Steve Madden Animation

Props! How exciting!

2011-01-26T15:54:00.002-05:00

In my last blog post, I included a character design I made in Illustrator. I had mentioned I might design some props and set pieces. And here they are.

I did these in Illustrator as well. It was pretty fun. I wish I had a pair of those goggles. Maybe I'll design a background or two next.

Let's SKI.

2011-01-22T14:55:00.001-05:00

I drew this character in my sketchbook and cleaned it up in Illustrator. I was able to incorporate simple radial and linear gradients, a new frontier for me.

I like how he came out, so I plan on continuing to work on him... design some props for him and/or a few backgrounds.

Squid?

2010-08-07T12:48:00.006-04:00

In the last couple of days, I wanted to work in Illustrator a little bit. I repurposed a pencil drawing I used as a skateboard design, for a show at the Duxbury Art Association last summer. Here's the sketch:

For the gallery show, I created the design in Photoshop. Here's the design from last summer.

And here's the work I did with the sketch in Illustrator.

Illustrator aside, I really should start to work on some new animation. I created a new bumper to put at the end of future work, to motivate myself to get going. It's a combination of After Effects and paper cut-outs. I designed the sound in Garageband. Here it is:

End-of-July updates.

2010-07-28T22:15:00.002-04:00

I just finished my job teaching animation to 4th-8th graders at "College Academy" (located at Stonehill College). We spent some time on developing simple symbol-based Flash puppets. I managed to whip up a fun, little character and a couple of motion tests with him. I call him Mr. Duddard. I don't know what I'm going to do with him just yet. He makes me smile, though-- and that's what really counts.

Also, I've been doing quite a bit of work with the puppet [video] series. For the episode that went up today, I did a couple of After Effects sequences to spice it up a little bit. You'll have to tell me if it works or not. The episode can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzXzZ_o5Dos

Annoying Ice Cave animation. (Obviously.)

2010-05-23T19:53:00.013-04:00

I just recently finished a very annoying animation. I wanted to make it special, so I painted a background in gouache. Here's a link to the animation.

And here's the background.

In other news, Attention to Detail (the abridged version) got accepted into the Long Island International Film Expo. Woo hoo!

Festival update. (Woop woop!)

2010-04-13T11:52:00.010-04:00

Hello all. Just got an email notification this morning telling me that the first conversation of my Degree Project, Attention to Detail, was accepted into the Santa Barbara Minute Film Festival.

In other news, I just spent the day throwing this drawing together. Hope you like.

Magilwood End Tag.

2010-03-30T19:37:00.004-04:00

If you read my previous post, you know that I'm working on a series of puppet videos with a couple of friends. I said I would upload the "Magilwood Productions" logo once I animated it and added sound, so I figured I should deliver on that. Here it is:

(I don't know how Blogger deals with really short video clips, so give it a few tries to make sure the sync is right.) And by the way, the voice is me (if you couldn't tell).

I also uploaded the video file of the bumper to my FTP. You can download it HERE (if the player is acting stupid).

I've got a puppet thing goin' on.

2010-03-07T18:07:00.004-05:00

So, in my unemployed stupor, I find my time being occupied by an idea I'm helping my friends with. Puppet videos. So far, I've built a puppet, written some scripts-- I'm in the process of designing the branding for the series. We've shot one episode (working on editing that, too). I thought I should upload a few pictures so you can see that I am being productive.

Here are a couple pictures of the puppet I built. His name is Duncan. Or Dunk for short. (I like how his little hands came out.)

And I designed this logo for our "production company"... (i.e. the three of us.) I hand-drew the text, pen-tooled it in Illustrator and drew the wood grain in Photoshop. We just needed something to tag the ends of the videos with. I will soon be animating it... somehow... and adding sounds. I am pleased with it.

Keep an eye out, as I will try to get more process work up. (I know it's been a while since my last post.) That's it for now. Leave comments.

Yes, I would consider myself a good brother.

2010-01-07T14:22:00.007-05:00

For my younger brother's Christmas present, I recreated the painting "Sad Crying Clown in an Iron Lung" that appeared on an episode of Rocko's Modern Life in which Rocko acquires a credit card. I wanted to make it as close to the original image as possible, so I did work straight from a reference for the line art and colors. The painting is done in acrylics and I like how it came out. For those of you who know the reference, I hope you enjoy it. (And for those who don't know the reference, please take the time to figure it out. [I'm pretty sure you can find the episode on iTunes.])

