Go fourth and animate!
0:06 Morning
Animation Wild Card presents, @sean_willets:⠀
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Hey there! I work as a stop motion animator, current place of work being @stoopidbuddystoodios. Iʼve worked on Robot Chicken, Buddy Thunderstruck, SuperMansion, and Iʼm currently working on one of the Stoodioʼs newest shows.⠀
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I live in beautiful Burbank, California, and was born and raised in Glendale. I got started in animation during the free time I had from being homeschooled, and my parents pushing me to pursue what I wanted to do, which helped me focus my talents and get me where I am. On the side, I've also drawn a lot, so itʼs been a natural transition for me to move into 2D Animation with this short. I hope that it shows my ability in that area!⠀
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You can check out my work on YouTube, that includes a lot of my LEGO work here. ⠀
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Hey there! I work as a stop motion animator, current place of work being @stoopidbuddystoodios. Iʼve worked on Robot Chicken, Buddy Thunderstruck, SuperMansion, and Iʼm currently working on one of the Stoodioʼs newest shows.⠀
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I live in beautiful Burbank, California, and was born and raised in Glendale. I got started in animation during the free time I had from being homeschooled, and my parents pushing me to pursue what I wanted to do, which helped me focus my talents and get me where I am. On the side, I've also drawn a lot, so itʼs been a natural transition for me to move into 2D Animation with this short. I hope that it shows my ability in that area!⠀
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You can check out my work on YouTube, that includes a lot of my LEGO work here. ⠀
Sean Willets
Director / Animator / Creator, @sean_willets, shared a few cool timelapses showing us a behind the scenes look at the process of making the short, Morning!⠀
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Creating the right environment for your animation is an art in itself, and these timelapses show Sean's approach to background design and digital painting for animation. Every artist has a unique set of influences, and it's fun to see some of Sean's flicker by in these timelapses ranging from The Fox and the Houd, Pocahontas, and Bambi.
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Creating the right environment for your animation is an art in itself, and these timelapses show Sean's approach to background design and digital painting for animation. Every artist has a unique set of influences, and it's fun to see some of Sean's flicker by in these timelapses ranging from The Fox and the Houd, Pocahontas, and Bambi.
Morning! Timelapse 1
Morning! Timelapse 2
Morning! Timelapse 3
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Animation Wild Card presents, @joe.heinen (AGAIN - HUZZAH!) for Round 3 :⠀
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Joe Heinen is a stop motion animator living and working out of Portland, OR. Born to a ghosthunter mother and rocket scientist father, Joe became interested in stop motion animation at a young age, eventually deciding to pursue that interest professionally. He studied film and animation at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Joe has spent the last six years working on such stop motion projects as Anomalisa, Tumble Leaf, and Cosmos. He is currently animating on Wendell & Wild. When not animating, Joe can be found making artisan ice cream and goofy drawings.⠀
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Joe Heinen is a stop motion animator living and working out of Portland, OR. Born to a ghosthunter mother and rocket scientist father, Joe became interested in stop motion animation at a young age, eventually deciding to pursue that interest professionally. He studied film and animation at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Joe has spent the last six years working on such stop motion projects as Anomalisa, Tumble Leaf, and Cosmos. He is currently animating on Wendell & Wild. When not animating, Joe can be found making artisan ice cream and goofy drawings.⠀
Joe Heinen
Director / Animator / Creator, @joe.heinen , shared a bit about the process of making Square Squad 4:
Here’s a quick before and after of rig removal. I used a heavy base with a wire to hold the puppet up when it was in the air or in a precarious position. Then I removed it in post with After Effects.
Here’s a quick before and after of rig removal. I used a heavy base with a wire to hold the puppet up when it was in the air or in a precarious position. Then I removed it in post with After Effects.
Rig Removal BTS
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Animation Wild Card presents, @yuyustopmo :⠀
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Hi, I’m Yu, Yu. ⠀
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I’m a stop motion animator/fabricator from Taiwan. I founded my stop motion studio, Shadow Step 踩影子停格動畫工作室, at 2019. Thanks to the opportunity from Animation Wild Card, I can finally finish the Long Cat short which I have had the idea in mind for a while. ⠀
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During the time studying MFA at USC, I met lots of wonderful stop motion people in LA. Got little experience from working and interning at BixPix, Stoopid Buddy, Open the Portal, and Netflix. Although I am currently back home, I will keep on the stop motion works and continue making some original shorts.⠀
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Hi, I’m Yu, Yu. ⠀
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I’m a stop motion animator/fabricator from Taiwan. I founded my stop motion studio, Shadow Step 踩影子停格動畫工作室, at 2019. Thanks to the opportunity from Animation Wild Card, I can finally finish the Long Cat short which I have had the idea in mind for a while. ⠀
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During the time studying MFA at USC, I met lots of wonderful stop motion people in LA. Got little experience from working and interning at BixPix, Stoopid Buddy, Open the Portal, and Netflix. Although I am currently back home, I will keep on the stop motion works and continue making some original shorts.⠀
Yu Yu of Shadow Step 影子停格動畫工作室
Director / Animator / Creator, @yuyustopmo , shared a bit about the process of making LONG CAT :
Here’s the time-lapse from the Long Cat 2. I set up the set at the corner of the living room. All I need to do is cover the outdoor lights and plug in the LED lights in a voltage stabilizer to avoid the light flicker.
