WHERE TO FIND WHAT

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Wasabi Kikaku Japan Animatic for Continental Airlines Silver Elite Program




This series of storyboards were used in animatics for JTB Travel Japan and Continental Airlines to showcase their Silver Elite Program for frequent flyers. I was so excited about this job because the animatic was shown on Japanese Television, I was given a copy of the DVD , paid handsomely, AND given a round trip ticket to travel to Japan that year. Sadly, I wasnt able to make the trip!!

"The Adventures of "ACTION PAT" Storyboards for Screen Arts Animation Studios







"Action Pat" is a character my classmates and I concieved while studying 2D Animation at Screen Arts Animation Studios in NYC on Orchard street under the instruction of Mark Stansbury. Our Project was to come up with a character, a simple plotline, board it out and animate it. It was my job to do the character design and the initial boards which are presented here. Mark assigned each student a portion to animate and our combined efforts were to be displayed at the final incorporating it into the overall film. My particular section involved Pat Spinning into the tornado and coming out of it with the cape wrapping around her body.

The Character, "Action Pat" is based on Pat, one of the students at the school, who had her hair in the style illustrated in the cartoon. I made the character as simple as possible so we all would be able to animate our particular section without too much difficulty.

PLOT:
Action Pat is a preteen girl who likes to dream. She has a very strong domineering mother who burdens her with chores and always keeps her from doing what she wants to do. (in the case of this cartoon, it's to attend a concert she has tickets for) Whenever Pat cannot get her way, she transforms into her Superhero Alter Ego, "Action Pat". Whenever Action Pat appears on the scene , instead of solving the problem, she somehow ends up making things worse and creating another problem! Me and my fellow students envisioned that it would be difficult to determine whether Action Pat's exploits were actually happening in "real time" or if they were imagined.

The Studio closed up shop after six months, NYC rents being what they are and we unfortunately did not recieve a copy of the completed film, but Since I have the original drawings I still plan at some point to animate it.

Mark Stansbury, a "purist" insisted we make this film the traditional way and NOT use Flash at all! His intention was for us to learn the process of animation the hard way, and once learned, our Flash animation, should we choose to use, it would be more powerful.

Incidently, Action Pat's Mom, is based on Mark Stansbury. Hence, the goatee.

Party Gig "Do's and Dont's" Comic For Exaggerated Features magazine





These wordless single panel comics were drawn to enhance an article I'd written for Exaggerated Features magazine, entitled, Gig Do's and Dont's. These were my set of rules for party caricature success and were geared towards beginning artists entering the live party drawing field.

Rule One DONT BE LATE It Looks bad embarasses your host/hostess and guarantees you will not get a referral, a tip, and even a cut in pay. Nothing spells unprofessional more than lateness. It shows that you are a rookie, and people dont hire rookies, they hire professionals.

Rule Two Seperate Couples: I seperate couples because they have a tendency to "love all over each other" too much and spoil the drawing angle. While I am still able to get a decent likeness if a couple moves, for a beginning caricature artist, it's best if the subject remains relatively still until he/she gains experience and confidence.


Rule Three Show the Paper whose Boss , In other words dont be afraid or hesitant about putting your mark on paper. It cuts down on speed, and causes you to second guess yourself too much.

Rule Four: Have FUN! you're a party artist! you CAN enjoy yourself! If you think of it too much as "a job" that stiffness will show up in your work.

Larger Than Life "Virtually Reality Episode" Comic/storyboard










This particular larger than life episode was my personal favorite. in this Episode, Boye and Seven are sucked into "Miss G", Seven's talking laptop. While inside the vitual world, they must solve the mystery of why Miss G is sick, and make a startling discovery. I had total creative control of the storyline and content and had an opportunity to really experiment. Since they were trapped inside a virtual world I didnt have to restrain myself with drawing conventional backgrounds, and anatomy. I felt to do so would take away from the whole "virtual" Experience. I got some great visuals done on this segment, but it proved to be the last episode, as Nathan went on to concentrate on other projects.
The "Big Apple" they eventually meetis "miss G's " Brain, named "Apple" of course.

Larger Than Life Character Designs For Nathan Seven Scott









The Cast for Larger than Life: Seven the star of the series whose character is loosly based on Nathan Seven Soctt. Seven is a High School Music VJ who works for Big Daddy's Internet Music Show Seven is opinionated, ambitious, and is willing to do anything to succeed, including put up with Gurl's unwanted advances, because he needs to work for her father's company. Seven also has a relationship with his laptop computer, "G" who unknown to everyone else, is really alive.

Gurl, is a cheerleader at the same high school Seven attends, and has a crush on him much to Seven's annoyance. Gurl rich daughter of Big Daddy. Her character is outgoing, kindhearted, and a little dizzy.

Big Daddy is the filthy rich owner of the music station, who is very driven, money hungry, and also a closet racist. He resents the fact that he has to employ Seven, but jkust cant say goodbye to the money and ratings that Seven's show brings in.

Boye is a Hip Hop Japanese Whiz kid who has an African American Soul


Doing this series was again, one of my most enjoyable projects. I was sorry to see it end, as the characters were fun to do , and we were still in the formative stages of the project when it came to an end, but oh well, that's the world of freelancing for you.

Brittany Spears Episode Condensed

Larger Than Life's "Brittany Spears" Episode Comic/Storyboard

















During the time this cartoon was concieved, Music Pop star, Brittany Spears was exhibiting some truely bizarre behavior that began with her cutting off all of her hair. Since The character of Seven was a Music Video Show host, we decided that he would interview Brittany and find out why she had cut her hair. The story starts off with the producer of the show wondering what he could do to boost ratings. His daughter suggests he hire Seven to bring attract the hip hop youth market, and promises that they will have a surprise special guest. Seven and "gurl" (that's the character's name by the way) discuss the possibilities over lunch, and gurl suggests Brittany Spears who she knows personally. On the date of the show, Brittany explains to Seven that she cut her hair in order to be in character for a Kung Fu Flick she was in with Jet Li called Shaolin Kung Fu Ninja Bimbos. Seven asks for a demonstration, and gets one firsthand, or "first foot'. Gurl's father, who is also a racist, congratulates Seven on his hilarious performance, pays him, and encourages him to do a similar show.

I know Ive said a mouthful but wanted this all to make sense.