Fish Shop Story Idea - A Fishy Accident

Below is a true story that my mum sent me about an incident with her Silver Bengal, Nemo. She thought it could be a good short for one of my animations as its funny and includes a cat and fish. Below is the story.


It was a nice sunny morning and mum was going to feed the fish. She took the lid off the fish tank and opened the jar of the fish food. As she was in a hurry she sprinkled them straight from the tub. As she started to sprinkle the fish food in the tank, Nemo decided he wanted to have some for his meal too. He knocked the tub that was in her hand and the lid fell off while sprinkling so most of the food fell in the tank. The fish tank looked like a snow scene. So tried to hoover it with a fish tank hoover, that was unsuccessful. we thought everything was ok because it settled like a snow drift at the bottom. When we came back Nemo was watching the fish as they were dying.


It is a good story and I could have my cat moaning for food before and make it seem he thinks the fish food is his or that he should be fed first. I could also make the fish get fatter and fatter and suddenly cough and die. Remus could even pull out some sort of betting book and bet which fish will die first. He could even run and get Misty and Nemo so they could put bets down too.
The hoovering bit could be made funny too. Instead of a tank one, I could panic and find a mini handheld hoover that could choke and die. Making me panic and hide it. Then hid the food tub too and walkaway whistling. Matt could then be the one that finds the fish dead. This idea may include too many characters though.

New Simon's Cat Film!

Simon's Cat has a new film out! Intersting how I found out about it the day after Remus first experienced snow. He acted a lot like Simon's Cat, attacking the snow and his reaction to being hit with a snow ball I mean :p



Here are some photos of Remus in the snow. If your wondering, he is wearing a harness and is on his lead.

Plan of the Week

Seen as my dissertation has been handed in and I won't get it back this week I will focus on my project. I have decided that I will go with my Fish Shop idea but with a flat above as a possible advancement depends on what stories I come up with and if any would suit a home instead. Any way, below is my plan.

Wednesday
* Christmas Party in the Studio
* Do more designs for my cat character

Thursday
* Take photos of pet shops and make a collage/display of them.
* Do some designs for my fish shop
* Uni - Karen Dissertation Lecture
* Do some concept art

Friday
* Do more concept art
* Do model sheets for cat
* Look at human character (people have said to have me as the main person in the shorts but have Matt as another member of staff)
* HUMCC Christmas Party

Saturday
(Will probably be dead today)
* Do some self portrait caricatures

Sunday
* Do some caricatures of Matt
* Design my people characters

Some books I want

I have been looking online at some books that have been recommended and look helpful with giving me ideas for my project and how to make my designs better. Could also have some good quote for my dissertation. Below is the list.

* Walt Disney Animation Studios the Archive Series: Animation

* The Art of Bolt by Mark Cotta Vaz

* Art of the Princess and the Frog by Jeff Kurtti and John Lasseter (my idol!)

* The Art of Up (Pixar Animation) by Tim Hauser

* Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures: 1 by Walt Stanchfield and Don Hahn

* Drawn to Life: 10 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures: 2 by Walt Stanchfield and Don Hahn

Imaginary Friends and Tristan.

I've been writing about Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends in my dissertation and I was thinking of the character designs and how they look like their personalities and skills. This got me thinking about my youngest brother, Tristan who had an imaginary friend called ‘Halfie’ (pronounced hal-fee) when he was younger, (I always imagined that he got the name from Halfords where I worked at the time). Tristan told me that she was a great mechanic who helped him fix stuff. He also described her as very pretty, blonde and nice like me. With how he described her I imagine that if she was one the friends on the show that she would be tall like a model, curvy, a warm sun yellow for the kindness and hair. She could also have tools for fingers such as a hammer, screwdriver, wrench. Etc. for the mechanical skills Tristan gave her. Of course Tristan outgrew Halfie and she was forgotten just like most of the friends on the show.

Oh and its funny how Mac looks so much like Tristan! Look below!

