OK, I'm done animating for the semester. I have a final at 7, and my animation review is tomorrow at 2:30, so there's really nothing more I can do unless I pull an all-nighter...which I won't. I'm saving those for next semester. Animation has gotten slow, and I think it's because I've come to expect more out of myself, so when I produce something I think is sub-par, I get really discouraged and everything falls apart for the day. There are a bunch of shots I've done recently that I want to redo (the fall...), but oh well. The Damsel does need to move in the Alien 3 shot, but I'm going to work some After Effects magic on that one instead of actually animating it, so she's still for now.
I thought I had edited out all the shots I was cutting, but there are still some extraneous ones in the end, so I'll have to get rid of those tomorrow before my review. After the cowboy gets up, there will be no montage of him shooting zombies and their bodies hitting the ground. Stuff like that just takes up too much time, even if it is the most fun.
Edit: Oh, crap. I also forgot to put in the shot of the cowboy's boots backing up. That one is also done.
Anyway, here:
Final Review Animatic from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
"You can't fight city hall." - Cliff Barnes.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Blurg
Hi, World.
This is me admitting to you that I won't be totally on schedule for my final review. Snags are happening everywhere. I think all I'm going to get done by the end of today is the zombie damsel's drool for the Alien 3 shot. That's 36 frames of drool. I just spent the first half of today trying to plan out a movement for her in this shot, but it all fell apart and she is now static.
Other snags: those stupid shots of the hand reaching for the hat. What on Earth was I thinking when I storyboarded shots that were just hands flailing around? Do I hate myself? I must, right? Those shots ruined like two or three days of animation for me, and I only ended up getting one of them done...kind of. I think it looks awful, but I have to keep it, anyway.
A lot of my shots seem to be terrible, lately. Like the one where the cowboy falls and hits the wall. I'm not proud of that one, at all, but I just have to keep telling myself that not all of these shots will be reel-worthy, and that it's more important to just bust through the story than have the animation look like a Disney film (none of it does, I'm just saying).
I've cut another shot, but it was just a still, so that really doesn't get me anywhere. I regret even getting myself excited about it. If I could go back and reboard this thing (which I won't, please don't have a heart-attack, Sheila), I would have done it so differently. More dramatic angles, different movements, no close-ups of hands...It would be wonderful.
Anyway, here's what I have left to do that I said I'd have done by the review:
Alien 3
the successful attempt at grabbing the hat
putting it on
shooting the damsel
her falling
him standing up
That's six shots. Putting on the hat through the end are all like...half-second to one-second shots, so hopefully those can fly by. I'll avoid that hand shot like the plague until I have to do it, I think. I'm doing Alien 3 now, and it will be done for sure by Wednesday. I should have at least half of those knocked out. Hopefully 5 of them, but I hesitate to get anyone's hopes up about that.
If I didn't have that final for Casper on Tuesday, I would feel more confident about what I can get done, but right now, I think tomorrow is really my last day of animating that I can afford, plus whatever I can do before 2:20 on Wednesday. I may have just lied about having 3 shots done. Maybe it'll be 2...1? No, 2...Oh man.
Worst case scenario: I just get Alien 3 done. That would leave...14 shots for next semester, not including stills or like 3-drawing cycles. Victor said he'd help me out on two of those shots (crowd scenes), so there's something. Nose to the grindstone next semester. At least 401B is my only serious class.
Hey, seniors, how are those animation hands feeling?!
This is me admitting to you that I won't be totally on schedule for my final review. Snags are happening everywhere. I think all I'm going to get done by the end of today is the zombie damsel's drool for the Alien 3 shot. That's 36 frames of drool. I just spent the first half of today trying to plan out a movement for her in this shot, but it all fell apart and she is now static.
Other snags: those stupid shots of the hand reaching for the hat. What on Earth was I thinking when I storyboarded shots that were just hands flailing around? Do I hate myself? I must, right? Those shots ruined like two or three days of animation for me, and I only ended up getting one of them done...kind of. I think it looks awful, but I have to keep it, anyway.
A lot of my shots seem to be terrible, lately. Like the one where the cowboy falls and hits the wall. I'm not proud of that one, at all, but I just have to keep telling myself that not all of these shots will be reel-worthy, and that it's more important to just bust through the story than have the animation look like a Disney film (none of it does, I'm just saying).
I've cut another shot, but it was just a still, so that really doesn't get me anywhere. I regret even getting myself excited about it. If I could go back and reboard this thing (which I won't, please don't have a heart-attack, Sheila), I would have done it so differently. More dramatic angles, different movements, no close-ups of hands...It would be wonderful.
Anyway, here's what I have left to do that I said I'd have done by the review:
Alien 3
the successful attempt at grabbing the hat
putting it on
shooting the damsel
her falling
him standing up
That's six shots. Putting on the hat through the end are all like...half-second to one-second shots, so hopefully those can fly by. I'll avoid that hand shot like the plague until I have to do it, I think. I'm doing Alien 3 now, and it will be done for sure by Wednesday. I should have at least half of those knocked out. Hopefully 5 of them, but I hesitate to get anyone's hopes up about that.
If I didn't have that final for Casper on Tuesday, I would feel more confident about what I can get done, but right now, I think tomorrow is really my last day of animating that I can afford, plus whatever I can do before 2:20 on Wednesday. I may have just lied about having 3 shots done. Maybe it'll be 2...1? No, 2...Oh man.
Worst case scenario: I just get Alien 3 done. That would leave...14 shots for next semester, not including stills or like 3-drawing cycles. Victor said he'd help me out on two of those shots (crowd scenes), so there's something. Nose to the grindstone next semester. At least 401B is my only serious class.
