SKETCHBOOK PRODUCTIONS

Though I am biased due to this being my most recent and challenging project, I do see this as my own magnum opus at this moment. I am extremely happy with how well this film opening turned out.

 I have always found joy in this section of the process of creating media. The art of using different sounds in order to make a fitting audio for a scene seems so unique yet amazing to me. It's like whenever I find an audio and/ or sound effect that I can incorporate, I'm recycling scraps in order to make a work of art. Needless to say, I am having a great deal of fun with the sound effects of this animation. Given how much animating I've been doing over these past few days, it feels like a nice breath of fresh air. I also find it interesting when I have to create the sounds myself. Foley sounds have been minimal, but extremely effective. Ive mainly done foley just for the sound of clothes on the characters rustling during action; other than that, Ive sourced all my sounds from royalty free videos online. It's a miracle how useful the internet can be when it comes to such oddly specific needs. I am unable to submit any clips of said audio in this post  due to how long i...

 Whenever an animated genre of media has a fanbase, there are always a select few amount of people in the audience with the same exact mentality; this being that they want their media now and that they don't understand why its taking so long for said media to come out. It is a destructive, negative, and toxic mentality that many share, a mentality that leads to unfair treatment towards animators and their efforts.  I have reached bump in the road that feels impossible to hurdle over. Numerous bumps, even.  One is that the amount of animating that I am doing solo is becoming tedious and exhausting. Hour after hour, I animate and strive to achieve a scene that I can consider something to be proud of. These efforts that animators put often go under appreciated. Despite this, I am in no way saying that I have lost passion for my work. I gain. specials sense of satisfaction knowing that I have completed an animation that I can be proud of; an animation that perfectly encapsula...

 One of the more unique features of my personal film opening is the stylized approach I have taken for coloring my scenes. Typically, in animation, the coloring of frames is simple; line art is a regular base color, and everything within the line art is colored however the artists please. It sounds simple, yes. However, given the time that I have for this to be finished, I will not be able to color with such "wholeness". With this being said, I have found my solution to this issue. Instead of having basic, simple colors that can be used purely for aesthetic choices, I have decided to color my scenes in a way that shows what the tension and intentions the characters face are. For instance,  In this scene, the Bounty Hunter is shown with a deep blue line art. Later on in this scene, we see the Sheriff chasing after him. The Sheriff has a deep red line art, with the frame being surround by a red vignette. These color choices help emphasize the mood and feeling of these scenes. T...

  This screenshot is apart of a scene that I have recently finished doing base animations on. There is a unique factor in this scene that I would like to discuss. This is another screenshot from a scene I animated a little while back. Upon short glance, it appears normal. However, after comparing both images, one thing becomes clear; they look nearly identical. This is a common practice in animation. Due to how long and difficult the process of animating is, animators often reuse scenes or sections of animations as a template for other scenes; generating a clean animation while saving time and effort. I do believe that I will utilize this process numerous times in my animation, due to how close I am to the deadline at this moment. 

  I have finally managed to animate a running animation that I believe to be up to my standards. I realized that a large majority of my issues here was due to how I was animating the direction of the entire body. I would animate it so that the whole body launches upward while leaning to one side. Once I mitigated and edited this movement, All worked well shortly.  Now, I am challenging myself with animating a horse running. This challenge is the hardest thing I have ever tasked myself with animating, given how unique a horses gallop is in comparison to any other ordinary animal. Despite this, I am making good progress, and I do believe that I can make this work.