Ani-matic-o!

Here is my animatic, updated with new animations!!! So far, I'm only concerned with getting through my shot list so some of these shots will be redone. In particular, the shot with the dust falling needs to be much, much, much slower. Also, please disregard the quality of the shots; these are but simple unaltered jpeg copies of the RAW images. I plan on processing the image sequences to give them a much higher contrast, ol'fashionedy look.

Also, the scenes with the sneaking lint are a little difficult to follow, and I plan on retouching the lint so that it is more vibrant.



Untitled from Caitlin Craggs on Vimeo.

Photogs

Well, lot's-o-updates. I finalized my set up so I could begin shooting fo' real.


It looks good... real good. But now I have to get back into the animation groove. This weekend I realized (rather painfully) that my timing skills need a quick tune-up. All that time doing artwork and getting stuff ready to shoot-- and now my shootin' arm has gone a bit flabby. Pay no mind, I'll be back in top gear lickitysplit. In the meantime, feast your eyes on this very shoddy animation done on my my old camcorder. WAY TOO FAST (especially on the second one). I'll have new, slightly less terrible animation that I did this weekend on the new camera up soon.


new animation 1 (11408) from Caitlin Craggs on Vimeo.


newanimation2(11408) from Caitlin Craggs on Vimeo.

Oh yes, and also of note (and illustrated in the following sequence of photos) I figured out a way to switch out the puppet hands. Where once an arthritic-looking hand was stitched to the puppet, I simply glued a cut-off needle. I can now easily slip new hands on and off the puppet.

Galagalagalagala!

So, as I was slipping behind in my schedule, I was also sipping champagne in New York at the Princess Grace Gala. It was quite a high-falutin' event with plenty of ballgowns and pomp. However, the most exciting thing was meeting all the other recipients. It's fun to meet people from other schools and compare experiences. However, animators were in short supply; the only other animator was a statute recipient (she won a initial grant and a works-in-progress grant, and was now being honored for her body of work). Check her out: Rose Bond, she does really cool things with animation projected in buildings.

http://www.rosebond.net/ !!!

Here are two photos of me and my animation being projected on a REALLY huge screen for lots of people. eek! Kinda weird.

bad news and good news

It is at this tragic juncture of the semester that I must inform myself and you (my valued readers) that I am indubitably and irreparably behind schedule. I cannot pretend that I will catch up those missing weeks. At this point I should have animated seven scenes. I have not done this. The good news is that I can make a new schedule!!! Huzzah! And everything will get done. On the sunny side, I will be meeting with an esteemed animator who will give me some much desired advice concerning how exactly to shoot my film. And about precisely what camera, lenses and lighting i will need to procure. So, without further ado, I will provide my revised schedule.

October 28 scenes 1,2,3
November 4 scenes 4,5,6,7
Nov 11 scene 6, 8, 9
nov 18 scene 10,11
nov 25 12, 14,15
december 2 scenes 13, 16
dec 12 scenes 17,18,19
break bg 12 scene 20

I can already hear Sheila's concern for the ambitiousness of this plan, but until I begin animating and actually find the pace too speedy, I'm gong to try and stick to my original pace (between two and four scenes a week).

HUZZAH!

new animatic!

Lintscapeanimatic(9/30/08) from Caitlin Craggs on Vimeo.

GULP!

So, I haven't posted in a long while. I'm a bit behind in my schedule (about a week's worth of work). I completed two large scale backgrounds in pen (posted below) and I'm beginning to feel that the larger backgrounds are much more compelling (more information) and that perhaps every scene should be on such a scale.


I also experimented with a rudimentary multi-plane to see if a little depth would liven up each shot. The answer is YES!!!!



So, I'm considering going back and redoing all of the previous backgrounds (and therefore puppets, gulp) on a larger scale and multi-planar. Will need feedback from the class.

Buh buh backgrounds

The backgrounds, with appropriate puppets inhabiting them, are unpainted as well. This is for the same reason as the puppets' colorlessness: continuity.



I'm beginning to think about pushing the 3-dimensionallity of the backgrounds since the puppets have so much more depth. It looks a little odd. Particularly in the first example. Color helps to add depth the the BG, but only nominally. I think I'll have to re-do these BG's so that I can multiplane them. I will also have to carefully consider lighting. Thoughts? Concerns? Questions?