Stop MOTION Mission

Things learned- and Back In the Chair!!

2012-01-22T23:52:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys,

We are Officially back on LINE- Me and Shel have been spending some ART time repairing Our stars for some acting in their new upcoming shots....

Dry clay and broken fingers repaired.....Dober and Flea are ready again for Action....

Here is the first Failed shot of my return to the Film- BUT- it was a FUN......

I was really unhappy with the performance and too many tech problems to use the shot...........So....I am looking at the shot as a block and an opportunity to do it better...

so..........I have been back on the computer for 2 weeks now and I am truly sad to not be touching my characters and working with real sets.....

I have to tell you guys........ I am Dearly missing working in Stopmotion and at LAIKA

Sigh.....

BUT- I feel that the work on LINE will start feeding my soul again...and the excitement of working on our film will .....fill that void....until I get back.

One thing that working at LAIKA made me really wana do is get that camera Moving......

It of course complicates the shots .....but it adds tons too.....so we are going to try and mix in alot more camera moves for the remaining film.

This is gona be FUN to design and we will share it here.

Some -LAIKA Lessons-

so......on my 2 day drive back HOME from Portland......I really had time to reflect on the lessons learned from PARANORMAN....

1.FEATURE Stopmotion animation is REALLY REALLY .......REALLY HARD....

2.Make sure you Have good shoes- cushy floor pads

- and try to sit down when you can....healthy FEET are super important in this field.

3. When getting directed- Take good notes

....and do your best to give them what they want- even if the puppets try to take you elsewhere....which happens...

4. Even though you feel time constraints pressuring you-

Make sure you have a very clear idea BEFORE you start animating

- you can always improvise if the puppets start pulling.....knowing where your going saves soooo much more time than what you invest into planning.

5.Make sure your puppets are capable of the Poses you dream up- Test your poses before hand....

working with real puppets creates REAL limitations.

5.5. When you are planning your animation visualize-time out your .........what I call {HangTime Moments}

this is when your spacing gets small like at the top of the ball bounce-{For any part of the body}

I tended to speed through them when I first switched to 1's.......I just wasn't HANGING long enough in those bits coming from 2's......and When I started pre visualizing them I was able to create enough frames to read properly....

6. STUDY- the other Animators work -

soooooo much to learn from all the VETS -Alot can be discovered by framing through their succesfull animations.....and their - RARE - failures.

7. Keep Inspired!!!!!!!!!!

The DAY to Day of creating HIGH Quality animation in such a HIGH stress- HYPER Focused - ZONE - can be incredibly Draining......Remember to juice up with your fellow artists amazing work

....It really is just like a SHOT in the vein...seeing the amazing work....and it can keep you moving

8.When giving a time quote for a shot -It always takes longer than you think-add in time for all the unexpected LONG setup-camera- broken puppets- rigging-you name it

...you OFTEN-{90% of the time} lose time in animating if you don't prepare for that in you Quote.

9. Dont try to copy-roto- your Rehearsal shots -In transfering to 1's - this can often stifle you in trying to match.......use it as a guide--and concentrate on finding your FLOW

......flow is sooo important.....

10. Sit back every once and a while - and take it ALL in......

- because it is a JOB- because its a HIGH pressured job......make sure to not miss the moments in between - Sit back and really look at where you are at -Look at the Powerfull Puppets- Sets and ART you are surrounded by....Its Inspiring!!! .....try not to lose sight of that.

11. Eyelines are so important on the BIG SCREEN and even more in stopmotion puppets......

make sure they are clear....and if you have any doubt- BRING in a 2nd pair of eyes to confirm......director even if needed.

more to come...

Tricks of the week-

Shamus at SkyHigh-

Danger room Swing Globe Challenge-

2 step wall flip-just started workin on this one....Ill get it very soon

jriggity

END of A GRAND ADVENTURE!!!!

2012-01-01T23:52:00.001-08:00

Hey Guys!!

After a 9 months Journey in Portland - a DREAM COME TRUE........

I am HOME.....

To Explain what this experience was to me.........

You know when a Kid says something like -I wana be an Astronaut ..........Heavy Weight Boxing Champion of the World

....Or....... I wana be a Dancer -Artist- Football player, Scientist, make movies???

ANYTHING ????

and then........

................. Having it actually come TRUE

like wanting something from when you were in that YOUNG Magical place in a child's imagination.......

......WOW!!

I as a kid watched movies like most kids did-

like - Clash Of The Titans- Secret of Nimh -Jason and the Argonauts-Pinochio-Star Wars series-Land Before Time-Dark Crystal-Robocop's-Terminator-Nightmare Before Christmas-Wallace and Gromit-Countless sci fi-horror -Monsters created through the magic of Stopmotion animation and The Hand made FX Arts of the 80's.

I wanted to create that same magic I saw in those films.......but that as a career didn't have much life after the invention of CG.....So ....I went CG.......and having worked in cg animation for so long.

I NEVER thought I would be a part of a hand made -Miniature -STOPMOTION Animated Feature Film!!!!

DANG.....just typing it gives me goosebumps.

Well......It just happened and I got to work with the most talented bunch of folks I have ever been around in my entire career.

The Pure SCALE and QUALITY of the Production was pretty much astonishing to my country

boy CG eyes.....

I am definitely changed FOREVER having been a part of the film......

I worked harder than I ever have......and My Growth as an animator was Contant and PAINFULL.....stretching growth....

ha!!

The biggest reward in working on this film ....was the fact that EVERY SHOT.....I did my VERY best that I could possibly do at my current skill level........

In my career I have often had to make sacrifices in the quality of my work do to TIME constraints and schedules to meet. ...

This has always been very frustrating to me........ but I have understood the need in a production and budget to move fast ..........

so having tasted the fruit of a studio that demands the very best as well as supporting the Artists in making it happen.......It is all I want in my Artistic Future.........

LIFE Changing stuff...............I will continue to work in CG for a few more years and then we will be moving to Portland to make a NEW Life in the Feature Stopmotion Animation world....

More News and a Breakdown of Lessons learned to come!!

Trick Of the Week-

Dad's back in the Gym with my latest TOY.

Shels Knee is Back in action!!

She is flyin again.

jriggity

3 weeks and Counting

2011-12-03T23:38:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys!

Line News-Dober Giving Flea the HAND-

so close to going HOME guys.....I cant wait...I had a great Thanksgiving with the family.....and as much as I love doing this work up at LAIKA I did not want to get back on that plane. I am ready to be home.....

I have my old CG Job at Superbot Entertainment

waiting for me......Wooo Hooo!! The game is gona be great guys and I am predicting it to be the Biggest Hit of my career so far....SONY is gona Push it BIGtime - Plus its SOOOPER FUN!!!

I also have a SUPER cool - TV Show- Secret gig -that is in the works

I will reveal as it comes to life!!

LAIKA news-

I am 5 approved shots in my Final sequence on Paranorman......4 or 5 ta go...

The directors have been happy with my shots and its looking like its going to come together Nicely.....

In fact during one of my shots a couple weeks back I got a set visit from Neil Gaiman which was very cool.

He got to see my set and some of my animation work........and I was honored to have him come by and take a look.

I also Found out I might get to be a part of the Making of Book being created for Paranorman. ...as well as some DVD special features.....Woooo Hooooo!!!!

This is really exciting for me because I have always watched/read-

behind the scenes/DVD special features and Making of books

from my childhood till now.

I always look at the people involved as almost superhero's. Its hard to believe that I could be in one too.....WOW....

Plus its something I can send to Grandma and she can be proud of her Grandson...That means so much to me!!

I have had my continued 6 day work weeks and well over 60 hour work weeks....so I am really needing some chill time when I come back to town.....Definitely not much of my non work time is open for anything but sleep

...but I am making the sacrifice to Ensure the sequence gets finished before I leave.

The Film is coming along just as amazingly as before.....shot after shot of Incredible acting and animation. ....Paranorman on facebook has been releasing some early behind the scenes pics as well. This is nice to see .....plus I can share some of them here.

I am really going to miss being part of a Feature Film production.....but I know I will return again in the FUTURE

......This is just the Start of my Long term FEATURE Journey.

I have been learning Tons- not just in my animation work lately - puppet Silicone use

- RP construction and use

- and animatable hair for puppets

...

I am taking advantage of all this knowledge to prep for our next puppet....and some High level acting I want the puppet be capable of....

I will share with you guys my first experiments in RapidPrototype....as i get it all worked out.

Trick Of the Week-

Bronco challenge.

jriggity

CTN EXPO- And - Rhinohouse.com

2011-11-17T22:28:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys!

just had to drop a Plug for my Animation Brother {John Kim}

John has been Working in animation - Video games for 14 years and has created some of the most famous games in the Biz- Crash Bandicoot

- Jak and Daxter

-The Uncharted series

- He is an awesome animator and an inspiring friend-

Here is his Incredible Side BIZ- and Awesome site -http://www.rhinohouse.com/

In the Huge Range of animation he has done ......his long career...... He spent a bunch of years collecting and organizing reference for animators.....

SO..... He put all of his collected reference together and created an amazing site specifically set up for animators.

http://www.rhinohouse.com/

Rhino House is at CTN this week

and you should all Stop by if your there and say hey- ........ no matter what though -check out the site- everything from Tigers to Kids set up just for animators to study.... incredible reference!!!

check it out and join...worth every penny...Pass the word..

justin

In My Element- HOME RUN!!

2011-11-12T22:27:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!!

LINE -News- Looking so forward to getting back to the family and finishing the film ....Dober Grabs his tool for some repairs-

LAIKA news-

I just finished a great and demanding couple of weeks at work.....and I done Good guys -I hit a real live Home Run......

Caarrraacak!!!!

and the story begins....

so......I am working every Saturday untill I leave this Christmas....that is after a 55hour average week...PRE 5-10 hour Saturdays ....pretty hard on the feet.

I am leaving about a month earlier than was originally planned so I am working these saturdays for 2 reasons.

1. To make sure LAIKA doesn't get shafted out of my scheduled time of work-

2. To make sure I get to animate and have as much ownership of my THESIS - Sequence...as possible...If not most ALL....

This is the Sequence as I hinted at In my last post.....It is a HUGE responsibility and the People involved with the film all expected it to be nothing short of AMAZING!!

In Fact the sequence was Originally supposed to go to the Man himself-Travis -That was WAY more than enough to make me Quake in My boots.

Travis is Hands Down the Most Amazing Sooper Natural Stopmotion Animator I have ever seen in my life!!

So.....First things First- I spent a week in a Test Station just getting an Idea How the Character Moved-I had only animated a very Simple shot of him thus far- and only from the waist up.

He is a Thick Puppet with very short legs- Here is a Pic of Him from the Teaser.

After a Day of just Posing him and Getting briefed by the Directors-Animation Supervisor- on what they want to see in the scene.

I Did what I do.....researched and Played with that puppet-

I had a bunch of sketches I did of some poses I liked -I had the Animatic to draw from-and I started to build a map of KEY Moments-Poses to Hit- that would work in the sequence...

I then after choosing My KEY Poses I started to think about my Transitions between the Poses{BREAKDOWNS} Ultra Important part of making that animation magic.

Before I knew it I had it MIND-PENCIL-choreographed....and jumped right into TESTING it out on 2's and a few 3's in there...After a couple of days- I had some pretty freakin cool stuff to show.....18seconds worth.

so......I decided to take what I liked from that test...and do another one not so planned out- Improvisation- Freestyle like

....I HAD SO MUCH FUN guys!!!

I ended up with an even better piece of animation that was led by the puppet and my natural Instincts....It turned out GREAT!! In fact its some of the best work I have done at LAIKA so far....

My supervisor saw it and was very happy!! The Directors saw it and Were VERY Happy.

WORD spread quickly through the building and before I knew it I was getting Super Amazing compliments from the Best animators on the Crew all the way to the Building supervisor. It was soooooo amazing to feel like I accomplished the GOAL - Filled or maybe even Surpassed the sequence expectations....

DREAM STUFF Guys- I think My last 6 weeks could not go out on a better Note-I am doing a sequence that plays to my strengths {action-Movement} and Its allows me to leave a good sized MARK

on the film and in Laika's memory .

- one last POWERFULL note to the story- on Fridays Weeklies Party- they play the approved shots for the crew and at the very end of the sequence- POW....for the first time - I was told.

- They Played my TESTS at the weeklies -just because they were so happy with them-I was Blushin In the Dark....guys...

I got a Big BUNCH of of HIGH 5's and some great pats on the shoulder.....as well as a Great Handshake from the Directors and the statement that the animation made their week!!.........saaaausummm.

Trick of the week-

jriggity

Paranorman Goes Public!!!

2011-11-03T21:36:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

In LINE News- - Flea starting repairs on his ship....

Hope Everybody Had an Awesome Holloween-

Aedon Was a Louse....Shel made this incredible costume with her mom ....and it turned out GREAT.

I am sure most of you already have seen the teaser trailer but I HAVE to post it here as a marker of a HUGE moment for me as an animator...THE very FIRST FEATURE Animated film I have ever worked on.....DREAM CHECK {J}

Not Only is it incredibly cool for the world to finally see a few glimpses of the world we at LAIKA have been living-working in....but......... I actually have work that made the trailer. That is something I NEVER Expected in a gajillion years.

We were all gathered in the theater for A Monday Meeting with Travis Knight Introducing the teaser to a group of EAGER Laikans. With the First POW....of norman waking and the start of the music.....I GOT HUGE goosebumps right up my shoulders...

SERIOUSLY.....I was like a CHILD......watching.....one bit after another working with the music WONDERFULLY......and then.....POW.....My work...made it in the teaser.

GOOSEBUMPS again...for the second time...in the one minute....I wanted to look to my right and left and say- Thats MY Shot!!!! he heeeee heee...

but I played it cool......it ended and I just clapped...... a Real clap....with my jaw on the floor in total surprise. I had no idea what the trailer would contain or what angle they would take in the first public release.

PURE CLASS-

Not 1 word of Dialog-a truly Awesome Song that Brings you right into the world....and directly relates to our film.....and it shows tons of HIGH QUALITY without showing a thing.

I could not have been happier or more surprised on any level..

I will leave you guys with this-Paranorman- is going to be a CLASSIC- stop mo Masterpiece.

and the work on this film is going to Blow you guys away.

-cool news- GLD has won its 26th festival....still stretching his paws all over the world.

anifestrozafa2011 - All the way In Albania...we are Honored to have been chosen by them and Cant wait to share LINE with the world too.

one last thing

and I think this video that comes from LAIKA is pretty freakin cool-enjoy

http://www.laika.com/details.php?id=14&company=home

Trick of the week- Back again....

jriggity

The Last Trimester of my FEATURE adventure.

