FRANK production blog 39

todays update will be about a scene i had finished months ago…or so i thought.

This week I did an over pass of all the scenes and all animation for FRANK, I was doing edits on a scene I was not happy with. In the process I ended up redoing some if not all the animation. I started redrawing some of the keys when I had the idea, Do I even need this scene? Could I tell this part of the story better? as I often ask myself. And so I went back to the original animatic and boards as I often do when not sure what move to make. The original draft is longer but as I’ve mentioned before on this blog I always feel like its the truest interpretation of what I want to say. It being longer has lead to many cuts being removed or redesigned.

In this scene FRANK plugs the device into the wall using a usb. We focus on FRANK with a neat camera swipe.The other version (original) focuses equally on both FRANK and the device. FRANK plugs the device into the wall but the cord is already at his table and its done off screen with the shot ending on the device and what it wants. Both these scenes work great but I can only pick one. One almost fully animated while the other (longer) cut has to be animated from rough keys to final passes.

As post this I have not decided which scene to go with, I need to give it more time and think about it. I do not mind adding more time to the production and animating a few new cuts, but at the same time I need to stay on schedule.

FRANK production blog 37

Todays update is just a fun picture I’ve put together with the key frames from my most recent shot. I am happy to day the shot is FINAL. Well the animation is, the background is still being tinkered with.

FRANK production blog 33

todays update is a simple color study on the city that FRANK lives in. A few different city concepts with some different mood exploration.

FRANK production blog 29

todays update is some background comparisons on a scene i am currently cleaning up. not much more to say but that this scene was one of the first scenes i worked on when i started production a few years ago. this is one of the scenes that have not change much since the original boarding of the film. the brick patterns and layouts have evolved but the pots, plants and animation are still the same.

color studies

old color test

old storyboard

old storyboard with emphasis on the inside of the apartment

single frame of current clean up scene. the lines are for placement and continuity

FRANK production blog 27

todays update is a oldy but a goody, MOOD BOARDS!

A mood board for those who dont know is a study of the films mood. through the exploration of color one can set the mood of the scene. I made this about 2 years ago, i think i have uploaded these before but they are so good that they deserve a second mention.

old mood board study

old boards

FRANK production blog 26

todays update is some really old concept art

i think i did this about 4 years ago, i think i was actually on a plane from Europe when i colored these. furniture design is something i actually really enjoy. below that is some early pot color palette. this film has a heavy muddy color palette.

old concept art

old concept art

FRANK production blog 25

todays update is about backgrounds!

rather a specific BG (as it is usually abbreviated) or rather a few versions of the opening pan.

i just wanna say thank you to anyone who ever reads this, i appreciate that you took the time to look at my art and read a few of my words. my goal is always to inspired and educate so i don’t mind sharing my process, i like the open source community and i feel myself drifting into that for when it comes to my work. much of the work i share will be spoiler stuff for most and while im trying to not share enough that the project will still leave an impact, i also want to be open and give people a reason to come back to the site, any who thank you enjoy!

1st draft

the above drawing is the 1st draft of the pan background, these were digitally done about 4 years ago in photoshop.

the below drawing was the next version of it and a bit more elaborate. i did this one a long with the rest of the 1st batch in pencil. i really enjoyed drawing this version.

2nd draft pencil and animation paper HD size

3rd draft

the above draft was done about 2 years ago using TVPaint, my main animation program. FRANK will be my 3rd project using it since i bought it why back in 2012. couldn’t find a good version of the pan, so this mock up will have to do.

and finally the latest version of the pan. a more cleaned up and closer to final version. the one we will see in the final project will be a bit different still, these thing never end you just run out of time and have to leave it, such is animation for me.

4th draft almost final!

FRANK production blog 22

tonights update is a few drawings of some plants and pots, FRANKS room has a variety of plants. over the years i have drawn a few plants but mostly sunflowers and roses. deep down i think FRANK is more of a cactus man. i will be doing some more experimenting with plant designs once i have finished all my animation clean up, which is going really well, i have made much progress over the past few weeks and with this corona virus lockdown happening right around this time im sure i will find my self behind my desk animating for longer periods.

cactus plants

variety of plants

FRANK production blog 21

today post is just a few images, some color and some black and white. I have been working non stop on clean up and its moving along very nicely. im excited for future post’s because i will be updating some animatic stuff and some rough animation very soon. stay tooned!

FRANK color study

FRANK animation frame

FRANK production blog 19

i am terrible with setting deadlines, there i said it. i am pretty good at meeting them when they are set by a 3rd party but if i set it, i struggle with meeting them. this applies to my film. i have been working on it daily for a little over 3 years now. that's production work, pre production took longer then that but thats for other reasons.

well im ready to finish this film and set it free in the world, in order to do that i have to set a deadline and i have to work my ass off and try my best to meet the deadline. last week i was going through my scenes thinking it would take me about another year to finish it, i had given myself 2 week to finish every scene. thats 25 scenes 2 weeks per scene, equals a bit over a year.

to my surprise when i actually started doing the final pass, i was knocking out scenes very quicky. i think i did 2 scenes in a night, needless to say i was elated! this has shorten my production time by more then half. my new goal and deadline for final animation is may or june, definitely before summer.

im super happy about this, this has given my a new motivation. i am aiming to premiere FRANK before the end of the year, yay!!

the night i started doing the final pass

one week progress, as you can see the green ones are complete and ready for color

FRANK production blog 16

short update today, just a few thumbnails in black and white, gray scale and color. colors are subject to change, i think i’ve narrowed down the final designs for these scenes.