Backgrounds!!

A great background artist from France is doing some backgrounds for me...these are a couple of concepts she sent me ....

her blog: sarah-conceptart.blogspot.com

Final Running Comp #11

So I have finished all the animation and have fixed a few things here and there...If I have time after the coloring stage I will revisit a few details in the animation.

And another

And another....

Stress is overwhelming!

Ok, I know this is like 2 weeks off, but truth is didn't have much to upload. Since I have been working non stop on the scenes. Today I only have 3 Shots left and I am done with the animation. It will be complete!, but from next week I begin the coloring process.

Backgrounds are being a pain atm, coz don't have someone to do'em for me, so if I don't get anyone soon I'll have to speed things up and do them myself in a week.

Yesterday I got a new draft of the music, but went a bit off what I was hoping so they happily went and kept working on it.

Over the weekend I'll finish off another running comp, more complete with some new shots I finished.

goodbye for now...

I know how you feel john...I feel the same way about you...

Final Running Comp!

OK finally here is the final running comp!

Update!

This past week I have been busy with all the details, I have noticed that the more I do it the quicker and better it gets.

Here goes the DVD cover for Sprinkle me silly, most likely I will do a few vector art for the final credits of the animation...

"Educacion es un derecho, no un privilegio! (my sympathy for the students in Chile and their fight for their" rights)

Color test

So it has been impossible to upload the new running edit...internet is baaad...

here is the color test I did last week, which I am feeling it is very close to how i want it to look

I had a chat to Bernardo Tobias, the musician I am working with, on Friday and nailed down a few notes we had regarding the music... he's gone up to Sydney so it's gonna be a bit complicated to schedule and work but its possible...

Running Comp

I 've finished on Alice and on John all the main animation and some of the details... I finished off a running comp with all the timing checked, it works for me and to others to whom I have showed it to...

now that I have done the final running comp it's clearer now what things I have to tweak and change, nothing big...

*Having internet problems - will upload the running comp asap.

Ed

Alice Animation

80% done on Alice, I have done most of her detail work so once I enter the next stage of the detailing I wont need to go over her.

Color thinking:

I think if I paint everything in flash frame by frame will be quicker and easier, but how do you get the watercolor feel to a vectorized color?? hmmm...with an after effects effect of course.... Havent done a test yet, but will do in the coming week.

what I have done so far on Alice:

Ok so this is 2 weeks worth of posting...

I have been working nonstop on John's animation for the past 3 months, and I have almost finished it all. At the moment I am up to the stage where I am finishing off Alice's rough animation to later get into the detailing process.

According to my schedule I should finish everything by the end of October, giving me roughly a week or two to finish any details. At the moment I am running ahead of the schedule and should finish Alice in the next week or so.

Music and backgrounds begin on the last week of august.

Pretty happy how I have confronted this project compared to last year's.

I would like to add afew more camera shots, just as stills so it can be a bit more dynamic. but all in time really. So for now I am more concerned on having a nice and smooth running comp.

The mock up that I have uploaded has only some of the animation I have finished, next week I should have an updated version with alice and some new animation on John.

Mental Breakdown...

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Here's an update of what I decided to do, just because it will save me time. and I will be able to work quicker and save some trees along the track ;D.

1-I draw the keys and contacts on paper

2- Scan In

3-Paste each drawing on flash and time it with the animatic/video block

4- draw all the inbetweens, work my arcs and get the movement right

5- Draw the character over the skeleton made.

6- the result below...

I am quite happy about it. Plus I realized after inking the paper test I did, that the lines I want are very similar to the vector lines that flash generates and gives me the gitter on the lines that I was looking for. The other positive side of it is that I will be able paint each frame in photoshop and give it the watercolor look and each frame will come with an alpha channel that paper doesnt have (obviously).

So I will continue with this technique.

Tracking Doc

A few things have changed since the production plan.

Document Naming System

Once I got down to do the assets list I came across an ideal naming system that might work for this years animation. I will be separating every shot, and in every shot it will have either Johns frames of Alice's or both.

Storage

I am still to make a backup, which I will have to do now!.

Backgrounds

I will be doing everything in water color, so no marbling this year. It turned out to be time consuming.

Animation

Nothing much has changed regarding the way I will be animating. I will be going with my first option which was inking everything on the paper and not on the pc. I am considering coloring it on paper also, I am still to decide.

peace.

After 11 tests I think I have finally nail down the motion. During the process I have learnt some valuable lessons regarding timing and spacing, and of course the process in general. This has expanded my way on how I will be working on the animation. KEYS>EXTREMES>STRAIGHT AHEAD.

