S P Hannifin

Cartoon show pitch progress

In addition to staying busy with Animation Mentor (we’re starting on our most complex animation assignment yet: a multi-shot two-character scene… it’s the jackpot!), I’ve been continuing to work on my cartoon show pitch; more specifically, I’m drawing character sketches and really trying to finalize their designs. The experience of drawing is strange. I don’t think my cartooning skills are completely horrible, but they’re not terribly refined either. Looking at my sketches, you can probably tell what I’m going for, even if my proportions and angles are a bit off. I’ll post some pics at some point. My plan for now is to sketch the characters in different sorts of poses that show off their personalities, then scan them into the computer and colorize them digitally.

I think the text of my pitch is pretty much done; I just need to do more drawings, format the text and the pics together in some sort of pleasing design, then I’ll be set.

Last week I bought and read David B. Levy’s book: Animation Development: From Pitch to Production. It’s a good companion to Joe Murray’s book I mentioned earlier, Creating Animated Cartoons with Character. They’re both about the same thing (developing cartoon shows), but they both approach the subject from different backgrounds and experiences, so it’s interesting to get their different perspectives.

By S P Hannifin, ago

Balen and the Factory

Here’s a little story I wrote today called “Balen and the Factory”:

—–

BALEN AND THE FACTORY
by Sean Patrick Hannifin

Balen stood before the door, just one among a crowd. He was only fourteen, but it was never too soon to try, was it? Balen knocked and waited patiently. He didn’t know exactly what was inside, but he knew it was wondrous; it was where people made music and books and movies and candy. It was where anyone with an imagination as amazing as his should be. It was a paradise inside.

The doors slowly opened. A man in a blue coat stood in the doorway, peering out into the small crowd. Balen was surrounded by men and women, old and young, even children. The man in the blue coat pointed at someone, some kid who lept for joy and disappeared into the darkness beyond the doorway. The man in the blue coat pointed at someone else, an older woman. She smiled and walked in proudly. The man in the blue coat pointed at several others and they went in. But he ignored Balen. Then he closed the door.

Oh well. It was a long shot. Like winning the lottery. Except the prize was better. Maybe next year.

So the next year Balen returned to the door and knocked. Again he was surrounded by a small crowd of people. Again the man in the blue coat did not choose him.

The next year Balen returned again. And the next year, and the next. Many years passed, decades even, and Balen became old. He hated the surrounding crowds. They were noisy and annoying. He just wanted to get inside. It was unfair that he should have to wait so long. So many others were getting picked, children even. Who else had returned as many times as he had? He deserved to be inside by now.

The man in the blue coat opened the door. He was now very old and slow. He shook his head and spoke, his voice as cool as the wind:

“I’m sorry. This is the end. There will be no more. We’re shutting this place down.”

The crowd grumbled and left, but Balen stayed. As the man turned back to the door, Balen pulled on his coat.

“What?” the man asked calmly.

“Can I come in?” Balen asked.

“No,” the man said.

“Please!” Balen begged, falling to his knees. “Please! Let me in!”

“Sorry,” the man said. “It’s too late.”

“I’ve been knocking and waiting for fifty years! Surely you must have noticed me! Why would you never let me in?”

“You never smiled.”

Balen felt like punching the old fool. “I would’ve smiled if you had let me in!”

The man shook his head. “We wanted people who were already happy.”

Balen smiled.

The old man frowned. “You can’t fake it. And it’s too late.” And he slammed the door.

Balen went home and lived out the rest of his boring life in boring boredom.

By S P Hannifin, ago

Back to that cartoon I’ve been planning…

Creating Animated Cartoons with Character: A Guide to Developing and Producing Your Own Series for TV, the Web, and Short Film by Joe Murray.

I’m not sure how I stumbled upon this book, but I came across it on my web-surfing journeys last week, went to see if they had it at the local bookstore, and they did, so I bought it. It’s not very long, just 200-something pages. (That it was written by the creator of Rocko’s Modern Life certainly helped catch my attention; that was one of my favorite shows growing up. It taught me the word nauseous.) It’s not so much about the day-to-day ins and outs of actual cartoon production (it touches on everything, but doesn’t go into enormous amounts of detail); rather, it’s about designing a cartoon, putting together a pitch bible, pitching and selling it to a network, or producing it yourself.

If you’ve read this blog for at least a year or so (in which case you deserve some sort of reward), you’ll know I’ve been working on a cartoon idea for a couple years, with the intent of eventually producing it myself in Flash or Toon Boom or something. But if a network bought it and it was developed professionally, it would be, you know, better. So throughout last week, I was going through my old notes and cartoon ideas, cutting a bunch of ideas out, changing things around, and started developing a pitch bible, guided by the book and any online resources I can scrounge up. Even if this doesn’t result in any network deals (the chance of which is pretty miniscule anyway), this seems to be a great exercise that will definitely be helpful if/when I crudely animate a short episode of it myself. It’s also forcing me to finalize character designs. I’ve got most of the text of the bible done (as a rough draft, at least), but there’s a good amount of artwork to do. So that’s probably what I’ll be working on when I can spare the time; still gotta focus on my Animation Mentor studies.

