Developing ideas and a new studio

As I develop animation courses, I like to approach it as though it's a studio job. I'll work to a much bigger scope than the course might need (for example, I'll imagine the whole world and story, even if I just need a snippet). It gives me a great place to come from with selecting details and when making decisions, plus it's fun!

Right now I'm deep in the development of a new course set to be announced in 2 weeks for early bird sign ups. As I often get questions about how to do one thing or another, I thought I'd throw some of the development bits on the blog.

The brief for this project is that I need a short sequence along with a cast of characters and environments for some action to take place. So I think of lots of ideas that might fit my parameters (not too complicated, mimicks the animation industry work environment and its projects on a technical side, includes a variety of shots and appropriate pacing, etc). I'll often sketch on paper first through various parts of the day. It's as though I start the problem solving in my head, then let me subconscious do the rest and just make sure I have a sketchbook to hand to make note! The other day I doodled a fair few ideas on a cold and rainy train ride.

These ideas then go onto my computer to work out the details. I'll whizz through things at this stage, keeping it loose so I can allow my brain to jump around 'what ifs'. For this project I didn't have an exact character in mind, but I knew I wanted a family dynamic, so I played with the shapes whilst sketching board thumbnails. The action then gave me some design jump off points.

I ended up with a family of robots. They're all a bit shabby and repair stuff on a post-human world using the junk they find around them. Think rusty wire for hair and things you'd find in your Grandad's shed! Then comes the action and storyboards.

I don't use a specific piece of software for boarding, as it could be on paper at this stage. Too many technical things often means slower drawing speed and then I'm reluctant to change anything..! The panel page below has a few additions, like a close up for a run through and splash of a puddle. This both shows it's raining outside and sets up for the storm, with the antenna beeping on the house in the final panel. It leads the audience to the 'what happens next' thought whilst giving a nice shot variety (important to the course itself too).

Finally, here is a GIF showing the layering. I keep it MEGA simple here. Only adding layers when I reuse a background to make redrawing the character easier (so no erasing is required). It's about the shortest route to seeing the first pass of the idea in motion, really. This is what works for me though, and isn't the only way!

So after all that, I've got a sequence to work from, a host of characters and ideas for props, all contained within a larger world that I can envisage. The written notes for this are minimal as I want the images to be the main source of information when it comes to the next part. Next step, animatic with sound.

The new studio

Finally, a look at the new work space! A snowy day outside the studio in January to be precise. It was freezing when myself and my co-studio-er Mat Greaves moved in, so we put up some curtains and DIY draught excluding on the ancient window system. 6 weeks in so far and it's so amazing to have a dedicated space to create from.