Starting on Monday I will be planning out the amount of work I should be doing over the break.

Journal Update!

Been through quite a few changes in the past weeks.

First off, I have been using my animatic and video block to time and flesh out some of the movements in the film, it has been very useful. I plan the animation in small with all the main keys and extremes which I then later scan in the pc and time it with the video block then dropped into the animatic. Next step I use these poses and go through rough tests of the animation until I get the final one. This has proven to be the most effective way to work.

In the thumbnails I work out the weight and flow of each pose so that the final animation can look dynamic and not stiff, so far so good, working with character arcs and action line on the poses has given a great turn to the tests.

The tests I have posted have resulted to be quite successful, but I still think I am lacking on body exaggeration, just because it’s a cartoon, but will stick to what I am doing for the moment and learn as I go.
I finally understand and can apply the 2's and 1's concept without burning my brain out and guess that what ever I did last year was the correct way, well apparently not. I have been able to plan and to number my pages as I animate. Thanks Jack and Seamus for pointing me in the right direction!
The naming system I have some up with has blended in well with the way I am going to work and makes more sense than last year, so I don’t expect on searching for a single frame mixed up with another 600 frames in one file.
I am still to paint some of my backgrounds in watercolour; I agree with Jack that the x depth will take away the original feel of a comic page. So decided that I will paint everything as a whole.
Oh! And wont be doing any marbling…not for now at least.

I have come to the conclusion that I won’t be able to do the texture feel to my character because it will mean that I have to reanimate each part of the characters texture. Decided I will ink each frame by hand and paint it on paper. So no digital this year, also because I a more traditionally driven illustrator and I want to keep this by doing it all on paper.

Spoke to the musician last week about the music and understands the idea of the animation being a gag. The soundtrack will be a similar concept to that of the pick panther or the Pixar shorts in general. I might have another sound guy to put all the sounds into the animation.

I feel that the animation is going on a steady path at this point.

First Pencil Test

So here goes the first pencil test for one of the sequences. I timed the animation with the video, did my KEYS then the extremes and then all the inbetweens, and I am loving the result.

Video/pencil Test

So i haven't updated my blog for almost a month...not good...
but have been working on a sequence which is when John picks up Alice and walks off the grass and onto the path away from the sprinkler, so far so good, did a few tests and found that video reference is of great help,"it's saved animation!".
focused on the weight and arcs around the character, after this I will be drawing the poses for john and Alice and eventually the inbetweens.
In the meantime I am drawing the extremes for the walk.

The idea is to have all the extremes and work on the timing before going in and animating everything, this I hope to finish during the winter holidays.



it's raining outside :S...

With a little help from my friends...

My girlfriend (aka PNGNA) doing some further works on the backgrounds and some experiments with watercolor...

Production Pipeline Proof

So haven't blogged for some time, but will upload the work so far.

This concept for John's look in the animation is kinda what I am aiming for. Haven't been able to work out a way to make it work though, the idea is that the textures stick to the characters movements; so far we've been trying to work a way around it in after effects, but no textures can be assigned unless they are animated individually (which will take me a life time and most likely the texture will gitter when the character moves). I found out that maybe Anime Pro might do the job, but I am still to prove that. Will do next week.

Also done a test of the background I want for the animation. watercolors for the elements in the shot, the sky will be marbbled. I am still debating whether to trace ink over the composition or not.

Posing and General Design

Here are some of the poses i've been working on for John and some designs on the sprinkler. Some of the poses I need to improve.

Layout

Ok this is a Layout concept, noticed that while I was doing the thumbnails this will change slightly, only the perspective. Want the garden to look as if has been well maintained and with the house and shed give the idea that he has a modern taste.

Production Plan

PRODUCTION PLAN FOR WATER TECH
The following is the file management I am currently using for the major:
· Folder plan:
o Project Name >
§ Preproduction
· Concept Art
> Ref.Images
> Tests
· Storyboard
· Thumbnails
· Animatic
· Documents
> Script
· Video block

§ Production
· Backgrounds
> PSD
· Frames
> Colour
>Pencil
· Model Sheets
> Character.Name.jpg
· Tests
· Files
>Flash
> After Effects
§ Post Production
· Composition
> 001_Scene.Description
· Files
>Flash
>After Effects
· Final Composition
· Exports
> DVD


BACK UP PLANS

Plug and Play
One the things I had most trouble with last year was not having a reliable computer to work with regarding graphics. I was always in the look out for the program to crash and leave me with nothing or someone accidentally unplugging the only plug that connects everything in the room. A solution would be to make my graphic programs to save every 10 minutes, which I didn’t do last year. For the plugs I’d have to purchase one of them multiple plugs that stores power in case of a sudden shut down on the main power.
To Save
To back up my work in a digital format I am currently saving my work in two hard drives, one in my Mac and the other in my portable hard drive. Will also use online storage as an alternative in case I loose both physical hard drives.
The real world
Because I will be doing my animation on paper, I will prepare a portable file “cabinet” where I can keep each of the drawn frames divided by sequences. Which I have to do since my house suffers of sever leaks during winter. Computers, hard drives and electrical devices will be secured in the case of a sudden water disaster.

