The Invasion Production Journal

Introducing: Future Girl

2011-02-21T17:00:00.000-08:00

Future Girl is ready for rigging.

2011-01-16T18:43:00.000-08:00

So after many iterations, I am happy with with I have for one of the main characters. Being a super-time-traveling spy from the 70s is a tough thing to work out apparently. However, I feel that this rendition of Future Girl is ready for rigging. So my next update should be some poses and motion tests. Until then, enjoy.

The New Year

2011-01-13T22:17:00.000-08:00

So, I think I've say this every year, but this is the year I'd like to wrap up this Invasion trailer...
Here is the first update of the new year. Here is hoping to many more. :-)

FIrst Hair-do Blocking

2010-05-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

Working out FutureGirl's base model and hairstyle. The concept is that she changes outfit from sequence to sequence. Complete with new Hair Styles and all. But I wanted to define a 'default' look for hair and body.

I like the hair shape generally, but I need to model it out correctly. Only blocking is seen here.

The body is ok, I want to do a breast reduction to give her a more athletic build. Also need to design a 1970's sci-fi space suit for her. This is just a simple latex jump suit. Good for most occasions. :-)

Redesign proposal.

2010-05-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

In an effort to find something more appealing, I'm trying a new design.

I also want to do one more iteration, to consider which style I find the most flexible for animation, and ease of lighting in the toon render... as well as just general appeal.

I found this design gave me immediate appealing looks with minimum work. All I did was rotate the camera around and move the eyes. It might be worth building a few face shapes to help her express, and see if I can make her emote.

FutureGirl Pose

2010-05-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

Character Inspiration

2010-03-06T17:42:00.000-08:00

I'm hoping to start modeling these two characters soon. Shane Glines was a huge inspiration for both styles. I love his work. It's so appealling, I hope to capture it in 3D.

Completed Shot 10

2010-02-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

So Got this shot feeling good. The Vimeo compression really crushed the detail in the smoke, but trust me, it looks really Anime when you see it correctly. :-)

Invasion S10 from J Dates on Vimeo.

This shot has been the bane of my exsistance for a few years now, and I feel as if it's now one of my favorite. Go figure. But I've cut it into the trailer, and just shows that all the other shots have a lot of work to do. :-)

Enjoy

Blocked Breakthrough!

2010-02-23T19:21:00.000-08:00

So this is the shot that has been blocking my progress. And the breakthrough was a composition problem. I couldn't find a composition that I liked. The Alien walker is attacking the Army Base, but I just couldn't seem to make it work. Well, I am happy with it now. I'll have it animated an in the edit by end of the week. Add some CG destruction FX, and voila! Alien destroying Army Base. ( them building is going kabloowee!)

Not only that, it's been so long since I started this silly trailer that my tastes and style preferences have changed. ( the story has never been stronger! ).
However, the visual style is going to lean more towards this image. I'm keeping the Toon influence and flat feel I wanted. But I'm also incorporating much more texture also. Of course this means I have to go back and do this to exsisting shots, but I am confident that won't be a huge issue.

More soon! I promise.

Teaser Animatic

2010-02-20T18:18:00.000-08:00

Finally, an Update!!

So I wanted to get this online to help motivate myself to finish the Teaser up. I've recently been inspired again to work on it.

What you see here is a work in progress. I'm going through roughly to block out the shots and animation and determine where I need to spend my time. The end result will be 16x9, and not feel so raw.

You'll see animation mixed in with storyboards. As I complete a shot I am dropping them into the shot. So the boards are just rough placeholders. Obviously.

TeaserTrailer_v06

They came from the sky!!

2009-07-08T21:49:00.000-07:00

I still have some FX of the actual explosion to incorporate, but here are a few stills from this shot.

It's my fav so far.. Not really sure why.

Prepare to Fight Back!

2009-07-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

So all the new images are Works In Progress. I'm blocking out all the shots for animation and general layout as I push through this crazy workload.

So these images will be rough, but I wanted to get something up. :-)

Mount the Defenses!!

2009-07-01T23:53:00.001-07:00

2009-07-01T08:19:00.001-07:00

New Mustang P-51Teaser Still

2009-06-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

Back from Hiatus!

2009-06-28T14:45:00.003-07:00

I know it's been awhile, but this project has never left my heart. In fact in that time I've been out expanding my reference, and experience.

But this next week I am dedicating to seeing how much of the trailer I can get through.

So watch this blog, i'll be posting this week hopefully daily. But whenever I have something to show.

I've also gone through this blog and refreshed any links that might have died. But if you find any broken links, just let me know. thanks.

In the meanwhile, take a look at one of the shots from when I put it down.
I think I'll have to revisit each 'completed' shot and give it some love. My tastes and skill levels have changed a bit since I created this. We'll see.

enjoy. It's good to be back.

Longest Hiatus Ever!

2007-09-29T12:01:00.003-07:00

It's been forever it seems since my last update. But I have had so much going on that I haven't been able to focus on Invasion.

However, I'm in the process of dusting off all the old files, and getting back into production!

I have the trailer about 33% done, and could be completed by end of year if I hunker down. ( so expect it next summer! ) Ha!

Any filmmaker who has a full-time job, knows the difficulties of 'after-hour' production... ;-) Weekend time is usually family time, and weekdays are typically belong to my Clients.. So that leaves short stints of production here and there. But please rest assured, that Invasion is under constant development.

More in the coming weeks.

2007-01-14T10:34:00.003-08:00

So production on the trailer has been slow going. But it is going! I've put a couple of stills on my regular blog.

