Well, everything was running along smoothly, until Saturday. Several things converged at once to stop the Wendell animation in its tracks.

RESHOOTS

After showing the rough version of the film off to several trusted advisers, the general consensus is that the film is good, but most people aren’t quite sure about the tone at the beginning of the film. It takes a few minutes before you really get the gist of the thing.

So, I’ve been working on a way to fix this, and came up with a new scene to put at the beginning that should set the stage nicely. And, for various reasons, we must shoot this scene on Thursday. So, I’ve had to prep for that. Which includes making a sign to stand outside the art gallery, proclaiming where we are. A six-foot-wide sign, which is currently eight feet tall, though unfinished. I’ll blog more on that later.

So, the bulk of Sunday was spent figuring out how to build the sign, and then, you know, actually building the sign. Most of the hard labor is done, now it’s mostly just gluing things together (God bless Liquid Nail), and finding the right lettering.

COMPOSITING

The second snag started off when I showed the animation off to my brother-in-law Danny, who’s artwork hangs in the film’s gallery. He said he liked the animation, but Wendell didn’t look very well integrated into some of the shots. He looked too clean.

Later that same day, Producer Tom Mumme came over to discuss Thursday’s shoot. I made a DVD of the film with the animation I’d done so far cut into it, and showed it to him in the Poem Pictures screening room. He said he loved the animation, the personality and the emotion I’d put into Wendell. It was just, he didn’t look very well integrated into some of the shots. He looked too clean.

So, I’ve spent the last couple of days trying to improve the compositing of ole Wendell. I think it’s coming along pretty well, but it’s slow while I’m trying to figure out the best things to do. I’ve only got a couple of shots done. I’ll post a comparison soon, as I’d like to hear your thoughts on how I’m doing. I figure it is better to figure out the right system now, so I can apply it to the 19 remaining shots as I animate them, and I don’t have to re-comp every shot once I’ve finished.

Render’s finished. Back to work!

Been doing Lip Sync most of the night. Most all that’s left with Wendell is Lip Sync Stuff. I spent about 3 hours to get 3 seconds worth of dialog properly synced. (Or, should that be syunc?)

The scene I’m working on, in addition to containing the hardest shot in the movie (which I completed about 3 weeks ago) , has 5 seconds of dialog spewing from Wendell, while we cut to three different angles. So, I’m animating it mostly in one stretch, to help the actions match while it cuts. However, the first shot is an Over The Shoulder of Wendell. So, essentially, I’ve been working for 4 hours to see about 1/4 of the back of an animated character who’s jaw waggles in perfect sync with the dialog. Yipee!

It’s looking darn good, though, if you ask me.

Actually, it’s been an interesting shot to work on, because the main part of Wendell that you see is his creepy little floating hand. So, I got to practice a little bit of acting with that, and I also got to practice making it move with weight, and secondary motion on the fingers, and all that good animation stuff.

Well, the test render seems to be done, so I should stick it on the movie and see if it works. If so, then I get to do the final render and shot 28 will be ready for compositing!

Since starting this blog a week ago, I decided that I really need to have the Wendell shots done by the end of August.  At that time, there were 30 shots to go, so I decided finishing 10 a week would get me to that goal.  That means 5 on the weekend, and 1 per night during the week.  7 days later, I have 10 shots done.  Only 20 more to go!

Also, the first Giacomo shot came in from Jim Compher, and it looks great.   Very exciting to have a small piece of the “real” Giacomo in my effects project.  Jim also decided that it would be easier for him to work in Toon Boom than in Flash, so he decided to jump ship.  Guess that means we’re not a pure Adobe house anymore.  But hey, I’m more loyal to my animators than to a software company, and I want him working in whatever software he feels he can do the best work in.

For those keeping score:

• Wendell Shots: 27 / 47
• Giacomo Shots: 1 / 27

If only that were all that was left.  After Wendell, I still have “living” fog to animate, a jail-break sequence set in a 3D world, and a flying carpet chase!

Welcome to this Behind-the-Scenes look at the post-production of “Pupsock & Wendell in THE GALLERY OF DOOM!” I’ve set up this blog to keep people posted on the progress of the film, and to help raise awareness of it. I’ll post on my progress and my process, and invite some of the other people making the movie it to talk about their work.

First, the basics:

• The script was written in May of 2006.
• Principle photography took place in Orlando, FL in January 2007.
• The film was shot over the course of 8 days, on a Panasonic AG-HVX200, in 720p.
• I wrote and directed the film. Thomas Mumme produced it, Jeremy Schneider DP’d it, Ryan C. Wolfgang was the Production Designer, and Chris Santora was the 1st AD and Practical Effects Supervisor.
• The film stars Pupsock Jackson, who was built and puppeteered by Jamie Donmoyer, and voiced by Kevin McGuire. The humans are played by Joey Monasterios and Jeff Gougen.
• We’re currently deep in post-production, currently working on the two animated characters.
• Wendell is a 3D animated character, and is being brought to life via the OpenSource 3D animation package Blender. He was designed by myself, modeled and rigged by Philip Yon, and is being animated by me.
• Giacomo is a 2D animated character, being animated in Flash by Jim Compher and Sharon Jimenez.
• I’ve currently got 17 shots of Wendell completed, out of about 47.
• I did the initial design work for Giacomo, and it was further refined by Sharon. Jim took Sharon’s detailed drawings, and has begun making a simpler version inside Flash.
• The Giacomo team has 0 of 27 shots complete.
• The film is being cut by Adam Miller using Final Cut Pro. I’m doing the compositing in After Effects, on a PC.

I plan on expanding on most of those bullets in future posts, so check back often.