Long time no post (sorry)

So, okay it’s July and I was supposed to premiere Nivadahmandi in June…
It’s my first animated series!

SUE ME!

For the last two months, production on Nivadah was held up (choked, & drowned in a river) by a side project for the NFWF.
I was not only art director, but lead animator on one of the characters with the most screen time. All my free time was spent working out issues with that project or helping other artist on the project with thier scenes.
I never even got to glance at the turnarounds for the characters in Nivadah, much less animate them.

And honestly...

it’s my first attempt at doing a project of this scale and I have to admit, while few…
there were some loose ends.
Mostly everything is under control and I should be posting some actual finished (or close to finished) scenes next week.
I’ve changed so many scenes recently and that is what keeps pushing back the episode one release.
I’m finally getting to sleep at night (the entire night) and so my brain works properly once again, meaning I have creative ideas and thoughts coming to me nonstop.
I’m back to the old me 100% (scary)

I’ve only been animating for just over a year so… I shouldn’t expect to animate at the speed or skill of say the guys from Studio 4°C (Mindgame, Tekkon Kinkreet, Genius Party [beyond], Gainax (Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gurren Lagann, FLCL) ,
or C’MON…Production IG
(GITS, Blood: the last vampire, and that animated sequence in Kill Bill)

I am however, working on Nivadah.
It's coming along tiny scene by tiny scene.
You never really get the full complex scale of something as seemingly simple as a thirty minute animated show, until your knee deep in it.
I'm not going for thirty minutes, but just the few minutes I'm working at are made up of several tiny seconds worth of scenes.
SEVERAL.

I'm thinking episode one won't be ready until sometime later in July, then episode two will come late August.
I think that this is a doable schedule.

So to tide you over until episode on is over, I've posted some background pics and screen shot of the process.

YAY!

cut me some slack.
not only am I one man...but I'm only human.

RESTRICTED!

I've added some slight updates to the website. Mostly in the map section. I promise I'll update the map often and add more pics for your visual enjoyment. So far I have only been happy with a few of the finished pics, so all the work set for the initial launch was scrapped. But the map will be updated as the series progresses, that's something I have always wanted to see on a site. A map that actually shows the progression of the characters involved in the story as they explore their world. Altross like a few of the areas on the map as you will soon realize are restricted to humans due to their overwhelming population of Impea. No one can get around in these areas without suffering serious bodily harm.
(and by bodily harm, I mean death and dismemberment.)

So, the Impea eh....

The Impea are vicious little buggers, and they're not all little. The original concept for them involved tentacles and slime, but that was definitely going to be an animation nightmare... not to mention really silly looking. So I decided to try and create a new design for them and naturally I started thinking about arthropods, ants to be more specific.

I wanted a bold, strong design so I went with marker comp silhouettes. I needed them to read as menacing as possible, either that or other worldly. After a couple of pages I really started getting a good idea of the variety that can be used in the Impea.

I definitely didn't want them all to be bipedal. It's hard as a character designer to get away from what you see every day. (that being humans.) Some of the Impea I designed apparently have only one leg, which makes them move about like a pogo. I know it sounds slightly amusing, but in my mind I could see the horror of this creature madly hopping after you hungry for a kill.

Not all these designs will be used, some are just clunky looking. I do like the idea of some Impea being able to fly (or at least float) That to me makes them a little more scary. Ultimately I want the Impea to be as unusual as possible, like so much of the insect and sub insect (is that a word?) world that we take for granted. I looked through pages of electron microscope pictures and images of insects and a few lobsters as well. I still have yet to decide on a final set of colours to go with the textures of their exoskeleton bodies.

Marker comps... so, many, MARKER COMPS!
In the end I don't feel that they are creepy enough, but maybe once they have some sound added to them it will make them a little more intense. I actually have to do a Impea "pencil" test with sound. So look for that post soon.

new year, new logo, new site!

Welp, it's been a long while since I last updated this blog. I've been updating my "normal" blog smars unlimited and neglecting this one. So, I guess I should say...happy new year? "sigh" I have been working very hard on Nivadah, I created a new version of the logo (see, uptop). It's more intricate and better developed. I've been story boarding and doing the backgrounds for all the upcoming "shots". I've even been doing some advertising for the June 2009 premiere of episode 1. I don't want to make too big a deal out of it as I don't even know how the people will receive it, and it's not like I'm launching full half hour episodes. (I wish I had that kind of time.) Speaking of launching, The official Nivadahmani website is up. go to nivadah.com to baste your eyes in all the flashlike glory.


