Operation BAA!!!!!: Storyboards, Animation Tests (And a little bit of extra from moi...)

Ahoy there Peep Peeps! It is I once again bringing you the latest Updates of the Al Pasheepo short film project...

As promised from my previous Update, here is a couple of rough Storyboards (in no particular order) I've made so far. I've actually made more than I'm showing here but they're mostly drawn in Stick-Men form so I've just selected the ones that are the most clearly drawn to show you all. I've also done another rough animation test to try and get the harder scenes out the way as well as providing you all with a little sneaky peek...

          

 

 

 

 

So from what you folks might be able to tell, I'm still trying to figure out the right way to make this film really work narrative wise. I'm really hoping this could be my meal ticket to success but I'm not sure if I'm getting any of this right and I really do want this to be amazing! I don't know, maybe I'm being too much of a perfectionist or I'm just feeling like a little bit of a lost soul at the moment, maybe I'm still having Graduation blues who knows? Either way just got to keep going and not give up. Hopefully this animated short takes me somewhere...Fingers crossed!

And before I bring this latest Update of mine to a close here's a little extra from moi...

The beginnings of a Fan Art here, can any of you folks guess who these two characters are? You'll find out next month but for now let the guessing BEGIN!!!!!

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

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Operation BAA!!!!!: The almighty power of EPIC TURN-AROUNDS!!!!!

Ahoy there Peep Peeps! It is I once again bringing you the latest developments towards my new animated short.

As you may have remembered from my previous update, I've created quite a lot of new side characters  and thus needed to create turn-arounds for them (and possibly simplify them too). Suffice to say these took a lot more to create than I intended but never less, I've completed them now so without further ado lets take a look shall we? 

Starting with the Knights, here are the Sheenoirs (top image) of the Sheep Kingdom and the Wolucans (bottom image) of the Wolf Kingdom. As you can see the Sheenoirs look exactly the same as last time whilst with the Wolucans I've made slight changes to how they looked like previously but other than that they still look pretty much the same.

And now onto the Bishops, from above the Bisheeps of the Sheep Kingdom and below the Bisholfs of the Wolf Kingdom. Again not really made much difference from either them to be honest and as for the walking aspect, I'm seriously considering having them float in a sort of ghostly/wizardry way? Not sure yet but I'll keep thinking about that until the time being.

Next up the alternate universe type horses, otherwise known as the Sheores (above) of the Sheep Kingdom and the Wolorses (below) of the Wolf Kingdom. At first (being perfectionist moi of course) I didn't really like how I drew the front legs at all, however, shocking enough they've actually grown on me and now I believe they do work. To be honest I was never planning on animating them realistically anyway so for that purpose alone it works but what do you guys think? Don't be shy to let me know. 

And finally the Robots (in the role of the Pawns), the above image being that of the Sheepbotics of the Sheep Kingdom and the below image being of the Wolfbotics of the Wolf Kingdom. The Sheepbotics still looks exactly the same except I'm still not quite sure about what sort of legs to give them yet, whilst the Wolfbotics on the other hand now look completely different due to how difficult their previous design were to animate. These new designs should now be a little bit more easier to animate.

Next stop, the Storyboards and the Animatic! So watch this space...

And before I bring this latest Update to a close you may have noticed I've gone back to my previous form of Updating once a month. The reason for that being is because whilst working on my animated short, I'd like to present my work in good quality for all to see. If I can update more than once month than fantastic and I really hope to go back to that format too but for the time being I'm going back to updating once a month so please be patient everyone.

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

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Operation BAA!!!!! Important Announcement: Al Pasheepo & Gang officially my next Film project!

Hi Peep Peeps! It is I once again bringing you all, as you could obviously tell from my head title, the latest news of my creative goings on.

