Flippin'birds_short-short_bg

This is taped just above my desk as I'm working on my new short-short, flippin'birds.
It's gonna be even shorter, but hopefully it'll make you laugh!

short short- rendering process #3

One last short explanation video for the technique I used for the bird.
It's very similar to what I did for the waiter, only this time the bird is sort of staying there and the 'seams' are showing ...potentially.
It worked well this time around because the movements are quitesharp, but the idea of printing out and painting over the animation on paper is something I find intriguing and I'd like to experiment more with it.

short short- rendering process #3

A new video explaining a little bit how I got the textures on the character. I left the subtleties out, but you get the idea.
This also reveals the one big mistake I feel I did on this short, which was to separate and tie down the head 'on the spot'. the original idea was to better control the textures, but it wasn't much help in the end and it gives the head a slightly disconnected feel.
A live and learn kind of thing, I guess...

Madeleine is the first of a series of very short films I'm planning to have fun making.
I've been working professionally for almost eleven years and have found that I have lost touch with who I am artistically. Of course there was Violince, but after two years, I've found that even there, I was falling into a routine, so this very short format allows me to experiment a bunch of new techniques and to stretch my legs a bit, and so far I love it.
My only regret is that this one took a bit longer than anticipated (though a reasonable two months...) because of the watercolour texturing I kind of stumbled upon, but I'm so pleased with the result that it was well worth it.
The main goal for me is to have fun making these shorts, but I also want to keep learning, so if you have comments, critics, I'm happy to hear about them!

madeleine_ render process

I'm almost done with the whole thing and I hope to be able to post the film early next week.
Meanwhile, I did this quick video to explain why it's taking so long.
I really wanted the waiter to disappear and be part of the background as soon as possible and I'm quite happy with the result.
The main character and the bird both have their own watercolour style rendering andeven though I'm a bit upset it takes so long, I think it's quite worth the trouble.
I'll try to post more process videos in the next couple of days.

Madeleine-rough animation

As promised, the rough animation pass on the short.
Notice especially the reflection in the coffee; I'm so green at special effects that I always get excited when I get something that looks half-way decent!
You'll also see the new close up in the middle, which has changed quite a bit and re-focus the action between the sparrow and the girl.
I've actually been done with the animation for almost a week and have already rendered a few things (I don't want to raise expectations, but I think it looks pretty good in color!)
I'll post some WIP later next week.
I hope you enjoy as much as I have fun doing this!!!

short short-Backgrounds

this is the final BG, as it came out after much experimentation.

Shortly after I was done with the animatic, I set out to create the backgrounds for 'madeleine'.

Now, I'm not a  BG specialist by any stretch and I had something very specific in mind, and that was part of the reason why it was a difficult birth...

I wanted something light with shapes and colours suggesting the set. On Violince I had gotten used to draw the backgrounds in quite a lot of details, which allowed me to add colours and shading rather easily, but I knew straight away that it wasn't gonna work.

For a couple of days, I experimented working in the computer with only a hint of layout, but no matter what I did, it never even came close to the image I had in my mind.

this is probably my best effort in the computer and I don't like it one bit...

But then I did the wise thing and went to ask for advice. the great thing about working in a studio is that there's always someone who knows better and can point you in the right direction. Pascal has been working at 352 almost from the beginning and he quickly pointed out to me that I should use big bold brush strokes to suggest the shapes (I was doing the exact opposite, trying to blend the shapes in order to get that light feeling...) 

I came back home and experimented with watercolours on paper, because no matter how good brushes have become in the softwares, it doesn't match the real thing. Below are some of the sketches I did, which then gave me the confidence to try for the real BG on a slightly bigger size.

In the end I'm quite happy with the result, which is not exactly like the image in my mind, but comes pretty close. But most importantly, I challenged myself to do something I didn't know (and was very uncomfortable with) and pulled through. 

short short- Animatic Madeleine

I really enjoyed animating the blog banner a couple of months ago and I kept the idea in the back of my mind that such really short format would be a great way to a; explore new techniques b; stretch my creative muscle a bit and c; have fun!
I made this animatic over two evenings last week, loosely based on something that happened to my wife, and I find the format really freeing, because there isn't much expectation. It's a nice break from Violince in that sense.
I already started animating and if I had a bit of trouble with the backgrounds-for which I had something specific in mind that I couldn't quite capture- the character work has been fun so far.
A new reel with the rough animation will follow.