Monday, May 15, 2006

Blogtastic disaster!


Anybody who called by the blog over the weekend will have noticed that things were pretty blitzed- we don't know how but after much bug searching and rifling through problem pages on blogger groups we (or should I say Emma) finally sussed that we needed to republish a fresh template. So that's what we did and normal service has now, sort of, resumed. Apologies to anyone whose link is missing from the navigation bar- I tried to remember everyone but no doubt I've forgotten someone- just gimme a mail and remind me. I'll put it up if it's appropriate although, with kids reading this, anything that involved activity more risque than baked bean wrestling had best not bother!

Busy weekend decorating the house, as Mrs Bling stated in the previous post. All hunky dorey now and proper show home like!

Attached is another piece of original art from FC, another of the double page spreads that I was so fond of. The image of Nine exploding like that is a real springboard for where we want to go with the animated show- lots of Tex Avery-esque splits and the like. We could have done it in stop motion, which is my first love, but it would have been a nightmare in post with all the wires and the like that we'd have needed to suspend those flying limbs and eyeballs. The finished thing in flash does look a bit awesome mind you!

17 comments:

I. N. J. Culbard said...

Having been one of the fortunate few to have seen the trailer for Frankenstein's Cat, I must to say, it does look awesome. Incredible infact. I wanted to jump up at the screen and shout "IT'S ALIVE"!!! The fella who realised it for the screen should win a BAFTA at the very least.

I also think that Flash ( though it doesn't look like Flash, it looks like your paintings come to life) was certainly more in keeping with the book than some cheapo plastecine job.

I look forward to watching the TV series if it's anything like the trailer I saw, so I am.

dragonhead said...

You brokes the internets. :)

That video was done in flash! Wow! I thought it was hand drawn.

I. N. J. Culbard said...

well said.

Jo Bling said...

HAHAHAHA!!!! |:-D The funniest! OK, so Dragonhead meet Ian Culbard the man who was responsible for the animation on the trailer and directed the pilot. And marvellous it was too, although we're naturally biased.

Ian, back in your cage you cheeky crayon monkey, you! If any modelmakers read your anti-plasticene rant they'll descend on your castle with torch and pitchfork, I warns ya now... ;-)

Bada Bling!

sheriffmitchell said...

damn blogger and it's crashy ways

Mark Jobe said...

Is the trailer available online anywhere? i'd really like to see it.

Thanks for adding me to your links by the way.

I. N. J. Culbard said...

Mwahahaha! Plasticene schmasticene! They know I love 'em.

The very first tests I produced of "Nine" walking I sent in an email to all concerned on the production under the subject heading "IT'S ALIVE!!!"

It was quite exciting to realise something in animation that we'd only talked about doing for so many years. It was also quite an honor to be asked to do it.

Both the trailer and pilot were made using Flash and After Effects (After Effects was used simply for camera moves and focus pulls... all elements were made in Flash).

The trailer I made here in Nottingham, the Pilot was made by a French crew in Paris who I directed from Nottingham thanks to a virtual studio we set up using an ftp site. The trailer roped one major funding source and once that job was done, the trailer was tweeked as it were by the French studio to make it sit well with the pilot, because by the point we were making the pilot (which was only a couple of months later down the line) already the look of the thing had changed a little. TV shows are a lot of fun like that.

Jo Bling said...

It's a shame we've no way of linking any of the animation up onto the site. I'm sure if you ask Ian nicely he can send something to you via the magic of email, such as a walk cycle of Nine.

It's definitely an ever-changing process with the animation and it's development. Even working on a production like BOB you can see how design and animation evolves along the timeline. The Simpsons is a fine example of an evolving animation.

paulhd said...

Aww, I want to see the flash! Mind you my rubbish telephone connection barely let's me look at sites consisting of large white pages with no pictures and barely any type so I probably wouldn't be able to see it anyway.

I. N. J. Culbard said...

I'm sure once the show's in production there will be a place on the web where you can (which I suppose is a bit like saying, "I'm sure one day the village green will have a telephone box on it and when it does we'll call the ambulance" for all those that want to see it now)

dragonhead said...

Hi Culbard! You rock! :)

Darn kids these days! With their fangle-dangle phone box thing-a-ma-jigs. Why can't they just be happy with the bench in the village green.

sheriffmitchell said...

you could always put the animation on YouTube and link to it from the site

I. N. J. Culbard said...

looks like you've got your first bit of spam, Curt. they took ages! You've another identical message in another post.

Suggest you stick your verifier on.

dragonhead said...

Hello Credit Union,

I would like to open up a savings account. My phone number is.... Does it come with free checking? Oh, you are in the UK. Do I have to pay for overseas transactions then?

Jo Bling said...

I know, prats aren't they? I've had them before. Just hadn't bothered with the verification but better do it now. The other one was genuinely from a chap in Warrington, but I'm not sure that he's spam as such.

I. N. J. Culbard said...

But the message was identical.

dragonhead said...

"But the message was identical."

That's what they all say... until it is too late.