KICK OFF - 4 Shots - and Vacation

Hey guys!!! KICK OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am really really excited about this film......Last week was the LAST week of my 3 week vacation and we really put all our energy into Getting that first shot in the CAN.my weeks work on the film.

Right after a High Octane Dogfight in deep Space......Dober Awakens on a strange planet with his ship in need of repair!!! Can Ya feel It People!!!???


Shots 1 - 4 in the {Dober Awakens} Chapter - the computer display is temporary as we work out all the Display and lighting-effects hurdles.....but...... You can see where I'm going with it.

The world That is taking shape is THRILLING ....I cant even describe how vast and 3d it all feels. We are really taking it to whole differnt level on this.

So after our first lighting by Alia Houser

we discovered a few problems.......I was going to have to comp out too many lights in the background{trying to save work}......and our ship shadows would get cut when I split the tables for access . Alia graciously came over to do the NEW 2.0 Lighting for the set and We are very very happy with the results!!

Shes a very cool person and enjoyed helping out us INDIE stop mo filmakers . Highly reccomended!!

So.....Letting you guys know......I have set a pace of doing 10 seconds of Animation per week as my Goal throughout the making of the Film.

This will allow me much more sleep than GLD did and I hope to come close and sometime surpass the goal.

We as a studio got an incredible NEW Piece of equipment for doing professional Camera moves .

You can see the quality in the Latest shot.....and I will be using it often in this film.

Super Perfect smoothe slide - with a Sweet crank to roll as I Animate.

During my vacation I was able to connect with some of our ART assistants on Our Art Tuesdays. I have been wanting to hang with these guys for a while but gota go ta Work.... It was especially great to hear their personal passions and where there Interest in this artform came from. I Also got to hear what they would like to do with the craft {Films-Careers-Storys}......we hope to help them with some knowledge and Teaching anything we can to help them achieve thier stop mo Goals.

Shot in 3d and edited together quickly just to feel the cuts and get our first taste of the film to come.

Heres Shels latest Handywork - Flea Ships Cracked and smoked windshield ready to be Photographed tonight. {VACATION}- So One of the Things that I have been up too recently with my vacation has been to RIDE BMX bikes - I used to Be a FREAK for the sport.......completly in love with it.

Well .....I have started to ride again and am very much into relearning the Craft.




We have been spending every saturday Night at the Home Depot Parking lot......Under the 6 lane overpass. Covered and Lit....no one bothers us as we Ride, Crash and Laugh. Heres some pics of our recent Sessions-very fun!!!Nicky Building his first bike - My Hot Biker Chick!! Robert Litton - Composer -Intern -Yaghtsman - BMXer-

Me and Aedon got to do some Physical challenges -



We went Pole Vaulting after a few good years off.

Robert Litton - Composer -Intern -Yaghtsman - BMXer- PoleVaulter

My Aunt and Uncle Visited -
had a great vacation but not LONG enough....

Back at work today animating a Monster driving a small car.....getting back into the groove .

jriggity

Camera Move Test - And Eugene International Film Fest

Hey guys,

been on my first week of vacation from work and I finished the last of the Dober Replacement Heads for our Film . These heads dont look like much now but they will Run the entire Expression range when required on Film. The Eyebrows , ears , jowls and so on are all soft clay ready to be manipulated.
I will be cutting the heads off and placeing new heads on where needed....then re blending the clay into the neck in animation.

These heads like Gerald's - Were sculpted with all the expression required for the acting....Most of the Time -Dober- is Angry or Suprised .... so not nearly as many heads are required....also Gerald had a nice collar to hide the seams unlike Dober....so Ill have to pay more mind to that Throughout filming.

After experimenting with Flea and his replacement heads I've decided to just use his Foam Latex Sculpt and expression giving armature in his eyes and Jaw instead of replacements. His design specifically the Jaw was just to much of a pain in the ass to work with.

We had the Lighting Done this last week as well.....Alia Houser

came out and gave us a couple of hours for getting the ligts set up for the begining of shooting. She Will be back this week for lighting touchups next week.

