why are all the "next blogs" in french..trashy french...like pug dog appreciation sites...all of them.
and why can't I easily scale down my little movie and post it up.
and why I am wasting time writing to myself.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
the sequences
I totally forgot about another series of images I had exhibited in a "Drawing & Animation" touring exhibition - starting at Gympie Regional Gallery - last March (more than a year ago)
I mean where did this year GO????
The title was actually "DNA" - a sense of the fact that Drawing is the foundation of all Art, and of course Animation...no matter what kind of fanciness a computer can do these days.
I also gave an artists talk about the exhibition, and about my own practice.
I like doing that stuff
I've been working steadily away on this thing...the more work I do on it, the more I love it...and the more I hate my day job
Promise myself to do No More Whinging
as I now have links to some excellent motivational blogs like 'Zen Habits' (the business of being a creative writer - close enough to what i do), who had a great little (quite a ot of pages actually) booklet called "Un-Procrastination".
Now if I could get around to actually Reading it, it might help :_)
anyway,
a couple of pics from the "9 months in One minute" sequence - where i also screened the updated intro animation line test....
I mean where did this year GO????
The title was actually "DNA" - a sense of the fact that Drawing is the foundation of all Art, and of course Animation...no matter what kind of fanciness a computer can do these days.
I also gave an artists talk about the exhibition, and about my own practice.
I like doing that stuff
I've been working steadily away on this thing...the more work I do on it, the more I love it...and the more I hate my day job
Promise myself to do No More Whinging
as I now have links to some excellent motivational blogs like 'Zen Habits' (the business of being a creative writer - close enough to what i do), who had a great little (quite a ot of pages actually) booklet called "Un-Procrastination".
Now if I could get around to actually Reading it, it might help :_)
anyway,
a couple of pics from the "9 months in One minute" sequence - where i also screened the updated intro animation line test....
some new concept art images
More scenes underway...
I've found that developing a decent 'concept art' image helps me to get going on things.. feels like i have something more concrete to start me animating - not the least because it's a slightly better drawing than the scratchy 'blue pencil' lines in the animatics.
It took around one day per image to complete these...at this rate...the film will be done in around the year 2024, given i have so little time to devote to it.
Having said that, the thrill of seeing them printed (on high quality rag paper), with the intesnity of the colours and simplicity of the lines was such a joy and spurred me to continue...keep this struggle going!
These were exhibited in Poland last November (and continue as a touring exhibition) - I went to Wroclaw ('vratslav') for the Opening...
It was AMAZING
more to come
I've found that developing a decent 'concept art' image helps me to get going on things.. feels like i have something more concrete to start me animating - not the least because it's a slightly better drawing than the scratchy 'blue pencil' lines in the animatics.
It took around one day per image to complete these...at this rate...the film will be done in around the year 2024, given i have so little time to devote to it.
Having said that, the thrill of seeing them printed (on high quality rag paper), with the intesnity of the colours and simplicity of the lines was such a joy and spurred me to continue...keep this struggle going!
These were exhibited in Poland last November (and continue as a touring exhibition) - I went to Wroclaw ('vratslav') for the Opening...
It was AMAZING
more to come
Coalition of the Willing
I am getting back into it... there is So Much To Say..
but first...i just found this - thanks to another awesome fella over at "Stumpy Pencil" who makes brush presets for photoshop, and this was a collaborative effort that he worked on a part of...
Coalition of the Willing..
http://coalitionofthewilling.org.uk/
I am in awe.
but first...i just found this - thanks to another awesome fella over at "Stumpy Pencil" who makes brush presets for photoshop, and this was a collaborative effort that he worked on a part of...
Coalition of the Willing..
http://coalitionofthewilling.org.uk/
I am in awe.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Monday, February 21, 2011
a bunch more books
I have been having a great time with Amazon...great to be able to search for very specific books and get them delivered within a few weeeks - i am a patient gal...
but not quite the same as browsing in bookshops...but sadly the bookshops don't really have the kind of books that i want...we are still a Specialist industry as such..
and of course Now, Borders and Angus&Robertson have gone into receivership.
sux actually..
anyway...
some new books:
"The Sharpest Point: animation at the end of cinema"
is not too bad - a couple of very interesting papers etc, and a few rambling personal notes --seems to be from a conference collection (Ottawa??) so has been a useful one in my readings lately
also bought Hayao Miyazaki's biog when i found it in a fab book/comic store in Oslo (of all places!)..
havent got stuck into it yet...
hoping to go to Studio Ghibli museum when i get to Tokyo!!
