Schoolism: Assignment #1

Tonight I did my first assignment for my Schoolism class with Stephen Silver.  Our task was to design a character named Jerry Loomy based on a set description.  Here's a few bits from the description.

 Jerry Loomy.  

Used car salesman boss.
A cruel, moody ,high strung, dishonest man.
Stocky Build around 5'4".
A large round head with deep set eyes and sunburned skin, and a patch over one eye.  

Receding hairline with a pony tail.

Here's my Jerry. I would totally buy a car from this guy.

And the initial small sketch I started from:

Based off of the description , I turned to our adorable friend Danny Devito for inspiration.  Who doesnt?! 

And while I'm sharing, here's a little Illo I did for Cheryl as a Christmas gift. 

She really does sleep w/ the dogs like that.  But how could you not with a face like this?

In other news, I think I'm just about done with my first animation test at Blue Sky.  I know, its been pretty kick back so far.  But this year is gonna get super busy fo sho.  Have a great week!

LITTLE HIAWATHA (Disney, 1937)

LITTLE HIAWATHA (Disney, 1937) was released the same year as SNOW WHITE. The studio was in full artistic bloom. The extravagant artistry developed for DIsney's first feature was very evident in its short subjects.

I highly recommend getting the official Disney DVD releases of the Silly Symphonies. While not in current release, the boxed sets (part one and two) remain available on eBay.

Here, in the meantime, the cartoon (thanks YouTube)...

Here's the opening Background art...

Now the pièce de resistance: one of the longest most elaborate pan backgrounds I've ever seen, or attempted to digitally re-assemble. It is so long, and so elaborate, instead of just breaking it in halves for study, I've also broken it into quarters, as well as the center section.

Truly, an animation backgrounds masterpiece... one of the most magnificent pieces ever to appear on this blog, or in any film. Be sure to click on each section to get the enlarged version for a look at the beautiful details.
First, the complete background:

The left side:

The right side:

And now, broken into five segments to best display all the wonderful details. Segment one, far left:

Segment two, middle left:

Segment three, center:

Segment four, right of center:

And segment five, far right:
In the next pan B/G I eliminated as much of the water ripple effects as possible:

Out of dozens of scampering woodland creatures, I was able to eliminate all but the possum and a very tiny chipmunk. No animals were harmed during the making of this artwork!!!



At the very end of digitally re-assembling the B/G below, I could have eliminated the bunny at the far right. But he was SO cute, I just couldn't!



Little Hiawatha froze during a pan shot, so he remains there in this pan B/G:

That's not a red rock... that's a bear!!!

Jason Schleifer and Rigging for Animators

He is a great animator that also has extensive knowledge in rigging. Specifically rigging for animators! I know doesn't that sound great! He has recently posted on his site shhhLIFE, about a new Automated version of the rigs that he developed here. He explains why he supports this and I think it is a very selfless act on his part. He has a great DVD bundle found on his site under the STORE tab. You can also get the Animator Friendly Rigging Part 1 on the Autodesk site here. I have talked with many of my rigging friends and they all have said it is a great system. I myself have done some rigging and am planning on checking these out.

So cruise his site and enjoy what he has to offer in skill and knowledge of the process we all enjoy.
The drawing come courtesy of the Squeeze Studio site.

Enjoy

A Note from Carlos Baena on Acting

Every now and then I think it's great to revisit blogs or sites that I remember and read over old posts. With all of the information out there now it's super hard to keep up with it. That is what I am here for! I read this post over a year or so ago and although I was still in school at the time it was a great post about "Timing and Acting" by Carlos Baena. I read it again and it has a whole new meaning. Carlos takes a clip from "Seinfeld" in which he breaks down his thought process as an animator as he watches the clip. Now it's hard to put our own thought process into words so
when you have an animator of this caliber doing it so clearly, it can be a great learning tool. He also has another example from "Seinfeld" using Elaine and facial "Expressions" to help with acting. Carlos also breaks it down and gives us his insight.









There are many of these gems through his site so revisit if you haven't been to his site already.

Enjoy

BROKEN TOYS (Disney, 1938)

So, how do we follow the holiday season? Appropriately, with artwork from BROKEN TOYS, one of Disney's Silly Symphonies.

This 1938 short comes the year after SNOW WHITE... and the studio's artistry was in full flower. Imagine... these lavish backgrounds were created for a short subject!

Have a look. Hope you enjoy these, especially the digitally recreated pan B/Gs. Happy New Year!

The Box Office Boom That Isn't

You may have read articles crowing about the box office record set this year. For the first time, movies have grossed more than $10 billion at the North American box office (which includes the U.S. and Canada). However, a closer look at the numbers shows that while the box office gross set a record this year, attendance is not the reason. It has to do with the increase in ticket prices.

(Click to enlarge.)

A quick look at the chart above (lifted from Deadline Hollywood Daily), shows that ticket sales, while up for this year, fall in the average range. For the 11 years on the chart, 6 of them have higher ticket sales than 2009. Furthermore, except for the years 2002-2004, movie attendance has basically remained stable at fewer than 1.5 billion admissions a year during a decade when the population of the U.S. and Canada grew by approximately 33 million (See here and here).

Note that ticket prices have gone up 47% since 1999 while paid admissions have actually fallen from that year.

Furthermore, Dave Kehr reports that DVD sales have fallen $800 million in 2009. Standard DVD sales fell $1 billion with Blu-ray sales increasing by $200 million.

So while Hollywood is basking in its record year, it's an illusion. Attendance is relatively flat over the decade, DVD sales have fallen and only rising prices have led to increased revenue. They haven't grown the pie, only charged more for each slice. Should the audience tire of stereoscopic 3D (and its higher ticket prices), the box office gross may drop significantly next year.

The Night Before Christmas

As there are only 359 days until Christmas, this seems like the appropriate time for this mosaic. The information on the animator draft, courtesy of Mark Kausler, can be found here and here. Click any of the images below to enlarge.