[cowonkey]

Thank you so much! Looking forward to see your works in future events/film festivals then. :)

[cowonkey]

Look out for the official release of our stopmotion short, "The Ditch" soon! (Probably after we've headed back to Manila and managed to absorb everything that's happened tonight)

[cowonkey]

At ANIMAHENASYON 2013, the Philippine Animation Festival, we were so overwhelmed to win in the (6-20 minute) Student Division and to also get recognition for Technical Excellence.

(and of course we needed to capture the moment with an on-stage selfie with the event organizer giving us the awards)

[cowonkey]

"THE DITCH" by: Cowonkey Productions

ANIMAHENASYON 2013 “Best Animation for 6-20 mins (Student Division) Award” & Award for Technical Excellence” goes to Cowonkey Productions!

[cowonkey]

Awarding ceremony tonight! Wish us luck :D

[cowonkey]

Hey, saw your entry tonight! So awesome! Will definitely vote for you guys. :D

Whoaa! Thanks a lot! What about you? Were any of the entries yours? Some of us will be coming tomorrow to watch the replays :D

[cowonkey]

On-stage selfie during our thesis short’s gala night

[cowonkey]

WE ARE A FINALIST IN ANIMAHENASYON

[cowonkey]

cowonkey gettin our cereal on just like the good ol days

[cowonkey]

thesismates moving out and omg the nostalia

[cowonkey]

started clearing out our studio and shelf today and we're being struck by all the nostalgic feels

[cowonkey]

we paaaaasssssssed

[wolfdogonthemoon]

props? check. costume? check. energy drink? check. TIME TO BATHE AND GET REAADY

[cowonkey]

Internal defense tomorrow and hoping all goes well. :D

[cowonkey]

progression vid of panning shot of bubba

Just like any other production, minor or major, we started with storyboards. Then with our shot in mind, we got our puppet ready and shot it with the green screen. Since a pan would be smoother in AfterEffects than if we shot it manually, we shot the model without any camera movement and just kept it minor, with twitching fingers.

From there, we took it to AfterEffects where the bulk of the editing work happened. We took out the green so that the model would be against a transparent background, we masked out everything we didn't need (in most of our shots, that involved masking out the rig and the clay under their feet when they walked or ran). After that, we put it against a trial background to see how the pan would work with a background. 

Next came the more final background plus the lens flare and the face animations. Once the movement was settled and the faces were in sync with the body, it was time for comping work. It was mostly some brightness/contrast adjustments and then the addition of the fog and then final tweaks to the lens flare.

And then it's done.

[cowonkey]

progression vid of running away from house scene

Our earlier storyboards were more basic, with Bubba just flatly running out across the screen. For the animatics, we revised it and made the shot more dynamic, with Bubba running towards the camera and then a pan away from the house.

With the shot settled, we started the shoot with our puppet. All our shots were done against a green screen that we edited out and cleaned up with AfterEffects. We also masked out the rig that helped Bubba stand and the green clay that helped him run.

From there, with Bubba black and white and backgroundless, it was ready for the initial pass with a still-rough background and minor keyframes for the movement. In the next pass, the background received more edits and shadows, the camera movement was added and the keyframing was more refined, really placing the points where Bubba would pass.

In the final pass, the background received its last few tweaks, Bubba's face animations (which were done in Adobe Flash) were added into the composition, and more camera movements were added for a jittery feel to the scene.

[cowonkey]

Scary Tree with Face.