Thumbnail Color Script

So while one of my teammates worked on the storyboard the other was putting it all together in the first rough cut animatic. I was tasked with the color script for the film. So I took the storyboard thumbnails and painted this quick and dirty color script. Pending some tweaking we are in week 4 and will hopefully begin production this weekend. Time to start animating!

Another New Film

Working this quarter on my second film we are currently calling it "Red". It is a biographical film about Robert Goddard. The only requirements for the class are the following.

1. An "abstract" biography
2. It must be mixed media
3. Stay withing 1-2 minutes

So you can check out our production blog over at jimcowjaz.blogspot.com. I will try to post work here as well.

I will be lead character animator on the film! It is my first so wish me luck. Below you can see two of my concepts for the environment and the character design of Goddard at multiple ages.

At first we were going to have the character as a paper cut out but we are slowly moving away from it as we develop the look further.

My first concept was a paper sketch of  a cherry tree then a digital painting on top.

Second concept is using photo textures composited together then some Photoshop painting. Another team mate is exploring watercolor skies that are looking pretty sweet.

New "logo" for self branding

Hey long time no post! I've been busy of late but wanted to throw something up on the blog to show I am alive and kicking. Our first assignment for portfolio class was a logo design as part of our self branding. Below you can see my final direction along with the simple animation I will include during the title of my demo reel. I wanted to explore an illustrative story with my "logo" so I have these abstract thoughts sprouting from the box guy's head. Oh and what's the ladder for?  Click here for my resume! using this new style direction.

Done in Flash. Just some fun straight ahead animation :D I will layer what I have cycled to make the animation fuller like the static illustration.

Props Update

Been hard at work with the rest of the class on our collaborative film Vita Magus. I've moved over to the props and effects side of the film so below is some of the work I've produced the past few weeks. I have a group working along side myself to model and texture everything but I've also attached the Props I modeled. It's going to be rough, we are 5 weeks in and have 5 left to finish the film with 0% of it animated!<

Props_FoodTruck_Turntable_Ver001_MacDonald from Vita Magus on Vimeo.


Props FoodCart Turntable Ver001 MacDonald from Vita Magus on Vimeo.

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...