also bought the next Chris Robinson book...the one showcasing indy (famous) animators...was good... great to read about these people...as good as Unsung Heroes of Animation..
he is great when he is talkig about people he admires...very interesting and positive...he's awful when he's very cynical and snarky (aren't we all), but guess it's important (and we all do it somewhat!)
anyway...more books to follow
but not quite the same as browsing in bookshops...but sadly the bookshops don't really have the kind of books that i want...we are still a Specialist industry as such..
and of course Now, Borders and Angus&Robertson have gone into receivership.
sux actually..
anyway...
some new books:
"The Sharpest Point: animation at the end of cinema"
is not too bad - a couple of very interesting papers etc, and a few rambling personal notes --seems to be from a conference collection (Ottawa??) so has been a useful one in my readings lately
also bought Hayao Miyazaki's biog when i found it in a fab book/comic store in Oslo (of all places!)..
havent got stuck into it yet...
hoping to go to Studio Ghibli museum when i get to Tokyo!!
also bought the next Chris Robinson book...the one showcasing indy (famous) animators...was good... great to read about these people...as good as Unsung Heroes of Animation..
he is great when he is talkig about people he admires...very interesting and positive...he's awful when he's very cynical and snarky (aren't we all), but guess it's important (and we all do it somewhat!)
anyway...more books to follow
welcome back sparky
incredibly crazy past six months or so...
no place her to start documenting this..
will just deal with the NOW now..
am back at the drawing board - YAY - (after a long hiatus)
essentially got too busy to get down to my studio and DO anthing, but at the same time, did quite a bit of critical reflection on the project...also gathered some more reference materials for another conference paper etc...
was wierd coming back to the first animated sequence - the one that is most fully animated so far....
i wanted to toss it all out and change it completely...if only i COULD do it five times over... like a Pixar animator who produces nary 1 minute of footage in the space of an entire year or two for each feature...now There's luxury!
anyway... adding more inbetweens, re-timing, adjusting some dodgy looking keys..
remmebering where all the buttons are on the software!!!
and starting to get the colour treatment locked down...playing with gradient fills and textured brushes, textured papers, crayons and pencils
thinking about lighting throughout..
and what kind of background??
it was originally just a simple textured sky-blue..(azure) backplate...
maybe this background business needs to change/alter to add some depth..
and i need some SHADOWS...urghhh...haven't even got that far yet!
anyway... major panic for this is to get the sequence finished for the Gympie Regional Gallery group show which starts on April 5th...
that gives me five weeks of FLAT out work to get it done....which doesn't include all my teaching and service load at the college...huuuuurrrrrrrrr
it will be a hard call...
It is aproximately one minute.
today i need to finish the inbetweening (all cleaned up)
friday morning, finalise the colour treatment and get started on it!
am being diligent with my two days per week to work on this...but it's gonna be hard in the next few weeks of start-of-semester stuff... BE STRONG girl!
and meantime, writing another small paper on Issues in Animation Education for the trip to Tokyo in three weeks... a side-track i know...but a part of my job i spose...and is interesting!
but the main game will be for the paper i am presenting at PCA/ACA in San Antonio Texas at the end of April... it's the Pop Culture Association conference...huge...3000 people...and quite a few hundred papers...
should be fun--and at least get a section of my thesis out there Properly this time and PUBLISHED!
more to come!
busy beaver this year.
back to drawing..
NOW
no place her to start documenting this..
will just deal with the NOW now..
am back at the drawing board - YAY - (after a long hiatus)
essentially got too busy to get down to my studio and DO anthing, but at the same time, did quite a bit of critical reflection on the project...also gathered some more reference materials for another conference paper etc...
was wierd coming back to the first animated sequence - the one that is most fully animated so far....
i wanted to toss it all out and change it completely...if only i COULD do it five times over... like a Pixar animator who produces nary 1 minute of footage in the space of an entire year or two for each feature...now There's luxury!
anyway... adding more inbetweens, re-timing, adjusting some dodgy looking keys..
remmebering where all the buttons are on the software!!!
and starting to get the colour treatment locked down...playing with gradient fills and textured brushes, textured papers, crayons and pencils
thinking about lighting throughout..
and what kind of background??
it was originally just a simple textured sky-blue..(azure) backplate...
maybe this background business needs to change/alter to add some depth..
and i need some SHADOWS...urghhh...haven't even got that far yet!
anyway... major panic for this is to get the sequence finished for the Gympie Regional Gallery group show which starts on April 5th...
that gives me five weeks of FLAT out work to get it done....which doesn't include all my teaching and service load at the college...huuuuurrrrrrrrr
it will be a hard call...