Interview with Craig McCracken

Below is a link to a site where I found an interview with Craig on the Powerpuff Girls 10th Anniversary.

http://coldhardflash.com/2009/01/powerpuff-girls-10th-anniversary-interview-with-creator-craig-mccracken.html


Below is another interview I found with him.

http://www.tibbysbowl.com/bowl/2009/01/28/craig-mccracken-interview/

Craig McCracken (Foster's Home)

Ok, seen as Simon Tofield is too busy at the moment to reply I have been thinking who else I could ask questions and recieve advice from. My first thought was Craig McCracken who created Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Just need to find some contact details for him now! In the meantime below are some quotes he has said.

• Anything you see on the screen was at one point approved by me.

• Basicly I'm in charge of all creative aspects of the show.

• Basicly what I had to do was do a 7 minute board and pitch it to a room of big wigs from the network and based on that they determined if I would get a short or not.

• But to me what seems to be missing in a lot of portfolios is Cartooning.

• First, there was 2 Stupid Dogs. Then, Dexter's Laboratory. And now, Powerpuff Girls. There were a lot of little things in between, but those were the main ones.

• For a long time I wanted to be a comic strip artist but when I started doing them in my teens they were getting really elaborate with tons of poses and a lot of information.

• I started working at Hanna-Barbera in '92 on 2 Stupid Dogs.

• I'm a geeky toy collector, and to have toys of your own characters is unbelievably cool.

• I'm always thinking about what I might want to do next, but there's still things I want to do with Powerpuff - so I can keep going with this one for awhile.

• I'm hoping that word-of-mouth on the film - people seeing it and liking it - that that will drive more people to the theaters, because I haven't seen the billboards or the posters or anything.

• I've been drawing since I was about 3 and I come from a family of artists.

• It really just gives you a sense of when you need to have dialogue and when you don't, and if your pictures are telling the story, you don't need to have all this talking.

• One of the main things I do is focus on ideas and what stories we decide to tell, but probably the biggest part of my job I'd say is working on the storyboards.

• So what I do is supervise the boarding process trying to get the shows the way I'd like them to be. And in some cases I've completely redone a board myself even though I'm not credited for it.

• The reason they look the way they do is that the first drawing I did of them was really small so I didn't draw fingers, nose, ears, etc and this drawing had a certain appeal that I really liked.

• The shows are either 11 or 22 minutes and they move pretty quickly, and that's part of the charm of them - so it was just trying to keep that in mind and keep the energy of the story moving, even though we were dealing with a longer format.

• The storyboard artists job is to plan out shot for shot the whole show, write all the dialog, and decide the mood, action, jokes, pacing, etc of every scene.

• There's a lot you can do without words.

• We chose the actors thru a series of auditions when we started the show.

• Well, for one thing, the executives in charge at Cartoon Network are cartoon fans. I mean, these are people who grew up loving animation and loving cartoons, and the only difference between them and me is they don't know how to draw.

• Yes, it's a prequel. It tells the story about how the girls were born with superpowers, but they weren't necessarily heroes at the beginning of this movie, so the movie is about the events that happen in their life to make them decide to be heroes.

(http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/craig_mccracken.html - accessed on 14th Dec)

I got a reply from Simon's Cat

Below is the reply I received when I asked Simon Tofield if I could ask him some questions about the processes, inspiration.etc. of Simon's Cat. Bit dissapointed that he is too busy but it's understandable. He did say that he is unable to help till things quieten down though so you never know, I might still get the help I really wanted :D Thank you Simon for getting back to me and I'm glad that you liked my blog.


*******************************************


Hi Emma,

I had a look at your blog. Very interesting! Thanks for finding Simon's Cat worth mentioning.

After seeing your hard work and dedication it's with regret that I have to say that Simon is unable to assist you at this time.

Ideally he would love to help everyone interested with animation and cats, but due to a large number of prior obligations he is currently engaged in, he is unable to help till things quieten down.

Good luck. I look forward to seeing where you take Remus.

Kind regards,
Simon's Cat

Ideas from questionnaire answers

The one that has really made me think and come up with a new idea is the one about the story ideas. I love both and so far the results show 50:50. This is why I have come up with a new idea. Mix the two! Who says that the fish shop owner can't live above the shop! Then episodes could have the cat in the shop or in the flat above. I really like this idea but when the flat is first introduced the cat will have to go up the stairs to show the audience it is still part of the shop and the cat hasn't just appeared in a home.