Hey, seniors, how are those animation hands feeling?!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Second pass at color keys
Okay guys. Here's my second (and third?) attempt at these color things. I warmed everything up, and (I think) made the difference more drastic in terms of just color alone. The second picture has a red overlay over the second and third panels. Is that even better, or is it too much? You have to tell me because I don't really trust myself to know. Is that sad? I think I'm leaning towards it being too much because it minimizes the contrast, but I could easily just up the transparency in the overlays if they do end up adding an additional oomph to everything.
Now, back to animating this beast. I just want to thank one Caitlin Craggs for saving everyone and bringing speakers down here. What a trooper.
Now, back to animating this beast. I just want to thank one Caitlin Craggs for saving everyone and bringing speakers down here. What a trooper.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Another color thing
Here's sort of what I want for color progression throughout the movie. I guess it's the four major parts of the film: the beginning, the zombie attack, the damsel confrontation, and the end. Keep in mind that I'm slightly red/green color blind, so don't be too mean if the reds look ridiculous. Why am I doing a movie in red if I'm colorblind to it? I've got no idea. I'm not sure the change in the color is drastic enough for me yet. Also, I'm still really wonky with background colors. I had to rush this in the end because I have class in 15 minutes, and I still haven't even had dinner. Whoops.
Looking at it now (a few hours later on my laptop, which admittedly washes out color like crazy), it seems a little bland. I need to warm it up a lot, and make sure the red really comes through in the middle. I'll try and revise it tomorrow. Maybe I'll darken the character lines so I can make some background designs and really get the colors down. It'd be nice to be able to (mostly) use the dropper tool on this thing when I'm actually coloring in my film. It'd save time.
Anyway, here goes:
Looking at it now (a few hours later on my laptop, which admittedly washes out color like crazy), it seems a little bland. I need to warm it up a lot, and make sure the red really comes through in the middle. I'll try and revise it tomorrow. Maybe I'll darken the character lines so I can make some background designs and really get the colors down. It'd be nice to be able to (mostly) use the dropper tool on this thing when I'm actually coloring in my film. It'd save time.
Anyway, here goes:
Monday, November 24, 2008
11/25 Animation
Ok, here's the stuff I got done for class tomorrow. The part that's storyboard is stuff that I should have had done, but didn't get to. That's alright though, because those two shots are fast and easy. I think my animation has gotten a lot better, but I'm also a whole lot slower. Them's the breaks, though.
You can't really see the damsel during part of the lunge sequence (the third shot) because they're all muddled together and her lines are so light, but trust me, she's there and she's pissed.
Also, the video seems to have gone insane and uploaded sound from the rest of the movie. It's supposed to stop after the cowboy looks up, so don't bother with the rest of it.
11/25 Segment from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
The part where there's a zoom to the damsel's face is supposed to shake as if the cowboy is skidding to a halt. I'll either do that or cut it. I could also just have the cowboy jerk forward and back in the next shot to show him stopping in front of her. Whatever.
You can't really see the damsel during part of the lunge sequence (the third shot) because they're all muddled together and her lines are so light, but trust me, she's there and she's pissed.
Also, the video seems to have gone insane and uploaded sound from the rest of the movie. It's supposed to stop after the cowboy looks up, so don't bother with the rest of it.
11/25 Segment from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
The part where there's a zoom to the damsel's face is supposed to shake as if the cowboy is skidding to a halt. I'll either do that or cut it. I could also just have the cowboy jerk forward and back in the next shot to show him stopping in front of her. Whatever.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The Zombie Damsel's first appearance
OK so I did this shot today. It's right after the cowboy has run through the group of zombies after his hat, which has floated away because he fell down. I think the cowboy's animation is pretty good, but that the Damsel's needs some major cleanup and more frames later on.
Damsel Reappears from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
After this shot, there's going to be a view of just the zombie damsel, and the camera is going to shake and zoom in as if the cowboy is still skidding to a halt in front of her.
Then she'll lunge, he'll fall, and things go from there.
Look at me! I updated without having to!
Damsel Reappears from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
After this shot, there's going to be a view of just the zombie damsel, and the camera is going to shake and zoom in as if the cowboy is still skidding to a halt in front of her.
Then she'll lunge, he'll fall, and things go from there.
Look at me! I updated without having to!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Some Color Keys
Ok, I'm doing this like six seconds before I have to go present my film to the grad students. Here are some color keys for the first and last portions of the film. I'll have the red (middle) portions up later, I guess. I'm just asking whether they like the film to be sepia or regular. What do you like? Tell me. The sepia is just a quickie Photoshop filter, and I think it could definitely use less shades of color. I'll see if I can whip something like that up later. Holy crap I'm late.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Another animatic...this time with sound! Kind of.
Ok, here's a new animatic. It's got really awful sound. Really awful. It's so bad, really, but I guess it's better than not having sound. This is actually the reason I'm hiring a sound designer - so I don't have to deal with this crap. But anyway, whatever. There are some timing issues going on with some of the more complicated shots because I was too lazy to actually shoot them with the timing I want. For example, the zombie chewing on the arm will be a few seconds longer. Also, I need to stagger the zombies on the train wreck. I'm burnt out, you guys, but I have to keep going. I guess I'm basically halfway done.
10/28 Animatic With Sound from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
I don't really remember if I had something else to say.
10/28 Animatic With Sound from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
I don't really remember if I had something else to say.
Monday, October 13, 2008
New Segment
Hi.
Here's a segment with some animation I've done. It was cut down using iMovie because I'm an idiot and had it all set up in Premiere and exported it, but ended up exporting my entire animatic again. That may be why the quality is so shoddy right now.
