray when I knit it! No doing this on the bus. I'll probably coat it with a diluted matt glaze when it's done so it doesn't powder gray all over the set.And here's part of the sweater vest! He puts this on after waking up from falling asleep in his chair - a way to add character and incidental animation (hopefully!) Knitting's been great for giving me time to think over the next storyboards and really try to develop it fully.
And... can't film without a nice orderly set room! I've been spending time trying to get the spare room I work in to an 'everything in it's right place' mentality. It's coming along but slowly! Too much stuff.
Detail - paints, Sculpey and supplies.

Contracts are Signed!

2009-01-16T22:45:00.002-06:00

Wednesday I headed down and signed the contracts for the artists fund. It's official! And just a little intimidating. I have until January 31, 2010, to have a completely finished .mov or beta sp tape submitted by 4:30pm. Storyboards are about 75% done, and character/set design are about 40%.
I should be finishing the vest in 1-2 more days, and will be making a sweater but with slightly larger needles (2mm) and only 1 strand of veragated yarn so it'll go much faster.
I can now order supplies, and start getting serious about this! Pictures and notes to follow!

I'll be working full time at my day job during this project, so it'll be a time crunch for sure! That said - I have a little unrelated animation planned to film tomorrow, as a fun celebration - hopefully find time for it and post it this weekend!

and a little bit more....

2009-01-01T00:50:00.002-06:00

Mini-cables! This is 14 sts wide by 30 rows on 1.5mm needles and 6 strands embroidery cotton.

After a day of browsing sweater styles I decided Henry's sweater needed a little something extra. I decided on a simple cable stitch after realizing my dreams of grandeur and complicated plans...didn't translate as well. On a larger scale this stitch would be much easier to recognize! So simple it is.
This is a basic cable stitch, for any of the knitters out there:
Rows 1,3,5: K4, P6, K4
Rows 2,4: P4, K6, P4
Row 6: P4, slip 3 onto cable needle, K3, K3 from cable needle, P4

It's a little too big for the scale of the sweater, so I'm going to drop the cable stitching down from 6 sts to 4, and add a 1 st column on either side to switch the sweater back to the good side of the stocking stitch for the rest. There'll be two twists, approx. where suspenders would be. For colour I'm thinking a veriagated brown/grey cotton - should be able to pick some up this weeekend!

On other animated news I am now a cheerful owner of an airbrush (Paasche Millenium) Anyone have favourite compressors? I'm now joining the overwhelmed masses at choosing one just right.

Knitting

2008-12-31T00:04:00.010-06:00

My needles arrived!
So here it looks like normal knitting...

Until we add a penny for scale. (That's 4/5 of a US penny.. dang exchange rate! :P ) This is 10 stitches by 20 rows on size 1.5 needles, the second largest of the new batch. I used the full 6 strands of embroidery cotton, and at this size it wasn't too bad to work with at all, could do this on the bus without a problem.

My size 0.5mm needles - these I wouldn't even dare bring on the bus! Aside from dropping them constantly (afraid of bending them) they're very different to work with. I'm used to being able to do a stocking stitch literally with my eyes closed! These little guys are like being forced to work right-handed (or left-handed for you 'normal' people out there!) I managed a few rows before it slipped off... will try again when I'm more awake. I tried with 1 strand embroidery cotton but will try with sewing thread tomorrow.

This is the collection of 5 different sizes I bought, ranging between 0.5mm and 2mm. The penny gives a good idea of the thinness of those little ones! I'm afraid to look at them wrong for fear of them withering...

I'm really looking forward to some puppet clothes with this assortment though! I don't have the final puppet made but I've a good idea of his size so can make his scarf and hat now, and a sweater that he wears at one point later on. It's supposed to be bulky/loose so it should be okay to do it ahead of time. Going to be fun to design the little pattern!