I also made the window shape cookie to let the light went through, making the set look more like a real room. Make sure I sit in a comfortable place that won’t kick the stage, and I can start to animate.
Here’s the time-lapse from the Long Cat 2. I set up the set at the corner of the living room. All I need to do is cover the outdoor lights and plug in the LED lights in a voltage stabilizer to avoid the light flicker.
I also made the window shape cookie to let the light went through, making the set look more like a real room. Make sure I sit in a comfortable place that won’t kick the stage, and I can start to animate.
Long Cat 2: Animation Timelapse
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2:09 Eli, Episode 4: Toupee or Play
By: John Sumner
Website: johnsumnerdesign.com
Website: johnsumnerdesign.com
Music: The Melwood Orchestra
Conductor/Trombone: Eli Gunnell
Flute: Gunnar Sumner
French Horn: Laurel Gunnell
Saxaphone: Henry Gunnell
Flute/Piano: Kaden Sumner
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Animation Wild Card presents, John Sumner : ⠀
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John Sumner spent most of his young life as a journeyman, traveling across the country and working a ton of odd jobs. Ultimately, all of these experiences would come in handy as he settled into the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, CA. ⠀
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For the past decade, John has been primarily working as a Production Designer/Art Director/Builder for Film, Television, and Internet Content, with a focus on stop-motion.⠀
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When John isn't working on professional jobs, you can usually find him carving tikis, drawing comics, and trying not to get his butt kicked by his wife and kids in Tae Kwon Do.⠀
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You can see examples of John’s work on his website: johnsumnerdesign.com
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John Sumner spent most of his young life as a journeyman, traveling across the country and working a ton of odd jobs. Ultimately, all of these experiences would come in handy as he settled into the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, CA. ⠀
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For the past decade, John has been primarily working as a Production Designer/Art Director/Builder for Film, Television, and Internet Content, with a focus on stop-motion.⠀
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When John isn't working on professional jobs, you can usually find him carving tikis, drawing comics, and trying not to get his butt kicked by his wife and kids in Tae Kwon Do.⠀
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You can see examples of John’s work on his website: johnsumnerdesign.com
John Sumner
Below, Sumner described some of the trials and tribulations of his short this week, and up next, we'll be sharing a bit more about John Sumner as an artist!⠀
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Interesting events in the making of this episode:⠀
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1. Toupee or Play is actually Episode 3 in my series starring Eli. Unfortunately, due to user error, I corrupted all of my frames from Episode 2 and had to scrap it. Fret not, it was a very short episode, and quite honestly wasn't that strong. I was on the fence about scrapping it anyway, and this just made it easier for me to decide.⠀
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Interesting events in the making of this episode:⠀
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1. Toupee or Play is actually Episode 3 in my series starring Eli. Unfortunately, due to user error, I corrupted all of my frames from Episode 2 and had to scrap it. Fret not, it was a very short episode, and quite honestly wasn't that strong. I was on the fence about scrapping it anyway, and this just made it easier for me to decide.⠀
2. My kids and my brother-in-law Eli's kids joined in and played their instruments this past weekend to help create sound fx for this spot. The whole project is becoming a family event.⠀
3. I used the Animation feature in Procreate to make the smoke FX for when Eli runs away in this episode. This was my first time animating anything in 2D, it turned out fairly decent, and I really like how it accents the stop-motion animation. I'm thinking this will be a feature that I'll be continuing with as I put together more episodes of Eli.⠀
4. I found this website Domestika based out of Spain, that has great art courses. It's where I'm learning After Effects, and brushing up on my Spanish (subtitles are included). I haven't checked out Skillshare yet, but I imagine it's probably similar. Check out the Domestika link and resources if you get the chance: https://www.domestika.org/en
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Animation Wild Card presents @_Threadwood ⠀
(individually known as @alexiseved & @sdaros):⠀
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We're a married stop-motion animation team hailing from the North East (CT specifically) and currently located in Los Angeles, CA. We've been collaborating and working together for over 10 years!⠀
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We've been a part of many stop-motion projects, big and small, and various studios here in the city. Scott has won an individual achievement Emmy for his animation skills, and we've both had team wins on 2 different Robot Chicken episodes as Animation Director and Art Director. Even with those freelance commitments, we've always prioritized working at home on personal projects that make us laugh.⠀
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We spend a lot of our down time making weird faces/voices/dance moves at each other to try and make the other laugh - and sometimes they make for good shorts. This short series "Magical Cat" was inspired by a dumb song we sing to our cat when we get home from work (or if he emerges from another room after a long snooze). ⠀
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We'd like to make it back to the North East and continue to share our sensibilities and sense of humor with anyone looking for a chuckle, or an eyeball-grabbing commercial.⠀
(individually known as @alexiseved & @sdaros):⠀
⠀
We're a married stop-motion animation team hailing from the North East (CT specifically) and currently located in Los Angeles, CA. We've been collaborating and working together for over 10 years!⠀
