Random Roughs

Some First-Pass Caravan Roughs from Mel Miller on Vimeo.

Here are a couple of shots worth of early-stage first-pass rough animation for Caravan that I'm fond of; just added the lot to the latest version of the film's leica reel, after getting them shot on a decent down-shooter on campus. I'll be diving back into these shots soon, fully in-betweening them and tying them down for clean-up.

I have no idea why the pan out has any pixelation to it, by the way, my apologies - the source file is just fine, and Vimeo usually has great quality. Odd indeed.

-Mel

Shot 26 Progression

Shot 26 Progression from Mel Miller on Vimeo.

Rough animation, clean-up, and final color for shot 26 of Caravan.

-Mel

Peaceful Mia (Rough Test)

Peaceful Miss Mia from Mel Miller on Vimeo.

Rough animation for shot 80 of Caravan, which I will be starting tie down and clean up for tomorrow. Mia, albeit wearily, smiles with a much-needed measure of peace.

-Mel

Everybody Likes ol' Charlie

Mia Likes Charlie - Rough Test from Mel Miller on Vimeo.

I'll be spending the next week and a half, possibly two, after midterms completing what rough animation is left to be done for Caravan before going back into clean-up. This shot was the beginning of those efforts, and I'm fond of it, simply because I think it's cute ;)

This shot is in its beginning super-rough, relatively blocked-out stage of animation - a close-up of Mia, just after Charlie ducks down before her to her level to introduce himself. She's spooked by him at first, and looks back to Kelsey, whom she at least feels a little more trustworthy. Realizing Kelsey s quite fond of the fellow before her, Mia decides to give ol' Charlie a chance.

Cheers,
Mel

Half Way There :)

Mia: ORLY? from Mel Miller on Vimeo.

I thought I'd share another animated clip of Mia, wherein she realizes that, in fact, Kelsey doesn't bite after all.

I do apologize for the scant updates over the past few days, but there's really nothing new to report - I'm still working tremendously hard on the film, almost to a fault at times - proper rest is a scarce commodity. It's nearly halfway complete however, which is fantastic. I also plan on compiling an up-to-date leica reel of the film this upcoming weekend, and I'm quite excited for that. All the while, oddly, I've gotten completely and unabashedly hooked on Lost (started from season 1 this past weekend and am already halfway through season 2!) It's proven consummate, albeit rather strange company while I animate.

Also for he fun of it, my new favorite tee, which gets worn to Senior Studio quite often:


Onward and upward!

-Mel

Caravan Girl

Curious Miss Mia from Mel Miller on Vimeo.

Shot 009, rough & clean animation

Clean up from today. I still have a few alterations I want to make to the final line here before I shoot it for color on Friday, but, it's well on its way, at least! :) Mia is so terribly cute when curious. Also, just for the fun of it, here's the tune I was blasting on repeat in Senior Studio today: Goldfrapp's aptly titled Caravan Girl.

And so it goes,
- Mel

Kelsey Clean-Up

Kelsey Crosses Mia's Path from Mel Miller on Vimeo.

One of the pencil tests I did tie down and clean up on yesterday - Kelsey unexpectedly crosses Mia's path to school. The tie down on this shot was pretty loose, but I'm pleased with the clean-up results regardless. The whole motion of this shot amuses me :)

Caravan Fall09 Semester Progress

I have my end-of-the-semester review of my film's progress tomorrow afternoon, and as per usual with any student review, I've cobbled together a quick reel of a healthy portion of the work I've done throughout the semester (although this is hardly all of it - I could only fit in so much!) It's a little difficult to make out some of the rough animation in such a tiny dimension, I do apologize for that. Hopefully, however, it gets the point across well enough - The film's truckin' right along!

Put together in about 3 hours, throughout today, amidst my Maya and Sound Design classes.

Caravan Fall09 Semester Progress Reel

♥Mel

Mighty Miss Mia: Rough Pencil Tests

Hi everyone!

It's been a little quiet here, I know, but for good reason: I now have all of my background layouts for Caravan (All 65!) in flat color. 1/3 of the film is also rough animated. As of the moment, I'm working on rough animation and character layouts for the remaining 2/3rds of the film, as well as shading/texturing the flat-colored backgrounds. The production is moving right along!

Below are a couple of first-pass rough animation tests of little Mia Talbert.

Shot005

Mia, catching sight of something in her peripherals along her path to school is startled, before her curiosity peaks.

Shot006

Mia skitters up the path to try and catch up with the curious anomaly. (limited rough animation)

Shot017

Albeit still backed up against her tree, Mia realizes her predicament isn't nearly as precarious as it had initially seemed.

As per always, you can keep up with my progress on the film at these links:

• The Caravan Backgrounds To-Do List
• The Caravan Shot To-Do List

More again soon,
-Mel