And yes, that's wood paneling.

New DVD reel.

2009-12-30T22:36:00.005-05:00

As you know, I finished my montage to include my work from HETV. And for that reason, I made a new DVD reel. I'm kind of skimping on the packaging. I've decided to just go with a slim CD jewel case with a 2-sided insert from Discmakers.com. Here are the designs for the front and back of the insert. Let me know what you think.

Also, if you haven't seen this already (and if it's not too late to appreciate the sentiment):

New montage: CHECK. Freelance gig: workin' on it.

2009-12-17T18:27:00.004-05:00

This is my new montage.

I've also been working on a CD and vinyl LP jacket for The Longwalls. I hope to upload the design when it's finished, so keep an eye out.

Magic Process

2009-11-10T11:23:00.005-05:00

Another attempt at lineless Flash animation.

http://www.hollywoodeasttv.com/video/magic-process

In other news, I've been doing a little logo design for a friend's improv group. This is what it looks like thus far. (I'm teaching myself Illustrator, so bear with me.)

Let me know what you think.

There are zombies in my future.

2009-10-05T11:33:00.006-04:00

There's a zombie craze afoot. At the office, I'm currently in the process of making a couple of promo pieces for an upcoming zombie music video. I'm creating After Effects puppets in Photoshop using blending modes and textures. I thought I'd upload a few stills to give you a taste of what's in store.

Over-saturation!

2009-09-30T19:44:00.003-04:00

This animation is just silly. Just plain silly. I hope you like it.

Jacket.

2009-09-14T20:44:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted a sketchbook image. I spent a couple nights coloring this:

I'm now in the process of typing up my next independent project. I realize that I have very high expectations for it-- only time will tell if I can deliver what I'm imagining.

SMADDEN.com!? Wha happened?

2009-09-08T10:15:00.007-04:00

The new smadden.com is up and running!!! WHOOP WHOOP!

I built this new site because I wanted to include the more recent work I've been doing. (For the most part, my HollywoodEastTV.com uploads.) I embedded the player from HETV, so I could feature a new video every week, as they're uploaded. I also made the site a bit more concise. (The pages are physically smaller and I took the contact page out completely.) I'm on the fence about a couple of design issues, and maybe you can help me out. Do you think I should leave the background white, or maybe change it to black... or dark gray? And should there be a little bit of a margin on the top of the page... or should I leave it the way it is-- with no margin at all? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I was just guessing about the content on the links page... so, if you notice that you're on it, and you want it to link to a different URL, let me know. I'll be happy to correct that.

A Monster, Twitter, and Promises.

2009-09-03T10:42:00.006-04:00

This is a quick style test I made over the course of a couple days. The monster is animated in Flash. I printed out the frames and cut them out. I then shot it on top of the background. Let me know what you think!

In other news, I'm on Twitter. (Here's the link to my profile: http://twitter.com/smaddenanimates.) I'm in the process of redesigning my website to accommodate some of my HETV stuff. And I'll try to do a better job maintaining my blog (promise).

Lemonade.

2009-07-31T12:03:00.008-04:00

I've spent the last couple weeks developing a new series of animations for HETV.com. I have a good portion of the first episode done. It's really slow-going because I'm the only person working on it. I thought I'd throw a couple screen-caps up here and see what y'all think.

And here's the opening title sequence. I animated it in Pencil and made the jingle in Garageband.

Animation Block Party

2009-07-26T11:47:00.006-04:00

I took a trip to New York with my bffr (best friend for realz) Andy Gallagher to see two Animation Block Party shows in Brooklyn. The first conversation of my Degree Project screened at the second show. (It seemed like it got a good reaction from the audience.)

Both shows were pretty sweet (as most animation shows are). I would have liked to see the rest of the programs, but it was probably best that it was just a day trip.

I think my favorite piece out of the whole day was Chicken Cowboy by Stephen Neary.

Rock Media Logo finished.

2009-07-22T21:38:00.004-04:00

This just went up on HollywoodEastTV today. YAY!!!!

TA-DA!

Rock Media Stop Motion process

2009-06-29T12:04:00.004-04:00

Hey party people. After about a week of building a Rock Media logo in 3D (computer 3D... on the computer), projecting, tracing, coloring, spray-fixing, and X-ACTOing, I was able to shoot the 30 frames of a camera move loop I ended up with from Blender. I bought license of Dragon Stop Motion this morning, loaded in the original 30-frame Quicktime of the 3D object as a line-up layer... (For the sake of conversation, I'll upload that.)

