This is the Morning Report

Don’t get to excited people - this is just an update.

So over the summer “Puzzle Piece” was accepted to THREE different festivals! 

First up: International Monthly Film Festival - Copenhagen, Denmark

The festival has already happened with my video in it but you can still check out their site.

http://monthlyfilmfestival.com/official-selection-july-2016/ 

Second: Starburst International Film Festival - Manchester, UK

This one is happening THIS WEEKEND (Aug 26-28, 2016). If your in the area you should defiantly check it out.

http://www.starburstfilmfest.co.uk/festival-screenings

Finally: The Monthly Film Festival - Glasgow, UK

Event date is AUG 31 (2016). For this one you can actually check out most of the videos (yes you can watch mine too) on their site and give them a start rating- which you should totally do. (Added bonus—my fall thesis video from Ringling also got in so you can check that out too)

http://tmff.net

I also created a poster for “Puzzle Piece.” Reason - FilmFreeway (the site I’ve been applying through) has a area where you upload a poster and most festivals take it and put it on their website. At first I had nothing, so they put up their festival logo. Then I put up just the screen shot of the title, but it was either cut off on the sides or stretched.

So, yeah, I made a poster….and if you’re looking at this Claudia it should be a new submission requirement.

PS - This is the Morning Report - “The Morning Report” from Lion King (DVD version)

——I’m actually not a fan of this song but it was appropriate I thought ——

It's Been Fun But Now I've Got to Go

To those of you that have made it to this point with me: Congratulations.

Finally -FINALLY- this animation is done. It’s pretty darn close to what I had first imagined so I’m happy with that. 

<Shout out to my friend Victoria who rendered the Cinema 4D files for me when there was nowhere on campus to do it myself>

https://vimeo.com/165118319

Unfortunately those of you not in my class won't be able to see the final thing for a while. Eventually though the video will be made public. Till then you’ll have to amuse yourselves with some stills.

(At some point I would also like to make a “Making Of” video…..but not at this moment)

Now…did you get some of the lyrics this time?

Have You Forgotten What You Have and What is Yours?

-“King” by Lauren Aquilina

Circus of Your Mind

-“Circus of Your Mind” the musical Finding Neverland

I Make it Look Easy But Honey Believe Me It’s Hard

-“Hard to Be the Bard” the musical Something Rotten

We Had Some Guts and Some Luck

-“Movies Where Movies” the musical Mac and Mabel

There is Trouble With the Trees

-“The Trees” by Rush

No Time to Stay, Hello, Goodbye

-“I’m Late” in Alice in Wonderland

So Over Due I Owe Then

-“Skyfall” by Adele

7 am the Usual Morning Line Up

-“When Will My Life Begin” in Tangled

For if the Dark Returns

-“I See Fire” by Ed Sheeran in The Hobbit (pt2)

Under the Sea

-“Under the Sea” in The Little Mermaid

Miracle of Miracles

-“Wonder of Wonders” in Fiddler on the Roof

Let’s Get Down to Business

-“I’ll Make a Man Out of You” in Mulan

Till I Reach the End

-“Try Everything” by Shakira in Zootopia

It’s Been Fun But Now I’ve Got to Go

-“When Can I See You Again?” by Owl City in Wreck it Ralph

With that: Good Bye All

Till I Reach the End

Just one more week. One more week and I can move on with my life.

This week is pre-finals in more or less every class. That means this one too. For those few of you reading this blog that aren’t actually in my class that means that you get to see the almost done version. Unfortunately since some shows require the video not available online I will not be giving public access to the actual final.

Without further ado here is the pre-final video.

https://youtu.be/3qpjUGYeobU

Now several things still need to happen:

—Opening title next re-vamp

—Fix the transition from FW to EW

—Finish coloring Pepper (EW) <I have been working on this, just takes for ever>

—Re-export Evil without boarder (EW)

—Add texture to Evil (CW)

—Add Pepper’s face (CW)

—Add corruption (CW)

—Add particles (CW)

—Add particles (MW2)

—Ending credits need re-vamp

There are probably a bunch of other little things that I just can’t think of at the moment too.

