More Hand Drawn Animation

Still trying to get the cobwebs out, people...



I wanted to try something a little more loose and exaggerated... it's not the cleanest thing ever but I did have fun with stretching parts of him out in the in-betweens.

Today I Made a Man's Skull Disappear... or something.

Here's more "facial" animation. Have a great weekend everybody!

Today I Made a Man Sneeze

It has been an embarrassingly long time since I've done any hand drawn facial animation, so I made the most of a slow day and had a chance to clear out some cobwebs.



More to come!

Kid Sister "Daydreaming" Music Video

This is a video I worked on through LFS. We only had a couple of weeks from start to finish and I think the concept was simple and well-executed; props to the director Kim Gehrig for an overall smooth production (something that seems to be rarer and rarer with each passing project)!
Unfortunately my life outside of blogging (a.k.a. "life") has been a bit hectic in the last month due to putting some long hours in at the office, freelancing and the release of God of War 3 but hopefully I should be able to get back to posting more on here soon. I've been doing a lot more drawing as of late so there should be plenty to show from that bag o' tricks in the coming weeks. Until then, check out this work-in-progress that I've been doodlin' up on Adobe Illustrator:

There's a lot more detail to it! I'll post a much higher-res when I'm finished with it.

The Gift of .GIFing

Outside of the occasional venture into Flash, any animation I do designed for the web comes far and few between. That's why today is special... I made this:

If it fails to load properly that is most likely due to my lack of knowledge in compressing .gif files

To be honest I didn't do much more than add a bloody nose to a pre-existing .gif animation and then composite it onto a .gif dance floor, but isn't that 90% of animation nowadays?
My horizon is chock full of new projects, which reminds ME to remind YOU to check out one of my favorite music producers, oddisee. I could go on and on about his rich beats, devotion to providing plenty of free quality music to his fans and versatility in his music, but I'll let you check him out yourself (but only if you're really interested... I don't want to pressure you into something that you don't want to do like so many delicious-looking Domino's® ads these days). Check out his latest free seasonal EP, Odd Winter over on his blog. More on him later...
I must admit that after brainvomiting out that last paragraph I've developed a bit of writer's block & think I will call it a night, however brief it may have been. I haven't even left the office to go home yet.

I'm going to go become lost in John K's blog now.

These Are The Breaks & Such

Back in late 2009 I did a small bit of work for the VEVO program, "These Are The Breaks." I had a couple of days to come up with the intro graphics and I think for the time I had it turned out fairly well.



2010 looks to be another busy year -- I'm not really one for resolutions, and while I expect there to be a good amount of work out there to be done I hope to get more drawing and painting in. I've been doing a lot more on the commute to and from work lately so hopefully I'll have something to post in that regard when I have a bit of free time.
I also really REALLY want to start a new music video project. Hopefully I can lamaze this Locksley video project out of the uterus of my computer and get something new started in the spring time. Any hip-hop artists out there interested... hmmm??? Ghostface? CunninLynguists? Cudi? Raekwon? DOOM? Yeezy?

I'm all ears (big ones).

Updates! Finally.

Hello four people who read this (... and hello to YOU who happened across the blog by some random act of Google),

First and foremost I must apologize for my online absence as of late, I can't necessarily say that things have been consistently neck-breaking busy these last few months but sometimes I neglect to check in. Just ask my stepmother -- she's still waiting for me to call her to wish her a Happy Thanksgiving. Sorry Candy!
So what do I have to show for not posting anything since September? The long answer is I need to compile & scan a few things and wait for a few other things to go online so I can repost them here.

The short answer is not a lot, BUT allow me to share with you what I do have.

I'll start with Locksley since that seems to be all I talk about in my blog, so why stop now? First off, I not only got to design my first-ever album art for them, but it's bigger than short in Japan right now. Check it!

Rocksrey™

... and yes, the video I shot for them will be done eventually -- look out for it in the Winter/Spring of 2010! Until then, here's a screenshot to keep you occupied...

... still a work in progress!

Speaking of forays into the magical world of music videos, I recently did a bit of work* on the latest Kid CuDi video for his single, "Pursuit of Happiness." Enjoy!



I've also posted a high-resolution version of the animated segment I did for The Features video earlier this year... it's a bit more in sync with the audio and you can make out a lot more with that quality! I bet you didn't even know there was a parrot in the video... check it out by clicking on the image below!


I've got more to post but it can wait til later this week... and yes, my stepmom did try calling me again while posting this online.

I Done Made Things Move: "Lions" Music Video by The Features

Directed by my friend Joshua Winkler, working on this video turned me onto this band -- they're quite excellent and I encourage everyone out there to buy their album, "Some Kind of Salvation." I was in charge of the portion involving the hand-drawn cut-0ut animation which starts at around 2:40.

Excellent work Josh!

One of My Favorite Animators: Georges Schwizgebel

Georges Schwizgebel is a french-speaking Swiss animation director who successfully marries both the paint-on-glass technique with music & rhythm. I first saw his piece "La Course à l'abîme" in the first year of the Animation Show and it still is one of my favorite animated shorts of all time. His use of camera work and animation cycling is masterful. Recently his 2006 short "Jeu" was posted on Motionographer... check it out below!






... and with the beauty of animation out of the way, here's an awful picture of Sam Bair, Locksley's* drummer, for all you fans out there.


* They're going on tour this fall! Catch 'em.

Watch Vintage Cartoons for FREE!

As much as the title to this blogpost may sound like spam for nerds, it is in fact very real and very accessible (granted you have iTunes on your computer). Click here for the link to the podcast.
It's a great asset for those out there like myself who appreciate the history of animation. Check out over eighty cartoons from the good ol' days and bask in all of the glorious racism and questionable depictions of sexuality! Oh Betty Boop, you sooo led those scoundrels on with your grapefruit-sized eyeballs and crotch-hugging aprons.

Thanks to Matt Andrews for giving me the heads up!

Google Chrome Spot

Sometimes at LFS you get to do some fun things that shouldn't even qualify as work.

This was one of those projects.

We had two weeks to complete it from start-to-finish, and I got to act for once! I hope you enjoy it. Also, who knew that a drawing I made while bored while working in the science department back in college would end up being in a Google commercial? See if you can spot it.

Scrabblemation

I saw this on Motionographer today... fantastic, fantastic work for Scrabble of all things. Like I didn't enjoy America's Favorite Word Game™ enough already (that reminds me... I left my board at someone's house awhile back so I need to go buy a new one, hopefully I don't have to trip balls in order to do so). Great work by Wizz.
In other news, I'm working hard on trying to get a couple of projects off the ground. I can't discuss things in too much detail since one is still in the stages of pre-pre-production, but the other is a new music video for everyone's favorite group... Locksley! Yup. The boys that gave me the opportunity and put me where I'm at today are bringin' me back for Music Video Part Two (Part DEUX). When I'm not cooking obscene amounts of food for Sam Bair, we're crackin' away at the egg that is creative output. Hopefully I'll have a few more things to post soon as things develop a bit more.

Until then!

M

Kid Cudi "Day 'N' Night" directed by So Me

These folks always do great work and Kid Cudi's new music video is certainly no exception. Also, if you haven't heard much of Kid Cudi yet DOWNLOAD HIS MIXTAPE HERE. It's great! That guy's gonna be big in a big way.

Starbucks "Are You In?" Campaign

Since around the time of my last post back at the beginning of January, we've been working nearly non-stop up until a few days ago at Lifelong Friendship Society getting the latest spot for Starbucks out the door. I was lead animator and Travis Spangler was in charge of design and the overall look of it. We had a great team of animators (Alex, Tim, Ish, Lily & Rosie) and knocked it out despite the seething amounts of sexual tension in the room whilst we all worked (that 3AM unshowered musk really heats things up). I've never lost so much sleep on one project, and for me that's really saying something. I even gave up my 8-month boycott on coffee so I could make it through.

So far the response has been pretty positive, and we even got featured on Youtube's main page!


And now I present to you the full 2:40 version...

Lifelong Friendship Society (We Go Hard)

Own Your C, a project I worked on with Lifelong Friendship Society got some love on Motionographer.com today! Not only did I get a chance to animate and help out on set, but I fulfilled my day-long dream of dressing up as an underground elephant king and dancing on a television set.

... and apparently I work for a company with " lo-fi hipster aesthetics." If only that applied to Burger King spots as well.

ALSO: The music video All Over Again that I directed last year made it into the finals for "Best Music Video" at this year's Midwest Independent Film Festival! Hopefully that works out. If I had known about it sooner I would've tried to rally everyone into an online voting frenzy but alas I was unaware. Check out the trailer for this year's nominees here.

UPDATE: Alas, we didn't win... but there's always next time.

88-Keys "True Feelings" is online!

Yes, it is available for viewing on my site as well but clicking on the link above will give the Computer Beach Party site a little more love! Hope you guys like it.

First Screenshots from 88-Keys' "True Feelings"

Sup fam!

Here's a couple of very vague & ambiguous screenshots from the upcoming music video for 88-Keys that we're working on. The video should be done in less than a couple of weeks (shit!) so be sure to check back soon for the finished product!

oh so inappropriate but oh so right.

(video removed from Youtube)

This really isn't appropriate at work or if your mom is watching this with you over your shoulder. That said... mom, if you're reading... don't watch this.

EDIT: The video kept getting removed from the various links I posted, but it looks like it is being permanently posted at the following URL: www.dancefloordale.com

88 Keys

Marked Animation is reuniting with brothers-in-creativity Convivial Enemy and Partially Frozen on a new music video collaboration with the artist 88 Keys. It will be the first project we've worked on together since Locksley's All Over Again video of yesteryear. The new project will include a mix of animation and live-action footage... so really, everyone wins. Production begins at the end of this month and things should be wrapped up by the end of September.
For those of you who aren't hip on the hippo hop, 88 has produced and worked with artists like Mos Def, Kanye West, Talib Kweli, and Musiq just to name a few. He's also a fairly dapper guy and highly excels in general gentlemanliness.

Feel free to download his latest mixtape, "Adam's Case Files" for free here.

Congratulations, Traditional Animators!

... it looks like there's still jobs available out there for you after all. Check out this teaser trailer for Disney's next movie, The Princess and the Frog.

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog/

I haven't really paid Disney that much attention lately, so while that I'm a bit surprised that they're venturing back into the traditional animation, I can understand that they'd like to give it a better sendoff than their previous effort.* Unfortunately I'm a bit skeptical of this trailer and just how beneficial this movie will be to the company. It seems like Disney is in a creative rut, and while other animation companies like Pixar offer audiences a wide array of styles and storytelling, Frog looks like many other Disney works, complete with the princess, the watered-down "humor," and the loveable-yet-subtly-racist supporting cast.
I'm not a Disney-hater by any means. Up until the last thirteen years, their animation reigned supreme and stood ahead of any real competition. The wildebeest scene in The Lion King still holds up today and is as breath-taking to watch as it was in 1994. I watch the original Fantasia on a consistent basis and I think it's one of the most artistically and technically advanced features that they've ever put out. The Emperor's New Groove was one of the biggest surprises I've ever experienced watching a movie and I think it's a fantastic comedy with great writing and chemistry between its characters (Patrick Warburton steals every scene he's in). I just think that the fairy tale formula is a little tired, and the "updated & hip" fairy tale is just grating. I'm hoping for the best, but I'm not expecting anything spectacular.


* If it's any indication of just how successful Home on the Range was, I couldn't even remember the name and only came across it by googling "Disney" and "Farm" (I remembered that there were cows on the poster).