2011-10-21T21:02:00.001-07:00

Hey Guys!

here is another cut in from the fight scene. This is Right after the first trip as flea has rushed Dober. I left some of the pauses longer to allow some editing room later.

In LAIKA news-

Allmost Holloween -Laika Created Pumpkin

and I am just a few months from returning to L.A.....Jeez Time has flown by!!

I am One shot from finishing my second BIG sequence on the film......It feels very amazing to think I have come so far from my first days here. The Sequences were just storyboard animatics when I first got here....and Now they are living breathing animations....ready for the BIG SCREEN.

I am SUPER comfortable at work now.....and do not feel much stress anymore other than my feet hurting and sometimes not living up to my personal expectations.

.......Monday will put the lid on my second finished sequence.......

and next week will be my Transition to my most exciting and Challenging animations yet.

What I am Calling -MY THESIS-

Putting all I have learned and all the experience gained from my time here into This Last Piece of the Film before I return home.

I am working with a Bully character in the film.....and will be creating some very Original movements to illustrate his actions and shots.

This will be the very Heaviest responsibility to the film I have felt.

My first 2 sequences are very cool and action packed....but this latest sequence is a Crowd favorite....and I am still in disbelief that I was assigned to it.

When we have had LAIKA screenings of the film people always laugh and REALLY enjoy the comedy in this bit......so I am starting to study certain movements

....and really How I am going to translate it to the characters personality.

HOMEWORK- I am cracking out the pencil -MAYA-Youtube- and My own Body in order to be as prepared as possible for the animations ahead.

I Get an awesome new set to work with....and have been watching it in the halls come together....with excitement....Under construction.

One of my other cool bit of news and secret desires on the film was to do a shot with The Hero on his bike......I am happy that my sequence has 2 cool shots with just that. Wooo Hooo!!!

Something about kids on Bikes is very cool to me......It reminds me of many of my own adventures as a kid running free through all the neighborhoods with my trusty Bike.

Goonie's adventures galore.

School Time-

I took note of some things I have been learning recently.....as my work gets cleaner and cleaner.....I am realizing that I am starting to get a softer hand in my work.

I notice that alot of the other animators keep their armatures very Loose. I have always preferred mine TIGHT....Especially in the legs and ankles. I want the puppet to stay where I put them.....

I am realizing that when they do have the looser armatures they are able to do Incredibly subtle movements....but when I have them loose I tend to Bump them out of place or am unable to GRAB the puppets like I have always done .

These guys animate with such a soft hand it seems like they are just Guiding the puppets into poses instead of PUTing them there...I am trying to incorporate more of this into my work.

It kind of like when I first was animating the puppets with clothing. Your clothes will chatter all over the place......so you have to be very smart about your contact points and How much deforming you do within a pose.

I can say one thing about My HARD handed style of animating

.......I get BIG shape changes In my puppets and what some of the guys call...BREAKING the puppet. I get them to really use all of the body like in real life...It has worked great for me so far in my action shots....and I hope to work in both ways as I get more experience down the line.

Over and Out!!

Jriggity

2 good weeks- And Films Ahead

2011-10-07T21:17:00.001-07:00

Hey Guys!

Line shot of the week-

this is from the montage sequence{No real compositing work yet}.....Dober and Flea cross paths as they draw out their latest territories

....I cant wait to get back on the film ....me and shel got to talk about it some more this weekend...and I cant wait!!!

The family just came up for 5 days and Shamus went to check out some Portland colleges.

He is now 18 and that is 2 boys who are officially adults. Yowzers.....Hes looking to go to school up here....and I thinks hes found the one too....completely surrounded by forest- How cool is that.....there were Deer on the campus

.... Sweet!!

Shamus also got the LAIKA tour as did my Daughter Aedon for the second time....{very cool}.....and we had fun exploring in the rain of Portland....

Classic ARCADE room Downtown-

Powell's Bookstore-3 hours of fun

Sushi and Omsi museum.

Speaking of rain.....Its starting to change to more of what I expected of Portland and LAIKA

.....its been raining pretty much straight for a week....and its a more realistic view of what working and possibly living out here will be like....makes you think??

I feel like rainy days outside actually make it very easy to focus during the days in stopmotion.

Its an interesting thing....back in LA....I always have to force myself to stop motion animate during the day time. It feels unnatural in my body. Unfocused....and torn by the life in the world and sun in the sky.

At Night though....the house is quiet - the city is sleeping - I feel so in the zone and able to dial in.

So as far as working in stopmotion....Portland is perfect ..

Times a Flying...and I am still animating the weekends away in cg trying to get that new reel together....its so nice to sit down and animate on the computer now that I have the experience of a full time standing job....I forgot how nice Undo -easily adjustable poses and timing- and how just plain Comfortable it is ...ha!

rest those Dogs-ahhhhhh

Laika News-So In the last couple of weeks I have done 4 new shots.....and had some very interesting challenges.....as only stopmotion provides.

I animated some feet and earth reacting and cracking - cool

I got to animate a Big scary pair of hands.....attacking a character-

and a bunch of Physics based action shots tossing characters all over the place....

I am now at 34 approved shots deep....and stacking up the shots for my new reel...

I just now ended the week with a finished rehearsal and NEW Contender for my personal

BEST shot EVER award....It will be a very hard shoot{rigs galore}{and Ill be animating it sideways??}.....but if I can pull it off....it could be a big ole dose MAGIC.

talking Paranorman-

Every Friday we have weeklies at work. We get to watch all of the weeks finished and approved shots - sequences in the theater while sharing some drinks and conversation....they have a dollar lottery...and somebody always wins a free massage.

-Lately I have been making sure to get there because its such a Adrenalin shot right in the Vein...

looking into the future....We were talking about the other animated films we will be competing with when Paranormon releases...

and comparing strengths weaknesses-in our Forcast of How Paranormon is going to do financially..........and....... how this Incredible film will be received by the World Audience....???

There is Puss In boots -

October 2012- from Dreamworks-{This will probably be our nearest- biggest direct competetion} it has a BIG name and following -it releases in October - although I have to say....I wont be rushing out to see it....I really dislike the character designs that make up that universe....But I am sure It will make a bunch Of money....on the strength of the license.

Frankenweenie-

October 2012-from Disney-which I will be Sprinting out to see

....but not sure how mainstream audiences will respond? I have a feeling that kids will like the name and concept- but the black and white could hurt its chances on a HUGE $$ pull. It does have Disney Marketing though...so it has a great start there.

Brave-

June 2012-from PIXAR-I will be running out to see and I am feel confident that it will be fantastic-{Love the images I have seen and the subject matter is very appealing and cool}This one is a Guaranteed HIT- Gajillions will roll in and audiences will I am sure love it-

Ice Age Continental Drift-

July 2012-from Blue Sky - I am a fan of this series but am tired of it and I am sure I will wait till DVD....

PARANORMON-The Poster Will be out soon

Aug 2012- We think LAIKA's second film has a HUGE chance at success -

First off - Its FUNNY-and the story is solid -good start....

.......... the characters designs and technique are completely unique in feature animation - And that will make it Stand out Quite a bit In itself.....it ooozes quality and people should recognize that.

Because so much of the animated films out there FEEL the same visually ...this should be a Fresh taste.

its got a lot of COOL things in it- Animated Zombies = Coooooool!!!

and it manages to capture that Goonies-Monstersquad feel that I am so fond of from my childhood.

Kids on an adventure.

Did I mention its Funny. I have the Highest hopes that this film could be BIG and successfull at the Box office. I think the first trailers and teasers are coming in November....so Ill post them here when it releases....

jriggity

FINISHING FUN !!

2011-09-23T21:55:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

Line - This is a Cut in shot from the fight scene -

I animated the sweep from dober a bit slower so I could play with the timing in edit a bit......

LAIKA News-

I am 1 week after finishing the shot that I Spoke about in my last post . It was a wrestling match moving the main character through the world......but It worked out.....really well guys . I got a HUGE high 5 from my animation Supervisor

and even got a hand shake from one of the directors......What a great reward after the HARD work.....getting through the shot took.....

Often in animation your eyes will glaze over after a bit and its challenging to really see.....critically if somethings working.......without some time between seeing it.

I wasn't quite sure after the marathon shoot how good the shot was....but with the reaction I got from the guys I was able to go into a peace filled weekend of rest....ahhhh.

One of the coolest things about the scene I finished was animating a station wagon which was a Mechanical marvel......with lots of cool gears and winders inside.......

under the hood I could control the lift or drop the suspension independently for each wheel...this was so cool to work with BUT- the shocks did not go high enough to get the exaggeration the director wanted......so back to the garage tactics for me....

I was shoving my meaty wallet under the car...and pretty much anything else I could find to get the desired posing....Sometimes I wonder if the other guys resort to those methods as well......my gut says yes!!! Even at the Highest level of work - Stop motion always demands thinking on your feet.

After such an AMAZING last week...and a super cool shot to add to my pile....this current week although much less stressfull....wasn't nearly as rewarding . I didn't feel like I performed up to snuff this week and the shots I was assigned were not the most inspiring....

Sometimes you have to do Bridge shots between actions which can be cool

....but these were just ok.....they felt more like SHOTS with marks too hit .....than really a performance.

they all cant be winners....but I sure wish they could.....I try to tell myself that EVERY shot I turn in represents me....so I cant put less importance on the ones that are not as fun....gota put my heart into them all.

....In the next week ahead....I am on more link up shots....but....soon enough I have some more cool REEL pieces coming my way.

also.....my Stop mo TIP of the week.....I have been paying more attention to what I am actually learning at work than just absorbing it.....

and one of the things that has really helped me- In getting to an ULTRA clean animation quality is EARS-

I have always tracked the main body parts with no problems......But taking it to the next level of clean.....I have been tracking all my arcs on the ears of our puppets and it really makes a HUGE difference in my work...

You would think that I always would have......but really only in the most Basic ways...now that my work has to be feature quality.....Its an easy spot even if the face appears to be perfect in the playback the ears will TELL.....if you are off in any way.

so...In short- Track those ears.

jriggity

Most FUN Ever!!

2011-09-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

Line -Here is a Shot from the montage

LAIKA News-

I just had an Incredible week at work guys....In fact the most FUN I have EVER had doing animation in my whole Career!!

Its such a funny thing.....It was nothing but a BLOCK- Just the KEY frames and some breakdowns timed out in preparation for the real shot....But jeeez loooouise...was it FUN.

It was a Fairly complicated shot - 3 NEW Characters -2 NEW vehicles - Nice Acting - serious Comedy and ACTION.....Yeeeeeee Haaawwww!!!!

All wrapped up in a 6 second shot.

I have been doing animation for a good while now ...and I have always loved it....but man.....this latest shot is just PURE MAGIC and FUN.

I was literally smiling all alone in the stage for hours and hours as I did the block. It was sooo freakin fun.....and completely confirms my being in the right place in life.

I am now tomorrow going into the new week....where the shot difficulties will start to come in...I will be rehearsing for 2 days and will be shooting for 4...so I am hoping to maintain the magic through the hard stuff.

otherwise- at the apartment..... I have been doing some cg animation on the weekends to get some pieces for my reel as I return in January to the cg world. I might Post some of them here as well.

Wish me luck guys!

In other cool news- Justin Connolley has done another great character concept for his thesis piece....

.and is posting on it over on his blog...check it out.

Jriggity

Dreams and Nightmares...Half Way MARK.

2011-09-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

A Shot from Chapter 3- Flea Bends the Rules.

LINE News - Shel and Aedon returned to L.A. .....but we are having our fellow stopmotion buddy Sven create Flea a real Live armature for my return to the film in January.

This is exciting!! ...since Flea has been all Wire armature until this point in the film....Sven is giving us an incredible gift in doing this job and I am excited to see the final piece.

LAIKA news- Here I am at the 5 month {half way} mark

......and I have now animated OVER 1 Full Minute of footage for the new film.....If this is a pace of My output I should have close to 2.5 Minutes when I return to L.A. Not a bad contribution to the Film......and I should have a pretty Nice Stopmotion AND just plain Animation Reel when I get back into town.

I Got through another Monster Shot last week....My longest Yet- Close to 6 seconds of animation with subtle acting- Dialog- and ACTION all in one BIG shot. This was quite taxing to complete but I had a Nice couple days of testing out a new puppet to ease out of the High stress shot.

So Hear I am going into a New week and new challenges.....and I am FULLY INSPIRED!!

I Went to weeklys last week to watch on the BIG SCREEN what the folks have been creating for the film and it was Breathtakingly AMAZING!!

UNbelieveable -.....I feel so Honored to be a part of this production guys....this film is without a doubt the most Amazing Stopmotion animated film EVER- #1 - CHAMPION....Poor JACK.

There has never been acting this good through puppets- there has never been Camera work so amazing - there has never been puppets this expressive before - There has never been ACTION in a stopmotion film anywhere near the Scale of this - WOW!!

HONORED-

I feel so Lucky to be living this Dream here in Portland.

Speaking of Dreams -HA!

- I here in Portland have struggled with sleeping on occasion due to a Mind and imagination running overdrive. This I found out this week is not just a justin thing- I talked with a few animators this last week who struggle with the same thing.....and describe the same symptoms..

for instance- I will find myself Turning in my sleep one frame at a time....and realizing I moved too far in my turn will reset back to my side before starting the turn animation again....Jeeeez!!

I will also Find myself....animating a hard spot In whatever my current animation is Over and Over..and over....all night long....NIGHTMARE.....

I have not found the best way to deal with this yet...ha!

this is one of those things you don't know about until your in the game of stopmotion...

more to come.

Still Havin fun!

jriggity

HIGHS and Lows...

2011-08-23T22:18:00.003-07:00

Hey guys ,

been a few weeks since my last post........ The family has been in town ...

LINE - the film has been on pause since they have been here
Mainly because ..... We have just been adventuring and discovering Portland.

here's a shot from chapter 3 .....Dober gets frustrated-

The only real work we have been doing is TALKing about the film and the STORY.

We really want the story to be clear and strong..... We are willing to sacrifice the
Very coolest moments of animation if the story is better told.

IN or talking we feel like our original story had 2 endings and we have simplified
it in order to keep it clean and crisp. Its sometimes FUN to be presented with a story problem
That needs to be solved.

We now have an even more satisfying ending and the film that keeps what we love from the original while telling a better story.

In LAIKA news- I have had my new record holder of (worst week ever) and quickly followed by
My newest (best shot ever) jeez..... What a roller coaster -I'ts such an emotional process animating on this project....I get the very highest High's and the LOWest lows.

I was given my first shot with the main monsters of the show which was super exciting!!

I really really wanted to perform well....

I did a rehersal that went well enough....But as the real shot was done I was struggleing to control the new puppets on 1's...and the tiny movements required for the characters were very challenging. The shot took me a good long 2 days to do....and just plain wasn't good enough.

