Friday, October 7, 2011

2 good weeks- And Films Ahead

Hey Guys!

Line shot of the week-

this is from the montage sequence{No real compositing work yet}.....Dober and Flea cross paths as they draw out their latest territories
....I cant wait to get back on the film ....me and shel got to talk about it some more this weekend...and I cant wait!!!

The family just came up for 5 days and Shamus went to check out some Portland colleges.

He is now 18 and that is 2 boys who are officially adults. Yowzers.....Hes looking to go to school up here....and I thinks hes found the one too....completely surrounded by forest- How cool is that.....there were Deer on the campus
.... Sweet!!

Shamus also got the LAIKA tour as did my Daughter Aedon for the second time....{very cool}.....and we had fun exploring in the rain of Portland....

Classic ARCADE room Downtown-
Powell's Bookstore-3 hours of fun

Sushi and Omsi museum.
Speaking of rain.....Its starting to change to more of what I expected of Portland and LAIKA

.....its been raining pretty much straight for a week....and its a more realistic view of what working and possibly living out here will be like....makes you think??


I feel like rainy days outside actually make it very easy to focus during the days in stopmotion.
Its an interesting thing....back in LA....I always have to force myself to stop motion animate during the day time. It feels unnatural in my body. Unfocused....and torn by the life in the world and sun in the sky.

At Night though....the house is quiet - the city is sleeping - I feel so in the zone and able to dial in.

So as far as working in stopmotion....Portland is perfect ..

Times a Flying...and I am still animating the weekends away in cg trying to get that new reel together....its so nice to sit down and animate on the computer now that I have the experience of a full time standing job....I forgot how nice Undo -easily adjustable poses and timing- and how just plain Comfortable it is ...ha!

rest those Dogs-ahhhhhh


Laika News-So In the last couple of weeks I have done 4 new shots.....and had some very interesting challenges.....as only stopmotion provides.

I animated some feet and earth reacting and cracking - cool

I got to animate a Big scary pair of hands.....attacking a character-

and a bunch of Physics based action shots tossing characters all over the place....

I am now at 34 approved shots deep....and stacking up the shots for my new reel...

I just now ended the week with a finished rehearsal and NEW Contender for my personal
BEST shot EVER award....It will be a very hard shoot{rigs galore}{and Ill be animating it sideways??}.....but if I can pull it off....it could be a big ole dose MAGIC.

talking Paranorman-

Every Friday we have weeklies at work. We get to watch all of the weeks finished and approved shots - sequences in the theater while sharing some drinks and conversation....they have a dollar lottery...and somebody always wins a free massage.

-Lately I have been making sure to get there because its such a Adrenalin shot right in the Vein...

looking into the future....We were talking about the other animated films we will be competing with when Paranormon releases...

and comparing strengths weaknesses-in our Forcast of How Paranormon is going to do financially..........and....... how this Incredible film will be received by the World Audience....???

There is Puss In boots -
October 2012- from Dreamworks-{This will probably be our nearest- biggest direct competetion} it has a BIG name and following -it releases in October - although I have to say....I wont be rushing out to see it....I really dislike the character designs that make up that universe....But I am sure It will make a bunch Of money....on the strength of the license.

Frankenweenie-


October 2012-from Disney-which I will be Sprinting out to see
....but not sure how mainstream audiences will respond? I have a feeling that kids will like the name and concept- but the black and white could hurt its chances on a HUGE $$ pull. It does have Disney Marketing though...so it has a great start there.

Brave-
June 2012-from PIXAR-I will be running out to see and I am feel confident that it will be fantastic-{Love the images I have seen and the subject matter is very appealing and cool}This one is a Guaranteed HIT- Gajillions will roll in and audiences will I am sure love it-

Ice Age Continental Drift-
July 2012-from Blue Sky - I am a fan of this series but am tired of it and I am sure I will wait till DVD....

PARANORMON-The Poster Will be out soon

Aug 2012- We think LAIKA's second film has a HUGE chance at success -

First off - Its FUNNY-and the story is solid -good start....

.......... the characters designs and technique are completely unique in feature animation - And that will make it Stand out Quite a bit In itself.....it ooozes quality and people should recognize that.

Because so much of the animated films out there FEEL the same visually ...this should be a Fresh taste.

its got a lot of COOL things in it- Animated Zombies = Coooooool!!!
and it manages to capture that Goonies-Monstersquad feel that I am so fond of from my childhood.
Kids on an adventure.

Did I mention its Funny. I have the Highest hopes that this film could be BIG and successfull at the Box office. I think the first trailers and teasers are coming in November....so Ill post them here when it releases....

jriggity

12 comments:

Unknown said...

man, Oregon is so beautiful.

Ben Whitehouse said...

Every post of yours just gets me more and more excited about Paranorman and just about things in general! You my good man are truely inspiring.

When your new reel hits I have a feeling it will be one of the best I have ever seen!

Hope all is well matey!

Ben Whitehouse said...

Oh P.S I have some pictures of frankenweenie maquettes over on my other blog http://realstopmotion.blogspot.com/2011/09/frankenweenie-photos.html

Creative Skull Productions said...

Glad to hear things are going well. You're getting me so pumped on Paranorman, I can't wait! I plan on getting a big group of friends together opening weekend, and we'll make it a Paranorman Party night.

Matt Chappell said...

You sold me with "Goonies-Monstersquad feel." Very much looking forward to seeing ParaNorman in theaters.

I find it funny that there will be two Stop-mo films in theaters at the same time. I don't think that's happened before? Definitely gonna make it a double feature that day.

jriggity said...

Matthew}Thats for sure man...love those trees and al that green.

Ben}me too man...I love seeing the work in this building....awww...your so kind on the reel talk...It wont be the best youve ever seen....but it will be the best Ive ever had.

Thats for sure. Thanks so much for the link to the puppets...I was so curious to see them.

Creatives Skull} wooo hoo man...me too...taking all my cg friends and all my family.

Matt}yeah man...those films had somthing special when we were kids.....and the 2 stop mo films has happened once before-

it was curse of the Were Rabbit and Corpse Bride....head to head.

that was exactly when I started to get the itch to try this stop mo thing.

jriggity

MT said...

Nice. When are you guys projected to wrap up on Paranorman? I'm looking forward to the day you can point out what shots were yours.

Alonso said...

Ya gotta send Shamus to check out UC Santa Cruz), it's also right in the forest, but then also right next to the beach, and their mascot is a banana slug (in state tuition)

I bet your cg animation skills have leveled up having to nail all your follow through and overlap in 1 pass, bet your fast as lightning now.

you're stopmo reel is gonna be so kickin, too bad it's such a long wait til you can release it

JON said...

Sweet clip, man! Portland looks like a beautiful place. All the best!

jriggity said...

Mattson} Aug 2012 - Ill let you guys know as soon as it hits the BIGSCREEN.

Alonso}iTS FUNNY....We are actually having shamus apply to UC Santa Cruz)He is considering a few...but has his favorite.

I definitely am sharpening my timing in stopmo...and that will relate directly to my cg.

it is Frustrating to think I have to wait for my reel....but its all good.I have a job waiting for me..

JON}thanks man.....and yes...Portland is a truly cool place.

Anonymous said...

MONSTER SQUAD! I loved that movie! Now that you mention it, I do see the resemblance, especially in the car sequence in the trailer.

Monster movies, FTW!

Unknown said...

Haha, that's awesome, I auditioned for Monster Squad at the tail end of my acting career. Very exciting to see everything that's going on and I just caught the ParaNorman trailer on Yahoo which really made me smile. Great stuff. Hoping for the best for everything with you man, keep being awesome!