Week 15 And -Line- Is coming to Portland

Hey Guys,

Line is getting ready to come up to Portland for the summer

....Shel and Aedon are bringing the edit and some adventurous spirit on checking out Oregon.

we can look at the work she has done and continue trimming and organizing shots as we move forward.

Heres another shot from the montage....flea trying to fix his antanna.

Intern Justin J's awesome project is taking more shape..... so keep checking in on his thesis film...

He just finished his First development Sculpt for his kid robot character

Looks fantastic!!

Nicky's Fan Art sculpt of Kick Ass is now online for Sale on ebay - and officially on comic book shelves in the California area...

.......this is a bit of a dream come true for him ....to have a real product and right between Batman and an x-men comic....Pretty freakin cool!!

In Portland News-

week 15 at Laika and more justin footage makes it to film..........I put in close to 70 hours last week and I am looking for a simple weekend to chill before the family comes up next weekend.

{Tip of the week} - sit down and relax your feet every chance you get.....it helps tremendously.

In feature- some shots are long exposures-multiple exposures - and in 3d...SO....If I am on a long exposure shot...Ill sit between frames....

otherwise I try to sit anytime I am not shooting - downtime - between shots...cause man...

MY FEET HURT....ha!!

so far........All the shots have been hard for me ......I wouldn't say any of them came easy yet.

But....man......I swear some weeks begin with a shot that just seems impossible.... then the weeks over before you know it and the shot is approved.....its a thought I am trying to carry with me when I get overwhelmed a bit by the challenges of a piece.

I will get through them ALL....so....don't sweat it.

so far......time is flying on the production

and I am averaging say 3- 5 seconds a week......

most weeks I get 1 OR 2 shots out.......and I feel I am contributing well to the film.

My sequences are really starting to take shape....and I am getting really nice feedback from my coworkers which feels great!!

When I go to editorial every week I get to see the most current edit with my new shot dropped in.....It's so Exciting....I cant wait for you all to see it in theaters next year.

Its pretty freaking thrilling guys!

I was talking to a good buddy of Mine on the production and fellow FIRST time FEATURE animator- Andy Bailey -

I asked him about how much time he puts into planning a shot before launching into it?

because - Back Home on our stuff I usually plan out a shot and think about it for at least a day before I animate it.....

.but here - you have to hit the ground running- and be consistently able to deliver at a high level.....

When I am struggling on a new shot - its Because I feel I just need more time than the pro's do to plan out the piece...so I will feel I am taking to long ...and will start to pressure myself.

.......its- choreography-posing- offsets -timing so much to figure out.....a lot to work out when you have a producer asking when you are going to be done....

what I got from him is? {Because he is mainly animating dialog} He can plan his poses around the dialog on the x sheet.....since at the moment I am mainly doing action work.....I don't have that same structure

to base my timing and posing on.

this is why my shots just takes me a little more time to work out......after talking with him ...I felt much better about the situation.....and don't feel as quite as amature in what I am doing.

here is Andy's old reel....and I can tell you the work he is putting out at LAIKA puts everything on this reel to shame

....He is Kickin arse Big time.

Tricks of the week-

B Johnson- rim grab for Team Tiger-

hanging on the rim from bryan johnson on Vimeo.

Aedon learning drop and rolls on stunt week at the house.

Nickys car jump cause I just Swell with pride and love watching it.

Dads Now reversing it with a FRONT full twist at skyhigh!

Jriggity

Confidence sets in- Week 14

Hey Guys!

here I am week 14 and Fresh from a Great break with the family.........

In LINE News - In the 10 days I had at Home I was able to do a couple of shots for the film

- this WAS very Rewarding - Going back to work on it was very Inspiring !! I feel like I could totally finish our film soooooo fast if I was able to work on the film full time....shootiing on 2's is like Warp speed compared to what I have been doing up in Portland.

here's a montage shot-Dober Hubcap - Ill be dropping one every post for a bit to get some animation back on the blog.

On LINE- Shel has been really spending alot of her time editing......and she is getting to the ROOTs of all our films chapters...its so exciting to see her slicing and dicing the footage....FINDING the film.

There are so many thrilling parts of film making......but finding the film when its being edited is one of the coolest!!

There are so many cool unexpected things that can happen and its just plain FUN to watch it puzzle together.

Shel Is also on Art Days working on the Mini Flea Ship ....keeping it modular for molding and making it look great all together!

Shel Finished the Mini Ship Window Bubble-for Dober's Ship

this is the BUCK for Dober's Ship- that we will have vacuformed to create the window......

Here is a pic of The Interns together for an Art Friday on my visit HOME.

Back In Portland-

the week back at Laika started with the most complicated and challenging shot I had ever done.

The Shot was one that I knew could be really cool if I could pull it off.........maybe even my best so far.....

it had a camera pull- moving about 3 feet where my puppet had to run toward-chase the camera and stay in focus range while making his way through insane dangers....

in short I did it and it now has the title for- my BEST animated shot ever award-{at least this week it does} ha!!