TECHNICAL
All frames will be drawn on paper, over a light box with pencil and ink, and then scanned into the computer.
There are two options for the scanning and clean up process:

1) Draw all the images with a clear blue pencil, then trace the final drawing in Ink and scan into the PC as a black and white image. In Photoshop put them into a greyscale and then to RGB to be able to colour it. After this has been completed, clear any white from the image either with the magic wand or Colour Range. Then import them to After Effects.
2) Draw all the images with a pencil, then scan the images into the computer and retrace everything with a WACOM in Photoshop on a different layer to be able to have a transparent background. Then import into After Effects.

Importing and rendering
The final piece will be rendered out in Full HD (1920 X 1080). The scanned (300Dpi) images will go into Photoshop where they will be coloured and digitally manipulated (image will be 3x bigger so that when imported into the next program I have the flexibility to re frame and manipulate it, vital for big backgrounds), saved as BMP or PSD depending on the manipulation required, then imported into After Effects where I will work on a 1920 x 1080 framing.


BACKGROUNDS

There are a few things I’d like to tackle in this production that concerns the preproduction stage. In the animation I will test the paper marbling technique to create everything that’s in the garden (trees, flowers, grass). Paper marbling consists of “a method of aqueous surface design, which can produce patterns similar to smooth marble or other stone. The patterns are the result of color floated on either plain water or a viscous solution known as size, and then carefully transferred to an absorbent surface, such as paper or fabric.”

To be able to do these tests I have to buy a number of materials. What I am not sure is how it will take me to pump out the images, given that I need to wait for the images to dry and maybe the first test will not work, etc; but it is worth a try. If this does not work I will step back and go to water colours, I want to avoid having to sit down and do all my back images in a digital format.

The look of the animation is essential because it will give it that mood that it needs to give it the sense of a gag.
Like newspaper cartoons, their backgrounds are slightly painted which helps to give it depth (this is usually done with watercolour). Because “Water tech” is a more of a gag I want to achieve the same look, as if the characters act over a watercolour paper, but the colours and the back ground won’t be as washed out.

During post production, once I have achieved the look of the backgrounds and they have been dropped in the composition and if I have the time I would like to try out a visual effect I have been thinking about.
There is a scene where John picks up Alice and walk towards a gravel path, preparing his daughter to be surprised about the sprinkler; in this particular shot John walks towards the path as if walking off the paper, there is no background, but as he does, the path, the grass, the house and the remaining background will reveal it self as if had been washed onto the paper, surrounding the character in a margin of colour.

The option I can think of is to paint the background, add a mask over it in After Effects and then apply some kind of effect that would give the effect of being washed onto the paper.

Script Final

After the feedback I fixed minor issues with the script which makes more sense action wise.

scene 1

ext. garden - day

JOHN stands next to a beautiful young orchid-like flower in his garden that stands tall right under a big tree, beside him is his daughter ALICE.

She holds on to a small teddy bear and looks puzzled

John is holding a garden watering can in one hand and the other behind his back, he shakes his head in disapproval throws it away. From behind his back he brings out a small box and shows it to his daughter, like a telemarketing ad.

The box says "SPRINKLER 3000". It has an image of a happy man with his new gadget, a small futuristic looking sprinkler. John holds it for a second before ripping away the front, revealing the contents.

John pulls out his new sprinkler and it's remote control, and drops the box.

Alice is intrigued

Puts the sprinkler in place right next to his special flowers.

John picks up his daughter and walks back to get a better perspective.

He leaves her on the ground and they both look towards the orchid-like flower with the proud sprinkler standing next to it.

John, very theatrical, turns the dial on the remote to a low watering setting and presses the button.

The sprinkler begins to water the Orchid-like flower in a stylish way.

John looks back at his daughter and gives her a 'what do you think? ah?' laugh.

Being even more of a show off he turns the dial even more to a medium water level.

the water level on the sprinkler rises, and it looks even more impressive, watering the flowers as if directed by a musical director.

John turns the dial once more but now to a High water level

Alice looks and contemplates in awe.

He fixes his glasses and gives a slight grin to his daughter.