On another note I found a cool app this week that lets me turn my iPad Pro into a little mini cintiqu (aka a tablet that shows what is happening on the screen). Its an app called “Astropad” and it’s a bit pricy for an app ($25) but still way cheeper than a tablet. I was able to get all of Evil in MW2 drawn this way since the other computers where full.

Very much worth it.

(*I’m not advertising this thing, I just think its really cool*)

Since next week is the final week which also means that I will be adding onto the post the list of where the blog titles came from this semester. If you're thinking about it each week, the ‘game’ is coming to a close real soon.

Now I just have to survive until then……

Let's get Down to Business

Yeah, I didn’t get this up last night when I normally do. But by the time I realized that it was 2am (wasn’t up doing this class for once) and I didn’t feel like spending the hour I normally do to type words that only a handful of people in my class, and a few international lookers, actually read.

So I’m updating it now.

Things went really well from where I’m sitting. Yeah, I only got Pepper in CW mostly animated - but considering that I had to first learn how to rig a figure, then actually rig and animate - lot done. (Sure I’ve rigged before but that was a fish and they have completely different structures.)

And I’m quite happy with it right now. Actually I’m really happy. Animating a rigged character makes it so easy - and when I finally got it cut to the music I was so surprised how good it was looking that I forgot everything else for a bit.

Still though, a lot of things have to happen. Clean up animation for CW Pepper, color compositing, getting Evil in, getting his particles in, the environment has to get corrupt… lots to do and no time to do it.

Next week is pre-finals. That means that everything is suppose to be as close to finished as possible. ….That means that I most likely wont be sleeping.

Fun.

Miracle of Miracles

This week really is a miracle I feel simply by the amount of work I was actually able to do.

Not only did I get WW done I also got Evil drawn for it. I had planned to get the models done for CW and I did that, pulse got them all with basic texture and the cameras in with blocked animation.

That is a lot of stuff.

So here is the video of what I have so far-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8F4dTLTiHQ

There is a lot that still needs to happen:

Opening
--needs to be re-done
Main World
--background needs to be re-considered
Fantasy World
--opening wide shot camera needs something
Charcoal World
--Pepper needs to be colored
--leaf needs to be colored
--more anticipation with Evil's main entrance
Water World
--I want to add bubbles to her motions
--Evil needs his partial dust
Cliff World

--rigg Pepper

--animation needs to get done
--Evil needs to be added
--Evil needs his partials
--backgrounds need to be added
--shots need to be composited
Main World 2
--Pepper on the floor needs more shadow
--Evil needs to be added
--Evil needs his partials
Credits
--need to be re-done
General
--audio needs to be more smoothly transitioned between 2+3
--flashes need to be re-done

Total there are 3 weeks left with is one week left before pre-final. The list is long, but its do-able. Here's to hopefully surviving till then.

Under the Sea

This week has been the beginnings of Water World….and I’m wondering if it’s possible for a world that I made up to hate me.

The idea was that WW would be stop motion animation - but that isn’t going to happen exactly like I planned.

I had brought everything with me to the labs: the paper model of Pepper that took over a day to create, the tissue paper and paint for the background, tin foil and tape to make it so there was no way of the paint leaking onto the stop motion table. I got to the labs, set things up so I would do the background first and started to film the ‘water’ moving.

I was in a groove when the camera went out on me. It started flashing me several weird errors at once. I couldn’t even read what they where saying.

I tried turning off the camera and turning it back on. 

Zip.

I tried un-plugging the camera from the computer and plugging it back in.

Nada.

I tried shutting down the computer and re-starting it.

Nothing.

…

I was not impressed.

It was late at night. I didn’t have time to wait for someone and go a different day. So I went to plan B.

Basically plan B is where I take a stop motioned background and put a “stop motion” Pepper over top. In actuality Pepper is scanned paper masked into the different shapes then animated to look more hand made. The process is a bit annoying, but I was able to get something done after the - what turned out to be - 2 day set back.

