My First Gif

I made my first gif file from an animation test I did last summer.  What you see here is a first look of a short project I'm developing, that I'll start making when I'm done with my web series, Stress Inc.

Set Details

Here's a couple of set details from the set of Stress Inc.  These are the posters in Fred's office.  I made them in Photoshop and printed them out.  The push pins are made from Sculpey, baked, and glued on.  In the episodes they may not be that noticeable, but I think they're a fun little piece in the background.  I've found in stop-motion, the smallest details can go a long way to building your world.  Sometimes it doesn't take much.

A Tiny Book

     Here's a picture of a mini book I made for the next episode of Stress Inc. The hardcover is illustration board taped together with some strong white tape.  I made the cover in Photoshop and glued the inside flaps to the cover.  There's also several pieces of paper cut to size and glued in the center to make up the pages of the book.  I was definitely inspired by Wallace and Gromit and all the funny book titles Gromit (the dog) is often reading such as "Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dogtoevsky."

Onwards

The script is written, the set is freshened up, and dialog recorded.  There's a bit of work to do on the puppet and a few props to make.  The fourth and final episode of Stress Inc. is underway!  Keep checking here for progress on the epic conclusion!

Making Xmas

Here's a couple photos taken while animating Stress Inc. Episode 3: Xmas.  In the top picture you can see my set up for filming the cancelled Christmas sequence, which was all done in front of a green screen background.  I happened upon some awesome AA battery powered mini LED Christmas lights at a place called the Side Street Gallery in Portland, and they really helped bring some visual fun to the sequence.

The bottom picture is my stage while animating the shot at the end, right after Fred has freed the rubber chicken from its package.

Stress Inc. Episode 3: Xmas

Here it is!  The holidays are upon us, and so is the next episode of Stress Inc.

Check it out right here: https://vimeo.com/146310031

Hope you enjoy!

Episode 3 is in the can!

     All done animating and gathering footage for the Christmas episode!  Now there is quite a bit of post-production work to do for this one.  There's a lot more VFX in this episode, but I feel confidant it's going to look great when it's done and be the best Stress Inc. yet! Below is a shot I did on green screen, there are several green screen shots in this episode.  It's going to be a fun challenge.
     Also, I plan on releasing this episode earlier than I said before, probably the week before Thanksgiving.  Stay tuned!

Stress Inc. Christmas Episode

The next episode of Stress Inc. is the Christmas episode.  I'm in the middle of animating it now!  It will be the most epic episode yet.  I'm hoping for a Black Friday launch date, which is November 27th this year.  I've always wanted to make my own stop motion Christmas special, and that's exactly what this will be.  It's proving to be the most involved, and complicated episode yet, but I think all the hard work is going to pay off.  Mark your calendars, Stress Inc returns November 27th!

Stress Inc. Is Here!

At last, the first two episodes are on line!  Two short, sweet pieces of stop motion comdey ready for viewing! Check them out using the link below!

https://vimeo.com/channels/stressinc

Stress Inc.

The first two episodes, coming April 12th!!!

Show Opener

I finished shooting the show opener last weekend (that little bit that plays before each episode and includes the titles.)  So, everything I need for now is in the can.  I'm working on visual effects now and putting the final touches on the sound.  It's getting close!

Episode 2 In the Can!

Episode two is in the can, as of today!  I've been working hard, trying to animate at least one day every weekend so I can finally start getting this project out there.  I still need to do a reshoot of the series opener which is only two shots.  Then there is a bit of After Effects works and sound to be done.  But it's coming along and will be released soon.  It won't be long before I officially announce the project and have the first two episodes ready to view!

The picture above is a shot of the stage while filming episode 2.  As you can see, judging by the size of the Exacto knife and the glue stick on the stage, I'm working with some fairly small parts and pieces as I animate.  Tweezers regularly come in handy when you're animating things this small. 

For now I've decided to hold off announcing a release date (just in case I don't have it done by then).  I want to make sure all is good and ready when I announce the show.  Stay tuned, great things are under way!

