Dialogue! :D If anyone recognizes the audio, I will give you a hug next class. Haha.

Again, critique would be greatly appreciated. I personally like how this one is timed out more than the Final Animation... but that might also be because half the time I was tweaking it in Premire was spent on unscrambling the imported jpegs.

No lip movement because I'm trying to block out the body first.

WIP animatic for the final animation that's due at the end of the semester. Keep in mind THIS IS NOT FINAL! I know I still have a lot more to do. Dialogue (with audio) will be up shortly.

I don't think she wanted us to post these, but I plan on doing the majority of the animation over the break, and any and all Critique would be greatly appreciated.

 Storyboards. Picture placement went a little wonky since the first somehow ended up at the bottom, and placing it at the top threw the rest off-kilter. At least it's not taking up as much space on the dash. It was a picture for every line, which to me is highly inefficient. Meh. :p

Layout Assignment

Here's the pictures for the layout assignment.

Not really much to them, just trying to get a grip on the spatial relationships of all the set pieces we'll see in the pencil tests. It would have also felt a little out of place if I put too much detail, since the characters themselves are simplistic in design. I think putting the alien and spaceman in with the background gives a better idea of the scale of the set.

Assignment 3 (contd.) - Refining Characters

Refining the character.

Character Sheet

Refined Emotions

Turnaround

See you in class!

Assignment 4: Story assignment

I know this is a bit rough, but I didn't know how to extend it out without getting it too muddled in unnecessary word count. It's just straight to the point. And since the animation is supposed to be short, I figured I'd keep it short.

     All was peaceful on the lone planet. One of its inhabitants was wandering the deserts in search for water. Then, a rocket came crashing down, skidding to a stop, padded by the sands. It's thrusters smoked, the hull battered and bruised. A lone spaceman stumbled out, dazed from the impact.

     Climbing over his ship, he slipped and fell onto the ground. He slowly lifted himself up from the ground, lazily taking in the landscape. Looking at his ship, his body seemed to slump. Then, the creature caught his attention. It was walking upright, so it must be intelligent, right?

     Walking over to the creature, he begun explaining animatedly about his situation. 

     *hands together at his face, indicating sleep. (he was asleep in cryostasis)

     *hand level with the ground, his ship. (ship flying along on autopilot)

     *Fist coming in to impact, the meteor. (meteor come in and hits the top of his ship)

     *Ship diving down (the meteor had changed the ship's course)

     *arms swing out for impact. (ship impacts onto the planet)

     *Hands together, asking for help.

     In his frantic gesturing, he did not notice the creature slowly cringing back. When he finally noticed, he stopped, thinking for a moment. He pulls out a small handheld device, scanning the creature. On it showed the image of a brain, a bright red Ø flashing on top. His face fell again. All of his attempts asking for help were for nothing!

     He resigned to walk back to his ship, hoping the ship's communicator and oxygen compressors were not busted. It was going to take a while to fix his ship.

I'll add stuff it needs more substance for the animation.

Assignment 3: Character Turnaround, Expression/Construction Model Sheet

WIPs of the Model Sheet, Expression sheet, and Turnaround.

My scanner decided to have a fit last night, so they're not quite as clear as I want them to be. But they're still pretty clear and workable, so meh. :P

Assignment 2: Background Story

Back story: Laura

She is the Robin Hood of the frozen badlands, the bringer of goods to the people who need them. She is the protector of the innocent, slayer of bandits and raiders alike. She rides her trusty steed, Bernard, into the snow-swept wastelands of Sinai. He name is Laura, and she has saved Sinai on countless occasions before bedtime.

Laura is a child with a big imagination. She, her Saint Bernard, and her thieving post-apocalyptic alter ego are usually roaming around the neighborhood, “stealing treasure” (sweets, small toys, etc. that usually get returned later) and getting into fights with the bullies that reside there. As many times as she gets pushed down, she has gotten back up to face them again another day. The innocent she protects is a sickly boy that cannot come outside, but she tries her best to make him happy and tells him of her adventures in the wastelands.

