More of the same!

More animating!

I've decided to keep the Maya backgrounds. It's an interesting mix plus I don't think I'll have the time left to draw them.

I'm about to get to the sad part of the story, but I'm still missing a few shots before that. I got all my dialogue sounds organized in the timeline the way they should be, plus I cut one line that didn't really mattered storywise.

That's it, back to animating!

-J

Production update as of Monday, October 27.

Hi, everyone.

This weekend wasn't as productive as I expected, since I ran into PC problems at home, and you know how tedious can be back-upping, formatting and re-installing everything back.

Still, I was able to record the lines I was missing, so I have my dialogues complete now. I've been working further on in the animation, but still a long way to go! So I'd better stop writing now and keep animating to get this done!

Bye,

-Jose

And production goes on...

I've been working on the animation, mostly blocking character positions in relation to the camera, and lip-synching. I've also been working on other details like the title screen for the animation.

In other notes, I fixed my guitar (it was making some distorted sounds), so after getting all action set, I'm good to record the music for the animation. The missing 2 lines from one of my voice-actors will hopefully be recorded by Saturday.

That's all for now. Got to go and move a lot of lips!

-J

Production Update

Hi.

I spent 2 days cutting and arranging audio clips out of 20 minutes I had to get the best ones for the animation. I also recorded the new line that was missing from one of the voice actors in order to make the animation shorter. We also had a little jam, to test out the song I was composing for the piece. Nothing too fancy, but should do for the length of Drama Bowl. No music was recorded though, since I'm waiting to have everything timed to make it fit more appropriately.

For the rest, I've been working on the mouth positions for both Dilly and Roy in 3 positions: front, side and 3/4-view. And I recreated the set in Maya...


Is the fish's owner a vampire? Who knows!

During the previous quarter, I was integrating Flash into Maya, a somewhat complicated procedure but with beautiful results, since you can get your flat 2-D characters to cast shadows into a 3-D environment. Behold! 2.5-D Animation! :)



I'm adding this clip, so you get an idea of the results... There's a problem with the shadows in it, but it's the only clip I'm carrying with me at the moment.

For "Drama Bowl", I think I'll just import the 3-D environments into Flash, then probably either do some rotoscoping with it, or leave them like that to contrast with the action. The Flash into Maya would be nice for it, but knowing we're just 10 classes away, not a chance of getting it done that way.

Today, I'm working on some mouth positions I'm missing.

See you,

-Jose

New Storyboard

Very, very similar to the one I previously posted, but this one is shorter and has an ending.



I have nothing else to say. I'm sick and I'm tired of coughing. Coughing is boring. It is just the body saying "Oh, my throat itches, but I can't scratch it, so I'll just spew some aggressive wind against it to "scratch it". I could also write about congestion, but you don't really want to know about that...

Anyway, here's a pic.

New script... shorter version.

Hey everyone!

Here's the new script for a shorter version. I got rid of two characters: Whiskie and Sexy Fish (Not that I plan using them later on, but they just won't do for this one if I want to finish it and make it look good at the same time).

I still need to update storyboard and make it based on the new script, and to write the script in table style (3 columns).

I don't have any major updates, since I was making sure I had all my tutorial files up to date and most part of the weekend was spent on modeling for another class. What can I say... midterms.

Meanwhile, here's the script:

DRAMA BOWL – By Jose G. Landron – Oct 8, 2008 Revision

DILLY
It’s always the same! Always the same with you!

ROY
Well, everything was well until you showed up!

DILLY
What? It was not my decision to come live with a loser!

ROY
A loser, huh?

DILLY
Yes, the most pathetic loser I’ve ever met!

ROY
That’s it! I’m leaving! I wish you were dead!

DILLY
(EXAGGERATED DYING SOUNDS)

ROY
What? I’m still here? Stupid bowl!

(WORRIED) Oh no! Dilly! Dilly? Are you ok? Dilly!!!!!!!

(CRYING OUT LOUD) DILLYYYYYY!!!!!

(SOBBING) Oh, Dilly! I’m so sorry! Please, forgive me!

(ANGRY AT HIMSELF) Why do I have to be so stupid?!?! I can’t take it anymore…

(WHEN ROY IS STANDING ON THE LEDGE OF THE FISHBOWL, ABOUT TO JUMP, DILLY OPENS HER EYES)

DILLY
Roy! Don’t do it! I was kidding!!!

ROY

(JUMPS OFF THE BOWL AND SCREAMS WHILE FALLING TO THE GROUND)

(DYING ON THE FLOOR) Oh, fu… (CUTS IMMEDIATELY TO THE END SCREEN)

THE END

Tutorial 5: Lip Sync

Here it is, the lip sync.

I tried making some sense out of a few audio files I got, so I put them together to make the fish sound like a weird older brother.



Ciao,

Jose

Classmates Critique.

Hi.

As my classmates recommended, due to my animation probably taking 2 minutes or more, I should look for ways to cut it, maybe get rid of Whiskie the cat and keep the action in the bowl the whole time. The whole thing could work, but having a time-limit and 2 more classes, it's going to be a tough goal to achieve without sacrificing quality over quantity, so let's go the other way.