A couple of last touches added to the set.... and some More Props for the Film - I finally managed to get a Camera Animation test.....



This was VERY exciting!! I learned alot during this test and know I can do it better next time....Its amazing how much more real the Tiny world becomes when the camera starts moving through it.
This is the GAP i worked in during the test - This Gapp was hidden through a Low camera Angle......and some small risers on the side of the set Near the ships.

It all started with My very first 2 Drilled holes in the set and Ship!!..Yikes!!! a bit scarry.This is somthing we plan to do alot of in this Film.

The big issue is the tiny shakes and uneveness of the camera......we have ideas on making the moves less shakey and well try it on the next try. This camera move was done by hand and just nudged along bit by bit.....with a Measuring tape as my guide.

In Festival NEWS - We just came home to Los Angeles from {Eugene International Film Fest}It was the first time we had ever been to Oregon......

The festival set us up at The Valley River Inn which was right across the street from the Theatre. We arrived very late Friday night and crashed out ready for tomorrows Movies and our Showing at 1 pm.

We grabbed breakfast and picked up our Festival passes......It was at the Regal Cinemas in a local Mall...

We watched some Short Films then readied ourselves for the Animation Family Block. We were the first film that played and the audience was really feeling it....

after the showing we did our Q and A which was fun and always informative to audiences . Most people have very little idea how Stopmotion films are even made....and definitly dont understand the TIME required.

We then enjoyed the entire day watching movies ......eating and talking about them .
Sunday was more of the same except for a Nice walk in the Park along the River and some Swingset Fun.

after all the shows -we went to the Awards Cerimony where we Enjoyed Lots of Conversation with the Local Volenteers and Filmakers. Incrededibly Super Ultra nice people..

We also Ended up Winning the "BEST ANIMATED SHORT Award" .....Awesome!!!
It was really cool because after the awards ....they played clips of all the films that Won or films requested for people that had'nt seen them. Ours got played in FULL and it recieved a nice big applause in viewing. Really cool......

It continues to amaze me how much people have responded to our film and how even now its thrilling to watch it with an audience. EVERY TIME!!! Ha!

Everyone that Ran the festival was INCREDIBLY NICE.......And really open to us.....this was the best experiance with the individual People we have had on our festival Tour. I cant wait to send them our new film in 2 years for consideration.

NEXT WEEK - We start Principal Photography. KIK OFF!!!!

jriggity-justin

Planet PUSH - and BIG BEAR.

Hey Guys,

Here we are just coming back from an Awesome weekend at {BIG BEAR Lake Film Fest.}.It was such a Bueatifull place and we used our time there to its very fullest. We stayed at a HUGE 5 bedroom Super CABIN.It was right out of my Lincoln Log toy box I had as a kid.....fantastic with all the Woodlinees you would expect -Super Warm and Cozy -

We watched Movies - Questions and Answer-Hiked -
Son Nicky got very inspired with the camera (all the cool arty shots here are by him!)-Physical Challenges-- Horsebacked - Biked -Alpine slid- Go carted- Swam-Syncronized Dorking!!Boated- Robert Litton - Intern / Composer / Yaughtsman Stranded on the water potty -Look at Aedons Posture -so telling--Smiling and Hurt a tiny bit.
They thought it would be funny to abandon us....ha!! Problem was they couldnt get the boat to restart so the just floated away Until me and Aedon caught a ride On another boat-Fun adventure!!....and spent time with the grandparents ... So much FUN!! We Won 2 Awards at the festival - Best Family Film Award - and - maybe 10 minuets Later

The {Best Animated Short -Audience Choce Award}....This award was given by Noel Blanc-Son of Mel Blanc -famous for doing all of the voice work from our favorite Animated Warner brotherrs characters.....I was Honored!!!. It was a suprise to Win and feel how much people really enjoyed the film.

The Entire fest was of High Quality and surrounded by Bueatiful Backdrops and really nice people....I wish so much we could have stayed longer..... We look forward to Submitting our new Film in 2 years.

