TUMBLR!!

Have you seen our Tumblr page??  If you haven't already you should come check it out!

 We're doing a lot of wip posts over there so mosey on over and take a look:

http://studiogattai.tumblr.com/

Animation Sneak peek!!

Holy crap have we been busy!

We're officially entering crunch mode on the project...What that means for those of you who don't know is that I won't be getting much sleep for the foreseeable future.  Hopefully that translates into a sweet finished product for you all to enjoy.

After completing the last layout image, I was excited for a little change of pace.  I decided I would do a quick rough animation of the shot.  As you can see, it's a fairly simple head turn.  This animation was both super fun and really useful.  It gave me a chance to take a break from drawing layouts non stop, and it also helped me work out some kinks in my 3d to 2d animation process.  I was able to see where I could simplify the drawings, and where I could re-use drawings of certain poses effectively to streamline the transition to 2d animation.  I was going to clean this up a little bit more, but because I got such a positive reaction to the rough animation from my first production test, I have decided to leave the animation rough like this as both a stylistic and time management choice.  I personally think it will re-introduce a nice hand drawn feel to the piece.

Below is the original 3d to 2d test for reference:


3d to 2d workflow "Use the Tools" from zero seven on Vimeo.

We're also going to be ramping up for Anime-Expo coming up in July.  This is the first year we'll be participating in the artist alley, so if everything goes according to schedule I'll have all of June to create some really nice print pieces for the con.  Keep your eyes peeled for more updates!!

Stay tuned...

-07-

Layout...

Alright, time for another exciting update!

introducing.....LAYOUTS!!

For those of you who don't know, after storyboards are completed the key animators are assigned layouts.  The layout is basically the blueprint of the scene.  It's what all the different departments get with directions on who handles what.  Usually at this stage, the animation director will check the key animator's work and make sure that all the characters are "on model".  After that the layouts are sent to the different departments and animation begins!!

Stay tuned for more next week!

-07-

Starting to come together...

Alright!  After all that work it's finally starting to come together.  It's starting to get really exciting now.  I have a little preview of the storyboards for the short.

For those of you who don't know, storyboards are basically a comic book version of the film.  Live action movies, animation and even music videos usually have storyboards.  This allows the producer to get a rough idea about the budget and the creator to lay out his vision so everyone can see and understand what's going on.  In Japanese animation, the storyboard artist is usually the Director.  So for a movie like "Princess Mononoke", Hayao Miyazaki would draw the entire movie's storyboards.  If you've never seen any of Miyazaki's storyboards, I highly recommend picking up a copy from whatever your favorite movie of his is.(Mine are Castle of Cagliostro, and Laputa: Castle in the Sky)  It is truly awe inspiring to see just how close to his vision the movies are.  For Japanese TV anime, there's usually an episode director who reports directly to the supervising, or series director.

We decided to shorten the project down to a music video format, so in total I created 35 pages of storyboards with a total of 70 scenes.(and that's only for 2 minutes!!)  A scene is defined as: "any time the camera changes", or, "any time there is a new background."  So there's still quite a bit of work ahead and I'm really gonna have to bust my butt if I'm going to make my July deadline...

Guess I better get back to it--

Stay tuned for more!!

-07-

"It's gotta have a robot!"

First look at the Pirate's raiding craft, I wanted it to have a very high performance custom feel to it.  Maybe I've been watching too much Fast and Furious...

I was actually quite influenced by the anime "Outlaw Star" when designing this mech.  I wanted to make something that felt like it had been customized a bit for racing.  I imagined that when these asteroid miners weren't busy mining asteroids for precious metals, they were racing through the tunnels they had created for fun.  Of course this comes in handy when they are forced to turn to piracy to survive.  I really do love mecha and I felt like any sci-fi project I work on HAS TO have a mech or robot or even both.  So here you go!

Stay tuned for more,


-07-

Kiki

Let's face it... Kiki was never that great at flying to begin with...

Speaking of "Kiki's Delivery Service," have you heard that there is a live action adaptation of the movie set to release in Japan next month?  Here is the trailer:

I don't know what disturbs me more, the creepy CG version of Jiji the cat or the overly aged appearance of Kiki... or the fact that there is a live action adaptation at all!!  Personally, I find the original animated movie to be a beautifully craft film, and I don't know what the purpose of such a live action adaptation accomplishes.  Perhaps it's an attempt to reach audiences who normally don't watch animation, or maybe the film producers figured that today's kids haven't seen the older animated version and will see this version as new and amazing.  Regardless of the reasons, if you haven't seen the original animated film, "Kiki's Delivery Service," I highly recommend you check it out.  If you happen to see this live action version, I'd be curious to hear your review.

Saraba!!

Leather seats optional...

The interior of the Pirate's ship was pretty challenging and a lot of fun.  I wanted to put in details like exposed panels and wiring to show that this ship is designed with a function over form mentality to contrast the streamlined clean look of the Nobleman's ship.  Also, I designed this ship with zero gravity in mind, this allowed me to have a bit more freedom in how I arranged things like hallways and where I mounted seats.  In the "Interior Details 005" image you can see those seats are mounted in a cylinder.  That cylinder is mounted to the ceiling and allows the user to orient the seat in any way they like.  The docking hallway actually extends vertically from an opening in the top of the bridge.  Even though mechanical design is still challenging I had the most fun working on these sets.  Look forward to seeing them in action soon!

Stay tuned!

-07-