Directionless - Roach

I'm just about done with the rough animation for the next Directionless movie. I have to say it's a lot of fun to make, very reminiscent of old Looney Tunes animations and heavy slapstick comedy. It will be in full color with sound effects and voice acting (still undecided if Jeff will actually say anything, he may just grunt a lot). It's very different from the other Directionless animations, so because of that Jeff looks slightly different. Perhaps he's aged a little bit since I have drawn him for 2 years now. Perhaps when this animation is done I'll do a retrospective on how Jeff's design has changed over the years. Would anybody ever read that? 

Originally I had some characters from the comic strip appear in this animation but they have been edited out in favor of some new characters. There is a lot of jokes so I am trying not to spoil anything with these screen shots but I do think this animation is one to look forward to!

The further into the movie we get, the more Jeff goes from annoyed...

 ...to furious.

Who are these folks? I decided to color these characters in early to show the voice actors what they would look like. 

I am aiming to get this released by the end of September. I have two freelance projects (both different types of animation) so I must spend my time accordingly. It's odd because I've actually been producing about one animation a month but I don't put any of my business stuff onto my youtube. 

So right now I am steamrolling ahead with Directionless, I've written a few ideas for more Directionless shorts in the vein of this one(fast paced slapstick comedy). I also have an idea for another black and white music based Directionless animation. I have a random short film I would like to make which I think will come out sometime in October. I also plan on doing a sequel to Winter White which follows the same main character on a new adventure. And there is of course the chance I'll get an idea that puts all of these aside or I'll get a paying gig that meshes with one of these passion projects. So much to make, so little time. 

See you space cowboy...

Directionless

It's funny doing another Directionless Short. It's different than the other 3 Directionless animations because it has voice acting and includes other characters from the series. It's basically a teaser of what a tv series version of Directionless would be. 

Hopefully I'll finish it by the end of September (or even August). The storyboard is complete and I'll be recording the voice overs within the next week. These are just concept art pictures so the final look may end up being very different. 

I am also writing the sequel to Way West (tentatively titled Winters Teeth). I also have a 3rd movie idea that I may end up making before releasing Directionless because it's very simple to make and hilarious.

Way West

I'm finally done but what took so long? Well, I made two other movies during this but both of them were freelance projects that aren't going to be put on my youtube channel. And I took a break from Way West in June to make Sax Man. I've just been slowly chopping away at this one (as you can tell if you take a stroll backwards in this blog).

I've been wanting to make a video in the style of Way West for a long time. I saw Winter White perform the songs live and I spoke to the band after about doing a video. It was originally envisioned as one short movie, which I fully storyboarded and started animating. After listening to more Winter White I thought the story could be expanded and match two of their songs. So thats what I did. The orignal storyboard for Way West is actually pretty different from what you see now. It involves a rivalry between two kids competing to prove themselves. This is one of those cases where I started animating the movie before I knew how it would end which I find very exciting. 

In the latter stages of production I was already thinking of a sequel movie which I'm strongly considering making if enough people enjoy Way West (I am considering just making it anyway).

My next project will most likely be a Directionless short. It's not going to be related to the pilot nor will it be a continuation of the black/white piano pieces. It'll be a fun short story with voice acting and a story. It will give the "feel" that I would want a Directionless tv series to have. I also have been wanting to storyboard a sequel video to Must Have Done Something Right and the aforementioned Winter White Sequel. I've also had a lot of little ideas I've been writing down so we'll see what happens. I would love to release another movie in August so hopefully I'll be able to!