10/13 Segment from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
There are some timing issues, but just ignore that. I'll work out better timing later when I'm not feeling rushed in the lab. I was supposed to have the shot of him staring at his hat with zombies walking behind him done, but it's either getting cut, or it's being done at the end of this semester or next semester. I haven't decided which. I like the shot, and really all that's keeping it from being completed is the walk cycles, so it'll probably get done.
The shot after he takes off his hat, where his arms go wonky and the hat falls on the ground still feels wrong to me. I think I need to show his right hand falling into screen even though people didn't like that last week. His arm just doesn't completely go down in the previous shot. Also, timing. Also also, the shot of him looking over at his hat is probably cut. I didn't think switching him over to the right side of the screen would be an issue, but it really bothers me. I'm thinking I can just show the shot of the bottles after he misses the second time and keep the camera there until they're shot off. Then cut back to the cowboy staring up at his hat, which is now on his head. Did that description make sense? It did to me. Anyway, point is: I don't have time to animate that shot again, so I'm finding a creative way around it.
Which brings me to my worry - that there isn't enough time, ever. I know I should have been animating over the summer, but let's be honest, I'm a lazy, lazy person with no will power if I'm not regularly being watched. This leaves me with a year-ish to finish this film, and it's starting to get to me that if I want to go back and work a scene, I can't really. I can, but it'll either a) put me behind on my schedule if I work on it this semester, or b) cut into my compositing/coloring time if I do it next semester. I'm going to need a lot of compositing/coloring time. I just don't know what sacrifices to make.
I've thought about what I would do if I couldn't fully color in my film, and I've settled on having each character be one color, with a general sepia tone overall that would become redder as the film went on until the climax, where it would lighten up again. I was going to do the earth tones to red thing anyway with full color. But would it be better of me to have full color, or fuller animation? My reel says animation, but my eyes say color.
Here's a segment with some animation I've done. It was cut down using iMovie because I'm an idiot and had it all set up in Premiere and exported it, but ended up exporting my entire animatic again. That may be why the quality is so shoddy right now.
10/13 Segment from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
There are some timing issues, but just ignore that. I'll work out better timing later when I'm not feeling rushed in the lab. I was supposed to have the shot of him staring at his hat with zombies walking behind him done, but it's either getting cut, or it's being done at the end of this semester or next semester. I haven't decided which. I like the shot, and really all that's keeping it from being completed is the walk cycles, so it'll probably get done.
The shot after he takes off his hat, where his arms go wonky and the hat falls on the ground still feels wrong to me. I think I need to show his right hand falling into screen even though people didn't like that last week. His arm just doesn't completely go down in the previous shot. Also, timing. Also also, the shot of him looking over at his hat is probably cut. I didn't think switching him over to the right side of the screen would be an issue, but it really bothers me. I'm thinking I can just show the shot of the bottles after he misses the second time and keep the camera there until they're shot off. Then cut back to the cowboy staring up at his hat, which is now on his head. Did that description make sense? It did to me. Anyway, point is: I don't have time to animate that shot again, so I'm finding a creative way around it.
Which brings me to my worry - that there isn't enough time, ever. I know I should have been animating over the summer, but let's be honest, I'm a lazy, lazy person with no will power if I'm not regularly being watched. This leaves me with a year-ish to finish this film, and it's starting to get to me that if I want to go back and work a scene, I can't really. I can, but it'll either a) put me behind on my schedule if I work on it this semester, or b) cut into my compositing/coloring time if I do it next semester. I'm going to need a lot of compositing/coloring time. I just don't know what sacrifices to make.
I've thought about what I would do if I couldn't fully color in my film, and I've settled on having each character be one color, with a general sepia tone overall that would become redder as the film went on until the climax, where it would lighten up again. I was going to do the earth tones to red thing anyway with full color. But would it be better of me to have full color, or fuller animation? My reel says animation, but my eyes say color.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Animatic with animation
Okay, guys. Finally I have something to put on this thing. Sorry for the lack of updates, but Frame Thief is a huge jerk, and I am forced to take my image sequences into After Effects and render them out from there. That takes a while, so I've been lazy and ended up doing it all today. That probably took longer than doing each one individually, so that's what I get for being a lazy kid.
Anyway, I realize there is a problem with pacing going on because I couldn't see how much down time I needed between shots until I put them all together in Premiere. I tried to fix it up real quick-like by putting an individual frame before and after problem shots, but it's still a little off. That's easy enough to fix, though.
This is really all about the animation anyway, which I'm guessing could use some fine-tuning. I plan on doing that part during the clean-up phase of my film, though, because I can't afford to go back and redo stuff right now. I have so much work to do next week. What was I thinking when I made this schedule? Frowns all around.
The clip I know needs some work is the one where the cowboy shoots at the bottles on the wall after taking off his hat. I'll try and do better with uploading pencil tests as I do them, honest.
Rawhide Animatic with Animation from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
Anyway, I realize there is a problem with pacing going on because I couldn't see how much down time I needed between shots until I put them all together in Premiere. I tried to fix it up real quick-like by putting an individual frame before and after problem shots, but it's still a little off. That's easy enough to fix, though.
This is really all about the animation anyway, which I'm guessing could use some fine-tuning. I plan on doing that part during the clean-up phase of my film, though, because I can't afford to go back and redo stuff right now. I have so much work to do next week. What was I thinking when I made this schedule? Frowns all around.
The clip I know needs some work is the one where the cowboy shoots at the bottles on the wall after taking off his hat. I'll try and do better with uploading pencil tests as I do them, honest.
