Tuesday, February 16, 2010

New Chapter- Intern Latex and Future Feature

Hey guys,

Chapter 2- has started - started with a Big Giant {GLD} kinda shot- I have been in the garage 4 nights and still am not quite finished with this monster {One more night}......it has turned into a Magical Piece of animation though....Its animated well and thrilled me to see it appear from imagination to reality.

The shot started one way {a plan} and went into something of its own remembering echo's of what I set out to do.... but with a whole new path and rhythmn in getting there.

This shot had lots of flying pieces {like the dog food in GLD} ...and I cant wait to see it all cleaned up.

Shel and Bridget have made some very cool props for our Actors ....

Flea Toolbox-Dober's Toolbox -and Fleas Space Manual -

these are right up close to the camera kicking off the New chapter as they buckle down to do repairs on the ships.

The also did all the tools to populate the boxes-

......

This last few weeks our Intern- Justin Connolly has been hard at work in the creation of his first foam latex puppet-Sculpt - very appealing Characters-Sculpture
Mold - Very Clean MoldArmature -

It is always exciting to see new puppets for us and Shel has guided him throughout the process.
This Saturday...Justin came over from 9 am- 3 am.....in the quest for a Foam Latex puppet. We had a good time just sculpting in front of many fun bad comedies...as the puppet cooked for 8 hours.After the whole Day of artwork.....it was a bit painfull to find the mix wasnt right...-Failed puppet.....Ouch- Thats how it goes.....

Shel first thing in the morning busted out a new mix and it came out great....just in time for class on Monday ...

Nickys new sculpt- I hired him to do his first commissioned - Conan- Frazetta sculptIts coming along nicely!! Update soon.....

Justins Second character for his first USC animated film......it will go through the exact process as the first character....He should have knowledge of the whole process for his future in stop mo very soon.

Shel's still hard at work on the Special features for GLD.....you guys will be happy when its all done....I think I would be interested in this stuff if I was an another independent film maker ....

Speaking of GLD- It just picked up another award at the......
{Savannah International Animation Festival}

we received the AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD - and we were so honored to be a part of Hal and Nancy Miles first year festival. They had a wonderful lineup of films and a lot of competition so it felt really good.

Hal actually called me from the festival and I accepted the award on a cell phone in front of the audience.....How cool is that!! ha!

Our friend Ethan Marak also was a winner this year with his "SuperBattle, Episode 1"taking the {STOP MOTION ANIMATION} award! Congrats man!!

and yeah.....my ankles still busted....but I can walk now....just cant jump or ride..Sadness:(
It does'nt look like much but it HURT!


Hope to start rollin again next weekend...

jriggity

25 comments:

Hermanos Encinas said...

Every day that I come to this magnificent blog I found pictures that makes me allucinated: The conan sculpt is incredible, the new latex puppet too, and the mini tools and really realistic.

Good job friends!

a guy in a gorilla suit said...

repeating myself again and again, but words fail me and maybe I come back tomorrow with some better words - but this picutres set new standards outside gib studio sets with hundreds of workers....

About the injury - there is a very short moment, where the ankle twists into an angle it isn't made for... big Ouch ! the fact that you already can walk and move around without palster reads that you are trained - or at least do sports. Otherwise... all the best !

And else: this film will set new standards. And new goals for newbs like me. This is something you can show everybody who missed the train and thinks, cgi is the highest standard in animation (a nice joke in between: thinking of Avatar - someone lately coined the term 'smurfycats'...)

This is plainly awsome. Incredible. Overwhelming. Made my day. Again

Anonymous said...

Astonishing character process, man! and congrats for the award ;)

MT said...

Absolutely phenomenal. I want more and more and more.

Mexican Viking said...

Thank you so much for your postings! Not only are they encouraging but they allow me to peer into the world of fabbing these things. I'm taking notes and really love it. Your interns very lucky to have the opportunity to work with you. Keep it up!

rich said...

Ooooouch. Dude that looked like your foot came off.

iiiiiii can't wAIT TO SEE GLD BONUS FEATURES!!! muahahhaha.

awesome sculpts, props, foam. i am hungry now. Not sure what that means.

Unknown said...

Congratulations with your award! And nice sculpting! Stop motion rules!

Mike Adair said...

Those tools are totally sweet!!!!
I want a set.
For tiny projects.

JP said...

Man your house looks like a fun place. More power to you and your ankle!

Sarah Knight said...

Those tool boxes look sooo cool! A talented son too.

Keep up the awesomeness ... and the healing!

Font said...

Awesome work at the JRiggity house!! Can't wait to see more.

I feel for you about the ankle. I shattered my calcaneus (heel bone) a few years back in a climbing accident. Fell about 20 feet, was only able to land on one foot. Nasty nasty break/explosion :)

Anyways man, thanks for stopping by my blog and keep it up. Super inspiring to see all the work you and your family produce.

Font

jriggity said...

