November 8th.

gamma ray and atom colliding (animation in progress)

This is early in the animation timeline, after the intro credits, a gamma ray makes contact with an atom:

"Turing Test" short film by Jaylinn Davidson / atoms to the universe

Been up trying to choreograph movement of my awkward, wonky 2d photoshop constructed little oxygen atom (the 2 inner electron orbit rings are hard to see, but yeah..that's what it's supposed to be if you're scientifically minded and pick apart such things). It will be at the beginning of the animation where a gamma ray passes through it and produces a loose electron and positron, which attract and destroy each other in a tiny bit of energy. After I finish that, I can echo some of the visuals in a bigger scale, when I skip to a scene in progress in the end where a universe and antimatter universe come together in a male and female form.

So anyway this is a mini motion test (sans background) for the atom:

Jaylinn Davidson, keyboardist for The Boxing Lesson (I animated two videos for the band several years ago) and Casual Strangers and also a dear, lovely, talented friend of mine has expanded her artistic reach into writing/directing/editing her first solo music video (for C.S.). Featuring Sara Eleta Reid as the robot:

Turing Test

An interview regarding her creative process is found here in The Austin Chronicle . One thing that I particularly connected with was that she discovered a driving concept of the story while deep in the process of editing it. I've tried to plan more work in advance (storyboarding, although mine can look like indeciperable chicken scratch to any other eyes than my own)  when making animations, but I've also found that sometimes the unplanned freeform random moments can lead to discoveries that can dominate and alter the course  of the project for the better.

I'm really proud of you Jaylinn! Hope we can collaborate and explore the universe further together in whatever creative form it can take.

Animation clip-pullout from planet to universe

Finished a clip (I might polish it a bit or maybe let the inadvertent shakiness stay as it might fit with the overall look of the video) using a new technique (for me that is) where I edit movement of objects in Photoshop's video timeline. My usual process is using Photoshop's animation timeline where I'm working from frame to frame, which is the more traditional approach to 2D animation.. Using the video editor allows for smoother movement in space and scale, and is ideal for the beginning and end of my video project. The beginning of my video has electrons and its antimatter positrons coming together in brief bursts of energy, and the ending will include pulling away from a watery planet, to a solar system, to a galaxy, to an entire universe.

Since I've started working on animation in 2010, I've always dragged my feet in learning new techniques and software, and have rationalized that it's more of what an artist creates with what they have than the materials used. Only when I'm desperate to create a movement or transition that would be overwhelmingly complex if I don't find an efficient alternative approach do I suddenly find the ability to focus on navigating through a new gobblygook looking foreign workspace.

Here's the clip of the pullout pov from a watery earth like planet to a universe:

The Space Cave

This was fun:

I got to kick off the latest episode of comedian David Huntsberger's The Space Cave podcast with a casual phone chat. We briefly talk about "dayjob" challenges* when one's vocation isn't always one's main source of income.

If you've followed this blog, you'll know that I've collaborated with David on several projects such as his One Headed Beast animated comedy special filmed in Austin, TX (full length animation dvd purchase option here and streaming stage show download here ). David recently provided some valuable technical assistance on a current project of my own, for which I'm quite appreciative.  Also do check out the Sixteen Second Story animated storytelling collaborative experiments built on his monthly Junk Show variety show hosted at the Copper Still in Los Angeles (embedded down on the left column of this blog).  I hope to be able to visit and participate live at one of them someday in the future.

David is a smart but grounded multi-creative (comedy, animation & other visual art) who hosts some heady conversations with scientists, comedians, and artists in various fields on the podcast. I'm honored to have been able to participate with this introduction (and also relieved my more awkward stutters and meandering were mostly edited out!)

Episode 46 Singularity University Episode Part 2 with Aaron Frank (btw, go back and check out part one with Aaron- a fascinating conversation that offers a possible answer to the Fermi Paradox  )

*On the podcast I had mentioned a book that takes an undercover look at service industry work, manual and domestic labor in the United States, along with the ability or inability to support oneself on the wages earned.  I  pretty much garbled the author's name. It's  Barbara Ehrenreich's  "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America"

Animation stills/digression on detailed vs.general facial depiction

I don't think this will be done by the end of the month as I tentatively wrote as a hopeful goal two posts ago. I am encouraged that I'm making steady progress, even if it's slow. The idea was to create a piece not constrained by deadlines, and to make sure each clip is at the best of my ability, (no matter how limited my technical knowledge is). I think of this as a sort of unofficial animation senior thesis where a student would just work a small, several minute long piece for a significant stretch of time throughout the school year.

