New Collab film

Just finished a few pieces from the new film I am working on in class. I still have some other concepts I'm finishing up tonight/tomorrow but here's one character sheet and a speed painting of the street performing location the help capture the mood. The entire class will be posting to vitamagusfilm.blogspot.com so check it out.

The above character is a woman in her 60's that has been performing as a magician for over 40 years. I wanted an older woman that wasn't what you normally see in animated films; hunched, wrinkled, and eccentric. She should have a sophistication and refinement about her gained through performing her act for decades. A past that was filled with stardom and beauty in which she continues to confidently project.

My key influence was the beautiful 63 year old Jessica Lange. Another is a Canadian street performer by the name of Billy Kidd who along with Janelle Monae inspired the androgynous outfit. This adds an interesting character trait to her unseen history of struggling with not only trying to introduce magic to the world but also to stand out and become accepted. Billy Kidd stated in an interview "It's a boys' club,"... "I have to work harder and do different things." which is one reason for Kidd's androgynous persona.

Lastly the color pallet chosen is an example of how the world could look towards the final few scenes of the film. Bright colors that play with a high contrast complimentary pallet. This method is more about experimenting with hue contrast than value contrast.

After finishing the last environment frame I decided to do a quick concept of the little girl in the street to refine that sloppy painting. This idea of having a child being able to also see the magic everyone else overlooks was brought up in class and I though it was interesting and worth exploring. I wanted her forms to reflect the magician she is impersonating so I tapered her arms and legs to mimic the magician silhouette.

Let me rant dammit!

So normally I don't post much other than art, but today in class I got myself into an argument that left me frustrated, angry, and sad.

Before I switched from M.F.A. to M.A. I was planning on writing a thesis paper and producing a film that focused on minorities in media. This is an issue that I am growing more aware of every night I sit down to watch my favorite TV programs, or go to the theater to watch a new film. And quite honestly it's something that doesn't necessarily effect me. I'm a straight, white, American male. Admittedly I have it pretty easy. But that doesn't mean that I should simply overlook the blatant bias. American media is overwhelmingly full of men like me. I think that it is up to every generation to build upon the last and fix the things that are truly problematic. Is it so much to ask to see an African American actor that is not a hip hop artist or gang banger? Or an Asian women who isn't a prostitute/foreign exchange student/love interest...or hell how about some Asian men on television? And I don't mean shown in the background. I'm talking a developed lead character that reflects the diversity of this country. You see in class today there was a disturbing example of how this thinking of white male default has been indoctrinated through media and culture to be the only characters that deserve our attention.

The film my class will be working on is about an old male magician that lives alone and performs small magic shows that no one really cares about or pays attention to anymore. I brought up that this plot line is extremely close to L'Illusionniste. I suggested that one way to avoid such a close comparison is to make the lead a female. Keep the EXACT same storyline but switch the gender. I was told that by doing so, sympathy would be lost with our character. WHAT?! Really! So the exact same story line, nothing changed except the gender and BAM, the emotional pathos of this story is no longer valid, the character now cannot connect with the audience. The weirdest part of this whole conflict was that the person I argued with, who proposed this story in the first place, was a woman. She felt that a female lead would not connect with the audience. Her further explanation was that a single old man living by himself was alone and deserves our sympathy, while a single old woman living by herself was, and I quote, a "crazy cat lady".

This is only the tip of the iceberg and I don't want to rant longer than I already have. But for those of you who follow me and work in entertainment, think about the characters you create, think about how they represent the REAL world, and think about how they may lend themselves to gender and racial bias. I'm not saying you shouldn't design white male characters, I'm just saying look at your body of work, and see if you have subconsciously done so in a disproportionate amount. Then, make an effort to change and create media that is more multifaceted.

Thanks for reading.

New Blog Title and address

As I creep closer to graduation I have accepted that "emo fuk" may not be the most professional sounding address to give to potential employers. That and when I give them my name at the two job fairs this spring I want them to be able to find me online without the knowledge of some abstract handle. On that note I have switched over and will be using my real name. I feel so naked!

Hopefully Google is smart enough to just update everyone who follows me automatically.

Old url efmuok.blogspot.com
New url animatorjeff.blogspot.com

efmuok you will be missed...

Newest Sketchkablam

So this week I FINALLY got off my ass and completed something more than a shitty sketch! The inspiration was "Smoking Conference" and all I could think about was those sad, sad rooms people cram into at the airport. I decided to go with a retro look since it was the golden age of travel. That and I was just watching Iron Giant. Oh I also wanted it look like a screen captured from a film. Enjoy :D

Launch of Jellie Blog

Another film blog post! I have set up a separate blog for my short Jellie so I'm not overwhelming this one with relevant posts. You can check it out/follow HERE, read the synopsis, check out the completed storyboard and soon the 3rd and complete animatic. Stay tuned for updates as I show the film and get feedback from people, develop the aesthetic, and begin pencil tests.

Second New Short

Hello followers. I wanted to let everyone know that I am returning to school Tuesday and will be working on a total of 2 films this quarter. FML!

The first film is my own called Jellie and you've maybe check out my posts here. The second film is for my 2D/3D Collaborative Project class. So far it is myself and my two friends Jenna and Davonne. The concept was brought forward by Jenna and I thought it sounded cool so I jumped on board to develop the kernal of an idea into a, hopefully, bad ass little short.

Please jump on over to The Keepers of the Trees and follow our progress over the next 10 weeks as we try to finish our film!

Another Edgar update/my 100th post!

So I am calling the rendering 80ish% finished. I stepped away for a while to work on Jellie but I picked it back up today and got it to a place I am happy with. I want to rework some of the UV’s around the eye socket so the texture is less noticeably stretched and then I will maybe add some reflected light from the water surface on the sand. Not sure about that one since this is more of a stylistic rendering but I think it will also be a great way for me to experiment with this for Jellie since the tank/room will need lots of effect lighting. Oh! I also need to add some graphics to his loot and then maybe some sand dollars on the floor.

So here’s the process of creating the 80ish% piece

And the, nearly, completed composite