Anyway, for anyone else out there dreaming of developing a cartoon, Joe Murray’s book is great! I definitely recommend it.

By S P Hannifin, ago

New animation studio coming…

Not from me, unfortunately, but from Paramount. This is kind of old news, really, but I never blogged about it. I think they were distributing another studio’s CGI movies (Dreamworks?), but I guess the current CGI animation renessaince is too attractively lucrative for a studio like Paramount not to try joining in the fun. Though perhaps the market risks oversaturation, for now I think this is good news for people like me who wish to pursue careers in animation.

Currently the big US studios are: Pixar, Disney, Dreamworks, Blue Sky, and Sony. ILM tried jumping into the game with Rango, but I’m not sure if they’re currently planning more or not. In a few years, looks like Paramount may be added to the mix. That would make six or seven big CG animation studios for the US. Whew! The more, the merrier, I say. And I’d of course be thrilled to get a job with any of ’em…

Anyway, the reason I was reminded of this news was because of today’s press release that David Stainton was named president of this new division. The press release says:

Paramount Animation aims to focus on high-quality animation with budgets per picture of up to $100 million, with an initial target of one release per year. The division’s mandate will be the development of the broadest range of family CGI animated films, with a key piece being titles under the label of Viacom’s Nickelodeon, the No. 1 entertainment brand for kids worldwide. Paramount will also build on Viacom’s already thriving global consumer products business by seeking to capitalize on merchandising opportunities tied to all Paramount Animation releases.

Interesting…

By S P Hannifin, ago

Blogging fatigue is for fools!

This blog post asks: Is blog fatigue on the rise?

For some it’s the negativity that comes with putting yourself out there. Some people have run out of ideas. Some people have taken a look at the cost/benefit and decided it wasn’t worth it. And some just forget to post.

For me, one of the nice things about blogging is you can do it whenever you want and about whatever you want. Some people seem to view it more like an obligation, thinking they must post some certain amount of posts every month or week, or they must post only about certain topics, or whatever. I can understand why that might be fatiguing. But I don’t understand why some bloggers want to make that their goal in the first place. Unless you’re somehow making some good money blogging (which, to be fair, some people are, and plenty of fools are trying), why are you giving yourself another useless chore to do?

Instead, blog for yourself, purely out of your own interest, because you’re interested in having records of your own interesting thoughts. (That doesn’t mean your blog can’t be helpful; that might be what interests you. The point is that your own interest is the blog’s guiding light, not some self-created duty to society.) If you don’t post for a week, or a month, that doesn’t mean you’re tired of blogging, it just means you’re not interested sometimes, which is natural.

That’s why I’ve never understood when people write things like: “sorry I haven’t blogged in a while.” Or: “I promise to blog a lot more often from now on.” Um. OK. Thanks? Unless you’re a huge celebrity, it’s unlikely anyone really cares that much. And you’re not blogging for the world anyway, you don’t owe anyone your blog posts, and you don’t have to be sorry or explain yourself if you don’t post for a while.

As for the negativity: Yes, I agree the anonymity of the web can foster a greater amount of negativity, but why let it bother you? Someone insulting you doesn’t change who you are, and if they’re anonymous, they don’t even really know you anyway, so they’re not really insulting you personally.

If you just don’t like defending your point of view when people disagree with you, you don’t have to. Sometimes you’ll address an issue, and people will bring it up over and over. Just ignore those comments; if they were really seeking an answer (instead of just bating you on or overreacting emotionally themselves), they’d find your answer. If you’re afraid you’re point of view will make you look like an idiot, maybe you’re view is wrong. If you can’t admit that to yourself (after all, everyone is sometimes wrong), then you’ve probably got bigger problems than “blogging fatigue.” In my teens and early twenties (not long ago), I used to have arguments in online forums about things like music and art philosophy, and it was amazing how many people, adults in their 40s and 50s even, would get extremely defensive and insulted when someone dared disagree with them about something. I can certainly understand a certain debate getting old because people make the same old arguments over and over and aren’t really interested in reading what you write and addressing the points you’re making, but to avoid disagreements out of self-doubt or lack of confidence, and then still assuming your point of view is undoubtedly right, would make you a hypocrite. If you don’t have the confidence to question your own beliefs, then your beliefs will remain flimsy-wimsy, and why would you want that? I guess what I’m saying is: embrace disagreement. Not for the sake of itself, but for the sake of your own honest understanding of things, because sometimes you are wrong, or your understanding of something is at least incomplete. Don’t view disagreement itself as negativity (though, of course, emotional overreactions can be laced with disagreements and negativity, but you should be able to tell which is which; don’t use negativity as an excuse to not consider the disagreement).

