Oh Yeah, My Blog. Yeah.....

I did not forget about my blog, I swear. Determined to buck the annual fall depression I seem to latch onto every year, I have been working my butt off on some Really Bad Movie opening credits! Working so much to the extent that said credits are FINISHED credits!

That's just the cards themselves. Without giving too much away, there are giant robots, giant squids, slime monsters, flying saucers on string, zombies, and oh so much more. Next up on the production slate? The 5 scenes that make up our official trailer! Till then, enjoy the credit sequence eye candy!

Giant Robots Make a Crap Month Somewhat Better

Well there isn't much good I can say about the past month. Only halfway in and I can honestly say it's been the most challenging month of the year so far. All in all, my life has changed in a pretty big way and as far as the future goes, only time will tell. I'm still pulling for a positive and grown up outcome to the whole situation, though I sadly fear things will never be what they once were.

With chaos swirling around me, I have managed to get quite a few things done and learn a few things I've needed to pick up to complete the project. First of those things being Google Sketch-Up. Keeping in mind, this would mark my first experience with 3-D, as to this point I've been a staunch and hard lining 2-D man. Thinking in full 3 dimensions is far different than thinking in 3 dimensions for 2-D and I am proud to say I've made it through the other side. Needless to say there were nights where even a sailor would have blushed at the language I was using.

The green windows are for compositing purposes of course, and though this background is simple, it was the one that gave me my 3-D crash course. I followed this one up with a damn near authentic recreation of the White House's Eisenhower hallway. Heavily intricate and detailed, as it will be the background of 2 very long moving shots.

Next up, I'm getting reacquainted with Flash, and it's new toys. Now prior to the use of CS4, the last version of Flash I was using was MX 2004. A lot has changed, and thankfully one of the things that hasn't is the program's basic interface. Long and geeky story short, the bone tool works wonders, and the ability to move items with a bitmap fill without Flash crashing on you non-stop is a godsend.

Here is a test shot from my new opening credit sequence. All items drawn in flash with bitmap and texture fills. When it's done and composited in After Effects the whole thing will have a far more stop motion/paper cut out feel, but for now you can surely get the point.

As usual I will keep things short and sweet. Back with more as "Really Bad Movie" continues rolling, albeit slowly, along.

Here Comes a Quickie!

Quick update, as it's late and I need to go to sleep. I'm very excited for this, as it's the first time I get to see my characters against one of my 3-D backgrounds. This is just a test for right now, but I figured I would share.

If the final product looks this sexy, I think I got something here! Anyway, that's all for now. Another update soon. Thanks for looking.

And Then There Were Five

Yeah lack of posting again, so shoot me. I've been busy trying to get the latest "Really Bad Movie" into animation ready shape. Final animatic edit, done! Main character Flash libraries as of tonight, done! I still have 6 to 7 other secondary characters to do, and hands for every character. Got my hands full that is for sure. (pun intended)

Anyway! Enough yapping! Onto what you're really here for:

Pretty snazzy, right? They all came out great this attempt. I've sure learned a hell of a lot about building libraries in Flash over the last year. These are fully workable Flash puppets, ready for some animating! Now to blast through the last of the busy work and get to the fun stuff!

The Case For "Paper"

Taking the time to ponder other contributing aspects of this new short film version of Really Bad Movie while awaiting opportunities to record with all my actors; I decided the updated version of this project needed an equally updated version of opening credits. So when our gifted new composer Ryan Brawders signed on to help transform the musical side of this short film, I took many angles into thought. Since this short is a celebration of the classic 50's b-movie, I wanted to incorporate as many b-movie monster scenarios as I could. Alien abduction, flying saucers, giant sea creatures, zombies, giant robots, slime creatures are what I set on and in passing this information onto Ryan I was totally blown away by what he returned with. Instantly I set to storyboarding and what I ended up with is far better than what I had envisioned. Still 2 weeks after completing the animatic I watch over and over in total amazement.

That being said, I must now set out to establish the visual aspects of my new credits. Currently I take inspiration from the classic early 60's paper animation credits from directors Bill Justice and X. Atencio. Their work can be seen in the opening credits of such Disney films as "The Mis-Adventures of Merlin Jones" and "The Parent Trap". Their style has come to find new found popularity with kitch artists of today.

Now there is no way I will have the time to do old school stop motion animation because, well if I'm gonna make 2012 film festival deadlines I've gotta have this thing in the can by December at the latest. What I am considering is using bitmap fills with my already constructed Flash animation character components. I played around with this idea all morning today and this is what I came up with:

Not finalized yet, but most assuredly in the running. Flash hates working with bitmap fills, and animating with them would prove to be a program crashing nightmare. The image you see above as a matter of fact is a second attempt as Flash crashed on my first attempt. Small update, but an update none the less. In a few short weeks I should have all my actors recorded, and a locked animatic in place. At that point it will be onto animation. A process that will consume at least the summer.