Madagascar

Madagascar DVD came out on Tuesday!
Go check it out if you haven't seen it. I'll post all the shots I worked on soon so that you can watch them over and over and over and over again. Ok, once is enough...or you'll catch all my errors. I just have to fast forward through the movie and remember them. Just don't blink when you watch...some shots are very quick. I think I'll post some thumbnail drawings too so that you can really get inside my head and see how I think and plan out a shot.

This was my second feature I've worked on....my first was Shrek 2. I had such a great time animating these crazy cartoony characters that it really felt like 2d...you could push these characters so much and the character rigs rarely broke or got funky. This isn't a perfect film, nor is it a masterpiece....but hey...how many live action films are perfect and masterpieces? Sooner or later an animated gem will hit and kapowey! You'll be moved beyond words. But hey, I'm working on making a film like that one day so just be a little patient. OK? okee dokee.

Double D as I like to call him...or Donachada Daly as others call him....was my supervising animator on this film as well as Rex Grignon. Mr. James "Badass" Baxter was also my supervisor as well as a mentor. They all helped me out a great deal on my animation and timing and without their assistance I probably wouldn't be sitting here animating on Hedge. So thanks guys!

Design

These are some designs I did when I was planning my 2nd year film at cal arts. Exploring shapes, composition, and just having fun.






I had these in my portfolio back in the day. The blue woman was actually a sketch I started in the offices of Flinch studios , a Flash animation studio that, to the best of my knowledge, is no longer around. We made Tim Burton's Flash animated series Stainboy there. Boy was that fun. It was a small team and very chaotic...but fun to be a part of something that a lot of people were looking forward to.

I'm still Here...

I know I know...it's been awhile...I've been working on a tough shot lately that's driving me crazy.

12 characters...12.5 feet...that's about 8 seconds. And the worst part is that most of the characters are just watching a raccoon! That's the hardest thing to do in animation I think...trying to breathe life into characters that are just standing and looking around in awe. You start off thinking...oh this is easy enough....and you throw a few key frames here or there...make them breathe a little...(chest expansion) and wallah! All done! Right? DEAD WRONG! My stupid computer hates organic looking things...it wants to animate everything like robots and make every arm swing and head movement ugly! So you grit your teeth and get in there working out all the details till you have a nice piece of polished goodness. But boy oh boy is it a fight! I'm constantly thinking...oh I have to spend more time on the main character in this shot, where is the audience looking, what's the point of this shot, how do I stage everybody so they are all clear? I'm amazed my brain isn't like." Uh Jeremy, perhaps another career would be best for you. Because I'm about to explode. Perhaps milking cows would be more suitable for you, you'll work outdoors, have some fresh air, and eat healthy. But then Logic comes by and tells me ."Yo, Bernstein...that means you have to wake up at 4 a.m...."(because that's when farmer's wake up.) and then I say "Forget it!" and then Mr. Artistic responsibility, comes in and says "Yo J, use your skills to your fullest potential." and I say " Hmmmmm" and then Spiderman comes in and says, "With great power comes great responsibility." or did Uncle Ben say that first? Anyway, I say, "Yeah spidey...you da man!" and then we go sling some webs on some bad guys....but not before I finish my shot.

I tried posting some drawings up today but they failed to load...so instead I give you
some 2d animation goodness...well, kind of. There's this program called flip book and it uses flash to animate from the web...you've probably already heard of this site. Check out my Nostril squid and tell me if you want some more. click below puh-lease.


NOSTRIL SQUID ANIMATION

Dinner time

Chef Alfred had a peculiar way
Of delivering his meal to his guests each day.
I'm not at all suprised I suppose
For his last job he wore a big red nose.



Sorry no posts in awhile. My roomie and I (Sean Szeles) had a ginormous halloween party this weekend and had so much to do to prepare for it. We decked out the entire apartment with ghosts, pirates, skeletons, and more. Whew...what a task. Here's what we looked like.



