AM Class 4 Weeks 4-7: "How I feel."

Here's a Halfway Mark check-in with the development of my first ever dialogue shot.

Out of about 20 clips and 3 I presented to David this is the chosen Audio. 

Sound Familiar? Hopefully not. It's from Iron Man 2.

Below is my first pass at Reference with all three of my submitted dialogues. 

I'm sharing them all because I had fun acting them out. They're very different. Plus I wanted to show off my range, as well as my costumes. ; D

Audio breakdowns:

Clip 1: Feel (Iron Man 2)

A man in jail confesses his crime to his victim. 

Clip 2: Ingenious (Amadeus) 

A college music professor is resisting the changing times by stunting his promising students growth as a composer.

Clip 3: Forever (Kiss of the Spider Woman)

A man on a Hawaiian vacation with his lady walks into a restaurant to find her kissing another man.  

This week was also accompanied with a pair of contrasting beat facial expressions.

These were designed off of the Jail scenario of clip one. 

David Tarts's Critiques: 

Good choices of dialogue 

Clip 3 was chosen for its dynamic delivery and wide contrast of emotions as well as it's relative obscurity.

Video reference would have to be redone to include subtext and emotion beat planning. 

Shown here: 

Here's my 2nd round of Reference:

A younger brother is flaunting his new dominance over his older brother after he inherits their used to be shared room. 

David Tart is a proponent of using cylindrical robotic figures for thumbnails to help translate the poses into 3 dimensions.

Here are my Block forms based on the round 2 reference 

David Tarts's critique: 

0) for the thumbnails be sure to start with your line of action to help make clearer poses. 

1) fix the growing head problem in the camera view. : )

2) instead of forcing the contrast of happiness and rage to make a crazy character, make the change to show that rage starting when he says "good." Let him get suddenly cold and then go crazy with rage. 

3) don't hide the eyebrows by throwing the head back. 

4) be sure to Hit the emphasized words you've highlighted from the dialogue analysis. 

- this will ensure your animation and dialogue are in sync with each other emotionally. 

5) get rid of the empty space in your camera view. 

New Reference to get the sudden coldness and rage poses. 

Updated Blocking:

Rather than driving myself crazy adjusting my already made poses, I chose to start over from scratch. 

David Tart's Critique:

0) good changes in the blocking incorporating the more aggressive beats. 

1) too profile, move camera slightly to get more 3/4 face. 

2) Widen camera so he's not getting cut off when he stands up. 

3-7) specific pose adjustments 

8) Next: focus on anticipations. 

9) Again: Hit the accents. Especially in the first line "I" and "stuff"

10) Overall good facial expressions. 

Now for the personal stuff: 

"How I feel"

Ever since my tour of the Disney Studio in the summer I've been living under the incredible weight of what animation can be and the fight it would be to rise to that level where the work becomes worthwhile.
Then I'm faced with the question "shouldn't the work be worth while in itself? To experience the joy of bringing a meaningful performance to life for others to enjoy and experience?" I am so inspired by the idea of animation and it's potential but the work is feeling more and more outside my grasp. Is this burn out or simply a turn on my life path? I'm not certain. Maybe both.

I'm applying for transfer for Fall '13 to get my Bachelor's degree in something, and I'm under the impression this is a life or death choice. If i choose the wrong major my life will go into irreparable damage.  This is an exaggeration. Everybody experiences life differently and every experience adds to your richness as a person, but when you want to be an artist and are judged on the work you do when it takes years and years to develops the skills to contend in the job market, then spending years and years learning something you may or may not use sets one back years of unemployment to remain in dependency. Why can't I be as supportive of my own choices as my parents are? Do I feel like, because they will support anything I choose it's my responsibility to play devils advocate to myself?

We all must develop the skills to weigh our options and make choices. Why then am I crumbling under the pressure of making all my choices at once? If I slow down and make one choice at a time.

