Chris Sayer - Blog

Welcome to the official Blog of Chris Sayer Director / Animator.

[chrissayer]

Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents (Trailer)

The first episode is on BBC2 Monday 23rd October at 9pm.

I helped Peepshow create over 40 animated graphic sequences for the three-part series that uncovers the network of spymasters and secret agents that helped protect Queen Elizabeth I from assassination, terror and treason for over 40 years. Shown on BBC2 in the UK and PBS in the USA.

Client: 72 Films Director: Peepshow Animation Director: Pete Mellor Art Direction & Illustration: Miles Donovan, Luke Best & Jenny Bowers Producers: Miles Donovan & Pete Mellor Animation: Pete Mellor & Chris Sayer

[chrissayer]

Map of Hell

I worked with Peepshow Collective to help create over 30 animated graphic sequences for 'Map Of Hell'. The show is presented by Danny Trejo and explores 3000 years of cultural perceptions of hell. It premiers this Sunday 15th May 2016, at 9/8c on the National Geographic Channel.

[chrissayer]

SONG OF THE SEA 
A film by Tomm Moore Produced by Cartoon Saloon

This is a new favourite film for me. It is beautifully animated and the production art is incredible. Based on the Irish legend of the Selkies, Song of the Sea tells the story of the last seal-child, Saoirse, and her brother Ben, who go on an epic journey to save the world of magic and discover the secrets of their past.

I’ve already watched it 3-4 times with my children, who love it. I’m sure that it is destined to become a classic.

[chrissayer]

OK Go - Upside Down & Inside Out

Excellent new video by OK Go for the track “Upside Down & Inside Out” from the Hungry Ghost album. I’m a big fan of their cleaver one take innovative music videos. But his time they’ve gone bigger and crazier than ever. Its shot entirely in zero gravity, and is totally mind-blowing. And in true OK Go form, they didn't rely on wires or green screens to make it. Amazing!

Read more about the video here and how they made it here. 

[chrissayer]

Vibrant Landscapes by Grant Haffner.

I randomly stumbled upon Grants work recently whilst looking for something completely unrelated. I’m particularly fond of this painting. I love the combination of vibrant colour and the minimal detail. Check out more here.

[chrissayer]

Imaginary Forces and Peepshow Collective take home 2015 Emmys

Imaginary Forces snagged an Emmy for Outstanding Title Design with their work on the TV series, Manhattan. This is the studio’s third Emmy for title design; their first was for Masterpiece Th…

“How We Got To Now” featured on Motionographer. Yay!

[chrissayer]

Emmy Winners

Peepshow win Outstanding Motion Design at The 67th Emmy Awards for ‘How We Got To Now With Steven Johnson’.

l-r: Miles Donovan, Luke Best, Pete Mellor, Chris Sayer (Me)

[chrissayer]

Coming soon to chrissayer.net

Projects include:

'The Who Hits 50′ Tour visuals (Shiny Eye Studio)

‘How we got to now’ Animation Montage (Peepshow Collective)

‘I-Lady wonderland’ Art Direction (Oceanwarmair)

‘Freefly VR’ Launch film (Picnic Studios)

‘Bear Alphabites’ Commercial (Picnic Studios)

‘Saving Joule’ Short Film (Peepshow Collective)

[chrissayer]

Really useful Ae expressions

Layer Space Transforms

http://www.motionscript.com/mastering-expressions/lst-lens-flare.html

Convert 3D layer space into 2D X/Y coordinates:

thisComp.layer("Light 1").toComp([0,0,0]);

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Jumpy Wiggles / Bounce

http://mograph.net/board/index.php?showtopic=13954&p=123038

Jumpy Wiggle 1 makes wiggle skip and hold rather than move fluidly:

// Jumpy Wiggle 1 (moves at a random FPS) v=wiggle(5,50); if(v < 50)v=0; if(v > 50)v=100; v

—

Jumpy Wiggle 2 is similar to 1, but works at a defined FPS so your "jump" will happen at a regular pace:

// Jumpy Wiggle 2 (moves at a defined FPS) fps=5; //frequency amount=50;  //amplitude wiggle(fps,amount,octaves = 1, amp_mult = 0.5,(Math.round(time*fps))/fps);

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Inertial Bounce is like making your moves "rubbery." Layers will overextend, then settle into place on position and rotation keyframes:

// Inertial Bounce (moves settle into place after bouncing around a little) n = 0; if (numKeys > 0){ n = nearestKey(time).index; if (key(n).time > time){ n--; } } if (n == 0){ t = 0; }else{ t = time - key(n).time; }

if (n > 0){ v = velocityAtTime(key(n).time - thisComp.frameDuration/10); amp = .05; freq = 4.0; decay = 2.0; value + v*amp*Math.sin(freq*t*2*Math.PI)/Math.exp(decay*t); }else{ value; }

[chrissayer]

Saving Joule

‘Saving Joule’ is a 12 minute short film I was involved in making at Peepshow Collective over the winter months.

