Faces - Character Designs

I was playing around in Photoshop today and did a few character sketches. They are not based on anyone, I just played with different shapes and proportions. Here they go:

Click to see them in full-size


A lot is inspired by Nico Marlet, I have his sketchbook and there's always great ideas in there.

Grand Canyon and Sedona Trip - Video

I shot this video during a recent trip to the Grand Canyon when my mother came to visit for graduation. I had about an hour of footage to edit from, for some reason some of my best shots didn't get recorded (I'm overwriting the tape and recording on an external digital card recorder, so I don't have to re-capture the video on a mini DV deck).



I had an extra shot of the baby coyote from up close, where I actually approached him and touched his head. He was weak and calling for his mother, and lay there under a tree. I gotta figure out why the digital recorder is not always capturing.

Everything was shot on a Sony HVR-Z5U camera, which was part of the Cannes award by the National Film Board of Canada. It's a great camera, I'm just not such a great cameraman and my moves are always jumpy when I'm zoomed in a lot.

I edited in Premiere and used a plugin called Magic Bullet Looks for quick dreamy-like looks or high contrasts. It took me about 4 hours to edit, I just picked the best shots and tried to get a somewhat narrative idea through different "acts" (coyote/death, canyon edge, dreamy sequence, Sedona wind).

And I was inspired by Matthew Brown (http://vimeo.com/11538086), but I have not a billionth of his camera or editing talents ;)

The Windmill Farmer is online!

Saturday was the first screening of my new film, The Windmill Farmer, at the UCLA Festival of Animation. It was a pretty awesome screening, a lot of diversity in the work, great fun.

Today I'm releasing my film online, for everyone, for free. Please check it out below.

NOTES:

Turn UP the volume. Make it fullscreen. Turn on HD is you can.



And please share it around. Thanks!

Blu-ray and DVD menus with special features

Here are the designs for the Blu-ray and DVD menus so far. As you can see, there are many special features included, even commentaries for all the films.

Main screen

Click to enlarge


Special Features screen

Click to enlarge


I just recorded the commentaries today, at home with my mac's microphone, which is shitty but it's pretty decent quality nonetheless. I tried to give insight on the inspiration for the films and also the process of making them.

DVD / Blu-ray Compilation in process

I'm working on the design for a DVD (and Blu-ray too!) compilation, that I'll try to have available sometime after The Windmill Farmer comes out in June. With special features!


Click to enlarge



I used a pentagonal-based design since I wanted some dynamic lines, one breaks the composition vertically in thirds and the other in half, so it has a nice pleasant feel to it despite it's jagged messiness.

The disc surface is just a simple variation on the cover (and I think the DVD menus will be too):


Click to enlarge


As you can see, the design includes a sneak-peek to The Windmill Farmer as well. The film will be done this Friday but it will not be shown until June 5th, it'll be a long wait.

Build me an army worthy of Voodoo

An army of Sebastians. The first batch of action figures arrived today, I gotta pack them and send them out now.

Click images to embiggen



And I also got a few miniature tests for other materials (black, transparent, white). They are adorably small, I'm waiting for another shipment that will have a stainless steel print at the same size.

Sebastian's Voodoo action figures in full color

Finally, a good quality action figure in full color, thanks to Shapeways. I'm so happy with it, it's 3 inches tall, with the original texture maps, and very sturdy,

They cost me $25 each to make, 3D printing is still not too cheap. If you want to order one, send me an email and I'll add you to the list for the next batch order. I will charge $30 plus shipping.

View larger image

Let me know if you want one!