I've been rotoscoping (drawing on top of frames) videos of my own face and body for the guide to create the two main  figures' movement (and a little help from Muybridge action photos in one clip), with different features and body than my own ( The male in this actually resembles me much more than the female, whose face is very altered. )Some was less rotoscoping, and more just redrawing/altering the new figures to match the expression I made. It gets a little tedious, as a detailed face with limited movement can look vapid. I've also had to correct too much movement that can end up looking like a tic. Next time I take on the project, I'm going to simplify the facial features and make something more general. Not merely as a time saver, but to depict a more universal symbol of a type of figure that the reader would naturally perceive.  Scott McCloud in Understanding Comics - The Invisible Art (a smart and trippy read for all visual artists, and those who appreciate them)  touches on the range of specific likenesses to a universal generality. (A comprehensive review of the book can be found here: AnnaP's Blog )

some of Scott McCloud's examples:

For the final scene in the animation, I'm happy to say I don't have to rely on myself for the action and subsequent manipulation again. A friend agreed to digitally shoot himself and his girlfriend in an interactive scene, and with the help of a green screen too. I'll be using the silhouette of their forms, and creating an animated universe inside the figures. I won't have to manipulate the features or their shapes.

So here's some more stills:

I have a mini clip pinned to the top of my Twitter for the time being (as of 6/18/16) that I'll keep up for a few more weeks. I give more frequent updates on my work there, along with chiming in on general topics (current events, music, podcasts, comedy, etc).

Sixteen Second Story Year 2

Here's the concluding video to comedian (formerly of the Professor Blastoff podcast, now leading his own stellar podcast Space Cave) David Huntsberger's year long 16 Second Story project.  It's a fun, silly, experimental animation and storytelling project expanded in sixteen second increments at David's monthly "Junk Show" variety shows, hosted at the Copper Still in Los Angeles. A person attending the show is selected to make a very short, timed introduction to a random story, which is recorded. David passes the audio to an animator, who interprets it. The audio and video are played together at the next monthly Junk Show, and another person is selected to continue the story, and the cumulative audio and video is passed on to the next animator, and so on..for twelve consecutive months, and music is added in the final presentation (Last year's project, with music by Rob Crow-- is here and my animated contribution is 2:50-3:06) My portion in the embedded video below is from 2:05-2:21. Music by Ryan McWilliams.

Animators, seasoned or even very amateur, if you'd like to play a part in this year's upcoming Sixteen Second Story cycle, get in touch with David through twitter or his website.  As you see, there's a lot of variety in the work in terms of style and technical approaches. If you think you'd like a chance to experiment with it, go for it! The two most important aspects of participating are 1) you could finish 16 seconds of work in a month's time (easy enough) and can be counted on to carry the ball for that month to the due date and 2) Have fun!

Link to video here for smartphones

Animation updates

(Steps out to the quiet inky dark field just past the witching hour, to the sound of crickets....)

Hello.

I've been working on what has turned out to be an unexpectedly long term project for a very short length video. It will clock under two minutes, but is the most elaborate animation I've worked on so far. There's lots of layers of movement in this. Sometimes it took a week for only five seconds in some clips. It will be paired with a song by a favorite musician I've followed for years.

As I had the pleasure of hearing this particular song played live, an idea began to take root, which branched off into more ideas, and I thought damn, now I have to do this. It hasn't been a practical direction to take with my visual art (not that "practical" is or should be linked with art, yet it asserts it's charmless presence too often when I'm trying to enter a creative mindset)  , but it is one that kept me excited and motivated, even if it takes embarrassingly long to do at my skill level. I enjoy the short storytelling visual format that animation allows me.

Part of the story is about the joy and danger of futile pursuits. Another is the attractive pull and destructive force of opposite worlds colliding, and the new creative elements that comes from all that. It starts on a quantum level and pulls out to whole universes, with two fantasy stories of elements from those different universes influencing each other, and making inadvertent and destructive contact.

I've wanted to make a work that isn't bound by deadlines, but to the best of my (admittedly limited) technical abilities with animation at the moment. There's so much to learn, it's overwhelming.

I'm hoping to have it wrapped up by this month. That's the goal, anyway.

Here's a few soundless preview clips:

                                          

                                          

and a few earthlike planets: 

and some stills.......

Update on the David Huntsberger project I contributed to: The DVD has been out and available for purchase, and it is also viewable on Vimeo. I recommend ordering the DVD as you have the viewing option of seeing all the animators work uncut for each standup piece David performed. That said, I also recommend seeing the stage/costume design, the standup and animator work cut and combined for the full collaborative presentation. http://www.davidhuntsberger.com/2015/10/one-headed-beast-available-for-pre-order/