Friday, May 20, 2011

Week 6 and 7 - Dialog and GREEN.

Hey guys!






Missed last weeks post because I went home to visit the family....I got to feel our BED

- Our FOOD- and the GYM......Man I love our home

.....It was Hard to Leave....good thing i get to go back in 7 days....

so.....after the short flight back to Portland.....I was Back into the mix at work- since I last wrote I have gotten 2 more approved shots- this makes 3 -GREEN-




director approved shots are going to be up on that BIG screen as of todays date.


So first things first- Its HARD HARD work guys.....nothing comes easy in this medium. I am busting my arse every single day....and fighting for every single frame. I feel like I am in a constant state of struggle...ha!




as painfull as it can be and taxing to the mentals.....I keep telling my self that all this pain and uncomfort....is making me stronger and stronger every day.



This is the kind of experience that shows exactly what you are made of.


Somedays I feel like just running home to my comfy life

and getting right back into what I know how to do...

But then I think of how this moment of emotional weakness -struggle that

I am feeling is actually where I am growing the most ..... that kinda GROWTH only comes with hard Uncomfortable work.....

or Gamma Rays?...ha!



so....


I have finished the crowd scene and it was definitely the most challenging shot I have EVER done.........people seemed to like it.....but I think it came up a bit short....It was Director approved though so I am moving on...happily... Ha!.


One thing about that shot that I was told by some of the sr. animators....

If theres something in a shot that bugs you....do a cut back.....meaning- delete the frames you dont like and try again......



With Producers breathing down your back to finish by certain times thats a hard decision to make sometimes.


And In a case like my shot I was doing 3 frames an Hour!!!!.....so every frame was PAINFULLY achieved.


.....It was a hard decision but I am glad I did it.........I would have been cringing everytime I saw the shot for the rest of my life...ha!


the other approved shot was - a pretty simple POV....that had animated Dangers. I was very happy to add more green to the list.....


Last- Monday I was assigned 3 totally NEW shots .... and 2 Totally new sets.



I have worked on 4 Unique sets so far .....and every time I get a NEW one its like walking into a the Candy Trees and chocalate river room in Willy Wonka and the Chocalate factory.
Its jaw on the floor AWE!!.....so cool......Dorky Smile ear to ear.

Monday morning also came with my first 2 dialog scenes from another part of the film......these were a totaly suprise since I thought I was mainly going to be focusing on my Big ACTION sequence.


....after being briefed.....and the super talented rigger giving me a NEW amazing multi geared axis to control some set pieces that the character is interacts with.





I was off to do 2 dialog rehearsals- about 3 -4 seconds a piece.......

The rehearsals went well and were some GOOD Old fashion stopmotion animation FUN.

I wasn't as stressed on these shots for some reason- I just used what I know about animation and Dove right in....I went home at night and was really Happy and excited to get back in there the next day.

Ill find out next week if the one I actually Launched on is going to be approved? Fingers crossed.

{Something learned}-

In feature stop mo- we animate the faces seperately- in cg way before we get to the set- We actually go into a facial animation team- and sit down with them and go over the dialog.....we work out all the details on the computer . Then the performance has to get approved .

at that point it goes to the set and you get your exposure sheet. This is pretty exciting for me...because the face is where so much the magic happens ....and I am able to just focus on that part of animation before it gets all complicated....

After approvals....its off to the face KIT guys....and they deliver your replacement faces on set....ready to go.

Now....on set....while animating....you still improvise....if you posing doesnt quite read good enough with the expressions....they will provide you with some extra faces to mess with.

Lighting-

Posing - or levels of your extremes- in facial work can all call for change .....during a dialog.

This is very exciting to me...... when the character starts talking and expressing feelings before your very eyes its quite thrilling!


Tricks of the week-

















Jriggity

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Week 5 - New Shots

Hey Guys!

I am sure A bunch of you guys saw the announcement- But LAIKA Officially announced the Film we are working on-
PARANORMAN. -http://www.laika.com/

Its gona be an amazing film guys!!!! I cant wait to see it at the Local Movie Theater!!

so..........

I started up and finished week five in a relatively chill way- Lots of testing -Action sequences.
and setups on a couple of new shots- One of which is an Overwhelming Crowd scene - 9 to be exact!!
They asked me if I was up to it....and Inside I was like{ uuuughhh } but my outside said YEP!!!

Its so so so Different from Cg - In CG you can take one character on at a time...
{even down to Lower body/Upperbody} ----get it going then move onto the next character- EASY-

In preparation for a shot like this -I figured out basically where they start and where are going to end up-
choose My breakdown poses and Offsets - and then just start clickin....and HOPE

....its a pretty wild process comparatively.

SO .....Monday Morning....I'll Jump in and see what Happens?

