Hellew visitors,
just wanted to keep you guys up to date. I started storyboarding my animated short (= drawing and organising all the cameraviews of the movie). The script is almost final, or so it feels.
Don’t let the calmness of this picture deceive you in thinking i find this all fun and play.. =)
Dear friends, meet Snickers.
As most of you guys already know: this mouse is the little hero in my upcoming animated short, due june 2010.
This is an early animation test to see if the rig (=kind of the skeleton of the 3D model) is working ok and to explore his personality.
Next up: texturing this rascal. (This is the reference.)
Here are a couple of older animated shorts I made at the Media & Design Academie in Genk, Belgium. Dating from 2006-2008.
Thought it was about time I’d share them here with you.. Enjoy.
Production has started.
3D model of Snickers is made. Ready for it’s first check-up with the studioguys. Especially to check if it’s all clean for rigging and texturing. (Done in 3Ds Max.)
And the second piece is the (last) concept art I made, to visualise the textures on Snickers. (Painted in Photoshop.)
Hey guys,
here’s the sketchdump I promised a long time ago. These are mostly done in Brussels, Leuven and on the train.
So my year of internships at the animationstudios Walking The Dog and Sinematik (see also here and here) in Brussels are done. It was an awesome experience. So very valuable to me, in many many ways. I’ve met amazingly talented people, all with great personalities. They’ve all learned me so many things, not only about animation. A huge thank you to all those people that have taken me under their wings this last year.
At the same time I’m moving back home (to Genk), from my student-room (in Leuven). I had a great time over there as well, especially with all my friends of the student-house. It was good for me to learn to live by myself. I feel more mature now, but still with a fair dose of childness. ;)
I’ve got july and august off, before my last year of animation at school starts, in september. But I’ll be starting production for my animated short as soon as my new computer arrives. I’m planning on going full throttle with the 3D production starting 1st of august. The movie is due june 2010. The script is written and almost final. Almost all of the designs of the characters and backgrounds are done as well. Time to give birth to this baby!
Here are some (cellphone) pictures taken in studio Sinematik, on my birthday, 17th of june, when I turned 23. I got some pies and arrived extra-early to decorate the studio for an old-school birthday-party. :) I couldn’t find party-hats, so I just made a crown myself. They even gave me 3 beautiful french comic-books! Trop chouette. An awesome ending of an incredible year.
And this might just be the most pathetic birthday-picture ever! Haha, I love it. There were about 20 folks over there, they’re all standing behind the camera.
Macro photos from my macroperiod, last year. Taken with an old Nikkormat FT3.
A photo i took from the projection of one of my more experimental animations, made begin 2008. Dealing with the theme ”the grail”. The drops are 3D, the background is video i manipulated. I’m not too fond of the whole thing, but i do like this image itself.
Here’s the sculpture I made of my short’s main character: Snickers the Mouse.
As you may (or may not) know, my short is the story of a mouse, Snickers, in a petshop. The little guy has got one big problem: because of his huge ears he has a hard time fitting in with the other mice . Will he be able to find a mousebuddy? Maybe one of those humans could help him out…
This sculpture is made out of ‘Super Sculpey’, a kind of professional synthetic clay I bought via eBay. It’s pretty soft and very manageable. It can be baked as well, to make it all rigid and finalise the model. Though, due to the size of my sculpture, I can’t fit him in an oridinary oven.. I’ve read that you can also bake it by using a hairdryer. I tried that and it worked fairly good.
Before adding the Sculpey clay, i made a complete skeleton out of metal wire, attached to the foot, the base. Different thicknesses of metal wire were used. His spine for instance is very very thick, the wire going through his ears is the thinnest. I’m glad I took the time to make a solid structure before adding the clay. Otherwise I would have tons of issues later on.
It’s pretty funny to see the early plasticine models i made, a couple of months ago. Here. They are pretty much falling apart. Haha. And you can tell I didn’t really know yet what i wanted. But it was very good to make these, to flesh out what I already had imagined in my head. They are all part of my search. And you just can’t get things right, from the first try. Just work hard and keep trying.
Next step: 3D modelisation of this baby.
I’ve picked up the screenwriting for my animated short again. It was about time. Don’t think, just do it Wally.
Still doing my internship in [sinematik]*, Brussels.
A sketchdump will be posted soon!
Here’s a peak inside studio [sinematik]* in Brussels, where i’m doing my internship. It’s situated in the centre of Brussels: Aalststraat 7-11, 1000 Brussels.
All is going very well. The boss from Paris just asked if i also wanted to help out on the modeling of the characters of the movie. Waw.. See this older post for more information about the project.
Le studio et les mecs sont trop génials!!
Hello friends,
how are things? I just wanted keep you guys up to date about my whereabouts and activities.
February the 6th I’ve started my new internship in Brussels, in the animationstudio [sinematik]*. The studio is part of the French production company ”Blue Spirit” (situated in Paris and Angoulême). I’ll be staying there untill the end of june.
I’m working on a animated feature film(!!) called “Le Tableau” (=The Painting). It’s kind of a dream come true. Still don’t realise i am making a movie. So very excited about it.. Here you see the pilot that has been made in 2006: http://www.spirit-prod.com/site/le_tableau.html
At the moment I am the head of background modeling, which is totally insane. =) I feel very very flattered with all the responsibility that has been giving me. I am responsible for completely modeling a pretty important scene in the film. That’s all i can say.
Other than that I am still staying in Leuven. Doing Leuven-Brussels, Brussels-Leuven every day. I’m still working on my graduationfilm for next year (about the mice), but mainly on the inside of my head.
That’s all I have to say. There is much more I
could say, but this wouldn’t be the right place. =)
Here you see a bunch of screenshots I took from the pilot. Notice how the coloursceme goes from almost not saturared to very saturated. (All images and movies © Blue Spirit)
bye! Wouter
Voila! The 3 dimensional computermodel of Snickers, the mouse.
I guess a lot of you people don’t have a clue how such a thing is made, so I’ve put in a few steps of the modeling progress. Maybe that can clear a few things up.
My guts say that this is the design i should go for. A few changes could still be made, but I feel I’m getting very very close to what i want. He is the lovable loser in my story. That’s how he should look like. And he does now. At least that’s my own opinion
Did this in 5 days, about 6 hours each day. Done in 3D studio Max 2009. But those are just details..
As promised, the plasticine models of my mouse, Snickers.
These plasticine models aren’t necessary in the 3D process, but i really like doing this. This way i have got a clear image of what i want to build in the computer.
Sometimes drawings can be a bit limited and flat. Models like these give you something to touch, to feel. It’s the incarnation of your thoughts and ideas. It’s more ‘real’ than a drawing on paper or a model in the computer. Plus it’s also great fun to do. =)
Where it all gets done at the moment: in my ‘kot’ (= student room) in Leuven.
Meet Snickers, the little hero in my upcoming animation short. For the story pitch, just scroll a bit down to the post beneath.
Finishing up the character designing and color-picking. This will (kinda) be the character and colourpalette i’ll be going for in the final (3D) movie. Main colours are the complementary orange-turqouise. Love them.
I’ve also build him in plasticine. But that’s for the next post.
greetings, Wally
Hi everyone,
here’s a 2009 new years treat for all of you: concept drawings for my upcoming animated short. It’s due june 2010, as my graduationfilm.
It’s the story about a mouse in a petshop. The little guy has got one big problem: because of his huge ears and big nose he has a hard time fitting in with the other mice . Will he be able to find a mousebuddy? Maybe one of those humans could help him out…
Enjoy!
Sunday afternoon. My dad is sleeping.
I don’t know any person who works as much and as hard as he does, without complaining a single word. He’s as steady as a rock, and as reliable as one too.
I love this man.
