A Look Back

    I changed my mind and decided to post on Mondays instead of Saturdays. Maybe. I'm not sure if that's a smarter idea, but for me, it's easier to keep track of things and I know at this time I'm most likely to be less busy on Mondays than Saturdays.

    Anywho, progress is still slow going, but I'm almost done with boarding out Act I of Shift (aside from going back and making some adjustments.) If all goes well, I may even provide a little sneak peak animatic of Act I by my next post! Act II is pretty much all thumbed out and ready to go, Act III on the other hand is still a bit shaky but I have a general idea of where it's headed. It's just ironing out some details, maybe tweaking some designs.

    I don't have a whole lot of new stuff to show at the moment, but I realized I haven't shown my "Beat Boards" for the film yet so....

    These were from earlier this year, around April I believe, so some scenes have since been removed or changed. The opening chase scene is generally the same, but I changed the staging of some scenes and what prompts the wolf to chase Oliver has changed. The mouse scene though, as cute as that mouse was, was taken out as it didn't add much to the story. 

    Originally, I wanted to take a look at Oliver's "human side" and show him living in an old cabin..as humans do...and further emphasize how he's just..starving, the poor thing. No food, little resources..and to top it off a mouse has helped itself to whatever scraps Oliver had left. Angry and hungry, Oliver tries to catch the mouse but fails again, as he did trying to catch the hare earlier. It would've then transitioned into the next scene, Act II. 

    As pointed out by friends, it was already established that Oliver was not the best hunter after the run-in with the wolves, so struggling with that mouse felt redundant and added more time than was necessary. His cabin will stay in the film, but I don't know if you'll see as much of it. 

    On another note, I thought I'd share the original "attempt" at making this film too before continuing on with more progress and development:

    Mmmm-mmmm, look at that 720 x 480. I did this 4 years ago, wayyyy back when I was a wee little sophomore. I definitely took on more than I could handle but I gave it my best. I look back on it from time to time though to reflect on where I was and where I am now and it really boosts my confidence. If I can give one piece of advice to any new and even more seasoned animators and artists, it would be this: You can only move forward. You will only get better. Don't give up! It's simple and it doesn't sound like much, but it really does sink in, trust me.

    As much as I still struggle to believe in my own abilities I am much better at picking myself up now than I was only a few years ago. I am determined and at least confident enough now to work hard and keep my promise I made at the end of my sophomore year to revamp and complete this film.

Finally, an Update!!

It took me way too long to realize this blog was put on my business card, yet I haven't touched it in 2 years. That being said though, I will be making a mission to keep this blog alive and well. With what you might ask? Well 2 years is a long time which means there will be a lot of new project posts from here on in: news, updates, behind the scenes, progress content and maybe even v-logs (I will be feeling that one out.)

I have many, many film ideas and a future main project I'd love to get going in the near future. The one you can expect a lot of right now though, is "Shift!"

Working Title Design

"Shift" Character Line Up

Shift is not just a short film I'm looking to make on it's own, it's to serve as a sort of introduction to a much bigger story I have been working on for a few years now. This main story won't come for a while yet. There's a lot to be developed and I need to decide how to tell it. Webcomic/Print Comic? Animated? I'm not sure. Still a lot of decision making to be made, but I digress.

Summary: A young shapeshifter, part boy and part lynx, struggles to find his place in life. He doesn't make a very good hunter as a human and easily pushed around by the other animals. It isn't until he rescues and befriends a deer does he begin to discover who he really is and find his purpose.

It was difficult to not share more of the story, I'm very excited about this and what you'll find when the story's revealed! However, more and more will be shared with each post. I am currently in the middle of CTNX and have already been very inspired to really buckle down and commit not only to this film, but to sharing more of my process and getting others involved as well. I will be making it a goal to post bi-weekly to start, with hopes of making it weekly. By August, when I will be exhibiting at my first convention ever (Liberty City Anime Con), I hope to have a lot of material to share from storyboards to "teaser" posters and prints. So here's to 2017 and what's to come for Shift!

Production Still

First official film still!!

I'm not quite up to coloring yet though, but within the next week or so I'll be getting there. Changing my course of action now though. Instead of photoshop (like this still was done in), I'll be doing the whole film in Flash. Hoping it goes well...it MUST! 

My thesis film is keeping me plenty busy, along with the other school work and outside work I have to do. However, I promised I'd keep this blog active and I plan on sticking to it this time.

I won't have much to show for a while, however, I will show a small scene, one of my personal favorites, that I storyboarded for Bear Appetit. I won't show anymore than this because I don't want to give anything away! 

This was the third and final boarding for this scene. Originally, she was just going to shimmy up the fridge, but my advisor and I both agreed there needed to be a lot more of rampaging bear time for this girl to really learn her lesson. Some of this, unfortunately, had to be cut out of the film because it was running way too long, but luckily not too much. 

Coming Soon!

So, Thesis Year has finally begun and my film "Bear Appetit" is underway! I'm currently still in the storyboarding/animatic phase. Right now just trying to whittle down the film from 5:30 to 4:00. It's turned out to be quite a chore, but I'll be happier in the end. But right now, it's still all a surprise! For now..the most I'll show for now until things are set in stone is the characters that'll be in the film:

The actual animating is due to start around Halloween the latest!!

Thesis Year!

I now have a solid reason to update this blog more regularly. From now on, this will be my "production blog." So any films that I'm working on, or any production work in general, will be on here.
I also have NOT forgotten about Totem. The whole film will probably not be found anywhere online anytime soon, but I will work on perhaps whipping up a teaser just to show how it looks now. 

In other news, summer is moving fast and thesis year is just around the corner. I got the green light for my film idea, but I won't be telling too much about it yet. It's a surprise! As a bonus though, here's a first draft of one of the characters who will be in the film:

I will be posting stuff as soon as I get things rolling but for now, I'm just announcing what will be on this blog from now on. I'm hoping that should make it lot more interesting to look at. 

Third Year Film

Once again, it's that time of year where I must make a "short" Short animated film. This time, I have the absolute pleasure of working with one of my good friends and classmates on this next film: TOTEM.

During one of our Wildlife Watercolor Painting classes, we had to take a trip to the Museum of Natural History. There, we began tossing ideas back and forth and came up with a common interest and inspiration: Northwest Native Americans. So during break, we had some lunch and wandered over to the Pacific Northwest section and studied the clothes, houses, jewelry and, of course, totems. We did our research on color choices and what animals were often represented in the totems and boiled it down to 4: Eagle, Salmon, Bear, and Coyote, 3 of which are the main characters of the film. 

I am trying not to talk about the film too much because I feel I shouldn't really talk about it until it's complete.  I will, however, show some of my rough, unofficial concepts of the characters.

Coyote Early Concept

Eagle Early Concept

Bear Early Concept

Unfortunately, my scanner isn't working with my new laptop, so I had to rely on my phone to take these. Thank goodness it takes good pictures! 

This was the final color scheme for Coyote, but in his final design, his face looks more like the original sketch. 

With the designs just about set, and storyboards currently being drawn, the film is coming along nicely! As the film gets closer to completion, I will be posting some stills to show how it looks. Stay tuned!