Several people have asked if I have any of my work online and I have had to admit that I don’t have much of a public presence.  I hope to remedy that while at the same time staying within the general scope of exploring cartooning and animation.

To start off I’ll share this piece that was put together for a project currently on hiatus.  A general description of a house that had been expanded with new rooms as the owner grew richer was described.  It’s the exterior of a home where a young lad is seen briefly in an upper window as the story begins.

The image in the upper left corner represents the initial concept of the building with the other notations being my thoughts on improving the setup.  My initial thought was that the large window made the house look very tiny… almost cartoony… so the first thing I played with was the scale.

My work since I first picked up crayons to draw with as a child has been a similar exploration of themes and ideas not original to me but that have never-the-less captivated my attention.

The theatrical version of Glen Keane’s upcoming interactive film ‘Duet’ has been released and here’s a drawing from it:

It is said that Glen is drawing 60fps but the timing chart seems to suggest something more akin to 32 frames on twos (or 64fps)?

I had assumed the 60fps described by others is to allow for user interaction… allowing alternative views on an otherwise 2D scene but now I’m not so sure.  It will be interesting to see more of the process behind the project and some information has been released already.

If anyone has any more information on this I’m certainly interested.

Every cartoonist and animator should study… and enjoy… Pogo.

This is the last tier of a comic page that demonstrates how bite-sized portions of a story can stand independently on their own.

For the entire page:  http://whirledofkelly.blogspot.com/2014/05/all-big-fishes-get-away.html

For more Pogo check out the wonderful collection of strips at: http://whirledofkelly.blogspot.com/

Thomas Haller Buchanan posts additional material by Walt Kelly at: http://pogoinpandemonia.blogspot.com/

There is scarcely a subject that cannot be mathematically treated and the effects calculated or the results determined beforehand from the available theoretical and practical data. The carrying out into practise of a crude idea as is being generally done is, I hold, nothing but a waste of energy, money and time. – Nikola Tesla

Source:  extracted quote from Forbes article

A lot has changed in 100 years but some things haven’t.  We still tend to learn through expensive methods of production through trial and error.

At the time Nikola was writing the above he had been taken to task for not producing something from the ideas he had.  Nikola’s reasoning was that he didn’t have to actually produce the product in order to determine the results.

This recalls to mind a similar story told (I believe by Richard Williams) of the Disney animators all crowding around to see the first glimpe of their animated drawings springing to life on their tiny moviola.  Noting that Milt Kahl didn’t appear at all interested in seeing his drawings animated in this way they asked him if he wanted to join in and see how his animation played out.  His response was a terse (and I paraphrase), “Why should I need to do that, I animated it!”

Okay, back to Nikola then:

My method is different. I do not rush into actual work. When I get an idea I start at once building it up in my imagination. I change the construction, make improvements and operate the device in my mind. It is absolutely immaterial to me whether I run my turbine in thought or test it in my shop. I even note if it is out of balance. There is no difference whatever, the results are the same. In this way I am able to rapidly develop and perfect a conception without touching anything. When I have gone so far as to embody in the invention every possible improvement I can think of and see no fault anywhere, I put into concrete form this final product of my brain. Invariably my device works as I conceived that it should, and the experiment comes out exactly as I planned it.

Don Bluth once said of the process of hand drawn animation (with a pencil), “The first step in animation is to put the pencil down.”

The animation community has lost a dear friend.

On 19 January 2014 Michael Sporn lost his three year battle with pancreatic cancer.

I am greatly saddened by this news.

Michael Barrier has a short bio and write up on Michael on his blog:

http://michaelbarrier.com/Home%20Page/WhatsNewArchivesJan14.html#michaelsporn19462014

Andreas Deja continues to post outstanding works over at his blog.

This short sequence of drawings comes from images he posted and I spent time putting together and investingating.  The drawings are by Ollie Johnston.  The color is not from the originals but rather is my (failed?) attempt to analyze the further breakdowns and inbetweens that might be generated from these keys/extremes.  In attempting to reverse engineer I was attempting to use the program Animation:Master in ways that it really isn’t intended to be used but I’m having fun using it to analyze animation while at the same time  digging deeper into what is there in the program itself.

Concerning the drawings themselves, I hope to comment more on them and post some of the fun observations I made while reviewing them.

One example of something worth noting is that of frame 123 which, if taken in isolation, would suggest that Penny is angry, cross or frustrated with Rufus.  This certainly isn’t the case and it’s worth noting that these highly skilled Disney animators had a keen sense of the use of ‘microexpressions’ long before Paul Eckman made the term popular.  Penny’s face seems to support two primary motivations; firstly it serves as an anticipation for Penny picking up Rufus (it helps to suggest he has some weight).  Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it helps to reveal Penny’s inner turmoil, her frustration with the fact of being passed over for adoption.  Despite Rufus’s reassurance Penny isn’t dealing with her thoughts of rejection very well.

