You Complete Me

Never thought this day would come, but my thesis is FINISHED. I am presenting it to my advisors this Friday back at UCLA, and then *crossing fingers* I will officially receive my Masters. (I walked in graduation over a year ago - pregnant with Olive - but never received my actual diploma because I hadn't turned in my final film.)

This labor of love was inspired by my difficult munchkin, whom my hubby and I love and adore, but struggled dearly to appease during her first months in this world. All characters and props were fabricated from the Amazon cardboard boxes her baby gear arrived in. Pieces were then scanned and manipulated in After Effects and Final Cut. (I had initially hoped to shoot them in stop-motion under a down-shooter camera, but ended up having to learn After Effects when I realized the project would be more feasible if made that way.)

While the short is minimally-animated, spastically-timed, and probably leaves you thinking, "Wahhh? That's it?!?" I am still proud to have, simply, finished. It wasn't easy making time in my packed child-rearing day to grind this out. And it wasn't easy uploading this film online for the whole world to see. (Feeling kinda' naked.)

I hope you like it.

P.S. Thank you, Alexis and Jeff, for making this possible. I could not have pulled this off without you two!!!

So Close

                               

Ermahgeeeeeeerd!

(Olive crushing me with her baby fat.) 

I'm presenting my thesis before my advisors next Friday.
Animation is all done. *mother-daughter woot*

Rendering, compiling, and color-correcting is taking an eternity, but the little one has taught me that baby steps are always the way to go.

Are We There Yet?

With less than two weeks left to complete my thesis, I'm starting to feel panicky. I feel like I'm running a marathon that's never going to end, and it's an awful feeling! Beans wants to help, but the canine has no opposable thumbs. After Effects requires them.

On my own and freaking out. Should any of you encounter me in these next two weeks, reconsider saying "Hello." It's like that Peter Cetera Chicago song, "Look Away".  

"If you see me walking by, and the tears are in my eye, look away... baby, look away."

Seriously. I just might bite your head off. GRRRRR.

*Above: A sneak peek of one of many inappropriate scenes in my thesis. didn't bother to allow the computer to render properly, so D'OH... the quality of these two images is bound to be totes shitty. deal with it!)

Show and Tell

Final peek at my thesis.

Hopefully, the next time you see anything new from my short, you'll be watching it in full!

Decided to go with sepia tint backgrounds as colored backgrounds got distracting. 

Cardboard + After Effects + a little help from my friends = MAGIC

Old Dog, New Tricks

Those who know me know that I am somewhat of a dinosaur when it comes to technology.

I still: 

Cut checks,

shoot on cameras that require film, 

send snail mail letters, 

and read actual, physical books.

Much like a grandparent, when there's a choice, I gravitate towards the analog.

That said, I am shocked that my friends, Alexis and Jeff, have somehow managed to teach me to use After Effects with success...

Above: A peek at what's to come. 

My thesis is due end-August, so come end-August, whether I like it or not, I'm going to have something to show. *raise the roof* Below: Another test shot. This one with the Mama.

Titillate

Another test shot from my thesis, Boo Hoo Baby.

Will be drawing in all wrinkles After Effects once the darn thing get animated.

Mama needs some wrinkles.

If You're Happy and You Know It

My thesis. Progress is being made.
Sure, I'm still fabricating a bajillion pieces of cardboard props.
You know... pieces that won't be put into motion until mid-July.
While I really do enjoy the fabrication process, I'm also really looking forward to animating again.

Miss Olive.
She is so cute. So fat. So naughty.
To think she's all mine!
Parenthood has been a simultaneously heart-warming and maddening experience.
Wouldn't trade this little monster for the world.
Though had you asked me last night around 2am when she was refusing to sleep, I just might have. 

Online-shopping.
Never thought I'd become an addict.
But ever since the munchkin came around, I can't stop looking at mini clothes.
Loving Gilt.
Olive would be naked otherwise.
How cute is this "Zelda Dress" by Ses Petites Mains?
I wish they had it in MY size.