It’s about a little robot called Joule and his quest to power his ship and rejoin his lost fleet. Helped by a friendly alien called Etta, Joule discovers a whole new world of energy possibilities.

If you want to see it on the big screen then hop on a plane to Riyadh, Saudi Arabi, as it is exclusively showing at Mishkat Center for Atomic and Renewable Energy from Spring 2015. It was commissioned by The Edge Picture Company & KCA.

Watch the Trailers:

Saving Joule Trailer 1

Saving Joule Trailer 2

[chrissayer]

How We Got To Now: Update

Finally the 5 part TV show 'How We Got To Now' with Steven Johnson will be broadcast on BBC2 this Saturday at 19:35.

So set your digital recorders and series link the show, cos most of you will be watching The Voice on BBC1 or most likely Police Acadamy 3 on itv4. Hmmm or maybe not!

'How We Got To Now' is a science documentary series exploring the evolution of great ideas and innovations that have shaped the way we lived today, but also the unintended consequences of those ideas.

Here's a review of the work that we created: http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2014/october/how-we-got-to-now

The Animated segments have an unusual naive style for a show like this, but it actually works really well and complements the documentary footage. The naive look was chosen because most ideas start off as scribbles in notebooks or on the backs of beer mats. Hope you enjoy watching it.

p.s. don't forget to tell your mates ;-)

[chrissayer]

How We Got To Now

I had the great pleasure of working with London creative collective Peepshow on the new PBS documentary series How We Got To Now with Steven Johnson

See the trailer for the show on YouTube.

I helped to create opening titles and over 70 animated sequences for the new show exploring the evolution of great ideas and innovations that have shaped the way we lived today.

The first episode will be broadcast on PBS on Wednesday, 22 October at 9pm and the show will be distributed worldwide by BBC.

Check out more about the show and what we did at Creative Review.

[chrissayer]

The Jump

A beautifully animated creepy short film by Charles Huettner. One of my personal favourites from a collection of Ghost Stories created by the very talented Late Night Work Club collective.

[chrissayer]

Deanna Halsall

At the beginning of the year Levis Vintage Clothing commissioned Deanna Halsall to create 3 illustrations for their 2013 look book. Inspired by early Levis advertising they needed a series of images to help illustrate the various ways to "get the right fit". Following the success of the illustrations, I had the pleasure of working with Deanna and Levis on the animated version's which you can see on my website.

Check out Deanna's beautiful illustration work on her portfolio website here.

[chrissayer]

CINEWARE by maxon

This tool is going to revolutionise the 3D to composite workflow. I can't wait to get my hands on it ;-)

With MAXON CINEWARE in the new After Effects your compositing workflow will be catapulted into a new dimension. Import native CINEMA 4D scenes as assets in After Effects and utilize CINEMA 4D’s powerful multi-pass workflow as layers to achieve your vision. Update the CINEMA 4D scene at any time and you’ll instantly see the results inside After Effects. There’s no need to wait for long renders or manage intermediate files because the CINEMA 4D render engine is built right in After Effects. Your 3D workflow has never been easier.

[chrissayer]

Fuzzy felt heroes

Great fuzzy felt illustrations from Jacopo Rosati. I used to love making pictures with it too when I was a little. Happy days ;-)

[chrissayer]

Disney Short - Paperman

Introducing a groundbreaking technique that seamlessly merges computer-generated and hand-drawn animation techniques, first-time director John Kahrs takes the art of animation in a bold new direction with the Oscar®-nominated short, "Paperman." Using a minimalist black-and-white style, the short follows the story of a lonely young man in mid-century New York City, whose destiny takes an unexpected turn after a chance meeting with a beautiful woman on his morning commute. Convinced the girl of his dreams is gone forever, he gets a second chance when he spots her in a skyscraper window across the avenue from his office. With only his heart, imagination and a stack of papers to get her attention, his efforts are no match for what the fates have in store for him. Created by a small, innovative team working at Walt Disney Animation Studios, "Paperman" pushes the animation medium in an exciting new direction.

Update: Chris Oatley goes into more detail about the process behind the film here: chrisoatley.com