Rawhide Animatic with Animation from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
First Pencil Test...or not.
Well, this blog post was going to be about my first pencil test, but I apparently don't know how to export from FrameThief in such a way that it will upload properly to Vimeo/Blogger. It works just fine on my Mac, but won't work on a PC. I've tried renaming the extension and changing the compressor, but nothing. I'll have to figure that out. In the meantime, here's some negative stuff.
The shot was supposed to be of the cowboy after he's killed the villain. He looks pleased and then the damsel coughs and he realizes she's still on the tracks.
I don't know why I decided to do a movie where I'm forced to animate cowboy hats. I must hate myself. The good thing about this shot is that, if the hat isn't working for someone (it seems alright to me, but what do I know?), I can cut the animation to where he's just standing still and then his face changes.
This shot was worth 7.5 points on that system that Cartoon Network uses. 7.5 out of my total, which is 954. Hah... That means I have to do 63.6 points a week. I'm not totally sure how I'm going to manage that.
I tried reevaluating my point system, and then I decided I'd just calculate how much I should do a week in seconds. It came to 17 seconds a week, which is not impossible, but sounds like a load of stress I don't need to have on my shoulders. The shot I did yesterday and today took probably about three, maybe four, hours total, and it's only 2.5 seconds. Granted a lot of it was learning to animate a cowboy hat, but I'm still not totally secure on that subject. I'm going to take the red marker to my movie tomorrow and see what I can cut out. Even extending my film's rough animation due date to the end of February only brought me down to over 11 seconds a week. I realize I should be working on this film pretty consistently, and I want to, but knowing something like that is more discouraging than anything. It just makes me panic and makes the film seem undoable.
So tomorrow, after cuts, I'm going to hopefully have a more lighthearted number. And then maybe I'll finish that early and be able to insert some of the cuts back into the film. I should probably cut my film to the bare necessities anyway, right? I mean just to make sure I can get the plot to work no matter what.
Welp, what a downer.
The shot was supposed to be of the cowboy after he's killed the villain. He looks pleased and then the damsel coughs and he realizes she's still on the tracks.
I don't know why I decided to do a movie where I'm forced to animate cowboy hats. I must hate myself. The good thing about this shot is that, if the hat isn't working for someone (it seems alright to me, but what do I know?), I can cut the animation to where he's just standing still and then his face changes.
This shot was worth 7.5 points on that system that Cartoon Network uses. 7.5 out of my total, which is 954. Hah... That means I have to do 63.6 points a week. I'm not totally sure how I'm going to manage that.
I tried reevaluating my point system, and then I decided I'd just calculate how much I should do a week in seconds. It came to 17 seconds a week, which is not impossible, but sounds like a load of stress I don't need to have on my shoulders. The shot I did yesterday and today took probably about three, maybe four, hours total, and it's only 2.5 seconds. Granted a lot of it was learning to animate a cowboy hat, but I'm still not totally secure on that subject. I'm going to take the red marker to my movie tomorrow and see what I can cut out. Even extending my film's rough animation due date to the end of February only brought me down to over 11 seconds a week. I realize I should be working on this film pretty consistently, and I want to, but knowing something like that is more discouraging than anything. It just makes me panic and makes the film seem undoable.
So tomorrow, after cuts, I'm going to hopefully have a more lighthearted number. And then maybe I'll finish that early and be able to insert some of the cuts back into the film. I should probably cut my film to the bare necessities anyway, right? I mean just to make sure I can get the plot to work no matter what.
Welp, what a downer.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Final revision
This is it. My final storyboard revision. Ok, maybe not my final one, but the last one I'm allowing myself to do because I have got to start animating this week. I'm thinking my first few shots will be easier ones, just to get back into the swing of things. Example: the shot of the cowboy looking smug and then realizing the damsel is still on the tracks. I also really want to animate the ending with the big hat, though. Note: it's going to be a lot bigger and more ostentatious than what it appears to be in the animatic. I just got lazy or whatever.
Also note: the section where the cowboy is running through the zombies after his hat is going to be a pan, not just a shot of him running in and out of frame. Or it could just be a shot of him running in and out of frame if I get pressed for time. I'm not picky.
Here's the new animatic, I hope it fixes all my problems and is a miracle film:
Untitled from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
I'm excited to start animating, but then I realize how much I have to do so I get scared and sort of freeze up. I'm going to assume that's natural. I think there are probably even more cuts to make to my story, which is always a positive thing.
My next non-animation related goal for this film is to draw out a sheet of paper with various angles and poses of both the cowboy's hat and his gun(s). More like gun since the guns are the same thing.
Also note: the section where the cowboy is running through the zombies after his hat is going to be a pan, not just a shot of him running in and out of frame. Or it could just be a shot of him running in and out of frame if I get pressed for time. I'm not picky.
Here's the new animatic, I hope it fixes all my problems and is a miracle film:
Untitled from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
I'm excited to start animating, but then I realize how much I have to do so I get scared and sort of freeze up. I'm going to assume that's natural. I think there are probably even more cuts to make to my story, which is always a positive thing.
My next non-animation related goal for this film is to draw out a sheet of paper with various angles and poses of both the cowboy's hat and his gun(s). More like gun since the guns are the same thing.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Changes
There are already changes I need to do, just so you know. A lot of cuts and angle changes. Or just shot changes in general. No additions except for a quick shot of him realizing he's lost his hat and a new entrance for the zombie damsel.
Some examples of cuts:
- No more taking the sheriff badge. No sheriff indication whatsoever.
- As he exits the saloon, it'll cut to him looking around and then to his close-up. Not the other way around.