John turns towards the garden, a squirt of water goes flying passed him, he just manages to dodge it,(Foley: Cat screaming and cans smashing) John covers his face protecting himself from what just happened, a rake goes flying passed his head which he manages to dodge. He gives a 'that was close' gesture, but his hand got hit by the squirt. He looks at the remote control, electric sparks come out of it, it's wet.

Alice looks at her father then back to the garden where she notices that something has gone wrong and looks surprised.

As john is just about to speak, a strong squirt of water hits him on the face which makes him fall to the ground, he quickly stands back up looking back at the faulty sprinkler in anger.

He walks right up to the sprinkler and stares in an intimidating way right into it which turns off.

Just when he is going to press the button another squirt attacks him.

He cleans his face and glasses and stares back at the sprinkler, which squirts a tiny bit of water.

John cleans him self up and turns to walk towards his daughter but does not notice a rake that was lying on the grass which hits him straight on the face.

he picks it up.

John is angry now and marches up to his daughter with the rake in one hand and presses the button, but nothing happens, he shakes the wet remote control and presses it again, but still nothing happens.

Now at his boiling point he walks quickly back at the sprinkler with the rake, he intends to hit the sprinkler with it when a strong squirt of water explodes that throws him into the tree just above (Foley: Sound of screeching Cat). the rake flies away.

Alice jumps in surprise.

John is trapped in the tree, the cat clings on his face in fear, he tears the cat off his face. He looks back down at the sprinkler, pulls out the button and presses it as hard as he can.

scene 2

EXT. neighborhood Street - Day

A huge water explosion is seen in the distance, like an atomic bomb.

ext. garden - day

(FOLEY: Cartoon fall) John falls in front of his daughter all dirty and wet, with one of the flowers sticking out of his head. Alice is as dirty and wet as he is. She looks like a cranky drowned rat.

Alice pulls out her soaking teddy bear and flaps it in front of his father and walks away.

She then brings back the watering can and waters the orchid-like flower, kicks the can away and walks back to the house very angry.

John sighs.

end of scene

John and Alice and everythig else

I have come to feel that my script has come to it's almost last draft, which will post soonish. Last week got down to finish up some thumbnails and drew up both characters, now gotta concentrate on the garden and it's details (cat, rake, trees, grass,etc)
I have decided to give "paper marbling" a go for my backgrounds, which i was lucky enough to bump into at a Turkish festival last week. paint up all the trees, flowers, grass and composite them all in after effects, if that doesn't work for either time or technically goes wrong I will stick to water coloring everything.
I want to give my animation a watercolor paper texture/water colored gag feel to it (last year I gave a 'old children book for The Blackberry Monster). The animation will take place inside a margin of watercolor background, like newspaper cartoonists paint their gags.
And 'only if I have time' to try out a VFX for when John picks up Alice and walks to the side of the garden, to make the background open up, as if washed on the paper revealing the rest of the background. Kinda hard to explain but will explain to who ever asks ;D.
So here goes an expression sheet for Alice and the final design for John (although I might work a bit on his outfit, probably a pair of boots? we'll see)

Script (Updated 01/03/11)

scene 1

ext. garden - day

JOHN stands next to a beautiful young orchid-like flower in his garden that stands tall right under a big tree, beside him is his daughter ALICE.

She holds on to a small teddy bear and looks puzzled

John is holding a garden watering can in one hand and the other behind his back, he shakes his head in disapproval throws it away the watering can and from behind his back bring in a small box and shows it to his daughter, like a telemarketing ad.

The box says "SPRINKLER 3000" and has an image of a happy man with his new gadget, a small futuristic looking sprinkler, holds it for a second before ripping away the front, revealing the contents.

John pulls out his new sprinkler and it's remote control, and drops the box. Puts the sprinkler in place right next to his special flowers.

Alice is intrigued

He clicks a hose onto the end of the sprinkler.

Then clicks the hose onto a tap.

John picks up his daughter and walks get off the grass onto a gravel path.

He leaves her on the ground and they both look towards the orchid-like flower with the proud sprinkler standing next to it.

John, very theatrical, turns the dial on the remote to a low watering setting and presses the button.

The sprinkler begins to water the Orchid-like flower in a stylish way.

John looks back at his daughter and gives her a 'what do you think? ah?' laugh.

Being even more of a show off he turns the dial even more to a medium water level.

Alice looks and contemplates in awe, turns to her father then back to the garden where she notices that something has happened.

John turns towards the garden, a squirt of water goes flying passed him, he just manages to dodge it.

(Foley: Cat screaming and cans mashing) John covers his face protecting himself from what just happened, a rake goes flying passed his head which he manages to dodge. He gives a 'that was close' gesture.