I ended up having to reshoot the shot which was a -OUUWWCH- moment .....

This means to all of you- that the directors said it was not good enough to be in the film.Unlike CG where you can adjust your timing posing whatever....In stopmotion this craft I love- it means RESHOOT.

I tried to look at it as a second chance at not having to look at a shot that would bother me for the rest of eternity.This is the best way to look at it...but You carry a bit of emotional baggage having failed.......I finished it but its just not that great.

It was approved though and I felt a bit Like I let down my supervisor.....dammit

...but I gave it my all......and I will continue to improve with experience.

so after that Pain full experience I went into the next shot which had a gajillion new complications to test my resolve....and I ended up doing a pretty good job with it

.....It got a BIG applause at the weeklies and I had several folks from the crew comment on it.

This was Great way to bounce back from the RUFF week I had before....

so In closing- ....In Feature Stop motion animation.....Every Shot I do....FEELS like a fight- like a all out FIGHT....

I get nervous -I am physically a bit beat up in the end and totally exhausted.

-and I think about what I could have done differently- a punch here a kick there...

Its a Brawl guys....but I keep getting back up...cause that occasional Perfect Punch to the chin is quite a High.

Here In Portland-

checking adventures off our lists almost weekly.

Rainforest

....fishing

.....froggin....

helicopter rides

beaches

whitewater rafting

.... Cold wated tubeing

...amusement parks......

playing parks

We have been havin fun!!

Time has moved way too fast though.... They have gone home now and I am missing them once Again.

Tricks of the Week.

Truffle Shuffle with my Ladie Aedie!!

jriggity

Week 15 And -Line- Is coming to Portland

2011-07-24T15:16:00.006-07:00

Hey Guys,

Line is getting ready to come up to Portland for the summer

....Shel and Aedon are bringing the edit and some adventurous spirit on checking out Oregon.

we can look at the work she has done and continue trimming and organizing shots as we move forward.

Heres another shot from the montage....flea trying to fix his antanna.

Intern Justin J's awesome project is taking more shape..... so keep checking in on his thesis film...

He just finished his First development Sculpt for his kid robot character

Looks fantastic!!

Nicky's Fan Art sculpt of Kick Ass is now online for Sale on ebay - and officially on comic book shelves in the California area...

.......this is a bit of a dream come true for him ....to have a real product and right between Batman and an x-men comic....Pretty freakin cool!!

In Portland News-

week 15 at Laika and more justin footage makes it to film..........I put in close to 70 hours last week and I am looking for a simple weekend to chill before the family comes up next weekend.

{Tip of the week} - sit down and relax your feet every chance you get.....it helps tremendously.

In feature- some shots are long exposures-multiple exposures - and in 3d...SO....If I am on a long exposure shot...Ill sit between frames....

otherwise I try to sit anytime I am not shooting - downtime - between shots...cause man...

MY FEET HURT....ha!!

so far........All the shots have been hard for me ......I wouldn't say any of them came easy yet.

But....man......I swear some weeks begin with a shot that just seems impossible.... then the weeks over before you know it and the shot is approved.....its a thought I am trying to carry with me when I get overwhelmed a bit by the challenges of a piece.

I will get through them ALL....so....don't sweat it.

so far......time is flying on the production

and I am averaging say 3- 5 seconds a week......

most weeks I get 1 OR 2 shots out.......and I feel I am contributing well to the film.

My sequences are really starting to take shape....and I am getting really nice feedback from my coworkers which feels great!!

When I go to editorial every week I get to see the most current edit with my new shot dropped in.....It's so Exciting....I cant wait for you all to see it in theaters next year.

Its pretty freaking thrilling guys!

I was talking to a good buddy of Mine on the production and fellow FIRST time FEATURE animator- Andy Bailey -

I asked him about how much time he puts into planning a shot before launching into it?

because - Back Home on our stuff I usually plan out a shot and think about it for at least a day before I animate it.....

.but here - you have to hit the ground running- and be consistently able to deliver at a high level.....

When I am struggling on a new shot - its Because I feel I just need more time than the pro's do to plan out the piece...so I will feel I am taking to long ...and will start to pressure myself.

.......its- choreography-posing- offsets -timing so much to figure out.....a lot to work out when you have a producer asking when you are going to be done....

what I got from him is? {Because he is mainly animating dialog} He can plan his poses around the dialog on the x sheet.....since at the moment I am mainly doing action work.....I don't have that same structure

to base my timing and posing on.

this is why my shots just takes me a little more time to work out......after talking with him ...I felt much better about the situation.....and don't feel as quite as amature in what I am doing.

here is Andy's old reel....and I can tell you the work he is putting out at LAIKA puts everything on this reel to shame

....He is Kickin arse Big time.

Tricks of the week-

B Johnson- rim grab for Team Tiger-

hanging on the rim from bryan johnson on Vimeo.

Aedon learning drop and rolls on stunt week at the house.

Nickys car jump cause I just Swell with pride and love watching it.

Dads Now reversing it with a FRONT full twist at skyhigh!

Jriggity

Confidence sets in- Week 14

2011-07-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

here I am week 14 and Fresh from a Great break with the family.........

In LINE News - In the 10 days I had at Home I was able to do a couple of shots for the film

- this WAS very Rewarding - Going back to work on it was very Inspiring !! I feel like I could totally finish our film soooooo fast if I was able to work on the film full time....shootiing on 2's is like Warp speed compared to what I have been doing up in Portland.

here's a montage shot-Dober Hubcap - Ill be dropping one every post for a bit to get some animation back on the blog.

On LINE- Shel has been really spending alot of her time editing......and she is getting to the ROOTs of all our films chapters...its so exciting to see her slicing and dicing the footage....FINDING the film.

There are so many thrilling parts of film making......but finding the film when its being edited is one of the coolest!!

There are so many cool unexpected things that can happen and its just plain FUN to watch it puzzle together.

Shel Is also on Art Days working on the Mini Flea Ship ....keeping it modular for molding and making it look great all together!

Shel Finished the Mini Ship Window Bubble-for Dober's Ship

this is the BUCK for Dober's Ship- that we will have vacuformed to create the window......

Here is a pic of The Interns together for an Art Friday on my visit HOME.

Back In Portland-

the week back at Laika started with the most complicated and challenging shot I had ever done.

The Shot was one that I knew could be really cool if I could pull it off.........maybe even my best so far.....

it had a camera pull- moving about 3 feet where my puppet had to run toward-chase the camera and stay in focus range while making his way through insane dangers....

in short I did it and it now has the title for- my BEST animated shot ever award-{at least this week it does} ha!!

It seems every week or 2 I get a new champion

...thats not a bad thing at all....

The other element of this weeks success is that I am really starting to be able to do the job with a calm head.........being able to approach a shot with the confidence that "I can totally do this" and {do it well}

makes a huge difference.

I am realizing alot of the experience I gained in our garage animating our films is really coming in handy.....the directors ask for things sometimes that I can directly pull from my experience on GLD or LINE.....and apply it to the shot. Like these food particals...for instance.

I think that the garage LOW BUDGET.....animation problem solving really was quite educational.

When I usually feel low experience compared to so many of my fellow animators its refreshing to know how to do somthing...ha!!

sooo looking into the future....I am excited to say I am Getting it-

I am starting to get 1's.....I am starting to feel the movement like i can on 2's...and slowing down my timing tendancies.....

I am now at 15 approved shots.....and My sequence is really coming together on the BIG screen....theres only 1 shot In my sequence that I am not happy with. Thats not too bad considering how New to this I am.

Trick of the Week-

jriggity

Weeks 11-13 .......35 seconds

2011-07-03T00:37:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys

Been crazy busy at work

and then going back home on the weekends so I have not had a second to post.....

Nicky {my oldest boy} Graduated Last week

and is free to make his own life decisions now as an adult. This is very exciting for him since he has been ready to be an adult since he was 14....

as a gift to Nicky........ Me and Shel got him a Mold and Kit made of one of his finished sculptures.

Kick Ass-

This is Nicky's first true Finished and repeatable piece- He will be selling them at comic book stores and at an online store.

Nicky's Kit was manufactured by Our online buddy

- and LINE's -Stunt Puppets Pictures-Entire mold department....ha!

Mike Fleming Jr........hes been incredibly cool and professional about everything. You guys should check out his own sculptures and kits for sale.....hes got skillz.

In LINE news-

We had our super cool DREAMWORKS animator buddy come over to the house last week...

Kevin Maclean - He helped us out and put in a couple of shots on the film with Shel Home to Direct and do all the camera setup

He Did a great job ...especially since its been 8 years or so since he touched a puppet....plus we got 2 new shots for the Film.

Thanks Kevin!

I will be posting some of the animation here after the break ...so it will be nice to have animation on the blog again.

Intern Justin Connely also has been doing a few shots here and there as well.

...keeping the animation fire lit while I am gone...

He is getting ready for his thesis Film at USC and has started an blog you guys should definitely bookmark.....Hes a Young talent who's on his way to the TOP....

In LAIKA News-

I have passed the 10 approved shot stage- which to one of my buddy's at LAIKA means.............{I am Now LEGIT} I will be a full Animator in the credits....not additional animation....or anything like that...ha!

I am actually at 13 approved shots and over 35 seconds of footage so far for the film. I am looking toward my next milestone of 1 min of footage....GOALS people GOALS...

I have to say that as hard as it all has been ......

this is the MOST rewarding animation I have ever done in my career outside of telling our own story's .

Its really something I am seriously considering as a NEW career -direction someday

....meaning leaving CG animation in the next 5 years completely....

beyond the goal of making our own FEATURE stop motion animated film.......

I am looking at the idea of working in FEATURE stopmotion animation....as a Day job as well.....

So much of my work in cg is done under VERY quick deadlines ....the animations are either too short to really feel proud of.........or the acting-animation-or POLISH- is compromised due to time lines....

I could go into Feature CG as well....and Am considering it as well...but nothing touches the MAGIC in the real performance of a puppet.

It feels so good to know I am given everything i need to do the VERY best work I am able to do.......and if that's not good enough...Ill have to - OR get to- do it again.

Plus .....its all in the end to tell a good story!!!

That is a most POWERFULL CHERRY on top of a fat

STEAK CAKE!!!

if ya know what i mean.

so......I have learned tons....over the last few weeks and am really starting to Feel 1's.....My eyes are adjusting to the Hyper critical vision of feature animation

....its so funny how your eyes just don't see everything 1 week then it sticks out like crazy the next.

In Preparation for the JULY Break that our company takes....

Me and Shel have been looking at shots I plan to animate on LINE when I return home next week. Ill have a NICE 10 day break to hang out with the family....and get a couple shots into the edit to keep things moving.

Tricks of the Week-

Aedon'S -Nicky- Graduation Challenge-She was tired of standing around hearing a gajillion kids she didn't knows name being called....so we got some beans out on the sidewalk and trees nearby.

This was a LONG jump challenge with a bunch of the Guys from WORK.....back a few years.....I just found this video and thought it was good enough to share....Plus Grandma might get a Kick out of it.

and LAST but NOT least!!! The Huge success of Robert Litton's last video challenge....He sent another one my way....from his old diving days...

REDEMPTION!!!!! I personally Like the other video better...but ?

jriggity

Weeks 8-9-10

2011-06-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

I missed the last few weeks post due to another fun trip Home to visit the family and celebrate my Lady Aedon's 9th Birthday.

I am soooo glad she was born.... She Had an awesome time at SKY HIGH.......A trampoline House of Happiness....a BIG gymnasium sleepover and Pancakes in the morning from Mama. Great Time.

Shel has work on line moving forward every week......and the Mini Dober Ship Looks AWESOME!!

Its Totally MINI!!! Like a TOY version of the BIG Ship.

She Has the Interns Making some Excellent Props for the Mini Crash scene in the end of the film.

Here is Intern Lisa Hard at work!!

and here is her awesome Mini Dober Props -TINY...

Lou has been building Additional Asteroids for the opening sequence out on the deck

....following the designs X- Fellow Art Assistant Bridget Dash....who is Know in New Zealand working hard on the HOBBIT !! AWESOME!!!

as far as work......

My last 3 weeks on the film have been just as Incredibly HARD

as all the weeks before....its NOT getting easier guys !! Ha! I am Pushing so much..........

I did get 4 more shots approved and they bring my screen total to 19 seconds. Thats very cool....but I need to work on the Psychological part of the game....I get a bit too panicky at times...

so worried about being perfect-CLEAN....that I cant find the flow. I am working on relaxing though.....trying to put things into perspective.

I am also bringing in things like music-podcasts or commentaries from Films...to keep me loose and from Over analyzing stuff....and its helping.

I am still staying late most weeks though.

and realizing I just need more time to FIGURE things out than i think the SUPER PRO's do.......

When you start a new shot you typically start working with the motion controll guys and they want numbers or estimates on when characters are going to be at certain places in an animation- like for a focus pull or a tilt....pan whatever?

This is NOT an easy guess for me....I just dont have much to draw on....and the animatics are not very realistic in how much time is needed for some actions...this has been a pretty Stressfull part of my animation process on the film so far.

I am constantly asking myself- Does anyone else have this problem?

I am learning though that I need to let the pressure go...Dont try and keep up with the camera.....just animate natural in your rehearsals....and let the Camera guys adjust the camera to your timing once you have discovered it.

Big lesson there....Because I was beeing sooo stifled by the camera work on my earlier shots.

Every time I get a new shot ....Its like starting over - I have to trust in my education -the CRAFT of animation

.....and try not to panic under the process.

Well...I did sucessfully get through the last 3 weeks of animation....and I got all my shots approved....so I must be doing ok.

...............

In cool NEWS - our Buddys over at Scarlet Star Studios finished up the very first NW Animation Festival.....And I spent saturday Night and Sunday afternoon watching their awesome lineup of animated films.

These guys and friends did a wonderfull job in organizing and carrying out a flawless showing.

I highly recommend anyone in Portland who is a lover of Animation make it down to another showing if they decide to do it again...It was a lot of FUN!

TRICKS OF THE WEEK -SomeSkyHighAction

Aedon and Gazells

Dad Flipages

Dad Wall

Shamus Power

Last But not least Robert Litton after being injured in the first 3 minutes of bouncing....pulled this incredible stunt to redeem himself right at the end.

jriggity

Week 6 and 7 - Dialog and GREEN.

2011-05-20T22:35:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

Missed last weeks post because I went home to visit the family....I got to feel our BED

- Our FOOD- and the GYM......Man I love our home

.....It was Hard to Leave....good thing i get to go back in 7 days....

so.....after the short flight back to Portland.....I was Back into the mix at work- since I last wrote I have gotten 2 more approved shots- this makes 3 -GREEN-

director approved shots are going to be up on that BIG screen as of todays date.