2008-12-24T23:54:00.002-06:00

Some props for the upcoming set - these will hang on a wall with 2 threads suspending them from each other.
They were also the first experiment with casting with a 2 part plastic resin (have to double-check the exact name of it). Worked well overall, and great to cast with, sandable and drillable once cured (which occurs incredibly quickly). However - the paint refuses to cure. I probably should've primed the faces first, but as they won't be touched on set it *should* be okay (famous last words). I might start posting some storyboards as I go, but don't want to give away too much story!!

Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays, may you enjoy yourself! I've got a dog who fell asleep curled up with a tennis ball on the couch and a cat below on the floor playing with the now-dropped tennis ball - so things are good :)

2008-12-23T18:40:00.002-06:00

Okay - slowed down from the havoc Christmas brings, but I am now caught up to where I was before the crash! I'm still doing storyboards on the computer, but am now saving to 2 seperate files and uploading all the final images of the day through Celtx.

I'm finding inspiration in the strangest places lately! Most recent is this quote from 'Dead Souls' by Nikolai Gogol:
"And across the old fellow's wooden face there suddenly flashed a ray of light, which expressed, not feeling, but the pale reflection of a feeling: an apparition, similar to the sudden appearance of a drowning man, which appearance elicits a joyous shout from the crowd assembled on the shore. But in vain do the rejoicing brothers and sisters cast a rope from the bank, and wait to see whether he will not rise once more; whether his hands are exhausted with his struggles or not, the apparition is the last. He is not seen again, and the calm surface of the unresponsive fluid seems still more terrible and more desolate than before. Thus Pliushkin's face, after the momentary feeling which had flashed across it, became more unfeeling and expressionless than ever."

Not saying it's cheerful - but it's beautifully put, and there are parts of the animation where I want to be able to express similar sentiment; I feel like I'm collecting sources and references in anticipation of actually filming!

not really stop motion related...

2008-12-20T00:08:00.002-06:00

But this is just crazy cool! Had to share it on here

http://projectaiko.com/

Someone in Ontario built this in their basement - it's been getting alot of flak in the media (mostly playing up the fembot imagery) but really it's an incredible achievement and aside from being so advanced - was done by someone in their basement!!

It's going to be interesting to follow - even to see what method will be used for the facial movements. So many of the facets of craft cross over with each other (casting, working with silicone, creating artificial movement, beit stop motion or live-action animatronics) that it's really inspiring to see alternative applications of things. Plus it's just cool :P

Planning Ahead

2008-12-13T00:06:00.004-06:00

So I've still got a ton of storyboarding to do before I even begin set building let alone props... but... when can that stop anyone :D
I'm really excited about this new project, and keep thinking about it. One decision - admittedly largely influenced by Coraline - is to venture into miniature knitting - eeks!
I've been knitting since I was little, and this has been my most ambition project to date:A 4x8' 'Castle in the Sky' blanket made from a pattern I created in TVPaint. So it'll be good to work smaller this time ;)
Will be awhile until the needles get here (special order off ebay) but I can't wait to get started on making his gloves, hat, scarf, a sweater or two, etc! Get them going and work on them on bus rides so I'm not losing time later on.
Can't wait to start - has anyone here tried working with the tiny needles - any advice?

The Good and The Bad

2008-12-04T22:51:00.004-06:00

Time to update - now with good and bad news!
The good is that I was accepted for a fund! I'm very excited - it covers some props/material costs, as well as free training of some very cool equipment, as well as the use thereof. I'll still be working full time a regular job (which I've been at for about a week and a half now - I have energy to animate when I'm done which is all that matters!) and will be filming at home, but the extra training and equipment will be invaluable! Aside from learning more about things like Final Cut and how to use their recording programs, I'll have access to very nice recording booths, and new editing suites, and can do all my wire removals on TVPaint at home or in After Effects there! Really excited about it. I have to commit to finishing the new piece in 1 year, which is a little terrifying, but also a good kick in the butt to get in gear!
The bad is that a file error must've occurred while saving my storyboards I've been working on. It looked like it worked properly, but opening the file the next day everything was gone.... a bit of a setback to say the least. I'd exported some of the images, but will have to re-do a number of them as well. Back to saving everything in triplicate! On the upside I'm sure it'll be better the second time through.
I've also started using Celtx for storyboarding once the images are drawn, and really advice checking it out if you're at that stage! (Not the program that crashed btw!) It's very organized, and is keeping my notes, images, and free to boot. Having loaded some images into there is the reason I didn't lose everything when the file was lost. www.celtx.com
Still getting used to this bed-before-1am and getting-up-before-7 deal, but work is going well and allowing me the time and energy I need to animate, so all is good in the end!

