Tuesday, September 22, 2009

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 -

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice job!

The new plant life will make the planet surface more balanced visually and the color contrasts nicely from the set floor. Good move, to get a power conditioner.

Pretty expensive? I'm seeing cheap ones, but they don't have many outlets.

tonychauzer said...

Synchronized swimming lol. Truly dorky! 100 pictures of fun.

Darkmatters said...

Hah! I just noticed what it "says" on the side of Dober's ship!!! Cute!!!

(not as cute as Aedon, but cute!!)

rich said...

Robert Litton - Intern / Composer / Yaughtsman - hilarious.

Your trip looked sooooo fun. Congrats on the awards and the Internet wins!

I love the plant life. Really fun. You almost wonder if it's something that will hatch. Creepy in a good way. It matches the round shapes you have going on in the film too.

I am absolutely floored by the work that went into the set, props, ships and characters. It looks so good you guys.

JP said...

Another inpsiring post. You guys are great! success,

JP

Shelley Noble said...

On the fun family trip: You guys really know how to have fun. I love that the whole family was together on this one and that Robert has grown so close a friend too.

My fav shots were the one of Justin & Aedon laughing on the bike. It shows the family BONZAI!!!!!! spirit. ANd Shel's perfect dancer's point in the water! (At least I *hope* that was Shel's and not Seamus'!)

On the film progress, it all looks so completely fabulous (glad Strider pointed out the writing on the ship, he's right, it is cute.)

All the solid equipment setting up and flow of great people who want to be a part of what you are making is both a hooray and a slumped shoulder. I cheer for you in all that you do and all that you will do. And I feel I fall increasingly behind in the dust you leave.

Sitting up straight, rooting for you.

JPierro said...

Couldn't have said it better, "one step at a time". Bravo! Beautiful post. Enjoy your much desired time off work.

Ryan McCulloch said...

All awesome stuff man! Very cool, hope your trip was inspiring. Loving the new set and crashed ship. SO COOL. I want to eat your set.

Robert Litton said...

Dood...I can't believe you used photoshop to make me look super-dork WHITE in those shots of me swimming. So not kewl...

Alonso said...

man you are ripped :P

how are you planning on tieing down while walking on the ships?

There are scenes where both ships are flying (I assume) why did you not film those before you crashed and distressed them? Or did you?

jriggity said...

{Don c} Yes...I am very happy with the addition of the aien eggplant.

The Power conditioner was a very BIG expense for us....but somthing weve wanted to do for a Long time.

Ours is a wired in Conditioner....so its not plug based. All of the plugs were added by the Electrician.

Tonychauzer}Dorking out is very common in our house...

Darkstrider} Yeah, my littlest monkey is sooper cute.....

Glad you caught the lettering numbers on the ship....its a big part of the Universe these characters live in.

Rich Johnson}Ha- glad that made ya giggle- I laugh every time I watch that video on your site..

It was very fun man!!....and thanks!

yes.....I get that same feeling with the alien eggplants-somthings in there?

JP} thanks for visiting man!! Im honored you visit our blog.

Shelley Noble} we do have fun....give us a box and an empty room and well have a good time.

and yes, Robert is definatly becoming part of the family....

yes...that is Shels dancer point....Your tuned into that being a dancer yourself!

Thanks! Ha! ...We are definiteley working very hard to make that
Dust...ha!!

yeah....it feels like slow mo over here but we really do Push to continue forward.

I just visited your blog yesterday and saw so much progress I felt like I was gone for months.

No need to Slump!!!!!

One step at a time and Clear goals is what it takes.

Im rooting for you every week.

John Pierro} will do man...2 fabulous weeks of letting my heart relax and my spirit Re energize!


Ryan McCulloch}thanks dood....it was very inspiring and if your ever in town ...come on over and Have a Slice of Planet Pie!

Robert Litton}HA!!! no photoshop required brother!!....ha.

Hows that blister Healing up?We got a riding session this weekend with the Boys.

Alonso} Ha! Iduno about that....but I trie to stay in shape for my lady.....plus I dont want the boys to be able to beat me in a wrestling match till im in my late 60's

as for tiedowns on the ship ?-

I plan to drill right through the wings - they are made of wood..

....and for the ceiling - Im just going to have to be really carefull in maintaining there feet positioning.or glueing them down for some shots.

Both ships are flying in the Intro chase sequence....I chose to shoot that later - because I needed to work out COUNTLESS problems before I could start shooting and the intro wasnt going to present them like the second sequence does.

secondly - we are having miniature ships for a bunch of the shots in the intro which are not built yet.

and thirdly I wanted to shoot the intro Last when I feel super connected to the characters and am very experianced in working with them. This way my intro will be stronger than if I Started there.

jriggity

Yaz said...

Justin, your trip looks very very relaxing and fun. Even looking at these pictures makes me smile. You all deserved it after all those time working very hard. Andddd.. another 2 awards for GLD. Congratulations!!! Taking the award from Noel Blanc must have been such an honor. I like the new plants better than the previous too. Nice green color scheme.

Kenneth Sipel said...

Congrats on the wins and WOW I can't wait for the lighting phase.
Getting the conditioner really sets the tone (serious). I'm glad I can ride along with you guys it helps so much with my own stuff.

Taber said...

Hey there! I just wanted to say hi to you and let you know that I'm the guy you met at the Max and Mary screening at Dreamworks. I wouldn't bother looking at my blog because I really don't update it anymore, but if you want you could check out my site at www.taberanimation.com.

It was nice meeting you!

Anonymous said...

Hey Jriggity, I got that pan thing figured out:

http://www.stopmotionanimation.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=set_threaded_mode&forum=11&page=&topic_id=1891&prev_page=show_topic

This is taking the Boivin method a step further by adding texture mapping to a CG primitive and spinning the camera around in it.

Maybe not super convincing for all applications, but it's being used in product presentations for company websites, so it definitely useful- and heck, Patrick Boivin's pan-and-scan trick looks awesome in 2D. Just think of what you could do with it in 3D.

How to get the two views for 3D to match up with the virtual moves, however, is something you'll have to figure out. I have no idea about that one, other than to keep track of your virtual camera's settings and duplicate them exactly for both views from the DSLR (since it's already adjusted from one eye to the other) A little extra work, but hey- you'll have a camera with UNLIMITED movement!

Anonymous said...

wow...awesome, lots of pictures.