The Toreador

Here's Escamillo walking into the bullring.  The big challenge here was animating the cape convincingly. The cloth has to flow, but I also wanted to hint at the body under the cape, so that I could bring attention to Escamillo's best ASSets!

Another New Background

The setting for the story of Carmen is 1820, but the story was written in 1845. And then it became an opera in 1875. The last scene in the opera takes place outside the bullring in Seville, Spain.  I decided to  try to show the building as it must have looked back then.

First, I checked Google maps to see how it looks today. 

Then there was this picture of the stage set for the Metropolitan Opera in 1915. Even though they had no computers in those days, it looks as if they used Photoshop to stretch the building out to mammoth dimensions! I like the buildings on the right-hand side--they look like skyscrapers from Munchkinland!

Luckily, I found this old painting by a Spanish painter, Manuel Cabral Aguado-Bejarano, entitled "The Death of Carmen" (1890). The painter was born in Seville, so he must have seen the bullring many times. His version looks similar to the current building, with some small differences. For the most part, the building is the same one.

I love this painting, because the composition is so interesting. The angle of the sun shows that it is either early in the morning or late in the afternoon, which adds to the drama. This is the look I wanted for my version of Carmen, so I drew the background as similarly as I could to the 1890 painting.

Another Great Letter!

I found this nice message in my e-mail today:
I just discovered your site and all I can say is "AWESOME!" Growing up with a natural talent for art, and an afficionado of animation since I was a child, I always wanted to work in the animation field. I had almost every book on Disney animation there was, and I used to make short cartoons when I was in Junior High School, but by the time I was ready for college, my parents insisted that I focus on something more practical "in order to make a living." Well, I did, and now (coming on age 45) I find myself making a living in a career that I do find satisfying, but ever more questioning "what might have been." Thank you for inspiring me to pick up the pencils and once again try my hand at animation. Things have really changed with the advent of computers but with a little perseverence I think I am up to the challenge. Thanks for the tutorials and best of luck in your productions. I truly admire your work. It is obvious that it is a labor of love! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!! I LOVE your BLOG and I am Looking forward to more of your cartoons! 
*****************************************************
Isn't that great?! 


Today's video is from the old Disneyland show from the 1950's. The title is in black and white, but the show is in color. Walt Disney talks about different aspects of animation. I think you'll enjoy it!

Coming in August!

Ever since the release of "Junior College Men's Camp" way back in March, the friends of Animan have been asking, "What's next?" Today I am officially announcing that the next video will be "Carmen". 

In many languages, the name Carmen is both male and female, and so that's where the idea started. Animan always loves exotic locales, and nineteenth-century Spain is the perfect place for colorful costumes, distinctive architecture, and drama!  

Way back in one of my April posts, "Animan's Schedule April~August", I posted my first completed background for Carmen. In the original story of the opera, Carmen works in the cigarette factory in Seville, Spain... and there are some soldiers guarding the area. That building actually exists, and it is still standing, but has been transformed into the University of Seville.

A fan of Animan videos contacted me about this picture. He knew immediately what story this was from, because he's Spanish and was born in Seville! He has offered to help with doing the voices for this video--not only the old-world type of Spanish language, but even the Spanish dialect used by the gypsies! This will give the video an authentic sound, against a backdrop of the famous music from the opera Carmen.

Is that lucky or what??!

I asked my Spanish friend: "Do the classrooms in this university smell like cigars?"  "Not any more", he told me. "There are orange trees on the grounds now, so the air is fragrant with blossoms and oranges."  He knows about this, because his sister attended the University of Seville.  If you look in the picture above, you'll see an orange tree next to the little guard's shack.

Animan's Carmen is still under production, and I'm hoping to have it finished by the 20th of August. If I can finish it before that, then so much the better! As you can see, the characters are drawn with colored lines, so I have to keep changing the colors as I trace the animation, and it takes more time. Some of the costumes like Don José's uniform have more detail, so that means more drawing time. 

