ANIMATION EDUCATION lesson two-lift test

shel again, with a lift test this time, except it unintentionally ended up being mostly a walk test. ( i need a few more years on walks, but the guys over at stop mo shorts are doing "lifts" this week and i wanted to join in).......i didn't manage to add more frames to her walk cycle like i intended to, i think it's cuz the little girl's legs are so short that it sort of threw me after working with the long skinny guy, but i had to work with her cuz i found this really cool glass blue ball. soon i will try another lift with something heavy (and hopefully more frames!).

http://www.vimeo.com/clip:161793

also, i finished painting the puppy bodies. mike brent (darkstrider) gave me some great info on adding more prose aide (at LEAST 50%) to the paint. actually he said "think of adding paint to your prose aide", which was brilliant and completely solved our cracking paint problem , trust me, these are very flexible puppies!! And then he told me about some powder (ben nye neutral set colorless face powder) that will keep the puppets from sticking to themselves cuz now that they are so stretchy, they are also pretty darn sticky. justin and i picked up the powder today at Motion Picture FX Company in Burbank (during our lunch date--i know it doesn't sound that romantic but it works for us!). so the puppies are in good shape, justin just needs to make about a million more heads and they're set to shoot!

justin has good news but no time to tell it (he's been working harder even than usual this week), but i'll leave it to him to say when he finds a moment.......

not tonight though.....tonight we are taking off !

ANIMATION EDUCATION - learning to walk

Shel here:

I've been working on walks, this is my third.....I'm really loving pushing this guy around. I have so much to learn (this is one of those cool kind of skills that feels like it'll take a lifetime to learn) but i feel like i'm getting a better sense of it, at least movement-wise, there's still a bunch of timing issues to work out, for instance i think i'm not taking enough pictures (in other words i'm making the movement between pictures too big). Anyway, since i'm starting from scratch i thought i'd post my progress here on the blog (hopefully there will be some big visual improvements). i'm really excited, it's like stepping into a whole new world.

http://www.vimeo.com/clip:161301

HEY HEY HEY its the DBA

okay, we're getting serious here......(no more goofin' around!).......

our official DBA (Doing Business As) or Fictitious Business Name Statement came in the mail this weekend (it's amazing how easy it is to get us all silly happy):

justin's and my productions will now fall under the name of.....

(you saw it here first):

STUNT PUPPET PICTURES

logo to come

jean, of our very friendly and wise advisory team {al and jean} , gave me the low down on the business side of this stuff and recommended that we get a DBA and then once we have a logo copyright it, and that should take care of the business part of our stop motion obsession for now. (though we also decided to get a business licence for tax write-off reasons but mostly cuz you get a cool looking little certificate!)

KICK OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Production

I did it!!! I officially started animation on my FILM! last night {March 22, 2007}at about 1:00 in the morning.

And Its so exciting !! I actually started on Tuesday night but By tuesday morning I wasnt happy with how things were going....so I pulled the plug , RESET and try again tomorrow.

so then after a lovely day of rockclimbing {in Malibu Canyon}with Shel , one of my Sisters and her husband....and A Huge Family FEAST at the japanese restaurant......I made my way {slowly} into the garage. getting started at 1:00 in the mornin...takes a certain mentel state. I basically have to look at the freezing cold pool and JUMP Right in.

but as soon as Im in the water I warm right up and with season 2 of Southpark playing in the background.....I start pushin the puppets.

at the end of the evening....about 5:30 or so.....I run upstairs and try to get a few hours of zzzzz's before going to work......

so Its going well....and I think its gona turn out great.

jriggity

FRUSTRATION!! a Little Girl and LIGHTING

Well Heres the latest....

I finished my walk for the week last week which was very fun to do.The Little girl puppet was a joy to animate. I Think shes battleing The Rich Guy Puppet for My favorite puppet award.I created this walk for a few reasons. I needed to test my {lens and camera for flicker issues and setup} I wanted to get the lighting looking good before my film starts and Last of all I wanted to get my hands pushing the girl puppet around..

