Slacker Dude and Running Man

I've noticed that the classes I'm taking this quarter do not give me very many opportunities to create animated films. Instead I'll be working on sound, storyboards and human figure drawings. They are all important parts of creating good animation, but I do miss the opportunity to use Flash or good o'fashion papers to create animated clips. Since I'm taking a lighter load, I should be able to do something on my own. Or at the very least revise and improve the clips that I created last quarter which is something I've been wanting to do.

Since I'm likely not to post anymore of my own clips anytime soon, here are two clips from last quarter. The first one is a pencil test that I did for the 'Principles of Animation' class. It's done with just pencil on paper then shot with a digital camera. I like the character and the way the smoke dissipated. Improvements: I need to add more transitional drawings for the character so there is a reaction when the firecracker first went off and a progression on how the explosion affected his appearance. Additionally, the smoke should expand outward and not vanish in place. Calvin really likes this one and made me play it in a loop over and over again. It's good to have a 6-yr old fan!



The second clip is a running sequence I did for the 'Intro to 2D Animation' class. Originally I wanted to add more scenes - a neighborhood with a yapping dog, a trail in the wood with birds. But I ran out of time and just couldn't finish it the way I wanted to. I didn't even get around to putting clothes on the dude! No matter, he's got a runner's body to show for. You know the saying: 'if you got it, flaunt it!'

Improvements: there is something funky about the way the cactus are moving toward the camera in z-axis. I can't put my finger on it and will likely have a chat with the professor later this week to get some advice. I'm pretty happy with how the side view turned out so I probably won't make many changes to it. I'd like to add some wild life in there to spice it up a little. Other than that, suggestions are welcome!