St. Nicky Wicky: "YOU SHALL NOT PAAAAAASS...Yet!" Merry Chrimbo 2014!

Merry Chrimbo Peeps! It is I once a again bringing you the last update of 2014 before 2015 starts.

As many of you know ever since Christmas of 2010 I have been trying to re-create a Christmas Card as epic as this. 

Which in my opinion is the best I've created. Although it's proving quite hard to do, I decided to keep trying and experimenting anyway and who knows? Maybe I'll surpass this eventually?

In the mean time I decided to focus on the real life Santa Claus St. Nicholas this year for my Christmas Card. Whilst researching many European Christmas folklores surrounding the man, I discovered something quite interesting, that is the mythology of Krampus! How the hell did I miss this guy and why isn't he more well known in the UK?! Seriously of all cartoons and TV christmas specials involving Santa/Nicholas trying to save Christmas you'd think Krampus would be the perfect villain to use? Such a wasted opportunity to be honest.

Anyway according to the Krampus Mythos he is the Anti-Santa/Nicholas, as many of you know Santa/Nicolas provides gifts for the good children who behaved themselves all year, whereas Krampus on the other hand comes after the naughty children, takes them away and...Well the Mythos never actually say what Krampus does to them after he takes them but judging from the various art works that exist based on the Krampus story I don't think I want to know.

There is one issue I have with the Krampus story though (and to be honest it's quite a big one), when you read about the history of St. Nicholas and what a kind, generous man he was, why the hell would he let Krampus take the children away to do God knows what with them? Even if they were naughty, really? I mean really?! This just didn't sit right with me hence why, with pen in hand, I decided to do something about it...

And viola! Here's the Christmas Card of this year and my own take on the story. It's St.Nicholas coming the save to children from Krampus whilst yelling: "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" Gandalf style!  This is what SHOULD happen in my view.

Who knows? After I finish GANTO maybe I'll do a Krampus film next? And make him similar character wise to the Pincushion Man!

I don't care what anyone says! Pincushion Man is the greatest character ever created and I'm just gutted I didn't come up with him first!

Speaking of GANTO here's a quick update before I bring this latest entry to a close. The good news is I may have finally found some voice-actors yay! However, the writing isn't completely on the wall yet so just in case, I'll repost this image again... 

(Note: Must be UK based, preferably around the London & Surrey areas)

Hopefully I'll finally be able to animate the lyp-synching scenes!

Well, that's it for 2014 folks...MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE AND ALL AND A HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR!

Until next time...

See ya later Navigators and see you all in 2015! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Neffie Head! Neffie Head! Does whatever Neffie Head does (apparently)!

Howdy Peeps! It is I once again bringing you the latest news for GANTO!

For this month's update I shall be showcasing a finished animated test of one of the characters from the film.

Remember this image of Queen Nefertiti's head from August's update?

Well since I'd rather get all of the most complicated animation out of the way the first, I decided to animate good ol' Neffie from A - B just as I mapped out in above's key-frame and...

Viola! Here is the result! Decided to edit in both versions with all the animated frames included whilst the other with some frames removed to see which sequence fits best with the eery creepiness of the Lost Property department. So far three people have told me they prefer the one with all the frames included but I'm still going to ask more people anyway to see which works better, for now looks like the all frames included version is winning!

And before I bring this latest update to a close I am going to post this image again, in fact in every single update from now I'm going to keep posting it until I found the voice actors ASAP!

(Note: Must be UK based, preferably around the London & Surrey areas)

Well that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Happy Storyboard Framed Halloween! (And seeking out Voice-Actors)

Happy Halloween Peeps! It is I once again with...Not a very long update to be honest for this month.

Since it's Halloween I've decided to showcase a never seen before storyboard frame showing a scene that will happen in GANTO. What's it got to do with Halloween you say? Well, see for yourselves!

 It's Pubert facing his karma as his own lost property turn on him. So what does the villainous Pubert do too deserve this you wonder? You'll have to wait and found out after the film completes.