Yes it's official, Al Pasheepo & Gang has become my next film project and will be my first since Graduation. For those who have followed my Blog for some time will know that this was originally supposed to be the Sting entry for the British Animation Awards (BAA). I'm really sad to confirm that due to personal problems I missed the deadline. However, I've decided to continue making this anyway and (as plan B) enter it into a new competition. Thankfully I've found the new comp which involves making a 90 second film and the final deadline for this entry is July. It may seem like a long time but trust me, for a lone Animator such as myself it's really not that long. Since I really want to avoid making the same mistakes as I've done with BAA, I've had to think very carefully of what to do to succeed and make the final deadline this time. After much thought and consideration I have made a very difficult decision to once again put GANTO:Renaissance on hold. While it is still my ultimate aim to re-make GANTO later on this year, however, Al Pasheepo for now has become my main priority. The Salvador's House Party Illustration/Art will also be taking a back seat for the time being.

So without further ado here's latest the Concept Art I've completed so far featuring both original and new characters (some may need re-designing/simplifying)...

Starting with the originals. First up are our main protagonists Al Pasheepo and his wife Al Sheeprina, the King & Queen of Sheeps. Romantically huddled together yet still calm, serious and tough enough to prepare for battle, clearly these two lovers are the type of Sheeps you really wouldn't want to mess with...

More originals, here are our main antagonists Werelvis and his wife Maiyundonna, the King & Queen of Wolves. Due to their high levels of arrogance, these two self-absorbed, materialistic thuggish snobs genuinely believe nothing can ever defeat them and their intimidating ways. Well, looks like their luck is about too change...

And now introducing you all to the new characters for the first time, meet the Sheores! As every Kingdom needs to have a Horse, the Kingdom of Sheep has their own version known as the Sheores. Sheores are very gentle and easily frightened creatures. But when the crisis gets tough, their powerful, scared shrieks could prove to be a useful weapon...

The Wolorses are the Horse type creatures found in the Kingdom of Wolves. Of the entire Horse family, the Wolorses are deadly, man eating creatures which will tear you from limb to limb in the matter of seconds! Their favourite food are the Sheores of course but their biggest weaknesses are the Sheores' loud shrieks, they're very sensitive towards all that noise, noise, NOISE...

Sheenoirs, known as the Knights of the Sheep Kingdom. Design wise I personally think this looks fine and doesn't need any tweaking...

Wolucans, known as the Knights of the Wolf Kingdom. Design wise I like it but I might need to tweak this a little bit more to make it more simple to animate, what do you guys think? Any feedback would be very much appreciated...

The Bisheeps, Bishops of the Sheep Kingdom. Again design wise I don't think this really needs any new tweaking, unless you guys think differently? Please don't be shy to let me know what you think...

The Bisholfs, Bishops of the Wolf Kingdom. Design wise I really like this one too but again I think I might also need to simplify this design a little bit more, what do you guys think? Again feedback very much appreciated...

The Sheepbotics, in the role as Pawns of the Sheep Kingdom. Believe or not this is the first time I've ever drawn a Robot! Design wise I think it looks fine to be honest, the only thing I'd probably tweak and simplify are the legs but other than that I really don't think this design needs any changing...

The Wolfbotics, in the role as Pawns of the Wolf Kingdom. This is the second time I have ever drawn a Robot! As much as I love this character design, it is perhaps the most extreme design I've come up with and alas would be way too hard to animate unfortunately. If anyone could come with any better ideas of how to improve this image, please let me know ASAP...

And last but not least here is the World the entire film will be set on, a giant Chessboard. Personally I think this Chessboard design looks so much better than my first attempt. As for the skyline, I originally envisioned it to be entirely pitch black but during my colour experimentations I accidentally came up with this Solar System type skyline and to be honest, I actually like this better. Again this is all still early stages so not sure yet but what do you guys think? Once again constructive criticisms welcomed. :)

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

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye' Mula

The Lord Of The Badgers! Whatever will moi dream of next?!

Hey Peep Peeps! It is I once again introducing you all to my brand new Illustration from the depths of my nightmare!

