Five to Midnight

There has always been something evocative about a clock whose hands are closing in on midnight - at least for me anyway. Maybe it's because I grew up during the height of the Cold War and remember the iconic imagery of the doomsday clock on the cover the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Perhaps it's because I was one of the first of my friends to run down to the comicbook store and buy the first issues of The Watchman, again recalling the vivid imagery of a clock whose hands crept closer and closer to midnight. Maybe it's just that I'm getting older and grumpier now and I'm not feeling like I fit in with my "peers" or with society in general - like my time on this planet is coming to an end.

Or, maybe I just like clocks.

In any event, this semester is coming to an end. All of us will be delivering our last goals for the semester, and next week there will be a simple wrap up of the project reviewing how far we've come during the course of the past fifteen weeks. I've got to finish off all of the initial animation on the clocks, the 3D background for the warehouse sequence, fix up some of the 2D animation from that same sequence, and bundle the whole thing up to ship off to Elliott so that he can get to work on the soundtrack - oh, and he gleefully accepted the project saying that he initially wanted to do a take of the Batman soundtracks for this short animation. I'm not exactly sure what he means by that, but I'm sure it's going to be interesting.

So, what else can I say?

I like to think that I've come a long way on this project, from having nothing but an idea in my head at the start of the semester to having a fully developed animatic with a complete set of rough animation in it. Looking forward, next semester will be interesting, and I do mean that in terms of a Chinese curse ("May you live in interesting times"). Cleaning up and colorizing the animation will take a lot of time, but I really need to spend time - perhaps over the semester break - to lock down much better sound effects. Beyond that is the 3D shots and animation of the warehouse, they need to be spot on or it will ruin the film. I still have other special effects shots to do as well, like the shaking of the train and the background imagery moving by in the same sequence.

Plenty to worry about.

But for right now, it's time to deal with the things that are immediately at hand. I'll put a scratch coat of plaster on everything for next week and give it a chance to dry before coming back to it. I'm tired and I've got other things to deal with. I'm hopeful that I can come back to this project refreshed and ready to go next semester. We'll see. Stay tuned...

Fail

I don't feel like and animator at all this week. Mainly because everything I touched this past weekend fell completely apart - and all I had to do was a "simple" walk cycle.

Seriously, I question whether I can do this now or not.

So, all I had to do was animate the Astronaut walking onto the train, then turn, and walk off. Simple, huh? Not for me. I just could not get it to look right. I'm not sure how many hourse I put in on it, but it was not enough. I'd start and restart this mess and it just never worked. I even took a day off and came back to it. The movements were all wrong, the shape of the character was all wrong. Everything was all wrong.

I failed, and was freaking out about it.

But, a client is never going to accept that you can't do what they want you to do. Sometimes you have to go around where you had intended and come up with something new. Well, Monday night was when I came up with the "something new." I cut the shot into three smaller shots - the Astronaut walking onto the train, the Astronaut pausing, and the Astronaut walking into the train. They are all close ups, except where he is standing which avoids me animating the walk cycle.

But I'm still not happy with it.

The timing is not right, I don't quite like the last shot in the sequence, and it looks rough. BUT - I do like the door closing the way it does. It says something to me about the previous part of the film being "closed off" or "being over." Hopefully, others will see that too.

We'll find out. Stay tuned...

Just Weird

Sigh.

It's been a weird week. Not in the sense of other weeks that were exercises in Murphy's Law, no. Just weird. Everything feels off to me. Maybe it's because the semester is winding down. Maybe it's because the two shots that were due this week were so very short. Maybe it's because the next animation due is a single complex shot. Maybe it's because it's been a month since I worked at a real job. Maybe it's because things are a little off in my personal life. Maybe it's everything and nothing all at once. I don't know.

It's just been a weird week.