And before I bring this latest update to a close, I am in a serious need of Voice-Actors ASAP...

Look at them, you can't just simply deprive them of their own voices now can you? If you or anyone else you know who would be interested please be sure to get in touch with me! Thanks. (Note: Must be UK based only, ideally London or Surrey areas).

Well that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

C'est Le Caractère Nouvelle Modèle De François Cevert!

Greetings Peeps! It is I once again...Suddenly speaking French randomly now? But first just a quick heads up about GANTO.

For this month's update I was originally going to post some animation tests but honestly? I'm still tidying it up and those who knows me knows how much I hate posting unfinished work, so I decided to leave it for now and instead use this update to showcase my previous unseen work and this ladies and gentlemen is where my random French comes in...

Back in January/February I was interviewed by Brunswick Studios for a possible commission to work on their Kick-Starter funded bio film about the late French F1 driver Francois Cervet. As part of the interviewing process I needed to create character design model sheets of Francois Cervet in my style for them in order to check if I would be suitable enough for the role. Below are these very character designed sheets.

First up is the various different character designs I've created of Francois to see design would suit best for the animated feature.

After choosing a certain design I expanded him further with this character turn-around sheet.

As well as a character model sheet to expand further on how he could possible move.

I also decided to take the liberty of even creating a character turn-around sheet on just his head alone.

Just kept spinning and spinning...

Until I reached up to this part of course.

So you folks must be wondering I didn't showcase these character designs of Francois Cervet earlier considering they were created back in January/February time? Well to tell the truth I had decided not to out of respect for the Studio unless I heard otherwise. However, since I haven't heard back from them after I had submitted these months ago, I think it is now safe to assume I didn't get the gig after all. It would've been nice to have worked on this project to be honest but alas it was not meant to be.

Before I bring this latest update to a close I would again like to apologise for not any GANTO related work for this month, things should be OK again for next month's update but for now hope you've enjoyed seeing this previous unseen work of mine.

Well, that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Bring on the GANTO backgrounds (well, my attempt anyway)! And...Oh yeah Stephen Fry too of course!

Ahoy there Peeps! It is I once again bringing you all more GANTO related news!

But first some other news, I have once more entered another Talent House competition, this time a Stephen Fry one!

As you can see the entry has to be a poster design advertising his Royal Festival Hall performance which is to take place in October 1st. How cool will it be if my illustration design gets picked? The only annoying thing is that I accidentally spelt "only" wrong, bummer (my dyslexia can really be so annoying sometimes)! Despite that annoying little mistake of mine I'm sure Stephen Fry will see the funny side of it though...I think?????? Well anyways once again you wonderful folks know what to do, so if you can all please vote for my Stephen Fry entry I will be eternally grateful thank you. 

Now that bit of news is out of the way time to talk about what this is really about, GANTO of course! This time I've decided to showcase some background concepts I've been working on, well my attempt anyway.

Here's the first attempt showing a nightmarish type imagery from the depths of the lost property department. Really wanted to empathise the whole creepiness of the place for a poor little child like the main character Cleo to end up trapped in.

And here's another, think I might need to add a bit more to this particular background image actually but we'll see.

Last but most definitely not least the concept and animation reference of Queen Nefertiti's head coming to life in a demonic, monstrous form!

Hopefully I'll be able to provide some more animation tests for GANTO to showcase for the next Blog update but really hope you've enjoyed what I've developed for this project so far. Also if anyone knows of really good background designers and voice actors please do let me know ASAP, thank you.

Well, that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula.

Keyframes! Keyframes! Annnnnnnnd...More Keyframes! Oh yeah and a very Merry Eidmas too!

Howdy Peeps! It is I once again with even more GANTO related news!

But first, for those who do not yet know I now have my very own Facebook Page which I am obviously using to showcase my work there too. I really need as much support as I can get so if you haven't already could you please give it a "Like" ? I'd really appreciate it if you do, many thanks in advance.