For now I have 2 clips to show you.

First up the the water background. I looped the frames I was able to save and make something decent. I might re-shoot it later on it I have time.

Second we have a bit of Paper Pepper. This is NOT done. There is a lot left to do with her basic motion to make it look jittery. I also need to animate everything else that is, at the moment, not yet moving.

The plan form here is this: there are 3 weeks until the pre-final. By Saturday Paper Pepper has to be done and Water Evil put in. By next class (-1) the models of Cliff World need to be done and ready.

By -2 Cliff World needs to be fully animated and rendered.

By -3 major animation issues from the past needs to be fixed.

Then there is one more week for final final edits. Last composite stuff will be added for this week.

Any planned changes due to time? Clif World might change styles - but only if I am backed into a corner and I’m not there yet. If by Sunday I am corner - then on Sunday I’ll change the style.

For if the Dark Returns

This has been an incredibly long week. Projects to get back into, new projects to start…then getting sick and a holiday weekend……very long week.

So, what happened?

We didn’t have a full class critique last week and instead meet individually. As you saw from the previous post, I had basically all the line work done as well as the texture for Evil.

After the meeting it was determined that first thing that had to happen was the trees and their texture as this might influence a change in Evil’s texture. 

So that’s what I did. I finished the trees and tried to figure out if Evil was okay or not.

with line

without line

I took a poll around the labs and I’m going WITH the outline.

This past week I also worked on creating more fear it Evil using particles. As you can kind of see in the above images they looked kind of out of place. I worked with them a bit more, played with some textures, then got to a place I quite happy with.

And at that, here is what I have for this week:

Yeah, Pepper still needs color - but I’m going to be working on that in the background now and jump into Water World (WW). this world needs to happen, and needs to happen fast.

Side note:

Somehow, I sub-consciously based Evil’s silhouette off of Aku from Samurai Jack - a series I never watched as a kid but saw snippets of as I flipped through channels. This was totally by accident. What was on purpose was Evil’s eyes and how they look like Beast from Over the Garden Wall. When I watched it last year I though he was so creepy being most of the time just eyes - so I took it.

Seriously, if you haven't seen this show, you should watch it.

This just goes to show what can influence your own work. Normally I collect reference art before doing any type of concept drawing, but with all the different styles I was going for only a few pictures where collected and nothing was shown to you.

7 am the Usual Morning Line-Up

Like I said, last week was Spring Break, so there was no post. Now I’m back from break (so wish it was longer) and it's back to the draft board. Surprisingly I got quite a bit done for someone who actually went away.

Now, it might not look like it, but it really is a lot. All the line animation is finished, the base white layer is is for every one of Pepper, Evil is fully textured, and the trees is for the most part where they belong.

What is there still left to do?

Pepper needs her color, shadows need to be placed, the trees in S1 need to be fixed, the puzzle piece and transition to the next world need to go in, fog and dark particles are also something I want to add in - though that is more for post I think.

So here is the video of EW - and the boards still for WW since the music flows right into it. (annoyingly is was too big to just put on Blogger)

Looking ahead the first point to get done is Pepper’s color. After that I’ll feel secure enough to jump into WW and get the background done first. Shouldn’t take too long to do that since I can repeat most of the frames, but I do need a refresher course on the stop motion equipment.

Sorry to those of you that actually read these, as lately they are a bit short. But right now I just want to sleep. I'll face the fire in the morning.

So Over Due I Owe Them

Yet another post going up later than I wanted….and trust me I’m not happy about it.

Simply put, I’m a bit behind where I wanted to be this week. 

Originally Pepper was going to get done, and maybe even rough out Evil.

Yeah……no.

Instead I got her walk cycle cleaned up, a run cycle created and cleaned, and the opening shot cleaned and colored. I was also able to get this shot mostly right look-wise but I keep second guessing myself with the texture and lighting for the trees. Pepper also still needs a perspective run cycle and reach bit. You can see the 'whole' world underneath.

