Here is the final shot:

Higher Res Here

I made a conscious effort to preserve the various stages of my decision-making process. I've detailed my process below.

A necessary caveat: The following only one of many, many, many ways to think about a shot.

1) Blocking Pass (download)-

At this point I've done some planning/sketching. I have some idea of what I want to do- but I'm also playing. I see many of my ideas through- but I am trying to only animate what I absolutely HAVE TO to get my idea across. The following are the ideas I am trying to convey:

• Oblivious- charge forward
• Surprised- hits wall
• Testing- nudges the wall
• Examining- looks around
• Understanding- sees the wall
• Futility- rigorous scramble fails
• Determination- tries to make a bold extension over the wall
• Desperation- fires gun to get up

2) Revised Blocking Pass (download)-

I am still open to larger changes at this point, but I am NOT CHANGING MY PREMISE. I am fighting the urge to completely re-block or revamp my entire animation. I know I will always be thinking of fresh ideas, but I've gone down the path of constant reworking before- it can become a self destructive process of never finishing an idea. My main changes and why:

• I decide the TESTING and EXAMINING moments are too similar. So I try replacing TESTING with CONFUSION- instead of nudging the wall the robot keeps walking into it.
• I try to strengthen the UNDERSTANDING moment by adding a miniature take (surprised small jump).
• I want to tell my story as efficiently as possible. I am looking for opportunities to CUT and MERGE actions- so I merge my SCRAMBLE with the FINAL EXTENSION instead of having them as separate actions.
• Feedback from friends tells me the ending does not read. I decide to make it much more pronounced- falling on the gun barrel and blasting way up into the sky.

3) Refined Blocking Pass (download)-

I am trying to strengthen poses and finalize main ideas.

• The ending lacks suspense and texture- I extend the robot's last push to emphasize DESPERATION by having him get into a more precarious position (out balancing on only two legs).

4) Spline Pass (download)-

Adding interpolation would seem like a time to add nuance and complexity to a shot, but I primarily use this pass to SIMPLIFY.

• I CUT the TESTING/EXAMINING section (walking into the wall a second time). I may enjoy this character moment, but it isn't necessary to tell my story. The audience knows the situation as soon as the robot hits the wall- and if I'm not providing new information I will bore people. How the robot climbs the wall is the main conflict.
• I CUT the UNDERSTANDING section (small take jump). Same reason as above.

5) Spline/Polish Pass (download)-

Making sure all of my ideas read and adding any last fun moments.

• I ADD an initial gunfire so the audience understands the "tools" available to the character. Many viewers were still confused by new elements at the last moment.
• I extend the moment of precarious balance and desperation with an extra stretch- trying to solidify the idea of desperation.

6) Render Pass (download)-

This is not just streamers and cool effects- I use this pass to further clarify ideas.

• I blink the light on the robot's head to indicate when he will fire. This way I can further clarify and anticipate the sudden ending.
• I add the large laser blasts to further clarify the volatility of the gunshots.

Hope this is helpful! There are obviously many other things that go on when thinking about a shot- this was a very general overview.

Feel free to ask questions or demand clarification in the comments section.

-Tom

Character concepts:

In action:

More to come!

-Tom

(right click here and save as for HD)

The old FJORG walk- thought it might be fun to compare:

Happy animating!

-Tom

In 2006, I was lucky enough to be accepted as a student volunteer at SIGGRAPH. It changed my life. Attending SIGGRAPH launched my career- as well as the careers of many of my colleagues. Landing an internship at Pixar was in no small way influenced by the knowledge and friendships I gained from being a part of SIGGRAPH.

And being an SV is not just a way to meet professionals, but a way to build lasting relationships with other aspiring students. The other student volunteers you meet at SIGGRAPH will be your most valued asset for years to come. These are the people that will help you the most in those first crucial steps into a career. If nothing else, becoming a student volunteer is an amazing way to attend SIGGRAPH practically free of charge.

If you are a student, or have recently graduated, tomorrow is the LAST DAY to apply. Don't miss out.

Find out how to apply.

-Tom

Sometimes animation is  so darn silly and fun.

Be sure to check out the HonkBarn Blog as well!

In Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son, Michael Chabon writes about contemporary 3D animated films under a chapter entitled "The Splendors of Crap."

Chabon's dismal generalizations about computer animation are a bit unfair, but they hold some wonderful insights into creativity and storytelling. For instance, Chabon writes that the crap tv show he watched as a child was incomplete. "In its very incompleteness, born of lack of budget, the loose picaresque structure, and even of cancellation itself, it hinted at things beyond its own borders. There was room for you and your imagination in the narrative of the show." (Chabon, 80)

Chabon goes on to criticize computer animation:

"[The] ample budgets, large crews, and generally high level of technical prowess boasted by even the most execrable of the [CG animated films] enable their creators to employ the prevailing Star Wars-inspired aesthetic of packing every scene, every frame, with incident and filigree, without the concomitant open-ended structure that made the early Star Wars films, at least, a likely locus of fantasy play both for children and, in the form of fan fiction, adults.