This will be the biggest animation project I've ever undertaken, but I think it'll be worth the wait. There will be more news about the video in upcoming blog posts. ¡Olé! 

Today's Animation Tip #3

FOLLOW THROUGH
"Follow Through" is a natural law, applying to loose appendages, such as body parts or clothing.

When the character is moving, these loose parts follow the path of action. When the character stops, these appendages continue moving and then return to the resting position.

Today's Animation Tip #2

SQUASH AND STRETCH
In real life, many actions happen so quickly that we don't have time to see them as they really are. But when we use a slow-motion camera, we can see that forms tend to become squashed or stretched during action.  The animation artist has to exaggerate these actions in his drawings.

No matter how stretched or squashed a shape is, the volume must remain the same. This type of animation gives a feeling of looseness and weight!

A New Multiplane Background

Today I worked on this background of a Spanish courtyard with a patio.  In the finished scene, the fountain will be gushing water, and there will be some characters moving.

My software allows me to look at the multiplane drawings from different angles, and I thought you would like to see that!

Progress Report

In spite of my heavy schedule of outside work, animation for the next video is making progress. But progress is a little slow this time. Why? The biggest reason is that I'm using more special effects than before. 


I use two types of shadows for characters--a shadow underneath the character makes it appear to be drawn on celluloid, and another different type of shadow over the character darkens it slightly, and makes the colors deeper and richer.

There are lots of rooms with dark shadows, illuminated by candles. All these things have to be included for every scene. It's more work and it takes more time, but it will add a lot to the atmosphere of romance, as well as the sexual tension.


I'm doing my very best to make this "Animan's Masterpiece"!

New Pictures

Here are some sharper pictures of the sculpture.

The Sculpture is Painted!

Today, I painted the sculpture. It took me exactly 2 1/2 hours (much longer than I expected!)  I was able to take these pictures just as the sun was going down--so the picture quality is not very sharp. Tomorrow, I will try to take sharper pictures.

By the way, this piece is not for sale.  If it is possible in the future to manufacture Animan merchandise, sculptures like this will be used as prototypes, so for now, it will remain in the Animan virtual museum!

Another Type of 3D

Every week, I teach a sculpting class, using paper clay. Of course, during the class time, I cannot work on my animation.  So, I decided to take a character from my next video and make a bust.  When the clay becomes hard, I use sandpaper to make it smooth. It has taken about 12 hours to complete. The final stage will be painting it with acrylic paints.  Of course, that will be on the next post!

More About the Multiplane Camera

Like so many innovations in animation, the multiplane camera was developed at the Disney studio. When I visited the old Disney studio, I got a chance to actually see this huge machine. 

Here's a video that does a wonderful job of explaining how this amazing camera works.

A Multiplane Background

This is a moving background from my upcoming video. As you can see, the different parts of the background have been placed at different distances from the camera; when the camera zooms in, it gives a sort of 3D effect. This is different from the 3D background scene I featured in an earlier post.
In the days before computers, making a multiplane scene of even a few seconds was an enormous task. The different background elements were painted onto big panes of glass, and these were set at varied distances under the camera, which faced downward. For each camera move, the camera and all the different panes of glass had to be moved in minute increments. When the finished film was projected, it looked as if the camera was moving smoothly. 
There were all sorts of problems. Photographic lights had to be used, and they were super hot! Then, there was always the possibility of the camera being reflected in the panes of glass. Since it was film, if you made a mistake, you had to go back and start all over again. Doing it on a computer is a zillion times easier!

Letter of the Year

My thanks to all the fans and friends of Animan who send their greetings and messages. I am always deeply moved by the warmth and goodness I find in them.

Today, I received a message that was so wonderful, I decided to share it with you.