Interview with Hayao Miyazaki from Ghibli Studios

Below is a link to an interview with Hayao Miyazaki. It is a very interesting read.

http://www.angelfire.com/anime/NVOW/Interview1.html

Cool new Go Cat Advert!

Go cat have a new advert out with well animated 3d cats. Below is the advert!!

Please click on the link to do my Questionnaire!

Please click on the link to do my questionnaire. I have created this Questionnaire to help me with my final year project and dissertation. Well explained answers will be greatly appreciated.


Click here to take my Online Questionnaire

My questionnaire to give people

Below is the questionnaire that I plan to ask people to fill out for my dissertation as primary research. I believe that what I have asked will give me helpful advice and quotes for my dissertation and project. If you wish to be helpful then please leave a comment on this post with your answers.

To view a larger version of the questionnaire you need to click on the image of the page you wish to view.

Mini Episode Idea - Bed + Remus + Laptop = Disaster

Remus sneaks under the duvet. You see a little bump moving towards Bob who is in bed with his laptop on his legs. Swift eye movements show that Bob acknowledges that its Remus. The bump moves closer but stays still next to Bobs legs. Suddenly the bump flies forward going under the laptop and making it fly off the bed! Its on the floor with the screen now black and lying in a bad way. Bob looks horrified. Remus now has his head poking out looks at Bob with a big grin and rolls on his back still looking at Bob and rolls about. Bob rolls his eyes and 'Uhhhs'


I could make it more obvious that he wants his tummy rubbed by making Remus point at Bob and then scratch his tummy but this might make it look like he wants food not a tummy rub.

Mini Episode Idea - Fetch

Another one :) Mainly because this just happened. Blood still leaking out of my finger and all!


Sitting wiggling a straw. Remus comes running and tries to attack the straw. Claw catches hand. Bob shakes hand and sucks the cut. He then wiggles the straw and throws it shouting fetch. Remus runs after it and picks it up. Bob is patting his legs saying come back. Remus looks at the camera, points a backturned thumb at Bob and gives a look as if to say 'yeah right, why would i give you the straw back'and attacks it away from Bob so he can't get it back.

POSSIBLE BEGINNING
Remus walking by trees. Sees a man playing Fetch with his dog. Looks confused, shakes his head and carries on.

Mini Episode Idea - Stairs & Bathroom Door

Below is an idea for a mini episode. It happened this morning well not exactly... I've obviously exagerated in places to make it funnier.


Bob walks up the stairs. Suddenly a paw appears over the edge and then a head with ears back. Remus suddenly attacks his head and shoots back hidden. Bob looks shocked and looks around. Slowy carries on. It suddenly happens again but Bob sees and Remus shoots back but Bob goes to grab him. Remujavascript:void(0)s turns on his back and bites and scratches his hand. he pulls back and tells him off.
Bob carries on into the bathroom. Having to pick Remus up to put him out.

(Various ideas of how it could continue are below)

IDEA 1
Remus cries and attacks the door, climbs the frame, jabbing paws under. Once door opens he looks in and then walks off.

IDEA 2
Bob has to fight Remus over closing the door as he either puts his paw or tail in the way making bob have to push him out with his foot or Remus pushing the door or attacking Bobs hand.

IDEA 3
Remus keeps sneaking back in in various ways. Runs in when turn to go back in. Jumps on Bobs back.

Remus the Cat as mini episodes

On Monday one of my lecturers, John Kelly suggested that I do lots of short animations like little episodes. I imagined this similar to the short happenings in the Simon's Cat Book and each being set in a different place. ie. Lounge, Kitchen, Bathroom, Garden.

I like this idea and might actually go along with it. Seen as Remus does something that is funny or could be made funny everyday! It also means I can carry on making as many animations about him as I want and make it like a mini series.

Just bought Simon's Cat The Book!