It seems every week or 2 I get a new champion

...thats not a bad thing at all....

The other element of this weeks success is that I am really starting to be able to do the job with a calm head.........being able to approach a shot with the confidence that "I can totally do this" and {do it well}

makes a huge difference.

I am realizing alot of the experience I gained in our garage animating our films is really coming in handy.....the directors ask for things sometimes that I can directly pull from my experience on GLD or LINE.....and apply it to the shot. Like these food particals...for instance.

I think that the garage LOW BUDGET.....animation problem solving really was quite educational.

When I usually feel low experience compared to so many of my fellow animators its refreshing to know how to do somthing...ha!!

sooo looking into the future....I am excited to say I am Getting it-

I am starting to get 1's.....I am starting to feel the movement like i can on 2's...and slowing down my timing tendancies.....

I am now at 15 approved shots.....and My sequence is really coming together on the BIG screen....theres only 1 shot In my sequence that I am not happy with. Thats not too bad considering how New to this I am.

Trick of the Week-

jriggity

Weeks 11-13 .......35 seconds

Hey Guys

Been crazy busy at work

and then going back home on the weekends so I have not had a second to post.....

Nicky {my oldest boy} Graduated Last week

and is free to make his own life decisions now as an adult. This is very exciting for him since he has been ready to be an adult since he was 14....

as a gift to Nicky........ Me and Shel got him a Mold and Kit made of one of his finished sculptures.

Kick Ass-

This is Nicky's first true Finished and repeatable piece- He will be selling them at comic book stores and at an online store.

Nicky's Kit was manufactured by Our online buddy

- and LINE's -Stunt Puppets Pictures-Entire mold department....ha!

Mike Fleming Jr........hes been incredibly cool and professional about everything. You guys should check out his own sculptures and kits for sale.....hes got skillz.

In LINE news-

We had our super cool DREAMWORKS animator buddy come over to the house last week...

Kevin Maclean - He helped us out and put in a couple of shots on the film with Shel Home to Direct and do all the camera setup

He Did a great job ...especially since its been 8 years or so since he touched a puppet....plus we got 2 new shots for the Film.

Thanks Kevin!

I will be posting some of the animation here after the break ...so it will be nice to have animation on the blog again.

Intern Justin Connely also has been doing a few shots here and there as well.

...keeping the animation fire lit while I am gone...

He is getting ready for his thesis Film at USC and has started an blog you guys should definitely bookmark.....Hes a Young talent who's on his way to the TOP....

In LAIKA News-

I have passed the 10 approved shot stage- which to one of my buddy's at LAIKA means.............{I am Now LEGIT} I will be a full Animator in the credits....not additional animation....or anything like that...ha!

I am actually at 13 approved shots and over 35 seconds of footage so far for the film. I am looking toward my next milestone of 1 min of footage....GOALS people GOALS...

I have to say that as hard as it all has been ......

this is the MOST rewarding animation I have ever done in my career outside of telling our own story's .

Its really something I am seriously considering as a NEW career -direction someday

....meaning leaving CG animation in the next 5 years completely....

beyond the goal of making our own FEATURE stop motion animated film.......

I am looking at the idea of working in FEATURE stopmotion animation....as a Day job as well.....

So much of my work in cg is done under VERY quick deadlines ....the animations are either too short to really feel proud of.........or the acting-animation-or POLISH- is compromised due to time lines....

I could go into Feature CG as well....and Am considering it as well...but nothing touches the MAGIC in the real performance of a puppet.

It feels so good to know I am given everything i need to do the VERY best work I am able to do.......and if that's not good enough...Ill have to - OR get to- do it again.

Plus .....its all in the end to tell a good story!!!

That is a most POWERFULL CHERRY on top of a fat

STEAK CAKE!!!

if ya know what i mean.

so......I have learned tons....over the last few weeks and am really starting to Feel 1's.....My eyes are adjusting to the Hyper critical vision of feature animation

....its so funny how your eyes just don't see everything 1 week then it sticks out like crazy the next.

In Preparation for the JULY Break that our company takes....

Me and Shel have been looking at shots I plan to animate on LINE when I return home next week. Ill have a NICE 10 day break to hang out with the family....and get a couple shots into the edit to keep things moving.

Tricks of the Week-

Aedon'S -Nicky- Graduation Challenge-She was tired of standing around hearing a gajillion kids she didn't knows name being called....so we got some beans out on the sidewalk and trees nearby.

This was a LONG jump challenge with a bunch of the Guys from WORK.....back a few years.....I just found this video and thought it was good enough to share....Plus Grandma might get a Kick out of it.

and LAST but NOT least!!! The Huge success of Robert Litton's last video challenge....He sent another one my way....from his old diving days...

REDEMPTION!!!!! I personally Like the other video better...but ?

jriggity