Now Back To the NEW Film-----

Well.... Here we are Tuesday -Shels BIG Work day - making our last big Push on the set before the Lighting designer comes next week.

One of the first thing Shel did last week was extend the Blue screen through some clever sewing...

some of the higher angles we showing garage wall so we added a little over a foot. Shel and one of our very Dedicated Artists will be putting in a bit more time to make sure were ready for lighting. Bridget - we met at the premiere of our Film Gerald's Last Day - she said she was interested in working with us and she has been INVALUABLE!! We are excited to have her with us on this films adventure. We ...after experimenting a bit..{and getting a great concept from our Newest Intern, Caitlin Pashalek}.. decided on a new plant life....to replace our older one. I am much happier with the look.
Shel and Bridget Dash.....took monday to Add some ship damage to the ships...
its so nice to see it all coming together....When I put the puppets in the scene...its almost too exciting to bear. Soon these lifeless puppets will soon be walking and jumping all over the ships. They will do it without strings and amongst their own thoughts.

The will be making their own decisions ....and thats incredibly exciting!!! Because I'll have limited controll over whats going to happen NEXT.

Shel got a bunch of great Inside info from Shadow Machine last week....Our Lighting designer gave her a first hand look on some of the Techniques for lighting and supporting lights in all kinds of situations.

Also in Studio NEWS - We had our electrician install our POWER Conditioner. This was a Big investment for us but Im really excited about how the studio Power is now under controll.

We have all of our lights coming from this Machine which keeps the power at a precise and steady rate.....we also have tons of new Plugs all over the ceiling for easy access.

I have been hard at work - Both at HOME and WORK.....I finally decided on a method of facial acting for my characters. I am now going to go through the process of constructing the many faces of Dober and Festers Emotional states.

I am just 2 weeks from taking a vacation{Comp time}...this is what our company rewards us after finishing a title. Its makeup for all the extra hours we put in during the course of a Game.

I am so in need of this Break and I am looking forward to making a big jump toward begining shooting the Film.

We had some MORE great news this month....We WON 2 online Animation Contests....
Superu Animation Contest
http://www.superu.ca/contests/view/55

and Bigstar.tv Stopmo Animation contest
http://www.bigstar.tv/film-contest/stop-motion-short-film-contests_temp-2009/gld-54-final-sm/recent/1

These both were so cool.....and I was so excited to be a part of the stop mo contest in particular.That kinda thing is very RARE....and the other films involved were very high Quality.

Our DREAM's are coming true. One Step at a Time!

Stay tuned guys Lots ta come!!!!!
Captain Aedon Driving -

The BLUE MONSTER!!!! and stuff

Hey guys,

Thought I would do a quick update to let you all see the exciting progress in our world creation FAZE...

BLUE SCREEN? After discussing the design for some roof attachments.......Shel created a wooden train track lookin thing that made its way around the ceiling.Shel and Robert{Composer/Intern} then attached the Blue Screen Foam that I got at another cool store in Burbank ca. Its called {FILMTools} its got all things moviemaking . Pretty cool place.

By hanging the Blue Foam from the train blocks she put up......we now have 360 degrees of Blue screen comping capabilities.......Saaaaweeet! This is when I feel my dork hairs stand on end....
its really bueatiful and it feels super professional.....makes me feel like we are a real production.

We have also have finished the Clayification of the planet surface....its all covered and ready to go......The ships are all dug into the surface and they are in the process of being weathered....and snuggled.We are placeing all the broken and removed parts of their ships all over the playfield....in their previsualized postions.{MAJOR Part of the StoryLine}

Seeing the sets size and the scale of the world reminds me so much of my very first understood exposure to stopmotion....The ATAT sequence in Empire Strikes Back...... I saw behind the scenes on this as a kid and was completly mesmerized by the process and artistry. Here we are 20 some years later making our own alien Planet with cool stop motion animation about to begin.....Awesome!!We also are introducing a plantlife or crystal lifeforms jutting out of the ground plane...??hmmmm?? Last week the guys also surrounded the set with Clay Mountain ranges in a forced perspective scale.....this increases the visual illusion of space.With some pic experimenting its going to work perfectly.The crew has also been working on Puppet backups - cutting out foam characters and starting to propaste them before painting.....