I was just in Sainsburys and saw it so had to buy it! About time really. It is brilliant its like short comic book strips but not. You have to see it to get what I mean but what it says on it. 'Everyone has a cat like Simon's Cat' is true and that is what has made it such a success. My aim is to stick to this idea, that my cat will be like every other cat with their quirky ways and funny actions.

I am also considering writing to Simon Toefield to let him know what I am doing and asking for any advice.

Cat movement images

I found this image that show frame by frame images of a cat walking and then jumping. Im sure it will come in handy.

CAT RULES........ Rules for Cats to Live By...

This is a page as a joke towards cats. Basically it is a bunch of rules based on things cats do. Such as doors aren't allowed to be closed and must accompany people to the bathroom.

Its great as it is true and I have had cats all my live and they have done all that's in the list.

http://www.frostymoon.co.uk/15.html

Plan for the week

1. Have a final character design for Remus finished by Thursday.

2. Do a short hand-drawn animation test of Remus.

3. Get other peoples stories of funny things their cat/s have done and post them onto my blog.

Feliway Advert

John Kelly told me about this advert. Think it shows that I've been researching cats too much with the fact that I knew what he meant when he said it was a plug in thing for cats.

Naughty Remus Story idea

Remus goes to the end of the sofa and pads his feet to jump. He jumps on mirror thinking there is a shelf or ledge but it is just a frame. He ends up going splat into the mirror and falling to the floor. He gets up and acts like nothing happened like a cat does. He could then wash himself or just walk off all proud until Bob(guy characters name at the mo) looks away and then Remus carries on being naughty. Also, When he jumped the cat nip that was on the top of the mirror could fall and land in his toy box!

This little idea has comedy = the thinking the mirror has a shelf and going splat. The cat owners joke = acting like nothing happened when cat embarressed itself. It also has a way of the cat nip sensibly ending up in the toybox because who would put a thin plastic bag of it in a cats toy box!

Image is example from 'Simon's Cat - Let me In' of cat splatting. Although Remus would be doing it to a mirror so you would only really see his back. Would also test my perspectives :s

Remus the Naughty Cat/Bengal Storyboard

Not sure on the title yet. I kind of think Bengal sounds better than Cat but not everyone has heard of Bengals but know what a cat is... Guess I could call it 'Remus the Naughty Bengal cat' but that sounds awful to me. Oh 'Remus the Cat' or 'The Naughty Cat' or even 'The Naughty Cat, Remus'. Doesn't really matter at the moment any way.

This is the first page of my thumbnails for the Naughty Cat story. I'm not overly impressed with quite a few of the angles and will have to get some advice on good angles and views. Never really been taught it so will be very helpful.

I also think that I will be sticking with this idea or slightly changing it to be set in a Fish Shop. I will write a short script with the fish shop as a setting to see how I feel first though.

I also found that I prefer to draw guys than girls probably because most of my friends are guys so I can think how they move and act more than a girl. Yes I know I am a girl and should know from that but who watches them self or really thinks how they sit on a sofa or throw a toy, and could draw that accurately! That's why once I have a final story, plan and storyboard I will ask a friend to be my character in the animation. I plan to film him doing the actions so I know it looks right. Just like they did for the old Disney films ;) Walt supposedly preferred doing it this as well. Can't remember the quote I read but I will find it and post it on here when I do.

Oh and excuse my thumbnails, they aren't meant to be the neatest or tidiest things in the world.

Little Red Riding Hood Storyboard

I'm slowly going off this idea as I really want to do something that will make people laugh. Making this first page of storyboard thumbnails for it made me really realise this.

Some more work from my sketchbook

Interview with Gini a Pixar Animator

What’s a typical day like for you?
During film production, the animators get together every morning in a small screening room with the director in what’s called “dailies.” It’s a chance for the director to see where we’re at in the shots that have been assigned to us, and for the animators to find out if they’re going in the right direction. It’s also a chance to become inspired by the other animators’ work. The director is looking at whether a shot is feeling the way it should, and the action is doing what it should. After that, I start working. Sometimes I call other animators in to get feedback on my work. We also have walkthroughs when the director comes around to see what we’ve worked on during the day.

