Leaping Lizards

Second Digital Puppet -

For this animation I created a few different heads, bodies, and legs, and replaced them as necessary. I tried to make the setup as simple as possible, but it may have been more effective to create even more parts for more flexibility.

Premise

An aging super-villain mastermind holds villain auditions for his world domination attempt next Monday. The tryouts are held in a stark and uncomfortable basement room. Many hopefuls show up, each with more useless powers than the last, and the auditions descend into absurdity. There's Scuba Boy, who can telepathically communicate with (and accidentally murder) his goldfish. There's Rogaina, who can grow her hair out at will. There's The Virus, a man adept at passing on the common cold. And of course, there's Mentallo, who can read his own mind and see into the present. Furious at this turnout, the super-villain folds up the sign and gives up his plans.

Flashy

First assignment being done, I'm also using flash for a frame by frame animation a la carte. This helps me get a good idea straight off of the strengths and weaknesses of Flash regarding more traditional animation. The software makes it easy to follow the audio track and to work on any particular element or group of elements of an animation at one time, so your mistakes are easier to fix than on paper. Removes some challenges and introduces others, so I'm learning a lot with that process.

Here is part 1 of the second assignment:

Bouncing Ball

First Try!



Second Try! This one was made using the Custom Ease In/Ease Out Slider.

Illustrations

Dan Hay's caricature drawings at his blog "Blubber Lubber" convey unique character through his exaggeration of the head and body into a unified design. His drawings are wildly pushed and pulled but his subjects clearly began as real people.

Philip Burke creatively uses color and shape in his own style. Burke locates cool colors, such as a greenish tint in the flesh, and heightens them to make his images vibrant and captivating.

At arm's length, Gerald Scarfe attacks the page with ink and wit. There is a combination of animation-friendly flow and clever harshness to his illustrations.

Favorite Animation

Many of the films Chuck Jones have directed crack me up, but this is a lesser known and earlier work of his that puts his smart timing and sharp sense of parody to hilarious use. His draughtsmanship and design sense improved in later years, of course, but the designs are still simplistically funny.

Of course you'd have to have lived under a rock not to know about:


Ratatouille, among its many virtues, introduces a dripping ham of a villain with wonderful presence and delivery and turns him into an ally in a clever and unexpected way. Many Disney films teach that there are "bad people" who must be thrown off a cliff in order for there to be peace. Ratatouille wisely indulges in cartoony performances but plays out a more human conflict than many animated movies. The character design is creative, unique, but still animation-friendly and extremely appealing. Not to mention, this is the first computer generated movie where I blissfully forgot that I was watching something generated on a computer.

I'm here

My name is Sagan Lacy, and I like Hawaiian shirts. This may possibly be how I discovered my interest in animation. I live alternately in Virginia, where my home is, and in Savannah, as a low-life college student. I enjoy acting and singing, although I no longer do either with any frequency. More than these, I enjoy drawing and have a love of animation and caricature art. I also enjoy talking at great length about stuff in something emulating philosophical discussion. Entertainment is important to me, and I become irked when it is ineptly delivered or used for evil, so I try to keep a critical eye and learn how to do my job right.

Sebastian Kruger is probably my single favorite artist; he is a hero to anyone who develops a passion for caricature. I also adore the works of directors Chuck Jones and Brad Bird, of character designers like Stephen Silver and Ben Balistreri, of caricature artists like Joe Bluhm and Jason Seiler, and many many more. Really, great designers of any kind inspire me to get off my bony bottom and improve my work. My favorite movies include Ratatouille and Aladdin, Spirited Away, The Emperor's New Groove, and The Birdcage. I like the TV best when it's off, but I do like watching Scrubs, House, and Lost. Fortunately, these are all available online.