Day of the Dough

THANKS!!!

2007-05-23T15:57:00.001-04:00

A monstrous THANK-YOU to everyone who came to see my film at the 2007 Pratt Animation Show.

It is now available for viewing 24/7 on my website... Enjoy!

Some Frames - See all 8,920 this Friday & Saturday

2007-05-02T16:51:00.000-04:00

This Is It

2007-04-21T15:19:00.001-04:00

Top Secret

2007-04-06T20:15:00.000-04:00

Six months after I built the machine (geez, September was that long ago??) I made these blue prints that will apear briefly in my film. Nikola Tesla is credited for the design.

Fire!

2007-03-21T04:31:00.000-04:00

My film is due in a little over a month. Whoah. So here's that same scene from a few days ago with a few reanimated shots, a few new ones, and some effects composited in. I hope to have it done very soon. In the words of the great Pat Smith... FINISH THE SCENE!!!!!

I've Always Liked the Color Green

2007-03-13T23:59:00.000-04:00

Boy am I glad I painted my room bright green when I was 15 or so... because now I can use it as a green screen! I shot just about all the stop-motion for my film over the past few days while I was at home for Spring Break. Things went surprisingly smooth with no major problems, and my only complaint is that the monster puppet was a bit tricky to animate. Despite all my planning and testing... the armature was not sufficient and there was a lot of "bounce" in the puppet, especially his arms and neck. I animated the best I could but I wish he was a little more flexible being a bread monster. Anyway, here's a snippet of the monster fighting some tanks. It's "raw" without the far background, people, or effects composited.

Holy Set!

2007-03-07T02:15:00.000-05:00

The past week has been set week, and I finally finished what I started in July. Back then I thought I'd actually be done with it by the end of the summer, but I'm glad I put it off. Not perhaps for this long, but just because the story evolved so much that if I had the built the set back then it wouldn't fit the story I ended up with... or rather I would have felt restricted to the original story and not wanted to change it because I had put the time into the set. Something like that. Any way, I'm pretty happy with this set, especially the bakery. Just about every sign and store name is an inside joke. There's still more detail I'd like to add, especially more painted ads for HappyBread on the sides of buildings. I begin animating this weekend though, so I'll see what I have time to do. The lovely little street lamps and trash cans and mail box were made by Hans - Check out his amazing minatures.

Sneak Peak

2007-02-22T21:52:00.000-05:00

I've been having a blast animating the dough machine for the past few days. I think all my films from now on will have awesome nuclear-powered things in them. I want to keep the finished animation under wraps, but here's a few stills of the coolness.

Yay for More

2007-02-19T00:15:00.000-05:00

The first scene is very close to done and I've started chiseling away at the second scene. So here's the first scene, about half of which I posted before with out of synch audio. I was recently informed that the reason I could not get the audio to synch up is because YouTube likes videos with 29.97 frame rate... not 24. Good to know!

The last shot of this scene features the first true stop-motion of the film - the door opening. I had originally planned for Keaton to open it, but realized it would be more mysterious if it opened on its own. I won't get to animate any AfterEffects characters interacting with stop-motion for a few more scenes now. Well, enjoy!

Edit: What..? It's still out of synch! Ideas anyone?

They move!

2007-02-07T05:49:00.000-05:00

I've put the big set aside to begin animating the part of the film that takes place inside the bakery on the set I have completed. Animating my "2 1/2 D" cut-out characters in AfterEffects is great fun and it does go "quickly" for animation, but I will need to animate twice as fast as I have if I'm going to get my film done on time. I think once I get more comfortable things should start progessing faster. So here's a few shots from the beginning of the film. The grain is way too heavy... sorry about that.

Edit: Oh no! The sound is out of synch... now how did that happen? Darn YouTube! I'll re upload it later... Edit#2... still out of synch. Hmm. The original quicktime is not. Plan C?