How are shots assigned to you?
Sometimes we get one or two shots, or a sequence of five to seven shots. The supervising animators usually assign a shot by matching the kind of animation called for in the shot with an animator’s strengths. But sometimes we’ll be allowed to select what shots we want to animate, and our choice might be motivated by the type of shot: action, slow-moving, emotional moments, or just by a particular character. Then there are the shots that the director wants assigned to a particular animator.

And what do you start with?
The way it usually works is after a movie has been scripted and storyboarded and approved, they make layouts of the shots. The shot contains the sound, models and props that are needed for the acting. You have the storyboards as a guide to what needs to happen in a scene.

How do you begin animating?
We begin by blocking out, which is when we roughly put in the key poses to tell the story of what’s happening in the shot. So at this point we’re not doing much facial expression or dialogue. Sometimes the director will tell you it’s not feeling the way he wants it to, and you go back. Or you might have one of those days where he says, “keep going.” An animator always likes to hear that! We go back and work more on it-that’s called IP (in progress). We put in more acting. More details. Some lip dialogue. You show the director this IP version, where you have a pretty good sense what it’s going to look like toward the end. He might say, “It looks great-keep going.” Or he might say, “We’re losing something here.” Animators show the shot again close to final, where everything is mouthed out, and the details of the face are there. It’s one last chance for director to make changes. Once a shot is finaled it gets a render check and then it goes to lighting and shading.

How do you animate characters in the computer?
The characters are built on the computer as models. These models are then given avars. Avars are the controls assigned to each part of the model. There’s avars in the face, the limbs, etc. We use these avars as a puppeteer would use the strings on a puppet to get the desired movement. The movement of each avar on a character model gets recorded on the computer in distance and time. Adjustments are made accordingly until we are satisfied with the motion of the model.

How long does it take to animate a shot?
There’s a formula the animation team uses. Generally, an animator will average about a hundred frames a week (that’s 4 seconds of actual screen time). But it also depends on how many characters are in a shot. They also take into consideration the difficulty of the shot. If it’s a character interacting with a prop-where he might be pushing or holding things-or special effects are involved, it might take longer.

It sounds fast-paced.
We try to be creative but also work within the schedule of the shot. A shot sheet says how many frames a shot has and how much time you have to work on it. It’s important to work within the schedule allotted because the shot usually has to go through other aspects of film production, such as special effects, lighting and shading. In order for us to be able to put our movie out in time, we have to allow for time in each aspect of the production process but sometimes there are technical difficulties that happen that we can’t anticipate.

What do you do to put yourself in the mindset of your characters?
More often than not, the nice thing about animation is we get to animate characters we’re drawn to. We film ourselves acting a scene, but sometimes that’s not enough. The team has a list of films that were used as reference when the script was written, which helps us get the feel of the characters. Animators also tend to be people-watchers. The stranger the person, the more we’re hooked. We pull from that when we animate. It’s not unusual for animators to be talking in the hallway and one of them is saying, “There was this guy at the park and he did the weirdest thing...” We’re fascinated by what motivates peoples’ little ticks. There are a lot of interesting, unusual nuances that we’re able to take in from real life for characters we might animate in the future.

What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?
Being able to animate a character and convey that the character is alive, truly thinking and driven by something. In real life, you meet people and know they have a history you don’t necessarily know about. An animator has to be able to convey this with a character. That it existed beyond this movie and is driven by many things. That’s the biggest challenge. That’s the core of what I get caught up in. It’s easy to do the more difficult action, but when it comes to true acting-that this character is alive and breathing and thinking and has a past-that’s the most challenging.

What sequences are you most proud of?
Whatever I’m most proud of is always my biggest downfall. I always think, “Ugh, it could have been better.” Mostly recently, I’d say it was probably the cave sequence in The Incredibles, when Helen gets down with the kids and tells them they need to use their powers to save themselves after years of her telling them not to use their powers. She loses it and then gains control and nurtures them. It was a meaty scene as far as acting goes. There was a lot going on there-a duality of emotions. One was internal and one external; trying to act one way while feeling something else. To convey that through animation is difficult. I went back and forth on that with the director, Brad Bird. It was the sequence I was most proud of, but I feel like it was my weakest. You do your best, but sometimes you’re still not satisfied with it.

