Cryptid animation and story channels I listen to while working.

I listen to all sorts of material when I'm working. Music, news, audio books, youtube channels, snow storms etc. There are a few youtube channels that discuss various topics from historical or even paranormal events which I find interesting. And it's such a nice break from the news. 

I had some extended unpaid down time and wanted to sharpen up on my prefered animation software TVpaint. It was also a great opportunity for me to mess about with other aspects of the program I usually don't utilize as an animator. Color processes and the FX stack for example. So I had a run designing these guys and thought I would do some simple animation of them as well. And why not do it for a purpose? Hopefully something fun for a channel I enjoy listening to. (not sponsored by the way)

These characters were inspired by the old Warner Brothers cartoons I loved as a kid. 

Click on the screen below to check out these guys moving.

If the news gets to much and you are looking for something a bit different to listen to, (off the top of my head) check out, Cryptids Canada, Buckeye Bigfoot, Dixie Cryptid, ThinkerThunker, CanAm Missing Project, HowtoHunt.com, Dogman Encounters, and there are many others to search out, but all have great material I listen to on a regular basis.

Oh and Edward French has an excellent youtube story channel called Fiction Fantastique. (fantasy, horror, sci fi) Edward does some amazing narration of classic stories from the past in my opinion.

The History Squad with Kevin Hicks. Is another youtube channel I thoroughly enjoy. It's a favourite actually. Kevin is a fantastic storyteller and excellent history teacher. And an impressive shot with a longbow as well!

Last but not least is Mr.Ballen stories.

And for any young animators out there. I mentioned TVpaint. I absolutely love it. Even a luddite bone head like myself managed to pick up the basics in a couple of days on the job- it was a Gorillaz job in fact. The program is a bit chunky cost wise though. So before spending a lot of money, I recommend DigiCel FlipBook while learning animation.

FlipBook is a fantastic program and extremely cost friendly for those starting out. With really great customer support. I used the program years ago for shooting my hand drawn line tests and later for draw over notes while supervising animation. It was a life saver. 

The Boy Who Woke the Sun

My colleague A.T. Woodley asked me to storyboard out this sequence from a chapter of his new book "The Boy Who Woke the Sun". It was a challenging but fun little chapter to illustrate. Speaking of which, all the images are inspired by Mike Deas beautiful illustrations from the book. And Composer Robert Duncan does a wonderful job with the accompanying subtle magical score. 

The book is in stores now.

Check out the video of the chapter here if you are curious:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rucv7_SkqCc 

Robert Duncan's Music:

https://www.duncanmusic.com/

Mike Deas Illustrations:

http://deasillustration.com/blog/

Here are a few shared images that are not included in the animatic. These pictures were all removed in the edit to make sure the story pacing kept moving forward.  Its unfortunate to lose the work, but cutting shots out to benefit of the narrative is all part of the process.

Chicken advert

I have worked for Director Paloma Baeza a few times now. Paloma is one of very few directors I really enjoy working for and respect. These are some rough designs she asked me to do for a commercial pitch involving Chickens.

The House

 Director Paloma Baeza asked me to do some early concept design work for her segment in the animated short "The House" for Netflix and Nexus Studios. Paloma is one of those rare directors that knows what she wants, she communicates very well and is really respectful to artists. Not only is she a great director but a really top notch person in my opinion.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse

I did a few shots on this short. Tim Watts whom I have had a great deal of respect for many years was my supervisor.  He and I always have a few good laughs and rambling rants when speaking. Regarding the BMFH, I have to say the Background department did some beautiful work on this project. But the real Star of the show was Head of Assisting Seti Erfan. Seti and her crew did an incredible job achieving the cohesive illustrative ink style of the original artist all with digital brush sets.  

Seti has an instagram showcasing some of her great work. Check out the link below. 

https://www.instagram.com/setierfan/

Many of the animation artists that actually did the work on the short are not allowed to post shots for some reason(s).  However, this is one of my shots on the cover of the book so I reckon it can't upset the animation powers that be too much.... 

Age of Blood

This was a really challenging but enjoyable pitch due to the extremely tight schedule back in 2017. Six weeks from concept to completion if I remember correctly. Directed by Andrew Ruhemann, Design by Tomer Hanuka, Boarded by Brendan Houghton, Anim/Rendering/Comp at Red Knuckles Studio (Rick Thiele and Mario Ucci) and I assisted the folks mentioned above. Additional comp and titles by Johnny Still. 

I thought it was a real shame this was not picked up to be produced for a series. It really could have been a great way to integrate storytelling and history with an edge.

check out the spot here and the rest of the great work done at Red Knuckles Studio.

https://www.redknuckles.co.uk/work/nat-geo-age-of-blood

Amazon Reads "That Reading Feeling Awaits"

 I animated on this sequence. My intended work did not make it to the screen.