Take AM Class 5 or take a LOA
Apply to Cal Arts or not this year?
Keep auditioning for shows and taking acting classes or focus on animation alone while I can.
Make the choice every day to be open minded to the opportunities I'm presented with as they appear.
- or letting myself seamlessly drift in the direction that I've set up for myself years ago.
Do I want turkey or Bacon on my subway sandwich?

Then my life will be smoother and more manageable. We all have the power to be present in our lives. I mistake presence for control. I can't force my way into a successful future but I can be present and aware of what makes me happy, who fills my life with joy and meaning, and what kind of work offers me both challenge and accomplishment.  I can't control who, what, or where will make me happy but I can control how I experience my life and my will to keep following the song that calls to me.

It just happens to lead through very flowery language.

Forever present, that is how I choose to feel.

Thanks for reading, hope you got as much out of it as I did. : )
--Max

AM Class 3 Weeks 7-12: Flow

Flow is something you observe when watching the fluid movements of  Tai Chi. It is also a word used by Happiness Scientists to express when someone is in "the zone," or a heightened sense of awareness and fulfillment. Here's a record of my last six weeks of pursuing both of those forms of flow.

Animation Mentor 

Class 3 with Mike Gasaway

Shot Progression.

Step 1: Video Reference and Thumbnails

Step 2: 2D Blocking Pass

Step 3: CG Blocking Pass

Step 4: Blocking Pass 2

Step 4.5: Extra Video Reference

Step 5: Blocking Plus

Step 6: Polish

PS Flow is also my favorite animal spelled backwards. 

Thanks for following,
--Max

AM Class 3 Week 5 + 6 - A Bit of a Stretch

Well, it's been a couple of weeks and boy have things happened.

1. The last week of Critical Thinking Class didn't kill me with three consecutive papers, and I found out today my final grade for the class is an A. 

2. Footloose the Musical is going strong and selling out.

3. Got cast in my next show, the Fantasticks, with an unlikely part, Mortimer the Cockney Native American.

4. And best for last ... Thanks to his amazingly talented son, who is also staring in Footloose, Chris Buck, the Director of Disney's upcoming feature "Frozen," lead me on a personal tour of the Disney Animation Studio in Burbank!

Geeking out with my guest pass.

Me, Chris Buck, and the Studio

And now that I'm free of classes, motivated, and inspired here's my animation from the past two and 1/2 weeks.

Here's my current work in progress:

Biggest note- SPACING

Two solutions I was given by my mentor:

1. Change the spacing by altering the "Poses." Have them favor one side of the action.

2. If spacing issues persist, Move the keys around, take away inbetweens.

One instance of the spacing issue is in the steps. They must land faster, like the character's weight is shifting into a fall that the foot needs to catch.

Submitted Blocking-Plus Pass:

...and as a Bonus here's the Squash and Stretch blocking that didn't get submitted... ; )

(Bit of a Stretch don't you think?)

The AM news week 6 featured a great example of "cartooney" style animation and I was inspired to give it a try. However, my peers reeled me back in (Pun intended.)

and...

Submitted Blocking (11 Story Poses) :

If bare bones blocking was the goal some of these poses could have been removed , but I was just thinking "under 12 poses."

Some things I learned from the Tour:

1. ~"Keying everything can get messy"

2. Cal Arts is back on my radar as a college to apply to.

3. You don't have to be a writer to be a story artist if you can build on a small idea and make it entertaining.

4. Blocking a shot is more than building fixed poses, it's breaking down movement. 

5. (Reinforced) You have to know the broad basics to do subtle acting.  

Lastly, here's some reference for Shot 3 - Tai Chi:

The goal is to use spacing to vary the motion and engage the viewer through the whole shot.

Balance will be important.

Fluid overlapping actions.

Breaking down a motion instead of "Posey" animation.

Thanks for stopping bye,

--Max : )

AM Class 3 Weeks 3 + 4: Inbetween

Here's my submitted Shot for week 4.

What I learned: 

#1: Don't wait to press on in the assignement. 

Waiting for direction from my mentor stopped me from working Sunday through Tuesday. That's half my work week.

