The Battleborn PSX trailer is out and I love it. I like the music, the editing is spot on, and it displays a wide variety of visuals including lots of hand drawn effects. The Gearbox team keeps getting better at integrating my 2D hand drawn animation in the game.
I added a few videos of my animation to my YouTube channel and I also rearranged the display on the front page. If you haven't visited recently, you should go have a look.
When I did the blog for the The Saga of Rex Kickstarter, a couple of years ago, I documented the process of making the film with many videos. I thought it would be fun to put some of them together with music. This will give you a little glimpse into my filmmaking/animation process.
With my busy weekday schedule, it's good to finally have a weekend to relax after two hectic weekends spent at conventions (Sparks Animation Festival in Vancouver BC and Jet City Comic Show in Tacoma WA).
I'm taking the opportunity to read a stack of Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files graphic novels I recently received from England.
I bought the first volume at Forbidden Planet in London, back in August. Got home, read it, loved it, and ordered three more volumes.
Now, I'm almost done with vol. 4 and I'm a new fan. I never read any of 2000AD comics before and I feel like a 12 year old who just uncovered a treasure throve. At over 300 pages each, these books are jam-packed with goodness.
My next order for vol. 5-7 should be here any day now. Vol. 5 features The Apocalypse War which many consider a high point. I can't wait to read it! Praises to both, the art and the writing—Artists, Brian Bolland, Ron Smith, Mike McMaho, and writers, John Wagner and Alan Grant are blowing my mind.
On the work front, Battleborn's release has been delayed by three months. The game will now make its debut on May 3rd, 2016. They received a lot of feedback from the Closed Technical Tests they are conducting and are improving the game accordingly. This will result in a better experience, so I'm all for it. Hope that means we get more time to finesse the effects animation.
This weekend, I will be a guest at Jet City Comic Show in Tacoma, WA. Please come on by and say hi if you happen to be in the neighbourhood.
Click here to find out more about this exciting convention.
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The Iron Giant panel last weekend at the Vancouver International Film Festival Theater went very well. It was great to hang out with people from the industry and meet new friends. Sparks CGS is a classy operation that treated us very well—Nice hotel and great food!
Here are a few pictures taken at the event:
Ken Duncan and I, with an Iron Giant bolt.
Peter de Seve, Keith Blackmore and I having a blast.
Dennis Venizelos and I, deep in conversation.
The Iron Giant Panel in Vancouver (Oct 23rd) + Dream Sequence October 17th, 2015
Since The Iron Giant Signature Edition has been released theatrically and on Digital Download, I thought it would be OK for me to put this on YouTube.
This is the raw FX Animation I did for The Iron Giant Dream Sequence from the Signature Edition. The assets were later composited at Duncan Studios, which handled the production of the Signature Edition additional scenes. I waited 15+ years to animate the FX in this sequence. It was nice to finally have closure.
Below are the preliminary effects designs I presented to Brad Bird before moving ahead with the animation.
Ken Duncan, Wendy Perdue, Dennis Venizelos, and myself will do a panel about The Iron Giant Signature Edition in Vancouver on Friday at 5:00pm, October 23rd at VIFF Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour St. (@ Davie). This will be followed by a screening of the newly remastered film at 7:00pm. For more information, go here.
