Rory Animates

Party Animals: Pet Portraits

2011-09-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

I am selling one off pet portraits via my etsy store. Love your animals? Prove it with party animals!

I know it's been a while

2011-05-22T17:33:00.001-07:00

I've been super duper busy with wrapping up Light Thief, building aurorah.net and contributing to Eight Bit Strange I've been bad and have ignored the Blog. I have however updated my show reel, so check that out and be sure to "like" it if you like it.

Light Thief Poster: Update

2011-05-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

Light Thief sneaky sneak peeks

2011-05-09T15:42:00.000-07:00

You wont be able to see the film on my blog because it's getting sent to festivals and festivals dont like showing films that are already online. Soooo to tied you over here are some things I'm working on to whet your taste buds.

Light Thief Art, non film related

2011-05-07T19:03:00.000-07:00

When I was putting the model sheets together for the other animators I was accidentally made something that I thought looked cool. Now I've gone back to my happy accident and worked up some pretties from it. Enjoy!

In the beginning:

2011-05-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

When I was first brought on to Light Thief as producer I was initially going to be responsible for some layouts of the sky. Long story short, I ended up animating 17 scenes and had little time to do the layouts of the sky. However I just wanted to post some of the concept work and inspiration images for the film because they are cool and I think they should be shared.

This first one is the first test I did in Photoshop. It could use more development but I think it was off to a nice start. The rest of these were reference images.

I love the velvety quality of the universe in this image.

Poster Ideas

2011-05-04T04:52:00.000-07:00

Just a concept I'm playing with for the film's poster. I'm not sure if this is too conceptual or not just yet. I'm going to have to let it sit a bit and come back to it. I think if i do come back to this idea I'm going to redo the light effects in Illustrator to get really crisp lines. The over all composition was inspired by the Jaws posters.

Just something silly

2011-05-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

I finished up all of the trace for Light Thief over a week ago, and found one of my favorite frames from the film. Guess which one it is.

Elmer Fudd's Bedroom Part III: Updated

2011-04-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

This is the final out come for the animationforum.net challenge.

Oh, and I won first place.

Cloud Watching

2011-04-26T16:59:00.000-07:00

Elmer Fudd's Bedroom Part II

2011-04-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

Hi Hi Hi everyone out there in internet land. I've been super busy finishing up animation for Light Thief, which I can finally say with a proud sigh of exhuastion is done. Well, the animation is done. It still needs to be colored, composited, edited and the final score has to be done. By May 13th. I finished my last frame of trace today. It was weird, as I put my light box away, I got a little scared. I'm afraid I'll never get to animate again now that I'm about to graduate. All I keep hearing from people in the industry is how 2d is dead, and how I have to learn cg if I want to have a career. I'm tired of people saying "no", and I'm ready for some people to say YES!.

Enough.

I'm working on finishing up my entry for Elmer Fudd's Bedroom. Here are some screen grabs from my work in progress. The first two images are from Kit for Cat, 1948 directed By Friz Freleng. He later went on to produce some of my favorite Pink Panther episodes of all time, ( they are mainly my favorite because of the great backgrounds by Tom O'laughlin, and the clever minimalist design. My Elmer Fudd space concept is definitely influenced by his work.

Elmer Fudd's Bedroom

2011-04-07T17:32:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to fit in doing some work for this layout competition to design Elmer Fudd's Bedroom. The competition is here at Animation Forum. Here is some of my work in progress. The aim is to do the layout in the style of the classic Looney Tunes . I was hoping to find some great interiors by Maurice Nobel to reference, but instead I found Design For Leaving - 1953 Directed by Bob McKimson. I'm personally more a fan of his later work with the Pink Panther. Any suggestions for the layout? anything I should add? Thanks for looking!

Happy first day of Spring!

2011-03-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

Today it's official. It's the first day of spring, which means we have all of the sunny warm days of spring and summer to look forward to. Good weather really can make a huge difference in your day. So in honor of spring I changed the blog header to something a little, sunnier. For the next two months I will be mostly shut in a dark room working on animation. I wont get to spend much time enjoying the weather until after May 13 when the Light Thief is done (fingers crossed).
I will however get to go to wonderful Annecy Animation festival this June where I will spend the week camping in the alps, watching the best of what the world's animation industry has to offer and scouting around and hopefully making a few connections. If anyone else is going to Annecy this year and wants to meet up let me know! I'm also in the process of uploading my current show reel so feed back and comments are welcome as always. I still have concept art up for sale over on Esty, and I'm working on an idea for a collaboration for one of the stories. I want word suggestions. Basically, leave a comment with one word. I'll have to come up with a way to use the word in the book. (Please, be more imaginative than cuss words. Everyone thinks of those first so I know you can do better than that.) The book is a bout birds. So go from there. Oh and whoever leaves me a word first gets a free piece of concept art based on the word they give me.
Umm, ok well I think that's mostly it for now. Yay for spring!

Portfolio Page Up!

2011-03-17T12:00:00.001-07:00

Go click on the portfolio tab to take a look and see what I'm capable of.

Rough Character Animation

2011-02-24T13:49:00.000-08:00

Rough Character Animation from rory animates on Vimeo.

I might finally be getting some where with my animation. Or at least, it's starting to look a bit more respectable. This is the animation that inspired such kind remarks from the Aardman animator the other day. It's all traced now, and I've started the effects animation to go with it so the scene should be coming together soon. Cross your fingers for (no pun intended) Hopefully it will come out looking something like the concept paintings.