He fixes his glasses cleans his shirt and gives a slight grin to his daughter.

As john is just about to speak when a strong squirt of water hits him on the face which makes him fall to the ground, he quickly stands back up looking back at the faulty sprinkler in anger.

He looks at the remote control, electric sparks come out of it, it's wet.

He walks right up to the sprinkler and stares in an intimidating way right into it which turns off.

John turns the dial once more but now to a High water level and just when he is going to press the button another squirt attacks him.

He cleans his face and glasses and stares back at the sprinkler, which squirts a tiny bit of water.

John stands back up and turns to walk towards his daughter but does not notice a rake that was lying on the grass which hits him straight on the face.

he picks it up.

John is angry now and marches up to his daughter with the rake in one hand and presses the button, but nothing happens, he shakes the wet remote control and presses it again, but still nothing happens.

Now at his boiling point he walks quickly back at the sprinkler with the rake, he intends to hit the sprinkler with it when a strong squirt of water explodes that throws him into the tree just above (Foley: Sound of screeching Cat). the rake flies away.

Alice jumps in surprise.

John is trapped in the tree, with the cat clinged on his face in fear, he tears the cat off his face. He looks back down at the sprinkler, pulls out the button and presses it as hard as he can.

scene 2

EXT. neighborhood Street - Day

A huge water explosion is seen in the distance, like an atomic bomb.

ext. garden - day

(FOLEY: Cartoon fall) John falls in front of his daughter all dirty and wet, with one of the flowers sticking out of his head. Alice is as dirty and wet as he is. She looks like a cranky drowned rat.

Alice pulls out her soaking teddy bear and flaps it in front of his father and walks away.

She then brings back the watering can and waters the orchid-like flower on her dad's head, kicks the can away and walks back to the house very angry.

John sighs. the flower falls off his head.

end of scene

Director's Notes

CHARACTERS

The characters will be fully animated, trying not to look stiff in each frame. The line will be a closed inked one and the inside colored with flat desaturated colors,

John will be of a brighter color than Alice at the start of the animation and Alice will be more humble. In the final scene of the animation she stands over her father as his colors have slightly faded out because of the dirt and water.

character description

John is an over excited and over enthusiastic man, but as he realizes that his sprinkler is not impressing his daughter he begins to humble down. By the end he gives in and accepts his defeat.

Alice is a shy, curious girl and we see that her relationship with her father is very close. She stands around in the animation trying to figure out if there is any point for her on what John is trying to show her, but finally gets mad at him for getting her and her teddy wet.

BACKGROUNDS

Japanese watercolor art and the classical watercolor backgrounds of Disney and Warner Bros. have been used as inspiration. Trees will be slightly washed out and no strong colors will be used so that it does not interfere with the characters.

COMEDY

The movements in the animation will set the mood of the film, the comedy will be strictly movement based. Quick and sharp. Reference for this is Pixar's "Presto" and "One man Band", as well as the classic Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck Gags.

Each pose is exaggerated and theatrical.

MUSIC

Idea #1: The music will follow movements as the character walks through the animation. blinks, steps, blasts, etc.

Idea #2: A Jazz song in the background that will follow the movements, and gradually increase as the actions begin rise to the climax.

Thumb with nails

I am quite happy with the script, and have narrowed it down a couple of times and changed it another few.
Next step thumbnails, it's probably one of the things I should've done more on The Blackberry Monster. Will upload to the thumbnails section shortly.

Expression Sheet Character Num 1

Bit n' Pieces

It's been kinda of a long summer holiday, with no steady weather and not much things to do rather than just keep up with art. Managed to help in a few projects along the way as a concept artist and as a storyboard artist and finally got my own webpage (www.scorpied.com)... sent The Blackberry Monster down to MIAF and St Kilda Film Fest, and will know if I am in during March.
I probably spoke to most of the animation studios around Melbourne to see if I MIGHT score a job with any of them, put was put down after realizing there is not much field here in Melbs at all, so not very happy on that side. But the road doesn't end there, the new and final year of animation's got me excited and with newly recharged batteries.
Last year I noticed a lack of humor in Holmesglen screening so this year I'm going back to the good ol' gag style cartoon which by the way are the ones I enjoy most, hopefully with the idea I have for this year I can fly close to doing something like PIXAR and WB shorts, I am pretty confident that I can.
So far I wrote part of the script, but most of it are actions and just gotta get down and do the storyboard and figure out the timming for it to be funny. I already have someone on board for the music and an extra had for post production.
Well here are early concepts for one of the characters, which I based on my Dad and grandad...I am quite happy with the coloured one. But I will continue designing.