Back to the Box

While “Bullies” is progressing in a more or less entirely digital manner, a thought occurred recently that a potentially effective way to promote “Throat” might be to put together a teaser trailer for it. After contemplating the motion graphics angle briefly, I figure it would be better suited to proper, traditional animation so as to be truer to the overall look and feel of the panel art. Which means it’s time to dust off ol’ Molly the lightbox (who’s served me well as a very effective coat rack since I bought Cindi the Cintiq) and get back to some lovely, ol’-fashioned pencil-on-paper animation. The idea is to pick several excerpts from the book that might translate effectively as brief 2-5 second animated vignettes, edited together in a way that doesn’t reveal much of the story but hopefully percolates the interest of people who haven’t read the book yet. I’m still in the throwing-stuff-against-the-wall-to-see-what-sticks phase but here are some sample layouts:

As mentioned above, “Bullies” has been pretty much a completely Cintiq-centric affair, but in keeping with the old-school theme, here are a few pencil sketches on which some of the layout and background work will be based:

And with that I think I feel the familiar twinge of carpal tunnel coming on. How I missed it so!

A Mere 10"

Here are some drawings for an itsy-bitsy new film I'm doing. This one's the shortest yet, running at no more than 10 seconds. I decided to throw together the story of how I lost my tooth a little while ago, an anecdote which takes me about half an hour to tell as I love my voice so much. Turns out if you cut out the irrelevant bits ten seconds is ample time to tell it. So, yeah, I need better anecdotes.
Anyway, it's for a ten-second film competition being held at this month's 'Straight To Video' screening at Start The Bus. A couple friends of mine are also contributing entries, including Jo (she who done all that stuff on my film innit). It's a nice idea and sounds like it'll be a fun night.



I also thought you might enjoy two slightly grotesque line tests. First off is the last layout in motion. You might want to cover your gums.

And here's some classy'n'mature contruction-line shagging to go out on. Look at the fat bastard go!

Baby Boom

Here are some more layouts from my Depict submission-in-progress.I doubt this one'll be too popular with the ladies, but it's helped me get in touch with my feminine side. Plus, giving birth is generally a bit trickier when you keep your legs closed.Here we see the baby's dramatic entrance.Cut to a side-view and the poor little whippersnapper is snagged on the still-attached umbilical cord.
Here are the latter two images in motion:
It's a tiny detail but I really like the way the arms and legs settle into position. It really conveys a sense of tension and balance.This is a similar shot to the first appearance of the baby, although with an acceleration to the speed of the approach to the camera. In the first animation the baby slows down as it gets closer, so with each in-between less distance is covered. In the animation below (combined with last entry's 'skid' shot) the baby speeds up as it falls so each in-between this time covers more distance.
Does that make sense? Does anything I say, for that matter?

Left Holding The Baby

My initial plan to produce my new film 'Ground Running' using a combination of 2D animation and cut-outs/pixellation has been somewhat hampered. This is for a number of reasons, including time, economics and, primarily, my friend who I'd hoped would help with the photography just bought a puppy. On one hand, just having the film limited to 2D animation on its own will doubtless see it less interesting aesthetically. On the other hand -Aaaaw...So cuuuuute...
Actually I think the film will work fine this way. My lament during the production of 'House Guest' was that a lot of the charm in the animation was lost when the rough pencil tests were cleaned-up, inked-in and coloured. It'll be cool and somewhat fitting thematically to have a film be done entirely pencil-on-paper. This way I'm gonna have to make the animation shine through to make it visually impressive, as I won't be able to hide behind any slickness or polish. Here are some layout drawings I've come up with based on the storyboard: For when the baby is skidding along the ground. Although no real harm comes to it, I want there to be a couple Kricfalusian moments where you wince a little bit.On that note, the doctor's glasses are a little homage to John K.I want the facial acting for the woman in labour at the start to be fairly true-to-life. Slightly panicked...and sweaty.The baby graduates! So foolish and full of hope. Poor bastard.

Bedfellows

Having described the fundamentals of the animation process for my film, it has in some ways eliminated the need for continuous blogging. What I am currently working on are sequences that all draw upon the limited and full animation described in prior posts, so with that knowledge in mind all I could really talk about at this point is the deconstruction of each scene and shot as they are being worked on. Truthfully, that would be boring, not to mention that it would suck out a lot of the soul of the film.
So, until I move on to other processes, I'll just post some more storyboard/end result comparisons, just to give you more of a flavour of things, and to prove that I'm still getting stuff done.To start with, here's a layout for a brief scene in which the Hunter finally snaps when lying in bed. It's a fairly simple sequence - panning around the bedroom until we zoom in on the Hunter's face. The entire layout was done on A3 to allow for more background detail:

Here's the inked-in version, with more details (such as cement between the bricks) and definition:

And here's how the final shot will look at 16:9 and in colour, compared to the original storyboard sketch. If you look closely you can see that the Hunter has been redrawn with more detail as a separate layer, so that the line quality doesn't deteriorate so much when the shot closes in:
For now that's the only interesting thing I've got for y'all. There'll be more, I swear!