A visitor from Aardman Animation.

2011-02-21T20:31:00.000-08:00

Today was a pretty interesting day. An animator from Aardman came down from Bristol to chat with us about the industry and take a look at our films. He spent a nice bit of time going over the animatic as well as quite a good lecture about his own career, ( an alumni from my own uni ).

He said my animation was beautiful. I don't think anyone has ever said that about my work. I don't think I've ever made anything beautiful, but I do give it a go. I'm still learning from everything. He had a lot of really interesting and helpful input for the film. Here's a line test of some rough animation in progress.

rough animation from rory animates on Vimeo.

I'm still workin on it, I dont like the last few drawings, so I'll get around to fixing them before I do clean up.

I think it's amazing that anyone would ever like anything I ever made. Someone from Aardman liked my stuff? I think I could ride this high for years, like Tom Waits when he didn't kill that guy with the plumbing snake whilst he worked at the pizza shop ( listen to Tom Waits : Story Tellers " I can't wait to get off work" here at 7 minutes into the video to get the full impact of just how hilarious and alternative I really am. ) ...Other wise, uhm, I'm working damn hard and damn fast to get this film made. Oh by the way I'm going to need a job soon, after I graduate. Preferably in the animation industry. So, who want's me? I work for peanuts. Then, cashews, then Brazil nuts. I'm considering offers. I just like to eat.

2011-02-20T11:29:00.000-08:00

Portfolio Work

2011-02-12T15:02:00.000-08:00

I'm developing this piece for a portfolio I'm working on. It's going to be painted in a style inspired by gold and black sequins in order to make a statement between the fashion industry, and it's impact on India where the Indian Peafowl live.

Final Outcome

2011-02-10T12:29:00.000-08:00

I think I've reached the final conclusion with this concept piece. On to the next.

2011-02-07T12:52:00.000-08:00

character and effects concept painting- work in progress

2011-02-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

I'm painting this up more for my portfolio than for anything else, and it's still a work in progress. This painting is a concept for the climax of the film, where the main character is stealing all the light from the city. In the actual film, he's not nearly as intense as I have painted him, but that's why it's concept art. That's also why it's fun to do. This painting still has a long way to go, but I'm was hoping to get some feed back. So feel free to let me know what you think, or if you have any suggestions.

concept painting for scene thirty two

2011-02-06T10:40:00.000-08:00

These are some work in progress shots from a concept painting I'm developing as part of my research to inform my animation within this scene.

Meet Vincent

2011-02-04T14:55:00.000-08:00

Just a lil something I'm working on. Inspired by Sexy People. I guess you could also call it an artist study of the style of the late 1970's Scooby Doo.

More Effects Concepts, Always More

2011-02-01T12:59:00.000-08:00

I finished the animation on this scene today. Do you get to see it? Well, not on the blog. Sorry folks. I guess this means you'll just have to go to a film festival near you to see it! Muahahahaha!!! My plot to get you off the internet and into the theater continues. I start character animation tomorrow. Bet you can't WAIT.

Film Reviews: Gasland (dir Josh Fox)

2011-01-31T15:43:00.000-08:00

This week the Oscar nominations were announced for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. You can see a full list of nominees here . Gasland is nominated for the Best Documentary category. It tackles the issue of natural gas drilling within the United States.

I'm also a big Jon Stuart fan, and often watch The Daily Show, online. This week he welcomed guest T. Boone Pickens, BP Capitol Management. I am disappointed in the Jon Stuart for continuing the PR myth that Mr. Picken's and the Picken's Plan are interested in the welfare of the environment and ending our dependency on foreign oil. Picken's blatantly lied on national television to American's when he said fracking doesn't cause damage to the environment or people's health. I think Stuart has a responsibility as being a prominent member of the media to ask the hard questions, and he can get away with doing so because of his charming sense of humor. Stewart asked if the U.S. has been slow to embrace natural gas due to issues of safety, such as the harmful effects of fracking. While there are accusations that fracking contaminates the aquifer, Pickens insisted, "I have never seen that happen. And you're not talking about Ned in the first reader. I've been here. I have fracked 3,000 wells in my life... I've never seen anything damaged." (Huffington Post) I just think Stuart could have laid into him a lot more.
Yes America has a foreign oil dependency issue. However, it's not just foreign oil we have a dependency issue with. We have an issue with consuming non-renewable resources and fossil fuels. If congress, corporations and scientists put as much effort into research and development into clean energy (solar, wind, and tidal power) as they put into creating loop holes in the very environmental laws that were created to protect people we could get somewhere. Corporations have all they money, so they can make the rules, or at the very least buy someone who can make the rules.
The Jon Stuart interview also represents a larger issue of politicians using creative advertising to tap into American's patriotism and interest for creating jobs in a depressed economy, while exploiting natural and human resources causing irreparable damage on the environment.

Red winged black birds dead at new years. Is fracking to blame? copyright New York Times

There was also a point in Gasland which highlighted some of the dead animals from a fracking sight. It reminded me of a smaller version of the recent events in Arkansas where thousands of birds just fell out of the air as well as fish going belly up.