And here's the first test shoot of the 30 paper cut-outs. There will be more to come.

Let me know what you think!!!!

New style test.

2009-06-24T09:43:00.004-04:00

This is my upload for the week to HollywoodEastTV.

I wanted to try my hand at creating final animation with no outlines in Flash. The initial line test was done in Pencil. I added the lapels and hand detail in Flash. Colored it in Flash... brought the colored Flash animation into After Effects and POW! Animación.

Magnifying Glass Bot

2009-06-17T13:49:00.005-04:00

Here's my upload for the week. Hope you like it.

http://www.hollywoodeasttv.com/video/magnifying-glass-bot

YAY!!

Weekly animation

2009-06-06T19:02:00.004-04:00

Alright. So here's the plan: an animation a week. They will go up on Hollywood East TV. I kicked off the plan yesterday by uploading a quick short that you can see here. I made the bumper over the course of two days this week. And I finished the penguin animation in a day. I'm hoping to be able to flesh out the projects a little more as more time becomes available. Let me know what you think!!!

Great Job!

2009-05-23T12:10:00.002-04:00

Congratulations, graduates!!!! Go get some sleep.

Degree Project quandary.

2009-05-14T17:22:00.003-04:00

Alright. So, it's about that time to start looking for festivals to submit my DP to. The question I would like to pose here is this: Do you think I should lop off the last two conversations for the reason of them not being as technically well-executed as the first? Or should I keep it all intact?

It comes down to this issue... does the quality of the content (the story, the sense of humor, the dialogue) make up for the fact the last two conversations are rushed?

I think I have my opinion on the issue, but I'd like to hear what you guys think. Thanks.

And here's a link to the project.

Website. And something else.

2009-05-10T16:48:00.002-04:00

smadden.com is live. Can you dig it?

Here's an old lady:

Oh, hello 2D Portfolio.

2009-04-30T23:25:00.004-04:00

Degree Project: CHECK. Business cards: CHECK. Right now, I'm currently working on content creation and organization of my print portfolio. This is something I unwittingly neglected over the course of the semester, in the rush to get DP finished. I've been polishing up some of the 2D work I've done and laying it all out so it's in a presentable format.

I continue to pick away at my website, which I'm hoping will be ready before the end-of-the-year shows next week. I've also been working on my DVD reel, building the menus and such. The cases and discs are on their way and I'm eager to see how they came out. SO exciting.

Here's a little something I spent way too long on...

Degree Project update.

2009-04-24T00:34:00.005-04:00

I've filled the timelines for all three conversations. I'm currently working on painting the opening titles. The project as a whole officially has a name. "Attention to Detail". (And then the 3 conversations have their own respective titles. "The Date" "Hair" and "Cheesburgers".) I still have to record sounds to go with the moving backgrounds of Hair. Here's a sample of what I'm working with...

Website. Take 3.

2009-04-17T02:37:00.005-04:00

Yeah. Here it is. I spent all day figuring out the process to embed Quicktimes on the pages that needed them. So, swing by "Animation" to see that. All of the thumbnails are linked up to their respective pages and Quicktimes. (I have a placeholder for DP... I made it special-- just for you.) And also, here's a gouache painting a did a little work on in Photoshop. (Yeah, before and after. Spiffy, huh?)

Degree Project. Something Else.

2009-04-09T12:30:00.003-04:00

Okay. It's officially been over a week since I've posted and I want to take this time to formally apologize for that.... I'm SO sorry. Please forgive me. I'll change. I promise.

In other news, I shot a test for my third conversation for DP. Here's what that looks like. WHAM BAM.

No, it's completely fine that I'm up at 4:00 AM.

2009-04-01T03:29:00.010-04:00

Here I am.... working on branding. The weekend (a.k.a. everyday last week after Monday) was used to get as much of my DP done before the mid-semester crit, where our entire senior animation class met. It was CA-RAZAY! (Crazy... I added some syllables.) It was really inspiring to see everyone's projects... and what a broad range of work they represent.

Right now, I essentially just finished the DVD cover for my reel.... which has actually played a big role in how the look of my branding has developed. Here it is.

I'm looking at DiscMakers.com to get the DVDs and covers printed. They have a "short-run" service, where you can configure a project just how you need it to be... no minimums. I only need so many of these DVDs... so it seems like a good way to go. I'll keep you posted.

Like I said, the DVD cover has changed the look of my branding (well, I suppose the second pass at my website caused the branding to change a bit....) Here's the front of my business card as it is now. I'm really enjoying my branding at this point. (Wait, no way... seriously? Yeah.) JAZZHANDS.

Website. Take 2.

2009-03-25T01:24:00.003-04:00

I spent all day on another version of my website to better fit in with my branding. WEEEE!!!! There's still a lot to be done. The time it's taking me to create it, makes me fully aware of how little I know of the process. I'm gonna have to put it on hold to move onto some other assignments, because we have our mid-semester crit Monday for Degree Project... and I have some goals to achieve before then (no big deal).

Here's what the website is looking like. Feedback would be much appreciated!

Beat. B-B-Beat.

2009-03-21T17:13:00.004-04:00

Because it's been a week since my last post, I thought I'd throw my most recent Beat Research assignment up. Here it is. In a few weeks, we have a video assignment due. I'm considering putting a track together and doing some strata-cut animation to accompany it. (Maybe I should explain it a little.) Strata-cut animation is a technique that involves creating imagery within in a log of some material, slicing off the end and taking a frame of the end of the log after each slice. (I've used clay... I've also heard about using loaves of bread.) Because I don't want it to take super long, I'm thinking about keeping it pretty abstract so I can get a bunch of it done in a reasonable amount of time. Strata-cut is something I've tried before.

Here's a short piece with a few explorations in strata-cut. It's called Terrestrial....

Spring break... you've been good to me.

2009-03-14T23:19:00.007-04:00

Spring break is coming to a close and it's time to reflect....

I spent some time this week creating an animated intro for my montage. The sequence is in the style of my branding. It's ink on index cards with some light compositing in After Effects. I still have to create an end title card with my info.... that'll be easy-peasy, though.

In other news, I've moved on to working through the gouache sequences in my first conversation for DP. I just got through painting and cutting out all of the elements for one of the scenes. I'll be shooting that tomorrow. (Cross your fingers.) It's not looking like I'm gonna finish my first conversation for class Monday, as I had hoped. (I'm kind distraught about it, to be honest.) On a lighter note, though, I scanned in the first background!! WOO! (How exciting.)

Degree-Project-athon

2009-03-10T12:18:00.003-04:00

Being spring break, I'm obviously drinking heavily.... and by "drinking heavily" I mean "trying to get as much schoolwork done as possible". I'm currently plowing through another scene in Pencil, which, coincidentally, is the last scene in Pencil for this conversation. And a side-note: you know you're spending too much time on a certain task when your Pandora stations are playing repeats.

I've been splitting my time between creating an opening animation for my montage and working through Degree Project. I'm hoping to finish my first conversation by the end of the week (including the gouache cut-out scenes). Here's a still from the scene I'm nearing completion on in Pencil:

Montage. Branding. Oh snap.

2009-03-04T00:47:00.001-05:00

I'm continuing to hone my montage. I've created a couple of little pieces just for my montage. This is a still from one of the little tests I did, starring Andy G.

We're now working on branding, and coming up with the look of all of our packaging (DVD sleeves, business cards, postcards, etc.). We need 3 ideas for class this week (some hours from now) I thought I'd throw some samples up here... (I'm kind of partial to the last one.)

What's going on here?.... Honestly.

2009-02-27T09:18:00.006-05:00

I've been looking for a raster program so I can cut this Flash habit I have. I've been really successful in finding Pencil, which is freeware. The only problem is that it's still in beta, so it's kind of glitchy at times. I downloaded a free trial of TVPaint the other day, with the thought that it would be a good option for a solid program that would do the task of frame-by-frame raster animation. I'm gonna stick with Pencil. I think the screen capture says it all.

PencilTVPaint

I'm sure it's a powerful program, but seriously... it hurt my brain looking at it.

Time time time.

2009-02-22T01:42:00.007-05:00

I should not be writing a blog at this hour... for two reasons: 1. I shouldn't be awake right now. and 2. My verbal skills suffer tremendously when I'm a little deprived of sleep. Anywho, here's the news...

I'm working on the, previously 11-second, sink scene for my DP. I say "previously 11-second" because I exported the image sequence out of Pencil.... and turns out I've only animated just over 8 seconds. Yippee. (That's a sarcastic "Yippee".) I'm close to finishing the scene-- it'll happen most likely before the weekend is over. Technically, (for serious), we're supposed to have 50% of our project done this coming Monday. I think this scene represents a large portion of the work around this project, even though it'll only be 8-10 seconds of the final 3 minutes (questionable)... it's the one thing that's stalling me. I feel as though the rest is going to be smooth sailing. (At least I hope....) (HAHA.)

A few things have to be done to the scene.... I have to create a 3-frame loop for Matt... and maybe have him change his expression...we'll see. And as you can see, I have to shade Joe's right arm. Touches. That's all.

I have to sleep.

LATER.

Using my time wisely

2009-02-16T14:32:00.003-05:00

This has been a hyper-productive weekend (regardless of the fact that I have close to nothing to show for it, HAHA). I've been working on my montage (mostly) and I got a good start on building my website (the design of it more than anything). I'll be honest with you, I don't know web design. I don't DO that, I'm basically learning as I go-- looking at help files and whatnot. Anywho, if you're interested, I uploaded the very beginnings of the site. You can see that here. Feedback is much appreciated, as I don't really know what I'm doing. HA.

I'm continuing to work on Degree Project. Things are happening. It's scary. I think my brain is suffering. I could be wrong. Here's a little clip for you to snack on. It's just a 5-frame cycle for when Joe is brushing his teeth. Enjoy!

A studio something

2009-02-13T08:55:00.005-05:00

I'm starting to realize how little difference there is between my school work and my work at Plymouth Rock Studios. There is a strange play between the two where each informs on the other. One of my concerns, though, is that working in the same style and technique for both the project I'm on at the studio and my DP might turn into being dull and boring. On the other hand, I think the style that the two are forming is continuing to grow and get more polished. As of right now, the project at the studio is just an animatic, so I'm not working on finished animation just yet. DP, though. Haha. Oh DP. DP is just so-- it's being worked on, to say the least.

Here's a frame from the animatic for the project at the studio. It's going to be part of documentary called A World Without Story.... and I think that's all I can disclose as of now.

Being loud.

2009-02-10T14:48:00.002-05:00

I'm currently working on a soundtrack for my montage. It will be comprised solely of sounds that I can make with my mouth. I created a track like this before, in the brainstorming phase of my Degree Project. I'm just hoping it fits. Oh yeah, by the way, here's a link to the track I made before. And trust me, this new one is going to be even more EPIC.

An Assessment

2009-02-08T13:16:00.004-05:00

This is worth blogging about. It is safe to say that I find myself in over my head. I'm currently in the thick of an 11-second sequence for my Degree Project. Thus far, I know I've put at least a solid six hours into it, and I don't think it's even halfway done yet. It is the third sequence of animation that I've gotten to do, and it's proving to be a task to get through it. The reason I think it's taking so long is that it's all one continuous shot.... a bit over 11 seconds, 2 camera moves, and hand animation.... and for this conversation, I'm working tonally, in Pencil.... so a lot of time has to go into each frame to develop the light and shadow.

I am starting to think that I will most likely have to make comprises in the animation of the project to expect to get it done.... based solely on the math.

I'm considering taking a step away for a bit to get a couple more sequences out of the way.... "take a breather", if you will. I'll keep you posted.

And so it begins.

2009-02-03T16:06:00.002-05:00

I started animating my Degree Project this week. It's slow. Boy, is it slow. I'm just hoping that I'll find a speedy workflow soon... and become a relentless animation machine. Here's a little bit of the animation that I've gotten done. That was done in Pencil.

Okay. Blog break is over. Back to animatin'.

Holy Animatic!

2009-01-27T11:20:00.007-05:00

I'm nearing completion of the animatics for my Degree Project. I thought I'd post a few of the frames (because I enjoy how they came out). In fact, I might just try to animate a conversation completely in this style. I drew these in Pencil, which is a freeware frame-by-frame animator. It's still in beta, so it has its bugs-- but I like it.

Domain!!! DOMAIN!

2009-01-24T15:15:00.002-05:00

Yeah, you heard it. I have a domain. smadden.com is SO mine. Now I just have to learn web design. No big deal, though.... hopefully. We'll see.

First blog... how exciting.

2009-01-22T10:10:00.002-05:00

So, here's the scoop: I'm working on my Degree Project for my animation degree. It's been a struggle to figure out what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to work with improv conversation audio, but I didn't know exactly what to do with them. I did a lot of brain work over winter break, and I think I got it. Keep an eye out to see how the project progresses.