Anyway. I completed shots 023 and 024 in what amounts to record time - though these shots are very uncomplicated. The only problem I ran into is the masking needed for an animated hand to grab a static clock. In the end, that wasn't very complex it just took a little thinking. The commentary at this week's review was good too, I've reworked the two shots a bit to make them much more effective. Of course, all of these end shots will be better once I get the animation of the clock in place along with all the floating paper.

On tap for next week is Shot 012. This is going to be one of the really difficult ones, primarily because it will require a fair amount of drawnings and skill on my part. Still, I shot reference video of the entire film and I intend to use that for this shot. I'm not simply going to draw over it frame for frame, but I will be studying it very, very carefully. It'll be complex and I'll be stressed but I'm not really that worried about it

I still feel weird though.

Maybe that's it. Maybe I'm feeling weird simply because I'm not stressed about the film - or this semester either. I really think that has to be it: I'm not stressed. At this point in the semester I should be freaking about about grades, projects, hitting deadlines, paying bills, and buying presents for the holidays.

But I'm not.

Weird. Oh well, we'll see what next week brings. Stay tuned...

Blarg...

So, last week was awesome. I finished everything I needed to do and then some, but this week has been an entirely different animal. Let me say at the outset that I am a bit of a procrastinator. If I have some time to take off, I will - mainly because I most of my time is spent working or thinking about this project, attempting to end my unemployment woes, spending some quality time with my wife, helping my mother and mother-in-law with lawnwork and computer problems, listening to my sister rant about my nephew while fixing her virus riddled computer, and dealing with housework and general maintenance of my old, old house.

Oh, and then there are the cats.

Orindarily, the cats are wonderful little things. They don't generally get into trouble, they respect my space, they're only noisey when they want food or if I've spend too much time at the computer. But not this week. This week it was time for yearly checkups with the vet, and my wife had the brilliant idea to make the whole vet visit easier on us, and less stressful on the cats by putting their carriers out for the week leading up to the visit.

This was NOT a well thought out plan.

Presenting the cats with objects that have bad memories for them - the last time they had been in the carriers was when they had been spayed and neutered - drove them into hyper-anxiety mode. They were into everything this week, and not in a happy, friendly, playful way. No, aside from running around and breaking stuff, their favorite thing to do became chewing on wires. ALL THE WIRES. We lost the Roku, my wife's computer's internet connection and speakers, my beard trimmer, a clock radio, and worst of all my scanner. The discovery of this last item sent me into a bit of a fit, spewing obscenities at the top of my lungs.

I calmed down after that though.

After all, you get done what you get done. That's all you can do. Hopefully next week will be better. Stay tuned...

Getting There

I had the most wonderful moment today, and it was due to this project. So often, then I work on a long term piece I get really down. I reach a point - usually around midway - when my enthusiasm, my artistic ability, and my resolve all come crashing down. I tend to freak out, drop the project, be miserable, and sulk for a while. Eventually (from weeks to hours depending on the deadline) I eventually come back to whatever I've been working on and realize that it's not that bad. In fact, usually with just a little work the piece will actually impress me, and I'll be stunned at what I have achieved.

I had that moment just a little while ago.

I have been grinding away on this project from quite some time now. Rushing to meet deadlines, not being entirely happy with what I have been doing, and getting ground down by it. But today, when I put in the new pieces of animation, fixed some old problems, and played everything out, I was impressed with the final output. Now, don't get me wrong. It's not perfect. It needs the right music, the right sound effects, cleaned up animation, and a some editing - but - it really is starting to look right. Right in the way that I had originally envisioned the piece. That is something that has always impressed me, that I can actually get the images out of my head and accurately reproduce them in a medium that can be shared with other.

I really feel like I accomplished something today.

So, more animating. I have to find time to work on the background and animations for the wharehouse scene - I think a quick and dirty build of a set in 3D is in order for this weekend to see if it will work better than one rendered by hand. More work on the clock, which I'm REALLY becoming happy with. And everything else...

It's getting there. It is really getting there. Stay tuned.