Arkansas is a state that has heavy natural gas drilling (fracking) operations in place. No wonder the official cause of these mass animal deaths is still officially "unknown". Please, allow me to clarify, officials know why these animals all suddenly died, but because dead birds and fish generate bad publicity, someone at the natural gas PR firm has paid big time to keep things hush hush in the media. But don't let me tell you what to think. Watch Gasland and then remind yourself of the events in Arkansas. Put two and two together for yourself. If you have any other hypothesizes, I'd love to hear them.

I haven't yet viewed all the other films nominated for the best documentary academy award, however in my humble opinion this film does what docu does best: eviscerating real people and the situations they confront in life, looking into the causes of these problems, and starting a conversation. Life is tough, let's talk about it. When we as a people can be satisfied being more, and having less corporations will begin to loose power over the people. Until then it's in their best interest to keep us consuming, and lying to us.
Gasland gets a 4 out of 5, and I reccomend it to everyone who loves to drink fresh water in their own home.

Back to the Sea

2011-01-29T04:04:00.000-08:00

I went to work in China on this film earlier this year. I think it's supposed to have an international release sometime this year , but this is the first time I've seen any actual animation from the film. My job on the film was color concepts and prop design. You can see the work I did here and here.

Clip

More Effects Concepts

2011-01-28T14:24:00.000-08:00

I decided to scan in some of my animation that I've cleaned up already to play around with colors, and methods of painting the effects for this shot. I'm pretty pleased with this scene so far, I think the line tests are showing something promising, with a little more work it will get there. I really like the red one, specifically since in the film the actual colors will be so different, and as always I love deep turquoises with yellows. There are five main beams of light, some with as many as 3 layers of animation. Not all are painted in the concept paintings.

Oh here's a line test of my animation, it's not final yet. I'm planning on more inbetweens, to smooth out some of the jerkier streams of light, and maybe complete revision of the one in bottom right hand corner. Any other suggestions to improve on it?

Untitled from rory animates on Vimeo.

New Concept Art for Sing a Little Song- the Book

2011-01-24T11:23:00.000-08:00

I've been busy writing stories and working on ideas for the book! Here are the two newest concept paintings for sale over on etsy. Some of the decisions I've made about the book include making it a collection of character driven short stories (about seven of them) that more or less all happen in the same imaginary world. The top concept painting is for a story called The Water Bird (working title). While the painting in the middle is a concept from the most developed story to date called The Bird Who Fell in Love With the Whale. At the moment I think my narwhal looks like an old potato with broom handle stuck in it, I'm developing the illustration digitally ( the bottom illustration is an example of my work in progress) so hopefully other people wont think it looks too terrible. Support my book by buying concept art on my etsy store. Hey who knows, I could be famous one day, then you could be rich because you knew me when.

work in progress

OK, I have to get back to animating. I have lots of lighting effects to draw before tomorrow morning. Maybe I'll show you a line test....... if you're niiiice.

Film Reviews: This is England and This is England '86 (dir Shane Meadows)

2011-01-23T15:45:00.000-08:00

     I guess since I've been living in England going on four years come July, my friends back home in the states seem to direct all their questions and curiosities about the country in my direction. This is definately the case with This is England (dir Shane Meadows 2006) I suppose also because I am still a punk rock kid at heart. This is England chronicles the lives of a clique of skin head teenagers who encounter the realities of the British Nationalist Party in 1983 set against the backdrop of the Falkland's War. Shaun, played by Thomas Turgoose is a kid getting bullied who runs into a clique of skins in a subway after getting knocked about at school. The skins are a gang of well meaning misfits (that incidentally remind me of people I used to be friends with in real life back home in Atlanta) who take Shaun under their wing and hang out with him, and give him some form of identity within the group. However when Combo, a skinhead who has been in jail for three years because of taking the rap for the leader of the skins, comes back to town the mood changes. Combo brings with him nationalistic ideals of racism and bigotry which pull the formerly light hearted friends apart. The attention to detail pertaining to skinhead culture is quite faithfully accurate. In fact the skins I know pretty much look exactly the way these guys do in the movie. Feather cuts on the girls with Ben Sherman shirts and bleached out jeans. I think the only thing that is missing from This is England is a concert scene complete with mosh pit. I know bands like The Glory would have loved to have been featured.

The film is does what great indie films do. It provides a window into the lives of a fantastic cast of convincing characters dealing tough situations in a way unique to time and place. I also find that the issues of joblessness and bleakness of future relevant to the current uncertain economic climate in a post bail-out world.

This is England also reminds me of Penelope Spheeris's actual 1983 film Suburbia in that it too chronicles the lives of youths in the punk rock and hardcore scene of LA, perhaps mixed with Misfits another great British series chronicling the lives of social outcast (although they happen to have super powers).

This is England '86 (2010) is a four part mini series produced for Channel 4 that picks up with the gang 3 years after the end of the film. It's always interesting to see characters develop over extended time periods, and a rare treat to be able to watch a film so well done followed up by an equally thoughtful predecessor. '86 presents a bleakness of reality that is sometimes comical is just how unbelievable it is.

For example, when Woody brings Lol back to their "castle" (new apartment ) after the failed wedding for the first time, for Lol to find she will be living in what can only be compared to an ash blackend hovel infested with maggots where someone had died and decomposed. It's slightly ludacris in how bad a place this could possibly be. However, what keeps the mood of the film from being completely bleak and depressing is the amount of devotion everyone has to each other. They are the family for each other that they may not have had at home. It's reassuring even at the darkest moments.

I recommend This is England to anyone interested in skin head and punk culture, indie film, the 1980's, and perhaps what it may be like to grow up under privileged in certain areas of England. It's fantastic.
4 out of 5 for the whole lot. Oh and the soundtrack is pretty bitchin' too.

,
I'd also like to take the opportunity to say that being a skinhead isn't inherently racist at all, as a sub cultural movement skin heads extol the virtues of the working class, listening to reg-ea, ska, and more recently Oi! music. The dress sense reflects the utilitarian needs and the budget of the "working class".
It is unfortunate that mainstream society more often than not automatically views skins as racists. The overwhelming majority of skin heads I know and am friends with aren't racist at all, and there is even a popular movent within the skin society called Sharp (Skin Heads Against Racial Predjudice) that goes out of their way to make the point that racism and bigotry is not ok. I have been, and am still friends with a lot of skin heads who have been wonderful friends when I really needed them. Oi! Oi!

Dream Box

2011-01-20T14:46:00.000-08:00

So there is this exhibit coming up, open call at Uni, that I thought I might put something together for. Pretty open criteria, A5 image on good paper, having to do with Dreams. Last night I had a dream about flying. Maye I'll do something with this. The dead line is February 21st. It's a been a while since I showed anything in public. I guess I should think about it some more.

Self Portrait

2011-01-20T11:43:00.000-08:00

This is how I see myself most of the time.

Hand Animation Effects

2011-01-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

I'm getting ready to do the light effects on the hand that I animated (see post here) so I wanted to do a couple of concept paintings of different styles of effects. I've done some effects animation tests already, so I kind of have an idea of what i think works best, but I had a little time this afternoon so I painted these up. I might add some more after the initial post, so if you're interested check back for more!

Film Reviews: Before Sunrise and Before Sunset (dir David Linklater)

2011-01-17T12:27:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon Richard Linklater's Before Sunset (2004) on a list of indie films. It looked interesting, a film set in Paris, a city with which I have had an intellectual romance myself, although I was only there in person for about an hour and never left the train stations or the metro. So unfortunately I personally have never had the pleasure to traipse the streets that have been home to so many influential people in history. I love the french people, and try to speak as much of it as I can, whenever possible. So I thought this film would perhaps expand my vocabulary whilst expanding my personal knowledge of film. However most of the film is in english, so my hopes of boning up on my french were slightly dashed. The tagline, "What if you had a second chance with the one who got away?" perfectly outlines the story, which ultimately makes up for it not being in french. It stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as a pair of lovers encountering each other for the first time in nine years, after having only spent one night together in Vienna. If that isn't romantic enough, it gets better. The film itself is dialogue heavy, laden with philosophical insight on their lives during the interim. It's cathartic is a way that perhaps only someone who over analyzes every aspect of their romantic life could appreciate. It is so sweetly fantastic, mixed in with the bitter reality of what love is and how life works that it renews hope for old relationships and like an invisible friend patting you on the back saying, " there, there I know life stings some times but love makes it all worth it in the end when it works out." The film is set in almost real time, adding to the sense that this scenario is entirely plausible. The couple have very clearly impacted each others lives through this one chance meeting on a train and changed it forever.
There is little to no action in the film at all, and yet it manages to excite the mind in an intellectually stimulating way. The manner in which these two star crossed lovers have dissected their emotions about each other, and how their lives have unfolded in the mean time is incredibly relate-able. There is however an element of sadness in the fact that it has taken them so long to reconnect. The film forces you to confront your own personal dilemas in the romantic department. It asks the question, " If you knew you were with the wrong person for several years but had a kid, and reconnect with the love of your life you had thought you lost forever, what would you do?" I think the great result of this line of questioning is that (hopefully) we come to the same conclusions as the characters at the same time they do so there is an due to the real time element of the film. I personally found this film very satisfying.

Since I enjoyed Before Sunset so much, I did a bit of investigative googling and found it's prequel Before Sunrise which is the story of how the two characters met each other and became so important to eachother in their subsequent lives. Before Sunrise(1995) is a nice enough story, but not nearly as compelling as it's sequel. Hawke and Delpy are shockingly young compared to their appearances in Sunset, and they are sweetly naive, optomistic, and invincible in a way that you are when you're young. They are charming in a way courting us with the intricacies of their courtship. It's a sweetly romantic film, but nothing too terribly special.

I know the films were meant to be watched in order, before sun rise before sunset, but I think I valued the story of them as a whole more because I already knew how much the initial encounter has effected them , due to viewing Before Sunset first. It was an accident on my part, but a happy one. I reccomend this film to anyone who has met someone very special they had to leave all too soon after just meeting them and spending very long time periods away from them, while yet thinking about them almost every day. It highlights just how rare and important those connections are, and underscores how valuable they are in life. They really don't happen all that often and when they do, you must really appreciate how lucky you are, even if only for a little while. And if you ever do get a second chance with "the one who got away" make sure they don't get away again.

Before Sunset 4 of 5

Before Sunrise 3 out of 5

Should I Work For Free?

2011-01-16T08:54:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine posted this on facebook, and I thought it was good enough to post over here for people who might just stumble upon my blog. I know that as a young artist and animator a good way of getting established is by doing internships, and working on as many kinds of projects as you can to build skill sets. However I do get annoyed by people ( many of whom are not in the industry themselves) who think that art must just fall out of the sky , and expect the work they want done to be perfect, fast, and free. I'm an artist, and I'm also a human being which means I have to put a roof over my head, food in my gut, and clothes on my back just to name a few basics. I love being an artist, and I've followed my dreams to get where I am and it's the only thing I ever really wanted to be since I was a little kid. I also deserve to be paid for my time, expertise, and insight into projects. So I wanted to share this with everyone on here who is considering what they should be paid, or indeed if at all. http://www.shouldiworkforfree.com/

Remember if you are an artist you have value, and deserve to be paid a fair wage. Don't let people take advantage of your time, talents, and generosity. And if you aren't and artist then you should at least consider supporting living artists, after all Van Gogh doesn't have to worry about paying bills anymore, and because Hitler couldn't go to art school he ended up killing a whole lot of people.

Film Reviews: True Grit (dir Coen bros) and True Grit ( Henry Hathaway)

2011-01-15T01:36:00.000-08:00

As the theatrical release of the Coen brother's remake of the 1969 film adaptation of True Grit is upon us, I thought I would take a moment to look closer at both works. I have to say I've seen the Coen bro's 2010 version now 3 times in a week. It's an uncommon film which leaves one thinking about it long after having seen it. The first thing I noticed about the Coen bros version is the use of language within the dialogue. Contractions (we're, they're, I'll ..etc) are banned from the script, resulting in a very clipped manner of speaking which sounds formal and at the same time almost foreign. This close attention to detail within dialogue lends authenticity to a story that in it's orginal form ( a novel by Charles Portis)
represents a narrative about charatcers who in addition to their roles within the book have been educated mainly by the Bible, or at the very least have been to church a lot. The other striking quality of the Coen bros film is quality of work. Every aspect is thoughtful, from the color scripting, to how the night scenes are filmed, sound design and score, not to mention the acting (which is superb).

"ohh let's find some where to sleep, I'm so tired it's so late"... broad daylight

Hailee Steinfield and Jeff Bridges as Mattie Ross and Rooster Cogburn in True Grit 2010

The same thing cannot be said about the 1969 Henry Hathaway version unfortunately. In fact, I would say at some points, the film is down right careless. The scene where Rooster Cogburn, Laboef, and Mattie are looking for a place to sleep, is filmed in broad daylight. However the Coen's version of this scene is dark with the authenticity of night, almost so you only catch glimpses of action which makes watching the scene much more exciting. The Henry Hathaway version stars John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, who fails at playing the character of Cogburn, although he does succeed in playing an authentic version of John Wayne with an eye patch. The entire film is as contrary to the spirit of the book as it is possible to be without having huge choreographed dancing technicolor musical numbers. The book as well as the Coen bro's film is a work of sincerity, modesty, and adventure through the sense of duty, while the '69 version is almost reminiscent of a child's romp with old yeller, with production design a typical of the late 1960's. Kim Darby who plays the role of child heroine Mattie Ross has a Twiggy-esque hair cut and wears a bright tangerine dress, thoroughly unsuitable for the time period and the message of the film. Her acting is almost equally as distasteful. Darby comes off as incredibly naive, demanding, slightly prissy and bitchy.

In the modern release Hailee Steinfield plays Mattie Ross to great satisfaction. She posseses a wisdom and determination uncommon in a girl who is actually 14. Steinfield gives gravity to her role which is combination with everything else makes for a wonderful film. I don't want to give too much away, so all I will say is go see it.
True Grit (2010) 5 out of 5
True Grit (1969) don't bother

Hand Animation

2011-01-14T08:57:00.000-08:00

Finished up the trace on this shot of character animation. It's part of a larger scene, so in the film it will make more sense in context. I have to say hands are really strange things. They are like little characters all in their own right. I've always had trouble, like a lot of artists drawing hands, so I was really excited to approach this particular scene as a challenge.

Hand Trace 02 from rory animates on Vimeo.

Film Reviews: The Fighter (dir David O. Russell)

2011-01-13T17:26:00.000-08:00

So it occurred to me that I watch an ungodly amount of movies. It's not an unusual day when I watch two or three sometimes four films. I partly watch films because I consider myself a film maker, animation being my chosen medium. So I am one of the privileged who can say legitimately that I watch films as research. But I started watching films because of my dad. He was a major classics buff and made damn sure that I was brought up with good taste. His favorite actress to this day is Greta Garbo (Ninotchka) , and refers to her as "the Face of the Century". I also feel like in certain ways, we connect through film as films take place of shared experiences as a society. So I should probably spew my opinion of some of the films out onto the inter-webs because that seems to be the new shared consciousness.

So today I watched The Fighter Directed by David O. Russell starring Mark Walberg, Christian Bale, and Amy Adams. At first the film starts out leading us down the path to believe that what we are watching is the come back documentary of Christian Bale's character Dick Eklund, however the plot thickens and we are privy to an intensely dysfunctional family dynamic that has Walberg's charatcer's (Micky Ward) boxing career being sold short to make a fast dime for "the Family". Aside from the harsh reality of how "the family" is portrayed the rest of the film is some what predictable, although satisfying in it's predictability. The audience knows Micky has to triumph in the end, however the journey to this inevitable triumph is what makes the story interesting. The conflict of interests between Micky's mother and his career forces the question where personal responsibility ends, boundaries begin to confront the necessity of personal growth and autonomy. The rest of the film is almost as predictable as a live action Disney movie. The only redeeming quality of the film lay in its creative camera work, sound design and editing. Script was not it strong point, although the dialogue had a natural bantering quality at moments that added to it's realism. In one scene at a bar the family is chattering away in a lively manner while Walberg's character sits quietly to the side enjoying their company from a modest distance. The body language subtly indicates that his character is ready to move on, he just hasn't been given the opportunity at this point. The Fighter is the happy Hollywood version of 2008's The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke which was more emotionally realistic in it's stark view of life for a "one trick pony". I recommend The Fighter for guys who have girlfriend's who owe them favors, boxing enthusiasts every where, as well as people who love complicated family dynamics in their dramas.
3 out of 5

Next up both True Grit(s) as soon as I can watch the 1968 John Wayne version without falling asleep.

On a personal note I'm still working on ideas for the Book, and animating like a crazy person. More art stuff soon, and maybe even a line test! ooh you lucky bastards

Concept Paintings for Sing a Little Song the Book

2011-01-02T12:44:00.000-08:00

As promised here are the scans from the first of the concept paintings for the book. I'm still in the early brainstorming stages so comments as always are welcome as well as ideas. All paintings are also at my etsy store
Thanks for looking!

Shape Challenge (cross posted from AIB Jumble)

2010-12-30T18:31:00.000-08:00

I thought I would keep this piece as simple as possible in terms of using simple shapes to show off some color design. I would say that it's definitely inspired by fashion illustration, and I just wanted to do something fun. Completion time an hour or so. Hope everyone has a nice New Years! xoxo Aurorah

I reworked it a little thanks to some advice from talented guys from AIB jumble ( thanks!)

Thanks for a Great Year,

2010-12-27T13:55:00.000-08:00

Thanks everyone who reads this for a great year. I'm taking some time over the Holidays to get ready for an even better 2011. I've been working on loads of new paintings, and have an exciting personal project in mind. Check out the video for more info!

Thanks for a great year! from rory animates on Vimeo.

Franken-tash

2010-12-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

I made this for a friend as a gift. It just took an hour of drawing and about 30 minutes of painting. First I drew Frankenstein as played by Boris Karloff. Then I quickly painted up and old piece of particle board and and then used a gloss medium to aid in both tinting and adhering the drawing to the board. Voila.

It was simple and fun to make, and I'm happy with the outcome.

New Stuff Up On Etsy

2010-11-15T15:32:00.000-08:00

Hey I just thought I would take a minute to show some of the new paintings I did for my Etsy store "Sing a Little Song". The theme of the store is bird paintings. These are a little different in that they have backgrounds so they are a little more time consuming, and there fore cost a little bit more. But and original painting for under 50 bucks is still a bargain! And I'd also like to thank everyone who has given a home to one of my little guys so far, it means a lot to me. Thank you! You can visit my store here, or via the link on the side bar. I'm also available for commissions on very special projects.

Little Boxes

2010-11-12T12:16:00.000-08:00

Some boxes I drew, more film concept work for props.
Oh, and the lil boxes I drew reminded me of the awesome Malvina Reynolds song.

Creepy Self Portrait

2010-11-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

Self Portrait Day was earlier this week, unfortunately I was so busy working on the film I didn't have the time then to post this. I also started my job this week so I wanted to incorporate that aspect of myself into the portrait. I'm still working on it. I thinking of adding some stuff to give it some more depth. I think it may walk a little too close to the uncanny valley for me. It's a bit weird, I admit.

Record Player

2010-11-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

I did this drawing as a concept for the film I am currently working on. I don't think I'll end up using it in the end but I think it looks cool.

Chairs

2010-11-05T05:35:00.000-07:00

Blue Prints of Darwin and Amelia's House

2010-11-01T14:59:00.000-07:00

Today in addition to working on the production stills I also made blue print style floor plans for the house. These will be useful to everyone on the team throughout the film making process. I wanted them to feel authentic, as if they exist in the same world as the characters.

Still working on Production Stills

2010-10-31T15:15:00.000-07:00

I'm doing two production stills, and I'm on my third version of one of them. Here's where they are at now.

Production Still Layout

2010-10-26T05:13:00.000-07:00

I've been painting production stills today. Here's what I've been working on.

Bag animals

2010-10-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

Plastic bag animals by Joshua Allen Harris. I was researching road grates for the film I'm working on and came across these awesome bag sculptures/ street art. Thought I would share. I thought the air bear was particularly whimsical. Enjoy!

Architectural Studies

2010-10-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

I did these this week while researching Victorian architecture for the layouts on the new film. Its the first time I've drawn any layout work in a long time so I feel like I'm just starting to get into the swing of things again.

more frame concepts

2010-10-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

These are more photo frame concept paintings for the film. Animation will take place within the space where the photographs would be placed.

Concept fun times.

2010-10-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

I was doing some research for the new film and decided to combine some of my digital work with some of my rough thumbnails. Just thought I would share.

Inspiring Artist

2010-10-14T00:28:00.000-07:00

So I thought I would share one of my favorite living painters. I originally saw her work in a 2006 issue of Juxtapoz and totally fell in love with some of her paintings. Syvia Ji never fails to make me feel like getting up and making some art happen.
definitly check her out. http://www.sylviaji.com/

some concept work for the new film

2010-09-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

I don't want to give too much away, but I'd like to take a minute and show off some of my color concepts for the grad film I'm producing and heading up layouts on. I'd like to do more color and texture tests gearing towards the warmer colors, subtly refining the pallet until it's just right. Whilst working in China I really learned a lot more about color theory and I'm really excited to put it to use on this film.

esty store opening

2010-09-19T19:12:00.000-07:00

I've been inspired to start up an etsy shop selling the things that I make. Here are some images of the first items I have up for sale.

Zombie Portraits

2010-07-25T21:23:00.001-07:00

Portraits

2010-07-25T14:17:00.001-07:00

I'm painting some portraits as a surprise for some of my friends. I'm painting them as zombies. Here are some screen grabs from my process. I'll post the final images when I'm finished.

Final Cut of Summer'10 Show Reel

2010-07-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

Sky Pirates

2010-07-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

(x-posted from AIB Jumble)

I wanted to do something other than work on my reel today so I made this. It could definitely use some more work, but hey it's the 4th of July!

New Show Reel

2010-07-03T17:46:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been working on a new show reel. It's taken me longer than usual, since I used this project as a platform to start learning After Effects CS5. This is just the most basic version of the reel, I thought I would go ahead and share what I've been working on. I plan on still doing more work on it, making transitions smoother, playing around with some 3d elements, and some particle generators. But this is just the start, so enjoy!

Show reel bumper summer 2010, CS5 and other fun things!

2010-06-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

Hey, I thought I would give blog friends a sneak peek at what I've been working on. Since getting back from China, the middle east ( only there for a few hours, but still, )and England I purchased CS5 to start learning After Effects. After watching a few hours worth of tutorials online ( I recommend Video Copilot ) I have set a project for myself for the next week involving Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects. These images are from my work space.

I'm using and modernizing the idea and images behind my latest batch of business cards to unify the project as uniquely my brand. I plan on using Flash to animate the images I have created in Illustrator to make a Quicktime movie. I can then import the Quicktime file into after effects to use as titles throughout my show reel, and also as a DVD menu background on the DVD version on my show reel.

Color Keys- Scenes

2010-06-04T04:47:00.001-07:00

Work from China

2010-06-04T03:54:00.000-07:00

So I'm back in the UK for a short jaunt before going back to the states. Check out some of the work I did on the film while in China. These are prop color keys, used to define the basic color of pops and layout elements in the film. These are not final paintings, and as they are keys the most important aspect is to get the color harmonies right. All images copyright Glory N Dreams Animation studios.

Going to China

2010-05-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hey there boys and girls, well my world travels continue. This time I'm off to work at Glory N Dreams Animation Studio in Shanghai, China. I'll be out there for a month, that is unless that darn volcano erupts again, and messes up travel for everyone all over the world again. My housemate was supposed to come back the 20th of April, and is still stuck out there. So, this whole thing is a pretty big gamble.

I also just pitched a film to the studio, and I'm hoping I enough people liked it well enough to vote it into production. The film is about a cockroach who loves the girl who lives on the other side of the apartment wall. While he's terrifically in love with her, he's also instinctively terrified of her killing him. So his goal is to get as close to her as he can without being noticed.

If my film goes into production, I might not be notified at the same time as everyone else, but who ever wants to to work on it with me should email me samples of their work, and we can talk about crewing up after we find out which films are being made. So if you're a first year, vote for adventure, vote for love, vote for my film!

Life Drawing

2010-04-21T09:09:00.000-07:00

Reel

2010-04-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

Pitch

2010-03-12T03:31:00.000-08:00

just a hint.

watercolor life drawing

2010-03-12T03:30:00.000-08:00

Self portrait

2010-03-01T09:55:00.001-08:00

I did a bit more work on this today and think I will leave it for now. I'm pretty satisfied with my first real foray into digital painting.

Self Portrait

2010-02-23T13:19:00.001-08:00

First time I've done digital painting, so I tried to paint a subject I know well. Here's a sneak peek.

new life drawing stuffs

2010-02-23T13:06:00.001-08:00

When the Killer becomes the Victim

2010-02-17T16:20:00.000-08:00

This is the first automobile I've ever drawn so I can do better, but I just threw this together this evening . Poor thing got totaled the day before Valentines day.

Red Bird

2010-02-15T16:16:00.000-08:00

I was recently studying some of Ovi's bird drawings from his book Desene ( a really great book of sketches, go get it!) I was inspired to do a drawing in his style of one of my favorite birds. The really great thing about Ovi is that his method of working is really similar to my own, in that he likes to draw with what looks like blue animation pencil and then develop ideas more fully from there depending on the direction the work should take. Here is a page from my sketch book inspired by Ovi

I chose the drawing on the end since cardinals are my favorite. My uncle Bob called me little cardinal when I was a baby so I've always been fond of them. I even have one tattooed on my foot. (Sorry if the picture is blurry but I had to take it with my phone) So I chose to do some light color work on the bird in Illustrator to punch it up a bit. I've been really fond of flat planes of muted color recently, and thought it worked nicely to suggest a vibe that's some where half way between traditional cel animation and modern illustrations that can tend to be a bit twee. I'm pretty happy with the results as a stand alone concept for a character.

On another note I've been applying for internships, scholarships, animating, reading, and developing an idea for a pitch. Oh and I met Bill Plympton today, go check out his blog Scribble Junkies(link in blog roll at right) if you haven't already. He was super nice and even drew me a picture of a character from his up coming feature film. It's always nice to see fellow Americans when you're abroad, especially when you're abroad for so long.