It's a bit glitchy and I have to go through the innards of the site to figure it out. I just started making Flash sites this year (cut me some slack) I have to upload more content to it soon, maybe weekly I'll do this. I'm mostly going to focus on the Emmothan map until the series starts.


Oh, and the world is called Emmothan not Emmotah like I posted earlier. It was the original name I created for the world, but I wrote it on a scrap of paper, then lost that paper. Forced to rely on my terrible memory, I wrote what I thought was the name I had come up with. WRONG. Close, but wrong. It's like one letter short and switched around, big whoop.


So, I'm going to post some Impea sketches soon, and if you don't know what an Impea is...maybe you should go over to the site and look it up in the Definitions section of the Story of Nivadahmandi. hmm? GO NOW!

The, Dō less taken

Now, I’ve been asked a few times at school what I’m working on when people see me drawing Nivadah stuff at school, and I tell them. A few people get excited, while I noticed some…are shocked (in a horrified sort of way) and a bit bewildered. See, so many students I have found want to work for one of the big 3, and they can think of nothing else. But not I. I want to work independently, or in a studio collective of artist I know and trust, doing freelance work, and creator driven content work. I tell them that the plan for Nivadahmandi is to be a series that premiers online over the course of (however long it takes), but my plan is not to try and get it “picked up” by any studio (the big 3) or to get any theatrical release (I’ll come back to this.) My ultimate goal, is to tour conventions (comic/anime) and sell copies of the DVD once the series is complete. I used to be a comic book artist, and I’ve gone to a few anime conventions in my past HELOOOOOOO A-KON ! (20 years in 2009)

I digress a bit.
So, I know the crowds, and I know with the proper campaigning and advertising for the site, and the series, I will get a couple of people to pay attention. Pay attention to what, you ask? To the fact that we don’t need a major studio to produce animation! If your dream is to produce your personal creations, Disney aint the place to go, ‘cause they have other plans. This will be the theme all over if you try to go to the big studios to try and “sell” or “pitch” your idea or get it “picked up” as I said before. No, I’ve never experienced this first hand. I never had much desire to try to get any of my work on television (at least not in the states) American television (especially animation) is so, watered down, yet dry and lacks originality. And I would like to be a part of the force that shakes that up in the future.

So, we have the tools to do this now. Technology has made it so that the power is returning to were it rightfully belongs…the people. It’s happening to all industries. Look at the music industry, the frame of the old has been shattered, and is falling away like flecks of rust in the wind. GOOD! Home studios , and the internet have unleashed a virtual stampede of talent and inventive ideas once shunned by the BIG industry. The same is happening to television. Everyone and anyone can be a director or a star (for better or for worse), but non the less THEY dictate what THEY want to watch. If it’s not out there, then they make it. Then others who have been looking for the same thing can unite, form a community, socialize, and maybe find friendships. THIS, is what I’m doing. I can’t find the things I like…so, I'm making ‘em. And I know I’m not alone. Even the video game industry is going in this direction. Novels, and comic books (digital print on demand anyone? 1 2 3) I’m not trying to make millions, no. I don’t care if only one person is interested in Nivadah. That one person purchasing and enjoying my effort is enough. I’ve experienced this first hand (it fills you with a measure of pride I can’t define) No, it won’t pay the bills but…really…I’m beyond trying to be Walt Disney. I will probably work somewhere, but that doesn’t mean I can’t produce my own stuff. We have the tools we have the abilities…LET’S STOP SITTIN’ AROUND WAITING FOR DISNEY TO COME A KNOCKIN’ (‘cause they won’t) DO IT YOURSELF DIY FOREVER! (that is the punk aesthetics and ethic I live by)

With that being said, why do I find it that even though people posses both this knowledge and these tools…they still try to put out there films in a BIG way? By BIG, I mean theatrical releases. The theater is the home now! Direct to DVD sales are up dramatically and yet small studios are still trying to get their work on the screens. The understanding that it takes more money than I have EVER owned at any one time, to distribute, and advertise a film nationally is enough to deter me. But man…I just received an email from the gang over at Ninjai: the little ninja,


and after doing more than 10 online episodes (to which the quality only got better) they have decided to go theatrical release. WHY!? It’s a waste of money and a waste of time. Your community of viewers are online, not inline! Sell them the direct DVD version of this epic movie you’re making. Allow them the opportunity to enjoy the characters they have come to enjoy over these years again and again. But, they seem steadfast in this decision. “sigh”

I will give you three examples of why not to do this (and I’ll try to be as un-bashing as possible)

The first road we need not travel: Delgo.