Me as Ali G , Soyon An as a Kabuki Ballerina, Sean Szeles as an old timey robber, and Kellie Smith as a boy scout.

Man that was fun....now to clean up the place.

Moday..ugh.

Hello out there in internet computer land. Here's my gift of the day...some doodles and drawings from a few years back. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to explain the birthday drawing from my previous post. Well that drawing was done for JJ Villard, the brilliant artist and most disgusting friend I know. But I use the word "disgusting" in the most positive sense...for those traits are what make our conversations about the reality of life so intersting. The drawing was done in honor of his attempt to jump on stage at an M.I.A concert and present her with a painting. Though his courageous attempts were thwarted by a vicious man-eating security gaurd who's tiger like instincts quickly stopped him. Too bad....it would have been awesome. This isn't his first stage attempt though...you see, JJ gets what he wants....ask Gwen Stefani about it.




Here's Sean Szeles with no nose....and no moustache! Probably done at Cal Arts 2002.



This is Bigfoot. The most hairiest, ugliest creature on earth. He's also loud and funny and performs at the comedy store in Hollywood. He eats cabbage and sauerkrout and sometimes small squirrels. He been known to scarf down Hamentashens and Potato Latkes without breathing. He is also known by the U.S. Park Ranger Services as Ron Yavnieli
He's also a good friend.

I'll explain soon....

A Day with Dad

Waffle progression

These are most of the original designs for the wacky waffle restaurant logo. Thought it would be cool to show you the progress. Originally, the owner couldn't decide on weather to have a waffle or a blonde waitress carrying a plate of waffles.







Here's a parade of waffles on the run. Don't know why they're so happy...they're about to get eaten.

Look at him run!

News flash! My aunt found a pic of the Wacky Waffle Restaurant. Thanks Auntie Carol. For more info, scroll down to his pic.

More Work Buddies

Yoshi Tamura


Alessandro Carloni


Kevin Maclean


Dave Burgess



Jason Reisig and Fred Nilsson


































Jim Van Der Keyl



Jason again...



Karey Kirkpatrick

Run Wacky Run!

Anybody in Los Angeles recognize this? It's Wacky the Waffle! If you ever drive down Sunset Blvd. at night, you'll see this bad boy lit up in neon. I designed it for a small restaurant on the corner of Crescent Heights and Sunset, across the street from Miagi's. 8226 W Sunset Blvd to be exact. And the name of the place? "Wacky Waffles" silly! Last time I went there I saw the logo on the waitress's t-shirts. It was also etched in glass by some of the tables. I should post a photo of the place...but I can't find any online. I should also post some of the designs I did before I reached this version. They're pretty funny.


Here's a drawing I did a few weeks ago at our weekly animation meeting. The idea, taken from the one and only Mark Walton (story board artist extraordinair), was to draw a wrestler and a girl scout in a funny predicament. This was my attempt. I know , I know, it seems pretty vicious at first glance....but c'mon! The girl was charging 5 bucks for a box of Thin Mints! And this guy doesn't make a lot...ya know?




This is a painting in my living room. Again..owls. Or one owl. I did this for an art show about 2 years ago. I thought it came out all right... A lot of my friends notice it and are surprised I did it. I guess because it looks very professional in a thrift store frame. Or maybe it's because it's actually finished. Who knows? It's kind of fun surprising people with your work...keeps them on their toes!




SEQUOIA!
I saw this little....er big guy walking casually across the main road like he owned it. I stopped in the middle of the street and shot away. At one point this tarantula stopped and offered me a ride. I said "No thanks buddy..already got one..." as I pointed to my girlfriend's jeep. He slowly turned around ...shrugged his shoulders and while walking away I swore he mumbled "Dang tourists..."
He also had these 2 black pinchers on the back of his abdamen that looked mighty threatening...so no way was I trusting that arachnid.



Tarantula, Tarantula
Crawling up my leg.
I gasp, then scream...
Oh great, I'm dead



It's kind of hard to tell in this photo....but I'm in that tree below. Sequoia trees are so huge and beautiful they will just leave you stunned. I still can't get over it. Wanna see the aftermath of a tree attacking an SUV? click here.