Sweet Coraline....

2008-11-23T03:05:00.008-06:00

Just about two weeks ago I got an email that's kept me pretty excited since then - the promise of something special in the mail! It arrived and special doesn't begin to describe it. I can't describe how excited I was unpacking this package, and it lives up to every bit of hope! From the upcoming movie 'Coraline' (that every stop-motion fan is already a fan of from the trailers) this is a unique box sent out through the mail.

The outside of the antiqued box, numbered 11/50.

Opening it is magic! Inside is a key and the password 'PUPPETLOVE' to the www.theothercoraline.com website which unlocks a clip about the world from a puppets point of view - and great teasers for the puppets for the film. The letter is sealed with wax and, appropriately, a black button.
Inside the envelope is a letter from the Coarline Team.
"Since ancient times, strangers who work on feature films have sent strangers with great websites mysterious gifts in the hope that they can connect over a mutual interest and come to love each other. Some people think that receiving random gifts from strangers in the mail is illicit. Not when the gifts are awesome, right?"
A detail of the included photograph. Pay attention to the Other Fathers arms/hands...
Because here they are! They're 'JOINTED/WIRE/SILICON' and include the metal square tubing at the end where they'd join onto the puppet. An actual part of the film! I know stop-motion is so tactile but being able to touch a part of the puppet used is an amazing experience! Seeing the tubing on the end, and feeling the resistance of the wire in the fingers is a learning experience in itself, I feel like x-raying them to see how the finger wires are joined inside ;) I'm incredibly thrilled to have this part of movie history, and this box will find a prized place for display!

To quote from the letter: "Led by Henry Selick, the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, this team has created the first stop-motion feature shot in 3-D. Based on the beloved best-selling children's classic by Neil Gaiman, Coraline is a fairy-tale nightmare steeped in classic storytelling, craftsmanship, and the old-fashioned art of moviemaking magic. That means everything is handmade. Every leaf, drawer pull, and roast turkey. Even the rusty shower water."

I was looking forward to this movie already - now I can't wait!! C'mon February, and c'mon IMAX to show it here in 3D!!

Winter

2008-11-17T23:27:00.002-06:00

Winter is official, evidenced by the deer standing 6 feet away from me on the other side of the window, eating all of the bird seed out of our feeder. As long as I stay still, she doesn't seem to care that I'm here.
The downside to this (aside from -40C weather, blizzards and trudging through piles of snow) is that foam latex is now much much harder to procure! Having finally decided to take the plunge... well, putting the toe in the water at least, going for the 2 part no-bake to start with - I now find it's much more difficult in winter (due to that lovely below 0C weather). Hopefully the newest company I've emailed will have some good shipping news!

Storyboards are now about 60% done and going well. Much more work than I'd anticipated, but I know how much it's going to help to already have a feel for my camera setup of each shot before I started filming. In the meantime I've been researching the SMA forums for ways to animate the face -I can spend hours re-reading old threads there, very addictive! Hopefully late this week I'll be able to start testing and posting attempts. Can't wait to post photo's again!

baseboards and jobs

2008-11-09T17:47:00.002-06:00

Progress has been very slow! I was drafted to re-do all the baseboards at home (always a tradeoff for not paying rent!) On the upside, I have a shiny (though not horribly accurate) mitre saw out of the deal.
Job applications have been killing alot of time as well - filling out applications, faxing, emailing, dropping off in person, attending 1 hour interviews only to find out they've already filled the slot! It's a big time investment and I can't wait until I have a job I can tolerate, and maybe even enjoy every other Thursday. In the meantime the frustrations are fueling my need to get storyboarding done more efficiently. Yay for inspiration, however it may come about.