Vintage artwork.
I've collected a bunch, but few have been nailed up on our walls.
Haven't had the time.
Nor the wall space, for that matter.
Olive created her very first abstract expressionist masterpiece last week in pre-pre-preschool,
and it takes up quite a bit of space.



Painting sans clothing.
Prodigy in the making.

Ongoing Projects

"boo hoo baby" 

the title of my work-in-progress thesis. 

i'm constructing props and characters out of cardboard and animating the pieces using flash and after effects. 

i say that as if i'm an adobe software wiz. 

so not the case. 

luckily i have wonderful friends who are, and they're going to pull me through the fog. 

like pack of selfless sleigh dogs. 

woof.

when not cutting or painting up a storm, i can be found messing around with my other ongoing project.

raising a human being.

here i am with my munchkin in the wee hours of the morning.

she's an early riser.

5am, to be exact.

she's not up for the worms.

she's up for the "yo gabba gabba" clips i pull up for her on youtube.

happy baby, happy mommy.

Boo Hoo Baby

Storyboarding my thesis. Hoping to present it to my thesis review crew next Tuesday. Thought y'all might like a sneak-peek. Inspired by true events. Obvi...

Me Likee

Am loving the mixture of photorealistic and drawn elements in these shots! Crafty in Motion is a production company that specializes in animating with paper and cardboard. Mmm... cardboard. Above frames taken from shorts by crafty in motion. Cool beans.

Just Did It

Am back to working on my MFA thesis, "Hunks". Not easy making time to create a quality short with a munchkin in the house. I've got priorities, yo.

Am determined to build all my characters and sets out of cardboard. Don't know how feasible my goal is, but I'm going to try. A sneak peek...

Testing, Testing

With the help of my pal, Jeff, I was able to record the David Brainard, my narrator for "Hunks" this past Thursday. Animatic with temp-track should be ready for post on Thursday. EEEEEK! More from my boards. Sorry they're fuzzy. Photos taken in dim lighting with my flash-less ancient iPhone. (Scanner's upstairs, and I'm feeling like lard.)

* I've since replaced my awful iPhone photos with actual scans. Ahh... much better.

Born This Way

A peek at my storyboards. (Excuse the poor quality. This is what you get when you pair an old iPhone with poor lighting. My bad.) In this scene, the parents are on a testimonial couch - think reality tv. Don't suppose any of this is making sense to you, but I don't want to spoil the surprise... Wait to see the animatic! It'll be finished in a week...

* I've gone ahead and replaced the iPhone photos with actual scans. Yay!

Take a Seat

Cardboard couches are awesome because they're cheap. Yet another peek at one of numerous work-in-process sets I'm working on for "Hunks."

The Illusion of Life

"Animation is about creating the illusion of life. And you can't create it if you don't have one." - Brad Bird

Yes, well.......... I'm trying to storyboard a woman giving birth to hunks. Since I've yet to squeeze a big head (or heads for that matter) out of my vajayjay, this is all I've got.

Baby, Baby, Baby

Sculpting a dozen average-looking babies for my thesis film, "Hunks". Wait til you see the hunky ones...

Hunks

Thesis film, take two. I've gone back to the drawing board. Snails out. Hunks in. (Two-headed ones, no less!) Nearly finished with the first draft of my script. Much more to come...

Gustave and Claude

Pictured? Gustave the snail. Claude the pill bug. Stars of my thesis film, "Gustave and Claude". That's right, I'm just overflowing with creative juices. The duo is French. The duo is evil. (So French, that I plan to open the short with THIS song.) Oui, my thesis film is looking like one hot-mess. But it's going to so much frickin' fun to make!!!

Fee-Fi- Fo-Fum

thumbnails. (thumbnails = super-rough, teeny-tiny storyboards.) thaaaaat's right folks. i've FINALLY settled on an idea. it doesn't involve a pinata (my friend jeff is going to take the pinata character over), but it does involve buttman and wife aka "the butters"... mehehe. excited!!!

Dejavu Much?

in the rare case that you were wondering... yes, the man i've been thumb-nailing is the same guy i practiced flash on last year. he'll be modified for my thesis film. OHM 2.0, if you will. (OHM = old hairy man.)