Sunday, January 22, 2012

Things learned- and Back In the Chair!!

Hey Guys,

We are Officially back on LINE- Me and Shel have been spending some ART time repairing Our stars for some acting in their new upcoming shots....
Dry clay and broken fingers repaired.....Dober and Flea are ready again for Action....

Here is the first Failed shot of my return to the Film- BUT- it was a FUN......
I was really unhappy with the performance and too many tech problems to use the shot...........So....I am looking at the shot as a block and an opportunity to do it better...

so..........I have been back on the computer for 2 weeks now and I am truly sad to not be touching my characters and working with real sets.....

I have to tell you guys........ I am Dearly missing working in Stopmotion and at LAIKA
Sigh.....

BUT- I feel that the work on LINE will start feeding my soul again...and the excitement of working on our film will .....fill that void....until I get back.

One thing that working at LAIKA made me really wana do is get that camera Moving......

It of course complicates the shots .....but it adds tons too.....so we are going to try and mix in alot more camera moves for the remaining film.

This is gona be FUN to design and we will share it here.

Some -LAIKA Lessons-

so......on my 2 day drive back HOME from Portland......I really had time to reflect on the lessons learned from PARANORMAN....


1.FEATURE Stopmotion animation is REALLY REALLY .......REALLY HARD....

2.Make sure you Have good shoes- cushy floor pads

- and try to sit down when you can....healthy FEET are super important in this field.

3. When getting directed- Take good notes

....and do your best to give them what they want- even if the puppets try to take you elsewhere....which happens...

4. Even though you feel time constraints pressuring you-
Make sure you have a very clear idea BEFORE you start animating
- you can always improvise if the puppets start pulling.....knowing where your going saves soooo much more time than what you invest into planning.

5.Make sure your puppets are capable of the Poses you dream up- Test your poses before hand....

working with real puppets creates REAL limitations.

5.5. When you are planning your animation visualize-time out your .........what I call {HangTime Moments}

this is when your spacing gets small like at the top of the ball bounce-{For any part of the body}

I tended to speed through them when I first switched to 1's.......I just wasn't HANGING long enough in those bits coming from 2's......and When I started pre visualizing them I was able to create enough frames to read properly....

6. STUDY- the other Animators work -

soooooo much to learn from all the VETS -Alot can be discovered by framing through their succesfull animations.....and their - RARE - failures.

7. Keep Inspired!!!!!!!!!!
The DAY to Day of creating HIGH Quality animation in such a HIGH stress- HYPER Focused - ZONE - can be incredibly Draining......Remember to juice up with your fellow artists amazing work

....It really is just like a SHOT in the vein...seeing the amazing work....and it can keep you moving

8.When giving a time quote for a shot -It always takes longer than you think-add in time for all the unexpected LONG setup-camera- broken puppets- rigging-you name it

...you OFTEN-{90% of the time} lose time in animating if you don't prepare for that in you Quote.

9. Dont try to copy-roto- your Rehearsal shots -In transfering to 1's - this can often stifle you in trying to match.......use it as a guide--and concentrate on finding your FLOW

......flow is sooo important.....

10. Sit back every once and a while - and take it ALL in......

- because it is a JOB- because its a HIGH pressured job......make sure to not miss the moments in between - Sit back and really look at where you are at -Look at the Powerfull Puppets- Sets and ART you are surrounded by....Its Inspiring!!! .....try not to lose sight of that.

11. Eyelines are so important on the BIG SCREEN and even more in stopmotion puppets......

make sure they are clear....and if you have any doubt- BRING in a 2nd pair of eyes to confirm......director even if needed.

more to come...

Tricks of the week-
Shamus at SkyHigh-
Danger room Swing Globe Challenge-
2 step wall flip-just started workin on this one....Ill get it very soon
jriggity

Sunday, January 1, 2012

END of A GRAND ADVENTURE!!!!

Hey Guys!!

After a 9 months Journey in Portland - a DREAM COME TRUE........

I am HOME.....

To Explain what this experience was to me.........

You know when a Kid says something like -I wana be an Astronaut ..........Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World

....Or....... I wana be a Dancer -Artist- Football player, Scientist, make movies???

ANYTHING ????

and then........

................. Having it actually come TRUE
like wanting something from when you were in that YOUNG Magical place in a child's imagination.......

......WOW!!

I as a kid watched movies like most kids did-
like - Clash Of The Titans- Secret of Nimh -Jason and the Argonauts-Pinochio-Star Wars series-Land Before Time-Dark Crystal-Robocop's-Terminator-Nightmare Before Christmas-Wallace and Gromit-Countless sci fi-horror -Monsters created through the magic of Stopmotion animation and The Hand made FX Arts of the 80's.

I wanted to create that same magic I saw in those films.......but that as a career didn't have much life after the invention of CG.....So ....I went CG.......and having worked in cg animation for so long.

I NEVER thought I would be a part of a hand made -Miniature -STOPMOTION Animated Feature Film!!!!

DANG.....just typing it gives me goosebumps.

Well......It just happened and I got to work with the most talented bunch of folks I have ever been around in my entire career.

The Pure SCALE and QUALITY of the Production was pretty much astonishing to my country
boy CG eyes.....

I am definitely changed FOREVER having been a part of the film......

I worked harder than I ever have......and My Growth as an animator was Contant and PAINFULL.....stretching growth....

ha!!

The biggest reward in working on this film ....was the fact that EVERY SHOT.....I did my VERY best that I could possibly do at my current skill level........

In my career I have often had to make sacrifices in the quality of my work do to TIME constraints and schedules to meet. ...

This has always been very frustrating to me........ but I have understood the need in a production and budget to move fast ..........

so having tasted the fruit of a studio that demands the very best as well as supporting the Artists in making it happen.......It is all I want in my Artistic Future.........

LIFE Changing stuff...............I will continue to work in CG for a few more years and then we will be moving to Portland to make a NEW Life in the Feature Stopmotion Animation world....

More News and a Breakdown of Lessons learned to come!!

Trick Of the Week-
Dad's back in the Gym with my latest TOY.
Shels Knee is Back in action!!
She is flyin again.

jriggity