ANGST SHORT 2

So happy to finally get this animation done: Angst Shorts 2. It's the second of what I hope to be a handful of animations that match some silly comics I have been working on (here's this one)(I printed out a bunch for a zine swap - here's a photo from Instagram of that + a ridiculous batch of another thing + a sad strawberry sitting in a backwashed margarita).

After finishing my undergrad and taking some time to reflect on just how much time it took me to make a thesis animation (over a year), something seemed to stand out. So many ideas for animations have never had the chance to get realized. My friends from other majors had a lot of different pieces to show after 4 years, and in comparison, I didn't feel that animation students had a lot of material. The argument usually boils down to the process - the general rule seems to be: "animations take forever!" and "wow, you must have no social life."

When thinking "animation" it might be typical to instantly think Disney features, television shows that owned our childhood attention spans, etc. - pieces of art that have so many hands in them, so many hours, skills, time (and money) thrown into the mix. Animation exists as a pretty weird form of art.

Angst Shorts are just glorified sketchbook ideas/an effort to keep practicing storytelling and animating without the weight of the ideal "short film". I don't really want to spend my whole animation career strictly slaving over a few ideas - I am just trying to have fun. In the summer, I made storyboard thumbnails (this is the second out of three) and scanned those into the computer. I traced the keys and tried to hold back on animating much beyond those poses. Took one night to slop together some backgrounds in Photoshop. Had my friends throw some voices into a microphone. Voila - after spending an afternoon clicking through an audio library - I finished an impromptu soundtrack (some are mega buried/there's definitely a woman saying "please leave a message" at the first close-up of the cat's face)(I also did a lot of extra screamy screeches into the mic for her at the end).

The process took longer than I anticipated. The goal is to get much faster at these - to have more focus on what makes the story clearest in the least amount of time. I really just want to break down the limiting idea I have in my head that animations are always daunting, time-sucking forms of art. The best part of doing these is that when I go to start my more serious short films (I started one as soon as I finished this), the process seems so much less overwhelming and more manageable.

Space Puppy (In-Space)

A year ago, I finished my junior year at CCAD with one of my finals, from Layout and Timing class, looking like this:

The summer came around and I carefully revised thumbnails. I kept drawing dozens and dozens of puppies and kitties in space helmets to prepare for senior year. In the fall, I punched up my new thumbnails into digital storyboards. Over winter break, the storyboards and keys were timed out. My friend Kevin busted out the backgrounds. By spring break, rough animation was finished. I was done the first week of May. The place I just got hired on at let me use their sound library and microphone. I made lots of alien screeches and whatnot.

There were some little slaps-to-the-face here and there, but I got done. There was flak from from the start - but it was definitely outweighed by supportive friends, family, and faculty. Basically, all I'd like to say is that if the internet finds you here today reading this ranty little post, take it as some inspiration to shut up and go do what you want to do with your time. Whether it be kill 1000 aliens, finish a short film, or write a kinda tacky blog post, who cares! You can do it.

Here's a picture of me after working over a year on one idea:

Think "top-dog", "underdog", and "pussy":
Space Puppy (In Space): https://vimeo.com/93705561

Full Rough Animation + Gif Party

 

Long time no update. March has been full of animating. Before spring break, I finished all of the rough animation for Space Puppy. Now I'm in maniac cleanup-and-color-mode. Here are the roughs:

BUFF CAT!

Hey! This week was absolutely great. The cartoon I've been working on with friends since my winter break is complete. Say hello to Buff Cat! I helped slap together things in After Effects and animated  about 19 of the animated shots. I'm so glad I have found people to do this kind of thing with. I had the most fun I've had working on a project yet. Thanks Matt, Pat, Scott and Tara - you guys rock!

Mr. Buffcat is voiced by the talented Greg, who is awesome.
Everything is awesome. Everything is cool when you're part of the team.

Next week I will have a good chunk of thesis animation to show and maybe some other projects wrapping up.
Until then, I updated my website's sketchbook collection:

This week, the internet told me:
- Why Middle School Girls Talk Like Babies
- “Putin Will Teach You How To Love”
- Lilly Allen Titles New Album Sheeus
- These Neopets Have Been Alive for 13 Years
- How To Get A Concept Artist Internship: Breaking in at Riot Games
(Hey, one of my classmates was in a Chris Oatley ArtCast! That's pretty rad!)
- At Titmouse, Animators Spend One Day a Year Creating Five Second Films

Buff Kitty Cat

Things are wrapping up with Buff Cat. I thought I wold share some smear-cats and weird inbetweens!

In the meantime, while trying to bust Buff Cat out, I have made a little progress on Space Puppy. Here's where we're I'm at for now:

Weekly fun links to share with you:

- McGruff the Crime Dog goes to jail.

- "Selick, unlike many of the people in the Character Animation Program, “liked the darker things, bits from Fantasia, and the more experimental things. I’d been exposed to a much bigger world of art and music already, and a lot of the folks in Character Animation were very insulated. I mean, it’s kind of like they were studying from Disney to do Disney."
...cool, lengthy read about the influential CalArts animators. 

- My friend Ross and his project, Unsigned Ohio released a new compilation of songs by locals.
Check it out (it's free)/support a nice chunk of the central Ohio scene!

- A shout out to my photo/illustrator combo friends, Kat Skaff and Aaron Behnk, who just put up a cool show on campus!
Kyle put up some really good stuff, too.

Fixed In Color - Lyric Video

I haven't posted in awhile - but not out of complete laziness. I've been busy with Orientation, the 9-to-5, and this project I've been working on for the past month. I'd never touched flash beforehand, but my summer goal was to learn it. This video gave me the extra push to really get comfortable with the program. I had lots of fun learning and creating this, and I was so happy to be able to it. I am looking forward to/and am really interested in working more with flash in the future, definitely.

The background is composed of lots of photos I've taken over the past year, pushed around in photoshop like crazy - antique shops, late night adventures, sparklers, parades, etc. For the logo, I was happy to finally get a grasp of how to create a grimey-looking effect, and also VERY happy to realize that live-trace has a "ignore white" option (I know, I know... about time, Sarah).

Check out Fixed in Color on facebook and show some support!

http://www.facebook.com/FixedInColor

Combining time-based artwork of music and visuals is always really rewarding to me, and I feel very fortunate that I can use my skills to support other young artists. Now, if only I could finally run with my "Support Local Hardcow" idea... it's going to happen. I promise.