Class 3 Week 12: Progress Reel and Halfway Point

Back from vacation!  Wow.  A week to unplug with no computers or internet.  Plus a week off now until Class 4 begins.  It's been a long haul so far trying to balance work and school (and as much a home life as I can manage - thank god for a very patient wife).  But here we are...at the halfway point of Animation Mentor.  Time to relax for a bit and enjoy the "normal" life - see ya in a few weeks! :)

Class 3 Week 11: Pumpkin Finale

Spent the most time this week working on the fall.  Tried to make it a bit bigger/stronger - really worked on the arcs of his body and limbs, and get them all to reinforce the movement.  Adding the little double bounce on the body was a happy accident that I loved and built up.  Really focused on using overlap on the arms/hand/fingers and leg/foot/toes to sell the fall.

Speaking of fingers and toes - also spent a lot of time adding those little details throughout the shot, from gripping the pumpkin, catching himself, toes on the weight shifts....took a lot of time, but it really helps.  One of those where you tend to "feel" it more than "see it" the first time through...but really gives life to the character.

On a side note - taking a tip from one of our lectures, on the beginning I combined his actions.  That is, he looks around and walks forward at the same time, and even starts to reach at the same time.  So far most of my actions have been very 1, 2, 3....look, pause, move....etc.  Having this overlap of movement AND intention really was a little revelation.  So, I look forward to keep exploring these more natural and complex and interesting way of telling the story.

But now...I'm looking forward to my vacation to Alaska with my wife! 

Class 3 Week 10: Pumpkin Polish

Well, lots of big improvements this week, especially in terms of storytelling.  Got a lot of comments from classmates about "Why?" is he picking up the pumpkin.  So I add the beat of him looking around and now choosing the pumpkin.  Having that one little bit of acting (the act of making a choice) REALLY helped inform the animation for the entire shot.  My mentor gave the idea that he should have the shaking knees and looking side-to-side.  Again, this really defined the character and made it a lot of fun to work with.

Just look at the amount of blinks alone!  I feel like this is the first time that I started to get some real character and personality conveyed thru the animation.

Otherwise, spent lots of time on technical fixes - biggest is I lessened the big breaking/stretching of the arms from last week.  Worked on fixing some out of balance poses in the first half, and starting to fix some interpenetration issues between the pumpkin and Stewie.  Started to block in some more specific hand and foot movements.  Lots still to polish - and I have to pack for an Alaskan cruise too!!!