Website of the day: CATSUKE

(Click image to go to catsuke.com. Image by Masaaki Yuasa)

I remember going to this website quite a while back, but somehow lost track of it. Thanks to Cartoon Brew I've re-discovered and fallen back in love with it. There's truckloads of animation-related content available here, including Character sheets for over 200 productions from Aeon Flux to FLCL to Samurai Pizza Cats, as well as countless video downloads (you'll need Realplayer) of some of the coolest animation you will ever see from some of my favourites including Hiyoyuki Imaishi (I almost screamed like a school girl at all the exclusive content of his on there), Masaaki Yuasa (Director of the recent master piece Mind Game), and Robert Valley (remember that BBC World Cup 2002 commercial? He did that.), as well rare content like the infamous Daicon short films, Prelude to Eden, making-ofs and more. What are you waiting for, get to it? Take note you'll be there for hours upon hours, drooling at the content.

Oh, by the way, I've posted MXTT up at DevArt. It may still be tinkered some more, but you get the idea.

Traffik Work in Progress

Sorry for the lack of updates, been doing all sorts, mainly coursework. If you haven't seen them already, I have since I last posted here released two animations: Squirrel (very short ) and The Audio Show (a whole lot longer). Both were mainly to have a crack at lip-synch, and will be added to Tea N Crumpets as part of a bigger update later. I currently have two more animations in the works, and need to start another one for Uni using *shudder* 3D CGI.

One of them, titled MXTT (Named after the game 'Manx TT Superbike') is almost complete except for the motorbike which I’m trying to get to move nicely. At the moment it looks rather horrible, flopping back and forth and looking completely un-believable. The effect I wanted for the bike is hard to describe, but all I know is I currently haven't figured out how to pull it off in flash, which is a shame as everything else has turned out fine.

The other animation I mentioned a while back, is Traffik. The film will be my most technically ambitious to date, using photography, live-action footage I took with my shiny new hard drive camcorder, hand-drawn animation and digital editing. The last few days I've been working on an effect for the films backgrounds where the live-action footage is rotoscoped, but the rotoscoped lineart is placed over the top of the live-action. This is involving printing off hundreds of frames, 6 a page, then drawing the scribbly rotoscoped stuff on the back (because I don't have a light box, I have to sit by our Kitchen window and lean the paper against it to see through it), then scan the lie arts in and place them back into the live-action frames via the film reel files. It's sort of like digitally drawing on the film, if you like. Here's some images of the effects, which looks a lot better when moving.

It's looks messy, and that's the idea. All the movements are being highlighted by the lineart scribbling. When you hear what music I'll be using for this piece, you'll see how he style of these backgrounds goes with it. I still have to animate the characters that go over the top yet! Anyway, I may come back with some Afro lady concept drawings soon, so watch this space.

This Movie must be stopped.

FoodFight is looking set to be the most disgusting, corrupt animated feature to ever grace the earth. As much as the animation is looking horrific, that's nothing compared to the concept behind it. Basically, the entire movie is going to be a advertising overload, featuring hundreds of well-known brand characters which will be altered in each country, including the likes of the M&Ms, Chester Cheetah, and Mr. Pringle, and tons of toys, video games and other merchandise is all ready in planning stages. The image I've posted above is one of the first to be released, and just shows how disturbing it is. If this project does eventually go through, everyone that's involved into the production of what could quite possibly be the most overloaded commercial piece of media ever produced should be shot at sight.

Can someone please tell me this is either a hoax, or a bad nightmare?

To cheer you up after that shocking, vomit-inducing display above you, here's some news to put a smile on you face: Disney have got Oswald the Lucky Rabbit back...in exchange for a Sportscaster.

Website of the day: Acme Filmworks.

(Click the above image for the link)

This studio has been home to some of the greatest independent animators of our time, and I've just spent the last 2 hours or so looking through all the directors work, and so should you if you appreciate animation at it's most creative: Go into Demo Reel, then check all the directors stuff. These include Peter Chung (The Aeon Flux guy), Koji Yamamura (Mt. Head is an awesome short film, hunt it down), Bill Plympton (one of my heroes), Wachtenheim & Marianetti (Smuffet on a E! Channel reality show? Bin Laden Saturday morning cartoon? Check.) Joanna Quinn (Ch-ch-ch-charmin! Hey, that rhymes), John Dilworth (Courage the Cowardly dog creator, the pilot episodes on the site) and Barry Purves (the one famous animator I've met. Does very artistic stop-motion puppet stuff).

Bloggomic #2

(Click for full view.)

An Afro Lady animation you say? Well, don't get too excited, 'cause all this planning will be for a Uni project that just involves us showing how well we can plan an ambitious project...and doesn't involve an actual animation. That's not to say I won't eventually attempt one, though, but my skills are no where near the level I need them to be to pull it off just yet, but at least with this project I can get my hundreds of ideas down on paper, rather than leave them floating about in my brain where they'll eventually drizzle away.

Hiroyuki Imaishi, who I'm praying to in the above comic, is quite simply my favourite animation director and one I look up to in awe. For those unknown to this guy's talent, he was animation director on FLCL, and director of Dead Leaves, the first episode of Re:Cutey Honey and episode 3 of Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, the latter of which I just saw today from renting the first DVD of the series. His incredible visual style was the main inspiration to Afro Lady in the first place, who's been not much more than a Aeon Flux type assassin idea of mine for over a year now.

The only major thing the idea's really missing is a plot, so far it's just an excuse to have a lot of insane Imaishi/video game-inspired madness animated. Mind you, even like that it might not be bad as a possible final year project, seeing as we get a whole year on that project and all. At the moment though, I really gotta get better at animating (especially humans, which I've barely even tried yet) before I could even attempt it.