Personal animation project....

[MovieStuff]

I was kind of keeping this on the down-low but, after being prompted by several members, decided to go ahead and post a link to a small animation project that I've been working on for a few weeks. Here's a link for those that are interested:

http://www.rogerevans.tv/jq.html

Enjoy!

Roger

PS: Feels good to be working on animation again.

[Andersens Tears]

Love to see work like this - real handmade stuff with lots of care and attention!

Loved the very short clip! Had never seen the show before though!

Jamie

[MovieStuff]

Thanks!

It would appear that there is a weird cutoff on when you click on the link. I suggest that you copy and paste the URL to see the entire page, if anyone is having trouble.

Andreas, why does the website cut off the edge of a linked page? I would think it would just jump to the page in question and leave the forum behind. Ah, the mysteries of the internet....

Roger

[Will2]

I bet the Cartoon Network would pay money for the finished product to run as a bumper. Great work!

[threeinv]

Incredible work by both you and Brandi, Roger! Seeing the step-by-step blog makes it appear so simple, but the results look fantastic. Keep it up and I look forward to future updates!

- Derrick

[mr.skull]

Roger plays with dolls! Actually, Johnny Quest is one of my favorites too. The machine gun shot came out great, and the camera move adds that extra touch. This is going to be quite a project, as each shot is basically a one-off. A lot of sets and puppets to make for only a few seconds each. I bookmarked your site, looking forward to more installments.

Best Regards,
Joel

[MovieStuff]

Thanks for the cudos, guys. I just put another update on the website.

http://www.rogerevans.tv/jq.html

Click on November, etc.

Later!

Roger

[MovieStuff]

For those keeping track, I just posted a final update for the weekend. New animation!

http://www.rogerevans.tv/jq.html

Just click on November and use the jump link for the latest update.

Roger

[MovieStuff]

New stuff on the site....

http://www.rogerevans.tv/jq.html

Later!

Roger

[Scotness]

Roger I'm having a lot of fun following this - what an amazing skill you have - you should put all of this skill and visual style into a feature!

I remember this cartoon too - and thought it was pretty cool -- though as a kid the Thunderbirds ruled my world!

Scot

[Scotness]

In regard to:

By using a high speed shutter, his body position would be "frozen" and exhibit no motion blur which, theoretically, should make him look more animated and less fluid.

I'd say you're 100% right - I HATE IT when films/movies go to fast shutter angles for fight scenes - it doesn't speed it up - it makes it looks like a series of stills and it looks like crap IMHO (but your context is different!)

S

[MovieStuff]

..... I HATE IT when films/movies go to fast shutter angles for fight scenes - it doesn't speed it up - it makes it looks like a series of stills and it looks like crap....

What they are often doing is not using a particularly narrow shutter angle but, rather, shooting everything in super slow motion with a high speed camera. Then they skip frame out X number of frames to restore the normal speed when they want. In other words, if they shot at 480 frames per second, then they would use every 20th frame to get normal 24fps motion. This allows them to have someone throw a punch at regular speed and then suddenly switch to slow motion at the point of impact, all in one shot. But the end result is that the "normal" speed shots all look like they were produced with a narrow shutter blade due to the lack of motion blur.

Roger

[Sasounet]

Hi Roger,

This is very impressive and so cool. I did not even watch that cartoon when I was a kid but just the concept of doing an old cartoon opening in stop motion is the kind of stuff I like to see. The quality of your work is astounding.

I am wondering how will you do all the different animals ? They are more difficult than humans as they do not wear cloths. They might look like toys unless you have some very impressive puppets!

I will be following your progress closely.

François

[Scotness]

..... I HATE IT when films/movies go to fast shutter angles for fight scenes - it doesn't speed it up - it makes it looks like a series of stills and it looks like crap....

What they are often doing is not using a particularly narrow shutter angle but, rather, shooting everything in super slow motion with a high speed camera. Then they skip frame out X number of frames to restore the normal speed when they want. In other words, if they shot at 480 frames per second, then they would use every 20th frame to get normal 24fps motion. This allows them to have someone throw a punch at regular speed and then suddenly switch to slow motion at the point of impact, all in one shot. But the end result is that the "normal" speed shots all look like they were produced with a narrow shutter blade due to the lack of motion blur.

Roger

Brilliant way of doing it

[MovieStuff]

Hi Roger,
This is very impressive and so cool.

Thanks!

I did not even watch that cartoon when I was a kid but just the concept of doing an old cartoon opening in stop motion is the kind of stuff I like to see. The quality of your work is astounding.

I appreciate the kind words. It is nothing but pure fun. No deadlines. No producers standing over your shoulder, etc. Just creativity and handiwork. My business has kept me so busy, I haven't had this much fun in years.

I am wondering how will you do all the different animals ? They are more difficult than humans as they do not wear cloths. They might look like toys unless you have some very impressive puppets!

My whole inspiration for this was that, back in the 60s, they made action figures for all kinds of kids shows seen on Saturday morning TV. But Jonny Quest wasn't a Saturday morning show. It was actually a prime time action-adventure show that came on in the weekday evenings. It only ran one season and was actually considered a failure due to its high production costs per episode. As such, no action figures were ever released for this series. So the genesis for this project is pretending that they did make action figures and, if so, then that is what we would be using. I will probably use a mixture of clay or puppets for the animals. But if they look a bit like toys, that's okay. That's one of the reasons I decided to use a puppet instead of photo cut outs for the running boy/man. The puppet had a more dimensional quality and was more in keeping with the "feel" of the project.

I will be following your progress closely.

PM me your email address and I'll add you to my mailing list. I send that out after each update, even if I don't necessarily post an update notice here. That goes for anyone else here that wants to keep tabs on the project. Just send me your email and I'll let you know what's happening.

Roger