- No shot of the quadriplegic zombie before the hero trips over it.
- No overhead of the bar the first time because it sucks.
Some examples of changes:
- He'll look around frantically for his hat versus shooting at the zombies after it falls off.
- Zombie damsel will emerge from the crowd and have a grander entrance where she gradually inches close to him. This will add time, but I'm cutting so much away that I think I'll still be in the negatives overall.
I'm sure with class there will be more things to add to this list, but I guess if they're cuts then I should welcome those comments with open arms. I guess I'm really close to having a solid, not-confusing story. Just some minor tinkers and I'll finally be past this stage and be able to get on with my life.
Some examples of cuts:
- No more taking the sheriff badge. No sheriff indication whatsoever.
- As he exits the saloon, it'll cut to him looking around and then to his close-up. Not the other way around.
- No shot of the quadriplegic zombie before the hero trips over it.
- No overhead of the bar the first time because it sucks.
Some examples of changes:
- He'll look around frantically for his hat versus shooting at the zombies after it falls off.
- Zombie damsel will emerge from the crowd and have a grander entrance where she gradually inches close to him. This will add time, but I'm cutting so much away that I think I'll still be in the negatives overall.
I'm sure with class there will be more things to add to this list, but I guess if they're cuts then I should welcome those comments with open arms. I guess I'm really close to having a solid, not-confusing story. Just some minor tinkers and I'll finally be past this stage and be able to get on with my life.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Rawhide: A New Animatic
So it begins.
Due to extenuating circumstances, I find myself in the lab past 10 o'clock and hungry for food. Subway is my only real option, and it's causing me to have 'Nam-style flashbacks to what last semester was like. Whatever. Tonight is just one night, although it really does seem like some jerk force is trying its hardest to keep me in this lab. I won't go into my laundry list of technical issues that I compiled tonight, but it's probably more trouble than I've ever had here before. This is just a reminder of what will happen to me if I don't stick to a reasonable schedule this year.
Anyway, the day before class starts, I have an animatic for you. I think the story works, and I hope you do, too. This animatic rules because:
A) It's 1.5 minutes shorter than my last one
B) It will probably be shorter as I clean up timing since I err on the side of length
C) It's a better, simpler story than my last one.
Having said that it will probably be shorter, I actually realize that some sequences might not read as well right now as they would if they were a few seconds longer. I'm hoping that animating will fix that since it's easier to read movement for a short time than it is a still image. If it doesn't, whatever, that's like max 10 seconds added onto this baby. Probably mostly of holds. I'm not going to worry yet.
Also, there are basically no backgrounds unless they were necessary. That sucks. Those won't be difficult to come up with, though.
Why don't you watch it and comment, already?
Untitled from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
Did you get the Alien 3 reference? I thought it was clever, and I hope you do, too.
...we should really get some speakers back into this senior lab.
Due to extenuating circumstances, I find myself in the lab past 10 o'clock and hungry for food. Subway is my only real option, and it's causing me to have 'Nam-style flashbacks to what last semester was like. Whatever. Tonight is just one night, although it really does seem like some jerk force is trying its hardest to keep me in this lab. I won't go into my laundry list of technical issues that I compiled tonight, but it's probably more trouble than I've ever had here before. This is just a reminder of what will happen to me if I don't stick to a reasonable schedule this year.
Anyway, the day before class starts, I have an animatic for you. I think the story works, and I hope you do, too. This animatic rules because:
A) It's 1.5 minutes shorter than my last one
B) It will probably be shorter as I clean up timing since I err on the side of length
C) It's a better, simpler story than my last one.
Having said that it will probably be shorter, I actually realize that some sequences might not read as well right now as they would if they were a few seconds longer. I'm hoping that animating will fix that since it's easier to read movement for a short time than it is a still image. If it doesn't, whatever, that's like max 10 seconds added onto this baby. Probably mostly of holds. I'm not going to worry yet.
Also, there are basically no backgrounds unless they were necessary. That sucks. Those won't be difficult to come up with, though.
Why don't you watch it and comment, already?
Untitled from Carder Scholin on Vimeo.
Did you get the Alien 3 reference? I thought it was clever, and I hope you do, too.
...we should really get some speakers back into this senior lab.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Ending again
Okay so I got some good suggestions on the ending and the damsel, and I reboarded. Let's ignore the whole "Damsel comes into the bar" thing, and pretend like the cowboy passes out until he hears the screams from outside, and then goes to investigate. Everything else proceeds as normal until he jumps onto the zombie that wears his hat. As he lands on the zombie, its head pops off and rolls along the ground. The cowboy goes to pick it up, and places it on his head triumphantly. That's where this new part comes in:
So the cowboy stands triumphantly, and then hears a moan from behind him. He turns around and sees the zombie damsel's face inches away from his. Shocked, he jumps back, and his hat falls off. He stares at the damsel, and she stares back. The cowboy gives her a sheepish "sorry I got you killed" grin, and looks to the ground at his hat. He stares back at the damsel, and she doesn't move. The cowboy slowly reaches down for his hat. The instant his hand grasps it, she lunges at him. There are some quick cuts, and the final shot is his hand hitting the floor next to his hat.
After that, still images of the zombie town gag I've had in my head all semester. Finally, a logical way to incorporate it. I think. Also, this way I don't have to deal with fire ever if I don't want to. That might actually be a good thing. Woo!