"Animan--
 
I've spent the entire weekend watching and rewatching all of your films on Gaytube.  I stumbled upon School Fantasy on a porn site several months ago and was both entertained and aroused by Coach Ben's nasty exploits.  I'd been trying to find more of your films ever since and on Friday, to my great surprise, I found Twister Party online.  It is my favorite of all your films, not only because of its orgasm-inducing, manic sex scenes that defy reality but also because of its retro setting, colorful animation and its take on sex.  Your characters inhabit a world in which same-sex sex holds no stigma or shame and is devoid of political complications, and I think that's what so many of your fans respond to.  So much of gay porn is rough, mired in darkness and danger.  Gay porn in 2012, populated by tattooed, steroid injected men who seem more concerned with looking good on camera and earning a paycheck, lacks the free spirited nature of your films.  Each of your films exudes tremendous joy; watching them puts me in a very happy mood and a very horny mood.  While 2012 porn stars busy themselves trying to be as gruff, aloof and masculine as possible, your characters, regardless of their size or station in life, delight in their sexuality and are genuinely secure in their masculinity.  If all porn could be like your films I think there would be a distinct change in the attitudes and sexual attitudes of Western gay men."

Today's Animation Tip #1

THE SILHOUETTE TEST

On the movie screen, there isn't very much time to study the pose of the character, because it disappears very quickly. So, the pose must be as clear as possible.  A good way to test the pose is to fill it in with black. If you can still see exactly what the character is doing, then the viewers will understand it.
In illustration A, it is very clear that Jack is eating a banana, even when the pose is blacked in. When we black in illustration B however, we cannot see what Jack is doing.
This is a very basic and easy rule, but it's one that beginners often forget about. 

Tutorial Time!

No, this lady is not Gloria Swanson from Sunset Boulevard. She's a dancer in the upcoming Animan video. It's obvious by now that my next video will have a Spanish theme. To create the right atmosphere, I have to animate all types of characters. This dancer is just a part of the background, so her movement repeats in a cycle. It saves drawings! But even a short cycle like this one is a lot of drawing and animating. Download the tutorial and see for yourself!


Download Tutorial 3 MOV
Download Tutorial 3 WMV
Click the light blue box "Click here to start download from Sendspace"

               This is the completed cycle in color.  The last drawing flows back into the first one.

A 3D Test

The animation software I use allows placement of simple 3D constructions, so I decided to use it in one scene of my upcoming animation. Here is a test I did.

The Animation Process is Slow

Many friends have asked to see how I create animation, so I made this tutorial.  It's about 47 minutes long, so it's a big file (631mb MOV,  250mb WMV), and will take time to download.

The original drawing session was about 1 hour and 45 minutes, so I speeded up the video to make it shorter.

It is a cycle of 4 drawings repeating. You will also see how I make the drawings move, and how I draw colored lines.

All the background music you hear comes from the internet, or from YouTube.

"T Town" (record)--"El Relicario", "El Curito Calacruz", "Espagna Cani", "Luna Enamorada", "Maracaibo", "The Continental", "Mexican Hat Dance"

From Youtube--

"Cuban Overture"  by George Gerschwin, "Pavanne" from Morton Gould's "American Symphonette No. 2", and "Look What I've Got" by Paul Whiteman

Tutorial 2 MOV

Tutorial 2 WMV
Click the light blue box "Click here to start download from Sendspace"

How do I buy the videos?

                                Coach Ben's Big Beach Adventure is $7 U.S.
                                Running time: 8:05
Before you decide to buy, you may want to check out these two trailers:

BEACH TRAILER #1

BEACH TRAILER #2

                                  Junior College Men's Camp is $7 U.S.
                                  Running time: 15:50
Before you decide to buy, you may want to check out this trailer:
CAMP TRAILER

HERE'S WHAT THE VIDEOS SOUND LIKE:

Translation Gadget

We have a cool new gadget on this blog--the Translation Gadget! It's at the top of the right column on this page. Choose the language you want to see, and it translates everything! Judging from the foreign languages I do know, this gadget translates a lot better than most computer translation software.  

At the moment, my upcoming animation project is proceeding very slowly, but surely.  Here's another sneak peek.