FRANK production blog 74

November 07, 2023

Todays FRANK update are some images of our guy FRANK. In this scene his upper body moves, So I decided to split him in half only color the top half in order to save time and to keep the lines neater. It was a fun scene, originally i was gonna color all of him every frame, but then I realized I didn’t have to. Like a true 2D animator I got to cheat in this scene.

Im still working on this scene the background has been very challenging more me to complete. Its been a very slow grind, however I will over come and when I do I’ll have a nice fat post to share!

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April 28, 2021

below are some really early production sketches. maybe from 2017-18, pre production for sure. i used animation paper for sketching because i enjoy the over size paper and i just have tons of it from my art school days. so rather then they collect dust i use them.

the images below are mostly thumbnail to a 1/4 the page. i was trying to find the right balance for franks apartment, what kind of plants he would have and how many, he also has art on his walls so i had fun coming up with those

frank on the opposite side of the room, there wa a book shelf early into the disgns — frank on the opposite side of the room, there was a book shelf early into the design

frank standing by his plant, he also had a watering container early on.

frank by the door, the walls where a bit funky also

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March 29, 2020

tonights update is some old color study thumbnails from about 2 year ago. some ideas for colors for FRANKS apartment. these designs have change and so have the colors, but i enjoy looking at them because the 1st draft of anything is usually the closest most honest depiction of whats in your head.

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February 23, 2020

a model sheet for the game boy, this is the latest design and i think the final design

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February 07, 2020

todays update consist of a few drafts of the final (?) shot of this project. here we see a few different thoughts on what the final shot would look like. i am almost done with the backgrounds, they are taking longer then hoped but what doesn’t when it comes to making art..

thumb nails of what the final shot could look like, along with some some rough key frames of the animation

a value study and the original final shot for the animatic but not the storyboards

some where along the process i decided to flip the building. i wanted to convey a sharp and un natural feel, something is out of place in the end, which is how the after math feels when we screw up in life. I also decided to distance the city, it suppose to give you a feeling of disconnect as well. does it do that well?, im not entirely sure, now that im uploading this im having second thought about its effectiveness…lol. there is much work left to be done but as always i look forward to taking it one day at a time.

a more updated version of the final layout.

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February 05, 2020

the revealing shot of franks apartment, at first i was going to cut between the two, but i have decided to use a pan east move. this background has been in the works for a long time, i have a hard time making the call for a final version on backgrounds. i love exploring its space. the evolution of a scene is quite fascinating. the birth of a project is a wonderful thing, i love the process. i specialize in animation production haha (inside joke)

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December 31, 2019

okay! Im back for the final installment of 2019! While its been a while since I posted anything about this current project, its not because i haven’t been working on it. Just the opposite, I regularly log time into animating. Process has been made but you know how it goes animation take a long time.

I’ll really just do an image dump, its new years eve and I have to get ready for my outing. I just finished putting some time into some back grounds. Since the beginning I knew I wanted a brick building, something about brick is very appealing to me.

Below is a few different variations on this back ground. Most of these are very similar, probably because Im pretty sure with what I want

So it being the new year real soon, I want to try and develop a better habit with posting something on this blog, Im constantly drawing but I suppose Im just all in on animation I don’t devote much free time to else things. All in due time, for now Im still focused on completing FRANK.

SEE YOU IN 2020, best wishes -alex-

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September 30, 2019

todays update consist of some rough key frames for a scene and a few old story boards. this scene has been a lot of fun to work with, pretty easy and simple action to animate. the biggest challenge has been the flowers, trying to keep count of all the petals and their size in every frame. non the less the scene has been easy and fun. it needs one more pass of clean up, and then on to coloring. the colors are subject to change a bit

rough back ground and colors for this scene

more updated board with character design

old story board, possibly the 1st draft a very very long time ago

The process of backgrounds

January 26, 2019

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, animation is a long process! There is something to be said about the character of those who willingly choose to embark on these roads. It’s pay off is something that only the sweetest of fruits can compare to. You start with and Idea and through sheer will you give that idea life, you bring it into the world, you will it into existence, that is something very few can do and even fewer enjoy doing it over and over. So animators are of a special breed of artist, not everyone is cut out to be an animator but everyone can enjoy animation.

Above is a page from my updated storyboards for my current project FRANK. This was the 2nd pass of storyboards. It was the final pass for this scene. I was very happy with the action and the framing and so I did not feel the need to reboard it more a 3rd time. The action is pretty clear, Frank our main character is smelling his flowers by his window.

Above is one of the 1st drafts I did for the background, Like I previously stated I was pretty happy with the framing and original design idea, and so it was pretty easy to draw something and approve it. Below is the 1st draft I did on paper, I used animation size paper with and HD field guide, while I was happy with the outcome I ended up not using it, It felt to stiff and not exactly what I wanted. I remember I did all the backgrounds on paper thinking I would scan them and use them as finals but I ended up going with digital finals instead.

Next came the color versions of the background. Now I will be the 1st to admit that while I love color I am pretty terrible at it. I tend to select colors I love but don’t have much of a understanding on how to balance them. Maybe I just need to experiment more.

I done a few different variations on the brick wall, not completely sure on which one I want for the final design. That being said Im not completely sure on what the final vision for the film should be, when it come to style. While I have completed much there is equally if not more work that needs completion, so I will continue to cultivate that will and give life to this beautiful art form, for there is no grater feeling then seeing something complete from start to finish.