So first things first- Its HARD HARD work guys.....nothing comes easy in this medium. I am busting my arse every single day....and fighting for every single frame. I feel like I am in a constant state of struggle...ha!

as painfull as it can be and taxing to the mentals.....I keep telling my self that all this pain and uncomfort....is making me stronger and stronger every day.

This is the kind of experience that shows exactly what you are made of.

Somedays I feel like just running home to my comfy life

and getting right back into what I know how to do...

But then I think of how this moment of emotional weakness -struggle that

I am feeling is actually where I am growing the most ..... that kinda GROWTH only comes with hard Uncomfortable work.....

or Gamma Rays?...ha!

so....

I have finished the crowd scene and it was definitely the most challenging shot I have EVER done.........people seemed to like it.....but I think it came up a bit short....It was Director approved though so I am moving on...happily... Ha!.

One thing about that shot that I was told by some of the sr. animators....

If theres something in a shot that bugs you....do a cut back.....meaning- delete the frames you dont like and try again......

With Producers breathing down your back to finish by certain times thats a hard decision to make sometimes.

And In a case like my shot I was doing 3 frames an Hour!!!!.....so every frame was PAINFULLY achieved.

.....It was a hard decision but I am glad I did it.........I would have been cringing everytime I saw the shot for the rest of my life...ha!

the other approved shot was - a pretty simple POV....that had animated Dangers. I was very happy to add more green to the list.....

Last- Monday I was assigned 3 totally NEW shots .... and 2 Totally new sets.

I have worked on 4 Unique sets so far .....and every time I get a NEW one its like walking into a the Candy Trees and chocalate river room in Willy Wonka and the Chocalate factory.
Its jaw on the floor AWE!!.....so cool......Dorky Smile ear to ear.

Monday morning also came with my first 2 dialog scenes from another part of the film......these were a totaly suprise since I thought I was mainly going to be focusing on my Big ACTION sequence.

....after being briefed.....and the super talented rigger giving me a NEW amazing multi geared axis to control some set pieces that the character is interacts with.

I was off to do 2 dialog rehearsals- about 3 -4 seconds a piece.......

The rehearsals went well and were some GOOD Old fashion stopmotion animation FUN.

I wasn't as stressed on these shots for some reason- I just used what I know about animation and Dove right in....I went home at night and was really Happy and excited to get back in there the next day.

Ill find out next week if the one I actually Launched on is going to be approved? Fingers crossed.

{Something learned}-

In feature stop mo- we animate the faces seperately- in cg way before we get to the set- We actually go into a facial animation team- and sit down with them and go over the dialog.....we work out all the details on the computer . Then the performance has to get approved .

at that point it goes to the set and you get your exposure sheet. This is pretty exciting for me...because the face is where so much the magic happens ....and I am able to just focus on that part of animation before it gets all complicated....

After approvals....its off to the face KIT guys....and they deliver your replacement faces on set....ready to go.

Now....on set....while animating....you still improvise....if you posing doesnt quite read good enough with the expressions....they will provide you with some extra faces to mess with.

Lighting-

Posing - or levels of your extremes- in facial work can all call for change .....during a dialog.

This is very exciting to me...... when the character starts talking and expressing feelings before your very eyes its quite thrilling!

Tricks of the week-

Jriggity

Week 5 - New Shots

2011-05-08T17:01:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

I am sure A bunch of you guys saw the announcement- But LAIKA Officially announced the Film we are working on-
PARANORMAN. -http://www.laika.com/

Its gona be an amazing film guys!!!! I cant wait to see it at the Local Movie Theater!!

so..........

I started up and finished week five in a relatively chill way- Lots of testing -Action sequences.

and setups on a couple of new shots- One of which is an Overwhelming Crowd scene - 9 to be exact!!

They asked me if I was up to it....and Inside I was like{ uuuughhh } but my outside said YEP!!!

Its so so so Different from Cg - In CG you can take one character on at a time...

{even down to Lower body/Upperbody} ----get it going then move onto the next character- EASY-

In preparation for a shot like this -I figured out basically where they start and where are going to end up-

choose My breakdown poses and Offsets - and then just start clickin....and HOPE

....its a pretty wild process comparatively.

SO .....Monday Morning....I'll Jump in and see what Happens?

In prep for the other shot coming down the pipe..... I had to do lots of Motion control tests to mimic a P.O.V. which is a tricky thing.

Working with these amazing machines . It just makes these stopmotion Sets Shine to have the camera moving all around them.

Last Piece of NEWS - I am officially starting to put our lastest story down on Paper {Theatre Mouse} -I have the story written and now to put it in script format.

It will be the very first LIVE Action Film that we will make......... I am so excited on making a film that doesnt take 3 years or more to make....Ha!

Untill we meet again-

FAVORITE Film Scene of the Week-

Yes - I am a Star Trek Nerd- Incase you ever doubted it....ha!

jriggity

DREAM Check - Thunder in your heart- Feature Film Animator- Week 4

2011-05-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

Gona Kick this post off witha little thing I call {Thunder in your Heart!} Ha!!

I used to watch this film {RAD} all the time as a kid....I mean All the time...ha. When video stores first came out.....and I found this one.....and i must have burnt a whole through the tape.

You dont have to watch it but I promise you will grow to TWICE the powerfullness you were having seen it!!

This Awesome Song of Justice is to celebrate the Official accomplishment of this DREAM....I officially Did my very First Shot and got it approved last Friday!!!!!!!!

Woooooo Hooooo!!!!!!!!!!! SCREAMS of Happyness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....Unbelieveable

now the story behind it.

Last week was the hardest I have had here physically and emotionally

.......I was on Set from Monday till Friday and had a few ups and downs on the animation end of things. This first shot was not going to come easy.

The week started with me shooting a rehersal of the sequence........ that went well enough........... It was Clean animation and Did the job required .

The shot was pretty complex with a flying rig attached to the puppet.

Here is an Example video i found on youtube -No more 5 Pound weights with wire wrapped around my characters- at least for now...

So I shot the rehearsal 3 times before getting to Launch. This can mean.......

Bad animation or Bad Performance-

My Animation was clean but........ I was lacking the performance.

Each time you finish a Rehearsal...the next morning ....you meet the directors inside of editorial.

Waiting outside of editorial feels EXACTLY- like waiting outside of the Principals office.In a scary way.
And Also in a very Exciting Way!!

Especially if your not feeling confident in your performance....like I was the first couple of times.

It honestly was a struggle for me to find these Postures and Poses.

I actually had to watch other people act it out to see what there bodys were doing....Cause Mine wasnt going there naturally enough.

This was the final piece of the puzzle and allowed me to get a performance I wanted.

So....In the Thursday Morning...after showing the directors.......... they wanted it shorter but were ready to launch me on the real deal.

So Now - Down Time begins-
Down time is when any of the departments organize in setting off animators....

You basically sit around and wait for the powerfull folks to Dress the set-
Puppet department to give you or fix up the HERO puppet-check lighting - Photography --3d TEST- Motion controll guys- and rigging department to fix up some broken parts that happened during the tests.

This took till 6 p.m ......and thats when I clicked my very first frames. WOW......big day....just starting. At this point into the week I had already been working 12-16 hour days so I was feeling a bit taxed...

I just kept taking a deep Breath- standing back and looking at the HUGE set I was in- and taking note on where I was.

IN LAIKA- On a FEATURE Animated Film -and my VERY FIRST PRO SHOT!!!!
This supplyed the mustard I needed to get focused and into the shot.

I stayed late and got the shot going with the confidence that I could finish by Friday{they were pushing to get this shot done by Friday which is why I was putting in the crazy hours}

so Friday Morning I come in early and Kick off the day on a Mission- to get my first approved shot for the film.....

6:00 pm...I finish the shot ..... and am looking to go Right to the Apartment and CRASH.... My supervisor saw what I had done...and said it was looking good....so I just had to turn it in and see what the directors thought Monday.

When I got home.....I cooked up some dinner and checked my email- only to find an email from the Animation Supervisor stating - "Excellent first shot" "You're officially a stop-mo Feature Animator"

Wooooooo Hoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was happier than you can Imagine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Dream come TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW guys....Unbelieveable!!!! PRO BALL-
I cant believe It happened.....and I cant wait for more.

Tricks of the Week-

Shels First Dive Roll after Aedon was Born. I know shes waiting for those first moves after the Knees all better!!!

Some Video of another older DREAM come true -Trapeeze DATE-

Me and Shel always wanted to Swing from the BIGTOP....so we just looked it up and a fmaily circus in town does open weekends - classes ....and we couldnt resist. HIGHLY reccomended guys.

and New to the Blog-

FAVORITE FILM SCENE of the week-

this one makes me lump up guys......I loved fishing with my grandpa in Florida where I grew up......

and it makes me miss my little one too. Dads gona go to Laika for a while....

the 80's were awesome ....ha!

Jriggity

Shel Aedon Visit!! -and Week 3

2011-04-24T19:36:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!!

Just had an awesome weekend with Shel and Aedon who came up to do our first visit.

It was like HOME.

seeing them and getting to explore Oregon a little.

We picked out my Temp Oregon apartment....

and Went to Omsi Museum-Very Fun-Saw the Egyptian Exibit-

Building a Pyramid-- toured a submarine-Driving A submarine!!!!

Love In the Bunks

VERY Cool!

We snuggled up and watched a Movie almost every night to cap the evenings. ...very fun!

Shel's KNee is healing incredibly fast....and most strangers would never know she even had an accident.

She also did a little Property searching during the week since we are looking at leaving LA in a few years......and Portland is in our sights....We are looking for a home compound someday soon with a good ammount of LAND and some water near by......Put that one on our DREAM list

- and remember it.

so as they leave We look very forward to 19 days from now on our next visit....

Cant Wait....

In -WORK news-

Week 3

went VERY well......still struggling with timing aspects but getting better and better.

I was able to get a couple of good tests out and even got some nice comments from the crew about them.

That was incredibly cool guys....being recognized even in a tiny comment.... by these amazing Sorcerors of Animation feels Incredible.

So - I started the week on Runs which went well....very fun and I got to put away the 5 pound weight with wire wrapped all around the puppet and use these insanely cool contraptions that the Rigging department Hooks you up with....

All motions are on gears for severely small or large size increases of mass movements.....then the general posing is all thats left. Its a far more effecient and time saving to have that level of support for a puppet.

so after my Run work.....I got to do some acting that incorperated Running which was very FUN....and felt more like just having fun with awesome puppets.

After this cool test...and some awesome critiqes....I was actually told I am going to be ON SET....for my next test....this means NEW experience for myself.

I was called into this thing called EDITORIAL-SCARY!!! much darker than this pic-

thats the Directors -Editor- Animation supervisor.....and various Production people-you sit on the couch in a DARK room and the directors go over what they are looking for and how long the shot is going to be. We compare the Animatic and the On set frameing of the shot.

and then onto blocking the shot- Phase one of the animation pipeline.Blocking-

This means Posing of the puppet shot on any numbers you like - 2's or 6's whatever....with the actual camera movement- {Focus pull in my case} and then having all key Movements needed in the shot displayed. What I typically do on paper with my thumbnail drawings...

......starting this week-Monday- I'm on my FIRST REAL SHOT!!!

What??? so soon??? Feels way too soon to me...but..... Here we go.

INTO the POOL

On LINE- Back home ......Shel is getting ready to do 100% of the directing on the film and is getting our Intern {Justin Connoly} and his first shot.

He will be working on the montage sequence and will start with a simple shot to get his feet wet.

Shel and Justin set up the shot last week and he will animate a couple this Friday.

Otherwise shel is setting everything up and will be working on a bunch of needs on the film.

Tricks of the week-

Playing on the local monkey bars with Lady Aedon.

jriggity

Week 2--Relief sets in

2011-04-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!!

Week 2 is done....and Relief is setting in .....Deep Breath.....

- I am getting more comfortable In the Building and in my work....with every NEW animation I create .....I get better and more comfortable with the puppets and my place in the building....

I managed to get a walk animation done that I was pretty happy with and my supervisor Genuinely liked....I added some subtle acting to the start of the animation that tapped into my

own shyness....and it payed off.

This was a major moment in my week and was a MAJOR pressure lifter-

that allowed me to Trust more in the fact that I will be able to at some point Create work that will be on Par......

So ...I will continue my training for many weeks to come and next week I will be -Learning -testing - Running our {Hero}in character for the film.....

I am very excited about this new test and specifically how it relates to my very first animated sequence for the film.

EXCITING!!!......

I am also DREAMING

DREAMING

Dreaming about my very first Approved Shot.....Showing HUGE on that Big screen

and able to Hold up to the scrutiny-and Red Laser Pointer layed upon it....

and as they announce the Animator resposible for the shot- {THEY DO}

- I want feel good about it...

That is my very closest GOAL in my near future....cant wait.

I am getting more comfotable on 1's....but I am still moving the puppets a bitt to much{spacewise} in alot of cases than i Should.....

I am able to spot when I am doing this through playback but I still underestimate alot of the time- How many frames required and how small to move them.

its amazing how TINY the moves are at times

....I have never worked at such

tiny increments....and its gona take some time till i really got it.

LEARNING- THIS WEEK-

1.Stopmo Animators -NEED good Shoes-

WOW!! oUCH..... ha.

2.I learned this week somthing cool and that I would have never thought of doing.

Alot of the guys switch between 1's and 2's on {SPECIFIC BODY} parts.....to get away with the tiny stuff and saving time.

for instance...I was working some Acting with some very subtle movement before....our HERO walked away from the scene. One of the guys told me I could do the Body On 2's{since the movement was so tiny.......

And then ANIMATE the HEAD on 1's.......Because the eyes follow the head....you can get away with it.....but you can use this techniqe on arms or other body parts too...

when you are moving the puppet.... at a hairs width or less.....you can get away with it on 2's

this was a cool tip....and Im looking forward to trying it out soon.

otherwise...

I am Counting down the DAYS till Shel And Aedon come up next Wednesday.

I will pick them up after work from our Portland Stopmotion Friends- Sven and Gretchen at Scarlet Star Studios-

they will be here till Sunday in our LAIKA temp housing....and will help me find an apartment on the weekend.

by the way Shel is walking and can now go Up stairs......so every day shes getting better and better.......shes looking very forward to taking our first Hikes in Portland and doing our first challenges in the GYM

....Shell be vaulting again before she knows it.

speaking of challenges-

Tricks of the week-

Nicky -My now 18 year old Boy- has posted his very First Stunt reel and it came out great.

Being here alone I have had time to look through some of my files and get them up on our blog and on youtube so Grandma could see us bouncing....

heres my Baby Aedon doing challenges that just melt DAD's heart as a little girl....shes gotten so BIG.