Yes, you read that right, it's from my nightmare. Last month I had horrible dream about a bunch of normal, everyday, real life Badgers from the wild, all turned evil at night and started to take over the world! And to make matters worse the Badgers would tear people apart and EAT them alive! I know it sounds extremely silly but it was actually really scary dream and one I still haven't forgotten (obviously). Of course they were all lead by the Badger Lord who, appearance wise, had a body of a man, multiple Badger heads and one human head. Not wanting to forgot this otherwise interesting image from my head (no matter how much it scared me) I decided to grab a Pen & Pencil and design this Badger Lord...

And VIOLA!!!!! Here's the result! Now believe it or not he actually did look like this. However, see the human head? In my dream he had the face of Tom Cruise but unintentionally I ended up making him look like Ted Theodore Logan :/ (oops). Ah well, the latter is better looking anyway.

It truly is amazing how imaginative, whether scary or not, dreams can be. Just coming up with so many weird yet interesting stories and characters you never knew you were capable of, now that's what being a storyteller is all about. I don't know, I think the Badger Lord and his army of evil, man eating Badgers could actually make a really interesting animated film? Hmmmmm some day... ;)

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

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Jonathan & Bowie = Bestest Fwiends Forever! :D

Why helloooooooo there Peeps! It is moi once again bringing you the latest on GANTO:Renaissance!

To be honest this isn't really going to be a long update compared to my previous entries but hey Blog updates don't always have to be long. Anyways to begin I'm re-doing the Turn-Arounds for the GANTO characters starting with Jonathan first (since he'll be featured in my "planned" Teaser Trailer).

Haven't finished yet, I've only done front view so far but hey at least it's a start. :) Also as you folks may remember from my previous update I hinted at creating David Bowie? Well folks...

VIOLA! Here's Mr. Bowie himself! :D I've taken aspects from some of his well known eccentric styles (yes, waaaaaaaaaay before you Lady Gaga) , exaggerated them and have made them my own. :) Just to be clear Bowie will not be involved in the actual GANTO film. However, he will be featured in my planned Teaser Trailer. 

I also still need to ask my former Uni Classmates to help me out with this film if I am to succeed with this film (no matter what the cost, I WILL see this through dammit). I came really close to writing them the email but I'm ashamed to say I sort of chickened out. I'm trying to find the way to ask them without annoying any of them, how will I do it I don't know but I'll figure it out one way or another. Besides, the animation world is well known for being incredibly TINY, therefore I can't exactly keep running away from them forever anyway. I'll be sure to keep you guys posted. :)

And if any of you are wondering about the BAA Stings Comp don't worry I'm still working on it. I'll be honest it's getting increasingly unlikely I'll finish it on time for the Comp but it's OK, at least now I'll have a bit more freedom with Al Pasheepo and make him even MORE epic! ;) Again I'll keep you guys posted on BAA. :)

And before I bring this latest update close I saw this Posted earlier by my good pal Natan Rifkin and I have to say I like this, I like this a lot. Very harsh but indeed true.

(Source Link)

I think I'll start crossing out the very things I DON'T want to end up as as advised. ;)

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

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Operation BAA!!!!!: Rough Animation Tests (Late Christmas Card) & GANTO 2012 Updates...

Happy New Year my wonderful Peep Peeps! It is I once again bringing you the latest updates. :)

First up the latest news on our dear friend Al Pasheepo and gang. As you can see I am now on the animation stages...

I only have one month left to complete the short for the BAA Stings Comp. To be completely honest I'm if not sure I'm going to finish it on time, however, even if I don't I still aim to finish this short anyway. I have come too far to quit on this now so instead of worrying about the BAA's Deadline (which is the worst case scenario) I'm now focused on just creating a short that'll wow and entertain people since that's the real reason why I've started working on this project in the first place. When it comes down to it, it's just another brilliant excuse to animate and improve my skill. Stay tuned for more updates regarding Al Pasheepo and gang in future, in the meantime I'd love a couple of feedbacks of what you guys think of my rough animation so far and whether it needs more inbetweening etc. Please, don't let be shy to let moi know, anything that'll improve this short is a plus for me! ;)

Anyways moving on, I was going to post this on my Blog last month but alas I was extremely busy and didn't have time. So for that my dears I apologise. I know Christmas is gone now but as they say better late than never. ;)

I admit, it's not as epic as last year's Christmas Card but it's just a nice, simple, illustration piece I made for my mate Ms. Kristin Wright after she kindly sent me a card by post (1,2,3...Awwwwwwwwww) so I decided to reward her by illustrating her cuddling up to the awesome (and dare I say handsome) Hugh Jackman in a lovely Santa Costume. Also if you're wondering why his entire body is covered in legs, it's a bit of an in joke between us but I'm not so sure she saw the funny side, eeeek! O_o

And now the latest news for GANTO:Renaissance...

The Wizard Of Oz came on TV the other day (ahhhhhhh childhood memories, oh how much I love that film :D) which I happily sat down watched, smiling from ear to ear. Sooooooo what's this got to do with GANTO you ask? Well, after the film finished I decided to read up more information about the film and was especially curious to learn a bit more about the (now sadly departed) main actors from the film. As I researched the one actor who really caught my eye was the actor who played Scarecrow...

His name was Ray Bolger and as well as acting he was also a very talented dancer and was also very good at moving his body, limbs in a quite floppy fashion. In fact if you look at the way he played Scarecrow you can see his floppyness an awful lot. So I started to watch more clips of Ray Bolger on Youtube and the more I saw the more I realised that movement wise, he'd actually be a fantastic reference for Jonathan! :D So on that note Ray Bolger, I salute you! Welcome aboard GANTO:Renaissance! :)

(And on an unrelated note, Dorothy Gale still pisses me off!)

And before I bring this update to a close here's a Treatment for the "Teaser Trailer" I'm considering making to help get people more interested...

Expect Bowie designs coming soon. ;)

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

See ya late Navigators and Happy New Year! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Operation BAA!!!!!: More Turnarounds and another GANTO:Renaissance announcement...

Greetings and salutations Peep Peeps, it is I once again bringing you the latest developments of BAA and another competition announcement regarding GANTO:Renaissance! :D

First up the BAA comp. The good news is I've finally finished the character turnarounds for the newer characters...

Al Sheeprina (Al Pasheepo's wife)

Werelvis, the King of Wolves...

And disgustingly obese slob!

Maiyundonna the Queen of Wolves.

To hurry things up I decided not to colour in the turnarounds this time in order to save time because truthfully I really do need to get cracking! Must finish the Storyboards ASAP and begin animating now! My next Blog update for BAA should be the actual animation tests this time so watch this space...

Now onto the news regarding GANTO:Renaissance. I've discovered another competition regarding this, the prize being an opportunity to create a Stop-Motion short and meeting one of the legendary animators Ray Harryhausen. But wait what has this got to do with GANTO:Renaissance? Well since I'm aiming to make it into a Stop-Motion film I figured this would be a great time start making a Teaser Trailer for it which will feature Jonathan, the loveable, fat-arsed, free spirited Clown! 

There he is! :D

Awwwwww bless! Who doesn't love Jonathan?

This should be able to help me to get more people interested in this project since afterall, it's the publicity which is really needed. Plus it'll also give me a good chance to start practicing with this medium. The only thing I need to do to enter is to create a Storyboard for this and that's it! Both BAA and this latest comps' Deadlines are in Feb and since Storyboards are very easy things to do, BAA takes my main priority due to the animation requirements and fast! Don't worry I'm still entering the Ray Harryhausen comp (I'd have to be dumb not to). While we're on the subject of GANTO:Renaissance I still haven't asked my former Classmates for help yet. :( Really do need to build up the courage to ask them.

And before I bring this Blog to a close I've started feeling a little down again which is why I'm Re-Posting this as a reminder to myself to NOT give up and carry on with my dreams.

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

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula