FRANK production blog 6

March 10, 2019

Todays I am posting some back grounds and some key frames from a early scene in my film. Below we have a scene where Frank is passionately smelling his flowers. I am currently cleaning up this scene, Going through the 3rd pass of animation for it. It’s a LONG scene and it’s taking me quite some time. Happy to say I’am almost done with it and can not wait to move on!!

maybe final design for window..and a key frame of drank and flowers

Many people have mentioned FRANK’s stiffness. I have many left to right/right to left/ frontal framing. I know this, probably because I really like Wes Andersons work, and early motion picture work. Story telling in this way though sometimes called stiff and rigid can be very effective and when done right will be visually appealing. Early into the conception of this film I had shots like this in mind. I hope they work as well as I want them to, but that is still to be determined. Animation and and story telling is hard, in case I haven’t mentioned

FRANK production blog 5

February 24, 2019

Todays I wanna share a few thumbnails, boards and other sketches from my film. Animation is a long process and I really enjoy the pre production stage.

For any project it might be my favorite stage. I’m really captivated by the freedom to invent and experiment with design. It’s so much fun to play with ideas and just come up with the most odd things, things that sometimes end up making it to the final project and sometimes finding their way to a different project.

I had a general idea of what I wanted the world of Frank to look like but its always hard to find the right combination givens all the POSSIBILITIES!

I got a few early and i mean early sketches of Franks apartment. I even found an orthographic view from really early on. I also have a few building drafts, for the outside world, and some early color studies. I’m still unsure of which direction I will go with. I like both city and isolated versions. Everything shown here has evolved over the past months but the new versions still have a little bit of these drawings in them. A final pass is coming soon to pick the right one.

anyway enjoy all the brain farts from a few years ago.

FRANK production blog 4

February 10, 2019

My process of making animations is always an experimental one. Im trying to do something I’ve not done before. No matter how similar projects can seem they always have their own unique challenges. I’m constantly trying new things, design, color, story, timing, all these things take a long time to figure out. The more ways you experiment with the more clearer you’r vision of the project becomes. (or at least that’s the goal) Below are a few images from FRANK, some really old, some pretty recent all things a work in progress

Above we have the 1st draft back ground and some color/value studies. This was done in pencil and photoshop

Below we have the the 2nd draft back ground along with color/value studies, and below that we have the 3rd draft background. These where done digitally in TVPaint

I’m more then certain the final designs will be different, I’ve yet to figure it out but the more time I put into experimenting the clear the vision becomes. Let me not forget to mention that ANIMATION IS HARD, but some much FUN

FRANK production blog 3

February 03, 2019

Animation is a long process, I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. Even the smallest of projects require a large amount of time. Not only because of the large amount of drawing involved but also because the process will demand story changes which require new drawings. When I story board my projects I usually do a few variation of the scene.

Above are two story board variations from when I first started Frank, you can see how much the character has evolved since the 1st design. Both shots show the character dropping his roses and walking out of frame, I struggled a bit trying to find the best way to show that. One is or should I say is suppose to be a 3/4 angle, Frank walk towards the camera, the other is a frontal shot where Frank moves from left to right.

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.

New animated short film news

January 05, 2019

Animation is a labor of love. I have always enjoyed creating things with my imagination as most people do, over the years I’ve created quite a few cartoons, some computer animation and some hand drawn. Its been a few years now that I’ve been chipping away at a short film.

FRANK is a short film about the things we love and life’s distractions, staring Frank our lovable big green guy

Like I said it’s an idea I been working on slowly but surely for some time now. About 1 year ago I decided it was time I finished it set it free into the world and move on some new challenge. Since then I have been investing about 60% of my time and most of my free time. I’m really glad about this, I’ve felt a big amount of increase focus in my life.

FRANK is in production and Im currently finishing my second pass of animation, I will be moving on to the final pass after a final pass of back grounds is complete. There is a lot of work left to do but Im glad Im almost over the hill, everything from hear on will become easier and there for more fun.

Animation is a huge amount of work, and great animation 100X more work, but its so satisfying. Due to this I have a huge amount of art work for the film, giving It’s been in production for several years now. So I will be using this blog to share my process and my thoughts.