So the cowboy stands triumphantly, and then hears a moan from behind him. He turns around and sees the zombie damsel's face inches away from his. Shocked, he jumps back, and his hat falls off. He stares at the damsel, and she stares back. The cowboy gives her a sheepish "sorry I got you killed" grin, and looks to the ground at his hat. He stares back at the damsel, and she doesn't move. The cowboy slowly reaches down for his hat. The instant his hand grasps it, she lunges at him. There are some quick cuts, and the final shot is his hand hitting the floor next to his hat.
After that, still images of the zombie town gag I've had in my head all semester. Finally, a logical way to incorporate it. I think. Also, this way I don't have to deal with fire ever if I don't want to. That might actually be a good thing. Woo!
Behold: work!
So this post is here to prove that I'm not going to spend my entire summer thinking about thinking about working on my film. I am, in fact, going to actually do work.
First things first, some zombie designs. Please bear with me as I was too lazy to mess with my horrible scanner, so I took pictures.
Next, here is my film's new storyboard - in thumbnail form. My storyboarding teacher, Karl Gnass, said not to do preliminary boards big and elaborate because everything changes, basically, and I agree with that school of thought. I'll run though the plot with each page. It's changed a lot, but I think I'm finally in a really good, basically final place with it. I glossed over the portions of the film that are basically the same, and I've already changed the ending a little since I drew these.
The film starts with the damsel screaming on the tracks while a train fast approaches. The hero and villain are having a standoff on either side of the tracks while she screams. They stand still with their hands near their guns, and when they finally draw, the train hits the damsel before they can even shoot.
Then it's the usual train-derailing-and-killing-all-the-passengers bit. Shot of the town as the day fades into a stormy night. Cut to the saloon, where the hero is drinking his sorrows away and passes out. Back at the train tracks, lightning strikes and revives all the dead passengers. The shadowy figure of the damsel enters the saloon, and a nice man offers her a chair. She feasts upon his brains. His screams wake the cowboy and he watches in horror as she approaches him. He fires off a few shots and misses with each one. As she nears, he panics, sees a beer bottle, and throws it at her. There is a shattering noise. Cut to the zombie damsel, who has shards of glass coming from her head. She falls down.
The cowboy hears screams from outside and goes to check them out. He sees the town in chaos. The wind picks up and blows his hat away. He grasps at it, but watches as it is blown onto the head of a zombie. The hero runs after his hat, but is stopped when he hears screams. A family is trapped by a hoard of zombies under an awning. He tries to shoot the zombies, but shoots the support beams instead, and flaming wreckage falls on everyone. He gulps and looks around. Seeing his hat again, he runs after it. As he runs, he bumps into another terrified townsperson, knocking him into a group of zombies. Once again, the hero is embarrassed. Cut to a shot of the hat walking by a building on top of which stand several terrified burlesque dancers. The dancers look up, and see the hero on the taller building next to them holding a rope. They smile as he swings down towards them, but frown when he swings by them. The hero jumps off his rope and lands on top of the zombie that wears his hat. The hat flies off, and the hero picks it up and puts it on. He stands heroically for a moment and turns to look at the town. When he turns around, he sees it completely engulfed in flames and watches it burn to the ground.
Originally he got bit by the zombie that he landed on and the film cut off as he blacked out. Tell me if you like that better, or give me a better ending.
*I already realize that perhaps all the things he does while running after his hat should contribute to burning the town down. Just when I thought I had it...dang. Maybe the guy he bumps into could be swinging a flaming stick at the zombies he's running from, and as the hero bumps into him, the stick goes flying into a banner, and the guy is pushed into the zombies. Also, maybe he'll knock over some flammable liquids, or some hay, as he jumps and lands on the hat zombie. Sounds like a pretty good addition.
Whew. Sorry for all of that writing. I just needed to prove my worth. Now if only I could get over the idea of being alone in the lab. It just seems so...lonely.
First things first, some zombie designs. Please bear with me as I was too lazy to mess with my horrible scanner, so I took pictures.
Next, here is my film's new storyboard - in thumbnail form. My storyboarding teacher, Karl Gnass, said not to do preliminary boards big and elaborate because everything changes, basically, and I agree with that school of thought. I'll run though the plot with each page. It's changed a lot, but I think I'm finally in a really good, basically final place with it. I glossed over the portions of the film that are basically the same, and I've already changed the ending a little since I drew these.
The film starts with the damsel screaming on the tracks while a train fast approaches. The hero and villain are having a standoff on either side of the tracks while she screams. They stand still with their hands near their guns, and when they finally draw, the train hits the damsel before they can even shoot.
Then it's the usual train-derailing-and-killing-all-the-passengers bit. Shot of the town as the day fades into a stormy night. Cut to the saloon, where the hero is drinking his sorrows away and passes out. Back at the train tracks, lightning strikes and revives all the dead passengers. The shadowy figure of the damsel enters the saloon, and a nice man offers her a chair. She feasts upon his brains. His screams wake the cowboy and he watches in horror as she approaches him. He fires off a few shots and misses with each one. As she nears, he panics, sees a beer bottle, and throws it at her. There is a shattering noise. Cut to the zombie damsel, who has shards of glass coming from her head. She falls down.
The cowboy hears screams from outside and goes to check them out. He sees the town in chaos. The wind picks up and blows his hat away. He grasps at it, but watches as it is blown onto the head of a zombie. The hero runs after his hat, but is stopped when he hears screams. A family is trapped by a hoard of zombies under an awning. He tries to shoot the zombies, but shoots the support beams instead, and flaming wreckage falls on everyone. He gulps and looks around. Seeing his hat again, he runs after it. As he runs, he bumps into another terrified townsperson, knocking him into a group of zombies. Once again, the hero is embarrassed. Cut to a shot of the hat walking by a building on top of which stand several terrified burlesque dancers. The dancers look up, and see the hero on the taller building next to them holding a rope. They smile as he swings down towards them, but frown when he swings by them. The hero jumps off his rope and lands on top of the zombie that wears his hat. The hat flies off, and the hero picks it up and puts it on. He stands heroically for a moment and turns to look at the town. When he turns around, he sees it completely engulfed in flames and watches it burn to the ground.
