Lyka Reel

I apologize for not updating as often as I had hoped, things have been pretty busy with the film. Scheduled for completion in late August of 2010, here is the latest Lyka reel as of Feb 24th. It's almost a month since then so I plan on making another soon.

Tyler has moved onto doing line drawings of the layouts, and Jay and I will be field recording more sound for my film this weekend. My goal for the end of this semester is to have the major scenes of my film finished and the rest at least to full animation.

Over the summer I plan to finish the rest of the animated scenes, add shadows, color, and prepare the film for film festivals.

Thanks for staying tuned, here is the latest Lyka Reel.

Tyler's Backgrounds and Jay's Sounds

Another friend, Justin Norman, has joined the My Dad the Giant production team. Even in the first week he was able to produce many 'one hit' sounds that will be used in my Lyka Reel as well as the final film. I plan to gather up some props for him to use in creating more great sounds for the production.

Tyler Scarlet has been hard at work as always and has produced many great backgrounds and layouts. Here are some examples of what he has been working on.


These first two(Above) are perspective layouts. This will allow me to animate on the correct floor plane so that my characters don't go floating off into space when I make the final edit. Again, he has been producing these with great speed, something I am very thankful for.
Another final line layout. Layouts like this really help my animation along by giving them a solid space to work in.



Every week Tyler comes to me with new thumbnails of backgrounds, we critique and adjust. So far all adjustments have been minor and the project is chugging along nicely.

Some finished thumbnails of the Atrium in which the father works, and a value study of the candle pile(shot 02). Tyler has been able to take my vision and really bring it to life, adding his own touch and expertise. I can't wait to see what the finished backgrounds will look like!

Keep an eye out for my Lyka reel which will be uploaded either late Sunday or early Monday.

Update 01/23/2010

A quick update on some tests. Many of the tests haven't been exported to quicktimes yet, but here are a few to let everyone know that the project is still chugging along. :)

Emilio Test

Not a piece that will be in the film, this animation was just a way for me to run through some of my concepts and theories. I have some tight construction that I'm trying out, realistic cloth physics, and a mixture of soft and hard shadow edges.

I don't know if I will be able to do every shot in my film like this, but here's hoping. Animation always comes first, so its the performance I will inevitably be focusing on.

Layout and Backgrounds

The very talented Tyler Scarlet of my schools illustration department has decided to help me on my project. Here are just a few of the layout concepts he has created based off of my story boards. You can already see the level of quality he is producing, and quick too!

Above: Final thumbnail sketch
Below: Thumbnails, prop sketches, and concept sketches.

Concept: "A commentary on master apprentice relationships in the family."

Brianelli, a world famous renaissance painter, is trying to finish his latest painting but his son Emilio keeps getting in the way. Emilio's struggle for acknowledgment from his giant father conflicts with his fathers alone time. Only too late does Brianelli realize his son looks up to him.

Re-edited down to 4:30 min.

(Left-White Numbers)
Timer Minutes:Seconds:Frames(24 Fps)

(Right-Red Numbers)
Shot breakdown

Inspiring surroundings!

While I was interning at Disney I noticed that they had the placed rigged perfectly for inspiration! Because my film is set between the 15th and 17th century I wanted to decorate it with a renaissance look. I got everything you see there, spare the shelves, for 14 bucks! Thrift stores rock! Complete with a maquette bust of Brianeli, mirror, and scene shelves it's all the inspiration I will ever need.
A lovely shot here of my roommate and fellow animator's desk adjacent to mine, Mel's features a contemporary roma-irish gypsy decor that is both colorful and delightfully homey. Plus with her so close to me, fist pounds are frequent and powerful.