Scene 11b Animation Geekiness

2010-02-04T23:01:00.000-08:00

I finished up principle animation on the most complicated scene I've ever animated. It's only 7 seconds long but it portrays a T-rex chasing a caveman running backwards on a wheel through a field of geysers. I think there were 10 geysers in the shot, 3 of which I keyed and then farmed out to eager first years while I finished up the other 6. Since I can't show you the actual scene ( for festival reasons) here is a picture of the stack of animation paper scene 11b has racked up. Oh I believe this scene now holds the record for the most effects in one shot by one person for an animated film produced at AUCB ( formerly AIB). Since I can't show off the scene just yet, here are some of the rough research drawings I did in the beginning of the shot. I was mainly trying to figure out the physics of the geyser, then later on the style.

Mammoth for Kaz

2010-01-30T11:40:00.000-08:00

Life Drawing

2010-01-29T03:26:00.000-08:00

Bender the Noodle Brain

2010-01-09T12:38:00.000-08:00

I called my friend Bender a noodle brain the other day, he eats a lot of noodles. There's a funny song by The Queers also called Noodle Brain, with really child like ( in a good way) lyrics

You're a noodle brain and you're ugly You're a noodle brain you're so stupid You're a noodle brain just like me

I made this for people with noodles on the brain. I took some inspriation from circus side show posters from the days of yore, or yesteryear, or whatever. Images such as these,

I love side show freaks... I also thought incorporating the definitions for noodle and brain was interesting, I think I want to revisit that in the future, as I really like the contrasts in typography within dictionaries.

Pollywog

2010-01-07T11:28:00.000-08:00

Hollie

2010-01-05T12:14:00.001-08:00

Hang Over Day

2010-01-03T11:39:00.001-08:00

Cross posted from AIB Jumble. Hope you had a good one!

Girl Ordering Coffee

2009-12-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

Old Caveman

2009-12-28T10:34:00.000-08:00

Nick

2009-12-26T08:23:00.001-08:00

This is my friend Angela's husband Nick, who also get a portrait from me for xmas, I did them as a pair so they could face each other hanging on a wall.

Angela

2009-12-25T17:10:00.000-08:00

I made this for my friend Angela for xmas and thought it looked nice and thought I'd share something I did in my spare time .

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

This is a mono-print I made just for the holidays, I'm thinking of making some stationary of this image for the holidays. Any suggestions on where I could do this online? Any feed back really appreciated!

runcycle

2009-12-20T15:12:00.000-08:00

Quick run cycle of a cave girl character I helped design for the film I've been working on.

face animation

2009-11-11T12:53:00.000-08:00

some facial animation tests I've been working on for the main character. This is the first time I've animated his face so I learned a lot from this, like how far I can squash him, and how far I can stretch him without making him go off model. Here He goes off too much but he wont the next time I animate him!

Shot Gun Animation Tests

2009-11-02T13:45:00.000-08:00

In getting back into animation this week my director had us do some shot gun tests, which basically consists of animating a given scene as quickly as we can. I did the punch in five minutes, it took longer because it had a few layers to work with.
The Dinosaur run was another shot gun test which took about 4 minutes, it had been a while since I'd done a walk cycle, and it's super rough, but the shot gun's are helping me to quickly flesh out what works, what doesn't and why on a basic level without investing too much valuable production time just to find out something doesn't work on a very basic level. for example the tail of the dinosaur dips around too much so that's something I can fix on the next sg test.

concept heads

2009-11-02T13:34:00.001-08:00

The Director of the film already had a clear idea of the face, and wanted some ideas as to what the girl's hair should look like so these are just quick sketches of a bunch of different ideas for his to glance at, then I went and did some quickie rotations of the hair styles he liked to give him a better idea of how animate-able they would be.

some basic maya work

2009-10-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

Some basic blocking I've been working on in Maya the finished scene should be about 10 seconds long of the man tossing a bone to the dog, and antics ensue. I'm still just getting the handle on the rig for the dog, it's more complicated than anything I've used before since I'm still a beginner. Check back later for a more finished version, complete with camera changes and all rendered out.

more concepts

2009-10-25T04:46:00.001-07:00

concepts

2009-10-25T04:40:00.000-07:00

these are still being refined so i think i get away with posting these here since they aren't final.

caveman concepts

2009-10-21T12:01:00.000-07:00

Sketching on the Farm

2009-10-11T14:20:00.001-07:00

Sketches I did while on vacation at my grandparents farm in Tennessee. I was really excited to be able to draw the rabbits up close in their natural habitat.

Summer Time Sketch Book

2009-10-11T14:15:00.001-07:00

Cave Man Summer work

2009-10-08T16:01:00.000-07:00

Some Pre Production work I did over the summer for the film I'm working on this year.

Fresh Ink

2009-09-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

Brand new tattoo by Mark MaGee at Overlord on 10th street ( Atlanta, Ga) . The man can sling some ink with the best of them.

Hollis Gillespie

2009-09-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post some of the work I did for Hollis Gillespie formerly of Creative Loafing, and currently of Atlanta Magazine, published author, Campaign manager for Atlanta Mayoral Candidate Kyle Keysor and all around loud mouth extraordinaire. This was on the old blog but thought it was note worthy enough for new blog too.

West Fest

2009-09-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

West Fest Featuring Yours truely and a lot of Breweries.
Logo and Flyer design by moi.