Bass Detail Guide for Animators

Quick update-something you don't see often. This is an index sheet showing how much detail the animators should put into the bass guitar depending on its distance from the camera and prominence in the frame. This ensures that the animators don't waste time putting needless detail into elements that won't show up on-screen anyway.

Environment Design Progress

Susan Kang has been working hard on environments/concepting which is a unique situation for this project. The backgrounds begin as mere concept drawings in the forest and evolve with the overall aesthetic.

 

Thesis Paper Outline

Here's the thesis statement, abstract, and outline for my thesis paper as it currently stands before I go to write the thing:

THESIS STATEMENT

Just as 8 1/2  mirrored the experiences and convictions of Federico Fellini, the "Wacky Delly" episode of Rocko's Modern Life uses self-reflection to comment on the process of animation and express a deeper sentiment of the show's creator, Joe Murray.

THESIS ABSTRACT

In my thesis film, Heard I explore self-reflection in animation to give voice to my thoughts and commentary as an artist. This approach mirrors the same self-reflective nature of the animated show Rocko's Modern Life, specifically in the vein of the two part episode "Wacky Delly". This particular episode presents an entire narrative built on self-reflection which comments on everything from the medium of animation to the industry which commercializes it. Self-reflection has long been used this way in filmmaking with particular emphasis to Federico Fellini's 8 1/2.  Just as 8 1/2  mirrored the experiences and convictions of Federico Fellini, the "Wacky Delly" episode of Rocko's Modern Life uses self-reflection to comment on the process of animation and express deeper sentiment of the show's creator, Joe Murray. These deeper sentiments not only provide commentary on Murray's experiences with Rocko's Modern Life but also elude to tragic events which haunted his work and contributed to his eventual diluted involvement with the show. Heard takes cues from the self-reflective approach of Fellini and Murray, depicting the shared struggle of growing artists as well as my own commentary on animation.  My film explores how the animation process unfolds as an artist journeys through creative development where drive, resolve, and experience help him on a mission to find his own voice. Using self-reflection similar to Federico Fellini allowed Joe Murray to express his private struggles as a commercial artist and has inspired me to depict my own journey through artistic growth.

Bass Model Evolution

One of the interesting aspects of this production is the use of hybrid animation combining 3D elements into the 2D animation. To keep the bass guitar drawing "on-model" in the climax our resident modeler, Dennis McCoy, created a model in Maya to be brought into Toon Boom to be animated and rotoscoped.

We started with a model sheet:

It's bassed (PUNS!) on the 4000 series Rickenbacker Bass Guitar which has an iconic look and sound. A few modifications were made for ease in animation.

Dennis' first model was fantastic. In fact, it was TOO GOOD! All the detail and complexity was unnecessary and our team of animators might become confused as to which details need to be drawn.

With some adjustments, the model became more basic and animation-ready.