If you look closely...wait...click on the pic first...see the 2 rainbows? Awesome. Too bad I didn't see any leprechauns.

Update on past post

Looks like Disney took down those pics from their upcoming computer animated flick

The Wild...click this

I wonder if they read my rant....hmmmmmm.

wow

Wow. Have you seen this mess?

Disney posted some pics up from their computer animated film, The Wild , yesterday.

Disney disney disney......how sad. These guys made Pinochio and Dumbo! Can you believe that? And they're even out-sourcing the animation to Canada....but just look at that. Wow, I never thought my eyes could bleed so quickly. Well wait, the Valiant trailer was pretty bad. There are so many talented character designers out there and none of them are used...or maybe they were..but the executives can't see good design...it's like us artists looking at a long wordy contract and making decisions without even understanding it. Well, at least Wilbur Robinson and American Dog look great.



I met John K. once and he was telling me how executives can't read storyboards...he would give them boards and they couldn't make heads or tails out of it. Hah! He said, if they can't read story boards, then they can't read comic books. A 5 yr old can read comic-books and an executive can't. Pretty sad and ironic eh? Oh well, it kind of gets us all charged up when there are stupid decisions made...makes us work harder and stronger and pushes us to do our best. Because that's what we all strive for... right?




Now I know the company I work for has some designs that make us scream.... I, as well, scream with you....but the visual development here will blow your socks off! It's just the transition from drawings to models that gets screwed up! But we did make Madagascar and those designs kick ass. Thanks goes out to mad genius Craig Kellman and all the character modelers and riggers. Wait till ya see what Craig's up to next. That's all I'm gonna say.




Creepy critters under the sea,
Keep your gaze and I guarantee
That the feeling on your upper thigh
is their teeth...oh whoops...
Goodbye, goodbye.

These underwater creepies were done in Rik Maki's class.
Go here to buy his book.
Click

It's well worth it. This guy know his stuff. He even has drawings (most likely copies ) in the animation art room at California Adventure.

No that's not a set behind me in the top photo.
It's the real deal....in Sequoia national park. More pics to come!

Cow-boyzzzzzzzzzz!

Here's the last 2 cowboys.... not much else to post today....I'll see what I can scan tonight.

Hey all you bloggers! Whaz up? Got some fresh new fly hip edgy drawings for ya today. Hope you enjoy them. Sorry I haven't posted in a week. Been tied up with work and camping preparations...I'm going to Sequoia National Park this weekend with my girlfriend. Ahhhhh camping. The trees, the smell, the wildlife....the black bear shoving his paw in your tent as you eat your peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The rock...that trips you as you try to flee from the bear while it rips your clothes off...ahhhhh.....the rattlesnake that you happen to step on as you hide from that deranged bear.....ahhh the trip to the ER in a helicopter...ahhhhhh camping. No seriously folks.....I can't wait to go. I love mini vacations!




Jimmy Dood
was quite the fellow.
Had no horse,
and no stories to tellya.

Boring as heck
you thought you'd die.
Makes you want to punch
his lazy eye.

Then one day
he found some gin.
Drank it all down
and started to grin.



Flew off his feet
and bounced off the ground.
Boots came off
and people gathered around.

Jimmy Dood
Became quite a stud.
Ladies all swooned
And their hearts went thud.

Still stupid and dumb,
the boy hadn't changed.
But at least he looked,
a little bit sane.




I drew Jimmy Dood in 2002 back at Cal Arts. I like all the negative space in there...keeps it interesting. I'll post 2 more next week.






I am obsessed with owls...I keep drawing them and drawing them..I just can't stop.




These lions, I tell ya
seem to get all the fame.
Their manners quite awful,
It's really a shame.





This little lad was drawn off a bootleg copy of Disney's Song of the South. My cartoony buddies meet once a week and we got together and did some studies of the film. Check out Sean's versions here. Just scroll down a little. Click me.