Robot Wrestling

Ages ago, right - AGES ago - Curtis Jobling (of Bob The Builder and Frankenstein's Cat fame) gave me a few doodles he'd er, doodled, of something called "Robot Wrestling". A couple of friends and I were going to bring it into existence as very short 3D interstitials packed full of cartoon violence. That fell by the wayside, and the project fell off my radar.

Anyway, last week I stumbled across Curtis' sketches again and knocked up this rough teaser for it.



Having watched it back now with fresh eyes, it's a bit lifeless. But I need to work on LBOM now!

2009 mini-reel, "LBOM" and "Surrogates" work

It's been a while since I posted anything but I have actually been busy!

I'm currently working (and have been doing so for two years!) on a Flash-animated music video for Danny Fontaine and the Horns Of Fury's song Little Bit of Mean (or LBOM). It's four minutes long and I've been working on it in the background, when I wasn't busy with anything else. It's nearly complete now and I'd like it done in the next few weeks, but that's dependent entirely on whether anything else crops up.

The video recreates various instances of people being MEAN from pop culture and history, and replaces frontman Danny Fontaine as the antagonist in those scenes. Some such scenes can be seen in this mini-reel I knocked up recently for an MA application, along with my Animation Mentor work.



Click here for direct youTube link.

Over the summer I did some work with Brickyard VFX in Boston, Mass. I did some 3D modelling and texturing of some buildings in Boston for the film a Surrogates starring Bruce Willis, which is set in the city. The film is based on an awesome graphic novel of the same name, which I highly recommend, and is out worldwide in a couple of weeks.

Now that LBOM is almost done, I'll have things to post here more often, so please check back and thanks for reading!

Animation Mentor Dialogue shot

(Click here for direct Youtube link.)

So this is my first dialogue shot* on Animation Mentor, I finished** it a couple of weeks ago but forgot to post it.


*I say "dialogue", it's a monologue really isn't it, cos there's only one character.

**I say "finished", it could do with a tad more polishing...

Thanks for reading!

Beatles run cycles

First blocking passes of cartoony runs for The Beatles in the "Meet The Beatles" shot I'm currently working on. Added a clip from the original cartoon series, which I used for reference (limited as it is).


Click here for direct Youtube video.

Thanks for looking/reading/watching.

Belf.

The Beatles get Animation Mentored

This is the title card of a 20-second short I'm making. Just because.. y'know. :)

It should be done by the time I start Animation Mentor Class 4 in two weeks. It's mainly the autograph shot I didn't quite finish in Class 3, finished up, added to, and dressed up all pretty.

I wonder if I'm allowed to use The Beatles' music as a soundtrack, legally... anyone?

Classic animation backgrounds

I'm stealing them.

With respect, of course.

In an effort to visually differentiate my upcoming Animation Mentor reel slightly from everybody else's, I've taken some classic animation backgrounds from films such as 101 Dalmations and early shorts like The Skeleton Dance, and used them as backgrounds in my 3D shots. Here's an example:



(Click here for direct Youtube link.)

Thanks for reading!

Temporary animation mini-reel

I've never had enough animation to have a showreel before.

I mean, I still don't - this mini-reel is made up of unfinished AM shots so far. It's just a test really, to see how it plays out and how much I can get out of my AM work so far, time-wise. About a minute, it turns out. But, I quite like it. When the shots are finished (very soon!) it'll be nice and concise, I think. Thoughts welcome.


Click here for direct Youtube link.

Thanks for reading.