I could have gotten much more done if I had been bold enough to do what I knew needed to be done.

#2: Working with props? Plan accordingly. 

- The box I was working with was merely posed in place during Blocking and Blocking plus. As soon as I began the transition into linear and splined curves the box began to show a life of it's own.

That's when I chose to constrain the box to a hand. This late choice took up most of my polishing time, and could have been prepared earlier if I had made that transition earlier; say after Blocking with story telling poses. 

#3: Tween Key is a tremendously helpful tool.

- Tween Key takes two neighboring key poses and invents a new key directly in between those first two. Allows a much quicker work flow. One thing I did overlook using the Tween Key was the definition in the feet. 

#4: Blocking Plus is the time to define the feet hands, pathways and arcs. 

- Instead of blindly in betweening keys it would have been more productive to analyze where those breakdowns were most needed to clarify the movement. 

Below are the earlier versions of my Box lift shot.

above: submitted week 3 Blocking Plus
below: Mid week Blocking Plus-Plus

And now for my 2nd Class 3 shot!...

Planning for next week: JUMP SHOT

Video Reference:

Thumbnails (Story telling poses)

More Thumbnails with a Shot layout image and costume description. 

Just for fun I traced the arcs during the fancy jump. Note the figure eight in the extending arm. 

Learned: Red Markers are the toughest to clean off my screen. 

Fun stuff in store this week. 

I'm excited for this shot, but still trying to find the balance with my current work load outside of animation.

Footloose the Musical is in full swing and is going very well. Now that we're in show mode there are less rehearsals and more time to animate. 

My Critical thinking Summer school class is also in full swing and expanding in the work load. This is the first class I can recall having to write a 10 page paper for. Love the content of the class. Do wish there was more time to absorb new information. 

My birthday was also this week. Felt lots of love from friends and family. I'm so grateful to have so many loving people in my life who accept me despite my schedule craziness. 

That's all for this week and thanks for stopping by,

--Max

Class 3 Weeks 1+2: A Little Pick-Me-Up

Hey There,

Well Class 3 is under way and after a Q+A swap I became a student of the amazing Mike Gasaway.

"Make something simple look complex."

These were words of advice for planning our first class 3 shot.

And so...bring on the Box Lift!

Index:
1. Video Reference
2. Thumbnails
3. Pre-Blocking
4. Blocking Pass (with Mike G's limit)
5. Outside Commitments

1. SO MUCH REFERENCE!

Some fun takes that I really enjoyed, but everyone's feedback recommended a heavier box, and the heavier the box the less fancy I could get with the takes. I kept filling the box with books until the box was so heavy, or I was so tired, that I could only perform a basic box lift.

Here's my selected reference:



- Some good use of traveling forward and back as well as side to side.
- Get to throw the box!
- Good for demonstrating weight, balance, and force.

2. Thumbnails

Simple drawing with specific notes on the movement
- Drawing the pathways of feet and hands was something I learned to include in my thumbnails.




3. Pre Blocking

Something I found useful,

a Blocking Pass with no timing.

The idea is that peers can easily flip through the keyframes and check the poses. This works because the AM Public review sections allow frame by frame flipping.

4. Blocking:

Mike Gasaway's instructions were to use only 8-12 different keys to tell our story. This limit was to get us thinking about Story Telling Poses, a unit more basic then key poses.

Some steps are missing, but I was able to focus on greater detail with less poses.

5. These first two weeks have been tough having to balance many different responsibilities. In addition to Animation Mentor I'm also taking a summer school course in reading and composition, playing the lead in a professional production of Footloose the Musical, and working as a designer and programmer for my college Marquee. Everything takes time, and some things have taken a backseat to larger priorities, but all in all everything has worked out pretty harmoniously. All my homework is getting done, my lines and dances are getting memorized, my work is on schedule, and my AM work is showing signs of improvement. 

I guess with everything going on, I needed a little Pick-me-up.

Thanks for stopping by.