In prep for the other shot coming down the pipe..... I had to do lots of Motion control tests to mimic a P.O.V. which is a tricky thing.
Working with these amazing machines . It just makes these stopmotion Sets Shine to have the camera moving all around them.

Last Piece of NEWS - I am officially starting to put our lastest story down on Paper {Theatre Mouse} -I have the story written and now to put it in script format.
It will be the very first LIVE Action Film that we will make......... I am so excited on making a film that doesnt take 3 years or more to make....Ha!

Untill we meet again-

FAVORITE Film Scene of the Week-


Yes - I am a Star Trek Nerd- Incase you ever doubted it....ha!

jriggity

Sunday, May 1, 2011

DREAM Check - Thunder in your heart- Feature Film Animator- Week 4

Hey Guys!



Gona Kick this post off witha little thing I call {Thunder in your Heart!} Ha!!


I used to watch this film {RAD} all the time as a kid....I mean All the time...ha. When video stores first came out.....and I found this one.....and i must have burnt a whole through the tape.

You dont have to watch it but I promise you will grow to TWICE the powerfullness you were having seen it!!





This Awesome Song of Justice is to celebrate the Official accomplishment of this DREAM....I officially Did my very First Shot and got it approved last Friday!!!!!!!!

Woooooo Hooooo!!!!!!!!!!! SCREAMS of Happyness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....Unbelieveable



now the story behind it.



Last week was the hardest I have had here physically and emotionally


.......I was on Set from Monday till Friday and had a few ups and downs on the animation end of things. This first shot was not going to come easy.


The week started with me shooting a rehersal of the sequence........ that went well enough........... It was Clean animation and Did the job required .



The shot was pretty complex with a flying rig attached to the puppet.

Here is an Example video i found on youtube -No more 5 Pound weights with wire wrapped around my characters- at least for now...






So I shot the rehearsal 3 times before getting to Launch. This can mean.......

Bad animation or Bad Performance-


My Animation was clean but........ I was lacking the performance.


Each time you finish a Rehearsal...the next morning ....you meet the directors inside of editorial.

Waiting outside of editorial feels EXACTLY- like waiting outside of the Principals office.In a scary way.
And Also in a very Exciting Way!!

Especially if your not feeling confident in your performance....like I was the first couple of times.

It honestly was a struggle for me to find these Postures and Poses.

I actually had to watch other people act it out to see what there bodys were doing....Cause Mine wasnt going there naturally enough.

This was the final piece of the puzzle and allowed me to get a performance I wanted.

So....In the Thursday Morning...after showing the directors.......... they wanted it shorter but were ready to launch me on the real deal.

So Now - Down Time begins-
Down time is when any of the departments organize in setting off animators....

You basically sit around and wait for the powerfull folks to Dress the set-
Puppet department to give you or fix up the HERO puppet-check lighting - Photography --3d TEST- Motion controll guys- and rigging department to fix up some broken parts that happened during the tests.

This took till 6 p.m ......and thats when I clicked my very first frames. WOW......big day....just starting. At this point into the week I had already been working 12-16 hour days so I was feeling a bit taxed...

I just kept taking a deep Breath- standing back and looking at the HUGE set I was in- and taking note on where I was.


IN LAIKA- On a FEATURE Animated Film -and my VERY FIRST PRO SHOT!!!!
This supplyed the mustard I needed to get focused and into the shot.


I stayed late and got the shot going with the confidence that I could finish by Friday{they were pushing to get this shot done by Friday which is why I was putting in the crazy hours}

so Friday Morning I come in early and Kick off the day on a Mission- to get my first approved shot for the film.....

6:00 pm...I finish the shot ..... and am looking to go Right to the Apartment and CRASH.... My supervisor saw what I had done...and said it was looking good....so I just had to turn it in and see what the directors thought Monday.

When I got home.....I cooked up some dinner and checked my email- only to find an email from the Animation Supervisor stating - "Excellent first shot" "You're officially a stop-mo Feature Animator"

Wooooooo Hoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was happier than you can Imagine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Dream come TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW guys....Unbelieveable!!!! PRO BALL-
I cant believe It happened.....and I cant wait for more.

Tricks of the Week-


Shels First Dive Roll after Aedon was Born. I know shes waiting for those first moves after the Knees all better!!!










Some Video of another older DREAM come true -Trapeeze DATE-










Me and Shel always wanted to Swing from the BIGTOP....so we just looked it up and a fmaily circus in town does open weekends - classes ....and we couldnt resist. HIGHLY reccomended guys.










and New to the Blog-

FAVORITE FILM SCENE of the week-



this one makes me lump up guys......I loved fishing with my grandpa in Florida where I grew up......

and it makes me miss my little one too. Dads gona go to Laika for a while....

the 80's were awesome ....ha!

Jriggity