More sketchery - of members of faculty, and 'other'. Not as emotional as the last group, so not so good to grow my former position as a Story Supervisor...

Sketchbook Project, Pt. 2

More sketch-foolery.

Sketchbook Project, Pt. 1

I've happily been particpating in the Sketchbook Project, and it's provided me with down time where I can sketch freely and explore ideas that don't fit anywhere else.

Story Consulting

I apologize for the long lack-of-blog-posting.
I consulted for Performance Services in 2008 to create a narrative piece explaining the history of the Design-Build tradition (it's where a single designer - shoot, just watch it!). The old-time feel is intentional, and there were some really talented folk who worked on this: Me on story, Leigh Marino scriptwriter, Vince Gorman and Joseph Cross on animation. They polished this sucker off with very little time and resources.
Leigh still works at Mediasauce, Vince moved to Santa Monica, and animated on the recently released Kung Fu Panda Online Game and Ken Duncan Studios, Joseph Cross went on to work for the Basement Design and Motion. And me, I'm still in the same place I was 2 years ago.

Good Times with the Mammals

They wouldn't stay very still, but it was good stuff. I went with a group and I think we all tried not to get too full of ourselves, but just put pencil to paper and get those 100,000 bad drawings out of our system.

Swimming.

There's a serious need for me to take up the slack. I'm hoping that NDAs will subside on what little I can post for "BLU".

Here we go.

Summer's about to begin, and so am I, as Story Supervisor for Big Grin Productions' "BLU".

I AM working.

Man! It's been a while since I've posted anything! I assure you, I labor at my desk and I look at other blogs - which, BTW, I don't feel my comments would add anything they're expressed so well.

I hope everyone's doing well, and as summer begins I'll post actual hand-crafted work. I hope. Or maybe I'll learn guitar.

Last Minute Storyboards

Before I traveled to San Francisco over the weekend, I crammed in some storyboard work for Adrenaline Motion Picture's upcoming web series in development:
























This kind of storytelling needs camera-intimate eye-level work, and good close-ups.

I must say that though I've many projects lined up (and trying to line up) the only consistent project is that of my school. I would call it my "day job", but that sounds like I stop doing it at night. I am always thinking about HOW and WHY, night and day, job or no job. With students I get the high level of personal interaction I require (and admittedly rusty at), I get to pursue things that fit comfortably in the classroom. I squeamishly submit that I may be in the right place as a teacher. I would have never, in my wildest dreams, thought myself a teacher in the Midwest. But here I am. I've certainly been afraid of genuine grand opportunities in the past (like my Pixar Interview of February 96, the "one that got away"), but it seems I've ended up here. And unless something historic or career-shattering happens, I imagine this is where I'll always be.

Winter Drawings.

According to my calculations, I'm drawing at .011 of full capacity. Please, enjoy these images while go over to this corner and CRY MY EYES OUT.

Rockabots Now An Official Site

Because of NDA's and the like, I didn't talk much about my work 2 years ago on a little project called Rockabots. I developed character designs and animatics (with filmmaker Steve Marra of Adrenaline Motion Pictures) for the animated series, and from that development Canadian studio Neezo has created a website showcasing this marketable idea, including the final 3D animation.
It was funny, I thought Rockabots was long over, hadn't heard anything, then the day before my Heartland presentation.. there it is! The website hadn't been finished at the time, so it's a pleasure to hook you guys up with it now.
Adrenaline has also just finished producing the film "Amanda" - check that out while you're at it!

I'm still working.

I know this is a vague image - hopefully you can't tell what's going on there.



Trust me - I am working, and as soon as NDAs will allow, I'll post the fun and exciting work I get to do.

Vectren Site Up and Operational!

Here's hoping that you'll enjoy the 13-month long project known as Vectren. Judge the game on how addictive and repeat-playable it is. That would make our day (and not in a Clint-Eastwood-kind-of-way)!

Hats off to the Vectren folk (Maelynn Hudson, Tracy Bryant, et. al)for being quite innovative in their pursuit of a better, original game in a time where most corporations fear such things. I mean really, HATS OFF! Looking at how many people it took to make this work - well, it's just staggering. Here's the short list:

Jennifer Stewart - Concept and Head of the Whole Enchilada! (She would be the executive producer, but in academia it's called something different)
Chris Basham - Website Design, programming, and layout

Matt Powers - Concept and Programming Lead. (Matt was our "X factor"!)
Don Mitchell - programming consultant
Kyle McKnight - head programmer
Corey Callahan - programming
Zach Carr - programming

Skip Comer - Database Lead

Me - Concept and Art Direction
Trevor Barger - animation
Sean Winburn - illustration
Jackie Crofts - illustration
Linda Vang - concepting
Ryan Stone - production

Ricardo Laranja - sound direction


In fact, feel free to leave a comment right here, on this blog, giving us your thoughts.
http://www.vectrenenergysafe.com/

I've a new place to visit!

I'm rather excited about this new blog, Pencil Test Depot

Also, the Vectren Project is temporarily posted, but will soon have a permanent residence. Check it out, play the games, and post some feedback (cause we DO need troubleshooting help).

My Long Project is Over, Pt. 3

This is the opening cinematic I directed for the Gas Safety game. Trever lent his fantastic animation of Therm and the computer interface, I painted and animated the other backgrounds. The intent was high adventure with a tablespoon of cute, and it really feels right. The Gas Safety game takes almost a half an hour to play (which is kind of epic for a Flash game) whereas playtesting for the Electric Safety game below takes about 5 minutes.

My Long Project is Over, Pt. 2

So, we'd already built the huge and near-seam-splitting gargantuan-ness of the Gas Safety game, so the Electric game was much, much easier. We based the visuals on 1950s animation art. I've seen the latest incarnation of the game, and Volt's animation is perfect walking through these sets. Additionally, we got a small jazz ensemble to provide soundtrack, and this is, without a doubt, my favorite game.

This is level 1:


Level 2, complete with lounge and kitchen.


Level 3 contains a kind of "boss" room from the intro animation (gonna post that later!):


Level 4 takes Volt outside and the hazards that threaten us all... like big, green pad mount transformers:


And as if you haven't had enough, here's the cinematic that opens the game. This particular version was designed for Power Point presentations, so you may find the type a little small in places, but it's essentially the same as in the game, except there's no card at the end - that's where the game begins.
Volt is just a little nuts - you get to see it in the game, but you get a little taste of it here, too. Our animator, Trever Barger, really captured the flavor I wanted from the character model (posted below). The backgrounds were created by the rest of the team and myself.

Zealot-Crazy-Talking in Public

If you get a chance, come out and see me ramble on what little I know about storytelling in animation. I've spoken at SIGGRAPH twice - and always get enthusiastic feedback. If you're bopping around Indianapolis on September 10th... do stop by! And don't forget to register!

My Long Project is Over, Pt. 1

Programming is still going on, but art for the long and winding Vectren Project is finished. My star team of three artists included Trevor Barger (animation), Sean Winburn (painting), and Jackie Crofts (painting). They stuck it out like real pros, enduring 5 am shifts, repeated art direction from me, 13 hours of Enigma albums, and courage in the face of retainer boredom! Stand and Salute... BROTHAAAAAA!
Here's a sample of the first game teaching Gas Safety(with more to come soon):

Concrete World "Healed":

Concrete World Broken:


Grass World:


Grass World Broken:


Dirt World:


Dirt World Broken:


And finally, Water World - which, in terms of design, production, and budget was not unlike Kevin Costner's Water World:


Water World Broken: