48 Hour film!

This is my CalArts 48 hour film (meaning that we made it in 48 hours) that I completed with my friend Toniko.



The theme for the year was cactus! Our film was actually pretty tame this year, compared to many. The weekend after everybody finishes their 48 films, we show them in a rowdy, debaucherous screening. This year we even had a legit tumbleweed, in honor of our theme. 48 hour films is easily my favorite character animation tradition.

We both animated (Toniko did a bit more than I) and figured out the story, I comped everything and edited the music to work with the piece, and Toniko did sound design. It was the most brutal crunch time ever for those three days. I was referred to as a 'slavedriver' on perhaps more than one occasion.

It was technically a 72 (75 maybe) hour film, but we nearly finished it in the first 48. Stupid sound design.

Some Animating

You perhaps have already seen this! An assignment for CG animation.

animatin'

I arbitrarily promised myself I'd post something today, after neglecting to for one month and 13 days. So here's an unfinished gangster walk (of a gangster) that I did at the beginning of the year.



And then a little thing I did today.



There's a CG test coming soon too! I suck at finishing stuff.

Animation Practice

(Character copyrighted by Valve, obviously)


I found some awesome Team Fortress 2 rigs earlier, and I just got around to making my first little test with one of them. The rigs are really nice, too - with all the IK/FK switcheroos we nerds could ever dream of. And we do. A lot.

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I woke up one morning to find all my desktop icons were cleared out, replaced by one mysterious video. I don't quite to know to make of it, but it's pretty spooky.

Work

So this summer I managed to land myself a gig doing this banner for an 'insurance lead finding' company's website.

I have no idea what that means or even what they do - but thankfully, I'm just an artist so I don't have to understand, 'real world' things such as these. All I have to do is dick around in After Effects until my eyes bleed. Ah, bliss.


Sidenote: This thing really needs shoowshy sound effects. Please make them at your discretion. 

Tahoe

I went to Tahoe earlier their summer. It was rather majestic!

I don't really know how to paint or anything, so this will have to do. Click to embiggen!

I can bear this no longer

The other day, my friend told me that she wanted to help me color a little animation I made. Of a bear.

I was thrilled! 

 I think she did a great job.

Thanks, friend. The artistic flame burns within you!

Dorks

This week over on our CalArts group blog, Doodlepoops, we did each other. Caricatures, that is.

Like I said there, my friend Louise is a huge, freakin', ginormous nerd who watches too much Battlestar Galactica.

As am I. Here's to nerds.

Because nobody else will understand this reference at all.

Knee Cap and the Boy Who Loved Him

Crosspost from doodlepoops. Way too much fun

Cats in Space

Alternate title: How to Animate Without Actually Doing Anything

So here's some crappy (but maybe-sorta-polished looking?) animation I did for Fran's class. It's was an exquisite corpse project, where we had to transition into the next student's piece of animation. For me, it was just an exercise in puppet tool induced laziness, and learning how After Effect can make something that's essentially terrible look slightly less terrible.

Take the first space fight scene: there are only has 3 drawings of the astronaut and 4 of the cat. I'm pretty sure there are only like 18 drawings in the whole film. That's exactly the type of thing you shouldn't be proud of, but I totally am. I feel dirty.


Sound effect credz to the Laura Berg.

Producers Show Intro!

We got to animate a character jumping out of a box for the producers show opening. Here's my part, doctored up a little for the internet.

FILMS 'N MORE

Hello everybody! You have probably seen it by now, but if not, please watch my fil-um:



Making this film (and any film in general) was an insanely brutal, soul devouring-but-hopefully-worthwhile endeavor.

At some future date (soon?) I intend to gather up all of the as much of my preproduction materials and try to map out the winding path this badboy took to completion. It's cool and all to see a final product, but I think it's much more fun if you get to see all the steps, experiments and failures it took to get to that point. I have a lot of those.

Now that I've finished, I get to do other stuff. I think my body is really sensitive to stimulants, so sometimes I like to drink a bunch of coffee, get all cracked out, and then go to figuredrawing. Today was one of those days. I took my laptop and did some digital painting, which is something I haven't really done before. Here's a selection:

(The numbers are the length of the pose in minutes)

 Anyway. Those were fun. I'll have some other stuff to post real soon so don't touch that dial.

animating as a break from animation

'Midterm' in our animation class today. 

3 hours, a model sheet, 40 frames, two random words.

My words were naughty and cough.

Didn't quite finish, but I hope to polish it up soon. Animating nonfilm stuff is great


sidenote: holySHIT animating in Flash feels so good. I chose to animate my film traditionally this year, and while it's forcing me to be more strategic and generally to think more about animation before I do it, it's way harder, I'm way crappier at it, and  and it's a hell of a lot less fun. Next year, digital baby

[insert cryptic film post here]

To all of my dear friends wondering just where the HELL I've been cowardly hiding -

I appreciate the concern. But there has been no hiding - only the ceaseless, soul grinding march towards April 19th.

Films.

And maybe perhaps a little of the hiding.

NINJAPOCALYPSE

Blog, it's been a little while. Sorry, I've been working on my film and stuff. You know.

Here's an unrelated little CG test to keep myself from going crazy. Motion blur sort of broke him when I rendered it, and at first I was like 'aww' - but then I was like 'aww YEAH.'

Sometimes when Maya breaks it makes things cooler.


Ninja Test in Maya from Michael Piazza on Vimeo.

OH GOD HOW DID I GET HERE?

I am not good with computer.

(Best viewed in conjunction with this guy and this other guy too.)

CalArts gallery show.  ~ 7 feet tall of weird.

SPACE

Film layout?

Perhaps I have said too much.