OK, that was a bit of a digression, and I’m not sure disagreement was what was meant by “negativity” anyway, but I think it’s a huge possibility, considering the amount of people who lack the confidence to truly defend their point of view (or simply resort to emotional outbursts when they try to).

By S P Hannifin, ago

Browsing Disney research…

If you ever need a short little break from animating, browsing through Disney’s or Pixar’s graphic publications may provide some “edutainment” for your intellectual hunger. OK, they are mostly completely over my head and I have no way in which to apply the material they contain, but they provide some interesting hints about how the big guys achieve some of their amazing 3D graphics. And there are pretty pictures.

By S P Hannifin, ago

Finding Nemo in 3D?

It looks like Finding Nemo, my favorite Pixar film so far, will be rereleased in 3D next year. Monsters, Inc is scheduled for the beginning of 2013, which makes sense, since the prequel will come out sometime around there. The post also mentions 3D versions of Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, no doubt influenced by the success of the recent 3D rerelease of The Lion King. If I get the chance, I will try to catch all of these as they come out, but I would especially love to see Finding Nemo on the big screen again.

By S P Hannifin, ago

Of Castles and Airships… coming at some point

I did not get much sleep last night; I was up very late (or early), obsessed with finishing a new orchestral composition, which I think turned out very nicely. As digital composers may know, after you finish a piece, it gets completely stuck in your head and you are almost powerless to resist the urge to listen to it over and over and over with proud admiration. So I only got a few hours of sleep, and even that wasn’t very fulfilling, as I was nervous about not waking up in time for work and thus tossed and turned throughout those few hours.

And then, when I did set out to go to work, the car wouldn’t start. Just clicky-clicky-clicky. And I don’t know anything about cars. So I had to be chaffeured (sp?) to work and got in late, but oh well, what can one do? I was then promptly fired. No, just kidding.

Anyway, I think I will call my new piece Of Castles and Airships. A nice fantastical ring to it, and airships have been on my mind lately from my novel writing. I’m not sure what to do for the music visualization though; I feel the urge to do something besides an ordinary Music Animation Machine video; perhaps animate something by hand, though that may take forever. I’ll have to ponder…

By S P Hannifin, ago

Stuff I’m doing…

Been a busy week here. Animation Mentor semester 5 started this week. My mentor this semester is animator Jay Jackson, who has a very impressive 2D background. I’m very excited! Our assignment for the next few weeks will be to add facial animation to our last assignment from last semester, which I am both excited and nervous about… I’m afraid my work is going to stink. But I’m new to this, so I forgive myself in advance. Just as long as I don’t fail out! Anyway, our assignment for this week, which I haven’t done yet, is to shoot video reference and draw sketches planning out our work.

Novel-writing-wise, my novel is at around 29,000 words. The three main characters are currently traveling through the sky in an airship headed towards the kingdom’s castle. I am a few chapters away from the mid-point of the story, so my current guess is that the novel will end up being around 70,000 to 90,000 words total. We’ll see.

I also started writing some more music earlier this week. Not sure what I’ll call the piece, but it’s almost finished. Watch for it on YouTube this week or next week or the week after that… not sure when I’ll finish. It’s pretty standard Hannifin work, but I’m quite pleased with it. In fact, I’m tempted to offer myself much praise, but, being me, I’m quite biased towards myself, so I consider myself at an unfair advantage to receive such praise.

TV-wise, if you care, I started watching Person of Interest (mostly because it was created by Jonathan Nolan). I’m not exactly impressed, but it’s not horrible, so I’ll give it a chance; but if I get pressed for time as the Animation Mentor semester continues, it’ll probably be the first to go. I also started watching Terra Nova as I enjoyed the sci-fi-ish previews for it, but the pilot for that show I also found to be rather unimpressive, and, at times, downright awful. But it’s interesting enough that I’d like to see what the story will turn into. Fringe returned on Friday, which was OK, but not nearly as good as last season’s start. But the “Where is Peter Bishop?” story line should provide me with enough interest to continue watching. The first half of last season was excellent, but I thought the last few shows that ended the season were quite weak, and the cartoony-CGI episode was one of the worst TV-watching experiences I’ve ever had. I’d rather watch HR Pufnstuf several hundred times than suffer through that episode again. (OK, maybe I wouldn’t go that far…) I’m looking forward to House starting on Monday. So… four shows for me this season, plus I’m still slowly working through Burn Notice season 2 on DVD, which is a great show. And Shark Tank will return for a season 3, but I’m not sure when. And we might get a DVR sometime next week, so that will be nice, but I can’t complain too much if I miss something, since Animation Mentor must be the priority… not TV.

Reading-wise, I’ve been enjoying Neal Stephenson’s Reamde: A Novel. Definitely more mainstream (so far) than Anathem (the only other novel of his I’ve read so far), but still quite captivating.

Oh, and in other news, I can now touch my nose with my tongue. I couldn’t do that before. Two decades of practice have finally paid off.

By S P Hannifin, ago