⠀
We've been a part of many stop-motion projects, big and small, and various studios here in the city. Scott has won an individual achievement Emmy for his animation skills, and we've both had team wins on 2 different Robot Chicken episodes as Animation Director and Art Director. Even with those freelance commitments, we've always prioritized working at home on personal projects that make us laugh.⠀
⠀
We spend a lot of our down time making weird faces/voices/dance moves at each other to try and make the other laugh - and sometimes they make for good shorts. This short series "Magical Cat" was inspired by a dumb song we sing to our cat when we get home from work (or if he emerges from another room after a long snooze). ⠀
⠀
We'd like to make it back to the North East and continue to share our sensibilities and sense of humor with anyone looking for a chuckle, or an eyeball-grabbing commercial.⠀
Alexis and Scott
Animator / Co-Creator, @sdaros from @_threadwood , shared a bit about the process of making Magical Cat Episode 4:
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"It always takes me a long time to get my first frame because I notice new imperfections every time I place a puppet in front of the camera and take a test frame. Once I got the first frame locked in for this episode, things moved pretty smoothly. The camera was on a slider which I animated by hand. I try to keep my animation workspace clean and tidy while animating, especially with clay, because clutter stresses me out and it invites dust, dirt, small debris, etc. into the frame. I don’t usually use any kind of armature for these, but I did put a hard piece of Sculpey (@sculpey_official) inside of his head so that it wouldn’t deform too much as I pushed it down each frame. ⠀
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There were only 2 big changes/moves in this episode (the sudden wake up and the final drop), but changes like that require major re-sculpting which can take up to an hour for a single frame. You might notice larger gaps between me touching the puppet towards the end, and that’s because I was getting tired and slowing down. The longer I work on a shot, the harder each frame becomes. So when I’m starting to hit that wall, I’ll sculpt, take the frame, and then break for 5-10 mins before touching the puppet again. You might also notice the lights turning on and off a lot at the end, and that’s because of power surges in our apartment. The raw footage has a LOT of light flicker, so we have to use a program to fix that every time. One last note on this is that I prefer to stand while animating so that I can use my whole body, but this is the set up we’re stuck with at the moment."⠀
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"It always takes me a long time to get my first frame because I notice new imperfections every time I place a puppet in front of the camera and take a test frame. Once I got the first frame locked in for this episode, things moved pretty smoothly. The camera was on a slider which I animated by hand. I try to keep my animation workspace clean and tidy while animating, especially with clay, because clutter stresses me out and it invites dust, dirt, small debris, etc. into the frame. I don’t usually use any kind of armature for these, but I did put a hard piece of Sculpey (@sculpey_official) inside of his head so that it wouldn’t deform too much as I pushed it down each frame. ⠀
⠀
There were only 2 big changes/moves in this episode (the sudden wake up and the final drop), but changes like that require major re-sculpting which can take up to an hour for a single frame. You might notice larger gaps between me touching the puppet towards the end, and that’s because I was getting tired and slowing down. The longer I work on a shot, the harder each frame becomes. So when I’m starting to hit that wall, I’ll sculpt, take the frame, and then break for 5-10 mins before touching the puppet again. You might also notice the lights turning on and off a lot at the end, and that’s because of power surges in our apartment. The raw footage has a LOT of light flicker, so we have to use a program to fix that every time. One last note on this is that I prefer to stand while animating so that I can use my whole body, but this is the set up we’re stuck with at the moment."⠀
Animation Timelapse
*SOUND ON* Scott describing his clay animation process!
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Description: Created for group show where participating artists had two months to complete a piece based on an assigned letter of the alphabet. In this case, the letter D.⠀
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Synopsis: Gunther has a vivid imagination which is not always appreciated.
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Synopsis: Gunther has a vivid imagination which is not always appreciated.
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Creator, @_pmurphy , shared a bit about the process of making Doggie Delusion:⠀
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"Below is my early process from inspiration to my storyboards, rough design, and a couple final backgrounds. Sometimes you need to have a broader toolkit to achieve a certain animation effect and a 3D bone was a quick way to get accurate perspective!⠀
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Next, there's a screen capture of my audio workspace - I used Adobe Audition. You can see the video as well as all of the controls to get the timing and levels just right. There's also 2 reference vids of my dog, Gunther. He's a goofball and a constant source of inspiration. @theoriginalgunther"
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"Below is my early process from inspiration to my storyboards, rough design, and a couple final backgrounds. Sometimes you need to have a broader toolkit to achieve a certain animation effect and a 3D bone was a quick way to get accurate perspective!⠀
⠀
Next, there's a screen capture of my audio workspace - I used Adobe Audition. You can see the video as well as all of the controls to get the timing and levels just right. There's also 2 reference vids of my dog, Gunther. He's a goofball and a constant source of inspiration. @theoriginalgunther"
Behind the Scenes
Storyboards
Layout
Gunther Kick Reference
Gunther Walk Reference
Background Design
3D Bone
Post: Adobe Audition
Thank you!
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Thank you for viewing Episode 4 of Animation Wild Card!