More of the Same

2007-01-17T23:55:00.000-05:00

I've started working on two more facades. I figure the best way to approach this set is to roughly make all the buildings first then add details, such as windows, doors and small signage, in a second pass. I can't resist making some signs now though, just so I get a general feel for the look of the set and how to arrange everything. Here's the A&S Super Market and a corner drug store. The later is pictured with my friend the Dough Monster in his largest size to give an idea of his scale.

Briiiiiicks

2007-01-14T22:51:00.000-05:00

I scratched bricks onto the side of the HappyBread Bakery, much like the bricks found on the basement set but tinier and more abundant. It adds a great texture to the painted ad. I'm also almost done with another facade. This one is for the Colonial Theater, a nice little old-time movie house. It's real and you can find it in Belfast, Maine. Check it out. I saw several movies there when I was a camp counselor for the summer.

Slow but Fun

2007-01-13T19:07:00.000-05:00

I'm finally getting into building the big set which I started in July. If you go waaaay back you can see one of the earliest posts I made about it. The film and story have both changed a lot since I started this set, but it has always been part of my project. It's a T-shaped intersection in a nameless city with a lot of shops and old industrial buildings. The tallest building is the HappyBread Bakery, and I'm almost done with its facade. It's made of foam core with bass and balsa wood details. I still need to paint it and add signage. I know I've mentioned this before but I will say it again - I love old signs, especially painted ads. Every blank wall in this city will feature a painted ad for HappyBread, including a full 4-story ad on the side of the bakery intself. I love this kid of work, but it's really slow going.

It's alive!

2006-12-28T21:54:00.000-05:00

Things keep moving along... I finally have some backgrounds done, which is a relief. I took dozens of photos of the basement set. These two are inside the "secret room" looking into the main basement.

I also completed that stop-motion shot. Right now the door appears to open on its own... but soon there will be a cut-out character opening it.

Happy holidays!

Rolling Along

2006-12-19T22:48:00.000-05:00

I feel that I might actually meet my goal of finishing pre production by the end of the winter break. I've made some nice progress on several things, including completing the basement set that I started building in October.

This is the door that grabs Keaton's attentions and lures him and Lloyd into the mysterious basement room where the bread machine is hidden. It's based on a real door I discovered in the basement of Steuben Hall here at Pratt. It's uber creepy looking and even opens onto a wall.

Here's the basement set. It's made out of foamcore and every brick was hand carved into the surface. It's a pain but I think it looks very nice. Keaton races down the steps in opening shot while Lloyd repairs a lightbulb in the ceiling. The lightbulb and the ladder will be added digitally. I'll also be adding the stack of boxes that intially cover the door. This set is a little rickity, which is okay because it won't be used for stop-motion - only as a background for cut-out animation. There is just once tiny instance of stop-motion which will be Keaton opening the door. I'll animate the door opening by itself then digitally add Keaton later.

Finally, here's the baby version of the bread monster. This is a progress stage I forgot to document for his bigger brother. In this photo I've just glued two large piece of foam together to make the "monster sandwich." From this block I can carve most of the monster. I only need to add foam for the tail and head.

But It's Only Bread Dough...

2006-12-14T03:17:00.000-05:00

The first puppet is done!

I added more detail to the face and used acrylic paint mixed with some latex to paint his skin. Latex is extremely easy and flexible to paint, and I think this more than anything else is my favorite thing about it. So... the reason I said that the first puppet is done is that I've realized that I need to make another one. The Bread Monster is a constantly evolving being who grows from a small lump of dough into a hulking dough beast. I'm using a lump of clay for his early form, and this puppet is his final incarnation... and really he needs a halfway point. I'm going to make another latex build-up puppet, only about half the size and far less detailed. Also, he will be fatter with less defined limbs. He should be adorable. One puppet will morph into the other during a shadowmation shot.

Skinning the Beast

2006-12-09T14:48:00.000-05:00

I finished foaming and skinning my monster. The skinning took about 1 quarter the amount of time the foam did, which was a nice surprise.

The skin is made from cotton batting soaked in liquid latex. Applying it is like making a skin tight body suit, only precision is not extremely important. I began by making sleaves. It's very easy to hide the seams by rubbing the cotton/latex mix into itself. The more jagged the seam, the better it blends. I really like how this skin looks. It wouldn't be good for every sort of creature, but it sure makes for a nice Dough Monster.

