I said I was going to re-master some of my older films at some point and here's a start with Traffk. While the film hasn't got a new soundtrack like I was once thinking of doing, I went back and made a bunch of edits and fixes to it. The changes are very subtle, so much so you probably won't even notice them. I added some filters and blurs here and there to enhance the odd scene, mainly the shots set inside the signs so they don't look so flat and flash-made anymore. I also made some fixes where I made mistakes such as the construction sign man disappearing for a couple frames and areas that needed to be cropped better. I also replaced the credits scenes with a new one, mainly because I rather stupidly put the musicians name as "The Aphex Twins" rather than "Aphex Twin". Doh!
To go with this I've given Traffk's mini-website a overhaul. The gallery is now like the one on the Lucy Lolly page; using Simpleviewer and built into the same page. Sadly though this means all those animated gifs of the pencil animation I had can't be in there. I've also given the 'view film' section a new background (see above) where the animatic and (revised) final film play. It looks a bit less amuter-ish now.
I also updated the main animation hub of Tea N Crumpets to include a link to the Lucy Lolly page, although to be honest I think that page needs a complete change of design. It's getting rather cramped having all those links squashed onto the sign that pops out of the flies head, and that's even after I already revised so there is just one big sign rather than loads of little ones. I also think I should get rid of that Rocket Number Nine mini-site, as that animation is ancient now. I'm thinking of making it into three newly named sections; Big films, little films, and client work. The latter is where the Sci-Fi Channel Tron animation would go along with whatever other animation I do for clients from now on. I'll keep the bee but that layout just needs to go, it's a pain to work with at the moment (and so is most of the website, to be honest..).
Remember when the signs were like this? That was a nightmare to work with..
I haven't drawn anything just for fun in quite a while so I had a sudden urge to draw one of my favorite childhood toys yesterday, "My Pet Monster". This soft toy was so big it was almost bigger than I was. A big, ugly soft toy with breakable chains, he was awesome.
Currently working on a website update of some sort that may be ready by tonight.
Here's something that aired on Sci-Fi Channel some time ago that I only recently found out actually went though to completion. I helped out on the concept for this promo, and put together a early storyboard for it sometime last year, although the final film is obviously quite a bit different; my idea of all the keys spouting little legs and cleaning up the computer was a bit too ambitious. Still, the concept is still there and while I don't know who animated it (it was outsourced) it's neat to see it put together. Below is some of the concept art I threw together for it.
Doesn't feel like long ago that I had finally finished animating Lucy Lolly that I have found myself animating again, and on the edge of another deadline! Didn't think I'd be getting freelance job offers so soon after finishing my course, but I'm not going to say no to getting my CV client list started, as well as getting paid, of course. =P
First off, I have a short bit of animation to do for...funnily enough, the same Collage I just finished doing coursework for, which needs to be done for this Tuesday, so I only have one day to go already! Eep! After that, I'm helping out rebuilding and generally fixing up a website. I also recently popped up to London and saw the final results of something I helped out on back in March. Once I'm allowed to show you any of this stuff I'll be posting it here. At some point after these are sorted I'll be getting to work on the Lucy Lolly DVD and also want to eventually get some Tea N Crumpets updating going on. It's all going on here!
Not much to say other than the Lucy Lolly mini-site is up and running (although it may need the odd fixing up here and there), and features a synopsis, gallery (running on SimpleViewer but within the same window, which is nice), and most importantly: the teaser trailer. Oh, and the 'Buy the DVD' link doesn't do anything at the moment as obviously, I haven't sorted that out yet. I'll be uploading the trailer to a few websites like Youtube and Dailymotion tonight. Be sure to point out any bugs with the site if you get any (I know the preloader is a bit funky at the moment, so that's the first thing I'll need to sort out).
EDIT: Here;s the trailer coming off Dailymotion. I've also uploaded it to Youtube.
Uni is over! Hooray! Gave in my last piece of work yesterday and just have to wait a while for the results, and graduation isn't until October! Yikes! I did find out my results for my dissertation which turned out to be a 2.1 (In case you don't know how our system works it goes 1st > 2.1 > 2.2 > 3rd) which was a relief. Lucy Lolly screened with a few other films from our final year group at Uni this Friday, which went down a treat. Now I have to go about selling my soul to someone who will pay me money to do what I do. For the moment though I have a few odd things I want to sort out, which I've listed below to remind me to get around to doing them so I don't just sit around playing on the Wii.
Things I plan to do soon:
- The Lucy Lolly website, complete with a trailer. Should be ready this week.
- The Howdooyoodo website.
- A Tea N Crumpets makeover. Not a complete redesign, just a bit of polish here and there to freshen it up. Can't believe it's almost 3 years old already.
- The Lucy Lolly DVD. Hopefully I can get it sorted by the end of the month. Most likely going to be about £5, and will also include RabRab and possibly some other films.
- Enter Lucy Lolly and maybe RabRab to some festivals.
- Do some re-masters of older films. For example: get some non-copyrighted music for Traffk, and re-record the voices for The Fujis.
- All this and get back into writing articles for the Dreamcast Junkyard and Sega Memories.
- get back into doodling. I've drawn nothing but Lucy Lolly for the last few months!
Things that are pretty much done but can't be shown just yet:
- My latest showreel. Holding out on putting it online as it contains Lucy Lolly spoilers.
- A short film I have helped out on. You'll hear about it when it's ready and out there.
So what with all that going on you should be seeing a lot more activity around here soon.
I said I was going to re-master some of my older films at some point and here's a start with Traffk. While the film hasn't got a new soundtrack like I was once thinking of doing, I went back and made a bunch of edits and fixes to it. The changes are very subtle, so much so you probably won't even notice them. I added some filters and blurs here and there to enhance the odd scene, mainly the shots set inside the signs so they don't look so flat and flash-made anymore. I also made some fixes where I made mistakes such as the construction sign man disappearing for a couple frames and areas that needed to be cropped better. I also replaced the credits scenes with a new one, mainly because I rather stupidly put the musicians name as "The Aphex Twins" rather than "Aphex Twin". Doh!
Remember when the signs were like this? That was a nightmare to work with..
