Final Result

Well another term, another capstone. And although it didn't turn out exactly as it expected, it turned out well to my surprise despite the short not being finished. As a matter of fact, I believe this project to be the most successful.

To recap from last post, my project was to make a flash animated short about a meeting between a witch and a mafia associate.

My programs for this project was a combination of flash for animation and Maya for background reference. The project was animated in 30 frames per second at a resolution of 1920 x 1280 pixels which is larger and than the standard document which I did to create a better quality.  My animation techniques consisted of using a balance both frame-by-frame and motion-tweening to not only save a little time bit.

Now despite that my schedule wasn't really followed through, this certainly was a most rewarding time for me. My original intentions for this project in the first place was to finish this short. Unfortunately, this didn't get finished BUT there was something a little more important that I learned when working on this project; having fun and just keep on drawing.

For the past year, I've been a little rut and trying to find a way to enjoy my work again. It was only after recently completing my portfolio for the fall term, did I start to become more comfortable with my art. And because of this, when I went to work on the animated short, my attitude to my project shifted from what seemed to be an obligation when I started on the storyboards last year, to something that I enjoy and have fun with now.This is seems actually more important than getting this done because I'm putting more love and care into my work. Not only that, but it makes me even more persistent and determined to finish it. So even after the term is ended, I will still be working on this until it's done.

What I'm most disappointed (which I'm only a little bit) out of the project is that it still isn't finished and it will still take a while for it to be finished. I feel like that I was worrying too much about the schedule that a little bit of my animation gotten a bit stiff and my perfectionism was still lingering a tiny bit. I noticed this when taking a little break one day to do a little rough animation and compared the two. Although my short was more polished and smooth, my rough animation seemed to have more life in it and took less time to make. Not only that but the rough animation had less frames and animated at a frame rate of 24 instead of 30.

This little tidbit gave out a grand realization for myself that more frames does not guarantee great animation or the best quality. The next time I make another short, I'll be taking more consideration on frames per sec and try to not to think too much about it.

Winter Project #1 Schedule

For the next couple of months along with two other projects, I'll be setting a schedule to get PTTR (Abbreviation for Paint the Town Red from now on) finished by the end of the school term.

There are about nine weeks until my set deadline. Though that seems like a lot of time, it can be rather short. I haven't finished an animate project in a long while, and though it may seem that time is on my side, I'll be using it very wisely considering how much there is to do since I'll be juggling with two other projects with one of them having a deadline in about 5 weeks.

The schedule for PTTR is as follows:

Week 1 

(I'll be counting the THIS week to be my first week on the project)

January 20- All preparations should be met:

1.For PTTR considering storyboard, background, and files that have already been made for the project before, should be organized in to have smooth sailing for this project.
2. At least 15 more seconds of the project should be completed. (this won't include coloring and backgrounds).
3. Come up with a plan on how background will be set for the show whether it be color, lighting, texture. (Have a plan so you don't have to do this the last second.)

Week 2

January 27- 

1. Get started on backgrounds. Make at least 2 backgrounds for this week to get started. (Remember we're setting for quantity rather than quality here. Do not be a perfectionist! Relax and cut loose). If you can manage make a third one or at least get started on it.
2. 30 more seconds of animation at least should be completed.
3. Remember you want to get half done by the mid week 6 at the latest.

Week 3

February 3-

1. 2-3 More backgrounds for this week.
2.  30 more seconds of animation at least should be completed. If you can, I encourage to push farther.

Week 4

February 10-

1. If you have succeeded in making 2 backgrounds the last couple of weeks, push it to 3.
2. If you have been able to animate 30 seconds well, try pushing it to 45 seconds.

Remember it's alright to feel uncomfortable in these situations. Don't be afraid to push yourself.

Week 5

February 17-

 If possible contact Denny for music (if he's not too busy), if the project has gone far enough to where the timing is spot on, show it to him.
1. If comfortable make three more backgrounds (if there is still more backgrounds to do ).
3. Since this week is the Deadline for my other project I'll be reducing the animation to down to about 10 seconds this week on the safe side. If you can manage, try to do more.

Week 6

February 24-

1.  30 more seconds of animation at least should be completed.
2. By this time the project should have 2 minutes and 45 seconds completed at least.  You want to have the animation be a little over halfway completed at this point.

Week 7

March 3-

1. At this point, try pushing  a completion of 45 seconds at least and try to do more.
2. Backgrounds, I figure should be done at this point. If not, complete 2 more.