movement

2008-10-31T01:06:00.003-05:00

He gets up from his chair and sits down nearer the music box.
He slowly gets up from his chair and drags it closer to the music box.
He jumps up, excited, and leaps over to the music box.
He grumbles as he stumbles to the music box.
He tiptoes quietly to the nearby music box.
He shuffles listlessly to the seemingly distant music box.
He mumbles as he makes his way to the music box.
He sighs and drags himself over to the music box.
He gently maneuvers to the music box.
He dances towards the music box.
He leans towards the music box.

This is why I'm really enjoying storyboarding - it's realizing all these options for each movement - noone simply gets up and does something - they do it with a style!

Side note - has anyone tried wooden armatures? I'm going to try making one, if only for the learning experience, but hopefully to work with ;)

storyboarding

2008-10-28T00:36:00.002-05:00

Okay, I've got 2 minutes of storyboarding done! It's a rough time estimate, as I'll tweak all the timing when it's done, but it's giving me a good sense of flow. As frustrating as it is to try to draw it all out (I want to build everything instead!) it's been good for thinking more about camera angles, length of shots, etc.
Attached is one of the frames - as you can see, very very simple drawing style - the cat's sneaking back out of a cupboard after getting stuck inside, as seen through a Polaroid camera. We've actually got one kicking around, so I might try and see if I can take pictures with my DSLR through the Polaroid view finder for the shots - if not I'll fudge a frame for it.

Cats

2008-10-24T20:25:00.002-05:00

So, a call for help from anyone reading this! I need cat stories! My new piece is about, among other things, the relationship between an older artist and his cat. I really want to play up the dynamic between the two, and I think the cat is a great potential source of humour in the film, but ours tend to sleep more than do anything ;) (And I'm allergic which limits things a bit)
So anyone who has stories about their cats they'd like to share, and are okay with potentially ending up in a piece, please share! Any animal that random has to have some entertaining moments ;)

NSI Online film festival - online now!

2008-10-20T00:26:00.003-05:00

Wahoo! So the NSI film festival I got into is showing Judder now, as well as hosting my de-mysteriousness online (producer pic required) as well as having an audio interview - you get to hear me say 'um' quite a bit, good times :P But if you want to check it out the link is:
http://www.nsi-canada.ca/judder.aspx
EDIT - apparently it's only available in Canada, one of the geographical blockers! But the interview's still accessible if anyone's interested.

Just finished basic scriptwriting for the whole story, need to start doing more storyboards now - I'm also going to start taking more photographs of just anything in and out of the house - start establishing the graphic feel I want for the film - should be fun to be able to bump the camera after a shot and not worry :P

beginning storyboarding

2008-10-07T00:53:00.002-05:00

So this is the beginning of my storyboarding for my new animation. They won't all be drawn in as much as this, but the intro scene has some panning shots of the set, and I'd like to time those out on the drawing first, get a sense of it all.
I think I'd read that for some movies a storyboard will be sync'd to the audio, then as each clip is filmed it's swapped out, until the animation is complete. I'm thinking of trying this way for the piece - right now I see some parts soo clearly, and others not at all - and I found Judder really frustrating in not having the timing near as clear as I'd like. So - going to try this way - it's looking at being around a 3 min piece so should have new drawings soon to start blocking it in!

Preview Link

2008-10-06T01:02:00.002-05:00

The video preview for the next few films for the NSI online film festival is up, and I'm excited that Judder is part of it! Here's the video:

I'll post once the full video and interview are up!

Also have some new storyboards to post in a few days for a new animation *about time!*

Editing in TVPaint

2008-10-02T11:39:00.002-05:00

I created a quick video of the editing process for blending mouth lines - it's just the events, so it doesn't show selecting the areas/brushes, but it gives a good idea of how to blend them using samples of surrounding skin tone.

