#doodle2008

[animatedaf]

WARNING: WALL OF TEXT. You will most likely want to avoid reading this.

I was tinkering a bit more with the blog layout last night when I found myself skimming through every post I've ever made here, as well as even older DeviantArt journals. I'm sure most people who read here know that I rarely ever talk about my personal life and the reason I do that is simply because there isn't much to say. I also don't really like to bore people with it, so I just end up writing about animation or, as it has been for quite a while, simply not posting at all. I have a sudden urge to write this though, as maybe if I do type it out rather than shoving in away in my head I may be more motivated than I have been in recent memory. Also, thinking to the near future I don't even know where I'm going to be in a year, let alone any time after that. This post is mainly for me to read back to myself in a years time to see if I can improve myself. If I fail these targets, I can officially consider myself a useless twat! XD

1: COMPLETE LUCY LOLLY

For the last year or so my animation has been lacking slightly. I completely ballsed up Rock Paper Scissors, sat on The Howdooyoodoo for months and even now it's not 100% how I would of liked it. Lucy Lolly is my final major project for Uni, so it HAS to be in a complete form by 30th May. With those previous animations they were nowhere near complete when due in for marking, mainly because I didn't time manage myself too well at all.

For Lucy Lolly, I even have a backup plan, just in case I do struggle to animate the whole film in time. I'll animate the beginning, end, and then the middle. If the film takes much longer than I excepted (I'll have roughly three months to work on it) I have a last resort shorter version of the film which cuts out the middle of the film and the Lollipop troop characters entirely. It wouldn't have the same impact, but at least it will be complete in some form. I really don't want to resort to this, though.

2: REMASTER OLD FILMS This one is probably the most optional but it would benefit me for the third step. I want to go back and improve on my previous films. The Fuji's, for example, has very low quality voice acting sound, so with better equipment I could re-voice the film and remake the soundtrack so it's a bit more professional. I have actually had a go at starting this but I've been put off a little by how much deeper my voice has become since when I originally recorded it in 2005. Another main thing about re-mastering is I want to remove all copyrighted material (like the Aphex Twin music in Traffk) and replace it with original material. This means there will be no problems with potential screenings etc. Also, I want to go back and add what I never had time for on The Howdooyoodoo: add in crowds and traffic in the background. Which leads me to..

3: SELL MYSELF! Once Lucy Lolly is finished I will have a bit of time to plan and prepare for the New Designers Exhibition, a two week event where a whole slew of the animation industry will be going to hunt for new talent. This is where I really need to sell myself as best as I can. That means getting my website up to scratch (maybe even remaking it), improving my portfolio, producing a professional showreel and DVD to go with it, and shoving my foot in as many industry doors as I can. I need to push myself out there as after this event my life is all up to wherever I can get a good job in the industry I love so much. This is my dream and this year I have to be ready to make it happen. Passing this task should also help with my forth..

4: STOP BEING A UNSOCIABLE HERMIT! I've always thought to myself that if I build up the talent I need for a decent and most importantly enjoyable job, the social life I lack will follow, as this so far is the most difficult task for me, as I've generally gotten used to be a loner who never goes out much. The last year I have been even more unsociable than usual though, to the point where I even don't tend to be on MSN much anymore, so even Internet mates don't hear much of me. I've dug myself a hole and now and I need to climb out of it. Being depressed about not having any friends or knowing what true love is at 21 isn't how I want to feel by the end of the year. Hell, I don't even really have any local mates to play all these games I have piled up! A social life hasn't been easy for me since high school but I want all this to change soon, I just need to be a hermit for just a few more months for steps 1 and 2. =P That's more or less it. If I can somehow pull these off, I'll have some time to write about here!

[animatedaf]

Uni is over! Hooray! Gave in my last piece of work yesterday and just have to wait a while for the results, and graduation isn't until October! Yikes! I did find out my results for my dissertation which turned out to be a 2.1 (In case you don't know how our system works it goes 1st > 2.1 > 2.2 > 3rd) which was a relief. Lucy Lolly screened with a few other films from our final year group at Uni this Friday, which went down a treat. Now I have to go about selling my soul to someone who will pay me money to do what I do!

[animatedaf]

Brain storming since 2006, planning since last August, and animating pretty much non-stop since March, Lucy Lolly is in the can. Phew. It's my longest running, most complex film to date, although I guess that's not saying much when I haven't made one over 2 and a half minutes until now. It runs at 4 minutes 35 seconds of mostly non-recycled flash animation combined with a bunch of backgrounds and textures.

Just so you know, I probably won't be uploading the film straight to the Internet like I normally do. I'm considering the idea of putting together a DVD to sell for between £5-8. So it doesn't feel like a complete rip off I'll throw in a couple of my previous films too, although I can only use ones that have nothing copyrighted in them, so most likely RabRab, The Howdooyoodoo and a remastered version of The Fujis I plan to make. There will also be extras like Pencil tests, the animatic and concept art. I'd be selling them here via Paypal, most likely. I'll be making a trailer that'll I'll post up online in the next week or so as a taster of what to expect,

[animatedaf]

Finally sorted out that bloody dissertation for Uni last Wednesday. I hate writing essays, even if they are on a subject I like. Got it done at the last minute and just gotta hope that it's good enough and doesn't bring down my final grade much. Now I can finally start to work on producing my final year film Lucy Lolly. Need to kick myself into gear now, I have three months to make the five minute film. I'll keep you lot posted on it's production here as I dount I'll be doing much else worth noting.

[animatedaf]

A sketch I did back when the first screen shots of Mario & Sonic were released, that I didn't get around to uploading.

[animatedaf]

The pre-production for Lucy Lolly should be coming to a close within the next month, with plans to start animating as late as the beginning of March. Here are some panels from the storyboard as a sneak peek..

[animatedaf]

Currently rummaging through my previous sketchbook which has a bunch of in-complete pictures amongst it from last year, including this which I just quickly inked and coloured.

I rented the Cooking Mama game on the Wii once and when you completed a level I'm convinced this was what she was saying.

Also: DOOR NOT DYING.

[animatedaf]

Been doodling a few things recently, using a ‘Draw 100 things’ thing on Deviantart to help motivate me a bit. These three are for the themes ‘Zombies’, ‘Keyboard’ and ‘Underwear’.