Bangers

Feedback would be very welcome, including big changes if you think it needs them. :)

Digital Rough Animation

So after a long learning curve trying to animate using blocks of colour in Photoshop, I eventually decided to abandon the animation and start again and this was where I was at. I learned a ton in the first attempt, especially that although drawing from the inside out is a great exercise to loosen you up in life drawing, animators begin with line in 2d for a reason. It is infinitely easier to correct mistakes and watch that the edges of your character are behaving the way they should. Even if I make a design using block colour in the future, it will be animated in rough lines first.
      Perhaps it took a long time to figure out something so straightforward, but there were a great many more lessons about animating in Photoshop that were well learned along the way.

A Little Progress

Early Animation Test

The Boy: Update

I think I'm ready to get started, the turnaround is not quite there, but I've got a good feeling about how I can do the structure. As Pere Callahan says in The Dark Tower, "It's close enough for government work."

The Boy

Before the animation begins I have to nail down the details for the boy so he is recognisable from second to second. This stage is hard for me as the burden for getting it right is heavy. Apart from how he expresses himself, the boy as I draw him now will be the same as for the last frame much further down the road.

My Norway

Edinburgh is fiddly, I feel like Slartibartfast with his fjords.

The Beginning

The first stage for creating backgrounds for this film is to lay down the black ink. The under-drawing was done in pencil and traced through using pen and paintbrush on a lightbox.

The Animatic

Our rough draft of the film. A great help for planning as it serves many purposes; to communicate something of what the final film will be, as a reminder of the vision we began with and to begin to nail down big creative decisions like pace and colour.

Uniquely this early draft also contains an early version of the score and we are lucky enough to move forward with the music already sketched out.

Red Woman

A slightly fleshed out Red Woman. Hopefully they will all look individual, but what they will all have in common is a glint of torchlight in their eyes and a great white smile against their red skin.

The Real Thing

I think I was fortunate to miss Beltane 2011, the festival that provides the main inspiration for the film. Sometimes the subject is so interesting in itself that imposing your own point of view onto it would seem to diminish it. By keeping my distance, I hope I will be able to communicate the spirit of what I remember, whilst not being slavishly descriptive. Above are a selection of the amazing photography available from the festival's website.

Anatomy Lessons

For those curious about what is going on under a blue man's kilt.