I also did some screengrabs from the program and posted them on SMA.

wahoo!

2008-10-01T23:34:00.002-05:00

Laptop is back and repaired! And today I got to see clips of Judder on tv - for the first time without having to press play first :P I was accepted into an online film festival for the NSI (National Screen Institute of Canada) and Judder'll be streaming online in a few weeks, along with a phone interview I did (which was a very stressful few minutes!)
A local TV station interviewed the head of the festival (as it's head office is in Winnipeg) and they used clips of Judder in the interview! Really exciting to see it on tv :)

My first lipsync

2008-09-25T12:24:00.004-05:00

My first lipsync is finished! Here's the puppet I used -

I went with a marionette style mouth, with replacement mouths. I decided to blend the lines in TVPaint afterwards, as it seemed the most efficient way to go - both pieces of the head are baked and I didn't want to start getting plasticine crumbs on her sweater. Here's the video of her talking:

I also finished another 15 sec of a puppet doing exercises (pushups and stepping in place) but sadly the small versions are on my laptop, which I am now without for the next week or two. On the upside I've only got 6 days to finish off 3 more sculpts, 10 castings, and alot of sewing for another project so no laptop is probably a good thing!!
-Emily

Demo Reel Help!

2008-09-12T18:00:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I'm going to put together a demo reel - never know when it'll come in handy! I'm aiming for 3-5 minutes as that seems to be the norm. I'm going to include a clip of Judder but am doing a bit of new work as well.

Quick poll - ballet or kung fu? I'm going to spend a few days with a larger puppet (8" as opposed to the 6" largest I've used before... it's going to be so much nicer!) And to do a few extra bits of animation for the reel I'm thinking of doing an athletic movement (dance, karate) instead of the traditional walk cycle. Any input would be greatly appreciated! What do you think works on a show reel, what to avoid - feel free to give any advice! It would be really appreciated.

Also - support rigs - edited out? If I'm doing a dance piece where the character is in the air a large amount of the time - is it better to edit out the rig to look more finished, or can it be left in? I'm not sure if editing skills are as important as showing the animation, don't want to dedicate time to it if not as important as pushing puppets!

new pictures

2008-09-11T00:16:00.008-05:00

Okay, so I've got a few new (and a few older) pictures to post - sadly none to do strictly with animation! I've been really slow to get work done lately - in part from migraines I was getting nightly. I was having to keep my computer dimmed as much as possible, keep everything quiet - the bathroom fan made me feel like screaming! But my bf helped figure out that I was getting them when I was working in low-light settings - so I've been making an effort to make sure I'm using a lamp with all my detail work now - and no headaches yet. Something I really should be doing anyway.
The mural is done, took 7 hours of kneeling on hardwood floors, ouch! But they love it so it's all good.
The first pic's above are of a character -I'm calling her emmyymme - the image has been kicking around for awhile now, it was originally fleshed out for an animation pitch that didn't end up being accepted, but she's becoming a recurring motif in my current/future projects - I bugged Mike Brent (Strider) alot for help/crits, so thankyou!

Next up is a sculpt with the first coat of latex on - the one used for the resin cast a few posts ago. I didn't realize how much the latex dries out the Sculpey, and will need to recondition it - but I now have a snazzy mold and plan to make the final product soon.

And these last two are my newest sculpts for some dolls I'm making - attempting to get into a juried craft show. She's Sculpey (Super mixed with black Premo) and will be plaster cast and made with Sculpey with fabric bodies. I found the amazing trick of using water with Sculpey! I'm guessing it's just a friction thing since the clay is oil based, but it lets it get much smoother without the problems of using alcohol - also allowed for all the hair detailing without using plastic wrap or getting burrs. There'll be 5 dolls total - starting the second one tonight, hopefully have pics soon.

Disney Princesses...

2008-09-02T00:29:00.002-05:00

have the most bizarre proportions! I'm doing a kids room mural in the morning of this image:and it's going to be interesting to see them 4' tall and still having waists only 4" around :P

Across the Universe...