Mouths

Just thought I'd show you a series of mouths I use for making the main character talk.  I'm pretty happy with the way animating dialog is turning out so far.  I've been testing out the mouths first by using After Effects.  I have a layer with a mouthless puppet and then insert each mouth on it's own layer for the time needed to portray the syllable it needs to.  This acts as a test and a guide.  I can then follow the quicktime I make from my After Effects file and organize the mouths, decipher which frame they should be on and make an x-sheet to follow while animating.  I don't want the final mouths to be an After Effects thing.  I'd rather put paper mouths on the puppet frame by frame as I animate.  It blends in so much better this way, and I'm really going for that practical stop motion feel.

By the way, Happy New Year!  2015 will finally be the year this project sees the light of day!  Episode 1 is in the can, and episode 2 is half way there.  I don't like declaring release dates, just because I never know what it will really take to do it right till I get there, but I'm really hoping to get the first two episodes on line in February 2015.  Then, subsequent episodes will follow when they're done.  Initially I'm thinking 6 episodes total which I'll release over the coming year.  Cheers!

Episode 1 is in the can!

Episode 1 of my forthcoming web mini series is done shooting.  The second episode is written and I'm blocking out the shots and recording dialog for it now.  I'm on track for debuting this project by the begining of 2015. Yippee!

The Boxtrolls

I've been working Laika's next film, The Boxtrolls for the last two years.  Now, at last there's a real trailer for it! The film comes out September 26th.  For the most part on this film I was responsible for all the animator x-sheets, for those that don't know what that is, it involves breaking down the dialog into phonetics, frame by frame so the stop motion animators know which part of the word they're on when they're animating.  By the end I got to do the facial animation on a few shots as well.  It looks like VFX has been hard at work putting together the final look of the film.  This trailer looks great!

Boxtrolls Trailer

I'm Back!

Okay, I know it's been an embarrassingly long time since I posted anything.  For anyone that's actually reading this, thanks for sticking with me!  Awesome things are on the way, I promise!  The first instalment of my webisodes is in production.  And to prove it here is a frame from the first shot of the first webisode.

It's going to be a series of quick, one minute or so comedy bits.  One guy in an office and the infinite possibilities of poking fun at the world of work.  I want to release the first three all at once by the end of the year, since they're so short.  From then on, they'll be released one by one.  This blog is where you can get sneak peaks and tidbits about my progress, and of course the grand announcement that this project is finally out there and ready to be seen.  Stay tuned!!!

The Desk

 I'm really happy with how this miniature desk turned out.  First I constructed it with illustration board.  Then I covered the whole thing with thin wood strips that are a sticker on one side, some stuff called Sticky Bark.

 I painted the desk with an acrylic from Golden called transparent brown, which basically looks like a wood stain.

And here is the completed desk.  One prop down, several more to go.  The set is coming together!

Office Chair

There are a lot of props to make for my new stop motion web series.  One of the most challenging so far has been the office chair.  The cushions are painted foam, the rollers were made out of sculpey.  The bottom and back of the chair were made from illustration board and Magic Sculpt. There is also a decent amount of supper glue holding it all together.

 And here is the final chair.  There is also a screw hole in the bottom to secure it to the set.  It's not the most beautiful chair ever, but it will certainly work for the show.

Moving Forward

After much thought, I've decided to move forward with a new project.  I'm postponing the short film I was working on before and moving on to something I feel is more doable and possible to make in the space I have right now.  I will come back to that short film idea someday, and much of the preliminary work has already been done, which is no small feat in itself.  Right now I'm excited about this idea, which is the first thing I thought of doing after graduating from animation school.  It's one character, one set, endless possibilities.  It's going to be on-going webisodes, just how many I'm not sure yet, but I've got several ideas spinning in my head.

Above is a picture of what I've got going so far.  I'm using one of my ball and socket armatures to build the puppet.  The face you see on the puppet here is not final, and the hair will eventually be painted black, right now it's just a bunch of wires.  The whole thing is going to take place in an office, so on the bottom of the set you can see my idea for the floor.

Watch for the first webisode by the end of the year, and many more progress posts here before that!  

ParaNorman on DVD

Just thought I'd get the word out: ParaNorman comes out on DVD and Blueray tomorrow.  Check it out!