As the Set Turns- Milestone MET!!

Hey guys,

Big Milestone last night.....Me and shel have taken down the dog interior set.....and have turned around the set back to the hallway set.....which will be the last shots in the pound. This was a HUGE moment for me last night..... I was remembering the set 1 FULL year ago in the same position....The set was undressed and full of possabilities??and questions.

I had'nt animated a single shot of the dog and had no idea what to expect from the puppet.WOW,

I have come a LONG FREAKIN way!!! The dog is now alive and is nearing the finish of his stay in the pound.Its just working out that through my production on this Film......Gerald is actually getting freed from the cage the same way it happens in the Film..His time there is Now over.Ill actually finish this film with the last shot of them going into the happy hills.....Pretty cool Ending to this Monstrous Undertakeing!

I have a garage door full of X'ed out storyboards. Finished shots.....Hours upon Hours of HEART breaking work in the deep of the night......... I am so EXCITED TO FINISH!!!We have been watching shels edits and adding shots here and there to improve the story....and clarify certain points.These small changes are makeing Huge improvements to the story and are really one of the funnest parts of our collaberation.....We both know very clearly what each sequence is saying and can see when its failing or succeeding. I will do my first shot this sunday on the last run of interior shots.Its a dialog piece which Im really excited to do.

{Motivation}I have felt a bit on auto pilot for the last 3 shots or so which isnt great.....but I have had a hard busy month{work-cold-and more work} the shots havnt been big acting pieces....so Ive gotten away with it.....I am planning on getting very serious with the next batch.

I keep thinking of a race analogys in the end of this film......I was hitting the really hard part of the race{This last month}.....My knees ar'nt lifting easily anymore - My lungs and muscles are Burning - Im hurting.....but the finish line is right there and I feel that second burst of energy comeing!!Motivateing me to push that last push!! just get to that line..I see it.....and Im comin.......................... POWERFULL!!!

jriggity

Dreams.....Im A PRO Animator!!!

Hey guys!

Little piece of information on whats been going on over here. Ive been busier than I ever have in my life. Im working full time .....finishing up my 18 month project at work. We are 1 month from releaseing our next Title "Secret Agent Clank"

Ratchets little robot sidekick finally gets his own Game.Its almost done and I cant wait to be finished. Our team produced 35 minuets of animation and a whole list of monsters enemys and Robots. Im ready for Vacation.

I also have been working 3d animation freelance on several different projects trying to pay off

a MAJOR Tax hit we got last year..........

.........so those jobs and My Family time, Wifey time......short film Time and Next project time still leaveing a few minuets in the day. I went and decided to accept work on MY FIRST PRO stopmotion job!!!

I accepted a gig to help out our local animator "Michael Granberry"......hes been doing some really impressive pro work on a feature film Called {Mythic Journeys}. The director wanting to speed up the footage comeing in asked for anyone who would take some shots. ME!

My first shot was a gargoyle sitting in a tree.....Slowly watching the king draging a skeleton....My character then jumps out of the shot doing a Wipe effect as he leaves the shot. Sounds simple.......it was harder than you would ever think. The puppet was TINY and the animateability was very limited.Many restarts were required due to puppet issues......................
I started at 10:30 and got out of the garage at 5:00 in the mornin. It was very challengeing but I did it and am happy I did it.....it was also 30 frames a second which I never shot at before.....and I finally got to use the new software dragon. I liked it!!

Im really excited to be a part of the project and I am more Excited to say that I am now a PRO

StopMotionAnimator!!

That was a real DREAM!!!!! A serious unreachable DREAM!!! that I am so proud to have accomplished.

I am so Happy to reach this dream because I keep dreamin new ones all the Time!!! ......

by the way.....

My film is totally back on track...I have reshot all the cut ones and they are definately better.Its happening real fast....we are turning the set around next week for the final leg of shots in the hallway.

justin

CLEAR ENOUGH?

shel here. in our ongoing effort to make the essense of Gerald's Last Day SUPER DUPER clear, we came up with a little cutaway shot, (clarifying the CONFLICT and previewed here mostly cuz i like the paper clip, which will never be noticed in the film!).

picture the poundworker's hands though, not my big thumb!

Constant Questioning? and Failed Successes!

Hey guys,

so...... Ive been super busy trying to finish this film. I am mainly concentrateing on the Little Girl Sequence at the moment. I have been moveing forward well......likeing the finished shots.

Things were going swimmingly!

as me and shel discuss the film .....I express my concerns about some scenes and she expresses her thoughts as an audience member. This points out miscommunication from Director to audience.....so we ask?

What is this scenes purpose? What is the KEY thing we are trying to get across? Is it comeing across? and when the answer is NO........we gota fix it.........

This can be......let me say that again.....THIS IS painfull.....VERY PAINFULL.

I find myself knowing inside that its the right thing to do......but its a blow to the heart. I sometimes catch myself saying its good enough.....but It is colored by the ammount of time invested....Work required and anxiousness of the finishline. Luckily I dont succumb to the pain and can see the end product as the most important thing.

This happened last night for the little girl sequence. We looked at the edit. ...saw what was and was not reading. .....?

Asked ourself what we are striveing to say in the sequence.

Then..................We..............SCRAPPED a good 4 shots.........OUCH!! We of course worked out the NEW best way to get the story across first.

It hurts but I know its going to make the film SO much more POWERFULL!

So now I just want to Take a week off and concentrate on the film.....realize this New vison....

Ha!....Not gona happen......Midnight Madness for me for a little bit longer.

Good thing is that shots are comeing fast!! I shoot 4 nights a week...and the shots havnt been marathon length lately.....not many reshoots either.

Another thing I am feeling is a bit more confidence in the film. Because we are Questioning the very CORE of the story ......and questioning if my acting is showcaseing this.....I feel I will have a good film in the end.......plus you get to see some newly Scrapped shots.

jriggity