Week 8

March 10-

1. For this week finish up anything that you have left. And be sure to contact Denny for music stuff.
2. At this time, you'll be wanting to get sound effects.

Week 9

March 15-

Project should be finished. If the music is not done, that's fine. But the animation should be almost done to done at this point.

March 18-

 Last and Final deadline if deadline before has not been met. This would be the completion and presentation date.

Winter Project #1: Paint the Town Red

Title:  Paint the Town Red

One-sentence description:
A witch and a mafia gangster meet at a bar where a fight ensues.

One-paragraph description:

I'll be finishing an animated short that I've been working on since January of this year. It's about a witch named Nim that meets a mafia gangster associate  named Dim at a bar. After a short little conversation is exchanged between the two characters a brawl starts between them and the other associates at the bar that were ordered to kill him. Though the animation appears simplified and Disney-like, the story has rather more of a dark comedy as the odd couple seem to share a delight in killing and/or torturing their victims.

One Page Description:
 
It's been a while since I actually finished a project let alone an animation. I've been wanting to set up a series pilot for quite some time. The only problem, is that I tend to be a perfectionist with my work so much that I become slow, burn out and don't finish anything at all. I'm hoping for this term, I can change that by having just having fun and to relax a little more to get it finished. I started this project back in January. Storyboard, background layouts, and character design have already been set-up.

To elaborate, the story takes place in the 1940s in a bar where see a mafia associate with a dark blue suit playing poker with other associates. After winning the round, he then sees a figure in an unusual looking hood coming through the entrance of the bar. As the hood is being taken off, we see our second main character in a blue dress who goes by the name of Nimue (Nim for short) sitting over at the main bar table. As Dim takes the opportunity to go over and aquaint himself with her, one of the associates in the bar signals the others to take out there weapons. Unbeknownst to both the main characters, it's an ambush to knock-off Dim.  And due to a misunderstanding, both characters end up fighting together resulting in an action-packed, black comedy, killing off the other associates.
After that, it  ends in a funny yet rather eerie setting as both characters covered in blood, share a kiss surrounded by the associates they massacred.



Treatment Visuals:

Safe to say, The storyboard as well as the layout design have already beem made. The only thing that needs to be done is the animation itself, working on backgrounds, and if possible get music and sound (The voice actors already have been picked).

Visual and Written Researched:

 There are three artists that come to mind in terms of influence. All of three of these artist have a certain theme to their work which I try apply to my work as much as possible. The first artist is Genndy Tartakovsky who worked on Samurai Jack and Symbiotic Titan. The reason bring these two series up is because they have been a huge inspiration and I've been wanting to acquired some of of their style onto my work in terms of their environments. Such examples would be:

In symbiotic titan, they had the most atmospheric backgrounds I've ever seen in an animated series with the most simple forms creating a realistic sense with its colors, lighting, and textures. This is what I want to acquire in my work. 

The second artist would have to be Al Hirschfeld when it comes to characters. 

His work always have a continuous line that flowed with his characters, making it appealing to the eye. I remember hearing many animators say to keep things simple when it comes to character design. This is what most of my work is based off of including a friend of mine that puts it in his work as well. 

The third artist, which I'm sure many people are familiar to one way or another is Tex Avery which again had simple characters and backgrounds and gave me laughs when I was a kid. 

 

I'm not sure how cartoony this short will be ( the style is more disney than Tex Avery) but one specific reason I chose him, is cause his target audience were more for adults and teens than little kids. This short that I'm doing is mostly set for an older audience than kids with its dark humor.

Timeline will be set up on the next post. 

More stuff to consider for my Portfolio

Final Portfolio

So here's the final of what I'll be putting in my portfolio in order.
More may be added before I send it in. But this is pretty much the ones that I picked out for my portfolio besides my sketchbook and animations. (The animations are set to private now since some of them are from my job, which I haven't added the proper copyright in yet).

Watercolor Medium

more sketches to put up. Tried a different medium using watercolor. This is my first try.

I Think I may need to get a good camera for these 0_0;;.
And that reminds me that i'll need to put my charcoal on news print on here as well.

I'll post better quality photos this week. It's almost time to send in the portfolio.  So I'll be working hard for this week and next's . I'll see if I can post more layout work.  Wish me luck .

Update

More pics for the portfolio. I tried a different medium this time with colored pencils.  I think they came out pretty good for my first try. This week I'll be trying something different with ink this time for gradation to work on tones. I shall update more later.