Forward

This is going to sound strange, but it often feels like years have passed since I have written in this blog. I know that I do it once a week, but so much seems to happen (or at least feels like it happens in my mind) between postings that I really seem to be a different person each time I sit down to write. Mind you I am a different person - we are never ever the same, simply because of the movements of subatomic particles and the universe in general - but, still...

Anyway, moving forward, I'm starting to get into the more serious bits of animating for this film. The movements of the character are becoming more complex, and as I look back, I feel that I need more inbetweens. That is one of my great downfalls, I fear. I often think I can get away with "x" number of drawings, but when I finally put things together in After Effects, I find that I really needed "y" number of drawings. Because of this two of my supposedly completely shots are not complete. My fervent wish is to work on them this weekend. We'll see how that pans out, as every time I make plans to do anything, they completely fall apart. We'll see if this weekend is different.

On the other hand, the clock seems to be finally coming together. I'll be working on it more today and I'll be starting a test animation. I also need to upload the latest version of the animatic to the web and contact Elliott so that he can get started on the soundtrack. That will be interesting - I'm going to be really intrigued to see what his take on this will be. Especially since the sound for this piece will probably make or break it. Of course, that points up the fact that I need to find new/create new sound effects for the film.

Ah, things to do, things to do, things to do. Hopefully I'll get through all of them. Anyway, stay tuned.

Crossing the Rubicon

Julius Caesar spoke the immortal words, "alea iacta est" before leading his rebellious legion across the river Rubicon to overthrow the Roman Senate. That phrase translates into, "the die is cast." Since then, the term "crossing the Rubicon" has come to mean passing the point of no return, or making a fateful decision. In fact NASA uses it as a code for the go or no go decision point in any space mission. I have crossed that point - in terms of this project - today.

More specificially, I was doing some laborious paperwork (a new master list of shots based on the revised animatic) and realized that I have made the final decisions about this piece that will allow me to finish it. The number of shots is now set in stone, the look of the piece is finished - or near to be finished once I finalize the look of the clock. I'm getting ready to do color tests, the rough animation is literally half complete, and I'm getting ready to actually write the final credits for the film.

Honestly, to be at this point is rather astonishing. I'm very pleased.

But, this is just a moment's respite. There is still half the animation to do - and these will be longer, tougher shots to complete. So, back to the grindstone I go. But, at least I feel like I've accomplished something.

Maybe I am finally getting out from behind the eight ball. We'll see...

When it rains...

My mom quotes Hee-Haw when she speaks about life, to wit: "If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have not luck at all." It really does seem that as soon as things begin to clear up for me, I have an immediate reversal of fortune. Everything was on track, I was all set to finish up my animation roughs for last week when suddenly my mother-in-law was in the hospital with breathing problems. Panic. Manic action. Run around helter-skelter. Sleep deprivation. And then, everything turns out okay (she had a drug interaction the her pharmacist and doctor did not catch). But, once again, it puts me behind the eight ball.

Which is a place that I'm beginning to get used to. Unfortunately.

So, in playing catch up, I have animated my brains out over the weekend, culminating in getting six shots of rough animation out. I'm glad I'm working in limited hand drawn animation - no, honestly, I am. That's not a snyde remark, because I am really beginning to dig the rough hewn look of the animation. I am just hopeful it will translate well once the cels are properly cleaned up and colored. I'm going to need to do a test for that fairly soon, but I think it will turn out okay.

Speaking of testing, I'm giving serious consideration to building the set for the gray warehouse scene in Maya and then taking still shots for use as backgrounds. Why? I'm discovering that the biggest skill I lack in animating (2D) is draftsmanship. I am a terrible draftsman, and although that might not be a problem with figure animation (I'm looking at you Bill Plymton), it is when that backgrounds look crappy. At least doing it this way I will be able to get the camera angles right. Again, need to test and figure it out.

So, what's next? More animating. Lots and lots of animating - because I saved all the big, long, difficult shots for the very end. And everything else of course.

Until next time. Stay tuned...