2008-08-30T00:42:00.003-05:00

... is beautiful. I get so consumed in trying to make something look real or plausible it's so amazing to see something that just blatantly exploits the beauty of a scene.

2008-08-20T00:09:00.005-05:00

Wahoo! I'm officially an artist in distribution...

I headed down there last week, transferred Judder to BetaSP, and filled out the forms. Hopefully it'll get a screening this way! I have a screening in October which I'm excited about - it'll be in the city at Cinematheque - not sure about the details of it all yet, but it'll be my first non-student show which I'm very psyched about.

Progress has come to a near standstill on the new project lately as I've been sick for the last week, but hopefully everything will get going again now. Sadly it's also job-hunting time - I've been unemployed since January when I had to quit due to getting full-time hours (impossible during thesis) and had the luxury of taking the summer off as well... now it's the fun of dressing up and trying to find a job I can tolerate - eeks. I think I've gotten to spoilt just hanging out at home working on animations and playing with the pup, the 'real world' is going to be a shock. Tomorrow I go and track down some more interviewee clothes.

Manfrotto and Monsters

2008-08-11T00:20:00.003-05:00

I'd been searching for the Manfrotto (410 jr geared) tripod head for awhile now, but Amazon was the leading seller and they only shipped it to the U.S. But, last week I found one used for sale on Kijiji (a great site!) only it was Montreal's page - so it took some googling and tracked down the seller (a Montreal used camera equipment store owner) and was able to have them ship it here - arrived this weekend and is perfect! Great condition and saved quite a bit on it, I can't wait to try it out!

I'd been hoping to finish the audio challenge at SMA, but aside from being past the due date, I'm caught up in making props for my next film and can't find the time to complete it - but as Ceri's amazing puppets were involved I thought I'd post part of it here. The idea was to have a stop-motion kid loitering in front of a 7-11 type building, the background being rear-projection. As he's standing around listening to Bret's music the background starts to flicker and changes to a scene of Ceri's monsters, all unbeknowst to him. By the time he turns around to have a look it's flickered back to a nice brick wall. Hopefully eventually I'll be able to complete a rear-projection piece - for now, here's the background animation - thanks again Ceri for the actors!

Clear Resin Casting

2008-08-04T00:41:00.004-05:00

I need some clear resin objects for my new animation, so I did my first experiments with resin today - wow does it stink! I'm going to be working in tiny portions for each cast and the bottle measures in ounces, so I borrowed a scale and did some translations - 1 ounce of resin equals 41ml (based on an eyedropper) so, for the casts I'll be doing, 2 1/2 ml will use 1 drop of catalyst.

Since I had to mix a full ounce today for converting the weight to ml I did a test pour in a discarded mold I'd made - the final object will be made out of a better mold of the same object, but with a little twist - hopefully pull off an idea I had in sculpture class a few years ago. I've completed a 2 part latex mold today (using mold-builder, much better than the rubber latex I've been working with until now!) and need to build an exterior 4 piece plaster mold before I can start casting.

New Books!

2008-07-24T21:17:00.004-05:00

Yay! Stop-motion birthday's are the best - I now have Susannah Shaw's 'Stop Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation', Barry Purves' 'Passion, Process and Performance', and 'Filming the Fantastic: A Guide to Visual Effects Cinematography' to keep me entertained! Great timing, I've got a few new big projects I really need to get going.

(Also now have 'Alien Apocalypse' too, but looks like I'll have to ebay 'Beyond Re-Animator')

Judder on YouTube

2008-07-15T00:49:00.003-05:00

I finally put Judder up on youtube... sort of. I'm still hoping to get into a few festivals, which rules out putting it up easily, but if you want to see it just add me as a friend or contact and I'll add to the private viewing list - my ID on there is emmyymme82 (I'm soo original with those huh...) A bit of a hassle but the bouncy balls are much better in this one, I promise! There's even added motion blur at Prosser's suggestion.