{walk animation week}- very cool! I can participate...and check off all these chores.

http://www.animationrasch.com/STOPMOTESTS/LILGirlfullTestSMALL.zip

onto my FRUSTRATION!!! - I was supposed to start my Film on Sunday Night but spent the entire night.....getting the puppet ready.....getting the camera ready......getting his X-Sheet ready.......getting the computer set up....I JUST WANA ANIMATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Its AMAZING the ammount of TIME Setup requires.

I didnt even get into the garage till about 12:30 at night....I was very patient and said to myself.....you dont have to start today........start tomorrow.......chill out.....so I did.....

I then heard from a Artist friend of mine who brought up my lighting as a weakness in my shot.

This sent a deadly shock wave through my mentals....DAMMIT! I told myself I would take another look at the lighting {Lighting is totally my weakspot} Im just not that good at it....and the Hallset took me a Forever to get it to that Level.....

So....I said Id spend 1 hour working on the lighting to see if I could improve it....1 hour turned into 1 full season of southpark - 3 discs.....and another evening without animating.

fiddleing with the Lighting can go on forever!!.....I think I got it under wraps and all my other tasks are completed. I just have to walk into the garage turn the lights on grab the puppet and animate.

I am READY!

Jriggity

OUCH!!! I'VE BEEN BIT!

Shel here. I finally forced myself to dive in and push some puppets around, I was really curious to see if it was something I would enjoy, but I was scared too….cuz……you know, it was scarey. I wouldn’t let Justin look till the very end, and when I needed help with Monkey Jam questions, he had to come and help me with his eyes closed (which he was very honorable about).

It’s our anniversary this weekend. (Eight yummy years.) We sent the kids away for the night and are very very much enjoying the focused just-plain-us time. We decided to spend an hour of this precious time on animatin’.....for me to stop avoiding trying it, and for Justin to finish up the test shot he started on Wednesday. Three hours later we both emerged pleased as punch (I’ll let Justin tell about his—but for the record I think it’s his best animation ever.....makes me go “Awww” and I’m not a really “awww-y” kind of girl).

This is mine.

http://www.vimeo.com/clip:155403

I had imagined using the little girl puppet for my first try but Justin was using the Test Girl and I want to save Star Girl and Stunt Girl for the film (the puppet maker in me, very practically deciding I’d rather not have to make another puppet down the line should I blow a wrist or something on my test).

So I picked up the Test Skinny Tough Guy and helped him get in touch with his less tough side…..I really had a lot of fun with him.

Justin and I have big plans for a really big project (5 years from now) that includes taking two years off and going away somewhere (far away maybe?) and making the ½ hour short. And I was thinking that 5 years is a long time...in 5 years our boys will be 18 and if it’s enough time to turn them into men, then surely it’s long enough for me to learn how to animate….maybe? Both ideas are equally ambitious and will take some serious patience, love, time and attention but I have confidence most days for the boys, and now an excited hopefulness for me. Did I say I really really liked it!

READY TO SHOOT!!!

hey ya'll

shel here.....very happy to report that the hallway set is done, done, done. it looks much grungier than before and i am super glad i tore it up and redid it.

here's some pics of the the finished set with some details and (very exciting) a pic of the whole cast (except the dog who couldn't make it due to his compromised state of hanging in various stages of decapitated propaste in the dining room). he's been neglected while i finished the set.

i went to the pound in Glendale, CA last week and got some reference pics. this was dangerous and i had been putting it off cuz we really really really don't need a dog around here, but i was strong (and in a hurry) and managed to come home with inspiring pics but nothing furry, phwhew!

justin is in the garage right now setting up lights and getting ready to shoot on sunday, which will be our official "production" launch date. so this is my new to do list which will take me to the end of the project (the end is in sight):

• finish the dog (propaste and paint)
• make a new Eduardo puppet (same crackly paint problem the rich folks had)
• finish the dog cage set (very simple, i have most the assets, just need some weathering)
• make the down-the-hallway shots set (this will be interesting---i need to construct a wall with an openable door)
• make the happy ending hill set (this can wait till near the end of the shooting as we don't have room for this set in the garage right now anyway)
• re-construct the opening external pound/town set (this will be later too, i have all the parts, just need to dust them off, repair stuff and put it together again.....this will be the last shot justin shoots, it also is the first thing he shot, but now that he is using film quality instead of tv quality images he needs to redo it)
• write the script for our next film okay, this is the most exciting part and i'm hoping the stuff above doesn't take too much time cuz i always pictured me just doing writing while justin clicks his story into life. the next film we will make is 1/2 hour long (HA!!). justin and i have worked out the story points together and now it just needs to be written into a script. i've never written a script, so......i'm just gonna plug my nose and jump in and hope i've got what i need to make it happen. i'm very much looking forward to feeling what that is like...... first off i'll have to come to terms with this completely unrealistic romantic image i have of writing a script that includes lots of focused time spent serenely in a sun streamed room with tea....well i guess i can still drink lots of tea.

