Re:Create

My neighbor Randy Elrod has put together a seminar for pastors and spiritually minded people in the arts called "Re:Create". It runs Feb 5-8 here in Franklin. (There's still time to sign up, if you're interested). Randy is a painter and writer, and for many years was on the ministry staff at the People's Church working with artists and musicians.

I am going to be one of the guest speakers, but don't let that stop you from coming. From all signs this is going to be a great time to learn and exchange ideas.

I'll be giving a presentation on Storyboarding, which will be kind of interesting, because I doubt very many of the attendees draw for a living, though, most of them are probably storytellers in one fashion or another. At any rate, I know that lessons and inspiration can be gleaned from just about anywhere. So I am confident that folks will walk away with something from my talk... at least I hope so.

I remember years ago, I was taking fencing lessons (fascinating sport!), and it was strange one night when I found myself comparing they way I was learning this sport with how I was approaching figure drawing. (That thought just begs for a funny drawing doesn't it?) Seriously, I have come to believe that all learning is connected.

Anyway, check out the Re:Create site and if you're gonna be in this neck of the woods, sign up!

The Most Important Person in the Scene

When I direct a new animator I haven't worked with before, I will often ask him/her not to forget the most important person in the scene. Naturally, they will agree, but then I ask if they know who that is.
"The main character?" they reply with some timidity.
"No" I will gently say. With a kind sigh and small head shake, I will clue them into one of the most important bits on information for a performer: The most important person in the scene is....

The Audience.

Never forget the audience. They are the one's watching, the reason you are doing this in the first place. They are the ones you are trying to reach, to communicate with, to elicit an emotional response (or a laugh) from. Give the audience the best show possible.

I was recently at a school function where the Principal read a poem on stage, while the school band accompanied between the stanzas behind her. The Principal had obviously practices this many times facing the band, because that's what she did during the entire performance. There was a lecturn there with her poem and a mic. She walked up to it, picked up the paper and microphone, turned and read the poem to the band, leaving us a splendid view of her derrier.

She forgot her audience.

Obviously, this is an extreme example of a no-no. But I try to remember at all times that somebody will be watching. Sounds vain, I know. But if you are going to give a performance, make it a performance worth watching.

It's a delicate balance. You have to become fully immersed in your performance, forgetting the outside world. But at the same time, you must train your subconscious to remember that you are performing. We're not making documentaries here, we are performing.

This is a principle that I don't have to remind live actors of. They instinctively know. But animators work in darkened cubicles, cut off from the outside world. You are separated from your character by the glass monitor screen, you aren't acting in front of a camera and interacting with other actors in real time. So while you sit there, imagine yourself in a theatre full of two hundred other people watching what's on your screen. Are they enjoying the show as much as you are?

Paperless Storyboards

If you read my blog a couple of months ago, you may remember that I added a Cintiq tablet to my hardware arsenal. Well, last month, I finished a storyboarding assignment in which I didn't use a single sheet of paper, nor sharpen a pencil.


©Big Idea, Inc.

Yes, I am sure you will quickly recognize the property, that's no surprise. But I had a real fun time drawing on this thing. While there are many aspects of paper I still like better, this was a real time saver. For instance, I could draw one background and then put the character on layers on top of it, and I saved a lot of scanning time to get these to editorial.

I used Photoshop for these and some brushes I got from Eddie Pittman. So far so good, though I do wish the pressure sensitivity on the charcoal was a little more intuitve. Also with real pencils (or charcoal, or china marker or whatever) there is a density variance in each stroke that I like that I can't replicate yet. I'm sure it will come.

There was some free Corel Painter software that came with the tablet (Painter Essentials, nothing fancy). I haven't tried yet. I hear it can mimic the paper texture better. Any tips would be appreciated.

I've also been using the Cintice as a 2nd monitor for editing video. It's strange yet, very cool to use a stylus to move media around rather than a mouse. Feels very "Minority Report". Now if that would just invent a thimble type stylus, so I just have to use my fingertips to move stuff around, that would be cool. Ohhhh... fingerpainting on a Cintiq!

Curtis on CG Animation

I'm probably breaking some copyright laws by posting today's "Curtis" comic strip, but I thought it was really funny, 'cause I kinda had to agree with Curtis's dad.

Click on the image to make it bigger.

There's a growing glut of CG films, and nobody's trying very hard to make their's stand out and excel, either in visuals or in writing. I mean "Arther and the Invisibles" looks akin to "Ant Bully" (kid shrinks down to bug size in his lawn), "Shrek the 3rd" looks like the previous two... then there's "Happily N'ever After... Shrek". And how many films do we have about a group of fuzzy animals cracking wise to each other?. Most of the rest are often just sitcom writing stretched out to ninety minutes... no real heart. Not to bag on all my colleagues out there, but doesn't it seem that a lot of studios jumped into the CG game, not for love of the artform, but looking at the box office grosses of the first few films out there (forgetting about "Final Fantasy", of course). With a mindset like that, the trend is usually just to imitate what is out there rather than to explore possibilities.

Don't get me wrong, there are the shining stars in these cinematic offerings, and we all have our favorites. So don't think that I hate everything hitting the multiplex these days. I love good animation. There's just so much to choose from and my time to see them seems to be shrinking, so I am slowly turning into more of an animation snob that I already was.

Oh and go to: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/curtis.asp to see more of this strip (there... that should appease the lawyers.)

Time & Chance

Well, I'm about to wrap up post production soon. Though I am still talking to composers for the score, which will be followed by the final mix. In the meantime, here is a peek at the publicity poster I am working on:

Happy New Year everybody!