They have also begun building props and assets needed in the story...Pics to come

We also have found moments here and there to Play in the Danger room....to balance all this fine motor skill work.

I have been BUSTING ASS at work and stressing over the layoffs my company has done in the last few months. I have lost 4 animators on our team and alot more artists at the company.

Its hard times out there...and I feel very fortunate in keeping my present job...but really sad for all without..

we also finally got to view that last test I did in 3D and it was really really cool!

I was jazzed to see what I did worked and that we really can make this happen for the entire film.

So next up is a small extension on the blue screen which will make sure we are covered for High shots..........and then Finishing the weathering and detailing of the scene.

Then its ready to be lit by our Lighting expert Alia Houser!!
Exciting!!!

we are getting really close to Animation KICK OFF!!!

jriggity

The Planet Surface - Set Beginings

Hey guys,

just an update on progress.......

Shel's been working weekends on getting us to the planet surface. Where do we begin...right?

Thats a big task......I did some simple concept art and we discussed the feeling the planet needs to create to support the story. After that it was all up to Shel.

She started with a choice of foam base for terrain.....She and some help from Robert Litton Laid the ground plains for sculpting. Glueing 2 inch and 1 inch sheets around the surface.

Then Shel and our Intern Justin Connolly started sculpting the terrain.After Scultping the Shape -Shel Gooped the whole set up with a special recipe provided by experts.....It hardens to a strong shell and can be sanded nicely.
After a few layers of gooping and some additional sculpting-sanding.....Shel did some sand tests.......seeing if we could blend from clay as our main stage to the dried hard outer surface...which she mixed sand into.

After approval of this technique She moved into Placeing the ships in the resting places semi submerged into the planet surface..

then Cutting them into the floor......and figureing out how to stabelize them. After fitting them and figureing out how to lock them down.....Shel started painting with our awesome Intern Bridget Dash.

This ofcourse led to Squashing clay all over the main area of the Playground...where most of the acting takes place.After all of this we are starting to see the Planet take shape......next up Finish clay pressing and Dirtification of the ships......Adding the rock formations ...

then we tackle the BLUE SCREEN Monster....hmmmmm?

jriggity

Studio Upgrades!

Hey guys,

Justin here with a quick post on whats been happening. Shel has been doing an amazing job with upgrading our studio and getting the stage floor set up. Im floored by the way we compliment each other as artists , filmakers and partners. I am Very lucky dood!

So {upgrading our studio}.......This required - {cleaning out-organizing the garge} - Which we did on a BIG sunday Push. This is basically a transition from shop to Animation Studio.

Then Shel and Our composer removed all the drywall from the ceiling. allowing Shel to hook up the Lighting system She designed for our space..........Awesome -

The whole ceiling is covered in Pipes to hang our lights from. We also have a Power conditioner on order very similar to what Nick Hillingoss has in his new studio. This Puppey will make our Issues with ever changing light fluctuations in our garage dissapear.

After Cleaning up the Huge mess the drywall left ..........

...... we moved into ACTUAL stage construction.

Blocking out the size needed for the shots designed.

This stage is HUGE guys-one 14 ft long 4 feet wide main center stage where the ships are crashed and will be spending over a year planted within. Then Shel made 4 seven foot tables that will be removeable depanding on the shots I need and access necessity.
These table started as awesome fold down extensions to the set....but we realized I could'nt reach under the main table for tie downs....Duuuuuuughggh. Its amazing what you can look over when tackeling these jobs.

MONSTROUSLY HUGE SET!! .....this sets gona look like a museum Display when its all there.....a True world created just for the telling of this story. I am pumped and a little intimidated by the realization of all our ideas. I want to be able to live up to the vision in our head....surpass it even!! Shels been doing such an incredible job on her end I gota live up my side of the bargain.

so..... into the future

I brought home a big pile of foam for shel to start sculpting into a desert planet surface.

