Shrek shots

By Jacob | July 13, 2010

So i don’t even know if anyone reads this anymore, but i DID promise i would describe some of my shots from Shrek Forever After.  Spoilers ahead.

My favorite shots, and the ones I’m most proud of:

(in chronological order)

Shrek is trying to sneak a kiss from warior fiona in her tent.  After She yells at him, he tries another approach, and there’s where my shots come in.  He tries for a handshake, and she reluctantly obliges.  He goes in for a hug and she allows it, but feels awkward.   “Aaaaand a quick kiss goodbye!” he leans in and she pulls back.

After Fiona kicks him out of the tent, Puss is wondering about what Shrek said to him.  My shots:
Fiona: “Where did we find that guy?”
Puss: Checking himself out in the mirror, “Could it be true, have i gone… soft?”
Fiona:  “Don’t be silly”  she whips out a comb and brush, “now who’s a pretty kitty?!”
Puss: pawing at the air and looking adorable, “…i am…”

Donkey has dinner with the ogres and they beg him to “do it again!”  My shots:  donkey saying, “alright, alright, just one more time…” and face-planting into the bowl of eyeball soup.  The ogres around him anxiously await.  Donkey pops up, squeezes hard, and pops eyeballs out of his nostrils.  Shrek gasps in disgust and the ogres roar with laughter.

Dragons big entrance in the dungeon of rumple’s palace!  The camera starts on rumple saying, “To put the past behind us once and for all, I give you, a princess’s worst nightmare!” the camera pans down into the dungeon, “Fiona’s old flame, the keeper of the keep! …  DRAGON!”  Dragon emerges from the smoke and roars into camera and breathes fire, which consumes the frame.

Well there you have it.  I did a lot more than that, but those are my favorite and the easiest to describe.  I have them all as a quicktime file, so if you want to see them just ask.

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Shrek Forever After is out

By Jacob | May 29, 2010

Everyone go see Shrek Forever After!

It was my first film as an official “shot” animator.  Meaning I actually got to animate with all the main characters (I don’t think there’s anyone I didn’t animate at least once – shrek/fiona/puss/donkey/dragon/rumpel/king/queen/brogan… although I didn’t get to do any of the fairy tale creatures like Pinocchio or Gingy).

My first film was Monsters Vs Aliens where I was a cycles and background animator.  But for shrek I was promoted to working on the main stuff.  Man, was it intimidating, but at the same time really really fun.  I learned a LOT.  seriously, a lot.  And I know I wouldn’t have been ready to handle it if it wasn’t for my time spent with cycles and background stuff on MvA.  But it prepared me well and I think I did a decent job as a shot animator.  I have a long way to go, but I feel like I’m improving every day.

I’m really proud of the film.    Go check it out.

In a few weeks I’ll post some descriptions of shots I animated.  (don’t want to give any spoilers away so I’ll give a larger window for you to go see it)

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Speaking of Animation!

By Jacob | December 10, 2009

Hey everyone, some friends and I have started a new animation website!  Having been inspired by Animation related podcasting ourselves, we sought out a chance to help give back to the same community that informs, inspires, and entertains us.

http://www.SpeakingOfAnimation.com

go check out the site and add it to your RSS feeder reader thing.  We will be posting fairly often (at least WAY more often than I do here).  Plus, most of my animation posts that WOULD have been posted here will probably instead be posted on the new Speaking of Animation site.

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Cloudy = fun

By Jacob | September 19, 2009

I went to go see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.  It was incredibly entertaining!  To be honest, I went into the theater not expecting too much.  It looked kinda cute, and I wasn’t a huge fan of the designs, but it turned out to be very enjoyable.  It had me cracking up a large number of times, and was pretty funny in general.

I especially enjoyed a lot of the Dad’s acting choices.  And the fact that he was just one furry brow, and his eyes came out at the right moments.
The animation style was a bit strange for me occasionally, but in general it worked. A lot of times they intentionally left it very staccato, which kinda felt like it never left the blocking stage.  Many of the characters did this, but the only time it bothered me was with the cop.  His acting I found quite bothersome. The rest of the time the animation style seemed to fit quite nicely.

The movie never takes itself really seriously, which is part of why its so fun.  But that also means the parts that are supposed to be heartfelt don’t really move you.  But so what? Obviously it didn’t matter that much to me that I wasn’t ‘touched’ by its emotional beats, because I am here telling you I loved it and I highly recommend it!!!

Go see it.

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Cat in a Suitcase

By Jacob | September 7, 2009

It’s been a while since the last post, eh?

Anyway, I came upon this months ago, and thought it’s about time I posted it.  I know it’s probably been around even longer than that, but maybe you haven’t seen it before.

It’s a cat in a suitcase. And it’s hilarious and endlessly amusing.


download (right click and save as)
~3.6mb, mp4

It’s basically one event repeated over and over and over.  But it’s still entertaining!  And it’s a good lesson when applied to animation.  How to you repeat an action several times but maintain the appeal, and keep the audience’s attention?  It’s something I struggled with constantly while doing cycles for background characters.  There was often a need for many variations on the same action.  (ex: Go from a sitting position to a standing position in 3 different ways)

So how do you keep the same action, repeated many times, entertaining?  I would have to say the main thing is to vary the timing.  Check out that cat… sometimes he waits just a bit longer than the previous time before popping out.  Sometimes his paw comes out a few frames later or a few frames sooner.  Sometimes his paw goes into a ‘hold’ at the end of the swing, and waits until the very last possible frame before coming back into the suitcase.  Sometimes he is back into the suitcase well before lid closes, but sometimes he cuts it really close.  The list goes on.  All these things keep you watching, and keep you entertained.

Another thing you can change is posing.  Obviously the cat never really lands in the exact same pose every time he pops out.  Sure that’s almost physically impossible in real life, but in animation it might be easier to fall into traps like that if you are starting with one variation and copying it as a starting place for the next.

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