All done! He is now fully skinned and drying ackwardly. I just need to patch up a few thin areas and then I can begin the fun part - detailing his face. Cotton balls dipped in latex make a sort of clay which can be sculpted with some patience. I'll be giving him eyebrows, nostrils, lips, and other stuff. After that's all done I can begin the even more fun part - painting!!

Sorta Cute

2006-12-07T19:41:00.000-05:00

I'm putting off completing the cut-out characters until I'm on winter break next week. I want to concentrate on finishing the stop-motion monster puppet by the end of this semester. I've been experimenting with different techniques since the summer, but didn't begin building the final pppet until this past weekend. I really got stuck on trying to make a very cheap yet professional armature. Originally, I had my heart set on ball and socket but I had some trouble modifying cheap parts and got frustrated. So I switched to wire and brass tubing and tried a few thing out but wasn't satisfied. I've decided to meet in thy middle and make a half ball and socket and half wire armature. So far it is working out swell.

The ball and socket joints can be found in his jaw, neck, and stomach. His arms, legs, tail and tongue are wire. Because he's a dough blob he has no fingers or toes. Of course I am planning on the ball and socket joints needing to be tightened and the wires needing to be replaced, and I think this design is simple enough to allow this to happen without much fuss. I've already replaced the two "toe" wires because they were too weak.

The next step is to make his flesh out of foam. I cut it with a long razor and carefully glued it onto the armaturet with stinky contact cement. After glueing the foam block seen in this photo, I decided to start over and make a sort of "monster sandwich" by sticking the armature between two blocks and cutting out the silhoette. I forgot to take a picture of this.

I then proceeded to make a huge mess as I carved the monster out of the foam block. I'm going to be finding foam for months.

Finally, the monster is taking shape. I used these handy green clips to keep everything in place while the glue dried.

Roar!!! He really is sorta cute. I still have some foam clipping to do, but I'm almost there. The next step is to apply his skin.

Side-Pegger

2006-11-30T16:36:00.000-05:00

The cut-out puppets are progressing slowly but surely. I keep reminding myself that I only need to do this once... and that is the beauty of cut-outs. There are 150 pairs of replacement eyes, but I never have to draw them or scan them or color them ever again! Once I begin animation, making a character blink will be as easy as typing some numbers into AfterEffects. Of course cut-out animation is not easy... but it certainly has its perks once production comes along. Speaking of those eyes, here's the spread I drew for Roscoe.

First I printed out a sheet with all 5 angles in which the eyes can be seen. I decided on 10 different sets of eyes and drew them all on the front angle. I did this all on a lightbox with my peg bar... oh how I've missed my peg bar. I hadn't used it since February when I did my "3 Musketeers" animation. Probably the best part though is that I side-pegged because of the orientation of the paper. I think side-pegging should catch on - it's the best of both worlds. After I pencil tested and everything looked pretty solid, I redrew the same eyes from different angles on the other 4 head positions. Then I repeated the whole process for Lloyd and Keaton. Amazingly, it took me less than a week to draw and scan all 300 eyeballs, even with Thanksgiving in the middle. That's blazing fast for me. I'm not done coloring in all the lids, but here's a preview of what the eyes will look like when done. I haven't made the final pupils, but I threw these on so Keaton wouldn't look like a zombie. He also needs eyebrows.

Goodness!

2006-11-18T20:03:00.000-05:00

Good things have been happening... I finished the clay heads and snapped the photos I need.

There they are! Well, that's one angle and jaw position of each. Right now I'm working making the proper jaw positions for each character and cutting out the mouths. I've only just begin... but here's a quick test animation to show what it might look like.

Weird, right? I hope in a good way. It will be less creepy when there's eyeballs. I can't wait to start animatin! I think I might be in that part of he tunnel where I'm seeing a glimmer of something... or maybe its just the delirium from lack of sleep.

