Updates

Almost 5 months since I've last updated? Freelance has picked up so I have been producing videos, just not ones for my Youtube channel and a bunch of other random projects. Anyways, onto updates.

My comic strip Directionless ended in January. I was planning on doing a nice write up about the series for this blog in March but that post transformed into a write up and a top 20 comics list. And then that turned into a book collection. So I decided to put a book together of some of my favorite strips! I've finished my own edit of the book (without a publisher) and am awaiting my proof copy at the moment. Right now I'm setting everything up to release the book independently (through lulu.com). It's not just a collection, I've re-written and re-colored many of the older comics.

Original release back in 2010.

Updated version from the book.

Before I do that I would like to see if it's worth my while to approach a larger publisher. So it still may be some time before it is released. Right now it's 72 pages and costs $30 on lulu with 120 comisc in the book. I think that price is a little high so I'm going to see if I can lower it.

As for animations I have two in the works. One is Directionless related. It's a music video that sums up the entire series. I don't have a release date in mind yet as I am still tweaking the storyboard. And the other is an original funny video.

Which style will it be? That's a secret ;) 

I also plan on making a short commercial for the Directionless book when I release it so that most likely will be the next thing posted on my Youtube channel. 

I have started and stopped a few videos mostly due to the quality of the story not being high enough. Here are some screenshots.

The video that got furthest in development was all about learning piano. 

I still make make it some day.

A piano! 

Concept art for a character in the piano video. 

One of those back and white videos I narrate. 

Concept art for a music video. 

I have been working on a lot of projects but I am sadly having to focus less on my internet videos due to financial reasons. I am moving towards other forms of media like books, film and television. I am thinking of shifting my focus towards writing movies and television these days. I would also like to direct more live action material like the Brandon short I filmed over the summer (which by the way is on hold because of the Pixar film with a similar concept).

Anyways that's all for now! 

Tennis With Martin

Well, this video took much longer than I thought it would! I'm actually considering making a little behind the scenes video explaining my process in making this one. But here are some drawings!

First though, the story. It's entirely true. I play tennis with Martin and I still haven't beaten him! This movie summarizes this past summer where we played a lot.

I posted these back in August! The original character designs. I didn't go with either!

A tennis court. Such realism. 

This is the first frame of the movie! I usually draw walk cycles and backgrounds first when I start an animation. Walk cycles because they let me get acquainted with the characters and backgrounds because they define the mood of the video and they are usually used in multiple angles.

The script changed a lot throughout production. Every few weeks the entire thing was changed around (for instance, I could never decide if in the video I should win or lose so I kept changing the outcome).  So a lot of these shots were written for different lines. 

This is the style I thought the video would stick to but I went for a more realistic approach when it came to them playing tennis. 

Ace! 

I wasn't originally planning on blurring the ball. But while I was editing I thought it looked good after doing a quick test. I used 3 different techniques to blur the ball. The animation was already done at this point. The first way I blurred the ball was using my editing program Final Cut Pro where I just selected a portion of the screen to blur and had it follow the ball. The second was in After Effects where I had the ball on it's own layer and blurred the entire layer. And the third was in Flash where I blurred the ball as an individual object. So much effort and choice for such a minuscule portion of the video. Welcome to animation.

Martin does really taunt me when we play. It's as hilarious as it sounds.

I got Martin to do his own voice too.

Playing tennis in a white void! 

Playing tennis in a black void! These shots where you actually me or Martin swinging the tennis racket are based on my swings. I recorded videos of me playing matches and then based the animation on what I did. I originally was going to do that with pro players but the tests I put together made me and Martin look wayyy too good. So you have actually seen me play tennis! 

Look at that fly.

Three flies! Bigger budget means more flies! 

So this was a rough sketch that actually became the basis for a lot of shots. "Pointing" This frame was originally the last shot of the movie.

This is what the last frame looks like detailed up. I animated this ending but wasn't satisfied with it so I made a new one so this shot doesn't appear in the movie. There are actually a bunch of shots I edited out.

Get to the POINT! Instead of pointing the racket I used hands. 

Inner thoughts! 

Final inner thoughts! 

Tough loss.

I prefer the original sketch of this pose. It looks more fluid to me, this pose looks a little stiff. Note to self, fix that. 

The final edit in final cut pro. With complex videos I like to export each shot individually because it's much easier to control and stay on top of the video. I recorded and edited the narration in Garageband but I did some more editing here in Final Cut Pro. I did the sound effects in a separate sequence in Final Cut Pro. 

Oh and the music. I composed all of it. There are three tracks that I use. I actually made the first one trying to emulate the sound of the Push up Challenge video. I ended up liking it so much that I wanted to make a video including the song and that's why I start this video. The second song I made was similar to the first song but more intense. I knew it was going to be used for this video and I tried to capture the emotion of "never giving up".  And the third song is an orchestral battle song that I made long before the tennis video. 

Ah and Martin, that's his voice. I mentioned to him that I wanted to make a cartoon about him. He liked the idea and asked if there was anything he could do. I asked if he would be willing to do his own voice and he said sure. So I wrote out a bunch of lines for him to say, brought my microphone and recorded him on the tennis court. He was a natural. 

So yeah, that's Tennis with Martin! I had the idea in July. Started it in late August(although I didn't really started animating it until September) and kept fiddling with the animation until December. So 4-5 months? I didn't work on it consistently though because other projects and life. I'd say the video took about 2-3 months of work.

As for my next project? I have a bunch of projects in the works! Sadly, I'm not going to continue with my Brandon remake for now due to the similarity with the latest Pixar movie. After I see the Pixar movie maybe I'll start it up again. There are a couple of music videos I'd like to make(including the one I have already mentioned in a pervious post). I also want to made a comedic video in a coffee shop. And I also am just starting work on a very serious video that is a change of pace for me. So. We'll see! 

Ah and Directionless is still on going! Although it's ending is rapidly approaching. Maybe after it's over I'll put together a little book with all the comics in it! Or more than one book.

Updates

I produced a freelance project in June/July which cut into my time but I still was working hard on multiple projects.

First off, "Brandon 2" has been filmed. That is not going to be the title. It actually has very little to do with the original Brandon. Now the long process of post productions and animation begins. The rough cut I have at the moment is about 7 minutes long and it has 4 minutes of animation. Most likely there will be more animation than that. My goal is to finish it by December. It's one to look forward to! There was no need for a kickstarter because I kept the budget low.

The Brandon re-design.

The villain.

This time Brandon is out in the real world.

In a diner.

My current project is called "Tennis with Martin". I'm hoping to finish it within the next few weeks. I'm still working on the audio but I have storyboarded it and begun animating. It's very similar to the Push Up Challenge video. Here are some of the early storyboards,

And my third project is a music video. It's an epic one and it has been a lot of fun to write. I do not know when it will be released. I hope before Brandon but I wouldn't be suprised if I didn't finish it until next year.

This is the earliest concept art for this video (this drawing is from May 2014). This video has been on my mind for awhile so I'm happy to finally be working on it!

A storyboard panel. Just experimenting with colors.

Another panel storyboard panel.

 So yeah, that's it for the big projects I'm working on. I may upload a short joke video or two because I hate going so long without releasing anything new.

Your Bones Storyboard vs Final

 The storyboard is on the left and the final video is on the right.