:30 Short Film—Part 5: Pencil Test & Color

Sorry it's been awhile. Lack of blogging is a sign of being busy, VERY busy trying to get this film animated before the last BPAS class on December 16. Since my last post, I have been working on adding inbetweens to smooth the action. As of today, I can say that the progress is steadily getting faster. Despite feeling slightly sick today (I missed spending the holiday with my wonderful girlfriend and her family! *Sniffle*) I was able to get some rough animation done. The product is below. I also got the colors approved by Bill at the last class so I'm happy that I don't have to revisit that. It was a struggle figuring out how to make camouflage not blend into the background! That would, of course, defeat the purpose of seeing the main characters clearly against the background.

Next post—clean animation and more color.

:30 Short Film—Part 4: Pencil Test II

Below is a portion of the pencil test I showed at the last BPAS class. It went over well, thankfully, with only a few suggestions for changes. But one of those changes was significant—more inbetweens! I thought I could get away with doing it the Plympton way, a few inbetweens each on 3 or 4 frames. NOT! I don't yet have the skill nor instinct to do that so it looks like I'll have to take the time to do more drawings to smooth out the action. I knew the movement was stiff and jumpy but, in the interest of time, I was hoping to get away with shortcuts. Guess not!

Next post—extended pencil test.

:30 Short Film—Part 4: Pencil Test

So, after many stressful days (a colleague keeps seeing my scary, red eye and telling me that I "look tired") I finally figured out how to end this freakin' film! It's not ideal, but to tell a funny 30-second story in 14 weeks is an accomplishment in itself (wait, did I say that in a previous post? Sorry!)

Anyway, I have officially started the animating process. I followed Plympton's approach and bought some vellum (or tissue, as Plympton calls it.) This way I can layout and plan various actions with lightweight, inexpensive paper before moving to the regular animation paper. I've already found it helpful when drawing on the bus. Yeah, you heard me right, I draw on the bus. OK, the express bus, but still, it can be done when precision is not needed. But if I've got to commute an hour plus each way, having the vellum and a portable lightbox is incredibly helpful.

I was able to place the figures of Petey and Wayne inside the frame while remaining within the t.v. cutoff area. I'm finding that my drawing of these guys has improved despite not being great. But I'm satisfied that the action that I imagined is actually fitting properly. I also decided that the action would often be limited. The first scene with the hunters is 29 frames. So there won't be much happening besides eye and eyebrow movement.

Next post—pencil test animation of Scene 2.