It is aproximately one minute.
today i need to finish the inbetweening (all cleaned up)
friday morning, finalise the colour treatment and get started on it!
am being diligent with my two days per week to work on this...but it's gonna be hard in the next few weeks of start-of-semester stuff... BE STRONG girl!
and meantime, writing another small paper on Issues in Animation Education for the trip to Tokyo in three weeks... a side-track i know...but a part of my job i spose...and is interesting!
but the main game will be for the paper i am presenting at PCA/ACA in San Antonio Texas at the end of April... it's the Pop Culture Association conference...huge...3000 people...and quite a few hundred papers...
should be fun--and at least get a section of my thesis out there Properly this time and PUBLISHED!
more to come!
busy beaver this year.
back to drawing..
NOW
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
meanwhile...finishing up things
spent the week or more being busy with course outlines etc
just wrote up my feedback about the ASP leave and also my RHD progress report,
which also made me realise i should write up a cohesive account of all this activity..
or maybe just finish off some more scenes while I can
or maybe i should edit what i have into some sort of cohesive form...
or maybe all three..
(in my dreams)
actually finishing more drawing is not a bad idea...assemblage can come next - when i am back at work and DILIGENTLY taking two days away to continue the research...like i am Supposed to.
though i also have to get some teaching stuff sorted. Painfully so.
another whingey blog
...... sighhhhhh....
just wrote up my feedback about the ASP leave and also my RHD progress report,
which also made me realise i should write up a cohesive account of all this activity..
or maybe just finish off some more scenes while I can
or maybe i should edit what i have into some sort of cohesive form...
or maybe all three..
(in my dreams)
actually finishing more drawing is not a bad idea...assemblage can come next - when i am back at work and DILIGENTLY taking two days away to continue the research...like i am Supposed to.
though i also have to get some teaching stuff sorted. Painfully so.
another whingey blog
...... sighhhhhh....
orgesticulanismus
just had to note...
this was one of the most fantastic films of the MIAF..and well worth the trip down there - despite what ever else was not so right about the fest (still writing up a response/report)
the film deals with disability in a very special visual graphic way - actually it was astounding.
some comments from other peeps who've found the project on the web
from motionographer
http://motionographer.com/2008/04/30/orgesticulanismus-2/
and a chap with a lovely illo on his blog header
http://www.minhwind.com/blog/2008/05/15/orgesticulanismus/
and here is the film by Matthieu Labaye
and here is the text: (thanks to Ken from Minhwind)
this was one of the most fantastic films of the MIAF..and well worth the trip down there - despite what ever else was not so right about the fest (still writing up a response/report)
the film deals with disability in a very special visual graphic way - actually it was astounding.
some comments from other peeps who've found the project on the web
from motionographer
http://motionographer.com/2008/04/30/orgesticulanismus-2/
and a chap with a lovely illo on his blog header
http://www.minhwind.com/blog/2008/05/15/orgesticulanismus/
and here is the film by Matthieu Labaye
and here is the text: (thanks to Ken from Minhwind)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
i think it's over....
I MEAN,, ANYTHING TO DO WITH "RESEARCH"...COZ IT'S BEEN A MONTH SINCE I'VE POSTED AND NOT MUCH DRAWING HAPPENED AT ALL IN THAT TIME. BEEN OVERTAKEN WITH SORTING WORK SHIZZLE...NOW COURSE OUTLINES ETC... AND MEANTIME A TRIP TO MELBOURNE ANIMATION FESTIVAL TO BE INSPIRED AND AWED..MEET UP WITH PEOPLE, DO SOME BUSINESS IN TERMS OF PROGRESS ON THE PROJECT...INTERVIEWS, ENGAGEMENTS, SET UP SOME STUFF FOR CONFERENCES ETC.... NOTHING!!... OKAY, NOT 'NOTHING' BUT THE SAME THING...NOT AS MUCH PROGRESS AS I WISHED.I REALLY NEED TO WRITE UP A REVIEW OF SOME OF THE FILMS IN miaf... PLUS ACTUALLY WRITE ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF ANIMATION FESTIVALS IN THIS DIGITAL AND ECONOMIC CLIMATE... THERE WAS SOOOOO FEW PEOPLE THERE IT WAS CRAZY...ALSO SO FRUSTRATING NNO SUPPORT FROM my GENERATION AS SUCH... TOO OLD AND LAZY...AND THE YOUNGER KIDS THE SAME (LAZY) PLUS YOUTUBE IS DRUG OF CHOICE AND YOU can VIRTUALLY SEE EVERYTHING WITH MAYBE ONLY A FEW MONTHS DELAY...plus...I GGOTTA SAY, THE SCREENNG QUALITY WAS ABSOLUTE SHIT FOR AT LEAST 80% OF IT...ALL BETACAM TAPE PIXELLATED...WAS SOOOOOOO BAD AND ANNOYING TO PAY 15 BUCKS FOR POOR QUALITY...BECAUSE LARGELY this IS THE REASON WE WOULD GO TO THE FESTIVAL...SEE GREAT STUFF ON BIG SCREEN.... sigjh ... ANYWAY, MORE ABOUT THAT TO FOLLOW. A TEENAGER OR TWO NEEDS MY ATTENTION NOW NOW now...