Originally he got bit by the zombie that he landed on and the film cut off as he blacked out. Tell me if you like that better, or give me a better ending.
*I already realize that perhaps all the things he does while running after his hat should contribute to burning the town down. Just when I thought I had it...dang. Maybe the guy he bumps into could be swinging a flaming stick at the zombies he's running from, and as the hero bumps into him, the stick goes flying into a banner, and the guy is pushed into the zombies. Also, maybe he'll knock over some flammable liquids, or some hay, as he jumps and lands on the hat zombie. Sounds like a pretty good addition.
Whew. Sorry for all of that writing. I just needed to prove my worth. Now if only I could get over the idea of being alone in the lab. It just seems so...lonely.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Some stuff
Tonight I went and saw some film-noir westerns at the New Beverly. The films were Ramrod and Station West. I figure if I record them here, I might be able to give Mar a list of the westerns and/or zombie films I see and use my budget for them. Here's wishful thinking.
Anyway, I enjoyed the movies enough considering I was zoning out a lot of the time in order to think about my film. Here are some things I thought about: I'm changing the cowboy and damsel's outfits slightly just because I can and because I think I know how to make them look better. I considered making the movie black and white with some grainy stuff and editing errors, but I decided that was gimmicky and stupid. Good for me. I have some ideas for the actual town layout now, and that's a plus.
Also, I was watching my Simpsons DVDs today, as I am wont to do, and I watched an old animatic extra they had for 'Homer's Triple Bypass'. The main screen was the keyframes for the episode, and I think that's what my goal is this summer - to keyframe my film. Or most of it. As much as I can. I figure that the animatic doesn't do the action justice, and, seeing as how it's an action movie, no one is going to really get what I'm planning until I have the action mapped out. I don't think I even understand my action fully yet. Timing is so important that I may as well try and picture lock the film as soon as I can, right? Right.
This blog sure is word-heavy. I think I'll try to add some eye candy really soon. So many drawings to do and scan. I might be in over my head. I know I was planning to wait until after college to develop a mental disorder, but the thing could trick me and come early.
Anyway, I enjoyed the movies enough considering I was zoning out a lot of the time in order to think about my film. Here are some things I thought about: I'm changing the cowboy and damsel's outfits slightly just because I can and because I think I know how to make them look better. I considered making the movie black and white with some grainy stuff and editing errors, but I decided that was gimmicky and stupid. Good for me. I have some ideas for the actual town layout now, and that's a plus.
Also, I was watching my Simpsons DVDs today, as I am wont to do, and I watched an old animatic extra they had for 'Homer's Triple Bypass'. The main screen was the keyframes for the episode, and I think that's what my goal is this summer - to keyframe my film. Or most of it. As much as I can. I figure that the animatic doesn't do the action justice, and, seeing as how it's an action movie, no one is going to really get what I'm planning until I have the action mapped out. I don't think I even understand my action fully yet. Timing is so important that I may as well try and picture lock the film as soon as I can, right? Right.
This blog sure is word-heavy. I think I'll try to add some eye candy really soon. So many drawings to do and scan. I might be in over my head. I know I was planning to wait until after college to develop a mental disorder, but the thing could trick me and come early.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
A Secured Story
Okay guys. Here's the deal - I've updated my story. I didn't go back to square one, so please don't have a heart attack, but I did go back a little bit and get rid of the root of all my freaking problems - The Bartender/Burlesque Dancer.
She is toast. She was bringing down the story and I wasn't going to have that, so I killed her off.
Here's how the story goes now (this is going to be horribly written. Please bear with me.)-
It starts off with the entire train sequence, only the damsel dies once again and the villain rides off happily. Then it cuts to the cowboy drinking his sorrows away at the saloon. Back to the train, lightning and zombies. At the saloon, the cowboy has passed out. The zombified damsel enters, bites a dude, and then lunges toward the cowboy. He fires off some shots and misses every time, she closes in, he closes his eyes and fires off one more shot. The zombie falls to the ground and the cowboy looks down at her. He gets really happy, looks out at the rest of the town, and decides he can save it.
Then we get into some gags where the cowboy acts like a spaz. He shoots down the home of a family he's trying to save, jumps over a horse instead of on top of it, and ends up kicking some burlesque dancers into a crowd of zombies while trying to save them. In the end, he is cornered against a storefront and shoots at the hoard of zombies that approaches. He runs out of ammo, notices a flaming plank next to him, and picks it up. The cowboy starts swinging and ends up kicking a lot of butt with that stick, but he also ends up lighting various parts of the town on fire. By the time he notices, the town is in flames. The flames reach the ammunition store and it explodes, killing everyone.
The credits would roll over scenes of a zombie town, like I originally planned.
So I know that sounds like I added a whole lot of new stuff, but I actually haven't. Everything is the same except for the way the damsel dies, and the final two scenes of the film. The biggest change is that now I don't have to cut between two characters, and I don't have an extra character bringing the film down with all of her baggage. What a plus!
Now the plan is to make an entire page of zombie designs, storyboard out my new sequences, and start some animation. This summer is going to rule.
She is toast. She was bringing down the story and I wasn't going to have that, so I killed her off.