Then and Now

Indulge me for a moment, because I want to quote a few lines from a movie that seems very appropriate at this point.

Philip Henslowe: Mr. Fennyman, allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.

Hugh Fennyman: So what do we do?

Philip Henslowe: Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well.

Hugh Fennyman: How?

Philip Henslowe: I don't know. It's a mystery.

And that, for a lack of a better explanation, has been how my life - and this film - have been going lately. I have been so very close to breaking during the course of this production, suffering through everything from simple computer glitches, to horrible drawing skills (I'm a terrible draftsman), to financial disaster, to family illness, and the dissolution of my marriage. Had you asked me where I was three days ago in terms of production, I would have responded: in hell.

But that was three days ago.

Now, the animation looks good. I'm nearly half way through animating the roughs for the film and it is truly beginning to feel solid. Furthermore, I'm actually looking forward to working on the finishing/polishing the cels and perfecting the shots. Beyond that, I'm realizing just how good it feels to be out from under the yoke of the company I've slaved under for the past six year. It has opened up possibilities, which is always a good thing. And in terms of money, there is a severence package, my 401K, and lately I'm becoming successful on ebay (selling items for more than twice the asking price). But the best part - the VERY best part - is that last night my wife told me she was sticking with me.

So, strangely enough, it all turns out well. But I have no idea how. It's a mystery.

Oh course, it's not over yet...

Hey buddy, can you help a fellow animator who is down on his luck?

So, last week I had a really great week and was all prepared to write an entry about how things were looking up and I was all set to really start animating. Then I came home and got a taste of just how really depressed my wife is - so I shelved that one. Then, because of my reaction to my wife, I was going to write a piece filling in the back story of what happened to both of us over the Summer. I was going to use it to explain why I'm so screwed up (and why she is so screwed up). Then my wife got very sick and I had to nurse her along over the weekend - no doctor visit of course since we don't have health insurance. So I got so steam back up, started animating again an was all set to write a piece about getting back into the saddle.

Then today happened.

On Mondays I go into work. Where I work is a newspaper - a tired, old, local paper that is sliding into oblivion because its readers are dying off and it has little to no relevance to anyone in the community. It is owned by a faceless corporation out of Alabama that doesn't like the fact that the paper actually makes a profit, because it doesn't make enough profit. The building is sick, waterlogged, and probably filled with asbestos (it's that old). On this particular Monday I was summoned down the hall to the conference room. If that sounds like a "Dead Man's Walk," you are correct. Corporate had called the publisher over the weekend and told him to chop four jobs in the art department. I, and four of my coworkers were given our two weeks notice (which seems strange, usually it's the other way around). So, on October 12th I will be unemployed.

Strangely, I'm okay with that.

It's probably because I never enjoyed the job - it was a serious grind, and the salespeople I worked with were more concerned about their bonus checks than pleasing customers. It's also because that place was killing my creativity. So I'm off into the great unknown. Maybe I'll find someplace cool to work...or maybe I'll end up at Wegmans. Either way, I have a film to produce and I need to get back at it.

Until next time.

Fleeting/Progress

One of the most difficult things I have ever attempted in life it to be creative when in a miserable mood. I know that many artists – especially famous ones – have used their misery to create breath-taking works of art. But that just doesn’t work for me. When I’m in a foul mood, I cannot think. If I cannot think, I cannot let things flow in my head. If there is no flow, then there is no spark of inspiration. And without inspiration there is no creativity, at least for me. But one shoulders on, regardless. Deadlines have to be met and time stops for no one.

So, what have I got this week? A title for one: Fleeting. That word seems incredibly appropriate for this piece and the time in which it is being created. Now, I have always found that a title solidifies a project. If you can call it something, then you can answer other questions about it – you can quantify it. That takes it from the nebulous void of thought into the physical realm, and there I can make some progress. To wit, I have completed the first three scenes of rough animation for this film. That was very hard, since I haven’t done any traditional cel animation in a very long time. Yet, at the same time it was very easy. Once I got the drawings done, processed, and into After Effects it was very easy to manipulate them into was I had seen in my mind’s eye. That’s the trick. Because what is drawn initially looks absolutely hideous to me, it’s only once it has been manipulated that it begins to look right. And it does look right. So out of this mess has come something I’m kind of happy with.

