Callie is Creative!

I thought I would finish animation today but I didn't. Oh well. It was for a good reason. I've realized the final scene in my short was really lame and I didn't like it (it was very anticlimactic) so I brainstormed and brainstormed as to how I could change the last scene using design elements I had already created. It's pretty tricky when you have to confine your creativity to a few flash puppets and like 4 backgrounds. But I discussed with friends and also bothered Lea for about an hour and thus came up with a few ideas. Whoops.

I was wondering if I should set the bug on fire or make him explode but then I went absolutely crazy and figured I should turn Donna, the light bulb into Pacman and have Sam, the Firefly into a little gobbley bit and have the film end with Pacman Donna eating Sam. It's ok though I regained my sanity and chose a different ending. The end to my short will have Sam trying to get to Donna, but then you hear a streetlight flicker on outside and a little “yoo hoo” and Sam will screech to a halt and the camera will cut to outside where a gorgeous streetlight is beckoning him. FIN. This may not be the funniest ending possible but it's much better than the lame pinging against the glass bulb and it works with the design elements I have.

Hopefully it turns out. Have a good weekend!

Callie on Builds

This has probably been the most challenging week yet. I figured after doing the animatic I had Flash sort of figured out (lol). I was wrong! I started design and had no clue what I was doing or even where to start, and so on Monday I watched videos on YouTube attempting to understand the many different layers and symbols that make up a "puppet". Watching the video didn't really help.

However, I found help in the form of Lea and Joel. They are both my saviors. I must have asked Lea a thousand questions. I am getting better though so I hope not to badger them as much next week.

Anyways with a lot of guidance I have managed to make three different views of Sam the firefly. He can blink and flap his wings while shouting! All at the same time! Super cool.

Have a great weekend!

Lea Admires Smiley Guy Meetings

I just noticed I never introduce myself in my blog posts. Good thing Julie covers that in the titles. Titles are important. How else would you know what To Kill a Mockingbird was about?


Anyway, what I'm going to talk about today: Meetings. I've had the privilege of attending a few meetings regarding Warren. Not only do these allow me see how the show has been progressing, they give me hope.

Yes, that is right. Hope. Let me explain:

Over the past school year I worked with a number of other students to create a film. My group was amazing - we managed to complete a good piece of work on time with little drama between members. However there were still bouts if indecision, squabbling and chaos that irked me. Sometimes things would go offtrack and issues wouldn't get resolved, or there would be arguments over details that no one could agree on. I was vaguely worried that this is what it would be like in an actual work environment.

Meetings for Warren have been different. Julie comes in with notes and a list of all the assets that have been completed written down. Just with that these meetings have structure. Everyone sees the score, and what needs to be addressed gets addressed.  People still discuss things amongst themselves and give suggestions and input, but the ones in charge are the ones who make the calls. I feel these things give meetings at Smiley Guy a different dynamic than the meetings I had at school. In a lot of ways my experience with both has been similar, but in these ways they are not.

This makes me glad. Overall the group film meetings were great, but for awhile I was fearful that actual studios had those problems. I'm sure they do. I've only actually been to three meetings at SGS - for all I know everyone is just behaving in front of the interns. Maybe it's different at various stages of production. Maybe they do crop up, but so far so good. I'm sure I will see for myself someday!

Lea Prefers the Bling

We finally did it!

We finally started design!

... Only to be immediately taken off that and put onto more pressing projects - but we're back at it again!

Here are a couple of props I've designed so far:

A weed whacker and a rich person's remote. When I heard "rich person remote" I imagined jewel encrusted, but apparently Joe meant technologically fancy. I'm thinking I made it a little too cellphone-y but we shall see what the supervisors think! Maaaaaybe lining it with diamond studs would be an improvement...???

Lea's Observations: SGS vs Sheridan, and Joel's Plant

Flash seems to be crashing on me, so this is as good a time as any to write a blog post!

It's been an exciting two weeks - David killed the internet, the beer store leaked gas. I'm sure the others have covered these events in their own posts so I'm going to talk about something new. Something fresh! Something even more exciting!

School.

Haha, fooled you. That isn't exciting. I am going to talk about it though. See, I have noted some similarities and differences between my experiences at Sheridan and my experiences here at SGS.  Take lip sync for example. In school it was drilled into our heads to do lip sync last. Do the poses, animate the body, and only - ONLY - when you have that down do you draw in the mouth.

But at Smiley Guy it's backwards! For the past couple of weeks I have been mostly animating one character, and like I was taught in school I started out with animating the body. Then Chris advised to start with lip sync. I was skeptical at first, but I took his advise. Much to my surprise, once you get the mouth and jaw moving the character pretty much animates itself! Well no, not really, but it does add some preemptive life that makes it easier to visualize poses and such. I realize now that symbol animation allows you to do that. Unlike when you are drawing, if you want to change a pose or timing you end up moving/scrapping a lot of frames, but even when you do that with symbols the lip sync animation will still be there. Neat!

Before I sign off I feel I need to pay tribute to a lost member of the studio. I am of course talking about Joel's plant. From my vantage point it appears to be very dead. In its memory I will share with the world a quick painting I did my first week here when I was too shy and uncomfortable to leave my seat during breaks.

Rest In Peace little guy. You will be missed.

(Also Rest In Peace my crashing flash file, which does not seem to be recovering)

Eden Negotiates Curtains, Meetings, and Explosions

Never a dull day at SGS!

Another fulfilling week at SGS and some interesting events to report. But before I get into that, an update on my third week here. We are continuing work on Beethoven's Wig and got to experience a group meeting with the whole team. It was awesome to see the animatic for Warren. It reminds me of a UK version of the “King of the Hill”. Some really funny stuff! Sharing my thoughts with everyone was also a great experience. I love group meetings!

Da na na naaaaa! Beethoven's Wiiiiiiig! Is very biiiiiiiiig!
I can't stop singing it! It's everywhere!!

I was having some troubles with my scene, as much as I hate to admit. Those gosh darn curtains! Of course I made it more complicated than it really should be. Thankfully, Chris and Mat were super helpful and patient enough to understand what nonsense I was trying to explain.

Bomb threat!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well not a bomb, but it potentially could have been! The Beer Store next to the studio had a gas leak! Firemen and police officers blocked off the sector and evacuated everyone out of the buildings that were inside the perimeter. Lea and I were actually coming back from lunch. We asked a couple questions to one of the Police officers in the area and told us they couldn't let us go back to work.

 

Every week a new adventure is out there! Stay tuned for my next episode! 

Lea Loves Exclaimations

Hello!  I'm Lea. I don't usually talk much but I will try to muster up some excitement and enthusiasm for this blog post. I think this calls for a liberal application of exclamation marks!!!!!!

Over the first couple of weeks I have become acquainted with some of the staff at Smiley Guy. Julie is the one who gives us direction overall. If Smiley Guy Studios were a secret organization and us interns were special agents, Julie would be the mysterious person who shows up in a black car and takes us to a parking garage, where she then hands us manila envelopes with all the details we need to complete our mission. But instead of leaving the building and completing our assignment with finesse like competent special agents, we interns just start walking into walls and getting caught in the furniture. This is where the supervisors come in - Darien, Matt and Chris have picked us up, dusted us off, and pointed us towards the door with a pat on the head. We then proceed to run into traffic and board street cars going in the wrong direction.

Yes, animating puppets in flash has been quite the adventure with many a wacky shenanigan. I honestly thought there would be some kind of rigging to those badboys, but nope! Just pose and tween and hope limbs don't go flying across the screen. I am proud to say I know how to prevent that from happening now! Progress!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!