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
new targets
spend my life on this blog whinging about how little i am getting done...
well...that sickness killed two weeks, but spent some time reading and watching other things...
MUST incorporate some more sweet sassy metamorphosis randomness into the project a'la' Jeff Chiba Stearns "Anythink" (a little commercial job)..but the best -he also did "Yellow Sticky Notes" - he runs his life on notes to himself..yellow sticky notes... is a man after my own heart... i have drawers and drawers of them - sometimes i graduate to pieces of Yellow Paper..like old US legal notebooks (but no lines - I HATE lines) - and I have files at work called "The Yellow Note File". I think they're probably the most important things in terms of structure, form and management of life in general, but i am sounding like a poor-girls Douglas Adams
and being stupidly diversionary
so,
rethinking the list of what will be completed in 6 short weeks time sadness sadness...
these are the in-my-dreams bits...or maybe realistic targets to achieve by the end of semester 2, 2010, while i am also back at work and dealing with hell and high water...and teaching!!
sequence nine and ten and 11 outta the way TODAY!!!!!
well...that sickness killed two weeks, but spent some time reading and watching other things...
MUST incorporate some more sweet sassy metamorphosis randomness into the project a'la' Jeff Chiba Stearns "Anythink" (a little commercial job)..but the best -he also did "Yellow Sticky Notes" - he runs his life on notes to himself..yellow sticky notes... is a man after my own heart... i have drawers and drawers of them - sometimes i graduate to pieces of Yellow Paper..like old US legal notebooks (but no lines - I HATE lines) - and I have files at work called "The Yellow Note File". I think they're probably the most important things in terms of structure, form and management of life in general, but i am sounding like a poor-girls Douglas Adams
and being stupidly diversionary
so,
rethinking the list of what will be completed in 6 short weeks time
- complete initial rough animatic for all 15 sequences (currently on sequence 9)
- script re-drafted based on animatic/story - re-structure
- include dialogue script
- re-time animatic sequences to be more accurate
- inbetween sequence 1 (with timing adjustments)
- clean-up sequence 2 (including better and/or extended treatment of 'black hole' shot)
- list of books, films, quotes etc updated
- arrange meetings in Melbourne during/after MIAF with Terri Dentry, Dennis Tupicoff, Lizzette Atkins re: animated narrative documentary producing...development "interviews" to be used for quotes and leads etc
- go to MIAF last days... 24th - 27th june and be inspired and intimidated
these are the in-my-dreams bits...or maybe realistic targets to achieve by the end of semester 2, 2010, while i am also back at work and dealing with hell and high water...and teaching!!
- draft 2 of each sequence...adding detail, better drawing (!!), better structure, screen design and perspective, plus any additional peripherals, jokes, clarity
- concept design/treatment for key shots in each sequence - full colour, and include some experiments with paint/software/styling etc
- this is around 45 - 50 images...meaning for a 15 week semester, i will need to get 3 done per week (this is quite a lot!)
- pitch document for FUNDING
- meetings with PND support groups for feedback
- also pitch it to BeyondBlue et al
- timing and sequence schedule...the approximate correct length of each sequence so i can work out a suitable budget...ie money if there ever IS any, and time required to animate, then clean-up, then paint etc
- layout and "model" sheets for each sequence/scene/shot
- beg animators to work as interns/work experience on this project
- draft the 'overall' pitch/concept doc for the 'series' - to include the next one on Breast Cancer, plus the following one on Infertility, and the fourth one...i am now undecided... i thought it might be on Senility, but maybe it should be more focused on what happens to our middle aged girls personally/physically...it should be about divorce and seperation and all other shit that happens to us...but maybe that Senility idea is not that bad, coz it's around about 'middle age' that you have to deal with it in your parents, while coping with teenagers AND divorce etc..
- worry about that later
sequence nine and ten and 11 outta the way TODAY!!!!!
