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

Space Puppy Midterm Review-Update 3-Minute-Presentation-for-3-Minute-Video

Happy midterms! Here's what I have been up to:

Animals and Aliens!

Happy February! Let's see how consistently I can post this month. A post a week? Yeah, let's do that. A lot has happened this week, but on the lighter half, I made some doodles of animals as a way to brainstorm for a class project. Also, I made an alien and started animating my thesis (below).

This week, I unearthed some of these character designs to throw together into one image for an application to a career fair. I also came to the conclusion of a masterful pun for him… he is Man-Bat. For next week, I've got a gig poster due, a little something for Unsigned Ohio, and a thumb nailed storyboard for class. Busing around Columbus for internshippin' has been fun. I made it into a picture! Buff Cat is almost there! Here's some links that I have recommend from the week: - A very insightful blog post for animators - A very compelling story about the Grammys and a much loved game - The saddest penguin on Youtube

Senior Year Full Swing

"Oh hey, don't mind me, just calmly figuring out how to make everything work out!"

Today is Sunday, and tomorrow will be the 3rd week of the semester. Everything is picking up pace really quickly - I am trying to hammer out thesis animation, I am finishing/doing clean-up animation on the Rad Fortress cartoon I've been working on with Tara, and I started a new internship downtown (thankfully, a 40 minute walk is actually very good for my physical and mental health).

The good thing is, I have been taking 18 credits nearly every semester up until this one - now that I'm at 12, I feel pretty good than I would otherwise at managing my time. I also am taking a finance class to hep myself stay in-line (as well as Philosophy of Visual Art followed by Criticism of Literature and Art - prepare yourselves for well-versed, promise-to-not-be-yuppie Sarah).

As I posted two weeks ago, I have a class which helps me keep on my feet about my thesis. The class has us proposing "gap projects" while taking time to contribute to a bigger, collaborative project (which I will be making quick designs for this coming week). Lots of members of the class are opting to aim almost all focused time to their gap project - I am admittedly slightly concerned with how much time I can spend on things other than my thesis, as well, but will be doing my best in the meantime. Here's what I had to make to turn in for class (proof that I'm not sitting on my butt):

I have recently gotten some serious feedback of the weight of my thesis project. The piece will be three minutes long - something that is considered "a lot of animation" - my feelings after some serious thought this weekend might call for a future blog post all in itself. Yes, three minutes is "a lot of animation", but that in no way means it's impossible. Animation is a very valid form of art, and to me, it's worth the investment of time and commitment. Having witnessed great shorts by the dozen from channels like FOX ADHD and Rug Burn - not to mention completing my own short this summer and collaborating with/supporting friends over the past seven months - I feel a better understanding of what I feel like I can accomplish.

That being said, this semester will take a lot of focus. A lot of aliens. And a lot of coffee.
Also, here's some a glimpse of what my sketchbook looks like right about now.

"Yes I spell things like chupacabra wrong"

Birthday Aliens

Here's to cartoon aliens helping me enjoy the last of my last winter break from school.

Another week, another blog post. A lot has happened within the past week - I had a 22nd birthday, I survived an icy/arctic blast of weather (a pipe even exploded on my street, flooding it with water, which was a sight to see), and the animation computer labs at school finally opened. Tomorrow morning I have my last Orientation session with CCAD, and Monday I start my last semester. A-times, they are a-changin'.

The labs opening meant that I got to create this animatic for my thesis project (see below). I realize that the way I created this animatic seems pretty backwards overall - I made the drawings in Storyboard Pro. Finals kicked in, and I never caught the time to time out the frames. My personal computer has one step behind of the school's version (Storyboard Pro 10), so I could not open my file over break. Just before Christmas, I timed out small screen-caps of my frames in Flash. When the labs opened, I swapped newly exported images. The result is this animatic as well as files ready for me to work in. The moral of the story: work with what you have!

The blog where I am posting updates on the project isn't just for me to post in, but also for those who are helping me out. Right now, the team also consists of my background artist/friend, Kevin Deasey. I couldn't be more excited about working with him. Stop by his great blog!

