Friday, September 23, 2011

FINISHING FUN !!

Hey Guys!

Line - This is a Cut in shot from the fight scene -

I animated the sweep from dober a bit slower so I could play with the timing in edit a bit......



LAIKA News-

I am 1 week after finishing the shot that I Spoke about in my last post . It was a wrestling match moving the main character through the world......but It worked out.....really well guys . I got a HUGE high 5 from my animation Supervisor
and even got a hand shake from one of the directors......What a great reward after the HARD work.....getting through the shot took.....

Often in animation your eyes will glaze over after a bit and its challenging to really see.....critically if somethings working.......without some time between seeing it.
I wasn't quite sure after the marathon shoot how good the shot was....but with the reaction I got from the guys I was able to go into a peace filled weekend of rest....ahhhh.

One of the coolest things about the scene I finished was animating a station wagon which was a Mechanical marvel......with lots of cool gears and winders inside.......

under the hood I could control the lift or drop the suspension independently for each wheel...this was so cool to work with BUT- the shocks did not go high enough to get the exaggeration the director wanted......so back to the garage tactics for me....

I was shoving my meaty wallet under the car...and pretty much anything else I could find to get the desired posing....Sometimes I wonder if the other guys resort to those methods as well......my gut says yes!!! Even at the Highest level of work - Stop motion always demands thinking on your feet.

After such an AMAZING last week...and a super cool shot to add to my pile....this current week although much less stressfull....wasn't nearly as rewarding . I didn't feel like I performed up to snuff this week and the shots I was assigned were not the most inspiring....

Sometimes you have to do Bridge shots between actions which can be cool
....but these were just ok.....they felt more like SHOTS with marks too hit .....than really a performance.

they all cant be winners....but I sure wish they could.....I try to tell myself that EVERY shot I turn in represents me....so I cant put less importance on the ones that are not as fun....gota put my heart into them all.

....In the next week ahead....I am on more link up shots....but....soon enough I have some more cool REEL pieces coming my way.

also.....my Stop mo TIP of the week.....I have been paying more attention to what I am actually learning at work than just absorbing it.....

and one of the things that has really helped me- In getting to an ULTRA clean animation quality is EARS-
I have always tracked the main body parts with no problems......But taking it to the next level of clean.....I have been tracking all my arcs on the ears of our puppets and it really makes a HUGE difference in my work...

You would think that I always would have......but really only in the most Basic ways...now that my work has to be feature quality.....Its an easy spot even if the face appears to be perfect in the playback the ears will TELL.....if you are off in any way.

so...In short- Track those ears.

jriggity

13 comments:

Dean said...

Great new Line clip, Justin. I love the screen shake as flea hits the dirt. The swoop, trip, fall, landing and bounce are all so smooth, and they play out with the utmost believability. Every new clip you show, I have to watch several times as I marvel in it's excellence.

I'm looking forward to seeing Line as much as I am any stop-motion film currently in production. Save that ParaNorman stuff for the weekends... ;)

Thanks for the tip about ears. Mental note stickied!

Shelley Noble said...

Niiiice clipi, J

"EVERY shot I turn in represents me..." Sure does and that's so true. You're building a long career, it's like looking back at a famous animator's life--only forward, frame by frame, as it happens.

Weird.

Maureen said...

1. Cool shot. 2. Ears!?! Great tip. Now I'll have to make sure I put some ears on my next puppet. 3. Your description of the station wagon is a fantastic teaser for ParaNorman. Thanks, Justin!

rich said...

awesome tip. awesome clip.

jriggity said...

Dean}thanks bro....I look forward to getting back on LINE too man....I am so ready to see the film my self.With the break of going up to LAIKA....this film is going to have taken longer than Gerald-YIKES!!

Shelly}Thanks...ha....Its hard to always maintain the level of passion .....but That reminder-film is forever- and represents me...keep me on my toes 4 sure.

Maureen}HEY Maureen!! long time no speak...nice to see you pop up here...glad the ears tip might help.ha!

Rich}Thanks bro!

Carla (Veldman) Morris said...

Nice turtle flip there! He's got a great sense of weight.

..animating station-wagons, wicked! haha.

Alonso said...

at some point you're gonna have to sit down and just brain spill everything you've absorbed working on the film :)

Line may have taken longer, but I bet you're so much faster now that you'll whip out the rest of it super fast.

I've heard animators talk about those little bridge shots as either trying to find a way to add emotional overtone to elevate it, or if it just has to be a bridge shot to find an animation thing to geek out on like focusing on perfect arcs or perfect weight or something.

must be mixed coming up on ending your time at Laika, excited to get back to your family, sad to be leaving such a inspiring job. You'll just have to build up StuntPuppet productions to be equally inspiring :)

jriggity said...

Carla}you said it carla....more fun that can be typed thats for sure.

Alonso}man....what a GREAT tip!! I love it and I will use that in the future for sure...

Love it ..

and yes!! I will definitely make a final POST wrap up trying to throw out everything I have learned.

yeah man....When its time to leave here I will be 100% ready to go....its been Incredible!! and a DREAM come true for sure.

I miss the family....and know that our future will be full of Stopmotion filmaking. I also know this wont be my last feature project. Thats for sure.

I am itchin to get back to our film as well....

jriggity

Anonymous said...

Great shot! likes so much the movement of the characters
About the Laika news, really congrats Justin! you're a great artist, your works always have an emotion in it.I can't wait to see the movie

And thanks for the advice! I will put in practice
Nice week, friend!

Unknown said...

Great post as usual!! I usually track the nose but the ears thing sounds interesting! :)

JPierro said...

Hey Justin, So glad to stop by and see you walking on water as usual. Your animation is looking great, and as always so very exciting to hear your stories of production work. Congrats on the continued growth and happiness; float on :)

Alonso said...

hey, how's Shel's leg doing?

jriggity said...

jmanu}thanks bro!

freckles}yes...the ears have taken my work to a higher level of butteryness.

john}thanks man...Ill be floating for another 4 months...

alonso}shels knee is so good i completely forget about it .....shes runnin and dancing....not going all out bu shes definitely active.