Returned from my Father's Day/ Birthday retreat at Wilbur Hot springs. Feel energized and ready for the summer production schedule.

Made solid strides in revamping some character work. It's a trip getting back to work. So many projects so little time

Know when to Hold em...


I spent the better part of the week battling the flu. It was not fun. The desire to work through tough times is tempting. " Rise to the challenge", " perservere", "tough it out" were all the thoughts running through my head on Monday morning but by 12:30 I was feverish and shivering and called it quits for the day.

Tried again Tuesday with the same results. I'm not used to being sick so this week really put my holistic training to the test. Wed-Thur took lots of Vitamin C and liquids and I'm happy to say I'm feeling better. I enjoyed a fair bit of success today and hope to get back to building on it next week.

Hazzah!

The more production sketches I do the more I realize there is that needs to be done. I'm still focused on producing for the set "Trailer" and most of the work is currently localized on interior design. Mostly set dressing items.

I have enough rough drawings of the set to work from. Filling in the details and making sound choices will hopefully save a great deal of time when it comes to producing the actually 3D assets.

In creating an old fashioned kitchen, with all the odds an ends, I have a lot of freedom to draw from many eras that predate the 70's. Wearing the hats of both set designer and producer I'm at a decided advantage. I can always as the artist to produce more and expect that I'll grumble a little and then get to it.

At some point, however, good enough should will have to jump out at me. Until then I've got to continue to produce enough content so that I can make an educated decision.

I've been lax in updates regarding my short film. The volume of drawing has gone up and It'd good to stay on top of what's done and what's left. If I'm lucky I can cross some of the home interior items of the list. I'm happy with the focus and now just need to get into the details.

I've been focus on branding and identity lately. Happy to have completed the logo design for Bendy Berry Yoga. Some of the concept art and final product.

The task was to create an ident that would offer a playful interpretation of a reposed yoga child both boy and girl. The challenge was to create something childlike but not to naive. A striking graphic that would engage young and old.

The final designs.

Need to deal with some environment details. Fences, hills, trees, shrubs... those sorts of things. Where a place is has so much to do with how a story is received. It tells a lot about the characters and expresses a great deal of the spirit of a story.

Wow time can sail when your busy not being busy. Lots of new work on the film but not a lot of posting. Gotta resolve that. Might move all this chit chat over to FB...has to be a better way to have less stuff to maintain.

Some of the latest work has been focused on building objects to fill in my sets. One set has "wrapped" the family trailer. I don't want to return to it and add more clutter even thought I think it needs it.

living room1.

living room 2.

Dinning Room1.


yup a desk w/ no legs and a type writter with no keys...I'm not sure they'll end up in a shot but I'll go back to them if I have to.

Dinning Room2.

Kitchen.

Fridge.

exterior.

I'm currently working on the gas station set. Like where it's going but have a lot more to do there also.

Sort of dreading the shading and texturing phase. Files start getting so bulky once you start adding texture maps and image files!

Having a production schedule is great. Keeps the focus. Not having a holiday schedule, big mistake. I've fallen so far of schedule that its hard to know where to jump back in. November bled into December. December blurred into february. It'll be March before I know it and the project has taken a crap turn. So what next. Well rigging has begun and weight painting will allow me to put some articulated characters in front of some cameras. I still have a truck load of models to build and shade and then there is the lighting rendering. Uhg it seems so daunting.

the Key is one thing at a time. Keep a focused mind and let mistakes happen. They're bound to occur and there's no reason to let them sabotage the whole process.

Ahhhh.. Today I truly let go of all of my characters. It took a while to wrap up all the little details but I can move in to sets knowing that there is no more modeling involved in characters only fixes.

Sets... Uhg. there's something daunting about designing and building models for sets. There are so many little things that can add authenticity and also just bog a project down. Add to much and it'll look like clutter. Don't add enough and it looks like a "set" which can look cheap. As I draw more to figure out what and who my characters are I'm torn by a desire to have the project rock and also trying to meet deadlines. It's a tough line to tow but without a proper producer to crack the whip I have to accept my over runs and move forward.

Letting Go!

There are phases in life, like in production, where you just want to make sure you've gotten everything right. Just perfect. Done your absolute best job. Put forward the greatest effort... you get the picture. there are the other times when you just have to accept what it is you've done and keep moving despite a less then perfect product.



I'm at the end of character modeling for my short and feel like there are lots of things I need to keep working on but for the sake of staying on target w/ my schedule I just have to put some things on hold and hope I won't get bit in the ass on the other end.



I've had a good time exploring MODO and really do enjoy a lot of the feature that package has to offer. I hope the hard surface stuff goes as well as the characters.

I often get hung up trying to and forgetting how to, stay motivated. There's something to be said for just getting up to sped and staying there. However it's the getting going and knowing what to do when you're stalled that's the hard part. I credit improv for keeping me on my toes and yoga for keeping me flexible but jump starting the mind requires the right kind of exercise.

Brainstorming can be a great way to get out of a funk. Take 5-10 minutes. Choose a word or phrase that you would like to use as a foundation that you'll want to build on and then write down whatever comes to mind. Don't edit your self. Just accept that you mind needs to vent and you don't want to hold back. It's a great way to clean house and also find ideas that may not have occured to you in oth forums

Another tool is memorizing insprirational sayings.
Robert McKee's book Story has a quote that always pushes me back into action.

"We often put off doing something for as long as possible, then as we finally make a decision and step into the action, we're surprised by its relative ease. We're left to wonder why we dreaded doing it until we realize that most of life's actions are within our reach, but decisions take will power."

It's the little things in life that help and reminders and inspirational words can work wonders for the stalled creative mind.

Working in Modo.

Didn't "finish" any models but progress is progress. The most important thing in the modeling phase is having good source
material. Gathering reference images is the least glamorous and most time consuming aspect of the design process.



Its tempting to attack modeling and drawing and design using solely ones own creative memory. Starting with excellent reference adds an extra bit of authenticity to the project. Its a way of making sure that the details have been well considered.Even simple blueprints can go a long way toward improving the overall look development.

I've decided that what I really want in a car for my police/sherrif character is a 66 Chevy Chevelle.



The hard part has been assembling useful source images that will make the modeling and design phase simpler. I could easily chose a different vehicle however the era that I'm trying to capture would look a little less correct if I short changed the process.

Working on another character this week and hope to finish 4 more in the next 2 weeks to complete the character modeling phase of my short film. The most challenging thing about producing a short movie is staying on schedule without losing track of other aspects of the project.

In this case it's making sure that while I'm modeling the characters I don't lose sight of the set design or the details that other aspect of the production deserve.

Learning a new modeling package and working it into an established work pipeline will be an interesting challenge. I'm looking forward to testing the Modo--Maya work flow and seeing how the articulation/rigging phase will be effected.

Well I started in on the models for my project. I like the character design and feel like the first pass on this model has some together o.k. any feed back would be nice though.

I tend to work all over the place when it comes to personal projects. I have so many divergent interest that it can be difficult to stay focused or feel closure on any one thing. Dabbling can lead to a sense of lost momentum or even a feeling that nothing is getting done even when progress is being made.

It's important to keep track of what you're doing and stay organized. Keeping a personal journal to help with staying on target has been a great help for me. Also taking the time to document my work and share it with others. Feedback can only make you stronger as a creative entity.

My story project has gone well and I'm at a point where sharing the development seems appropriate. Thinking about producing an independent 3D short film can be over whelming. I'll post regular updates and scheduling notes as best I can. I've gotten to a good place with some of the character design and have the story in a 2nd draft phase. I'll be sure to post panels as the story progresses.


j

Well I want to be a better film maker and what better way is there than to look at what I consider to be great films. This is my attempt at a break down for my favorite Miller's Crossing seq.

Enjoy
j