Office by Alex Penny
This blog not only showcases the production art of animated films, but the personal work of the artists behind the magic.
CTNX Breakdown video.
If you had any questions, concerns, or were on the fence about going next year this should give you a great idea on what CTN is all about, other than: it’s amazing and everyone should go. It has a different atmosphere compared to any comic, anime, or video game expo out there because everyone is there for the art of animation. I returned home with so many memories and just going to it for three days was not only worth every penny I paid, but it refuelled my passion for animation and I came back overflowing with ideas. Seriously, go. It’s amazing.
Also: you can totally see the back of my head when he gets a shot of the room for the Ryan Woodward panel. I’m sitting in front of the guy with the curly blond hair.
Jolly Holiday/Supercalifragiliticexpialidocious sung by Richard Sherman w/commentary.
Mary Poppins Trivia: As viewers of Mary Poppins know, “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” is a word that’s… that’s… well, it’s supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. And there’s a song about it. And in that song, Mary Poppins says that you could also say it backward, and does so. But how she does so is different between the film and stage versions.
In the recent stage musical, which opened in 2004 in London, and in 2006 on Broadway, Mary does what you might expect: she pronounces the word the way one would if its spelling were reversed. The backward version is suoicodilaipxecitsiligarfilacrepus.
In the 1964 film, however, only the syllables are reversed, with the exception of the first/last syllable. So, super-cali-fragil-istic-expi-ali-docious becomes docious-ali-expi-istic-fragil-cali-rupus. Our guess is that “rupus” was used instead of “super” because it sounded better.
Side note: when the girl stands up and says ‘docious-ali-expi-istic-fragil-cali-rupus’, we’re sitting about two rows back and one seat over. Hooray for fast passes.
or ‘Gesture-Don’t just stand there, Express something!’
What a Gesture should be
7 Principles of Gestures
Line of Action
- What is the MAIN IDEA of the Pose?
- How do I represent that idea with a LINE?
- Show the main idea of the pose with 1-2 lines
- It’s a base for your drawing
- Harsher,Dynamic poses = Angles and straight lines
- Relaxed poses = curves and soft lines
Shape
- Represent the pose in a simple shape
- Dynamic pose = Obtuse Triangle, Extreme Rhombus
- Relaxed pose = Semicircle, Relaxed Peanut
Silhouette
- Needs to be clear/readable
- Should be able to tell what every part of the body is doing
Space
- The model in relation to 3D space
- Avoid always placing the feet on the same plane
Exaggeration
- Avoid a literal translation of the pose
- Push the pose
- Communicate the idea, not the pose
Extrapolation
- Draw animals from the model using the same pose
- Push past what you see for the idea/emotion
Story
- Tell a story with the pose
- What is the main idea of the Pose?
- How do I best communicate it?
[The Science of Drawing] v/s [The Soul of Drawing]
[Science of the Soul]
How to do a Gesture drawing
Art by: Matt Jones and Terry Song
(Source: mattjonezanimation.blogspot.com)
I took notes on the talk and I felt like presenting it an interview style was best. None of these are exact quotes, it’s all based on my notes.
Graduating from school, what did you want to do and how did you become a Special Effects Animator?
When I started at Warner Bros., I wanted to be a Character Animator. In the training program there, they have you go through all of the departments, learning the craft from each one, and then they place you in the department they feel best fits. When it came time to do Effects, I didn’t want to go. I said ’No thanks, I’m good with Character Animation’ and they said ‘No, you do what we tell you to.’ So I went, ready just to put in my time and get back to what I wanted to do. But there, I met Michel Gagne and I was blown away by the things he was doing. I knew I wanted to learn everything I could from him and that’s how I got into doing Special Effects. So I learned to always try the other aspects of the business because you might find out that what you’re truly passionate about is something you never considered.
What did working on movies like ‘Space Jam’ and ‘Osmosis Jones’ teach you?
It taught me to not value my work as much and to do things on the side. When I did a scene, and I was so proud of it, it crushed me when I saw it in dailies later on and people had changed it. It went through clean up, coloring, lighting, and it got changed along the way and I got so upset. And my lead could see just how much it was affecting me and he told me “Go home. Work on something that’s just yours. Go make something outside of work and throw all your energy into that so when you come back, you won’t be as invested in your shots as you are now.” And I did that and it helped so much just to have something that was completely mine to work on. So when I came to work and saw my shots getting changed, I didn’t care so much because I had that one thing to go home to and make it my own.
Why did you make ‘Thought of You’?
I was sitting on the plane, headed home, and feeling so tired from the project I had just done and missing my family. And the song ‘World Spins Madly On’ by the Weepies came on and I really connected with it. Then inspiration just hit me and it was so powerful felt like “I need to do this or I’ll die”. So I kept thinking about the idea, working out what I wanted to do and the story I wanted to tell. At first, it was turning into a very personal story and I wasn’t comfortable with putting that much of me out there so I stepped back, let it stew for a while. As I developed the story more, it became less personal but still kept the main part I really wanted people to see. So I worked with a choreographer, because I’m not a dancer, and they developed these great dance moves and then I would watch the reference over and over, starting to figure out how I wanted to make this movie. And then I did.
The big thing that happened is, I made this film but I wasn’t ready to show it anyone yet. So I let it sit in my computer for a couple months and then I showed it to one of the professors at the college I teach at. He watched and then said ‘I hate it.’ and then spent a couple of hours explaining why. And I was crushed, and put it back in my computer and left it alone again. Few months later, I sent it to Sundance, thinking ‘Maybe this time!’ and they said ‘No.’ So I figured, there wasn’t much more I could do with it so I put it up on youtube and Vimeo, thinking ‘I might as well.’ And then Cartoon Brew got a hold of it and it took off. Overnight, my email was flooding with all these praises and it was very clear that people got it. They were able to interpret it in their own ways and it connected with them.
What is your advice on finding inspiration?
-Invest your passion on personal projects. It softens the blow when losing creative moments you’re proud of at work
-Get your goals done. Do or die.
-Don’t force inspiration, be prepared for it. And DO SOMETHING about it when it comes- Even if you fail, at least you tried!
‘Feed the Birds’ preformed by Composer Richard Sherman, who worked at Disney for many years. He was the special guest during the Andreas Deja panel at CTNX who played songs and told stories for the audience.
