Fly Machine Picture Co. Blog

Come one, come all and witness the magic behind the silver screen!

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Domestic Designs

From solar panels to ceiling fans, our team’s created a whole IKEA catalogue’s worth of household objects.  Today we’re showing off a selection of these lovingly illustrated domestic goods.

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Throwback Thursday: Designs Down Memory Lane 

Today we’re sharing a handful of designs from one of Fly Machine’s very first animations. If you’re wondering what single subject could possibly bring together neanderthals, burglars and aliens, the answer is ‘household electronics’ of course!

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A Summer Snack of Sumptuous Sketches  

By mere coincidence and not in any way indicative of a company-wide obsession, many of our animations involve food!  Take a look at some of the comestibles our team has created in the past, ranging from rough sketches to finished designs.

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Sketches!  

Here’s a few pages of sketches from the team.  You can see different concepts being played with before the final designs are selected and refined.

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A Wolf in Men’s Clothing

Here’s a ‘brief’ look at a few designs our team put together for a menswear company.

I promise that’s the only pun I’ll make this year.  Or at least this post.

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The Science of Us: GIF Parade! 

Check out this lineup of highly scientific GIFs from our series of animations produced for New York Magazine. You can can find the whole videos in their natural habitat here.

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Kitty Communication: Animagic!

Check out this video showing off two different stages of our Kitty Communication animation produced for New York Magazine.  We’ve already shared the rough designs and the final animation, but what comes in between? An animatic!  This video lets you compare the rough drawings and animation with the painted, polished and perfected product.

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Cat Communication: Behind the Scenes

Hi Everyone!

For those of you that enjoyed the Cat Communication video we produced for New York Magazine, here’s some of the design work and rough illustrations that went into its creation.

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Hi Everyone!

Check out the fourth episode in our series of animations produced for New York Magazine.  It’s all about the internet’s favorite furry little beast, and if you’ve ever wondered what your cat is thinking, then you might want to take a look!

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Ringing in the Holidays

Here at Fly Machine, we're gearing up for the holiday season!  I know, I know, it's not even Thanksgiving but animation takes time, you guys!

Time doing stuff like this!  Below you can take a look at a design from an upcoming project going through the drafting process.

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The Making of Ernest & Celestine

Hello everyone!

Today, I wanted to pass along a link to a fantastic and adorable 'Making Of' blog that covers the production of Ernest & Celestine, a French-Belgian film based on the series of children's books.

It's got great information and wonderful personality. Click the link below to check it out.

The Making of Ernest & Celestine

If you have any questions, the blog even comes with a handy explainer-pig!

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Happy Wednesday!

After determining generally what colors are in each sequence, a really fun part of the process is flinging stylistic paint at the wall and seeing what sticks! Many compositions in these style boards are taken directly from our storyboards. Jess and I really have to stretch our design and rendering muscles to come up with as many tests as possible while still being efficient and true to the intent and mood of the story.

Fun stuff!

-Kathryn

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Happy new year everyone! 

I am ecstatic to announce that we at Fly Machine Picture Co. are developing our first narrative short film! 

This is an exciting first step for us towards branching out into narrative films. 

I can’t tell you too much (with out giving away the juicy story) but here are some beautiful color boards created by our own talented Kathryn Nicolas! We develop boards like these to explore the color throughout the film and to better understand the overall tone and rhythm.  

Looking forward to sharing more soon!

-David

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Reblog Friday: Exercises for Tendonitis and Carpal tunnel

http://www.framedrums.net a couple of exercises to prevent injuries such as tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome

Happy Friday, everybody!  This week's installment of Reblog Friday is a particularly helpful one for both artists and non-artists alike.  For the 4 1/2 minute video, David Kuckhermann showcases simple wrist and hand stretches as a preventative measure against injuries such as carpal tunnel and tendonitis.  After testing out the stretches myself, I can already feel an improvement in my hands and am definitely including this in my morning routine for the future.  No matter what your activity - drawing, playing music, typing all day, playing video games, etc. - you'll find these exercises easy, beneficial, and well worth your time.

Enjoy!  And again, happy Friday!

- Jess

[leseanthomas-deactivated2021030]

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Reblog Friday: Steven Universe

leseanthomas:

Exclusive, new look at STEVEN UNIVERSE, as explained by show creator REBECCA SUGAR

Hey All!

For Reblog Friday here's a great look into a new and orginal show coming out this November, Steven Universe! It's great to see a female creator getting a show off the ground and I'm really digging the diverse body types, characters, and the warm feel of the show.  The potential of the future of animation can be so exciting!!

-Kat

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Underway Monday: Files & Folders

Check in every Monday for a sneak peek at a currently in development animation! This week we’re sharing a few preliminary designs for some pretty unique computer files from our next project.

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Reblog Friday: Duckumentary

  For today's Reblog Friday I wanted to share this featurette on the art and design of Capcom's remastered DuckTales game. In the video, the developers discuss at length the importance of character animation. You can see how all that thought and attention contributes to such a fun and friendly aesthetic in the final product.  

-Max