Friday, June 4, 2010
lurgy
what a waste of a week or so...
sick with flu..
lolling in bed and done nothing since last wednesday...
update on websites that inspired me and books that made me wonder what the hell i am doing
not a good week for research...but managed to do a bunch of 'housekeeping' stuff re: work et al so maybe that's all just part of the party
whatever possesses me to be so hard on myself???
sick with flu..
lolling in bed and done nothing since last wednesday...
update on websites that inspired me and books that made me wonder what the hell i am doing
not a good week for research...but managed to do a bunch of 'housekeeping' stuff re: work et al so maybe that's all just part of the party
whatever possesses me to be so hard on myself???
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
cat on lap
actually...she's sitting on my cintiq!!!
a bit difficult to draw ha ha
managed to get three more scenes done in the last week..still way behind target though...
but if i can keep the momentum up, it just ets easier to draw things out...
but i keep adding AND adding and adding things and of course it takes even longer...
have to be patient.
restructure my expected 'outcomes'...
a rough animatic is about ALL that will come out of this six months...
plus some random notes about methodologies and a bunch more info about postnatal depression, and something of a draft for the exegesis structure...
now..i AM still being too ambitious.
meantime - the garden is looking beautiful
we've had lovely people over for dinners
currently smelling a splendid beef n bacon casserole wafting down from the slow-cooker in the kitchen
my grandson is an angel...sitting up, crawling, laughing, eating granma's chicken soup...and his mother is on the UP (Yay!!)
is PND congenital???
god knows.
anyway..
bunch of books from Amazon arrived last week - thankyou Tony for the gift voucher for my birthday last year... i finally spent it! you rock!
except they are all 'work' books... stuff that's useful for teaching...but also a bit inspirational for myself i spose
both Walt Stanchfield's "Drawn to Life"...lovely books from the notes he'd made over the many years of inspiring Disney animators
Chris Robinson's collection of ramblings, essays, writings from AWN.com - the "Animation Pimp" - i used to LOVE reading his stuff on the website... but i dunno what it is, the book just made me feel a bit depressed - so many cynical rants and bites of bitterness coming through all in one collection...kinda put me into a bit of a funk as to why the hell I am making this film anyway...
perspective girl!! remember the perspective...
and also "Re-Imagining Animation: Contemporary Moving Image Cultures"..
one of the latest Paul Wells collaborations - he is truly an awesomely prolific writer on theories of animation - i feel humbled and don't even know if there's anything to ADD..
anyway...they'll be useful
plus got a lotta books from the library about the approach to screenwriting/scriptwriting so will pick and choose bits from there that will add to my grand theory.
been reading them in bed each night and morning...a good excuse to loll around in bed each morning til 8am when i have to actually get UP and get my daughter to school.
only 8 more weeks of this bliss left...
i better get a cracking schedule happening and get this to all come together
less blogging, more drawing
a bit difficult to draw ha ha
managed to get three more scenes done in the last week..still way behind target though...
but if i can keep the momentum up, it just ets easier to draw things out...
but i keep adding AND adding and adding things and of course it takes even longer...
have to be patient.
restructure my expected 'outcomes'...
a rough animatic is about ALL that will come out of this six months...
plus some random notes about methodologies and a bunch more info about postnatal depression, and something of a draft for the exegesis structure...
now..i AM still being too ambitious.
meantime - the garden is looking beautiful
we've had lovely people over for dinners
currently smelling a splendid beef n bacon casserole wafting down from the slow-cooker in the kitchen
my grandson is an angel...sitting up, crawling, laughing, eating granma's chicken soup...and his mother is on the UP (Yay!!)
is PND congenital???
god knows.
anyway..
bunch of books from Amazon arrived last week - thankyou Tony for the gift voucher for my birthday last year... i finally spent it! you rock!
except they are all 'work' books... stuff that's useful for teaching...but also a bit inspirational for myself i spose
both Walt Stanchfield's "Drawn to Life"...lovely books from the notes he'd made over the many years of inspiring Disney animators
Chris Robinson's collection of ramblings, essays, writings from AWN.com - the "Animation Pimp" - i used to LOVE reading his stuff on the website... but i dunno what it is, the book just made me feel a bit depressed - so many cynical rants and bites of bitterness coming through all in one collection...kinda put me into a bit of a funk as to why the hell I am making this film anyway...
perspective girl!! remember the perspective...
and also "Re-Imagining Animation: Contemporary Moving Image Cultures"..
one of the latest Paul Wells collaborations - he is truly an awesomely prolific writer on theories of animation - i feel humbled and don't even know if there's anything to ADD..
anyway...they'll be useful
plus got a lotta books from the library about the approach to screenwriting/scriptwriting so will pick and choose bits from there that will add to my grand theory.
been reading them in bed each night and morning...a good excuse to loll around in bed each morning til 8am when i have to actually get UP and get my daughter to school.
only 8 more weeks of this bliss left...
i better get a cracking schedule happening and get this to all come together
less blogging, more drawing
Friday, May 14, 2010
painting...and crashing
ohhhh frstrrrrrrration
got up to sequence 6 (it is friday) - - target was sequence 8 - - however decided it really needed some painting play.
however - my sweet little netbook machine is just too too weak to handle all this heavy bitmap stuff and going so slow and periodically crashing when i save
grrrrrrrrr
am backing up like a mad cowboy, but methinks i may need some more grunt if I'm going to be able to keep speeding ahead.
must be patient
will post some tests by lunchtime i hope.
i really like painting
another process of working it out as you go along..
i start with a hazy idea in my head about what it should look like based on what is going on in the story...she is disappearing into the 'black hole'... but the actual tools (software paintbrushes, papers etc) are somewhat dictating what happens frame by frame and therefore on screen, and by inference, what goes on in the story.
it's a bit scary and random
got up to sequence 6 (it is friday) - - target was sequence 8 - - however decided it really needed some painting play.
however - my sweet little netbook machine is just too too weak to handle all this heavy bitmap stuff and going so slow and periodically crashing when i save
grrrrrrrrr
am backing up like a mad cowboy, but methinks i may need some more grunt if I'm going to be able to keep speeding ahead.
must be patient
will post some tests by lunchtime i hope.
i really like painting
another process of working it out as you go along..
i start with a hazy idea in my head about what it should look like based on what is going on in the story...she is disappearing into the 'black hole'... but the actual tools (software paintbrushes, papers etc) are somewhat dictating what happens frame by frame and therefore on screen, and by inference, what goes on in the story.
it's a bit scary and random
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
back to drawing
interesting process sometimes...
feel like i've gone rusty all over again...trying to sketch out the updated 'script'...all these images in my head, and when i come to draw them they don't come out fast enough...and basically look crap...
i get disheartened.
But
must remember that the first draft of the first scene looked VERY crap to start with...by draft two it started to come together...by draft 4...and the clean-up stage it looked kinda alright...
and of course it STILL needs so much extra work.
but the 'writing' process becomes more important as a SCHEDULE of sorts...
at least it's a bit like a List or a Map..I have a clearer idea of what else i have to do...maybe easier to prioritise with this document rather than drawing blindly what's milling in my head...
but i still don't think it is LOCKED IN - and nor should it be at this point either - because so many things emerge from the actual DOING of it, the MAKING of it..
am i just making excuses?
I DO know that i also need to get some more experimenting done with the treatments for each scene and shot...means playing around more with the software...
why does it always feel like i am 'wasting time' by playing around witht he software...
is it from my old days of studio and commercial work where you just Locked something In and got On with It beacuse time and money were of the essence..
This is an important point.
How much time and money should be allocated for this kind of development? - where to stop? - does it stop?
i mean, my (possibly spurious) argument is that this short-animated-filmmaking process is Not about locking off a text script and then joining the dots like they only even seem to talk about in the "how to" books, but about evolving and emerging visual stories...from the Visual, not the Scriptual.
so
i must Argue with myself that spending more time in development is the Most CRUCIAL..
i just need three of myself though..
anyway...first thing i spose is to get these rough sketched shots completed for the next draft rough animatic and then decide which one i am going to work up with some painterly treatmenting..
but i have uncontrollable urges just to DO the bloody painterly treatmenting right now also.
hmmm...am up to "scene 5"... or should say "sequence 5" out of 14 at the moment...
target by friday - sequence 8,
.......plus some painting fun to quell the beast >_<
and i also need some sleep or some peace.
spent the night weeping and gnashing teeth like my dear girl in the film.
maybe it's a kind of "method animating" ha ha
feel like i've gone rusty all over again...trying to sketch out the updated 'script'...all these images in my head, and when i come to draw them they don't come out fast enough...and basically look crap...
i get disheartened.
But
must remember that the first draft of the first scene looked VERY crap to start with...by draft two it started to come together...by draft 4...and the clean-up stage it looked kinda alright...
and of course it STILL needs so much extra work.
but the 'writing' process becomes more important as a SCHEDULE of sorts...
at least it's a bit like a List or a Map..I have a clearer idea of what else i have to do...maybe easier to prioritise with this document rather than drawing blindly what's milling in my head...
but i still don't think it is LOCKED IN - and nor should it be at this point either - because so many things emerge from the actual DOING of it, the MAKING of it..
am i just making excuses?