No News is Good News

2006-11-09T00:43:00.001-05:00

Well, it's been a while. But that's because I've been working a lot and sleeping a little. Here's something I'm toying with for the title sequence.

All the text will be made of clay and animated. I used the red mat so I can key it out later and stick the text in front of the animation for the intro. I love clay.

Meet the 3 main characters - Lloyd, Keaton, and Roscoe. I had previously mentioned that I was going to use photo cut-outs for these characters, and this is still true. Lloyd is the only one done at the moment, but I've already photographed his head and begun experimenting in Photoshop. The final product will probably end up looking something like the head on the right with a photo mouth and digital eyes and eyebrows. I'll also be digitally manipulating the jaws so they can open when the characters speak. A huge pet peeve of mine is when animated characters talk but their jaws don't move. Each head will be photographed from 8 angles so it can be rotated in AfterEffects, sort of like a stop-motion/cut-out hybrid. I really need to finish these clay heads and throw the AfterEffects puppets together so I can start this animating thing! The basement set is almost done, so hopefully I will begin animation very shortly. I also need to get cracking on the large city set and the monster stop-motion puppet so I will be on schedule to do the stop-motion scenes in January. I'm frightened.

Stufffff

2006-10-14T23:59:00.000-04:00

Yay.... this week was good. I feel like I've made some nice progress, after changing more stuff of course. The biggest change is that I'm no longer using photo collages backgrounds. Instead, all the backgrounds will be miniature sets, whether or not the scene contains stop-motion animation. This is the set for the bakery basement.

So far it's just some walls and a staircase, but I'm very happy with it. It's not goin to look completely really and I'm not going to hide the fact that it's made from cardboard and paper. I think that will add to the overall cheeziness of the movie. I've also recorded the voices of my primary actors!

Javan, Jamie, Lee - you rock!! They did an amazing job and actually made my stupid script entertaining. In addition to providing the voices of their characters, they will also lend their faces. I'll be taking a ton of photos of them so I can make them into digital photo cut-out puppets. That should be happening within the next week. I finally feel like I'm working and making progress, and that feels great. This week will be the week from hell though... too much to do! I really really want to get cracking on the armature(s) because I finally have all my supplies, but that's not priority. Before I tackle any monster animation scenes I'm going to refine the look of the film while animating the opening sequence in the basement. I'm still not positive of what look I'm going for. I thought I knew but then I realized that I was trying for way too naturalistic of a look... and that doesn't make sense for animation, especially photo cut-out animation. It might as well shoot it on video. Live-action actually was part of the film at one point, and I think that idea was still was hanging out in part of my brain. I've finally evicted the last notion that my film needs to feel "real," and now know that I want a more stylized look. It's a making a parody monster B-movie, so it needs to be fun and cheesy.

Armaturing

2006-10-02T00:38:00.000-04:00

I probably mentioned in an earlier post that I wanted to make a ball and socket armature. I tried doing this using jewelry barbells and some very cheap armature parts. After a lot of experimenting and head scratching I decided that half-assing a ball and socket armature probably isn't the best idea. I just don't know enough about making one and I don't have easy access to the appropriate machines nor the knowledge to use them. I really really want to machine my own armatures one day, but I don't think right now is the best time to figure that one out. I’ve got a lot on my plate already! Instead, I've decided to go with what I know best - a wire armature. I did some experimenting this weekend and made two half armatures using different methods. The first uses a whole lot of plumber's epoxy and is a little heavy but very sturdy. The biggest downside is that if a wire were to break it would be very difficult to fix. The next one has a head and rib block made from bundles of brass tubing. It's lighter, but I don't think it's as sturdy. After some brainstorming I think I have a pretty good armature design that would have all the qualities I'm looking for, especially the fixable part.

New Title!

2006-10-02T00:35:00.000-04:00

"Day of the Dough"

Is that B-movie enough for you? The story is changing again too... slightly. Hopefully it will be "set" this week so I can record my audio and make final storyboards. I hope to begin the cut-out animation by November. I have so much pre-production work to do... it scares me a little seeing my classmates ready to animate. But once I have all my puppets (both real and digital) done animation should go at a steady pace for me. No cleaning up or coloring! I just need to get past this pre-production hump.

