Progress Report (3 weeks work)

Alright! First 30 seconds complete. and it only took me about a month. Yeah, I'm totally not where I wanted to be with this. Now I have roughly 1 1/2 weeks to animate the rest of the film.

Normally I save credits and titles for last, but since I had some tricky transitions, I wanted to work straight through.

Things I need to fix:
1) I need a single image (not frame) to size to the cliff edge when introducing the character.

2) The breathing holds need more frames.

3) Work Faster!!


Progress Report from Douglas Meloche on Vimeo.

Fun With Fractals

I will be adding to this post over the course of the week, because I am limited on my uploading capabilities (thanks vimeo, grr). I always try to have a specific visual in mind when creating a fractal. It's important to keep that goal in mind when pushing the software to achieve a certain look.

These fractals are layered so that the final visual cannot simply be generated with a single effect layer. I have always disliked digital work that can be boiled down a single effect. It is almost a trademark of amateur photoshop work when you can see that the final piece is nothing more than a photograph with a single effect from the filter gallery.


Fractal Fire from Douglas Meloche on Vimeo.


Fractal water from Douglas Meloche on Vimeo.


Fractal Coffee from Douglas Meloche on Vimeo.

Ocean Surface Waves Test

The overall idea with this effect is to create the close range wave effect that occurs when a camera is positioned directly above the surface of the water. There is a faint background cue to show how the final scene will look. I am so glad that I am scanning thee images in photoshop and finishing the animation in there, beause I am STILL having issues with cropping the video source in iMovie. Grr.

Ocean surface layer from Douglas Meloche on Vimeo.

Motion Painting #1

This is an exercise in motion painting with acrylic on canvas. I plan to revisit this concept. I most strongly responded to the sweeps of dots and playing with the idea of evolving negative space. I have an alternative edit to this piece which plays in reverse on a loop.

Motion Painting #1 from Douglas Meloche on Vimeo.

Speed Zoom Tests

I think you can get the idea easily enough. This animation simulates a camera move of zooming in on the cliff peak. I play it twice because I swapped out a few drawing between the two tests. The second test has one less drawing (that's how much animators obsess on detail).



I apologize for the use of youtube (grr), but vimeo said this file was too small to upload. Who would've thought?

Bird Flight Test #1

First Flight Test from Douglas Meloche on Vimeo.

Some of the animation is a little rough. I'll be sure to clean up those frames. The biggest problem is the camera's alignment when I shot the animation. The bird shouldn't drop out of the bottom of the frame the way it does. Enjoy it just the same.

Opening Titles for Spring`11 Final

Opening Titles for Spring`11 Final from Douglas Meloche on Vimeo.

This weekend has been a series of breakthroughs. I've had my first real success with character animation, and now after effects has brought something together.

Spring Final Character Test#1

Seeing as he's an extreme sports athlete who enjoys base jumping, I find "Cliff" to be an appropriate name. Cliff Michaels, extreme sports enthusiast and Australian Olympic Swimmer. Well, anyway, here's the animation *drum roll*


Cliff Peek from Douglas Meloche on Vimeo.

In this scene he's checking out the edge of the cliffside before gathering the courage to make the jump.

Splash Test #1

This is the first test of the underwater splashdown at the end of the animation. I want this to be the strongest part of the film. Which means I'll need about three times as many bubbles, more movement variety in the follow through, and the splash needs to cover a wider area of the screen.

Plus, water doesn't close in on itself as quickly as shown here. I need the very beginning of the splash to "jellyfish" and slowly to rush into fill the space.
I do have the timing of things down pretty well, though.

Splash Test #1 from Douglas Meloche on Vimeo.

Spring`11 Final Project Proposal

Yeah, an animatic that took me less than 4 hours to produce. Finally progress can be measured in less than days!

The frames don't match up exactly, but hey, I drew this all out on notecards. Let me know what you like/dislike. Especially inform me of any point(s) where the flow of the story becomes unclear.

The animation begins full force tomorrow at Noon SHARP!! Wish me luck.

Spring`11 Final Project Proposal from Douglas Meloche on Vimeo.