Poundworker Mouth Shapes

Ok......so Ive been pretty busy trying to get everything ready for the kickoff of my film. I been checking everything off the list.....and Just today on the way home from work.....I picked up my latest chore on the list. I had the poundworkers mouth shapes printed out on sticky paper. Which will be creating the illusion of my puppets speaking.

Im excited to use them......and almost ready to shoot. I have to do the X sheet some time this week....and I have to do a flicker test to make sure I understand how to create clean frames.

Shel has been working hard at getting the set ready to shoot by wednesday night....Shes been making some awesome props for the background....the objects will really add depth to the film that it would lack otherwise.

So..... wednesday evening I will then take over and set up the lights and camera which always takes 10 times the ammount of time I think it should.

Then I'll run right into a Sunday Night shoot....which will probably take 3 nights to finish.

Im excited!!!! And scared !!!!

jriggity

Garage Studio {Comfortization}

So......... me and shel fixed up the garage studio....in preperation for the actual start of my film. We started by cleaning up the floors which were covered in dust.....mold stuff and splinters from wood drillage.

Shel did alot of cleaning while I drilled several hundred more holes in sections of the set sitting in front of the garage.

We then put down the rug ....cheapest one we could get from the extra rug parts store.

....and then re-construction was to begin.....Shel got into the set while I set up the computer and camera stuff.

After we positioned all that stuff ....Up went the wall of Story....the first 3 acts of my film are up on the wall inspiring me and excitingly waiting to be crossed out as I animate them.

After the day was done....the studio is MUCH warmer....much more comfortable....and inspiring for the year of cave dwelling ahead.

jriggity

Story Sequence 5 Ending

Well I had many different versions of this sequence ..........but this is what Im gona go for.This is a MAJOR milestone for me......at this point I have the entire film on paper and 3 sequences in animatic form.

I will begin shooting My Film next Wednesday Night. {shot #1}

It will be the {Poundworker Greg} character and the Story Setup for the Film.

His job in this story is to let the audience know that {Gerald the Dog} is on the last day of his stay at the pound. At 5 o'clock he is to be terminated.....due to non adoption.

Here comes a BIG year of animation!!!

jriggity

Building a Star Puppet!

So...... myself and shel have been constucting puppet after puppet searching for the perfect main character. I am sure our main character {Dog} has been through at least 20 revisions since the begining of this project......INSANE! Someday Ill show his initial drawings and his various stop mo versions....just for kicks and lookback.

I feel we are very close to locking down the puppet for final shooting though. The latest incarnation involves 3 methods being mixed to create a puppet with the abilities needed for my character to perform.

1-my puppet is foamed with a hybrid armature{spine and neck of metal armature pieces.}
the legs and tail are armature wire.

2- the puppets foam feet are cut off - after that the front legs are extended due to the mold
sculpts not being long enough for the poses Im looking for......this require a foam buildup and
cut away method... then on to propasting to blend the 2 together.

3. Sculpy feet are created ontop of the 5 minuet apoxy and used for animatabity ...his foam also
must be dug out of his side belly sections to allow more extreme movement for the dogs
Hips.

this is the process to create one of the 3 puppets needed for my Film .....alot of work not including all the painting and so forth....not to mention Ill probably need more due to how active this char is in the film......possible breaks and aches.

here is an intermediate pic of the 2 of them together....

Foam Dog is sad having just had a bath in the kitchen sink......I imagine hell be sad untill hes finished...Maquette dog is quite happy having reached his his final form.....

soon enough Mr. Foam puppet will have the last laugh.....hell be bouncing and pouncing and
rolling and living ....Full of life ............while mr maquette will be incased in his frozen coffin for eternity!!

Its almost SAD.....ha!

jriggity