So why the off-put? 

Two reasons.

One: Pepper.

Coloring her in took WWAAAAAAAAAAYYY longer than I anticipated even if it was the easiest conceived pipe.

Two: Seminar.

As much as classes like to believe they are the only thing in your life I am also taking 5 other classes. Seminar has us doing big critiques this week so I’ve been a bit distracted…..not that Pepper was easy mind you. Coloring her in non-stop took about 5 hours!

Anyway, if you want more information on what Seminar/Thesis is like you can go here: http://kid-a-thesis.blogspot.com (Though it wasn’t updated last week) Vaguely interested in everything else? This one: http://andyouthoughtitwouldbeeasy.blogspot.com

Looking ahead….

Next week is Spring Break so I’m taking a few days off to de-stress and relax at home. After that though it is back to work…a lot of work.

The theory is that EW and Water World (WW) will both be finished over break….meaning that the Break will be very short indeed.

So see you all in 2 weeks people!

No Time to Stay, Hello, Good-Bye

Yeah, I’m posting this a bit later than normal - but it’s still before class.

So this has been a very long week. As I said before I have a lot of stuff for my other classes (see other blogs for details) and I was going home for the weekend to celebrate my Grandma’s birthday.

Now originally the idea for this ‘week 2’ was that all of Pepper would get done. I then said that because I would be away I would most likely change that due to lack of time - and thankfully my calendar allows for that.

Surprisingly, I got done more than I thought I would.

So far I have shot 1 + 2 blocked out — shot 1 is even cleaned! I actually really like shot 1 too and almost want it to be longer……

I also, just for my teacher, put together a mock frame. It isn’t what I want it to look like in the end: wasn’t composed in after effects, not set up in a 2.5D space, not sure if Pepper’s outline is going to be the dominate color of that section or the ‘black’ as if it was a coloring book…

Well, that’s about all I have to say. I know I usually write more, but too bad. 

There is Trouble With the Trees

Another week, another post….a little more insane.

First off lets go over some of the notes from last week, shall we?

-Fan shot

—good

-On the floor shot

—floor is the wrong angle

—need more shadows

-Rack focus shot

—louder ‘grunt’ sound

—better timing on hitting piece

—…some other stuff I don’t quite remember

For the most part MW2 is done. Yeah, the fixes need to be made, Evil need to still pop out in the end - but I can move on now.

So….moving on.

Next that I decided to tackle is Evil World (EW) - which means a lot of trees……again. (Have I mentioned how much I dislike making trees and forests? I really don’t like it)

I’m budgeting myself 3-4 weeks to get this world done. Basically by half-way through spring break I want to move to Water World (WW).

This was week 1.

The idea was that I would work on the <insert word of you choice> trees. I really, really, would prefer to do this on the computer. Why? Charcoal gets all over me, it will get all over the scanner, and ever since a teacher told me to never touch it again I’ve been off the medium.

Well, anyway, I did make a bunch of trees and here are some of them.

I’m playing a bit with the texture. It will look nice alone on white, but then get a bit bland when composed, so I’ve been trying to find a way I like while playing with some new brushes. I'm also trying to decide if it's easier/nicer looking to 2.5D composite it, or to just make layers of pre-composed tree layers....

Other than that there isn’t much else to post. Theoretically I was going to work on Pepper week 2, Evil week 3, then composing it all together week 4. That plan has a 80% chance of changing. My grandma’s birthday party is on Sunday and while I budgeted not working that day everyone wants me there Saturday meaning the weekend is completely shot. Load on all the homework for other classes that have to get done and this project is not my number 1 issue. 

Annoying to toss a plan, but that’s life.

We Had Some Guts and Some Luck

A lot has happened this past week, and most of what had to get done did - somehow.

Now 2 weeks ago when we as a class looked at everyone’s blog I told my teacher that the plan was to have 90% of the animation done for MW2 done by today - that main part not to be animated would the the entrance of Evil since I’ll add him when I add him everywhere else.