Yep, this little film was produced right here in Atlanta. Which I think is VERY awesome. They rejected Hollywood and it’s demand that all creativity hail from its soil (its tainted, tainted soil.) Now I commend them for this, but I rebuke Fathom studios for 1. Pulling “A-list” Hollywood names for the voice work, instead of good, solid character voice talent. And 2. releasing the film theatrically. This isn’t 1951 people! We don’t need to go out to the ol’ moving pictures show to enjoy your work. They had dreams of BIG big bucks, and what did they get? A box office gross of $511,920. I don’t even want to THINK about how much money has been pumped into this movie over the many years it’s been in production. Some people are saying “oh, it’s a demonstration of just how hard it is to create a memorable, credible-looking piece of animated entertainment.” WRONG! It’s not! It’s a demonstration of how delusions of grandeur can lead you to debt, self loathing, and falling short of accomplishment. (sorry guys, but you did it to yourselves)

The second road we need not travel: StarDucks by Florian Satzinger.


Now, I love this guy…but like so many others he is doing nothing but giving us teases…”sigh” This beautiful work of art was supposed to come out this year, yes, 2008! But here we are four days until 2009 and…hmm… nope no Starducks. All we have are a years worth of concept sketches and an online shop with “coming soon” hats. BAH!

The third and final road we need not travel: Yes, Mr. Williams; you are a shining example to all. I of course am speaking of the notorious Richard Williams. Now Richard is an excellent animator (a little too a-retentive for my taste), but damn good non the less. The thief and the cobbler started production in 1964, can I write that again? NINETEEN SIXTY-EPHING-FOUR!!



This film holds the record for having the longest production time for a motion picture in history. That is NOT something to be proud of. And why did this film take 31+ years to make it to us…because Mr. Williams wanted it to be a BIG theatrical event. In my opinion the movie is pretty-garbage. Tons of greatly executed animation, with a complete and total lack of story or direction. Now I’ll grant him the fact that in 1964 or hell 1974, or ‘84 for that matter, the option of direct to DVD release was…shall we say... non-existent. But that is not the problem…the problem is that so many people hold him up high on a pedestal for trying to take on the Mouse house on its own turf. And so, they try to do the same in contemporary times. But you can’t take them on, on their own turf…that’s why it’s THEIR TURF. Take them on, on planes that they have failed to explore (and there are many of them) Let Disney (and I mean no ill will to the company really) let them destroy themselves by refusing to evolve, we need to embrace the changes and re-create what is animation in our own image. Other wise we will be contributing to the continued homogenized and systematic destruction of a unique and amazing art form.

So take the road less traveled, that is the one YOU create. We have the tools, we have the ability…so, I know which road I'll be on; which road will you be traveling?

Steam On!

Character Designs 001

Hey, Hey all! Here are some of the chara designs for the protagonist Misha Amotah, her father and mother, and the great and knowledgeable Professor Vectin. I should probably mention at this point that Nivadamandi is a Steam Punk influenced series, and so much of the designs are very earthy, rusty, or slightly dystopian...if that's possible to project in designs. I think so. Well, enjoy... I'll be posting more soon....REAL soon. I've also added some pretty steamy links to steampunk destinations online. get it, steamy?... ah forgetit!
SteamPunk sites of interest:
steampunkmagazine
steampunkworkshop
etheremporium
enjoy!

Emmotah

Holy Hell in a hand basket! a new post already?! yep. These are maps of the planet from the mini-series...well, I like to think of it more as an OVA. whatever. One of the first things I do (other tan creating characters) is creating the world map. This is Emmotah created. From history, to the kinds of berries that grow on the bushes in the West most . This process has always worked for me. It makes it more real for me, which allows me to get deeper into the creation. I prefer artist (writers included) who come off as if they know everything about the universe they've created and every plateau. They're called Geeali berries for you wisenhiemers. I made these in Photoshop CS3 with a lil' vector tracing done in Illustrator CS3, with a couple of brushes I found rummaging around the interwebs. This time around I even went so far as to create a geothermic map. This planet is very warm.

foliage and rivers/lakes

foliage and terra

terra and river/lakes

terrageothermic