I do have some "backstory" images for you to check out! These images are further proof that the events in "Invasion" are not only based on truth, but that Oklahoma Shay was indeed a real American Hero! I risk everything bringing these images to life, but it's a story that has to be told!

Here is Oklahoma Shay and Agent: Future Girl.
circa. 1942

Some of Oklahoma's various Medals of valor!

Some more of Oklahoma's things...

Update!

2006-07-06T16:34:00.003-07:00

So finding time to work on the trailer is the challenge these days. With work, and the fact I'm a social butterfly it has become increasingly difficult to make time to work on the Teaser...

That being said, I have some new stuff. I have completed a Color-Script for the animatic, and they look awesome. I've also finished the first shot from the Teaser and am moving onto the next shot. My goal is to have a finished Teaser with audio out by Christmas! That gives me a deadline to hit... and should be dooable if I actually sit down and work on it like I should.

So I debated about showing these. Irregardless, here they are.

I am however, holding back the Teaser-Animatic until I get a few more scenes under my belt.
This basically is just color reference and direction for the Teaser. The color frames are just imagry I either created, painted, found, or montgued into what you see here. I'll be using them to reference for pallete when I'm building the scenes... They evolve in the pre-vis scene but will stay pretty close to the drawn boards. Now leave me be, so I can get back to the next shot. Enjoy.

2006-02-27T19:08:00.003-08:00

I've been working on the Trailer for the short, and would like to share a preliminary background image! This is Mt. Scott as seen from Fort Sill.

More to come soon! Enjoy!

2006-01-27T18:25:00.003-08:00

Some Early Concepts

2006-01-26T18:24:00.003-08:00

Currently, I'm in the process of putting together a Teaser Trailer. So I want to put up some imagery ( mostly concept drawings and sketches ) in the next coming days. However, my focus is producing imagery, not updating the site. ( unfortunatly! )

2005-09-01T18:18:00.003-07:00

Ok, So I'm preparing for an update with some significant animation and style in the next
coming weeks.

For now, check out this "zoom-test.mov" that I did to work out some motion styles I'm wanting to incorporate.

I'm almost 100% complete with Future-Girl, and will be having her run through some action sequences for some
visual payoff soon! I'm excited and can't wait to show them off

I'm a huge fan of
Gennedy Tartakovsky's sensibility,
Hayao Miyazaki's heart,

Shane Gline's color and style,
Brad Bird's storytelling, and about a million
other influences that are just too numerous to list here.

It's my hope that Invasion will be a fusion of the these influences thrown into a pot, simmered to perfection
and served up with a side of belly tingling goodness! More to come soon!!

2005-08-30T18:16:00.003-07:00

I've been showing alot of Future Girl, and her creation. But I have finally gotten around to coming up with
something to show for her Counter-part.

I would like to introduce you to "Oklahoma Shay."

Everything I'm telling in this tale is based on true events recently uncovered. In 1944 before Indiana Jones, there was
a midwest legend known as "Oklahoma Shay". His feats of strength, wit, and patrotism are unchallenged.
Check out some eyewitness accounts of the"Oklahoma's Shay" Chronicles.

2005-01-01T18:14:00.003-08:00

I'm happy to start the New Year with some more images! Here is a sneak peek of a few early poses I tried out for Future Girl.
The poses shown here have no facial posing, as it has yet to be setup! That's next on the list. So stay tuned!

I want to get an Animated "Action" test done ASAP.. So look forward to that.

There is also a bunch of concept art that I need to prepare and post online..

More to come soon!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy 2005!

2004-11-28T18:13:00.003-08:00

Well looks like I had time to put together a small motion sample of
Futuregirl. I did this to just test out the setup on the charcter rig.
But I thought since it's been awhile since I've shown anything I'd post it!
I'll post a bunch of poses and more test animations in the next few weeks.
Enjoy!

Character Rig Setup Walk Cycle

( 1.4 MB )

2004-05-20T18:12:00.003-07:00

Invasion is currently in early pre-production. Writing, concepting,and research and development. I hope to bring you stills of one of the main characters here in the next few weeks. As this project is currently being done in our "off" hours it's hard to have frequent updates.. So please be patient, and I'll update you all as I have information. Thanks!!

2004-03-04T18:08:00.003-08:00

In between the daily assault of commercial production, the R&D Department was able to pull together a little something to show. This is a "proof-of-style" test, that sets the mood for the entire production. This clip was used to test out the paramaters of the XSI Toon Renderer, and give us an idea of what might be achieved with both look and style. It was so exciting we wanted to show it off!! The next test will be a style test for a character in an action sequence! So stay tuned!

Invasion Style Test ( 3.8 MB QT )

2004-02-01T18:07:00.003-08:00

I was recently asked what is the "Invasion"?.

Well, it's basically my Sci-Fi, WWII, Alien Invasion action flick. It's somewhere between Iron Giant, and Samurai Jack. The story is loose right now but is leaning towards... "Aliens attack us in the 40's. We Defend." It'll be a short, told in a series of "Episodes" that will slowly unfold. "Invasion" is currently in story-development, and R&D.

The project has no timeframe allowing me to explore many aspects of story-telling, and design. The cool biproduct is that it also allows me to geek out on my fetishes! This page will be updated as often as I have new content to show!. Enjoy!

2004-01-21T18:07:00.003-08:00

I just updated the teaser Poster. Motion tests should arrive in the coming weeks!

2004-01-06T18:05:00.003-08:00

Currently I'm in pre-production for "Invasion!!!" It'll be a CG episodic Sci-Fi Serial utilizing non-photoreal rendering techniques! I'll post more images and teasers in the next few weeks.