Hermanos Encinas}Ill pass on your compliment to Nicky....he will appreciate it Im sure.

and Im so glad your diggin the progress.

people in gorillasuits}thanks dood!
and yeah me and shel both have an extensive Movement background...

so we do the best we can....

'smurfycats'....ha!! thats great...

glad your enjoying it man.

jmanu}Thanks man!!

Mattson Tomlin}Mores a coming with every week...

Mexican Viking}thanks dood...and I see youve been working too....keep it up man....every piece of artwork is moving towards what you want to do.

Rich Johnson}Hungry!!! Thats what you are...and exactly what I call that growling in my mind and body.....for knowledge and progress...

I recognize it!!!

Maarten}Thanks man!

Mike Adair}Ha!....yeah man...totally charming...I miss this part of the process sometimes but I got my hands full and Shels got skillzzz in making it all..

JP}Our house is a very fun place man.....Full of Art and Action...

Sarah Knight}will do Sara and Ill tell Nicky!

Font}Ouch....yeah....shattered heelbone is somthing I can Imagine...thats alot more than 6 weeks of healing.

thanks for dropping by.

Ethan said...

Cool stuff as usual! Sorry about that ankle- creepy slowmo injury cam.

Ken A. Priebe said...

Looks like fun over there!

JPierro said...

You guys are unstoppable and very infectious. Ha busted ankle that can't hold you back. :)

pkbrooks said...

your blog quite simply is one of the best stopmo sites around. A real group of artists doing high end work who are humble enough to let other people observe and cheer. Amazing.

Thanks for sharing your images and your process. I am a storyteller and have really fallen in love with stop motion animation as the method I want to use to tell some of the stories I have written. I visit your blog almost every day and am almost all the way through your entire archive.

One question: have you ever published a workbook of some kind on how you make your puppets? I have yet to find a decent website that descibes the process and the lists the specifics on materials.

Keep up the great work and again thanks for all the clips and images. They have taught me tons. Shalom (Peace)

Jeff Lafferty said...

Ouch!!! feel better man.
Jeff

Anonymous said...

congrats on the audience choice award dude!

Alonso said...

I've noticed that now that I'm in my 30's I'm healing slower, lame. Glad it was only your foot, leaving your hands free to animate still (all the same maybe you better start training to animate with your toes so you'll have backups if you ever need it :)

Those tiny tools are so cool, are they clay or other trickery?

Nice fun puppet Justin made. Textbook perfect wire armature for it. So what are your guys' thoughts on wire vs. machined armatures? Is it just a cost thing or are there other benefits to wire as well.

Nice Frazetta coming along. Have you guys used that hard green clay they use over at the sculptor's forum? My coworker swears by that stuff for getting small detail work.

Man Gerald just keeps ticking along! :D Did you guys use that one stop place that submits to festivals for you, or are you researching and targeting each individual festival?

Keep up the great work! Can't wait for the next update!!

jriggity said...

Ethan}ha!...thanks man...the ankle took its first trip back to the ska8 park and all is on the path to recovery.

Ken A. Priebe}Yes...sir!!Fun!!

John Pierro}thanks man...no way....a busted ankle leaves more energy for the project....shifting the leftover beans to new avenues

pkbrooks}thanks man! It means so much to meet new people on our blog...and even more that you guys dig it.

no....we havnt published anything...but we are making it a point to document and give clear guidelines for future posts.

Jeff Lafferty} on my way....thanks.

HwangNguyen}thanks

Alonso} I got injured a few years back where I had to learn to animate with only my left hand....

took me a bit but I managed...ha!

Wire armatures - I personally Love... The are cheap and work perfectly.

my only complaint is that I have to keep a strong eye on the joints or they want to go Gumby...no hard corners in the elbows and knees.

no....we have never used the green clay......I did pick up sculpy firm recently though.It should work.

we did all of our festival submissions through without a box.

and alot of festivals contact us ....because of how well the films done in the circuit.

thanks man....
jriggity

Ryan McCulloch said...

Man I want to see that shot with everything flying around, though I'm not sure if I'm more interested in seeing a cleaned up version or the version with all the wires dancing around.

The little props rock, props to the girls for putting them together so well:)

And of course, congrats on another award, but isn't it just getting gratuitous now? Maybe there's only so many awards one little film can win.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Alexiev said...

Guau... Great work... I love... The best...

Best wishes from Buenos Aires...

http://www.alexiev.com.ar

Proyectos - Illustrations

Alexiev Store - venta de originales

pkbrooks said...

You mentioned sculpey firm as a clay you are trying out, but I notice your son is using a flesh tone clay is that another type?

Armetures. any particular place I can go to see a good step process to make them? I notice the one that you show in your latest post is not a twisted aluminum wire one. Is this a new method for you? Also, is there an online source for wire that you recommend.

Mike Adair said...

Hey guys,
Could you send me an email so I can ask you something? Thanks!
mike@mikeadair.com

Gregory Sesma said...

All this news is so very impressive. I'm at the edge of my seat.