She officially starts this Tuesday with sculpting....The sets going to be a combination of clay

and foam covered in Plaster like substance.....Clay in the main area.....fadeing into a harder surface on the ends of the tables.

NEXT On the list.... we need a HUGE Blue screen backing in order to comp in the extra land we dont possess for the Film....We have some napkin drawings of the early design but We plan to do some tests first.

Hopeing to hang some paper or sheet- 4 by 8 painted boards?? Any Ideas are appreciated?

We are a bit worried we wont have enough room to light the Screens properly for a good keying though..... a test should give us an idea.

We also picked up a new bunch of lighting equipment off Craigs list. Saweet....Its exciting to see our studio grow!!!

Next Posts should have Planets surface a happening...by the way Shel Knocked out 5 foamed puppets in 4 days for future use......Interns will have lots ta do and learn in the next week.

jriggity

Space Ships......CHECK!!!

Shel here:Thirteen weeks later (four more than i had hoped for)............and after a Really FUN Big Push this last week with more than a couple inspired late nights (i'm not generally the late night shift in this team, but having an end in sight is pretty motivating!).....i'm happy to say the ships are D O N E.

here's some pics......

Since we are starting our shoot on a desert planet with two crashed ships......they have sustained some damage already......

Some parts are replaceable for "fixing" on camera......
There are many other parts that i'm still making as props..... and a third "mystery ship" that is just in the finishing up stage......but after tomorrow, i start the transformation of our garage from WORKSHOP to STAGE...... HUGE STEP FORWARD!!!!

So many hands have helped with these puppies, whether with an hour or two, or days, or weeks, i've been extremely grateful for the support from interns, friends, family, a guy i met one morning who used to like to paint models, and even a composer (?!).....

Stop Mo Set Master JEFF CROSS who showed me how, and taught me tons.....
The extrodinarily generous and knowledgable DICK KANESHIRO who came in and worked steady for many weeks and has been a HUGE help.

Our newest intern in front JUSTIN CONNELY, who just moved to LA to start an animation degree at USC Sept.....we are so fortunate to have his great sculpting skills and friendliness on the project! In back that's ROBERT LITTON, our multi-talented (and very game!) composer.


JOHN SUMNER from Buddy Systems Studios generously stopped by one day to help me figure out the Flea's ship paint job.


CAM LEEBURG who came in early on and made some serious contributions, before he got real work and had to leave......i miss his easy nice in the shop.

Justin's brother TODD did a super professional job making the "bucks" for our windshields and welding those mighty legs on Flea's ship.

my lovely friend RALF, an oh-so-beautiful dancer, choreographer, teacher and world traveler, made a guest teaching stop in LA and gave a hand one afternoon. Aedon's and my friend KEYA, who has an artist's heart, a love for stop motion, and a beautiful curiosity about how things work in general.

ROBERT LITTON, and the consistantly upbeat and awesome, not to mention an amazing sculptress, BRIDGET DASH

RENE who, lucky for me, is very friendly and likes to paint (and who i had met just 3 hours before this pic was taken!)

Justin's sister JENNA put her dentistry skills to use on part of Dober's dash board (and conveniently on Aedon as well in a fluke dental emergency!)

I've learned so much from and about each of these lovely peeps, hanging out in the garage, talking, not talking, listening to music, sharing showers of blue dust and paint splats.....it's truly been a joy sharing the process with each of them.

So NEXT:

1. CLEAN and ORGANIZE the "studio" (seperate and make accessable the stuff we'll need in the space for the next 2 years and pack up and store the stuff we won't)

2. make and put a LIGHTING GRID on the ceiling

3. finish up researching and order a POWER CONDITIONER to keep the flicker at bay

4. design and build the SET (dress it)

5. design and build the BACKGROUNDS (paint them)

I would love to have all this done by september 30....... HA!!

a girl can dream........