Author Archives: Mike

No comments

Terry Gilliam on the Importance and Power of Storyboarding

  By ,

No Film School has an old article featuring old yet interesting series of interviews with animator and director Terry Gilliam (Monty Python, Baron Munchausen, The Brothers Grimm, Time Bandits) about storyboarding.

From the article:

Gilliam says something interesting immediately, and that is his use of drawing sometimes duringthe writing phase. Storyboards in a strict sense are traditionally done once a script has reached a certain plateau of finality — meaning it may not be locked outright, but only relatively minor alterations will be made in subsequent drafts. Gilliam here describes his storyboarding process sometimes affecting the script as new visual ideas come out, which is an interesting inversion of convention as I see it. He highlights the benefit of using storyboards as the skeletal basis of a scene’s structure, allowing out-of-sequence shooting to work just as well as shooting in-sequence — with some creative variability for how to achieve each frame still retained by the shooting process itself. On the other hand, Gilliam says that storyboarding improves the worst-case creative-scenario, which is running dry on ideas — because even without the in-the-moment idea on set, adhering to pre-conceived storyboards while shooting will still result in a cohesive, coherent sequence.

Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj7P1sczHZo

Part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtJ5N93Sw8Q

 

No comments

The History of Animation pegs in the USA

  By

new-pegbar-chart-17_acme-1024x817

Print Magazine Online has a fascinating article about the history of the animation pegbar complied by the very famous animator J.J. Sedelmaier who’s animated many many of your favorite classic cereal commercials as well as the season premiere of Beavis and Butthead. We interviewed Mr. Sedelmaier a few years ago so you can check that out too here, if you like. Anyway if you’re an animation history nut, you won’t want to miss this!
From the article:

The drawing/image registration process is a fundamental aspect of film animation. If the images that are animated don’t have a shared foundation with each other, the movement that’s created by the animator has no common relationship with the background or the viewer’s point of view—it just doesn’t work. It was John Randolph Bray who established and patented the peg system of registration in 1915. For almost a century, folks working in animation production have used paper, pencils, various designs of lightboxes, and pegged drawing discs to do their craft, and within this world of registration there were several standards. In New York there were pegs by Acme (a small round hole with two thin slots on either side), Oxberry (a small center hole with wider slots on either side), Signal Corps (close to Oxberry but closer to three round holes) and Fleischer/Famous/Terrytoons (three round holes). California/Hollywood seemed to hover in the world of Acme, but Disney (which switched over to Acme 20 years ago) had paper that was also punched with two sets of holes—one for the animator and one for the Ink and Paint Department. This allowed for less stress/damage on the holes and thus better registration. It’s only been within the past decade that this conventional process and this sort of equipment has proven to be on its way out.

You can read the entire article here.

No comments

Boltron Ultimate – Evil Maximus Omega (Ep #1)

  By , , , ,

Check out this really cool little series which mimics old school arcade games perfectly ad makes me want to break out my Sonic the Hedgehog games! I asked Chris Burns, one of the creators a few questions about the process and here’s what he said:

Did you guys do it alone or through a company? 
We animated everything through our company Exit 73 studios as first a short and then SpindoTV asked us to do a short web series within this universe… They were absolutely great and completely supported the direction we wanted to take these characters, each episode features a different style of gameplay, where episode 01 pays homage to a ninja gaiden/ turtles in time vibe, episode 02 finds its place in more of a legend of Zelda setting.
It’s found its home on SpindoTV, which is owned by the awesome toy company Spinmasters.
How’d you animate it?
We used strictly Flash for this one (specifically Flash MX) for a bunch of reasons, the playback and having audio was essential in getting the camera moves right.  How we got the pixel look, was setting the preferences to “snapping to grid”, which meant literally drawing and creating these images one tiny square at a time…. And boy did it take some time!  But I wanted to make sure it was as authentic to the process as it was making game imagery back in the day of pixel art.
 What was used to make it, in other words what was the process involved in making it?
Once animation was finished we scored the shorts with a combination of Fruity Loops and in-house equipment, then brought a PNG sequence into After Effects to export it so it was web ready.  It has been: and continues to be, one of the most rewarding animation projects I have been apart of, with content that is close to my heart, and learning a new style to animate with.
No comments

Jobs: Production Coordinator at Stereo D- Burbank office

  By

 

Stereo D Logo - GCAbout this position:

The Production Coordinator is responsible for the assignment and tracking of tasks for assigned area of responsibility. Facilitates the movement of shots between teams, coordinates daily reviews, and communicates status updates to ensure the delivery of shots on schedule. Provides administrative support to the production management team and supervisors.

