So, we've been participating in the Greensboro 48hr film festival every year for the past 3 years. we do it with the same family every year, the fantastic Chabon family, who absolutely make it a joy. a lot of people find the 48hr very stressful, but they manage to make it this giant rush of creative fun. I love it so much!
This year, we drew the comedy genre, and they asked me to animate a short snippet for their short. now, by the rules of the 48hr nothing in your short can be pre-made. so yesterday I sat down for 12 and a half hours working on animating a 24 second short. omg it was SO FUN! I wasn't sure if it would be done, but it is, and wow - did I learn a lot! 12 and a half hours of (almost) straight animation! well, I did pause to eat and paint a baby doll's head, but that's about it.
first off I finally used my newer animation program that I hadn't attempted a project in yet, so I didn't really know the program. but I got used to it pretty fast out of necessity. nothing helps you learn a program faster then when you need to get something done for a deadline! they also gave me a lot of creative freedom, I got free reign with character concept and design, as well as the actual script for the animation part. all they asked me to stick to was "Campy parody of an anti-tattoo PSA". and my goodness, did I have fun with that! even managed to sneak in a guest appearance of a (slightly more buff then normal) Arty!
I did all of the animation without knowing what kind of narration they are going to put over it, as they decided to do the narration according to what I animated. so I'm seriously excited to hear what they are going to come up with!
I seriously can't wait for the screening on wednesday! this is the first time my animation will be featured on the big screen. I'm pretty nervous really. the animation itself is not something I would normally publish - I had no time for clean-up work at all, so the lines are a bit sketchy and the motions are choppy.
but I had fun, and learned a whole lot, and that's what the 48hr film festival is ultimately about for me.
what's funny is thanks to this, I have an Animation Director credit on my resume...
Also I did end up having an assistant animator for 3 frames, as my friend Ryan wanted to try his hand at it. so I let him do a couple 'tweens. what's great is now he's really excited and wants to learn how to draw better so he can learn to animate! I hope he does, I could use more people who actually want to do the work in my production company.
I'll be uploading the finished project after the screening on Wednesday, as I want the short to remain a surprise. you don't see much animation in the 48hr, but I'm hoping to change that in coming years. if I can get a team of animators together, maybe I'll even have my own group one year.