Now that's out of the way let's move on to what this update is really about...GANTO! Or what I've done so far anyway which is I've create more animated keyframes (namely for Cleo and Jonathan). Haven't completed the in-betweens  for them yet but I am working on them as we speak.

First up a couple of keyframes of little Cleo dancing in happiness, have to say of all the keyframes I've created so far this is what I'm really looking forward to animating so far, can't wait to see the end result!

Next up is our good pal Jonathan, the ever loveable busking Clown! I've recently been seriously considering talking to some real life buskers just so I can get to understand Jonathan's personality better but not too sure? We'll see.

And of course some more Cleo Keyframes. I've actually discovered that the more I keyframe/animate Cleo, the more I realise how easy she is to animate of all the characters! I doubt I'll have any trouble with Cleo, Jonathan seems OK so far too depending on what scene I am keyframing/animating him in. Now you may note Pubert is missing in all this, there's a good reason that...I fear Pubert is going to give me the most pain to animate! BUT I'll worry about that when I cross that bridge.

Now before I bring this latest update to a close I would just like to say Merry Eidmas! Just like my epic Christmas card I had created a few years ago, I wanted to create something similar for Eid but due to my lack of Photoshop at the mo, I just had to make do with what I can.

Here's the so called Eid card I attempted to make and here's the VERY short story of what it's about: "Everyone was happy and was celebrating Eidmas until the villainous Bahamut Fish & Bull decided to be douches and steal all the world's food forcing everyone to starve for all eternity! Thankfully 2 self-appointed heroes are off to save the day and Eidmas once and for all! Will they win OR lose?! That's up to you wonderful folks to decide..."

Well, that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

GANTO Arises...The Animation tests begins!

Hello again wonderful Peep Peeps! It is moi once again bringing you all more GANTO related news!

Finally managed to finish some of the rough animation tests and as promised last month here it is!

As you can see it's a couple of animation tests of little Cleo and a couple of "Lost Properties" items coming to life. Now because I was supposed to complete these tests and show-case them in last month's update, I've decided to make it up to you guys by including some small "behind the scenes" imageries for this month's update. Without further ado let's begin...

First up the three key-frames of Cleo beginning to smile in excitement (with the in-betweens added in during the animation process).

Next up the dancing Candy Machine! Look at him/her/it go! You know what's sad? The Candy Machine was the most fun to animate! You may also notice in the above image includes the arms on the side. The arms are intended to belong to the Candy Machine's but I haven't got round to animating them yet. Since I've still got a lot more important scenes still to animate, I'll leave the arms alone for now.

Next up the Demonic Moose Head! You folks are probably wondering how the Demonic Moose will play a part in the film? Well, you'll just have to wait until I complete it to find out so nah!

Up next the ever bloating Blow Fish and yes there was a Blow Fish actually left behind one time in the lost property department! In fact according to my research there's all kinds of unbelievable crap that's been found in the lost property departments! What are they you ask? Again you'll just have to slowly find out so nah again!

Now here's two unique images compared to the others I've shown so far. What makes them unique? Well, whilst all the above images were key-frames, these two imageries are actually the in-betweening process of Cleo going down the...Errrm magical slide I guess. There should be one of Jonathan I plan to make at a later date.

And last but not least the Suicide Bear! You may notice Suicide Bear wasn't in the animation tests video above, but I decided to post this image now anyway and just confirm this character will also be in the film too, but I haven't decided how I'm going to animate him/her/it yet? My heart is kinda leading me to want to animate him/her/it via After-Effects (if I ever manage to get that bloody program back) or via my usual traditional drawn technique? Somehow I don't think his/her/it's movements would work via the latter medium? Ah well, I'll worry about that when I cross that bridge.

Well, that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Who Thou Said Women Shalt NOT Be Kings?

Ahoy there Peeps! It is I once again bringing you more creativity I have catered up within my room!