I DO know that i also need to get some more experimenting done with the treatments for each scene and shot...means playing around more with the software...
why does it always feel like i am 'wasting time' by playing around witht he software...
is it from my old days of studio and commercial work where you just Locked something In and got On with It beacuse time and money were of the essence..
This is an important point.
How much time and money should be allocated for this kind of development? - where to stop? - does it stop?
i mean, my (possibly spurious) argument is that this short-animated-filmmaking process is Not about locking off a text script and then joining the dots like they only even seem to talk about in the "how to" books, but about evolving and emerging visual stories...from the Visual, not the Scriptual.
so
i must Argue with myself that spending more time in development is the Most CRUCIAL..
i just need three of myself though..
anyway...first thing i spose is to get these rough sketched shots completed for the next draft rough animatic and then decide which one i am going to work up with some painterly treatmenting..
but i have uncontrollable urges just to DO the bloody painterly treatmenting right now also.
hmmm...am up to "scene 5"... or should say "sequence 5" out of 14 at the moment...
target by friday - sequence 8,
.......plus some painting fun to quell the beast >_<
and i also need some sleep or some peace.
spent the night weeping and gnashing teeth like my dear girl in the film.
maybe it's a kind of "method animating" ha ha
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Coming Through - treatment 'script' - draft 2a
Coming Through - script draft 2a....there's already been a big bunch of changes since I've put this on paper...largely due to some more visualising, and some more input from 'quotes' and 'real-life stories i've come across...
and largely to make it a bit pithier...tighten up those images a bit...
I know it will change quite significantly again once i get pencil to screen in the next couple of days...
and largely to make it a bit pithier...tighten up those images a bit...
I know it will change quite significantly again once i get pencil to screen in the next couple of days...
sick of the pink
hmmmmmm, the pink!
especially when i was scrolling through blogs and i came across another one with the same template that was for some crazed fundamentalist christians from mid-west usa...
i really need to rig up a decent template myself...don't really want to waste too much time on this though...
maybe p0ut some pics together...
anyway...spent quite a bit of time re-writing up the 'script' as such./..
sequences of images and ideas in text form that expand upon the visual images that sketched up in pencil...
now i really need to flesh out these images...
i noticed how frustrating it was when writing in word doc...that i breally wanted to sketch the sequences then and there..
but couldn't be bothered adding another column to my table and then switching softwars to draw,,,
so i just ploughed on with the writing bits..
meantime, surfing through many PND blogs and sites...lots of pithy quotes eher and there that add to the "dialogue" part of the film...
i am still in two minds about the 'dialogue'/'voice-over...really wanted to try and do it WITHOUT voice...unless it is diagetic...
but we'll see... will add these lines anyway...some of them flesh things out...dewscribe elements not necessarily visualised..
like a yin/yang thing...they shoudl prop each other up...
also grabbed a bunch of books again from the libabry about scriptwriting...
mainly to start putting together a succinct Vidsual writing methodology for animation...
grabbing evidence as such of what is currently written about the way animated 'scripts' are crafted...
my argument is that short films (animated films) rely conspicuously in the visual script in crafting the 'story'..and not the written word script...
particulary when you are working independently or with a small crew..
the major example of this weas working obn "the Way of the Boirds" with Sarah Watt... it truly opened my eyes to the whole concept of visual storytelling and scripting..largely because i had been working in mainstream production pipelines for so many years before that...by the time it got to me in the layout or animation department...(even storyboarding things) it was largely a join-the-dots activity...it was SO locked in to the written script we really didn't have to think much...just make great visyuals out of what was there...regardless of how flimsy and stupid most of the 'scripts' were - even on paper...
and the fact that there was little understanding from the writers point of view about the magical penetrative and transformative qaulities in animation - they were SO literal, and severely based on live-action film sit-com style - which MOST TV animation remains (eg Simpsons et al).
anyway...some interesting bits and pieces gathered...
now to put it together into a methodological argument..
as i said...I have been supervising, teaching and practising the 'organic visual' approach to animation short story development for nearly 10 years now, so it's time to put it into some form of a Paper,..
at least to get it Down on paper so it's like a "how-to" as a teaching method...in the same way we have so many 'how-to' books for the traditional approach to scriptwriting, or technical elements including 'cinematography' framing, editing etc for animation.
thankfully there IS a few books around now that address this JUST for animation - will be helpful for teaching too..
