Thursday, November 17, 2011

CTN EXPO- And - Rhinohouse.com

Hey Guys!

just had to drop a Plug for my Animation Brother {John Kim}

John has been Working in animation - Video games for 14 years and has created some of the most famous games in the Biz- Crash Bandicoot
- Jak and Daxter
-The Uncharted series
- He is an awesome animator and an inspiring friend-

Here is his Incredible Side BIZ- and Awesome site -http://www.rhinohouse.com/

In the Huge Range of animation he has done ......his long career...... He spent a bunch of years collecting and organizing reference for animators.....

SO..... He put all of his collected reference together and created an amazing site specifically set up for animators.


Rhino House is at CTN this week
and you should all Stop by if your there and say hey- ........ no matter what though -check out the site- everything from Tigers to Kids set up just for animators to study.... incredible reference!!!

check it out and join...worth every penny...Pass the word..

justin

Saturday, November 12, 2011

In My Element- HOME RUN!!

Hey guys!!

LINE -News- Looking so forward to getting back to the family and finishing the film ....Dober Grabs his tool for some repairs-

LAIKA news-

I just finished a great and demanding couple of weeks at work.....and I done Good guys -I hit a real live Home Run......
Caarrraacak!!!!

and the story begins....

so......I am working every Saturday untill I leave this Christmas....that is after a 55hour average week...PRE 5-10 hour Saturdays ....pretty hard on the feet.

I am leaving about a month earlier than was originally planned so I am working these saturdays for 2 reasons.

1. To make sure LAIKA doesn't get shafted out of my scheduled time of work-
2. To make sure I get to animate and have as much ownership of my THESIS - Sequence...as possible...If not most ALL....

This is the Sequence as I hinted at In my last post.....It is a HUGE responsibility and the People involved with the film all expected it to be nothing short of AMAZING!!

In Fact the sequence was Originally supposed to go to the Man himself-Travis -That was WAY more than enough to make me Quake in My boots.
Travis is Hands Down the Most Amazing Sooper Natural Stopmotion Animator I have ever seen in my life!!

So.....First things First- I spent a week in a Test Station just getting an Idea How the Character Moved-I had only animated a very Simple shot of him thus far- and only from the waist up.

He is a Thick Puppet with very short legs- Here is a Pic of Him from the Teaser.
After a Day of just Posing him and Getting briefed by the Directors-Animation Supervisor- on what they want to see in the scene.

I Did what I do.....researched and Played with that puppet-
I had a bunch of sketches I did of some poses I liked -I had the Animatic to draw from-and I started to build a map of KEY Moments-Poses to Hit- that would work in the sequence...

I then after choosing My KEY Poses I started to think about my Transitions between the Poses{BREAKDOWNS} Ultra Important part of making that animation magic.

Before I knew it I had it MIND-PENCIL-choreographed....and jumped right into TESTING it out on 2's and a few 3's in there...After a couple of days- I had some pretty freakin cool stuff to show.....18seconds worth.

so......I decided to take what I liked from that test...and do another one not so planned out- Improvisation- Freestyle like
....I HAD SO MUCH FUN guys!!!

I ended up with an even better piece of animation that was led by the puppet and my natural Instincts....It turned out GREAT!! In fact its some of the best work I have done at LAIKA so far....

My supervisor saw it and was very happy!! The Directors saw it and Were VERY Happy.

WORD spread quickly through the building and before I knew it I was getting Super Amazing compliments from the Best animators on the Crew all the way to the Building supervisor. It was soooooo amazing to feel like I accomplished the GOAL - Filled or maybe even Surpassed the sequence expectations....


DREAM STUFF Guys- I think My last 6 weeks could not go out on a better Note-I am doing a sequence that plays to my strengths {action-Movement} and Its allows me to leave a good sized MARK
on the film and in Laika's memory .

- one last POWERFULL note to the story- on Fridays Weeklies Party- they play the approved shots for the crew and at the very end of the sequence- POW....for the first time - I was told.

- They Played my TESTS at the weeklies -just because they were so happy with them-I was Blushin In the Dark....guys...

I got a Big BUNCH of of HIGH 5's and some great pats on the shoulder.....as well as a Great Handshake from the Directors and the statement that the animation made their week!!.........saaaausummm.

Trick of the week-
jriggity

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Paranorman Goes Public!!!

Hey guys!

In LINE News- - Flea starting repairs on his ship....

Hope Everybody Had an Awesome Holloween-

Aedon Was a Louse....Shel made this incredible costume with her mom ....and it turned out GREAT.


I am sure most of you already have seen the teaser trailer but I HAVE to post it here as a marker of a HUGE moment for me as an animator...THE very FIRST FEATURE Animated film I have ever worked on.....DREAM CHECK {J}


Not Only is it incredibly cool for the world to finally see a few glimpses of the world we at LAIKA have been living-working in....but......... I actually have work that made the trailer. That is something I NEVER Expected in a gajillion years.

We were all gathered in the theater for A Monday Meeting with Travis Knight Introducing the teaser to a group of EAGER Laikans. With the First POW....of norman waking and the start of the music.....I GOT HUGE goosebumps right up my shoulders...


SERIOUSLY.....I was like a CHILD......watching.....one bit after another working with the music WONDERFULLY......and then.....POW.....My work...made it in the teaser.

GOOSEBUMPS again...for the second time...in the one minute....I wanted to look to my right and left and say- Thats MY Shot!!!! he heeeee heee...

but I played it cool......it ended and I just clapped...... a Real clap....with my jaw on the floor in total surprise. I had no idea what the trailer would contain or what angle they would take in the first public release.

PURE CLASS-


Not 1 word of Dialog-a truly Awesome Song that Brings you right into the world....and directly relates to our film.....and it shows tons of HIGH QUALITY without showing a thing.

I could not have been happier or more surprised on any level..

I will leave you guys with this-Paranorman- is going to be a CLASSIC- stop mo Masterpiece.
and the work on this film is going to Blow you guys away.

-cool news- GLD has won its 26th festival....still stretching his paws all over the world.
anifestrozafa2011 - All the way In Albania...we are Honored to have been chosen by them and Cant wait to share LINE with the world too.

one last thing

and I think this video that comes from LAIKA is pretty freakin cool-enjoy


Trick of the week- Back again....
jriggity