This won't be a very long update though. Originally I was going to post more about GANTO again but because I'm still working on the animation tests I'm not very comfortable showcasing unfinished work, therefore I'm going to leave that until the next Blog update for now and just show my illustration piece instead. 

The above image is actually that of the Pierce sisters Alison and Catherine becoming Kings and ruling the universe in freedom. So where did this idea come from you ask? Well, from this song below, appropriately named "Kings" by the sisters themselves.

My above illustration has been entered into another Talent House competition and the voting is currently open NOW! So if any of you wonderful folks could help me out here and Vote for moi I'll forever be grateful, thank you.

Well, that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Run Cleo! Run away from the riff-raff ye see before thy!

Hey Peeps! It is moi again bringing you the latest shenanigans regarding GANTO: Renaissance!

You may remember from my previous updates I mentioned I was working on each of the characters' walk-cycles? Well I've managed to finish some of them but since Cleo's the star of the story I've decided to showcase hers for this blog post.

Woooo look at her go! She better slow down or she'll end up like Speedy Gonzales and we don't want that now do we? Otherwise I won't have a main character left! Creating one was already hard enough, speaking of which whilst working on the main characters I realised something, what about the generic background characters? So as an odd example I created these two...

Whilst they're only generic background characters and thus play NO part in this story whatsoever, I still wanted them to look interesting in a "they have their own story going on which we're not going to see" way, just like real life really. The amount of times I've walked past people in the streets, my nosey self have often wondered what their lives and daily routines must be like? Also because GANTO is set in a fictional version of London, the amount of interesting characters you see in real life amongst London life surely it'll be a waste not to take advantage of that? Don't get me wrong I'm not planning on spending my entire project JUST to create background characters, but neither do I want them to look like a half-arsed effort. Anyways that's enough of the background characters (scene-stealing buggers), moving on. 

This month I also decided to sketch out roughly the type of stuff we'd see in the lost property departments whilst at the same time creating key-frames for them.

Here's an evil looking mask with bird-like features. I also took the liberty of creating the key turn-around frames to help give it a more three-dimensional look when the time comes to animate it.

And I did something similar with the clock! I just can't help but add a bit of Dali within my work (what can I say? I'm a huge FAN of the man)!

Here's some more riff-raff in the lost property department! Seriously you'd be surprised what you could find there, can't wait to finish this film and show you lovely folks.

More riff-raff yay! To be honest I find trying to create the cheerful, nice side a lot harder than the creepy, evil side of lost property. No worries I'll get there eventually, as they say: No Pain, No Gain!

Well, that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Forget Jonathan (for now), Cleo's the bloody star dammit!

A-hoy there Peeps, it's moi once again bringing you the latest GANTO update!

During my designing phase I realised something, despite Cleo being the main character of the story I have sort of neglected of late and spent way too much time on Jonathan (the mentor of the story)! So to make up for it I have designed new character movement sheets for little Cleo.

 Here she is in her somewhat curious, puzzled mode within her weirdly lost surroundings...

And here she is a again in her much more cheerful, playful mood (baring one movement of her running away crying, my bad there sorry).

Now I don't quite remember whether I've posted Cleo's facial expressions sheet on this blog before but just in case I haven't here it is! I also decided not to make her facial expressions as exaggerated as Jonathan's and Pubert's. Reason being? Because I kind of still want Cleo to have a more human aspect to her unlike the characters of Jonathan and Pubert whom I both describe as being out of this world and even possibly not quite that human.

Now the next image you are about to see is a character turn-around/colour test sheet of Cleo's mum but please bear in mind this very next image was NOT designed by me but by my lovely friend and wonderfully talented Kristin Wright who was helping me some time back to come with a good design for her...

And here she is, Cleo's stuck-up, vain but dumb mummy! Cleo's mum was hands down the hardest character for me to come up with but thanks to Kristin I have the perfect character template for her which I will be using for sure! I'm also going to be choosing the purple template since that ones my favourite.

Unfortunately due to her other commitments Kristin is unable to collaborate with me on this project but I shall still be crediting her for this, plus I wish her the very best of luck with whatever it is she's currently doing. 

