Bathroom Studio

Sometimes, a cartoon has to show his animator how its done!

Its been an odd semester. 2D Pivoted Animation? Easy. Two 3D animations? Easy! Stop-motion animation? "Where are all the rigs?"

We had to spend the first half of the semester building stop-motion puppets that we don't get marked on. So by the time we were ready to animate, the six animation rigs were being used by five other year-groups. Three years of stop-motion students, two years of animation students and anyone else besides. I tried sneaking in over Easter - no luck. I tried coming in extra early - nope. Tried booking a rig so I could be all snooty and go "NO! Is mine now." Noooope. The studio was locked that day. 

So what's an animator to do when he has no where to animate? Set up a small animation studio in his parent's bathroom, of course!

Yes, the toilet was off-limits for a whole day so I could get some animating done. There really aren't enough rigs at the university. Though, I think it would have been okay if we hadn't had to make the stop-motion puppets ourselves. That way we could have all finished before the stop-motion students needed them. Oh well, its done now. Not quite as well as it would have been done at the university, but hey, it wont be the last time I'll be animating from home and it most certainly isn't the first. I've been doing it since I was twelve, so why stop now? Huzzah for animating from home!

RICHERlandTV

I should probably mention that you can find me anywhere by searching for "RICHERlandTV", a tag I use for everything I've worked on. This will at least work for Vimeo, YouTube and Deviantart. Don't search for "Richerland" because they're an Asian packaging company who stole my name, which was very mean of them.

Feel So Pro

Ah feulz leik a profeshinul, innit. Ah gots mesen a copy o tha ToonBoom Animate Pro, mate. Its da nuts, man, da nuts.

That is an example of comedic irony, wherein a professional uses very informal dialogue and colloquialisms which contrast highly with his claims of professionalism. This is often used in many forms of comedy, including cartoons (sometimes even being a large part of the plot). It is interesting how the juxtapositions of characters like this can create a comedic atmosphere. For example, a little blonde girl with pig-tails and a dress swearing and picking her nose while a crowd of people who appear highly educated (perhaps wearing formal attire or even lab-coats) applaud her actions.

... I do have ToonBoom Pro though, and I do feel like a professional now.

Yey!

Now if only I had my own desktop compter to run it on...

Commissioned Work

A tanuki is an animal native to
Japan, where folklore talks
of its shapeshifting abilities.

I feel so proud. I just made some money creating a character sheet for someone. <3
I didn't ask for a specific payment, so they personally valued my work at... Well let's say it's a nice amount that feels like quite a compliment  considering I'm just starting out and it was a simple project!
Thank you anonymous customer! You've made my Easter!

They Might Be Giants

S'up guys. I was just forwarded some music videos by a band called 'They Might be Giants', who've done some stuff for kids that's just brilliant. It doesn't treat kids like drooling idiots, which I like.

I No Longer Have a Beard!

Oh, and here's a little animation I did before joining the course. Back when I had Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. I miss Adobe Preimere Pro. ;~;



Oh and while I'm sharing old things.

Maya Fun

I've been having a bit of a play with Maya. =3

Brakk, the blue guy in the middle, was created from scratch by  myself and rigged using a script by Anthony J Smith. 

Richie on the far right is a modified rig. The original is called 'Andy Rig' and was created by John Doublestein.


Also, UFO.

Aesop's Tales by Hooplakidz

Whilst looking for cut-out animations for kids and trying to get more in touch with the preschool age for my pivoted preschooler animation., I came across this animation by Hooplakidz.




So apparently, its important to teach kids to be suspicious of their sick, dying elders.
Thanks, TV! Another great life lesson taught expertly.

Pivot Pitch

Blockades on the way home

One of my first ideas for the 2D pivoted animation was inspired by a series called 'Through the Dragon's Eye'.
Three young children stumble upon a world where fantasy rules and reality isn't what it seems. They're trapped there and their only way back is by solving riddles. The riddles would be simple and designed to teach preschoolers the properties of various objects. One riddle I thought up involved a troll blocking the path and requesting lemons in return for safe passage. Another is a keyhole that doesn't accept keys but the object riddled on the nearby sign.


The characters are designed to be simple and easy for kids to relate to.

I also sketched up some possible backgrounds to use. I thought a nice watercolour look would be appealing, made to look like something that could be found in a children's book.

Pivot Pitch 2

Some turnarounds for characters designed for the 2D Pivoted animation I'm working on. Remmo, D-Growl and Sam are three orphaned animals trying to make sense of the world. They write songs based on their discoveries. This is an idea I think I'll be holding on to. So yeah, character art!

D.Growl is a little dopey but a great guitarist.

Remmo is suave, cool and a master at the drums.

Sam is the latest edition to the team and
enjoys dancing and providing vocals.

I've also had some vague ideas for songs that the characters could perform, as seen in the concept art and a vague storyboard.

Concept art

A Storyboarded Rhyme

One of my younger friends, aged fifteen, enjoyed the rhyme about meeting the queen (to the right) but another friend (nineteen) found it to be unwitty and ultimately dire. I have to wonder how a member of the key demographic would react. Alas, my collection of child slaves were released by the oppressive EU government last week.




The same nineteen-year-old friend improvised a skit based on the characters, which I found entertaining but ultimately unsuitable due to its heavy political agenda. That can be heard here.