How Many More Times

I hit this point about two weeks ago where all I could think of was, "Holy crap. There's less than a month left." "I'm behind schedule." "I have another class I have to worry about doing finals for." "How the hell am I going to finish this?"

But I'm happy to report that I finally have all my scenes more-than-roughly animated. I still have a bit more left to do, in terms of re-drawing and animating parts, but it's nice to not have to worry much about having to finish entire scenes.

The majority of what I have left to do is audio and editing/timing work, but I like to do that kind of work anyway.

I was looking forward to getting to present the fully rendered out rough version of my project, but in two hours of class time, we got through three people. Which is fine, I think it's good to let people get some more feedback other than, "Hey, good job!" but it was frustrating after forty minutes of hearing the same critiques over and over. But I digress.

As with tradition, here is the random video I post along with my update blog: Enjoy this audible sex.

Little Talks

A quick update to what's happening with the project.

I've got the script 100% done and recorded. It's a rough cut, but if you wish to listen to the "radio play" version of the audio, I have it posted on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/kevin-meeker/track01_bleeps

I'm into the thickest part of animating: the actual animating. Now, it's just a matter of doing what I call, "Jerry Work". The character of Jerry Gergich from the TV show Parks and Recreation has a habit of turning off his brain and doing his mindless work: http://www.videodetective.com/tv/parks-and-recreation-donna-watches-jerry-stuff-envelopes/52500. That's where I'm at right now: drawing, scanning, and coloring.


This is just a small, rough example of what I'm going for. I'm still working on backgrounds and more animation.

Once again, the title of this blog has nothing to do with nothing. It's the title of a song by a band I've been obsessing over lately: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghb6eDopW8I

The Lives We Live...

So, I finally started to actually animate today. Without actually having the dialog recorded, it's hard to start figuring out the action of the characters to go along with the voices, but I've started work on scenes and parts that have no dialog, which is nice.

I completely forgot to post some of my pre-production stuff on my last blog post, so here it is this time:

I've also started on some 3D side work. I modeled the environment for Bronx Pigeons in 3D. If I feel like it's nice enough to actually use for the background, I may fully light the scene and do more work to it, but right now, it's mostly just for camera angles.

I also started working on this side idea, just to be doing something while I've been tweaking the script and already working in Maya. I modeled a Football and Football Helmet in Maya and started doing some character movement stuff with it. I imported the objects into a scene with the rig we've been using since Character Movement and I started working on some football movements. The plan right now is to have three "done" by the end of the semester: A Quarterback drop back and throw; A Wide Receiver coming off the line of scrimmage, breaking from his defender, running his route, and catching a thrown ball; and an additional one which I'm not 100% decided on yet (Something maybe involving a Kicker or Running back).

And just for the fuck of it, if any one is actually looking at this blog: The title of the blog comes from an artist I've been following since 2005.
Jonny Craig - The Lives We Live
I've seen him in concert three times, met him each time, couldn't be cooler. Then he got into drugs. Hard. Went to rehab. Came out, and is back to being awesome. His new stuff in much more R&B-y, but it's still great.

Mirrors

I like the idea of titling these blog posts something odd, vague, and has nothing to do with what I'm about to start talking about.

Anyway, so begins a new semester and a new project.

For Animation Senior Studio I'm finally getting around to doing this idea I've had for about a year or so. It's titled Bronx Pigeons, it just has to be called that. Anyway, the story revolves around two pigeons in New York talking and trying to get popcorn/bread from an old lady.

Not trying to give to much away at the moment, because my script is currently being looked over, so once I get the OK to being working on it, I'll post more about the story, jokes, and pre-production I've done for it.

I'm going to try to really post at least three times a week about my progress.

New Project

We have a client meeting with the Loft on Thursday. I think the biggest challenge will be getting everyone on the same page, communicating the same language, asking questions.
I really hope to accomplish something that we can put into a portfolio, and be proud as hell to talk about in a job interview.