Here's some more links I'll share this week:
1. The latest from Chris Oatley's Art Cast is extra up my alley: http://chrisoatley.com/wouter-tulp
2. Here's a website my friend Don sent me on my birthday: http://procatinator.com
3. Pianos make me cry. Lions (plus Hyenas!) and a guy who hugs them to raise awareness of their lives, plus pianos around 13:00? Not saying that I cried, but this Go-Pro creation is great: http://thehigherlearning.com/2014/01/05/wow-the-man-who-hugs-wild-lions-brought-a-go-pro-this-time-video/

 

Not Dead/Rad Gif Party

Happy Late Christmas & Early New Year! Great news, even though I haven't been posting much - I am not dead. I have been sleeping lots, cleaning lots, and working on a cartoon for Rad Fortress. Be excited - it's about a cat. I have also been getting some thesis work done. I started a specific tumblr where I will be keeping track of my progress. I have a finished animatic SWF file, but I have to get it into After Effects so that I can upload it. Click here to follow my thesis blog! (aka, "MySpace Puppy")

I'm going to start posting resources and links toward the end of a weekly blog post. This will be a grab bag of stories I found interesting, websites my friends have updated, great animations, etc. Here we go: Something inspiring? Chris Oatley, my portfolio professor this past semester, posted a new podcast around Christmas. It's great for any creative looking for a pick-me-up. Some friends and I ran into him at Dirty Franks, and he says he's aiming to do two of these a month. A Shout-Out? My talented roommate - fashion designer Ryun Harrison - just launched his website. Fling a hit his way - we are cheap college students who try and think of creative Christmas present, including a shout-out on a blog spot blog.  Something Useful? Here's a link to some great brushes from Character Designer Shaun Bryant. Check out his work while you're at it! Something Random? One of my old favorite bands, Less Than Jake, released a music video this month which included tons of cameos from lots of other bands that they are friends with. It made me really happy and reminded me why I love this kind of stuff in the first place.

Sketch & finished New Years GIF of the 2013 meme-star, Doge.

 An elfie posing for a selfie, and an owl bear being very happy.

 Punk Couch Spaceship.

Space Puppy Storyboards + Notes = Launch

Before finals, I worked to get a new, ready-to-go storyboard set for my thesis project. I sat down with my friend, Kevin, to discuss backgrounds and layout. Here are our notes from our discussion. Now that finals are over, I can finally start committing some serious time to this project!

Space Puppy Thumbnail Revamp

This first week of school was seriously fantastic. Character Design is my new favorite class, I couldn't be more excited about Porfolio, and I should be brewing up something fun in Interactive Design... this year should be fun!

This week I had the chance to talk to my Animation II, III and now Character Design professor about these new thumbnail boards I worked on the last few weeks of summer (after I finished Hardcow).  I did my best to really think some things I'd overlooked through as far as continuity of shots and layouts, but my teacher was able to point out some issues I'd missed even after this new pass.

For anyone who doesn't want to know the ending, obviously, beware of the spoilers (I'm looking at you, mom)!

Some of the critiques I got were to watch the battle flow continuity from left to right. I got some pointers about keeping the ship's crash in the beginning more funny/realistic by having the duo fall down and have all of their ship be upside-down, changing the shot when the alien wave is revealed, adding a POV shot of the puppy zapping the aliens, adding a scary mouth shot of the boss, adding more funny cat things and lots of more places to add anticipation. After some more thumbnails, I will be ready to do some full-scaled layouts and get some backgrounds brewing. I hope to have a finished animatic on it's way (here's my old one)(here are my initial thumbnails)!

Sketch ATTACK! #8 - Space Puppy Returns... Again

Here's the last batch of sketches I have compiled.... for now! More Space Puppy. There's some drawings of storyboard thumbnails in here: I was working on making sure each shot made sense as far as flow and leading the eye from shot to shot. I plan on revamping my initial storyboards as well as the animatic before I dive in. 

Sketch ATTACK! #7 - Space Puppy Returns

More sketches! Here's some sketches for my senior thesis.
Tons of puppies, kitties, and aliens. More tomorrow!