The new studio-made CGI products are like unctuous butlers of the imagination, ready to serve every need or desire as it arises; they don't leave anything implied, unstated, incomplete. There is no room in them for children. And so they never form the basis for my own kids' games." (Chabon, 80-81)

Chabon's criticism is very similar to the mild concern expressed by filmmaker Spike Jonze about animators. In terms of animation acting, I sometimes feel as if this comes from an animator's ability to isolate gestures and ideas in a scene. We tend to section off each movement and idea into its own screen time and screen space- rather than engaging in the struggle to find elegant combinations. These isolated actions sometimes provide simplistic (rather than simple) acting choices. The most unique acting moments often come from various known gestures and actions being interwoven. Chabon makes an interesting insight into this idea by describing the evolution of Legos.

When Chabon was a child, Legos were a pile of bricks with no instructions. Today, Legos come in box sets with detailed manuscripts made to replicate some star speeder or pirate ship. Chabon initially writes the box set "modules" are a horrible advent that stops a child from creative thinking, but he refutes himself in the following observation:

"The power of Lego is revealed only after the modules have been broken up or tossed, half finished, into the drawer. You sit down to make something and start digging around in the drawer or container, looking for a particular brick or axle, and the Legos circulate in the drawer with a peculiarly loud crunching noise. Sometimes you can't find the piece you're looking for , but a gear or a clear orange cone or a horned helmet catches your eye. Time after time, playing Legos with my kids, I would fall under the spell of the old familiar crunching. It's the sound of creativity itself,  of the inventive mind at work, making something new out of what you have been given by your culture, what you know you will need to do the job, and what you happen to stumble on along the way.

All kids- the good ones, too -  have psycho tinge of [Toy Story's] Sid, of the maker of hybrids and freaks. My children have used aerodynamic, streamlined bits and peices of a dozen Star Wars kits, mixed with Lego dinosaur jaws, Lego aqualungs, Lego doubloons, Lego tibias, to devise improbably beautiful spacecraft far more commensurate than George Lucas's with the mysteries of other galaxies and alien civilizations." (Chabon, 56-57)

We may be able to learn from this as animators, or any prospective creative professional. We can freely take in the cliche, the overused, the generic, and the absurd to make our own Lego drawer. Make your drawer as robust and diverse as possible. A well crafted handful from such a drawer might reveal ideas that are no longer generic at all.

-Tom

http://www.carlosbaena.com/resource/anim_DemoReels.html

http://splinedoctors.com/2009/08/more-on-demo-reels/

The guidelines above are fantastic! But many animators only relate them to demo reels. The people that write these guidelines are entertainers, and much of their advice is applicable to films, shots or any creative endeavor.

For instance,  few would willingly announce their reel is 45 minutes long. Quite clearly, a 45 minute demo reel would have to be UNBELIEVABLY entertaining for an employer to even press play. Most likely, a reel labeled "a whole 45 minutes of animation" would be tossed in the garbage before being viewed. And yet, it seems a common habit for people to advertise their personal films by the length.

If you have browsed the internet's offerings of animated shorts- both good and bad- you've probably come across headings like this:

"Watch my film, it is a whole 20 minutes of animation and I did it allbymyself! I worked on it for 4 years."

Maybe because animation is so technically laborious, animators like to announce the validity of their work in terms of its difficulty. As if they are announcing to the world: "Hey! it was actually really hard to make such a long movie, so the least you could do is watch it!".

There appears to be a notion that spending more time/effort on a film results in a longer film. In a very basic sense, that is correct. But once the film reaches a professional level, a significant amount of time must be spent making it shorter- just like a demo reel.

Which is why I suggest the the demo reel tips.

Like a demo reel, a film is stronger when trimmed down to the best and most necessary shots. Both a good film and a good demo reel will hook you at the start, and finish with something memorable. Personality, unique characters, lack of distractions... all good advice for a demo reel AND an animated film.

This is not to say there are no differences between reels and films, but much of the core advice is sound. Your film audience is not so different from the animation recruiter that must sit and watch reels all day. We are all people with too much to see and do. Anything from a silly joke to news of genocide across the world is fighting for our attention every minute. Consequently, a joke that boasts ten minutes of set-up better make us pee ourselves laughing- or else the joke needs to be much, much shorter.

Imagine an animation prompted by a quotation reminiscent of Blaise Pascal (I've also heard it attributed to Mark Twain).

"I apologize for the length of this film, as I did not have time to make it shorter."

-Tom

A cool new site hosted by some very talented animators. Check it out:

Speaking of Animation

These guys are spoiling us. Take advantage of their openness to answering submitted questions- it is a rare find.