That having been said there is an enormous amount of additional work to be done before this project wraps. Given my track record with previous projects, and what is unfolding in my personal life, I know that things are going to get a lot worse and more intense before this project is finished. I honestly hope I can do this, but I really don’t know that I can. Regardless, I have to get back to animating…

The Treatment

To clarify things for the uninitiated, I am going to post the treatment I wrote for my untitled animation. Feedback and constructive criticism are always welcome. Enjoy.

Log Line: A lost astronaut faces his fear as time runs out.

A clock ticks in a black void, and a helmet-less astronaut appears slowly drifting in zero gravity. He blinks, startled and notices scraps of paper around him, also drifting lazily. He looks around and, as he reaches for one of the sheets, sees a golden disk in the distance. He squints at the disk and it grows larger. With the sound of grinding gears the disk becomes a clock – its hands set at five to midnight. The man’s eyes narrow curiously as the clock gives out a loud ‘tick’ and the minute hand jerks forward. Startled, the astronaut finds himself standing in a vast, grassy field as huge clouds pass overhead – the colors over-saturated. He looks around and staggers forward, flushing a flock of birds into the air. He turns to watch them with surprise and a growing smile. Then he notices the clock ahead of him and gasps. With another loud ‘tick,’ its minute hand moves again. Now the man finds himself entering a dingy subway train, the colors of the world replaced with stark black and white. His eyes dart from side to side as the doors close behind him. As the train starts he slumps onto a chair and cradles his head in his hands, confused. The train grinds to a halt and the sound of the door opening startles the astronaut. He looks up to see the clock in the doorway. With another loud ‘tick’ the hands move again. The man jumps in panic as he finds himself seated at a restaurant table in a huge empty warehouse. More disturbing is that everything here is gray. He abruptly stands, knocking the table and chair over. As he looks around in a panic he begins to hear the sound of people on a noisy street corner and whirls around, but stops short when confronted by the clock again. The clock ‘ticks’ again and the astronaut is drifting in the black void, this time directly in front of the clock. He swallows hard and reaches out to touch its face. The clock ‘ticks’ again, and he gasps loudly. Now the void is empty, save for a few pieces of paper drifting lazily by.

In The Beginning…

…there was me, just me. But, I had an idea - one that wouldn’t go away.

That idea has been with me for over four years. It constantly calls to me and speaks to me, subtly and softly. So when I tried to write the story for my Senior Capstone Thesis – which was an entirely different idea - I couldn’t understand why my efforts failed so miserably. Maybe it was an unsound idea (everyone loved the concept). Maybe it simply wasn’t funny (well, it was sort of funny, but needed some serious work). Maybe is just didn’t have the right framework to hang a story on (it was obvious that I had things reversed).

Or maybe, it was just the wrong idea.

You see, I wasn’t supposed to come back this semester. There is an old Chinese curse that goes something like this, “may you live in interesting times.” This past summer was interesting to say the least. Less than a week after delivering my Junior Group Film I was confronted a major crisis in my life, one that threw everything out of the window. Because of this, I was not going back to school – both because I could not raise the money, and because I lacked the will. But ideas, especially good ones, don’t go away. Two weeks ago things flipped upside down again, and an opportunity presented itself allowing me to return this semester. I heard those little whispers in my ear again, and I took the chance.

I’m here now, typing this in an animation lab at Villa Maria. I’m seriously behind the eight-ball in terms of how far along the project is, but somehow I always seem to be there when I start. The idea that has stuck with me all these years is going to be made into an animated short. I feel a little scared about this project, but at the same time I feel happy; happy for the first time in good bit of a while. So, let’s begin.

Once upon a time there was an astronaut and a clock…