Her parents, who hail from geek culture and show her the finer points, spur her imagination on. She aspires to be like the heroes they show her. To protect the innocent like her favorite superheroes and going on adventures like explorers in the 1950’s are her passion.

Laura may look innocent, but she is the master thief of the neighborhood, and usually gets away with it with Bernard by her side. She is a firecracker that is hard to keep up with, especially on Bernard’s back. Although it is unknown how she managed it, she rides Bernard like a champion jockey. Bareback!

Attribute List:

-Mischievous

+ Caring

- Cunning

- Stubborn

+ Imaginative

+ Persistent

- Trouble

- Curious

+ Geeky

+ Firecracker

+ Agile

+ Smart

+ Extrovert

+ Graceful

- Loud

- Naughty

- Quick-Tempered

- Sneaky

- Silly

+ Adaptable

Tollbooth Exercise:

While out exploring the neighborhood with Bernard, Laura comes up on an unmanned Tollbooth. It was guarding a fenced off area, the booth itself was attached to a sliding fence, like the ones you typically see in gated communities. After stealing cookies from Ms. Nesbitt, her parents had revoked her allowance for the week. Despite that, she was still curious to get to the other side. What cool adventures awaited her on the other side?

Looking around, she tried to spot any holes in the fence. None. However, not too far away, the fence went off onto some grass. She grinned, walking over, nearly toughing the fence. She felt weird being so close. Her hair stood on end when she hovered her hand near it. It tingled, Bernard whimpering and grabbing the back of her collar. There was no going through this fence. It was too risky to go under. But…

What about over?

Laura hovered her hand over the tollbooth itself, walking around it as much as she could. Scaling it should be easy enough, jumping onto the panel the operator would normally use; she shifted herself in a better position to climb up on the roof. The blaring wail of a klaxon startled her out of her thoughts. She looked down to see she had tripped the alarm. As Bernard barked at her, she jumped off the controls.

With a quick hop, she had mounted Bernard’s back and both partners high-tailed it out of the area. Laura looked back to see a guard shouting at them, who disengaged the alarm and stayed in the booth. What was so important in there that it needed to be surrounded by an electric fence? Her curiosity burned inside her as the duo made their way to the hospital.

Maybe next time.

Assignment 1- Concept design

Hi!
The following sketches are my entries into our Concept assignment. Please excuse the bad paint job, I'm still new to digital painting.

This idea comes from a short story in my mind that never truly came into fruition. I'd try and try to write it down, but I'm never happy. Anyway, the main character is a castaway on an island, everything seems peaceful until they realize it's the home to a giant troll. They avoid the troll as much as they can, both parties observing each other to see how they react. The main eventually figures out the troll means no harm. I still haven't settled on whether or not they leave the island.

This one, however, I'm completely in love with. It's a little girl named Laura going around her neighborhood pretending to be a thief. Her persona (the full body illustration) lives in a frozen, post-apocalyptic wasteland with her mount, a giant Saint Bernard (unoriginally named Bernard) and goes around looting just to survive. It's this persona she takes on while she steals from the neighborhood. Her crimes are small, nicking cookies or toys, but, she has a heart. There's a bedridden kid in the neighborhood. She steals to keep him happy. He is always willing to listen to her ventures into the wasteland as they share her haul.

Not much to this one. It's a river otter having trouble opening an oyster, and goes through several methods Chuck Jones style.

This poor spaceman has to be the unluckiest of them all. A meteor hit his spaceship and now he's stranded on some planet with a semi-intelligent alien with a language barrier. Try as he might, he's never going to get through this guy's thick skull.

I thought those 'stars' would look better, but apparently not. Anyway, this last one is a lost little dragon all alone in the wide world. With no place to call home and his family missing, he wanders the  arid savannah he calls home in search of his brood.

Guess that's it. See you all Tuesday. :D