Stick Figure Sketchblog & Webcomics @ Stewped.com

Rainy Day from Stew Ped on Vimeo.

I made this a long, long time ago in a school far, far away. Really, it’s like 40 miles. That’s pretty far. Especially if you have to walk. Never really thought about putting anywhere for anyone to view it until now… Shoulda done it a long time ago. Especially with the youtubes and all.

I made an avatar for you. Also above is the original “life is pain” avatar. You can use ‘em if you have a place where they still let you use animated gif files as avatars. Download them and put them on your own server, though. And be sure to tell folks where you got ‘em.

Below is the animation larger. I think I may go in and thicken up the lines as it loses some weight when it’s shrunk down. Animators: anything I can improve? I will do some more work on it. Animating that guy reacting to the hammer blow was tough, but I will keep at it to make it the best guy-getting-hit-with-a-hammer animation it can be.

Here’s some hammering. Haven’t done the arms part yet. Animators: how does it look. Might get rid of a couple frames at the top, after the upswing. Just one or two to speed it up. Almost too slow…

I haven’t done this in forever and I need your input.

*EDIT*
Here is an updated version, but I’m putting it behind a cut if I can figure that out… (more…)

First, remember this? I did it a long time ago, probably 2003.

As I was browsing through an issue of Game Informer magazine, I happened across an advertisement for that junk you can download for your phone. You know, they charge you to text some number and they’ll send you a wallpaper or screen saver or a joke. I usually pass over this stuff, but I just happened to look at the bottom right of the page.

What? Couldn’t even try to make it something else. How blatant can you be? Look, I even found it on their page. Since their page is slow as well, I downloaded it for you. I’ll even put mine next to it.

It’s blue and only slightly different from mine. The animation is crappy, it’s blue, and the L is capitalized. Wows.  It’s okay that it says “preview” on there, because you know what?  Mine is better animated and not stolen!  Holy shit!  I can make you a black one with electric-blue guys on it.  Real easy too!  Just ask.

Check this out! Ignore the noise for now. I am using a clip from a Thrill Kill Cult song that is a line from the movie Midnight Cowboy to do some dialogue testing. This is just how I’m starting the piece – a big heavy coffee mug.  Animators – give me C&C.

Coffee Mug Test

Just got back from seeing Dreamworks’ newest cartoonimation and it was slightly better than I expected. I mean, I’m no movie critic, but I listened to critiques in school and payed attention to what the teachers and other kids had to say. Over the Hedge had many good points and it also had all the crap that drives me nuts about DreamWorks’ movies. Stuff like big name actors to “sell” the film to the rubes, pop songs driving the story, and way too many jokes that were timed poorly or just not funny make a film less enjoyable to me. Maybe I’ve gone mad, but I like to laugh out loud at funny stuff.

The textures in CG films are getting more and more amazing.  That’s helped along by the lighting crew and both are just fantastic.  The leaves on the hedge, the fur, the tortoise.  Oh, man, that tortoise skin and shell looked so there. 

The animation was solid on all the little critters, but to me, it was too snappy, too cartoony on the humans.  Every animal has its own unique walk that really fit the character, which is to be expected from a big production house like DW.  My fave was Verne’s, the reptile.  It looked like it was so hard for him to get anywhere with his waddley, stumpy legs.

Avril Lavigne’s character was true to her real-life looks: hideous.

Once the exterminator showed up the film really started to get fun and funny.  The timing was better on the jokes, both visual and audible.  Plus, there were some really good takes on some cliches that I saw coming and still laughed hard at.  The lesson at the end was only thrown in your face minimally.  Nothing ruins a movie more for me than when they keep telling you the moral.  As if we’ve never seen an after school special on not hitting grandma.  Over the Hedge is worth it if you’re an animation fan or if someone else is paying.  I was a fan of the comic strip when I received the paper, but there’s a reason why the phrase is “based upon such-and-such” and not “the same stuff you remember made better.”

Aw hell yes. Evan took some pictures of my grad show. I had some animation circled by a fence so it looked like he was walking behind a fence forever. Also printed out some of my thesaurus entries.