Last week, if you bothered to look, I posted a test video of a fan - such a shot was needed for the beginning of MW2. If you haven’t looked at it you should, it was kind of cool.

So everything else had to be done today. I took out a shot of Pepper’s disgruntled face looking down on the piece mainly because I didn’t feel like creating it….though I also realized that it just wasn’t 100% necessary which was a bonus.

Without further ado, MW2...........pass 1.

There are a few things that need to be fixed: the shot looking down it too high on the screen at first, the animation can be smoothed a bit more, the audio - particularly the ‘grunt’ - needs to be flushed out…..and of course Evil needs to be added.

I’ll tell you though, that head turn……2 frames and the rest is luck.

I Make it Look Easy But Honey Believe Me It's Hard

Seriously? Didn’t I just post something the other day? 

Wait. What? That was a week ago already?! Geez Louise that was fast.

Well, I guess you still want a post, huh.

So this week was spent doing a couple of different things that might seem unrelated to you, but makes total ‘linear’ sense to me.

First off I did some color and design corrections on Pepper in MW2. Last week she was a bit pale and I realized later that her face didn’t really match up with the beginning of the animation. In my defense I was using the color codes that I had written down in my notebook…..but I didn’t note the new numbers after I changed some last semester due to a similar comment.

(AN: How I feel sometimes looking at what still needs to get done)

Next there was building more of the assets needed for MW2 that I couldn’t repurpose. Yeah….no, you can’t really see them. They are mostly Illustrator files that you won’t be able to make heads or tails of since it is all in white. You’ll see it next week when, in theory, ~90% of the animation in MW2 will be done.

For now you can entertain yourselves on this bit of animation - a fan going round. And, yes, it is planned to go in the animation. The boards have it being the first shot of MW2 but we shall see if it stays in. For now it is cool to look at though.

Last but not lest I started prepping for the next World I’m going to take on - Evil World (EW). Since it is entirely corrupted into charcoal I decided to do some tests on what could work as back drops. The trick is going to be that all the layers will be various shades of black…..

There you have it. Another post. Now wait patently for next week because I have lots to do, and not just for this animation.

Circus of Your Mind

Here we are again. On my site for a class you aren’t taking. Looking at what I did for homework. 

Don’t you have anything better to do?

Well anyway, let’s get to it.

This week most of the stuff that has been happening you can’t really see and even though I’ll try showing it to you, you most likely won’t appreciate it as much as I do.

Most of the time was spent making this beauty - a calendar of the rest of semester. On it I have/will have: school dates (days off, registertion days….), work hours, holidays, internship deadlines, family related stuff (people visiting, family functions…), class deadlines/homework, personal deadlines for this class, personal deadlines for seminar class.

Most is stuff to be filled out as it gets assigned, but I find it extremely helpful to see everything together with the final deadline on the same page. Not a lot for this class has been written down yet, but I do know that I want MW2 nearly done in 2 weeks and all the animation done a week before pre-finals. I also know that I want 2-3 days to work exclusively on the opening and closing titles.

What else….what else…..

Right.

I also made these nifty lists for each world on the basic assets needed for each. Some need a lot of pre-stuff. Others have a longer list of difficult stuff to do in the animation itself.

Okay, okay. I’ll show you some actual stuff.

So because I could us some of the assets from MW1 in MW2 (the floor, wall……that’s about it) I decided to start doing some work there….at least up to the point where Evil appears - I’ll do that around the time I start making Evil.

If anyone bothered to look at the sketches made last week (talking to you classmates since we didn't have a crit last week) you would have seen some designs for Pepper when laying down. I took that scene and ran with it. (I even captured some process video but wont post it….planing on making a video of it at the end)

So this is what it shot looked in the storyboard……

….and now with the proper assets - minus shadows……

….and now……with the rack focus!

You have no idea how excited I was when this worked.

Now there you go you vultures. Another post that most of you most likely don’t actually read, but oh well.

Till next week’s feeding.