There seem to be very few female animators in the industry-do you find that to be the case?
It’s true. In ratio, we’re still not as many as there are men, but nowadays I see more and more women in the field. I remember someone advising me that it was “such a man’s world, you have to elbow your way in.” But for me, what got me through was that I wanted to animate and keep learning. My experience at Pixar was that if you do good work, you are recognized. I haven’t had to elbow my way into anything here. All I want is to animate. I suck in as much as possible, and we have a good collaborative environment here. What they care most about is that you have a solid art background.

Speaking of which, what’s your background?
For college, my parents sent me back to the Philippines to study. My dad was a banker and wanted me to take commerce. I told him no, that I had to be an artist. So we agreed on advertising, which I studied at the University of Santo Tomas. After graduating I went into advertising for about five years in Guam. It was great, because I was a big fish in a small pond. I was able to work with big clients, like Nestle, that I would never have been able to work with at my age here in the United States. After a while I burnt out and wanted to go back to school. There was a course in computer animation at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. For our thesis we had to make a short animated film and then send it out to the companies you wanted to work for. I sent mine to Blue Sky, Disney, Pixar and PDI. I actually got job offers from Blue Sky and PDI. Pixar was the last one to call me, but told me they couldn’t do the interview me for a whole month. I had to take a big leap of faith when PDI and Blue Sky said they didn’t know if they could wait that long. But I knew if was going to learn anything, it’d be at Pixar.

When did you know you wanted to be an animator?
Well, it’s funny, because I can tell you when I knew I didn’t want to be an animator. In college I took a side subject called 2-D animation. I’ve always been more of an illustrator, putting everything into one image. In this 2-D class I had to do all these images. I remember hating the assignments-it was too many drawings! For the longest time I wasn’t drawn to it, but I knew I loved watching animation as a kid.

So what changed your mind?
When I discovered 3-D animation and realized the computer can do the in-between drawings. But you’re still wrestling with the computer to do exactly what you want it to do. Mainly, that one pose that should tell you what is happening in that moment. And that goes back to my love of detail-that one image that tells a story.

http://www.pixar.com/artistscorner/gini/interview.html

Pixar have a blog!

I can't believe I hadn't known about it before! I'm going to have to read it all :D

http://pixarblog.blogspot.com/

Idea twisted!

I can't decide which idea to go with :( I love my orginial idea of a remake of Simon's Cat but with Remus as the character and I wouldn't mind changing it to be the same idea but set in a Fish Shop, which is going back to 'The Fish Shop Cat' idea.
Then I went and had the Red Riding Hood idea. I'm a bit less keen on that idea but it could have a better story. I guess it depends how I wrote and animated them both.

Lil' Red Riding Hood Lyrics

Owoooooooo
Who's that I see walkin' in these woods
Why, it's Little Red Riding Hood
Hey there Little Red Riding Hood
You sure are looking good
You're everything a big bad wolf could want
Listen to me

Little Red Riding Hood
I don't think little big girls should
Go walking in these spooky old woods alone
Owoooooooo

What big eyes you have
The kind of eyes that drive wolves mad
So just to see that you don't get chased
I think I ought to walk with you for a ways

What full lips you have
They're sure to lure someone bad
So until you get to grandma's place
I think you ought to walk with me and be safe

I'm gonna keep my sheep suit on
Until I'm sure that you've been shown
That I can be trusted walking with you alone
Owoooooooo

Little Red Riding Hood
I'd like to hold you if I could
But you might think I'm a big bad wolf so I won't
Owoooooooo!

What a big heart I have-the better to love you with
Little Red Riding Hood
Even bad wolves can be good
I'll try to be satisfied just to walk close by your side
Maybe you'll see things my way before we get to grandma's place

Hey there Little Red Riding Hood
You sure are looking good
You're everything that a big bad wolf could want
Owoooooooo
I mean baaaaaa
Baaa


http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/sam_the_sham_and_the_pharaohs/lil_red_riding_hood.html