Clash of the Titans Remake

2008-07-06T02:47:00.005-05:00

Stop motion has evolved in the last 30 years, and is being compared critically to state of the art CG - this is a campaign to acknowledge new stop motion and make it a part of the movies today.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=vPe-M6E8nbk

Shoes!

2008-06-28T21:07:00.003-05:00

Shoes are almost done!I took a little break from finishing the new breathing armature (take 2) to work on his shoes. I had a bit of trouble with shoes last animation, so this time I made Sculpey (the cheap stuff) mockups of the shoes, then covered that in a thin layer of liquid latex. The latex turns into a thin rubber shoe, which I can glue the fabric on to easily. the soles are latex baked in textured molds, and will have small tiedown holes cut in them (once his feet are made). Just need some laces and some wear and tear added and they'll be good to go.

Breathing armature

2008-06-24T23:34:00.005-05:00

So here goes the first breathing test for my new armature. It's just a few frames - some doubling and sequencing to get an idea of the movement, figure out how much to move it each frame.

DSLR manual focus pull

2008-06-22T01:46:00.003-05:00

A quick post of a 10 sec clip from Judder of a focus pull done manually on a Pentax K100D DSLR with a 18-55 lens. I painted a little dot lining up the beginning of the focus pull and other to mark the end, with an arrow to show which way to go (first time didn't do that and it came back to bite me in the @!) I just used the little ridges on the lens as guides, a third of a line per frame, animating every 2nd and 3rd frames to ease in and out.

Custom Action Figure finished!!

2008-06-20T18:13:00.002-05:00

A little side project has been taking up a bit of time lately - and finally finished! A custom 9" B'elanna Torres Voyager action figure, missing from the release of official figures - made for a bday present. The clothes/body were used from other figures, but the head is completely custom. Even made of plastic so it squishes a little like the real ones! Now back to armature making!

Documenting Judder

2008-06-05T23:26:00.026-05:00

Now that my external hard drive is repaired and back I uploaded some of the documentation from 'Judder'. This was my ceiling camera rig! It's a 3x5' steel plate (with a lovely wood veneer - it was an old desk) bracketed to the ceiling. A monopod is held by a large magnet (originally used for hauling boats out of water) with a tripod head attached at the other end. The camera attaches and films upside-down. This gains access to areas normally obscured by the set and allows for easier perspective for some shots. The monopod could retract up to approx. 1' from the top of the rig, down to level with the set.

The streets, routered but not stained. The car is made of foam and will have LED's running off of batteries added, covered with foam coat and painted.

Staining the streets and beginning a tree.

A chaotic shot of the set in progress.

The sidewalks curve away from streetlights. Streets are routered and sidewalks are dremmeled.

To save time I inset all the tiedown screws ahead of time for the girl walking down the street. This was before I bought wingnuts, the greatest invention ever! The set was so large for some locations I needed someone to sit under the set and control tiedowns for every change while I held the character in place above.

Her umbrella frame, soldered together.

Her dress, hand stitched, on the Model Magic mockup of the character.

An idea of the scale of the first two characters. All characters in the other 2 sets are approx 6" tall.

The original streetlight design, changed as the light was too scattered.

Before I bought a cable remote for my camera I was using a wireless one - which turned itself off after 5 min or so. So if I wasn't ready for the pic I'd snap a disposable pic off to keep the remote working - and added extra light to the scene so picking them out and deleting later would be easy. The new cable remote is soo much less stressful!

A cut scene, as the LED streetlights failed during shooting. Would have been a focus pull of the girl walking down the street through the window of a house.

One of my exposure sheets.

Set 2 characters, fresh from the oven.

A bounce test before filming set 2.

Set 2 balls and characters pre wire and rig removal.

My main character's arm snapped off during the last shots - so I made a shoddy replacement by wrapping the armature wire around his body.

This was to get the shots from his perspective on the swing.

This was the camera rig used for his perspective view on the swing. The rotation disc is the same one used for the rotation when the kids are playing with the bin of school balls.