Obligatory blog post! ... an Oblogatory?

Very busy week. Getting shots done and making layouts.

Speaking of shots, here's one!

Shot 26

Really messing around with AfterEffects here. Stars aren't showing up too well in Photoshop, so I'm just inserting them in AfterEffects. Seems pretty cool and I can manipulate the randomness/movement/size of all the stars. You'll notice that they get slowly brighter as the shot progresses. I do prefer the starry night effect in Photoshop (it works, but it never exports correctly, no matter what kind of file it is) but this'll have to do.

Other things!

I met with my voice actor, Eric Bauza, over the past week. Really cool guy and has done a lot of professional work, for TV shows and struggling animation students alike! I listened to his demo, and Blotto's voice is definitely in there. Guy's got a serious amount of range.

I've also been looking at score composers; Dustin Painter has been a front runner, and I'm really enjoying his work. It's very atmospheric and Thomas Newman-esque, which I think would fit the mood of the film very well. We'll be meeting later on this week, hopefully.

That's all for now. Tune in some other time for more thesis hijinks!

New BG! And new shot!

Look, everyone, it's a new background for shot number 26! Click on the image for full effect.

So, you may notice that the grass has a gesso texture, which suits it quite well, in my opinion. Rather than nabbing some poor soul's gesso texture off the internet (which I actually did in this case), I'm going to get some of the materials myself and create some textures that I'll scan into my computer. The one you see above is a placeholder. I also may tone down the light blue, just to make everything blend a little more smoothly.

Head count: shots 4, 9, 10, 15, 19, 25 and 26 are either animated or completely finished!

Speaking of finished, here's a finished shot.

Shot 25

Well, it may be completely finished. The stars aren't very visible, so may have to go back in a tweak it a little. Also, those moving cloud thingies in the background may have to be slowed down a few pegs.

It's a short clip, but I just wanted to make sure that the style and Ray's colour scheme are both functional. I'm very pleased with how everything is turning out so far. Let's keep this animation parade going!

Let's put up some boards!

These are boards that I have re-done so far. Keep in mind that there are a couple missing, because the ones missing are shots I'll be using from my older boards.

Also, I apologize for the lack of red arrows.

In the above shot, Ray and Kate are arguing.

K: "Don't honey me! See, this is what you do to me, you try to sweet-talk me into thinking everything is OK, but it isn't Ray!"

(Then we have a missing shot of Ray talking)

R: "The company had no choice! They had to lay us off! I can't control what happens!"

(then from Blotto's POV, the animated shot from my last post)

K: "Well, get in control! Look, I think we both have some thinking to do. We'll talk later."

(And then back to the boards)

R: "No, wait!"

K: "Bye"

That's all for now. More to come!

First animation shot!

So for the sake of efficiency, all non-dialogue shots are being done for the next few weeks.

First animation shot with Blotto! Very pleased with how it's turned out.

SHOT 4

More to come!

Revised Character bios!

Blotto, the Cat-God of High Fives

Blotto is the transcendental Cat-God who lives in the High Five realm, and is always fun-loving, mysterious and keeps it cool. An honest and trustworthy advocate of good will and righteousness, Blotto moved into an area a few thousand light years away from the Pillars of Creation. Over the decades, he fleshed out his space, thus resulting in the High Five Realm. Ever since, he has given himself the responsibility in restoring faith in humanity… through high fives.

Blotto has wisdom way beyond his years, yet at the same time, he is youthful and not afraid to bring out his inner child. He’s very charismatic and though he has a very stream-of-consciousness way of thinking, he still has a highly confident perception of how everything plays out. Blotto can manage the very fabric of reality itself, allowing himself to change his form as well as the form of objects around him. The color of his fur can change depending on his mood or what he’s talking about. Every now and then, he’ll revert to his cat-like instincts, such as playing with string or cleaning himself.

Ray Schilling

Ray is a rational, honest man who’s never had any bad intentions, but always seems to be a victim of misfortune. He’s a little bit of a wimp, and often doesn’t stand his ground. Kate, his long-term girlfriend, is dominant in their relationship, and Ray often has to pertain to her needs much more than Kate to his. Ray doesn’t really have any friends, or at least any local ones. He spends much of his time working/sitting in front of a screen, and his social life died out years ago.

Ray goes through each day thinking it will be better than the last, but his life continues to follow a desperate and dull routine. He can often be stubborn and unwilling, which is probably why he has given up on finding the path to happiness. He’s 35 years old.

Picasso Blotto

Not very relevant, but thought it would still be appropriate for the thesis blog. It's Blotto with some Picasso influence!

This is for my Directed Studies course, by the way. Had to do Blotto in a different style, and Picasso seemed like it would be fun.

Schedule in progress!

Here's my production schedule so far... still have another four weeks to add. It may not make a whole lot of sense to you, but IT MAKES SENSE TO ME, DAMN IT!

Starting Sept. 6

Week 1 – 1 (water + smoke), 4 (BG + Blotto), 6 (BG + AN), 10 (AN + BG)

Week 2 - 4 (BG + AN), 15 (BG + AN), 19 (BG + AN),  25 (BG + AN), 26 (BG + AN)

Week 3 – 27 (BG + AN), 28 (BG + AN), 30 (BG  + AN) 32 (BG + AN)

Have Voice acting done… Week 4 – 33 (BG + AN), 2 (Ray AN), 5 (BG + AN)

Week 5 – 7 (BG + AN), 11 (BG + AN), 12 (BG + AN), 13 (BG + AN), 15 (AN)

Week 6 – 16 (BG  + AN), 17 (BG + AN) 18 (BG + AN)

Week 7 – 21 (AN + BG), 22 (AN + BG), 23 (AN + BG) 24(AN  + BG)

Week 8 – 29 ( AN + BG), 31 (AN + BG), 34 (AN + BG), 35 (AN + BG)

Week 9 – 36 (AN + BG), 37 (AN + BG), 38 ( AN + BG), 42 (AN + BG)

Week 10  - 39 (AN + BG), 40 (AN + BG), 41 (AN + BG)

This looks like a math formula....

Oh, and I figured out something that makes me much happier with the middle of the film. Revelations are everywhere tonight!

Well, good night.

Ray's new turnaround

This was already done back in May, but I never uploaded it. Here is Ray's new turnaround! More stuff to come later this evening! (Or in the middle of the night)

Back in Business

Hello, folks!

Summer is over, and we're back to reality.

Things that I have to do this week:

Re-boarding some bits of the first and second act.
Contact voice actors.
Animate non-dialogue shots.
Backgrounds.
Finalize script.

It's all coming thick and fast.

In more uplifting news, a Cintiq is now in my possession! Since my film is mostly digital, that will most definitely increase my productivity. Later today, I'm going to start moving equipment (mostly books, decoration, etc.) into my wonderful new home called my animation cubicle. I'm making it my goal to literally make it my home away from home. I'm bringing in bed sheets, I'm bringing in pillows, I'm bringing in toiletries. It will be glorious.

To tide you over, here are some new backgrounds.

Ray's world is done in pencil, and then coloured in Photoshop. Though I really like the pencil style, scanning in the drawings is a real bore, so I actually decided to download some pencil brushes for photoshop. All of the pencil-like aesthetic, none of the hassle.

Also, here's a preview of Blotto from my re-boards.

 

Lookin' good. Back to boarding!