Back in 1999 when I first wrote the scene, I could clearly picture it playing out as an anime. Even my comic storytelling style has always been heavily influenced by movies and animation, to the point where I really felt like I was storyboarding the action I could clearly see in my mind’s eye. In Restless Sleep, I had my first taste of doing that with Kate’s werewolf transformation, but while that was a technical challenge on its own, it had fewer moving parts overall. Also, I was pretty green as an animator, and still had a lot to learn about timing and character performance.
This time I feel ready to tackle a more complete story, and , I want more action, more characters, and dialogue!
Restless Sleep was a great project to learn animation, but because it was just that—basically a student film—it was best that I did it privately in my studio. I wasn’t ready to share it until I knew it would actually be completed. Chinatown will be my fourth animated project following two major projects for the Storiaverse app—This House, and the upcoming piece, Character Assassin. And this time I’m ready to bring you into the studio while it gets made!
Original scene from the comic used as a storyboard.Scene modeled and animated in Blender.Rendered alley background layer (minus characters and shadows.)
The basic process is first, all the characters, props, and sets need to be modeled and prepared in Blender. Once the assets for a given scene are complete (or mostly complete), I can bring everything into a scene file and start setting up the shots by moving the characters and cameras around. Once I’m happy with the basic timing, then I split off all the shots into their own files and do the actual animation. After all the animation for the shots are complete, I fire up the GPU and light the scene with a live preview, take care of any effects for the scene, and use Blender’s Grease Pencil to create the outlines to give it a more hand-drawn feel. Then all the layers for the shot are rendered out—backgrounds, characters, and effects. Then we move over to After Effects, where the finishing work for the shots happen. All the layers get brought in and stacked, kind of like Photoshop. I can then tweak the lighting, shadows and put in any extra 2D effects to give it a polished feel.
Here are some more comparisons between the comic and the film:
Animating this took a fair amount of planning. The blue lines that flash in and out are guides I drew into the frame (from the side) to help time Kate and Chow’s run cycles. That way heir feet landed it the right place on the ground, and they’d end up in the right places on camera.I remember having the hardest time figuring out how to draw Kate falling after getting hit. I was never really satisfied with this panel, but went with it…But when it came time to animate, it turned out to be a great starting point! Animating this was incredibly fun.After realizing the test animation felt too slow, I spend it up for the final. The end result felt really satisfying!
So, we’ll be giving you weekly behind the scenes updates on the film project as we proceed (with a few extra goodies for subscribers and backers, of course!)
I’ve started work on a new PARADIGM SHIFT animated short!
Hey, everyone! It’s been pretty quiet on the PARADIGM SHIFT front since Restless Sleep came out last year. If you caught my last note, you’ll know it’s because I was hired to create a couple of animated pieces for the Storiaverse App. But that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about Kate & Mike. Oh, no.
Over the last year, I’ve been laying the groundwork for a new, more ambitious project: PARADIGM SHIFT – Chinatown, which will bring the pivotal scene where Kate’s werewolf powers manifest to life in full-color animated glory!
And this month I crossed a major milestone—finishing the teaser trailer! Here’s a sneak peek:
Bigger is better!
PARADIGM SHIFT—Chinatown will by far the biggest, most complex animated project I’ve taken on to date. It will have it all—kung fu fights, chase scenes, a beautiful Chicago setting, a brand new soundtrack, and best of all—a full voice cast!
However, while I tackled Restless Sleep almost entirely on my own (with the exception of sound effects and a bit of assistance from some helpful interns), this time I’m assembling an actual team to help make this project a reality. Joining me will be:
Sound Designer Alexander Danner, who helped me finish Restless Sleep
A casting director who will find and direct our voice talent.
A production assistant and social media manager to help me stay organized and in better communication during the project.
Plus a couple of talented young freelancers who are helping me build 3D characters and sets in Blender, and help with compositing and finishing the animation.
We’ll be launching a Kickstarter to help fund the project later this fall. Stay tuned for details in the coming weeks as we rev things up. I can’t wait to share it all with you!
