I Got the Rx for my Splines

First Smoothing Pass



It really was a scary thing to see this when I originally splined it. I broke it into chunks, 4 chunks, the major beats of the scene. I hit the spine and body first, then the head then the arms. The mouth is still in stepped mode.

I had planned to spend some time playing Xbox 360 this weekend, but I didn’t get one. I didn’t preorder, didn’t have time to wait 15 hours in line for one. Now I am wondering if I should just wait until school is done before I do get one. Actually, I think it's for the best, I used that spare time on animating instead of playing.

Notice the Rx on the pill bottle is no ordinary Rx, it’s actually a shout out to some of the best animation information online, Spline Doctors

It Really was a Scary Thang

I did make some time to devote to my shot on Saturday. This is after I worked 13 straight days 12 hours a day, except Saturday. Ha, we finished the work early and I got to go home and work on my shot.

I didn't get a lot done, I am still in stepped mode, but I am at the point where I will smooth it this week. I have the major mouth movements in. I have the breakdowns in, and Nathaniel has the Spock t-shirt on.

Click the spock picture below to check out the new blocking.

Tranquilization

So here’s my second pass at blocking out this shot. I don’t usually write about my workflow, so here goes.



For this shot the first thing I did, obviously, was pick an audio clip. I wrote out the dialogue on a piece of paper and kept it in my wallet for about 3 days. I thought about the dialogue a lot. Every time I opened my wallet that little piece of paper was staring at me. I learned it through and through. I tried to get a feeling for what could be going on in the head of the character.

Then, during those first 3 days, I jotted down different situations for the setting and location of the scene. I had some pretty stupid ideas, including:

-Bishop resting on a shrink’s couch, spilling his guts

-Bishop hanging (torture/dungeon style, shackled with chains) talking to a skeleton Bishop hanging next to him

-Bishop in a cop car, talking to the police from the backseat

There were more, those are the ones I am remembering right now. I thought about these situations and quickly sketched out poses to see if it would work. When I thought about the pill popping scene, ideas just flowed and it felt like that would be the best way to go.

I sketched out some quick thumbs for what I was thinking. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted then.

Then I wrote Nathaniel Hornblower's story. Well, actually it was just a brainstorm. I didn't even consider writing it out in paragraph form until I saw fellow AMer Aja B's write-up of her character. I thought hers was great and I figured I'd put Nathaniel's story down also.

Next I broke out the video camera and shot some reference. From here, my first poses and thoughts on the shot changed. I did things in the videos that worked better than my initial poses, so I went with those. I had about 30 minutes worth of video footage when I was done.

I took that footage to the computer. Found some golden poses and sketched those in photoshop with the wacom, yes they were terrible sketches.

Then I posed out bishop in Maya, fiddled with the timing, playblasted and had Ike and my fellow AM students look at it. I had a ton of great comments this week. Ike had some really great ideas on how to push it a little more. I didn’t have the swallow in there on my first pass, that was Ike’s idea, he had a few more gems that I have implemented also. Ike kicks ass btw.

Anyway, that’s where I am with the shot right now. My next phase is going to be the inbetweens, and I am putting my head around what to do with his mouth right now. If I have time I will start smoothing this week. I am currently working (my real job) 7-12 hour shifts. So every day I have to be at work at noon and I get out at midnight. Not much time for my wife and son, or animation or anything. I think I have two weeks of this, they keep extending the deadline. I can’t wait to work a 40 hour week again.

They're at it Again

Totally worthy cause, totally stand up guys putting it all together. The most amazing thing is they are world wide now.

Please GIVE it, if you have it.

The Aliens Really Did, They Really....Did

Here's the synopsis:

Nobody believes Nathaniel Hornblower's story. He insists he was taken into an alien spaceship just 6 months ago. He claims they performed strange experiments on him and probed his body for days at a time. Only to release him after two weeks, because they believe he is too valuable to the human race to keep him for their own.

He explained, in detail, the alien spaceship where he was confined. Although any Star Wars fan would surely know he was describing the Millennium Falcon. What with it's quad blasters and inability to enter hyperspace.

His story is full of holes. There's no evidence he's ever been an hour from home. There's no evidence of probes or any scarring. Nathaniel has been known to make up stories to tell his friends. He has seen many psychologists and they pretend to believe his story. They continually try to convince him that he has never been abducted, to no avail. If he continues to believe his own story they will lock him up in a mental institution. He's hallucinogenic, he's psychotic, and he could have a dangerous outburst at any time. The doctors have prescribed him tranquilizers, to keep him in a pleasant state. And did I mention how much he loves these pills?

This brings us to today. His buddy shows up at his house, he hasn't seen his buddy since the *abduction*. So it's time to fill his buddy in with all the details.

Here's my vid ref.


I am going with the first clip in that video. I liked the one where I dumped the pills out and sorted them, but I really think the first one is the most natural looking clip.

I talked to Ike about the direction I am going to take with it. He thinks the tranquilizer bottle will work well for a prop. He also told me to check out a shot in Monsters Inc. where a monster is being interviewed, after the human sighting at the restaurant. I watched it, there are a few interviewees and it's great stuff.

And yeah, if you have been abducted by aliens and you are offended by my soundbite or acting.....please, have a tranquilizer.

"when i was captured it was, it was really….. it really was a scary thing and, and the aliens really did…...... they really, they really….. did, do things to my genitalia."
- Adam Yauch (Beastie Boys Anthology DVD)
"Sabotage [Ciao L.A. Skit]"

Trick or Treat

Some have called him the cutest Pittsburgh Steeler ever. I have to agree.