'Showtime' animation starts to progress...

The animation was becoming too clean, too quickly. It was meaning that the animation wasn't flowing or free enough, and was almost becoming a chore. So between now and the next couple of weeks, it's back to good old blue lines and more of a rough look to achieve the more detailed animation that I want before outlining and cleaning can happen.

So heres a sequence that has been roughed so far to give an idea of the animation and final look of the film...

 

It feels now that I am enjoying the process more, feeling more free and creative with the characters and it means that the animation can all be seen in rough for any tweaks to be made before outlining and finalysing.

A loyal companion for the 'Showtime' master...

 

Here's another little sneak peek at the animation for 'Showtime' so far. Here, the Master recieves his loyal sidekick - not that he necessarily asked for one... 

 

It's 'Showtime' for the Master...

 

Just though I'd give you a sneak peek at 'Showtime' so far -

Here the master is introduced, much to his surprise, but little does he know just what lies ahead for him...

 

 

There are still little tweaks and alterations to be made to the animation, but it shows the final style that I want for the whole film, so gave a chance to see how it would look and how much time it would take to achieve.

Dinamo work experience: The Lingo Show...

This week has been a week of work experience at Dinamo Animation Studios in Cardiff, and I have had the privilage to complete two small scenes of Flash character animation for them on their CBeebies show, 'The Lingo Show', as well as try out the software, CelAction 2d. It was an amazing week that gave me well needed insight into the workings of a studio and a professional project, and showed me that simple is often best, and only to animate what is truly neccesary.

But everybody there was great, really friendly and helpful, and it was a great chance to spruce up some of my Flash animation skills. The next thing to look forward to now is getting the scenes on TV! I'm going to be glued to CBeebies for the next 4 months...

it's finally 'Showtime'...

Over the past few weeks, 'Showtime' has gone through alot of change and adaption, in story and style- elements have been trimmed, sequences have been added, and it may now turn out to be kept sketchy and black and white, the colour coming from the pencil throughout the film, keeping the drawn style and letting the sketchy style of the character stand out and become the main focus.

But I feel now, we're beggining to get somewhere. The story is heading closer and closer towards being finalysed, and the film is all roughed and ready to start finalysing animation wise.

 

Here are a few stills from the film so far that are cleaned and in a style that I feel is final and I am happy with to carry throughout the full film...

The scenes from here are finalysed, yet still in need of a white block colour behind the characters to stop the backgrounds from showing through them...

 



A pencil for Showtime'...

 

A pencil is a pencil, so for this film, with it being almost a character in itself, it has to stand out and be seen and remembered...

 

'Showtime' returns to the spotlight...

So christmas is gone for another year, and it's back to Showtime...

 

At the minute, I'm still a little unsure on the look of the final film, so I am experimenting with looks and styles a little further. This style is being tried with various subtle differences, and these are some of those that turned out the best...