Responsibilities Include:

  • Under the guidance of the Production Supervisor, tracks progress of tasks for assigned artists or sequences in the production tracking system.
  •      Maintains production tracking system with revisions, omits, and shot length changes; notifies the affected crew as needed.
  • Partners with other production personnel to ensure shots are scheduled and delivered in a timely manner.
  • Follows up with Artist Leads on a daily basis to ensure task deliveries remain on schedule; communicates any schedule changes to appropriate Artist Leads, Supervisors and Production team as needed.
  • Coordinates all client deliveries (outgoing and incoming), both physical deliveries and digital deliveries, with I/O Coordinator and maintains log of all deliveries.
  • Responsible for multiple dailies sessions each day, as well as client reviews.
  • Taking clear and accurate notes in all dailies and review sessions, and disseminating notes to all necessary parties and within production software.
  • Generates and maintains production reports; including nightly production updates for assigned projects.
  • Generally providing overall production support to the production management team.

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree in film, art, communications or related field preferred.
  • 2+ years proven production experience in established VFX or post production facility.
  • Demonstrable experience in highly technical, dynamic departments is a must.
  • Experience with heavy schedule management in a very time sensitive atmosphere.
  • Must be diligent, resourceful, meticulous and able to thrive under pressure.
  • Thorough understanding of CG/VFX production pipelines, software packages and post-production is essential.
  • Outstanding organizational skills and attention to detail coupled with exceptional people skills and the ability to work within a team environment.
  • Strong project management skills and a sensitivity towards deadline related deliveries.
  • Must be able to handle multiple changing priorities in a dynamic environment and understand how this impacts departmental schedules.
  • Able to communicate effectively across multiple teams with excellent written and oral communication skills.
  • Proficient computer skills are required; with particular emphasis on Production Tracking Software and Asset Management, Microsoft Office Applications such as Word, Excel, Office, and standard PC applications.
  • Knowledge of Nuke is very helpful
  • Knowledge and understanding of stereoscopic production and 2D/3D conversion not required but a plus.

About Stereo D:

Stereo D is the recognized leader in high-quality conversions of 2D theatrical content into stereoscopic 3D imagery. Formed in 2009, the company works with major motion picture studios, directors, cinematographers, and VFX supervisors to bring their vision of 3D storytelling to the screen. Stereo D has completed work for such films as JURASSIC WORLD, ANT MAN, THE AVENGERS, JURASSIC PARK in 3D, TITANIC in 3D to name a few. The company also provides end-to-end 3D production services on feature films, television productions and commercials.

Stereo D is a business run by filmmakers, valuing artistic excellence and speaking the language of film. Our production teams and artists are among the best in the business, driven by an innate passion for all things film. Our unique artist-centric environment enables our people the creative freedom to conceptually support the creative visions of directors, delivering the finest, most dynamic 3D imagery in entertainment.

Stereo D is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deluxe Entertainment Services, an Equal Opportunity Employer.

No comments

The Minimalist Animation of ‘Archer’

  By

1027736-archerarticle0004layercomp5-1200

AWN has an interesting article about my favorite prime time show Archer on FX and highlights their production pipeline as well which is rare for even for an animation interview. Producer Neil Holman and art director Chad Hurd detail the limited but highly stylized animation techniques they wield to devastatingly hilarious effect on their hit FX animated series.

CH: Yeah, well one big new thing that we’re using now is Toon Boom Harmony, which is kind of like a super fancy Flash that’s made for animating. It’s a lot more traditional and we’ve been using this a lot more with our rigs. Anything that you see that has a lot of movement, usually our action scenes, like when we do a big spin kick, that’s done in Harmony. We’ve been using that a good bit more this season. You’re going to see a lot of fun action scenes.

1027736-archerarticle0000layercomp1-1200

You can read the entire AWN article on Archer’s pipeline process here.