Ah-Hah!

2006-09-26T00:29:00.000-04:00

The live-action part of my film has been bothering me a lot recently, but I was still determined to do it... even though I had no clue how. I needed some other people to tell me I was being crazy, and thank goodness some lovely ones spoke up and I finally cut it out. Now I'm only doing stop-motion and digital cut-outs. It's still a pardody monster movie though, and I think it will be even better now. But the old title, Project 2B, doesn't make sense anymore. Any ideas? Hrm.

First Animation Test!

2006-09-11T15:24:00.000-04:00

Finally... stuff that moves! Now I feel like things are coming together. This is a test animation of the machine as it powers on. I took digital photos with the machine moved slightly in each. I chose my three favorites and cut them out and edited them in Photoshop, where I also drew the lightning. It was then composited and animated in AfterEffects. Fun stuff! And there's more on the way.

The Machine

2006-09-09T11:36:00.000-04:00

This has been consuming most of my time for the past week. It's a nuclear powered bread machine that goes wrong and creates a head-devourting monster instead of a neverending supply of food for the world. It started as a nasty old metal cart I found on Myrtle Avenue. I built a foamcore box around it, then bought the coolest looking dryer vents at Home Depot and stuck those on. I faked welds with Apoxie Sculpt and used thumb tacks as rivets. Later today I'm photographing it for a flashback scene where the machine has to look new. Then I can beat the crap out of it for the rest of the scenes where it needs to look old and abused.

News!

2006-08-29T14:36:00.000-04:00

Alright, so things been getting a little dusty in here... time for a post. Physical progress on Project 2B has been slow lately because I've been reworking the story. The good news is that I like it now! Yay! You might notice that the description on the top is different...in the new story the bakery is not evil. I'll post a quick summary of that story soon.

Hello ToonFuse Fans

2006-08-14T21:25:00.000-04:00

Hi! So now you know how I sound... and you probably sensed some self-doubt in my voice concerning this blog. Yes, I haven't posted recently (relatively) because I'm changing stuff... like the script. We'll see where it goes. I just wasn't "feeling" the last script, but all is still well. :)

Thebas Grrrr

2006-07-27T20:29:00.000-04:00

Thebas is the main monster in Project 2B. He'll be played by a latex puppet with a ball and socket armature. Right now I'm waiting for some armature supplies to come (darn you postal service!) and passing the time by trying some different monster designs. I'm very fond of this one. My old Thebas designs made him look very lizard-like, but this design reminds me a guinea pig. I like it.

Set Progress

2006-07-27T20:21:00.000-04:00

Project 2B will feature two stop-motion sets - a forest and a city. Each set will be built on a 3 by 4 piece of plywood. The city is progressing nicely and currently consists of an intersection and two 1963 checker cabs. Three pieces of the set are removable to allow the camera more access to it. I'll be making maybe a dozen or so buildings to occupy this space. The forest is an empty sheet of plywood at the moment and will be until I find a good place to shoot the live-action. Unlike parts of the film featuring the city, during the forest scenes I'll be cutting in live-action shots of a real forest, which I will also design the set to resemble.

Not that Lazy

2006-07-08T23:21:00.000-04:00

I've been working all summer, but most everything is in shambles. This is kinda neat and presentable though - it's a logo for the evil bread company which features in the story. This image will probably be on a sign above the factory. I'll also be making some billboards to scatter throughout the city set, which will be one of two miniature stop-motion sets I'll be building. The city set will be full of lots of ads and stuff because one of my geeky passions is old advertisements. I'm going to plug my favorite website now because it has lots of picture of old ads and other nifty stuff too... Forgotten-NY.com

Woot!

2006-07-07T18:36:00.000-04:00

I've created this blog to chronicle the progress of my thesis film, titled "Project 2B" (unless I come up with something better.) I hope it will be an entertaining journey.