Big DiveRoll From the Workout Room-

2year old FIRE pole slide-

Aedons Amazing Baby Climbing skills-

Shel Testing the Hooks in the gyms early Construction

ShamusFrontHandspring-

If Anyone Did not think I was part Monkey before?

and heres some challenges we did before I left for Portland.

Robert - Parking space challenge-

Dad Dive To Back Flip.

Dad From the Top Rope-

And Untill we talk again I Bid you B Johnson!

1RST Week in the can!

2011-04-09T23:13:00.001-07:00

Hey guys,

Here I am having completed my very first week as a LAIKA animator.......what can I say...... HUGE deep breath!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My first 15 minutes in the building I got to sit down with a bunch of the LAIKA crew in the giant screening room and watch a bunch of the AMAZING shots being created for the new film.

This was the very first time I got to see the designs and characters for the new film...and I was Incredibly PLEASED....They are excellent and incredibly appealing. POWERFULL.

can you say INTIMIDATION.....FEAR...... OUTCLASSED.......and THRILLED to be there!!!!!!

This are how I felt through out the week.

This is going to be a Defining Artistic experience for me guys...

So before I talk about my week I have to say that the BIGGEST thing I have learned in my very short time here is ?

{NO MISTAKES ALLOWED} the animation has to be PERFECT guys ...100% PERFECT!!! Zero room for error....

I never realized how much imperfection I have allowed in my work until coming here....working on 2's give you so much breathing space between your frames....its so so forgiving in a sequence.

This was a very quick and Very hard HAMMER to my Psyche.

My first task was basically to just play with the puppet....do some pose tests in character......and just familiarize myself with how he moves-works. this went just fine....and was very fun.

One of my next tests during the week was to do a walk with the puppet across the stage in character.....on ones.... this was not easy at all....and I was felling very bad about my first showing....{especially since all the other staff has access to your work } YIKES!!

WEAKness....will not be hidden

I have never done a walk at this level of perfection before - on ones - and zero mistakes allowed.

after being critiqued by the animation supervisor I set out to do another Improving upon my mistakes from the first job.....This sounds simple enough but I was so full of fear of messing up that I just could not perform like I know I can...

after creating a sub par 2nd -walk....I decided the only way to deal with this fear is to GRAB a hold of it and BEAT it into submission. {Take charge}

I decided to stay late and do it again-It was much better....but still I need to do better....

A method for taking controll of the fear i was having was to Start BLOCKING all of my work out in advance....

This was INSANELY helpfull!!!!!!!!!!! I have never blocked out my work in stopmotion before....I always thumb nailed my work but Never Blocked.

After Blocking my walk....It gave me all the confidence to do a clean piece of work...Which I did

Pppfffeeeewwww!! Wipes the sweat from the brow.

so...

In finishing the week of work and getting my pass to the building....I spent all Saturday...{after a slept in ofcourse}-......Animating something just for FUN!! {Blocking Actually} I figured this could be a nice FUN reminder and practice session directly related to my first shots I am scheduled to do.

This was very theraputic....and I am excited to go in on Sunday and Put it together in animation form....

a piece of info that I did not know in FEATURE stopmotion film production....PROCESS

when given a shot for the film...the first thing you do -

1.Talk to Director-

2.If scene is complex or has elements that are unique- TEST animate them...

{cameras- particles-trees-leaves-certain specific motions - car bounces-bikes-u name it}

3. BLOCK Shot- {all posing- and camera}

4. Let Director-Supervisor give Approvals comment...

4. Rehearsal - {Animate entire Shot On 2's}

5. Let Director-Supervisor give Approvals comment...

6. LAUNCH- Animate Shot on 1's ALL the way...

8. Daily's Approval by Directors -Supervisors...

9. JUMP UP AND DOWN SCREAMING at the top of your LUNGS!!!!

That is the process and I cant wait till I get that first shot approved.

Wish me luck going into week 2 guys...

SOOOooooo much to learn!!

jriggity

DREAM COME TRUE!! The Journey continues

2011-04-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

I apologize on the delay of postings.....Our LIFE has been incredibly busy and Momentous.... with no further PAUSE..... I am so very proud and EXCITED to announce that I will be joining LAIKA as a professional Stopmotion animator on there latest film following {Coraline}

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This has been a DREAM of mine since I was a kid....to work on a FEATURE film...

....and not just a Feature animated film a FEATURE Stopmotion animated film ......jeeez..... Whoda thunk it guys!!!

Hard work and Passion-.......................................and an incredible WIFE -FAMILY.

You can do ANYTHING!!!!! Ive been telling my kids this since they were born...and its TRUE!!!

I have to share this too guys.......here was a pic I found in setting up my computer here ....This was another DREAM me and shel had

this was a computer sketch of the gym we wanted to make for the kids to grow up in....and POW.....we made it happen...I feel so Incredibly fortunate and excited about life!!....

so..........I am in Hillsboro, Oregon now .....and my very first day is tomoorow..... morning

I am planning on spending the day studying a bunch of Classic stopmotion films and mentally prepare for the time ahead.....

This was A huge decision for us in the Rasch Household.....when the offer came....My heart screamed GO FOR IT!!!! but at the same time it screamed NO FREAKING WAY I can leave my family for that long....

We really talked about it alot and really boiled it down to this is whats best for our Future as family-film makers- and life livers ....we WENT FOR IT!!

The Universe has been telling us its the right thing for a good while now.....and it was too hard to ignore...... The way we have worked it out is that Shel and Aedon will come up here in the summer after the kids are out of school {June}....and they will stay here for a couple months.

Otherwise we plan on visiting one way or another every 3 weeks or so....I'll go down or they will come up.....

so In the meantime I am going to be focusing completely on 1 thing- Becoming a STRONGER animator and learning how a feature film is made from the inside. I will be learning directly from the best guys in the world.... WOW...School is about to begin!!

This will serve me and Shel on our own FILM we plan on making in the future.

as for "LINE" this means my animation will go on Pause....but Shel will be directing our Animation Intern{?} in doing some very possible animation work for the film while I am gone to keep it moving.

Shel will also continue all of the puppet building , Miniiatures, Sets and Prop building the entire time I am gone. So In that way nothing will change on that end.

I ....in the meantime will also be doing alot of wire removal in the evenings....and setting up the 3D in after effects for output when I get back in town. There is alot of wire to remove in the Right and Left frames....so that will keep me busy for a while.

in NEW shots news....

I had to do many freelance gigs to pay some billz before leaving..... and I didnt have hardly any time to animate on the film. I did get about 4 shots done on the film in those last couple of weeks....and here is one of them that I tried to do somthing new.

I pulled out the Manfrotto geared head ......and decided to frame by frame track the flea as he droped down from fixing the antanna...

I am not too pleased with how it came out but....I learned alot in doing it.....My biggest thing is that I should have shot it on ones....Duuugh. ....

but thats why we do these things....

so...in family news....

Both of my boys in the last 2 weeks before I left made Demo reels for a possible stunt- mocap career... I have been doing stunt and mocap work since 1996 when they were still using Pingpong balls to capture performance......

the kids wanted to try and get in on it.....so alot of stunts have been a happening at the house.Its been incredibly Hard on Shel....since she just had the Family's first Knee surgery 2 weeks ago. She ended up completely severing her ACL dancing about 6 weeks ago....but luckily they can fix that kinda thing....and replaced it with a replacement achilles tendon. Shes ok.....and is actually starting to walk again.....so send her your POWERFULL healing vibes.

Ill post the boys reels here in one of the upcoming posts. And GUEST appearance on the Blog is the ACTUAL- B Johnson- Inventor of the Shopping Cart Challenge...One of my VERY Good Friends...and fellow artists.

Here are some clips...for now...{For Grandma AGAIN} AedonBalance- Roberts -ActionPacked GunDive Shamus PowerDrop Nickys Dive ring Challenge- Shamus Gun Grab Plant- RobertWallRide shoot-

Dads Dive ring Challenge- Shamus Front Flip In the backyard- Dads Wall SideFlip Nicky Spidey Slide AedonDad Seal Slide Challenge DadMultiFun Robert JamesBond Challenge Nicky CirclePark Challenge Dad Laugholympics LongJump Shamus WallRide Rhinocerous Aedon Parkour session Dad Backyard funflipages NickyTreePark

and in closing....I am going to be posting quite regularly on How this experience is going and How its going to benefit our future filmaking during my 9 months here.

so ....LOTS to learn....and Ill actually have time to share it...as life here will be much simpler.

Thanks for all your support guys!!!...stay tuned.

jriggity

Whats Been Happenin?

2011-02-28T23:11:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys!

been crunchin at work....and crunchin at home on some freelance....So the films animation has taken a back seat FOR 2 WEEKS while I finish the job.

so ....Aedon- My daughter decided to pick up my slack with her very first stopmotion animation ever- Proud DAD....

In the meantime - here's another of the {Deleted -Special Features} from our recent DVD release of Gerald's Last Day. We thought this information was very important part of the journey but we didnt have room on the disc.....so

..... Here is an Un edited BLAST of information on GLD's Festival Tour-Lots of cool info- if you can sit through it -Ha !! -

All the busyness has not stopped shel and the art assistants from making lots of new puppet backups to tell this story.Shel also has been working on the Mini Dober -resin ship - smoothing and painting getting ready for some screen time.

In preparation for some dialog work I want to do......I did a quick mouth shapes test on the rich guy remodel puppet.........the focus of this test was to make sure all the shapes I made worked well enough to effectively SPEAK....and that the way they attach-{some sticky wax- to a resin SKULL} worked well enough

In Stopmotion NEWS - Our stop mo Brother Ethan Marak short animated film - SUPERBATTLE- is now available - on DVD .....if you havnt seen it.....check it out!

In other other Stopmo News - Our other Buddy Sven Bonnichsen at scarlet star studios has decided to create his own animation festival up in Portland. Check it out and feel free to send your film in!!

and FINALLY-

Tricks of the week-

Shopping Cart Challenge-This was created by my very good Artist friend {B Johnson}
He called the challenge and we all made it happen...ha!

Robert-

Justin-

Shamus-

later guys

jriggity

Cut In and Closeups....

2011-02-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys

I took a week off of work to focus on the film with a GOAL of finishing the fight scene closeups and cut ins....before the week was done.

We now have a very cool fight scene that shel has put into EDIT.

Here is an example cut in video-

It feels so rewarding when you have a concept and you put 5 months into making it a reality....and it WORKS....wooooo Hoooo!!!

here are some pics of the closeup shots...

After this loatest big push on the film I am taking a small break to do some DIALOG animations.....just for fun. Its been way too long since I got to animate a puppet talking.....so I built-adjusted the Richguy puppet and then created some simple replacement mouths this last weekend....in prep for a nice 8-9 second piece of animation.

Ill be sure to share it with you guys.

lots more happening....and I'll make sure to post quicker next go....

Tricks of the week.- for you Grandma!!

Bionic Aedon-

SkyWalker DAD

Shel 50lb Globe Challenge.

Aedon Carnival Ride

Tailwhip Decade-

Robert BroadJump Challenge-

More to come...

jriggity

-

Fight Finally Finished ....

2011-01-11T11:09:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

Still standing ........

and have Finally finished the last of the Fight scene Master shots. Woooo Hooo!!!

I am not totally happy with it but I think it has a few solid moments of magic in there. With some clever editing and the Pick up shots inserted this will definitely work well though.

so ....in the end the 4 sequences were over 2 min of new footage for the film....that took me WAY longer than I would have ever guessed....but people seem to think it will definitely add alot to the final film.....and honestly I do too.

here it is-

and here is the thumbnail drawings scanned in- to show some of the thought and prep gone into it..

what did I learn doing these shots and sequence......

I think I got alot of experience in RIGGING...ha!...which is valuable{Make sure that your shadows are in easy to remove sections} wierd overlapping can be challenging to remove.

I gained alot of experience in working with 2 characters in large action sequence. This was not a fear of mine but its like flying a plane....I'm loggin the hours in the cockpit.

I learned to keep my focus and direction on a LONG term shot with MANY breaks in shooting. This was my biggest fear in shooting for shorter time periods in the evening....and it seemd to work out.

So now...... onto the closeups and cut ins. This is when it gets really fun.....my shots will go much quicker and I plan on switching back to 2's where i can to speed them up.

Shel and I looked at the closeups needed and set a goal of finishing them in a timely manner.....most of the shots shouldnt take much longer than a single night of animation work.

I have done 3 already and they seem to go painlessly.

I look at my next few months ahead with excitement as the film starts feeling back on track....and in progression.

so....as another cool share for you guys- the next couple posts I will share somthings we didnt have room for on the DVD ...

The POODLE- the character that makes the first appearance in GLD.....very minor character but......was a giant step into stopmotion for us in the film.

And for the tricks of the week.

.......

see ya soon

jriggity

Thanks!!! and Marthon and Friends

2010-12-21T12:37:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!!

me and shel have been pretty touched by all the emails and notes dropped from all you guys about the DVD....and our blog.

we just wanted to say-

so.... Here I am in week 8 of trying my dangest to get the last fight sequence master in the CAN......and I am starting to FATIGUE.....ha!! I am really trying to not let it rub off on the animation quality but I am ready for a new shot 4 sure.

this is the longest shot I have ever animated in my career of stopmo.....A big part of it is that I am shooting alot of it on 1's......another part is that I'm trying not to do as many all nighters.....which means Im putting in 3 hours here....5 hours there. It just takes forever!! even when working 4 nights a week.
its coming soon though guys....1 more week and its done....and you will see it here.

in other cool NEWS - we had visitors of Longtime Internet friends Sven and Gretchen from ScarletStarstudios. They came to california and got to visit almost all of the stop mo studios out here....as well as stay with us and hanging out a bit.

It was really cool to know that they were just as kind and cool as we hoped....they were so easy to hang with and that common thread of stopmo passion was almost all you need to be instant friends.

....Gathering around the kitchen table to do some artwork came as natural as breathing the air around us.....what a community!!

the last member of Scarlet star we got to meet was...TOBY -

He hung out with our monkeys and played on the set a bit....

we hope to see them all again in the future...and have friends in portland if we are ever there.

and Finally.... Tricks of the Week!!

Robert Litton -Composer- Ladysman ,Yaughtsman , BMXer been trying to add stuntman to his list of titles lately in the gym the past few weeks....here is one of the succesfull stunts.

and my own LITTLE{way smaller than it looks} Ring challenge 2 of the 3 ring challenge....fun!!

jriggity

Dober Does some Damage - GLD first Week flyin !!

2010-11-29T01:06:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

Its getting COLD in the garage as another winter starts to makes its way into the studio.....I have been making alot of progress on the last Fight sequence but its a Monster....here is a pic from the shoot.

