11-20-11: Latest Work!

Hello again, friends! It's time for another animation update! Here's my latest stuff! Not quite a demo reel yet - but I'm excited to take my first dialogue class next quarter!

Please bear with me! I've been enamored at CTNx all weekend - I'll get the shot breakdown uploaded as soon as I've gotten a bit of sleep! For now, suffice to say I am responsible for all character animation on here!

edit - here's an overdue shot breakdown!

1, 2, 3, 4 - Dog: I am responsible for the character animation. Rig by Javier Solsona, obtained from http://www.rigging101.com/freestuff.htm
5 - "AMUs": I am responsible for the character animation. Done for Alexander Curtis's film, Hephaestus.
6 - Frog: I am responsible for character animation. Character design by SCAD Professor, John Webber.
7 - Shaman: I am responsible for character animation, clean-up and ink. Done for Nate Swinehart's film, Rain Dance.

8-15-11: Small Update

Hey, guys! Just a quick update!

I'm still alive, still in GA, still working towards completion of my MFA in Animation.

Nate Swinehart's Raindance is in clean-up, ink and paint right now! I'm still helping out a bit, and I'm excited to say it's looking absolutely fantastic! Can't wait to see this baby finished!

I'm also thrilled to say that Alex Curtis' Hephaestus is looking swank-tastic as well! It's in the animation stages (I'm working on a shot!), and whoo boy, are things coming together!

I'm so proud to say that I've known these two gents. There are two large groups of passionate, talented, and creatively energetic people behind these projects, and it has been a pleasure and an honor to have been a part of it. Though I'm sad to see their time here at SCAD come to a close, it will be so exciting to see their careers advance from here! Thank you for a wonderful first year at SCAD, you two - you will be missed!

And now, because I owe you guys some art, here you go! Some quick sketches I've been doing over the quarter to keep my head on my shoulders.

Sketch of some friends who keep me happy. From right to left, top to bottom:

Lauren Duda, (myself), Nate Swinehart

Tyler J. Kupferer, Lauren Brown, Ben Anderson

Emily Sampson, Kevin Block, and Sam Fawaz. 

Nate's wise words to a stressed Jen.

And I'm off! Kicked out of Monty for the night!

All the Best,

Jen

Rain Dance Progress

Hello, again folks!

Well, here, as promised, is a more completed version of my previous test for Rain Dance. Not quite done - there are still some uncompleted frames - but the timing is nearly worked out. This was an incredible learning experience, and I'm totally jazzed to say it was almost chosen, out of all the animator's tests of this scene, to be in the film! What an energizing way to start the quarter!



We are now in full swing on Rain Dance production! It's great getting to know all the animators and concept artists in person. I'm slowly assigning faces to the disembodied voices from Skype production meetings we had over break. There are a lot of great talents (and personalities) on this film - it's going to be great. I'm already learning so much! I'll have to check with Nate (Swinehart, director) and Tyler (J. Kupferer, producer) about how hush hush we're going to be with this - this may be the last bit of Rain Dance animation you see from me for a while, but definitely look forward to the release!


Anyway, off to work! Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, everyone!

Best as Always,

Jen Cram

Shot 28, Test One

Heya, everyone!

Here's the latest! This is shot 28, wherein the Shaman realizes his staff has broken and begins to feel alarmed! Check out the animatic to see it in context (link in my previous post). It's also my first animated acting assignment! Prior to this, it's mostly been bouncing balls, walk cycles and other exercises.

I'd like to rework some of the timing and spacing in the eye-widening and head turn at the end (feels a little too even), but as a whole, I'm pretty happy with it! I haven't really gotten into overlapping action with the accessories yet, but I'm going to keep working on this, so I'll post it again soon!



Best wishes, as always!

Jen Cram

Howdy!

Hello again, readers! Happy Holidays - I hope you're all enjoying the fine/frigid weather, depending upon your locations. I know I'm enjoying the season of egg nog and hot cocoa quite a bit this time around - I've been busy, and a busy Jen is a happy one!

But first, a recap - my first semester at SCAD rolled through at light speed with an incredible amount of learnage and a pleasantly surprising amount of sleep - great success! New friends abound, and with them new projects! Hooray!

My good friend and director, Nate Swinehart, along with producer extraordinaire Tyler Kupferer of Base 14, are in preproduction on what will be an amazing project, and I'm lucky enough to be involved! I'll be animating the Shaman, one of Nate's two characters for Rain Dance, a ritual-gone-wrong story of magic and personal growth. Follow the link to check out the super tasty animatic!

Amazing 3D (and 2D, but you didn't hear it from me) animator, Alex Curtis, fresh out of a Disney animation internship, has also got some wonder in the works. I've been lucky enough to watch the progress of this film, and as the sketches roll out and the models and rigs roll in, I can tell you Hephaestus is going to be beautiful. Alex's passion for animation and commitment to quality in every detail would not allow it to be otherwise. Keep an eye on the project!

There's a lot of talent building behind both of these projects, and I'm swimming around right in the middle of it! Needless to say, it's super invigorating and I'm totally jazzed to head back to SCAD!

But first! Enjoy a few sketches from a game yesterday - in 5 minutes or less, come up with an unusual take on a mythological figure!

First! A house-gryphon:

A girafficorn!
And finally a selkie!


Have a good one guys! Until next time!

<3 Jen