Well, that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

The bold, the fugly, the...PUBERT!

Helloooo Peep Peeps it is I once again bringing you the latest GANTO update!

Whilst trying to finalise the pre-production art I suddenly realised something...I haven't (at the time) actually created a new design of Pubert! Done loads for Jonathan and Cleo but non for Pubert, so with this in mind I grabbed my pencil & pens and began to sketch away at the dastardly villain we all hate and despise with a passion!

First up of course are the new designs of Pubert's facial expressions giving him a much more cartoony yet lively looks. Have to say I'm actually glad I did this, it's helped breathe new life into Pubert, makes him look more real to be honest (in a animated sense, not real-life sense).

Next up is his bodily movements. Decided it would be quite fun if I made this crazy fiend much more lanky and crooked looking than he already is.

And last but most definitely not least is his new character turn-around sheet. Is it just me or does he no longer have a neck?! Ah well, the creepier looking he is the better!

Honestly out of the three main characters of Cleo, Jonathan and Pubert I honestly think the latter is going to be a bit of a tough cookie. Not to worry I'll worry about that when I get across the bridge. Funnily enough I'm seriously thinking about making him move just like Robbie Rotten, but it'll be tricky so must think about this very carefully.

And before I bring this latest update to a close I'd just like to let you guys know that to warm my animator self up a bit, I am currently animating the walk cycles for Cleo, Jonathan and Pubert. In fact I've completed Jonathan's walk cycle just need to work on Cleo's and Pubert's next.

Well that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Happy (LATE) New Year...Small Matt Smith Tribute

Happy New Year Peeps! It is I once again bringing you the first bloggy update of 2014!

Remember last year when I spoke about my all time favourite TV Series One Piece? Well for this update I'm going to talk about one of my other all time favourite TV Series Doctor Who but namely the actor Matt Smith who played The Doctor himself (A.K.A. Doc 11). Unless you've been living under a rock for an incredibly long time you should by now know Matt Smith has now left Doctor Who to pursue new acting opportunities. So why am I talking about this? Well in honest truth I'm actually gutted he's gone. I'm serious this role was made for him, he was just so perfect as The Doctor, hell I wasn't even this upset when David Tennant left (and I love Tennant)! 

He was smart, he was dark, he was quirky, he was funny, he was goofy he was everything interesting that the character of The Doctor is supposed to be and my God did Matt Smith play him to perfection. As I watched his regeneration scene, I'd be lying if I say I didn't finally lose it when he removed his Bow-Tie for good (Doc 11's iconic signature). To console myself I did the only thing I knew, illustrate Doc 11!

And voila here it is! It's Doc 11 flying off with his Bow-Tie helium balloon towards Doctor Heaven to re-join all of his previous incarnations and most likely to continue his bickering with Doc 10 & War Doc! So wait I hear you ask, why is he using a Bow-Tie helium balloon when he can just easily use his angel wings now? Well, because errrrrm...Bow-Tie helium balloons are cool OK?! Shut up!

Now I know it is very unlikely Matt Smith will ever see this blog of mine but just in case there is that teeny weeny 1% chance he does (possibly even lower) I would just like to say thank you Matt Smith, you were an amazing Doctor, you took on The Doctor's most interesting aspects and made his role your very own; which kept me and other Whovians glued to the screens wanting to see more. You are by far my favourite Doctor and I wish you had carried on for at least 5 more years but hey if you felt it was your time to go then who am I to stop you? Goodbye Raggedy-Man and I wish you all the best for the future because if there's ever any actor who truly deserves it, it's you.

Now before I bring this latest update to a close let's see who shall be the new Doctor (A.K.A. Doc 12)...

Eeeeeeeeek it's Malcolm Tucker! Run for your lives! Just kidding, Peter Capaldi is awesome! Can't wait to see his Doctor in action, tis shame we have to wait til autumn but hey beggars can't be choosers.

Well that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula