Week - 11

Week – 11
I heard back from Spin FX in regards to the rough kicking animation I sent last week. I received positive feedback, but was asked to complete a cleaned up piece of animation that they could use for any potential production companies in the future. I suggested a run cycle as it would give an idea of the style of animation they were looking for by simply pressing play and letting it loop in the background of any future meetings. Shane, the producer, agreed with me and gave me the go ahead. I went with an exaggerated run cycle using “Oxi” to fit his element of air/wind. I am happy with the final result and so were the staff at Spin FX.
After completing the run cycle in October 2009 I had completed the hours required for the Internship program, I phoned Shane in regards to my Internship paperwork, asking to email them to my course convenor/ myself as soon as possible, however I did not receive anything, I called and emailed repeatedly and it wasn’t until March 2010 that I finally received my paperwork. I was a little bit frustrated that it took so long, thinking that they may have not been happy with my work for them, however in the Supervisors Report they had given me a generous grading. I enjoyed aspects of my time with Spin FX, and I wish them all the best with their series. I did learn a fair bit in regards to managing time and resources and what it takes to set up a small studio. I gained a better understanding of my own capabilities also, and have come away knowing what I can accomplish within set deadlines while improving my skills in Flash and After Effects.

Week – 10

I haven’t heard from Spin FX for about a fortnight, so as I waited for a reply I attempted a quick animation of “Oxi”. Using a technique I learnt from Adam Phillip’s “BCA: Flash Animation” I animated “Oxi” by painting very rough, flat colours for each drawing rather than a sketchy line. Adam Phillips uses this technique a fair bit in his “Backenwood” Flash series, especially during moments that require quick animation. This was quite different to how I usually animate, proving to be quite challenging at first, but eventually it made animating a few kicks and punches very simple, while forcing me to make the most of silhouettes in the actions so as not to simply have a spinning blur of random colour. I emailed off the test and am waiting reply, it is quite rough but at this stage it will be easier to make any changes to the overall movement rather than cleaning up my drawings only to have the animation rejected or changed significantly.

Week - 9

I have completed a painting of “Oxi” fighting one of the villains of the series, a “Snook”, I am quite happy with this so I sent it off to Shane; I haven’t heard what he thinks yet. I also started work on a pose for “Terra” and “Aqua” however these are still only flat colours at this stage.

Week - 8

I caught up with Shane this week at his house, he asked me to bring everything I had been working on, since the work I had been receiving was only small changes recently, I also did a very quick little animation test for “Oxi”, Shane said he loved seeing the character come to life even though it was still very sketchy. At the meeting he went over the script for the pilot which had been completed recently as well as a schedule for the next couple of months. Shane had managed to get an interview with ABC in the next fortnight to discuss the possibilities of a series which was very exciting. I went over a production bible Shane had been working on and some more feedback on the latest character designs. Shane asked if I could go off and start some work on some location concepts, as well as a few paintings of the characters in these environments interacting with each other. I was also asked to send him some cleaned up copies of the characters and a few interesting poses for the production bible.

Week - 7

Having not heard anything for a few days I called Shane to see what was going on. He said he liked the action poses; however he asked if the “Terra” design could be adjusted again, this time so that the top of his crystal head was cut off to look more like a diamond. He asked if we could catch up for a meeting later in the week, this was unfortunately cancelled. I drew up the new “Terra” designs and emailed them off to Shane, he said he liked the new concept. However I was again asked to try yet some more eye shapes for the “Oxi” character.

Week - 6

I still haven’t heard back on the “Oxi” concepts, or the script development, and I am a bit concerned to how much I have to chase up. In my opinion we should be onto the storyboarding stage by now, or at least working on some concepts for the recurring locations through the series. I also haven’t heard back in regards to the new “Terra” design so I have decided to go ahead with the action poses for his character also, even if they are just quick and simple. The meeting that was postponed until this week a fortnight ago was also cancelled.

Week - 5

I have still not heard anything on the script development. I have however completed a number of quick action sketches for “Aqua” that I am rather pleased with. I completed the changes requested for “Terra” also, but had this soon returned asking if a bandana could be added to his design. I had also completed a model sheet and a couple of action poses for “Oxi” when I was asked if his eyes could change. Shane emailed me a few ideas he had and asked me to draw up the new designs for that week. I had this done in a day and emailed them back asking which he wanted to go with for the final concept. I haven’t heard back as of yet.