I'll make it shorter. Thanks for your recommendations, guys.

Jose

Storyboard Part 1

Good morning, everyone!

Here's the first part of my storyboard. I added some sounds to the beginning just so you get an idea of how it goes. Still, is unfinished... I almost finished 1 of my 2 script pages. Oh! And I have a little extra on the script different from what I have uploaded (Storyboard and script is subject to change, after applying recommendations).

Blogger wasn't cooperating with the video upload (it has been all day processing...), so I just uploaded it to YouTube.



I didn't touch Tutorial 5 (LipSync) any more to be able to do the storyboard, but you'll see it online soon. I promise.

Just a little extra: This is the script version the voice actors got:

DRAMA BOWL – By Jose G. Landron – Oct 4, 2008 Revision

DILLY
It’s always the same! Always the same with you!

ROY
Well, everything was well until you showed up!

DILLY
What? It was not my decision to come live with a loser!

ROY
A loser, huh?

DILLY
Yes, the most pathetic loser I’ve ever met!

ROY
That’s it! I’m leaving! I wish you were dead!

DILLY
(EXAGGERATED DYING SOUNDS)

ROY
What? I’m still here? Stupid bowl!
(WORRIED) Oh no! Dilly! Dilly? Are you ok? Dilly!!!!!!!
(CRYING OUT LOUD) DILLYYYYYY!!!!!
(SOBBING) Oh, Dilly! I’m so sorry! Please, forgive me!
(ANGRY AT HIMSELF) Why do I have to be so stupid?!?! I can’t take it anymore…

(SCREAMS WHILE FALLING TO THE GROUND)

(DYING OUT OF BOWL) F-for-give me, Di…

WHISKIE
Huh? Don’t worry, Roy! I’ll save you!

ROY
(BACK IN THE BOWL, WATCHING THE CORPSE, CRYING) ARRRRGHHHH!!!!

(HAND TAKES DILLY’S CORPSE)

ROY
(SOBBING) Goodbye, my sweet love!

(A FEW DAYS LATER)

ROY
(STILL SAD) Oh, Dilly…

WHISKIE
Don’t worry, Roy. You’ll be ok!

(SEXY FISH JOINS THE BOWL)

ROY
(EXCITED, ALMOST SINGING) Hello, Hello, Miss Golden Yellow!

SEXY FISH
(LAUGHS)

WHISKIE
(EXHALES IN RELIEF, TO THE CAMERA) It was about time! Finally, Roy has forgotten Dilly! What a relief!

ROY
(EXAGGERATED DYING SOUNDS)

--------EXTRA-------

In Heaven:

DILLY
(LAUGHING) Oh, my! What are you doing here?

ROY
No, no, no… What are YOU doing here? Shouldn’t you be burning in Hell?

DILLY
Oh, Roy… YOU go and burn in Hell!

ROY
(IN HER FACE) Best recommendation ever! (LEAVES HEAVEN).

-Jose

Character Design Part 3: Size - Proportions Sheet

Here again!

Here is the last sheet from my Character Design. I updated Whiskie's design, because he has become taller. I also added the real life sizes, so you have an idea about how it relates to the world we live in.



Bye peeps, I'll try to have the storyboard done for tomorrow.

Jose

Character Design Part 2 / Update!

Hi.

Finally this weekend I was able to get more project related work done. I recorded the voices for my animation on Saturday, and yesterday, I worked further on the character design. I'm still missing one page... the character size relations, but you'll soon see it up.









If you're wondering why Whiskie is looking now taller and with a more triangular face, it's because I deviated from the original design and I'm starting to enjoy the new look better (it has better proportions and looks more cartoony).



By the way, I'll just like to publicly thank my voice actors, Stephanie Augello and Harry Stark for some wonderful acting.

That's all for now,

-Jose

Tutorial 4. Walk Cycle

It's almost 4am, and I finally finished the Walk Cycle. Tonight was another of those violent Savannah nights, full of building alarms, speeding cars, non-stop police sirens, and all that jazz... Why do I say all these? Well, just so you know why Mr. Artpuke ended up with a gun in his hand.

The main idea for this cut-out character was taking pieces of the works of many famous artists (Dalí, Da Vinci, Picasso, Michelangelo, Lichtenstein, Goya and Van Gogh) and combining them together into this pseudo-rooster old man. How many pieces can you match with their owner? I ended up having this mess of a creature (Trust me, not even Mr. Artpuke was hapy about his looks).

For the blink, I just removed the eye, and put a tiny pencil for two frames. The animation was made at 15 fps (frames per second).

The reference video I used had very little swing on the right arm, as if he was carrying something, so I placed an object in his hand.

Enough said, here's "Mr. Artpuke Is Gone":



Any other question, I'll be happy to answer.

I'm off to bed, or I'll fall off the chair,

G'nite everybody!

Jose

A message about a message.

I posted a message about my current progress last night, so now I'm posting this other message, from the classroom, referring to that message. Next mission: finish character design sheets.

-J