there's a conference in sydney coming up...think i need to get the abstract in by tomorrow! - and it's in June.
will be a good draft for a 'chapter' in the exegesis...
if in fact, i can make it more coherent than THIS.
meantime, also need to get back to the drawing board...
too much typing lately...
will post up the 'script outline' - draft 2
time for a beer now
especially when i was scrolling through blogs and i came across another one with the same template that was for some crazed fundamentalist christians from mid-west usa...
i really need to rig up a decent template myself...don't really want to waste too much time on this though...
maybe p0ut some pics together...
anyway...spent quite a bit of time re-writing up the 'script' as such./..
sequences of images and ideas in text form that expand upon the visual images that sketched up in pencil...
now i really need to flesh out these images...
i noticed how frustrating it was when writing in word doc...that i breally wanted to sketch the sequences then and there..
but couldn't be bothered adding another column to my table and then switching softwars to draw,,,
so i just ploughed on with the writing bits..
meantime, surfing through many PND blogs and sites...lots of pithy quotes eher and there that add to the "dialogue" part of the film...
i am still in two minds about the 'dialogue'/'voice-over...really wanted to try and do it WITHOUT voice...unless it is diagetic...
but we'll see... will add these lines anyway...some of them flesh things out...dewscribe elements not necessarily visualised..
like a yin/yang thing...they shoudl prop each other up...
also grabbed a bunch of books again from the libabry about scriptwriting...
mainly to start putting together a succinct Vidsual writing methodology for animation...
grabbing evidence as such of what is currently written about the way animated 'scripts' are crafted...
my argument is that short films (animated films) rely conspicuously in the visual script in crafting the 'story'..and not the written word script...
particulary when you are working independently or with a small crew..
the major example of this weas working obn "the Way of the Boirds" with Sarah Watt... it truly opened my eyes to the whole concept of visual storytelling and scripting..largely because i had been working in mainstream production pipelines for so many years before that...by the time it got to me in the layout or animation department...(even storyboarding things) it was largely a join-the-dots activity...it was SO locked in to the written script we really didn't have to think much...just make great visyuals out of what was there...regardless of how flimsy and stupid most of the 'scripts' were - even on paper...
and the fact that there was little understanding from the writers point of view about the magical penetrative and transformative qaulities in animation - they were SO literal, and severely based on live-action film sit-com style - which MOST TV animation remains (eg Simpsons et al).
anyway...some interesting bits and pieces gathered...
now to put it together into a methodological argument..
as i said...I have been supervising, teaching and practising the 'organic visual' approach to animation short story development for nearly 10 years now, so it's time to put it into some form of a Paper,..
at least to get it Down on paper so it's like a "how-to" as a teaching method...in the same way we have so many 'how-to' books for the traditional approach to scriptwriting, or technical elements including 'cinematography' framing, editing etc for animation.
thankfully there IS a few books around now that address this JUST for animation - will be helpful for teaching too..
there's a conference in sydney coming up...think i need to get the abstract in by tomorrow! - and it's in June.
will be a good draft for a 'chapter' in the exegesis...
if in fact, i can make it more coherent than THIS.
meantime, also need to get back to the drawing board...
too much typing lately...
will post up the 'script outline' - draft 2
time for a beer now
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
another link for this project
created another blog today - a public one as such...so it's just got pictures and some intro stuff at the moment and not all my personal rambling...
so it gives me licence to keep rambling HERE...and the other blog will be for contacts and feedback and info etc from the wider PPD/PND and animation etc communities ( I hope)
it's here
http://secretwomanbusiness.blogspot.com/
and meantime i've changed the title of this one to Coming Through, coz i set up the other one as Secret Woman Business (just one woman this time ;-)
anyway - that kinda wasted at least half the day fuggerizing around...working out links etc (gosh i am so S L O W sometimes...and I STILL need to add stuff to it...
but it's a start...
which is a Very importnat thing in PND recovery incidentally...
so it gives me licence to keep rambling HERE...and the other blog will be for contacts and feedback and info etc from the wider PPD/PND and animation etc communities ( I hope)
it's here
http://secretwomanbusiness.blogspot.com/
and meantime i've changed the title of this one to Coming Through, coz i set up the other one as Secret Woman Business (just one woman this time ;-)
anyway - that kinda wasted at least half the day fuggerizing around...working out links etc (gosh i am so S L O W sometimes...and I STILL need to add stuff to it...
but it's a start...
which is a Very importnat thing in PND recovery incidentally...
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
the little video here...
how on earth do i get it to show on this blog page???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL_NsolF1aU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL_NsolF1aU
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