Here's how the story goes now (this is going to be horribly written. Please bear with me.)-
It starts off with the entire train sequence, only the damsel dies once again and the villain rides off happily. Then it cuts to the cowboy drinking his sorrows away at the saloon. Back to the train, lightning and zombies. At the saloon, the cowboy has passed out. The zombified damsel enters, bites a dude, and then lunges toward the cowboy. He fires off some shots and misses every time, she closes in, he closes his eyes and fires off one more shot. The zombie falls to the ground and the cowboy looks down at her. He gets really happy, looks out at the rest of the town, and decides he can save it.
Then we get into some gags where the cowboy acts like a spaz. He shoots down the home of a family he's trying to save, jumps over a horse instead of on top of it, and ends up kicking some burlesque dancers into a crowd of zombies while trying to save them. In the end, he is cornered against a storefront and shoots at the hoard of zombies that approaches. He runs out of ammo, notices a flaming plank next to him, and picks it up. The cowboy starts swinging and ends up kicking a lot of butt with that stick, but he also ends up lighting various parts of the town on fire. By the time he notices, the town is in flames. The flames reach the ammunition store and it explodes, killing everyone.
The credits would roll over scenes of a zombie town, like I originally planned.
So I know that sounds like I added a whole lot of new stuff, but I actually haven't. Everything is the same except for the way the damsel dies, and the final two scenes of the film. The biggest change is that now I don't have to cut between two characters, and I don't have an extra character bringing the film down with all of her baggage. What a plus!
Now the plan is to make an entire page of zombie designs, storyboard out my new sequences, and start some animation. This summer is going to rule.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Post #2
I'm sitting in bed and don't want to actually get up and get ready, so I figured I'd update this thing instead. See? Procrastination isn't just for school.
I've decided that my film has become some kind of monster that I don't even recognize anymore. I'm not excited about it at all, and the plot is so far away from what I originally intended (way before even my first animatic) that I don't think I could bring myself to start animating it even if I tried.
The solution to this issue is to scrap it all and start over. I'm keeping the characters and the zombie western stuff, but that's about it. I don't know what I'm going to do yet, because I'm currently being really critical of all my ideas so I don't end up wanting to switch plots again later on; I know how much trouble that causes.
So basically, it's back to the drawing board. My goal is to have the new story fleshed out by the end of this month so I can bust out a quickie animatic early June and then receive some feedback before I start animating. Sounds like a plan to me.
I've decided that my film has become some kind of monster that I don't even recognize anymore. I'm not excited about it at all, and the plot is so far away from what I originally intended (way before even my first animatic) that I don't think I could bring myself to start animating it even if I tried.
The solution to this issue is to scrap it all and start over. I'm keeping the characters and the zombie western stuff, but that's about it. I don't know what I'm going to do yet, because I'm currently being really critical of all my ideas so I don't end up wanting to switch plots again later on; I know how much trouble that causes.
So basically, it's back to the drawing board. My goal is to have the new story fleshed out by the end of this month so I can bust out a quickie animatic early June and then receive some feedback before I start animating. Sounds like a plan to me.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
First Post
Okay I started a new blog for my thesis because I felt like my main one was kind of cluttered and out of control...at least for what is supposed to be a research blog, anyway. I think it'll just turn into a general blog about animation, or something. I'm not really sure. Anyway, it's not about my thesis, so, let's put all of that behind us; new beginnings.
We just had our pre-thesis class class not too long ago, and Sheila told me to shorten my animatic, which I guess I'll put up here soon, and start animating. Both of those thoughts have been hanging over my head since summer started, so I guess I'm on the right track.
I've already put some thought into how I'm going to streamline my animatic. First and foremost, the flashback is no longer a flashback. It'll just be at the beginning, and I'll insert some shots that show that time has passed between the train crash and the bar scene. Thanks, faculty, for that one.
Also, the cowboy is just going to deal with one set of zombies the entire time. I feel like he is the one making the action sequences a little scattered and aimless, and I need to find a way to integrate him more or at least give him a purpose. The bartender/dancer/damsel/whatever character only deals with one group of zombies, and I think that really helps out.
I also don't think the scale of the zombie invasion is really being shown in my animatic. Maybe that's just an issue of inserting background zombies. We'll see. I'm thinking maybe I want to change the ending from an unfortunate accident destroying the town to a more planned finale. For example - maybe they put the gun powder barrels all over town, blow one up, and it sets off a chain reaction of explosions that destroys everything. Just a thought. Maybe that wouldn't work.
I've typed for too long. Catch you later, blogosphere.
We just had our pre-thesis class class not too long ago, and Sheila told me to shorten my animatic, which I guess I'll put up here soon, and start animating. Both of those thoughts have been hanging over my head since summer started, so I guess I'm on the right track.
I've already put some thought into how I'm going to streamline my animatic. First and foremost, the flashback is no longer a flashback. It'll just be at the beginning, and I'll insert some shots that show that time has passed between the train crash and the bar scene. Thanks, faculty, for that one.
Also, the cowboy is just going to deal with one set of zombies the entire time. I feel like he is the one making the action sequences a little scattered and aimless, and I need to find a way to integrate him more or at least give him a purpose. The bartender/dancer/damsel/whatever character only deals with one group of zombies, and I think that really helps out.
I also don't think the scale of the zombie invasion is really being shown in my animatic. Maybe that's just an issue of inserting background zombies. We'll see. I'm thinking maybe I want to change the ending from an unfortunate accident destroying the town to a more planned finale. For example - maybe they put the gun powder barrels all over town, blow one up, and it sets off a chain reaction of explosions that destroys everything. Just a thought. Maybe that wouldn't work.
I've typed for too long. Catch you later, blogosphere.
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