A Laudable Lack of Organisation

My devout professionalism when it comes to the film-making process is...well, non-existent. So I doubt it will come as much of a surprise to anybody to learn that, rather than going through the required layouts logically and methodically, with a sense of order for ease of reference, I've been spewing them out at random. When I've exhausted every conceivable layout and pose from the storyboard I'll be faced with the unenviable task of sorting them all chronologically by scene, then by shot. In creating all this extra work for myself I've come to the conclusion that I am, in fact, a closet masochist. I should just cop to it and start paying some sallow dominatrix to beat me senseless every weekend.

Until I can get together the scrilla to indulge that vice, here are some more examples to show how scattered the whole thing has become:

Two more drawings of the Hunter having gone crazy (a bunch more from this scene were posted here). The latter shot accomodates a double-barreled shotgun being raised into the frame.

These drawings have very little facial detail as they will be silhouetted in the colouring process save for the eyes. To keep the character from going too off-model and unrecognisable without features you can see some consideration has gone into the shape of the head.

Our good friend the Prospective Lay. The pose of her in a seated position was drawn in a manner that allows the character to be placed against two different-angled backgrounds and give the impression that she's shifted her position. Whenever I can cut corners I can, I'm just that crafty.

Hands - they're a bitch to draw on their own, and when they're attached to arms it's even trickier. Lots of erasing, redrawing and staring at my own hand in that position went into these.

That feathery prick of a zombie duck is notable by his absence this time around. Rest assured he'll reappear soon enough...

More O' The Same

Just a quickie to throw some more examples of poses your way. These are from the earlier scenes around the time the Duck and Hunter first meet:

The Hunter at home, unaware of the turn his life is about to take. I was thinking of throwing in his arms sticking to the sofa leather a little bit as an extra detail.

An upper-body shot that will probably only warrant some hair movement, next to a set-up for a basic profile-view walk cycle

The first reveal of the Duck, although this level of detail will only be glimpsed for a split-second (lightning illuminates the design which is otherwise in silhouette). I'm a glutton for punishment.

The subsequent reaction shot from the Hunter (note that with this drawing and the previous one I've tried out some dodgy POV perspective work). This is probably the only example of symmetry in body language used in the film.

Two befuddled reaction shots from the Hunter as the Duck's more eloquent side emerges.

A fairly standard Hunter pose alongside a setup sketch for a forthcoming challenge: The Duck's 'hop' cycle.

These profile shots can be used for reference on numerous occasions, chiefly in the 'first meeting' scene when the Duck is seemingly threatening the Hunter with violence of some sort, as well as a later kitchen scene in which the two are arguing over a missing calzone.

As a plethora of poses are piling up persistently (heh) I don't imagine it's worth posting up every last one as it would fully engulf the blog. From this point on I'll stick to highlights or layouts for specifically complex sequences and give the more boring ones a miss. It's how I keep things fresh, yo.
'Til next time...

An Appropriate State of Mind

Some of you in the UK may have noticed that it's been a little wet of late. Others may be too busy floating through the deluged remnants of the town in which you used to live to be reading this. With some luck Bristol managed to be well-situated for this...situation, although it took me an extra five days to get back home after the trains stopped running out of Cheltenham. This wasn't so much a problem in itself, after all it's nice to get away, I can draw wherever I am and, push come to shove, I can swim. However, when the threat of Cheltenham's water supply being turned off presented itself, I made a hasty exit. I'm a man who likes his toilets in working, flushable condition.
Now that I'm home and dry, literally (derp), I can look back at the last few days' work and acknowledge that my frazzled mindset could only have worked in my favour with these layouts. These are some images from the penultimate scene as previously seen in storyboard and animatic form, in which the Hunter has lost his mind. To make this point clear a lot of the poses are off-model and a little grotesque.

These four are cutaway shots that will be used for reactions to dialogue. There's a distinct increase in stubble and a rockin' case of bed-hair going on, as well as the absence of glasses so that I could throw in some crazy eye-acting.

A reveal of the Hunter in the buff, with some shameless shotgun positioning. Naked + hairy + crazy=funny...as long as it's a cartoon. The proportions of the gun and the relationship between his torso and lower gut are a little off and will need to be redone when it is all inked in.

I hope these have enriched your day. I'm off to run all the taps and flush the toilet repeatedly while laughing manically, for no reason other than I CAN. See ya later.

What A Poseur

What is it precisely that you feel you need to make your day complete? If your answer was anything other than 'Why, to see more of Ben Mitchell's poses and layouts for his film, obviously!' then prepare to be bitterly disappointed.
It's called 'life', chump, get used to it.
However, if that was your answer then get ready to squirm and writhe with unrestrained glee, as that's exactly what you're gonna get! Isn't life grand? Here are a selection from the 'Prospective Lay' scene:

Setting up a walk-cycle, fiendishly framed so that no leg-work will be required.

These three are stand-alone cutaway shots designed to show the Hunter's increasing anticipation of bedding his ditzy gal, and his horror at being cockblocked when the Duck moves in on her

A number of sequences will come from this one, with and without the presence of the Duck, who'll be brought in as a separate layer. Proving that anything can look cute if you can make its eyes (or, this case, eye) big and tearful.

The slightly mismatched proportions of the Prospective Lay's head/body are done to accomodate two differently-framed shots (one of her face and the other of the Duck). I'm pretty proud of the not-so-subtle boob-nuzzling in this sketch and the one previous. It took a lot of trial and erasing to get right. Welcome to my life.