The Belly Button of The World - Youtube Channel

This was posted many months back. I'm reposting it here because it is now on our new Youtube Channel - where I'll be posting further video updates and linking them here and on Facebook.

It is a short we did in about 6 weeks (part-time hours) to test out the animation and compositing techniques as well as the writing and character development.

If you socialize on Youtube and you like the video help spread the word.

The Belly Button of the World - Finished Short

Here’s the finished short “The Belly Button of the World”. This is one of a series of SSSNAPPE’s that we are doing to experiment with the characters, style and writing of the Ultra Galactic Gung-Ho Gurus.  To see some more on the 3D set design look here for original construction and here for how it translated into a computer generated version. Go here  and here for details and pictures on how the Stop-Motion character of Thunderstone was constructed. Here are some links on the original design of Thunderstone and the characters of Bleeph and Screever.

We are putting away the shorts for now and starting on production of the longer format episodes. It is a series of 24 minute shows on Mankind’s Quest for Outer Space. More to come on that soon.

"The Belly Button of the World" Animated Logo

 

Here's a short segment of animation from the UG3 Snappy "The Belly Button of the World". It tells about the ancient myth of the Omphalos which became the sight of the Delphic Oracle. It was created in Flash and looks much better in the original. The animated gif version doesn't do it justice.  

Eagles of the Omphalos

One of the short animations we are working on for UG3 is called "The Belly Button of the World". Rather than going into the explanation I'll let you look it up. It does involve two eagles and something called an Omphalos. Here are two flight cycles of the eagles. These were created in Flash.

Preproduction Process: Rough Animatic

In the previous post I showed some examples of the first three steps after the initial brainstorming and research phase. They included the script then thumbnails and then storyboards. Next we put together a rough soundtrack and then create a rough animatic from that. 

This animatic was created in Adobe Flash using the same parameters that will be used in the final animation.

The next step will be to look at the animatic for timing and other aspects. Does the dialogue work? What is missing? After initial views I'm pretty sure we'll be working on a score along with sound effects. The voice track is rough and we'll be re-voicing some of the parts. An animatic is a very good way to get a sense of what is working and what isn't before you get into too much work.

Preproduction Process: Script, Thumbnails, Storyboards

Here's a brief rundown of the preproduction process that I use in creating my animated shorts. Let me first say I've skipped talking about the research and brainstorming part. I may do a little about that in a later post. But after that part is done I write a script. This is page one of a two page script. It's a short about how a planet in our solar system was actually named Herschel for awhile. The highlights are there to help in the voice recording process. The handwritten notes and numbering are for the thumbnails and storyboards. 

 

From there I start thinking more about layout and animation by doing some rough thumbnails of the short or scene - if it is part of a longer animation. I begin with pages of these small frames and start drawing the thumbnails. If something is wrong I don't usually start with a new page, I just mark through the thumbnail I don't like and move on - as you can see with my very first thumbnail.  The short two-page script for this one took five and a half pages of thumbnails to layout the whole thing. 

 

Next I do rough storyboards. They are aobut 4 inches high by 7 inches wide. While the drawings for the storyboards are more detailed than the thumbnails they are still not what I'll use for the animatic. The numbers in the storyboards correspond to the ones in the thumbnails and on the script.  

 

I hope to have the animatic up within a couple of days or so. We are finishing up the rough soundtrack. The drawings are done mostly in Adobe Flash and  will be even more detailed than these storyboards. 

Animatic for SSSNAPPE #1

Here's a rough animatic for another SSSNAPPE segment. This one is entitled "Earth's Greatest Army Conquered by Half-Naked Snowboarders." There is a little issue with the soundtrack but we'll have that corrected shortly. 

Animatic for SSSNAPPE Intro

Here's an animatic for the SSSNAPPE introduction. SSSNAPPEs will be shorts hosted by the UG3 characters. It will give us a chance to test out voices, timing and how the chemistry between characters are working. The main host, Thunderstone, will be stop-motion animation while the others will be done in Flash, although the round monitors that they appear in will be stop motion also.

Here's a mock-up of the chair that Thunderstone is sitting in. The green domes are the monitors that rise up around him and hold the images of the other hosts.

Initial observations include: we need to up the acting with some of the voices, possibly add a music bed and tighten the timing.

We should have another rough animatic for the Half-Naked Snowboarders SSSNAPPE up soon.