Leg Problems...

Well folks, I finished that native American DVD for our neighbors and am now back full swing into animation. Well basically, I should say... I've also been spending some time getting this blog updated, as well as working with Adam Jackson on my personal blog, which you can view here. And then there is an essay I'm trying to write...

But back to my LEGO guy. I've been terribly stumped (or maybe stumped terribly...) with his leg for some reason. Whenever I tried to make it look smooth, the whole thing went wacko! Well, my uncle finally figured it out; all it needed was an edge split modifier! Oh well; even though I've spent forever on nothing, I have still learned a few extra things along the way. So that is where I am right now; it might even be a back-up from my last post... But rigging and weight painting don't take long, so I should have this show on the road here very soon.

And yes, I'm as excited as you are to see my first animation! (laugh)

Another Update!

Hello everyone! That wasn't TOO bad on the time-lapse, was it? (laugh) Well, our family has had a series of personal events that has slowed my progress, and now I'm going to be editing a Native American speech I filmed for a friend. So I will be tied up with other things for the next few days, unfortunately...

Now, to what I've been doing! I finally finished modeling my first LEGO man! (from there I can easily duplicate more) As I said, the whole purpose of this film is education, and now that I've built him, I could build another one in a matter of hours! That being said, it's taken me a couple weeks (months if you count from the VERY beginning) to finish this first one. I really am learning a lot! My biggest pitfall is wanting to go back and "tweak to perfection". I've watched many LEGO animations, and some of them don't look anything like LEGOs. They bank off the fact that probably no-one would take a LEGO man and hold it up to the screen. I would hold my real LEGO guy up next to the computer screen, study different parts, size them up, and then try to correct it on the computer. So I think mine's pretty accurate. Here's a screen shot of my LEGO guy. It doesn't have any materials on except his body, so that's why he's a little gray...



Another thing I've already started on is weight painting for his armatures (that's what bones are called in animation). Basically, it's just telling the computer which bones move which vertices. I've attached a couple screen shots for you to see. The first is of me painting his hand, and the second is of me starting on his face!





If anyone would like to play around with Blender also, feel free to ask me for a file of my work. You can then open it on your computer and be at a head start. Also, if anyone is interested in learning animation, just let me know and I'd be pleased to assist you. I can share what I know, and I hope to know a lot more before this year is out! ...Lord willing!

Story-boarding...

Hello everyone! Sorry this post is so late; I'm going to try and post updates more frequently from now on... This last week was pretty hectic with finding last minute history stuffers, and designing my website (see announcement below). But for now I have three exciting announcements to make:

First, I'm totally finished with the script! After days of history research, writing and re-writing, making last minute adjustments, and finalizing on names for different characters, I finally edited the last draft!

Second, I just started a website! Here's the link: whitefeathermovie.com. It should tell you everything you wanted to know about this story!

And lastly, I'm almost done with story-boarding. Instead of doing detailed story-boards (Do you know how much time that would take???), I decided to do what one guy suggested. Draw stick figures with pointy noses! Why? The answer's simple. The stick figures are fast and easy to draw, and the noses tell you in which direction your character is facing. That's really all you need! Whether you're drawing a knight standing on the bastions of his castle, or whether you're drawing a modern-day breakfast scene, stick figures are the easiest way to draw story-boards! The other day, while Mom was shopping in Fairbanks, I sat out in the car and drew. and drew. and drew! It gets quite time consuming after awhile. Now I need to start on the animatic... Oh no!

Pre-production...

Well, I finally decided to post my first post! Since I'm wanting to put most of my time into making this film, I won't have much time to post updates very often. Right now, my life is being spread between making this film, schooling, music (learning two new instruments, and trying to keep practicing two others), and helping with odd chores around the house. It seems like there is never an end to chores; whether it's changing the oil in the truck or ATV/s, fixing leaking water lines, hanging Christmas lights (which I just finished doing), or helping fix food. There's always something to do in our house!

Now, with that said I can go on to tell you where I am with "White Feather". Right now, I am working on writing up the script, using a wonderful program called Celtx. I would highly recommend it for those doing pre-production but who don't want to pay for a program like Final Draft. Since I'm using a story that was already written, I was able to type the story up, and right now I'm going back through it making little corrections to make the film flow smoothly (film story telling is MUCH different from written story telling). I'm almost finished with this stage of production, and am VERY excited to move on!

Another thing I'm doing right now is casting people. Since animation only uses people's voices, I don't have to focus on how well they "act", but on how well they can put the most feeling and realism into their voices. So, unbeknownst to people, I'm always listening closely to their voices. I'm afraid if I get too involved in making animation films, this will become a permanent habit!... After I pick people for the various parts, then I can see how well they do in front of a microphone with everyone watching them! That's when the acting gets tough!

Please pray that the Lord will continue to lead in this production. I have seen His leading many times already; from getting copyright permission for using the story (I had NO clue about getting the written permissions, but Josh [the guy from Herald Press] has been very helpful and workable) to even getting a free computer (OK, we are going to help him install some insulation as payment...) that I need to have in order to run one of the programs for this production. I know this film will be a blessing to those who watch it, as well as leave a deep impression about some very important issues relating to our culture. I know it has the potential to do a lot of good; and the devil knows that also. I need prayer warriors who will join with me in prayer as I begin a journey on which I have never embarked before!

May God bless each one of you!