The staging of this sequence is also well conceived.  It requires Penny to go from a sitting position on the window ledge, drop to the floor and then walk across the screen carrying Rufus.  This movement maximizes screen space while having the character transition in three dimensional space.

Ref:  http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2013/05/vance-gerry-ollie-johnston.html

I always enjoy ‘behind the scenes’ looks into production and I especially enjoy finding roughs and preparatory sketches that proceeded the final professional presentation.

What it reminds us of is that these talented folks drew crude drawings, struggled to bring ideas to reality and worked hard to get to that final state of a finished product.

So, how do you get to that final product?

First develop and then follow a plan.

Hans Perk has been posting the drafts from Peter Pan over at his blog.
If you don’t visit his blog on a regular basis… you are missing out.
Gaining insight into animation production alone will be well worth your effort.

Here are five of the pages from sequence 11, “Hook Tricks Tinker Bell”.

Prod2074 PeterPan Draft Seq 11 pages 129-134  (PDF File)

Here, by way of further preview, is an excerpt from a page from the draft of Sequence 12 (not posted here…vist Han’s Blog for that):

and the animation produced:

Obviously the quality has been drastically degraded in this gif animation.  I’m posting this primarily as a preview toward the actual scene in full quality… just a representational taste of it here.  Study it in it’s full glory if you can.

Note also how the Background Data plays out in the movement of the camera North to South to 6 1/2 Field which zooms into Peter and progresses the shot.  The following shot then is cut to a perfect close up of Peter as he delivers his line to the Lost Boys in the voice of the Chief, “HOW”.   (See correction below from Hans.)

Hans has noted these drafts are all dated within a few months of the untimely death of Freddy Moore. That flavors this look back on animation production with strong dose of sober reality. These names weren’t just words on paper, they were real people with dreams and aspirations. When one considers the art of this Disney classic and what the artists and animators achieved in the film it becomes all the more impressive.

Check out Hans’s blog:  http://afilmla.blogspot.com/

Update/Correction:  Hans has added a correction in the comments that I’ll share here:

Just a little note: when it says N/S 6½ in the BG column, it actually means it is a New Still background that uses a 6½F setup (that is the outer field) – in contrast to a 5F as used for the earlier films or close-up, or a 10F which is on the Multiplane camera. One of the first postings on my blog is about this stuff. The Disney fields you can compare to “ACME” sizes on a separate page through a link on my blog, but I will divulge that this one is 14.4″ wide. The ealier drafts actually indicated the actual fields, the later ones just the outer field setup.
Now – there is obviously a truck (zoom) in this scene, so that either may have been planned “after the fact,” or a truck like this with only a slight East-West movement is not really also considered a pan, as otherwise the column would read N/P.

Thanks Hans!

I’ve joined in the support of Michel Gagne’s short film which is to be a four minute hand drawn animated film.  I recommend you do the same.

Saga of Rex Kickstarter

As the project has already reached it’s first goal it’s going to be made but supporting it now will take it to the next level.  For $20 you can even get access to a special ‘Behind the Scenes Prodution Blog’ where Michel posts about the joys and challenges of making the film.

Personally I’d love to see him make a full feature length film.

It’s no secret that the Disney film ‘Robin Hood’ is a favorite of mine.

Every time I see it, or artwork from the movie, I’m reminded why.

Andreas Deja has recently been posting artwork and animation from the film on his blog and I couldn’t resist creating a montage of one of the sequences he posted.  Note that the combining of individual drawings often gives a false impression of the action that is occurring in the animation but it can also provide some useful insights as well.  In this case the little rabbit ‘Skippy’ is jumping straight up and down but by offsetting the drawings it’s easier to see the differences that are occurring from frame to frame.

Milt is at his best here.

Just pick a point or shape on the first drawing (on the left) and follow it through the entire sequence.  Note the range of motion, direction and area of the frame that it is in.  Then go back and pick another point or shape and do the same thing.  Milt is a master of using the screen to its fullest potential.

There is a lot more to see here of course.  The arcs, the squash and stretch, follow-through and secondary action.  Watch that feather.  Follow the sword.  Note the frame cut off at the top as Skippy jumps up out of the viewable area of the screen and then later thrusts his wooden sword out of screen right.  See the asymmetry that keeps the character’s action from being boring and maintains the eye’s interest in further exploration.

Of course, the smaller images here don’t do this artwork justice and the detail will be hard to examine, so check out Andreas’s blog to see the full scans!  Visit his blog frequently… as often as you can!

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/04/skippy.html