Trial by collage

Above: Mark did some rough concept sketches of the "narrator". Loosely based on Eddie Lenihan. I am trying out a "Collage" style for the beginning sequences. Here I used photos from hair ads... and different cloth textures... still not completely working... but getting there. Tod

Sheep In The Deep

Above: A rough concept from the "storybook sequence" borrowing heavily from Mary Blair, and Kay Nielsen. We are still developing the look of that section... but have some good leads. Right now its sort of a mis-mash of stuff... just seeing what works... and what doesn't... trying to get a direction.

tod

Coming Soon..

Soo... Maahir and Susie are doing their own 2D animation project in their sparetime. This will be a fully animated 4½ hour feature! It is very good! Here is the first shot. Animation and character design by Maahir, background by Sus.

Proven Inspiration

Above: Alice and Martin Provensen have had a huge influence on animated film design... both worked in animation until the early 1950s where they began illustrating and writing children's books. They married texture and graphic shapes in such a fun way.

tod

Visual Structure

Above: Working with a visual structure... Having a road map to help guide a project is really helpful. Here I have plotted the intensity of each sequence of
"Gingerbread". If you use the same lighting, color, and contrast in each sequence of your film... your film will feel flat. But you can really push a story by pushing things visually. This method of working is described in Bruce Blocks book "Visual Storytelling". Dave Thomas, and Jorge Gutierrez, Roman Laney and I used this method on the TV show "El Tigre" for Nickelodeon with a lot of success. Just thought it might be interesting to show the Visual Structure for "Gingerbread" here.

tod

Inspiration from the land of the Danes

Just wanted to show a few of the images that are influencing the look of "Gingerbread". Kay Nielsen (1886-1957) was a Danish illustrator who was popular in the early 20th century. He illustrated many children's books, and did a stint at Disney in the 1930s. I really like his use of shape and pattern. tod

to see more of his work go to:

http://www.artsycraftsy.com/nielsen_prints.html#nielsen

Bandy Characters

Playing more with "the band" ... this group will provide a musical backdrop throughout the film. I imagined music being one element that ties all classes of Irish society together. Rich or poor... all can enjoy a pint... and the songs of a good band. Above is a sketch I did trying to show this concept. Not entirely happy with it... but there are some good ideas developing.

Tomm Moore of Cartoon Saloon has once again taken time out of his busy schedule, and put pen to paper helping develop the feel and look of "Ginger". Thanks Tomm!


tod

More sketches

fun with characters

YES... I know I should be doing my storyboard sequence for tomorrow but.... characters are FUUUUNNNNNN!!!!

(Posted by Sus)

Secondary Characters

An early sketch of the fox... still exploring shape and color.

Another frequent pub patron... though an Irishman would never drink out of a mug like this I was later told. Old Scratch must 'ave brought it over with him from wherever he came from.

The "Monsters of Clare"... all children are terrifying ... from a cookies perspective.

I decided to upload some more early sketches from the film. All the characters have continued to develop from these designs. But you have to start somewhere... right? The process of taking something flat like this into 3-D has been interesting... Its been great working with "The Monk", Ingo, and Mark Oftedal on developing the designs for computer animation. Been a fun adventure... for me at least.

tod

Pub Patrons Kilkenny style

Above: Cartoon Salooner Tomm Moore, took a crack at some of the pub characters. Tomm, Nora, and Paul all did voice work for "Gingerbread"... and it was great of Tomm to take a bit of time for these sketches... as he is directing the feature film "Brendan, and the Book of Kells" with Nora in Kilkenny. There are more sketches on the way says he!

A day out in Ayutthaya

Ingo... excited about the rice he is about to receive... I think he got excited at least 3 times throughout the day.

Jannick... looking directly into the sun... and liking it.

Jeppe... new 40D camera in hand... ready for photo action. He did a flying backflip after this photo was taken.

Maahir... scouting video locations for "MacGyver Knife". http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=118922155 to take a listen.

Susanne... getting brownie points for wearing the kings colors... wearing her cleats, ready to kick some b**ty.

P'To ... managing director of "the Monk" ... and our guide for the day. Looking relaxed and in control. (actually he was looking for the restroom) Many thanks to him for showing us a great weekend.

"The Monk" took us out to see the old capital of Ayutthaya... a complex made of elephants and ancient temples all along the river. 2 hours on a boat... eating, drinking, and listening to live music. A few history lessons... a few new Thai words... Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

tod