I am at about 710 frames and they are battleing their hearts out....I'm very proud to say that this shoot has finally started to show some of that MAGIC....that Ive been waiting for...cant wait to share it.

so...

1rst week of GLD on the market and thanks so much for all the Super KIND emails and personal touches you have shared with us in wrapping up this journey....

Shel Has been sending out DVD's - Gerald replacement heads- Storyboard panels... all week long. So if you havn't recieved yours yet It's in the mail.

we feel so gratefull-blessed to internet know all you guys....

...we are going to be adding a cople of extra special feature videos that we didnt put on the DVD{space issues} for you guys in the next couple of posts....just for fun and education ....so keep an eye out.

for now....here is the sneek peek video I put up of Gerald....just to show some of you a taste of the behind the scenes DVD...this is Geralds early development .

As for ANIMATION....

Here is fight scene MASTER shot 2 which I skipped over the last time I posted{I posted fight 1 and Fight 3}....this is just another in the back and forth battle between the 2 stars of our film.

as you can see its another wire festival....lots of removing but so very cool when they are moving without strings. This was another Hard one to shoot as far as making the puppets perform but it turned out fairly well.

I started a new Dober Maquette - just to have for myself and to use as a professional development piece. I do plan to send it to our investor and friends who worked on the film at some point . I will also be offering it up after the production is over as a collectable.

this is early blocking but it will be pretty cool when its done....He will be holding his pilot helmut.

I will be doing one for flea as well....so we will have a full set.

again guys.....wishing you all thanks from or deepest hearts.

Tricks of the week- Monkeys in the house- Trapeeze Launching from the stairz..I'm such a proud DAD!!!

jriggity and shel

GERALD'S LAST DAY is OUT ON DVD!!!

2010-11-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

Our short stop mo film, Gerald's Last Day, had a great Festival run, it won 23 awards at over 90 festivals World Wide and we had excellent adventures riding along.

So as the festival circuit winds down, we are super excited to put out the DVDs with over an hour of SPECIAL FEATURES on The Making Of. If you are curious about how one goes about making a Stop Motion film in their garage, it's all here, from the Baby Beginings of learning the process of stop mo to Justin's Animation process to the Glorious Scoring session.

Here's some SCREEN SHOTS:

WHEW!

For those of you who have been patiently waiting....THANK YOU!!!

It was very fulfilling to finally finish the Special Features.

And then to finally figure out how to get the movie and the special features onto actual DVDs! We won a copy of Vegas Pro 9.0 at a film festival, so we thought it'd be pretty easy to make our DVDs with it, but it turns out you need either a Doctorate, or a clever push-buttons-till-something-happens guy like Justin around to make it happen. (I'll take the later anyday!)

If you'd like to buy a copy, they are $11. each plus $3 shipping and handling, just click on the BUY NOW button at the top right corner of this page.

YAY!!!

Fight Scene 3 In da can!!

2010-10-21T23:29:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

been a few weeks on the fight scenes....and I actually havn't been as productive as I should have been....I had an entire week that I didn't shoot a single frame of animation...Torture!!

but I'm back!!

The off time wasn't totally my own doing.....I had a few road blocks that sort of buttered up the situation a bit.

1. Garage Computer finally died- Got a new one....set it up.

2.All my {Action Puppets} Puppets built for lots of Range of movement - Were Dead
and in need of major REPAIR.

Took a trip out to see grandma - very cool!!

Crunch Time at work - shooting for a 3 week important deadline ....this one is eating into my animation energy for sure.

and I just couldnt get my beans up to go in the garage with my Focus so split in
many directions....WEAK....

It was actually an Excersize in Letting go .....I got lots of sleep for a week.....but man...It was a lota bit of torture knowing I wasnt making my animation Quotas.

so....This last weekend I started the 3rd animation Sequence and I am proud to say after 3 FAILED Starts -{the most ON THE WHOLE PROJECT} with 2 new choreography's

...The sequence is finished as of Monday at 3 in da mornin.

So....this animation was INSANELY ....MAJOR huGEMONGOUS pain IN da Arse!!

nothing went right guys......My flea puppet was a nightmare to work with....the armature was incredibly weak....the wire was too thin in the legs...

so just holding and pose with one leg off the ground SUCKED....his ribcage wire also was unable to seperate from the hips....due to thick latex and weak wire...

so limiting....but heres a cool tip....I began wrapping my characters hands with wire anytime they made contact with another puppet or ground plain to minimize all that crazy shakiness that happens when trying to maintain hand positions in relation to all else in an animated shot...cool beans!!

but I had countless finger breaks - an arm break and a Head- neck break on the old flea puppet.....Hes been through alot but man....it was a Ruthless experience.

so...here is the Video without the wire removal....lots of Rigging. I totally get how features have Rigging departments guys...My ghetto tactics work just fine but I can imagine how much nicer it would be to work with a good rig.

Luckily I have an amazing partner shel who was able to repair most of the finger breaks...and an Incredible neck skull fix that I would have thought Impossible.

but just to let you guys know....I swapped out fleas puppet in this animation 3 times.....see if you can spot them.....Dober also did over half this animation with 2 hands and NO working fingers....YIKES!!

....here is the original thumbnails....{usually done lunchtime at work}

so enough about the animations....

In awesome Film News....

a few weeks back but our Online buddy Mike Flemming Jr. sent us our MINI Dober space ship KIT back to us......it was quite an exciting package to recieve and we thank him soo much for reaching out to us and offering to mold-cast it for us.

Here are some cool pics.

these little Toys will be fling in the Spaceship chase sequences through cool Asteroids filed in the intro.

Speaking of Asteroids....our Lovely Art Assistant Bridget made us our first fancy Asteroid for the space scenes...

Pretty freakin cool Hugh!

For the Tricks of the week....I got injured and had to take a few weeks of riding....so its been house stunts with the kids for a bit.

here is Aedon's POWERFULL Flip over a 7 foot pad!!

Shamus -James Bond- Parkour move-
And My Wall Flip-

In the next few weeks Ill be doing the 4th and Final Fight Master shot. This will be the Biiiiitch of the film Im sure. The longest Largest shot Ill be on the entire ride.

It right now is going to be a back and forth battle between an exhausted flea and Dober....untill it end in a truce...

Ill post the choreography before I start this one....but Im sure its going to be a good 3 weeks of HARD work to get it done.....especially since its in a more Tired state of movemnt. 600 frames is my guess.

wish me luck!!

untill next Post.

jriggity

Fight Scene !! Kicks off....

2010-09-21T23:48:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

last week I was off of work with a BIG focus on kicking off the Fight scene sequences. This was a major undertaking for us because its going to put us off schedule a bit in order to create the footage.

We are feeling that the ammount of animation needed to get across the story needed will require quite a bit of footage- over a minute at least I am thinking....OUCH!!

Thats quite a bone to swallow.....but I am really excited aboout the entertainment value that could be gained in the telling- watching .

me and shel went down in the gym and choreographed the action and then I spent alot of time thinking about the scene and drawing tons of thumbnails -I basically let my brain soak up the movement and poses before I began the animation.

Well here is the Kick off footage from the NEW first meeting out of the crashed ships -

this will have LOTS of cuts to close ups and detailed-clarifying moments.....I did the whole sequence from this one perspective-staging - so shel would have lots of cutting options in the edit.

and here is the no wire removal version.

I have started now the second fighting pass....and should finish in the next couple of days. We are planning on 6 fight passes for them to fully exhaust themselves......in which will motivate the New line drawing- You stay on your side- Ill stay on mine.

wish me luck guys....Ill keep ya posted.

jriggity

Finding your Story - And Comparrisons.

2010-09-03T00:06:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

been a few weeks of of Busyness at work and a possibility of another job switch. Luckily its all settled now and I look forward to being able to clearly Focus on my day job project for many months to come.....and My Night time job of making movies.

As for the film...I have managed to get a Big sequence done with Flea Pilot.....this was a sequence expanded-upon that wasn't in the original script. We found-or Discovered it.

This guy's..... is one of the coolest things about film making-Storytelling.......throughout the process of telling story's....you discover!! Find....connections... moments.....New ways of tying things together....opportunities to show character in entertaining ways that didn't exist in text or on paper.

These are thrilling times and can often be my favorite moments of character throughout a film.

Well......after talking to a multi talented buddy of mine - Paul Linsley - he pointed out a hole in our story-a question that needed to be -answered . We really thought about it and I agreed it needed to be addressed......

After discussing it with Shel we have come to a quality FUN solution to the problem.....This is very exciting to me as an animator.....because we get to Choreograph and I get to Animate a fight scene.

Wooo Hoo.....this will improve the story ....Hopefully create some laughter and be an awesome piece of animation to look at.

Ill keep you guys in the loop on how it progresses.
Here is the last shot I animated sunday Night with the help of one of my Art assistants- Justin Connolly. Me and Shel enjoyed the way this shot leaves fleas current repair situation and enters Dober's continuing collection of materials. Plus...its fancy 3D in your face Neat-o ness.

I had to move all over the table for this one even though it looks simple...The ball falling....Flea looking around the wing.....and then Dober stepping into frame in the foreground......all the while

animating the camera tilt as the ball nears the foreground.{and a focal shift ta boot} Justin Did the Clickin and flipping so Could see what the heck was happening on the screen.
this ended up taking me a good 12 hours....Sunday 7 pm till Monday 7 am......2 hours sleep then off ta work.....uughh.

I am pretty happy with the shot....but I can really see the fatigue set in as the shot progresses. I get sloppier with my frames.....and I can feel I'm rushing to finish.

Thanks Intern Justin!! ....this shot would have taken twice as long if you were not there.
- in comparrison - Last post I share the thumbnail sequence I created for Misha to animate....

here is the animatic

here is the Shot - post production is not done.....just thrown together to share what it came to.

and LAST but NOT least.....I had a POWERFULL breakthrough this last weekend with Brother Todd- Son-Nicky and Composer/BMXer/Yaghtsman/Lady's man/Intern -Robert Litton.

One of my many goals in Life- was to do a 360 over the spine as an older man.....We went to the sk8park this weekend and made it happen.

I havn't thrown one of these since I was 17 years old- and 2 very imprortant pieces of information on the incident.

#1- I was Scared as Hell ....I havn't done somthing where I knew the likelyness of Injury was VERY likely in a LONG time...ha!
As a young Kid I had NO FEAR AT ALL.......physically...I would do pretty much anything and bounce right back up.....its so funny how getting older lets fear creep in as much as the aches and pains of aging.

#2 - I did somthing I havn't done since I was a youngster...... I PUMPED myself up .....like in a cartoon.....filling myself with that crazy -falling out of your bed.....BURST's of adrenaline......and just tried to put that Stupid fear out of my mind.....Get really Spockish about the movement...LOGICAL....to non Star Treak Fans.

and bottom line- GO FOR IT.....

it worked out....and I get to cross another Goal off my list....I was sooper happy guys!!

Really.............THRILLED!!!!

untill we meet again.

jriggity

Turbo Time.

2010-08-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

been a couple of seriously TURBO POWERED weeks of production at the Rasch Household.

We took some BIG new steps toward being -

Directors this last couple weeks in bringing in a couple of Mercenary Animators to help us put some extra seconds on the screen.

The latest chapter of the film is in large part a Montage.....Lots of Quick , fast shots with drawing new lines and retrieving lots of items needed for the ships repairs.

Here is the first shot I did to Kick off the New chapter-

Directing- Our job is to be as clear as we can in direction and have the puppets and camera's ready to roll each and every mornin...and again in the mid day upon completion of a smaller shot...

this was completly up to Shel ...and she was large and in charge . Our process was.... Me and Shel would discuss the performance and I typically would give some animation direction in the mornings before I left for work.....

Shel then was the Full time Director for the remaining part of the work day.....She sets up the shots and picks the 3d- interocular distance....then sends the animators a clickin.

This seems simple enough.....but with me working the night shift and the time it takes to set up a new shot before the morning animator gets here-clean up the puppets....and be a parent to a summer time kid...all the while doing her day job...ha!

Our first guest animator was fresh back from Spain {Matt Manning}....he finished working on the feature film - O 'Apostolo....and was back in LA.

Between me and Matt working that first week{He inspired me} we put 50 seconds of footage on the newest chapters done list (that's 5 weeks of regular animation time for me!).

And then he came in for another week! {I was still inspired} ha..... we put another 55 seconds of footage down. Rollin!!!!!!!!

It was very cool working with a seasoned pro like Matt and me and Shel learned alot in that short time.

Well.........Here we are in week 3 and our second guest animator - the talented Misha Klein

who just released his short film "FRED"........Its a True piece of Stop motion ART!! And a BIG fat scratch on the page of Stop mo History ....POWERFULL!!......worked with us for one week on the film.....and I am very excited to have had him help us.

one thing I learned from working with another animator was that talking through a performance wasnt clear enough to get what I wanted in a shot....so by the end I made sure to have Thumbnail drawings....to go along with our Verbal discription.

here is a small sequence - a compilation of my thumbnails...in animatic form that I gave to Misha

for his sequence.

....as well as some individual thumbs.

This made the process very clear....and He said it was very helpfull...

side note-

I just have to put this out there.... Misha's film Fred was the main reason I decided to try stopmotion for Gerald's Last Day. I saw animation that was so Cartoony and Fun I was inspired to attempt the medium myself.

Misha was also the first guy I contacted in the stop mo universe....and he invited me into the world

and introduced me to many of its artists.

I wont ever forget that......cause me and Shel are DEEP in the medium and in love with telling story's with it....stop motion has changed our entire lives...BIG stuff!!

With all the work this last 3 weeks will generate we should be Well on our way into this Largest Chapter of the film.

I took a few day's off....due to some needed sleep and other responsibilities...but Ill be workin the night shift again starting tonight...and well be back ta rockin the film for many weeks ta come.

AND We would like to Introduce our most recent Intern - Nakitha! She is a Woodbury animation student who has a large interest stop motion.
She contacted us and was interested in learning how it all works. She is a VERY fast learner and has been helping us with pasting and painting puppets as her early tasks.

We will be foaming new Dober and Flea puppets next, so she'll get to soon learn how the casting and armature making works in full. Welcome Nakitha and thanks for your Help.

In Mini Ship News....here is shel packing up and sending our Dober Mini Ship off to Mike Fleming, one of our New online friends.

He Kindly offered to Mold the ship and make the resin copy's we will need for some of the space Fight scenes as well as a crash that happens later in the film. More on this soon!!

In Other cool stop mo related news-here is the 2010 Montreal Stop-Motion Film Festival: Call for entries!

Montreal, 8th of June 2010:
http://www.stopmotionmontreal.com/

To enter your film in the festival, download a submission form, fill it out, and send it, along with your film.

Deadline for film submissions is: September 10, 2010.

Please refer to the entries section on our website for answers to any questions you might have concerning eligibility, dates, accepted formats, and new rules.

This year, the professional segment has been updated with a new category for films-commercials less than 1 minute in running time and we will have more guest appearance during this week-end long event that promises to be super cool!

The festival will be held in Montreal, from the 29th to the 31st of October 2010

jriggity

10 years Married and a NEW Chapter begins.

2010-07-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

We officially ended {chapter#3} last week ...2 down........Wooo Hooo!!!

Here is Awesome Intern Justin Connolly helping out on a late night shoot....This shot was a lot of running around...I had to animate Flea on one side of the table then run ---all the ways around the table to animate Dober. This put the Frame grabber out of reach for me......so Justin J offered to run the grabber for me while I animated which made the process SOOOOOOOOO much easier.

other than the annoyance of listening to me say..."Forward -Back"..."Forward -Back"...Play...

For hours on end....he got to see a shot animted right before his eyes.......

I thank him tremendously for his assistance....it would have never been as clean without his help.....Tag Team Animation......Ohhhhhh Yeeeaahhhhhh!!!!!

and as of last monday night ...I put our first shot in the can on {chapter#4}.............heres a pic of shel setting up an extra piece of blue to cover the antanna for our kick off shot on the new chapter.....

She had to sew 21 feet of new Bluescreen for the other side of the garage that we havn't shot on yet......cool pic.....

In this films production....we believe that its starting the down hill ROLL . Our latest chapter contains a large Montage which will mean lots of Quick Shots -......... I think it could take more time to move the camera around-setup the 3d- than to do some of the actual animation.....but it should go pretty smoothe.

In preping the Mini Dober Ship for Molding and replication....Shel ended up cutting the mini ship into pieces ready for molding.

COOL news!!

The book The advanced Art of Stopmotion Animation has released and we are sooooo proud to be a part of it...not only in it....but Flea Made the Cover...WOW!! TOTAL Honor!!! order your copy Now the books is awesome!!!!!!!

as for us.....we just finished our latest goonies adventure with a Huge ASS mountain climb in Yosimite- in celebration of our 10 years married...We climbed a hour and some from our base and came upon this amazing Waterfall....we didnt even know it was on the this hike...and it was just one of MANY on the way UP.....It was a shock of COOL exciting energy and Beauty....Apparently there is TONS of water in Yosimite this year and we are seeing the best of the falls and rivers....Super cool!! Along with all the waterfalls and Mist were GIANT Rainbows surrounding us....I have never in my life found the end of a rainbow....and BAMM there it was....and I touched it...I'm hoping we can trade in all those gold coins for some Feature film making Dollar's$$.After Hours more Heavy Hiking we finally set our eyes on the Peek...we first saw the ant line of humans pulling themselves up the wire to the top...they are super TINY in this pic...{at the halfway point in the rock the wires begin}...WOW this is LEGIT!!!

..as we got to the base of the climb{halfway up}.....you can see better in this one......I got excited.........Up we went!!! ......and after a nice sun bathing at the TOP we headed down for a long hike back to our cabin...ha!

We are both sooooo excited to have done this together....and it was Truely Majestic!!!
Inspiring and Plain FUN.

jriggity

Pictures to Playdough.......

2010-07-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

here we are back in the swing of things ......{yes....that's baby Aedon Rocking the swing}
I am getting a lot of animation done and making my quotas again.

Got 27 seconds since my last post...which made me feel MUCH better about how things are going.

I managed to get the sequence I shared all blocked in.....pretty happy with it too.

Flea Damage Readout-
Big Camera Move Replacing Fan
We are now 6 minutes 40 seconds.....and climbing....2 shots left in this chapter...and DONE!

Me and Shel after having a few story meetings have decided to cut a whole 2 minutes off of chapter#3 that we are finishing right now. This had some of my VERY favorite Animation and character -moments in it ...{HURTS} but it was completely the right thing to do.

The Story moves right along now sooooo much better than before.

.....On a positive side I see this as a major TURBO Blast forward in finishing the Film ....... 2 minutes of footage = 2-3 months of work for me.....this means we get our film out that much faster.....which is very very exciting for all of us!!

so....in cutting the 2 minutes off.....We had to come up with some NEW camera work and layouts for the NEW ending of the chapter which means putting our director-Collaborator hats back on. After Talking the sequence through....I put the action to paper.

I actually struggled quite a bit with how best to lay out the shots....Its funny how some things come so easy and others are just like pulling teeth. but......I do like the new stuff much better.

Shel has been learning the ropes of {-Dragon Software-Camera-3d-setup-cinematography-} for the coming weeks of ANIMATION Directing she will be doing???{hmmmmm??? future post will explain this}

Here is MINI Dober's Latest Progress.....Bridget is painting him up and hes getting ready to take some test flights in his MINI ship....looking good!

Here is a pic of Intern - Justin J's. work on our Mini Flea Pilot Puppet .....hes progressing nicely.

Justin J has also started learning the craft of animation recently in preparation of a animation apprectice position I have opening down the line a bit. I am very excited to pass on some of the knowledge I have to somone as passionate about the process as him.

Shel is also back on the ships and very close to finishing them... in time to be Molded and cast for Multiple copies....{TOY'S anyone?}Just a few weeks away. ha.. We need to have a few copies of the miniships for a big scene in the End of the film......and I personally just think they are super mega cool Toys to have around.

trick of the week{I am presently injured again from BMX related injuries}Dangit!!!
.. since my right arm is out of action.......I am Leaning to RIDE the Bowl....on a SK8 board.I am not a BMX traitor.....just keepin it rollin.

FUN Stuff....

jriggity

Finding a Rhythm

2010-06-25T00:42:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

I've had a hard time getting work done on the film the past couple weeks....and its been a TAD depressing. I have to arrive my new job much earlier than my old job
and I battle an hour of traffic both ways...

This new layout to my days is very taxing on our personal project. I still get home in time to hang with the family but my energy levels are lower than before. Going into the garage at midnight is not very easy knowing about the days drive-work ahead.

so....much needed {voice of reason} shel - says its only week 2 and you have to find your rhythm is all.

well..thats what I plan to do.....

In celebration of FORCING a start to the new rhythm....Monday I shot Late into the night on a neato camera move with our Handy Dandy Camera Mover....

The shot works but I am not really happy with the performance...mechanics of the walk...This is one of those shots thats {Good enough -to not require a reshoot} but not very Magical to look at.

Here is the sequence I am shooting for the next couple weeks-Ill share a bit as i get it together. Kinda boring stuff ....but it will be fun to compare and contrast

no trick of the week on his post..but here is me and the boy celebrating fathers day at a the BIGGEST Skate park I ave ever had the pleasure of playing at...
Super FUN.

15 foot vert RAMPS...NUTS!!!

jriggity

55 seconds and New Job Week 1

2010-06-10T23:41:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Here I am finished with my WAY TOO SHORT vacation - I started my New job and I am officially animating for a New Company. I have to say my first character is very very fun and I am remembering why I love CG animation....wish I could share with you guys...

In film news I didnt make my {1 minute VACATION goal }......but I came really Dang close....

{55 seconds of Finished..... in EDIT film}

This was very exciting and simultaniously Depressing because it shows me how much I could get done if I didnt have to work a day job........One could dream right...?

Ohh well....As it stands with my 10 sec a week Quota- it puts me at about 1 minute every 3 months of work....

....lots of work ahead...

Chapter 3 is coming together incredibly well . I hope to have it done in 3 more months...{that will bring is to about just under 8 minutes} JEEEZ.

Here is an update on the mini dober puppet- Bridget has been workin on it every tuesday and her progress is really starting to show. Looking good.

In other cool news...

Remember when I said me and Shel have an Imaginary List of { THINGS we want to do In LIFE with each other } well.......

Me and Shel put a GREAT BIG check mark on that list I talk about every now and then.....the "THINGS we want to do in LIFE with each other" List.

Well ...Shel went up to Big Bear for most of last week to hang with her sisters and mom. They celebrated her moms B Day and sorted lots of family photos. Me and Aedon drove up on Saturday to hang with them and have some B day cake. On a short grocery run-walk.....we saw the LAKE- Gregory and couldnt resist.We MUST swim across this lake!!!! This is a feeling we had in Big Bear the first time we came down but they have strict no people in the water rules. {SUCKS}.....so we took the Lake Gregory challenge unprepared{I swam in my pants}....and met the rest of the family on the other side after they got groceries.

It was a really special feeling being out in the middle of the water with someone you love......surrounded by trees and Mountain Wonder. Its also cool.....because theres no turning back.....I had never swam that far before....we made it across in just over 30 minutes....it was cool!!

.... it was a great moment.....

here is my trick of the week celebrating many GREAT riding sessions through my ever so short vacation. I am going to miss my day light riding sessions.

jriggity

Milstone and {Nicky Rasch-My sons} Art Blog.

2010-05-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

Hey guys...

not quite making the amount of footage I wanted {about 30 seconds so far} of vacation....1 very busy week left.....but I am consistently Animating.....Including tonight...

I did reach a serious Milestone in this new sequence....the line has changed shape dramatically.

I remember fantasizing like I often do.....on {whats it going to be like when I reach this point in the film?}well here I am....and its kinda like I imagined but DANG....I gots a long way to go ha!!I remember a year and a bit back.....me and Shel on our weekly mountain hike in the Griffith Park Hills....{we talk life and story's on our hikes}we reached the top of the mountain....sat down in our normal top spot .....and drew that same exact shape in the sand right between our body's. This was the genesis of the films main concept and I will always remember where it started....... literally in the Dirt at the top of that mountain.

Here is a clip of flea changing the rules a bit....

I was happy with how this one came out....especially since the battery wasn't really made for animation. I just faked it as best as I could and it worked pretty well.

...My son Nicky Rasch.....has recently started his own art blog and business.

here is Nicky's mascot.....which he will be molding and offering as a resin kit. He is sculpting, drawing , painting and doing 3D animation - Modeling for interested party's. His rates are good and I am proud of him for putting it all together to make some teenager dough and improve his portfolio.

http://nickyrasch.blogspot.com/

here is an in-progress Conan statue I hired Nicky to make for me off the Frazetta painting..drop by and wish him luck!

jriggity

Goonies Pilgramage.....

2010-05-20T14:03:00.001-07:00

Hey Guys!
Shel and I just came back from a whirlwind trip to Portland Day two was all about Goonie's Dorkness......Most kids from the 80's had a soft spot for this film.......and mine was particularly soft and to this day colors alot of my adventures.

I figured It was time I finally made the Pilgrimage to the Place it all happened.

We arrived at Astoria- Home of the Goonies ........ it was a tiny little town with a cold breeze and a mistiness in the air......pretty much just like I imagined.

We hit up the local grocer for the location of the house......just a short ride and we were there.
As we parked we saw a bunch of people getting out of their car walking up a driveway.....hmmm
HINT - Hint !! This movie reached alot of People!!!

Here we are......in front of the Goonies Houseat the Goonies Jail -

and at Cannon Beach - where the goonies rocks are.
a magical place......and so fun to explore with shel.

and a couple of other Astoria spots....so.....

News on the Film....I am kicking off my vacation with a major shooting schedule...
I want to get at least 1 minute of footage during my 3 weeks off.

That means tonight Is shot 1 .....so wish me Lucks.....Ill be posting regular again....so expect smaller more regular posts....once a week should be happening.

justin

Back On the Horse again!! Lake Arrowhead Film Fest

2010-04-27T14:43:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

well....Here I am just getting back to a Clear place again......I have accepted a new full time offer at Broodworks in Santa Monica California
In my Limbo I had 2 awesome job options and my stomach was in knots trying to decide....but .... In the End I decided to go with a New start up {My favorite kind of company's} on a Hand keyed - Very Fun!! - Animated Title.

I am saying goodbye to my most favorite talented group of guys I have ever worked with. The Guys.
so.....having this clarity was a HUGE weight off my shoulders. We are now able to start thinking about the film again. WOoooooo Hoooo!!! prepping a new shot.....so my first plan of action was to avenge my last failed shot. I did this and was much happier with the results. Here is a look at the new shot.

I am much happier with the Jump and the flow of the movement. I went in with some thumbnails this time..... very simple but clear poses and flow....it made all the difference in the world.I am doing a Freelance job until the 17th of May in the evenings so I have to sneak shots in by balancing my work time and film ......I have a plan so all should work out. The great news is that after the 17th I am free to take a nice 3 weeks off to collect my Beans and make some Headway on the film. I plan on putting some major miles on the project during that time.

Shel is just steps away from finishing the GLD special features and she is READY to be done!!!!She has learned a lot about editing programs on this project and has been through some big technical ups and downs During the production of the special features. She did an awesome job though and we cant wait to burn that first disk.

Shel has even had a couple moments to tap on the mini flea ship.Bridgets been able to do some work on mini dober.....More coverage to come.In GLD news......we went to a Film fest with the family this last weekend which was alot of fun. We had such an awesome experience at Big Bear Film Fest that we wanted to go back to such a cool environment with the family.
We arrived just in time for our showing in the animation block and were very pleased to run into our fellow film makers -buddy's - who we have run into many times now over the year of festival travels.

The Usual Suspects - {Joaquin Baldwin - Sebastians Voodoo}-Kyle Bell -The Mouse That Soared - Totally ...My favorite film at the fest.
After our block which had both Hits and a couple Misses.....we went off to see our place.

We got a cool house that one of the festival runners hooked us up with.
We decided to see the town and grab some grub.....Robert and Bridget our Intern Lovers were going to join us a bit later that day.We enjoyed a nice evening at the House Playing Our familys version of Dungeons and Dragons called simply "THE GAME" This is a game me and Shel made up for the kids when they were youngsters and we have played it for years. Its all Imagination and 100% FUN. Its been so cool to start playing it with Aedon now that shes a good age for it.....

We also managed a few snowball fights ,

Monkey bar action red light green light and some Shoe Golf at the nearby school during our time there.

Lots of fun and the Winner of the Animated award well deserved {Kyle Bell}
He was given the award By no less than - Shooter Mcgavin from Happy Gilmore..ha!
Last Piece of Info - My buddy Ethan Marak's film {Super Battle} is currently in a contest {First Glance Online Short Film Contest!}
He needs some votes.....so If you haven't cast yours yet ....swing by his blog and drop a vote under the Directions he has listed. Support Stop motion!!!!

http://angrypuppet.blogspot.com/

and for my trick of the week......8 stair Rail....Wooooo Hoooo!!! whats next???

jriggity

New Chapters in Life....Curveballs...

2010-04-18T01:56:00.000-07:00

Here we go into a New chapter of my professional career. Last Week our company
that I have been with for the last 5 years and 3 titles.....layed us off after our Publisher decided to cut projects that were considered too risky.

In this economy this is becoming a very common thing....I have seen many friends go through this in the last year and its been hard on most of them.

This was a sad moment for all of us on the team. I felt it was easily our Highest Quality an Funnest game the company had produced. I also believed it would have done very well in the market..... The Big wigs only see Numbers.....and theres no arguing that.

ohhh well....Everytime somthing like his has happened in my life its been to take me to a better place.

I feel very fortunate to have found a freelance job and will be starting very soon on a new fulltime Title.......I am excited to do the work ahead and curious as to where it will all take me..

In all of the ruckus of the employment stuff.....I have not done as much shooting as I normally would. I did pass the 5 minute mark though which is 1/3rd through what I am estimating my footage count to be before editing.

Woooo Hoo!

In film news....Here is a couple of cool pics of the shots managed- flea repairing scenes. Stretching for the shot....

I also did another P.O.V. shot....this time for Flea.

And My first really true failed shot of this production.....flea jumping off the ship to retrieve his battery.....I was incredibly tired in the creation of this shot and it was just a fail on all accounts.

I cant wait to avenge this shot....and Ill share it here when I do.

in fun-non animation stuff....I have been riding again...and made a Huge Goal come to pass this last week. Since I started riding my bike again....re teaching myself.....alongside Robert Litton and Brother Todd.....I thought

....man I wish I could do a Hand Rail Like I could as a kid.

So I made a 35 year old goal of doing a hand rail......and It happend. It doesnt look like much but its scary!!.....not to mention on one of our riding sessions we witnessed a young man.....take a horrible crash to the NUTS......just a couple weeks earlier. YIKES!!!

so heres the video....last time I did a rail I was 17 years old and full of beans....Booooo yaaaaa!!!

make a goal and meet a goal!

and last but not least....just some anims from the company I got layed off from recently.....to share some work from the last few years...

jiggity

Shakey Ground - Intern FIlmaker

2010-03-31T14:07:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Been a bit Crazy at work{my day Job} this last week.....Our projects Unexpectadly on shakey ground and I have had to think of new options....

this has made a shifting in priorities and I have been a bit distracted.

Even though....I continued work and have managed to get 3 good shots out.

Dober's starting to work on the engines first.....welding away....I used a mini flash light to do the
flashing effect illuminating the engine{sparks} area as I animated. I started with a white type of light but then realized that it took on a bit too close to the blue screen color.

I then put an orange gel on the light to make sure my KEY didn't get confused....this worked nicely. This was a 10 second shot and got me through this last weeks Quota.

After a few nights of fixing and maintaining Dober's Heads....{they are all beat up and I have been putting it off}....hes been back to acting and telling our story.

I also had to do a P.O.V camera move that worked out pretty well with my trusty Manfrotto geared head. With some eyeballing and Dragon Stopmotion software I was able to do the animation fairly cleanly.

Shel putting the first Hole in the fleaship for upcoming shot.In Proving that GLD still has legs.......I'm glad to announce that GLD was accepted to its first London festival as well as Its first Russian{Moscow} fest. This is very cool to me that its reaching so far. We are Planning a weekend at Lake Arrowhead Film fest in a few weeks as well. This should be fun!

in our continuing stop mo adventures -

We took a trip over to our Intern's {Justin Connelly}FIRST FILM production over at USC.

Justin Connelly has had an Incredibly Hard deadline to make over the last weeks and has been working Nonstop to make it. He created 2 foam latex puppets One clay cotton puppet for gang of kids leaving school.

Eyebrows, eyelids and replacement horns-bells...a Full Set and lots of props on his way to telling a one minute short.
We were very excited to see his set and Puppets Painted and the very begining of the first animated shot. He is also geared up to when finished get his film scored by our own Robert Litton. I have to say that Robert has 3 stopmotion short films he is scoring soon and he seems to have cornered the market in Stopmo Music!

Its exciting times for all involved....and Its really thrilling to watch justin walking on his own in the early parts of his stop motion Journey.

Shel's Still working the Special features and We are getting CLOSE...

more to come.

jriggity

4 minutes and Dream Chasin!

2010-03-17T00:06:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!

We have passed 4 minutes and I'm back in full swing now that the TOY is finished.......

I'm also back at work now and can resume my online status which has been inconsistent lately.{Late reply's on emails and such.}

so......Here is Shel's awesome Dober Space Manual.......in action

Shel is very close on the Editing of the Special features and seems like she will make her deadline. She's been focusing on Editing so we can send out GLD into the world properly.

It will be the closing to the GLD chapter of our journey.....what a ride!!

so last week Shel gave Bridget the job of creating a MINI Dober puppet for the Mini Dober Ship
This will be the first MAJOR element from our film that we are giving out and another leap of faith and lesson in sharing....ha! It will be a fully functioning MINI Puppet. ....and I feel confident Bridget will do a good job.

....... most of the animation will be leaning or head turning as he flys. but.....I do want a cool figure-puppet that is able to do it all if needed....... Ya never know if somewhere down the animation road I find a spot I could need him in.

Intern- Justin J. has started filming his USC Stop mo film this week and we are all wishing him luck!!....because he is CRUNCHIN to make his deadline.

So as part of making our Dreams happen we went out looking for a building a few weeks ago to house our {Future Feature Animated Film}
One of the steps to making our Dream Manifest seems to be taking steps-Mental and Physicaly towards it. This always brings us closer just by putting the energy in the Air that makes it more than mere thoughts.

One of our wishes is to have it down the street from us near Aedon's Future school....as well as to shoot in L.A. with access to all the talent and supplies we would need to make it happen.

here's a pic of the Place....6,000 square feet....High ceilings with 4 offices
{editing-post production-story room - and our own biz office}.....

....... a LARGE main area for The animation stages {12 in total during production-lots more room if needed}

we would have a puppet fabrication section to the side of the main area ..... a completely separate area for the Shop in the back of the building....for all manufacturing of Sets and other machined items.

This visualization was thrilling guys!!

I really could see it.....I could hear the camera clicks....... and smell the smells. It was just magical to imagine a bunch of artists all working on our film-story.

From Imagination to paper to Film....Dang!!!

I cant freakin wait!!!

......Our Daughter Aedon created a new stuffed animal for her collection. Its a Chicken pillow and I used it as a pillow the other night in its maiden voyage. Its comfy and I'm very proud of her having made it.and last bit of news.....to celebrate my ankle recovery I am posting a Bike trick my ever healing ankle landed recently.Yes.......

jriggity

Justin the Toy Maker.....

2010-03-05T00:57:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Anaglyph shot to check out...on request. Red and Blue glasses required. Click on it...it gets bigger.

sorry about the delay on posting.....

been Home for almost 2 weeks from my day job...... I have been building a PROTOTYPE Toy for my works latest Video game project...This was my first pro Toy making job and I was so honored they came to me !!

so......I get to work from home for 2 and a half weeks and its just plain Fun!!

The only part that is not perfect about the situation is that they want alot and Fast....ha!

Doing this TOY of course put me off course a bit on the films production....but....I still got a couple shots in.

Dober is in full repair mode.....as is Flea....the sequence is well on its way.

Here is Dober's Toolbox

here is a piece of the Raw shot from Flea Throwing his tools around.....I did not paint out the wires yet so theyll be shaking in and out.....

and yes......that is Gerald's Rubber Ducky making a Cameo....it all makes sence in the end...ha!!

We had a visit last weekend from our Friend-Animator and Sponsor Kevin Maclean...

He came over for a tour of the studio as well as to pick up his Gerald Sculpture reward for the donation on the film. It was super cool to hang out and he sent me this picture after he got home which made me very happy!

Gerald's in there with such good company......and I was very proud that Kevin gave Gerald such and awesome Home.

Shel has been editing her brains out for the GLD special features.....she has a Personal deadline and the last step is inserting some personality into the information. We are going to be doing that this week.

She Has managed to sneak a few hours on the ship here and there........

Justin Our Intern has finished his second sculpture , Mold and Foam puppet. He has to paint them and hes ready to animate. Very exciting! ...........And one more bit of cool news for Justin Is that hes going to have the World Famous Composer Robert Litton on board for the music accompanying his film.

How cool is that!!!

.... back to the ska8 park...... I am Landing tricks again.....Im not 100%.... on my way.

jriggity

New Chapter- Intern Latex and Future Feature

2010-02-16T23:40:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Chapter 2- has started - started with a Big Giant {GLD} kinda shot- I have been in the garage 4 nights and still am not quite finished with this monster {One more night}......it has turned into a Magical Piece of animation though....Its animated well and thrilled me to see it appear from imagination to reality.

The shot started one way {a plan} and went into something of its own remembering echo's of what I set out to do.... but with a whole new path and rhythmn in getting there.

This shot had lots of flying pieces {like the dog food in GLD} ...and I cant wait to see it all cleaned up.

Shel and Bridget have made some very cool props for our Actors ....

Flea Toolbox-Dober's Toolbox -and Fleas Space Manual -

these are right up close to the camera kicking off the New chapter as they buckle down to do repairs on the ships.

The also did all the tools to populate the boxes-

......

This last few weeks our Intern- Justin Connolly has been hard at work in the creation of his first foam latex puppet-Sculpt - very appealing Characters-Sculpture
Mold - Very Clean MoldArmature -

It is always exciting to see new puppets for us and Shel has guided him throughout the process.
This Saturday...Justin came over from 9 am- 3 am.....in the quest for a Foam Latex puppet. We had a good time just sculpting in front of many fun bad comedies...as the puppet cooked for 8 hours.After the whole Day of artwork.....it was a bit painfull to find the mix wasnt right...-Failed puppet.....Ouch- Thats how it goes.....

Shel first thing in the morning busted out a new mix and it came out great....just in time for class on Monday ...

Nickys new sculpt- I hired him to do his first commissioned - Conan- Frazetta sculptIts coming along nicely!! Update soon.....

Justins Second character for his first USC animated film......it will go through the exact process as the first character....He should have knowledge of the whole process for his future in stop mo very soon.

Shel's still hard at work on the Special features for GLD.....you guys will be happy when its all done....I think I would be interested in this stuff if I was an another independent film maker ....

Speaking of GLD- It just picked up another award at the......
{Savannah International Animation Festival}

we received the AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD - and we were so honored to be a part of Hal and Nancy Miles first year festival. They had a wonderful lineup of films and a lot of competition so it felt really good.

Hal actually called me from the festival and I accepted the award on a cell phone in front of the audience.....How cool is that!! ha!

Our friend Ethan Marak also was a winner this year with his "SuperBattle, Episode 1"taking the {STOP MOTION ANIMATION} award! Congrats man!!

and yeah.....my ankles still busted....but I can walk now....just cant jump or ride..Sadness:(
It does'nt look like much but it HURT!

Hope to start rollin again next weekend...

jriggity

Milestone- Finished first full Chapter!! 3 min 3 seconds

2010-02-03T11:28:00.000-08:00

MILESTONE!!
Hey guys,
Having just finished the last shot at the very end of January......we were able to Celebrate with a Big 2 nights date weekend and a week Day session at the sk8park on the BMX bike..
other than a bad sprained ankle{I'll share video}.....{Sucks for Animating!!}

..it was an AWESOME time!!!!....

I am taking this week off to organize our files-garage-editing station-HEAL-
....and put together some movies for Shel to Edit.....

She is creating Dober and Flea's toolboxes for the Next sequence's-Exciting!!

Shel's also got Flea's mini ship looking amazing!! I cant wait to fly these things around!!!!! So much FUN!!!! This is an old pic -Ill let her post the process again!!The next sequence is the longest on in the film.....

it will be over 4 minuets long {probably 5 min} and will have lots of moving around and interesting problems to solve. Flea will be crawling all over his ship and that means I gota have the power drill ready for action....

Putting holes in the beautiful ships is not my favorite thing to do....

{Post production on our shots} I have been using all 2d effects for our particles so far and have been advised to create 3d particles in Maya or some 3d program....to make the world even more 3d.{This is Jason Goodman our 3D Advisor}This will take the film to another level for sure...but its not something I PLANNED on.......ha....guess I have to learn some particle systems.

Shel, Justin J and Bridget have finished painting the backup puppets!! wooo hooo!!
as for Dirk the Daring.....I have made a bunchof new faces for him
these are going to be soooo fun to animate with!!!....and Ill plan the big post for him very soon.....here's Aedons contribution to the pile..
One more week till I jump in again.....wish us luck!!

jriggity

Mini Dober Ship Production Shots

2010-01-21T20:22:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys,

Shel here with some progress pics on Dober's Mini Ship. FUN, FUN FUN!! I am making mini ships for the space battle that will open the film (we'll be shooting this sequence last, and I tell ya, it's going to be very EXCITING when we get there!!!).

It's been so fun make the small ships after having learned on the big versions, and I am grateful to Jeff Set Master Cross for all he taught me when we made the big ones.

I started with taking pics of the big ship and scaling them down in photo shop to the size we want (about 12" across). Then I could take my measurements right off the print outs:

1/4" plywood base structure, hot glued together.....

Blue foam glued on and shaped....

Brass tubing for connecting to the rig:

The Garage is all about HOT ANIMATION SETS right now, so the Workshop is on the porch, the kitchen table, the living room, etc. (my sisters in New York and Virginia got FEET of snow this day, so it was especially fun to tell them I was working outside in a tank top!):

Fitting together the various wings and engines:

Sorting through "Greeble":

GOOP!:

Sanding (fine white dust all over the living room!):

Ready to assemble:

My new cordless DREMEL, which I love with all my heart (awesome x-mas present from composer, yaughtsman, etc. Robert Litton and invaluable art assistant Bridget Dash)

Bridget helping to paint the engine cap doodads:

Practice flight:

Now I'm working on the BUCK for the windshield.....lots of trial and error here, I watched Justin's brother Todd make the bucks for the big ships and he made it look so easy .... ha! I'll post about that when I've figured it out.....we need the windshield to come off and on easily so Justin can animate the little guys inside, which is just the kind of puzzle that makes my brain very happy.

I've also got a great start on the Flea's ship and will post those pics soon.

In the meantime Justin is making MOVIE MAGIC in the garage most nights......before we started this film we said we would try to make sure he slept this time, but he's just way too excited to sleep and last week pumped out 15 seconds! (5 seconds OVER our 10 second goal per week.) He did decide to take a week off animating after this sequence is done (1 more shot!!), so he can focus on organizing the garage (untangling cords and figuring out a more ergonomic computer configuration), figuring out the pipeline for the 3D part, and getting the shots onto my editing computer so i can start editing ........and maybe sleep a little? we'll see how that goes.....

B day Animation Clip -The Line

2010-01-20T18:22:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

quick post.....2 shots left and the sequence is done!!!!!

jriggity