--Max

Many thanks and gratitude to the AM Technical Support Staff.

This week wouldn't have happened without them.

Uhh...Houston, We have a problem.

Class 2 weeks 8-12 Just keep Pulling

Hey There,

I've been on break from AM for almost a week and it's time to get pumped.

What better way can that be done then to recap my last assignment from Class 2

Here's the final shot Submitted in Week 12

First Spline Pass

Blocking Plus 

Original Blocking

The most interesting things about the making of this shot were:

1. Keeping my ego in check when your Mentor's ideas are better then your original ones.

2. Exaggeration, Exaggeration, Exaggeration.

3. Playing to the camera.

4. Working in a cartoony style.

Looking at this shot and my previous dance shot, I realize, so far, I like my blocking passes better then my finals.
Something seems to get lost when I go into spline. It becomes smooth with very little texture, as apposed to blocking, which is naturally sharp and surprising.
It is very likely that what I'm seeing is me not attending to my timing and spacing, while trying to build appealing poses, and smooth transitions between poses.

This Term, Class 3, I will bring more attention to poses early on, so I can focus on the timing and spacing as my work progresses from blocking to animation.

Variety, texture, and entertainment value. Those are the goals.

Thanks for stopping by,
--Max

"Yeah, thanks for visiting. Next time bring milk."

Class 2 Week 8: Animating is HEAVY business

Hello friends and friends of animation,

Last week was a pretty rough week, and this week it seems I thrive in that kind of pressure.

In this Blog (Index):

- Last weeks E-critique

- This weeks Distractions

- Revision of Dance Shot

- Last minute Panic

- Getting Organized

- New Planning Sketches

- 1st Blocking pass

- 2nd Blocking Pass

- What I learned this week

- New Maya Layout

In my ecritique I was given the advice to focus on reversing curves in this shot. since last week my planning was all very one note:

See.

This is what Scott Lemmer suggested. Like it? I do. : )

So what do I do with this information?...

I sat on it all week and let myself get swept up in other priorities:

1) Directing a scene from Farragut North for school

2) Rehearsals for Footloose the Musical

3) Making time for friends

and

4) Revising my shot from last week.

Scotts notes:

- Tone down the head bobs

- Make the last jump higher.

Course I waited till Saturday to get organized on my new shot, and I realized what was in my way.

I needed to redo my planning.

Now I think "duh!", but before, I felt I could simply change a few poses around. So I go back to my video reference and my keys that I selected (there's like 24 of them), and it also dawns on me how intricate my shot is (five little steps+ hand positioning) It looked super simple but to include every high, and low, of the hips, and each foot, and the head would take me more time and organization then I had given myself. 

So I made a list:

4:30-5:30: redraw Planning

5:31-6:30: Block Poses

6:31-7:30: Timing Pass

7:31-8:30: Dinner

8:31-9:30: Refine/ Fill in Poses and Timing

-After this I will always make a schedule before diving into work-

Here is my new Planning sketches:

That's it; one page, seven poses. 

Much more efficient and appealing then the 3 page- 24 pose- same curve planning from last week. 

What's more, I like the results.

Here's my Shot after an hour of Posing, and an hour for Timing: 

After dinner I was able to go back with fresh eyes, and refined by adding a few anticipation poses (and changing the background to a warm olive green):

This week I learned:

- It's okay to back track

- Good planning makes a good shot

- Schedule your time to get the most out of it.

- Always draw over planning sketches in dark pen if you want it to show in the picture.

- Variation is appealing

- Sometimes in Planning and Blocking "less is more."

- For me, putting aside 2-3 solid hours for work is better than 6 days of scattered work time.

I also found a layout that worked for me:

Left Camera:

-"Shot camera"

- Locked

- Curves are hidden

- Grey Frame

-Info Bar

Right Camera:

- "Work Camera"

- Movable

- Visible curve.

- Where I make all the pose adjustments.

When I get into animation I'll open up a third panel on the bottom for the graph editor.

Thanks for reading,

Looking forward to next week,

--Max