04-18-2013: Adventures in Stop Motion!

This quarter I am embarking upon my first forays into stop motion animation! Honestly, I don't know what took me so long.

Directed by Robert Vilushis, the film is about a small fairy man who lives in the woods. He runs a magical forge with which he smiths seeds into tools for his farm. Three critters assist him; a praying mantis, a pill bug, and a slug. He's built various tools to help the animals - he made a shell for the slug, turning it into a snail. The snail shell has been my major sculptural contribution so far.

Sarah Mannino, our lead puppet artist, sculpted the
body of our slug - I helped make the mold to cast him.

The shell was designed to look like acorns, sawed in half,
hammered flat, and nailed together like shingles.
Collecting reference was fun.

Sarah was kind enough to sculpt the
base shape of the shell for me. Super time saver!

Here's my basic plan for the details, with real acorns
and another of the seed-smith's tools for reference.

After approval from the director, I fleshed the
design out a bit more and brought it into relief.

Agh! I forgot to take pictures of it before it went off to mold-making.
But here it is afterwards, a little worn, but still holding some details.

And here's the mold! 

I'm pretty thrilled - it looks like the silicone caught a lot of the detail.

Stay tuned! I'll post the plastic versions once they've been poured.

3-27-2013: Jen's Fantastic Voyage

Here's a lil' thing I wrote up back in November, after Fall quarter, but somehow forgot to post. Figured it deserves some internet space. The course was "Constructive Human Anatomy," and was taught by Paul Hudson. I highly recommend studying with him if you get the chance! A brilliant mind and incredibly talented.


"Okay, so, less about cleaning out blood clots, and more about exploring human musculoskeletal physiology, but fantastic nonetheless!

I had an incredible course at SCAD this past quarter. It left me more intelligent about the human body, but also changed the way I observe and interpret the world we inhabit. I also got to dig back into some clay! It was exciting to remember how happy and comfortable I am working with my hands.

We began by looking at the head, torso and pelvis into basic shapes. We made these out of clay, and drew them from life until we were well acquainted with them. Then, both with conte and clay, we cut away and added volumes until our eggs, soupcans and teacups actually started resembling something you might see on a human form.

At the same time, we were learning the names and shapes of the major bones and processes in the body, and conceptualizing a pose, shooting reference, and building an armature for our own personal muscle study in both clay and conte. By midterm, we had base head, torso, pelvis and scapula shapes on our ecroges, and had drawn them from 6 different angles.

After midterm, we started on musculature. In class, we worked with partners to place muscles on a neutral-posed skeleton. At home, we added the same muscles to our ecroges. We covered the neck, back, chest, stomach and upper arms in class, but we taught ourselves and each other about the forearms, buttocks, and legs at home. I think that was my favorite part of the course. It was a good reminder that learning is not just for the classroom, but a continuous, invigorating and powerful process - and one that can be shared with your peers!

I'm very proud of what I was able to accomplish in the ten weeks of this class, but it's definitely just the beginning. I'm definitely going to keep refining my ecroge, but I've also got a bunch of projects floating around my mind! Very exciting times!

Thanks, as always, for reading. Love you guys!

Best,

Jen"

2-7-12: Kitty Bounce!

I totally forgot I had this! I did this in 2 or 3 hours after my last final this summer quarter! I hadn't slept, but had about 4 hours before Montgomery Hall closed for the break, so I decided to use the time!

Did this in Toon Boom!

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

6-1-11: Doggy Run!

Hey, all!

It's that time of the quarter again, where I'm up late in the name of awesome projects! I thought I'd update you with a little taste of what I've been doing!

This is the first project from my Drawing in Motion class this quarter. There's more info available on YouTube, if you're interested! It was rotoscoped from Muybridge photos in acrylic ink with dip pens and brushes. Quite a lot of fun!



Best Wishes, as always!

Jen

5-29-11: Shameful!

Absolutely shameful, this lack of updates! My apologies, dear friends - but there will be a bit of work to show you, after this quarter! Huzzah! And soon, daily posts! I usually do at least one small sketch a day (and plenty of blogging on Facebook, eh heh), so why not share them here?

We're in the middle of finals, now, and the crunch is totally felt. Drawing in Motion has been great so far - plenty of life drawing with an emphasis on putting the figure in an emotional context. Fun stuff! I can feel my life drawing skills improving! I'm working on the final for it now.

Did this quick sketch of Ursula to warm up this morning - found the reference here: http://queenkelley.com/?p=91

Ursula is, of course, the property of Disney.

Ciao, belli!

~ Jen

4-5-11: Character Animation Demo Reel

Hello, again, friends! Time for another update!

There are edits to be done on all of these, but I thought I should at least give you something new!



Breakdown (I'm responsible for everything unless noted):

1. Character Animation, to be composited into live action footage. Morpheus rig by Josh Burton.
2. Dino Run, rig provided by SCAD.
3. How Not to Lift a Box, Bloke model re-rigged by Jen Cram.
4. Rain Dance Animation Test. Character design by Nate Swinehart.
5. Froggy Sidestep. Character design by John Webber.
6. Fat Cat dialogue. WIP! More of him soon!
7. Eterne animation test. Look for more Eterne stuff soon!

"Pees"

Hello again, everyone!

I'm up late working on an experimental animation, waiting for some stuff to render, so I figured I'd take a break to update you all on my latest adventures! The experimental is turning out to be quite fun - it'll be done for my grade soon, but I'd still like to put some tweaks on it for my personal liking, so look for it at a later date!

In the mean time, here's my entry for Savanijam! The Contemporary Animation Society here at SCAD holds a competition every year. The goal - make an animation in 24 hours or less, using a provided theme as inspiration. 3D animations could use pre-made rigs, but 2D animations had to be done from scratch. To add to the challenge, we weren't allowed to leave Montgomery Hall until our animations were complete and submitted! It was a great deal of fun, and although it threw off my sleep schedule a bit, I'm glad I participated!

So what was this mystery prompt word, you ask? "'Pees'." Yes, we quirked our eyebrows too. "... Um... Pees? Like, 'peace' on earth? Or a 'piece' of pie?" The response, essentially, "Yes!"




Concept, animation and design by yours truly - the voice and sound recording was done by my good friend, Drew Soman! It won honorable mention for biggest laugh! =)

Until next time! Adieu!

Best,

Jen Cram

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

Jen Cram Talent Reel, 2009

I call it a "talent" reel because it's really a big conglomeration of stuff! You've already seen the Sleasel TD work on here, but please bear with it! As you can read in the notes for this on YouTube, this is almost all of my 4d animation-related work to date in one place. I've got mixed feelings about a lot of it, but I thought I should post it for you guys as a point of comparison - because I am now at SCAD and taking a heavy interest in my own self-improvement! =D

From YouTube:

Jen Cram Talent Reel, 2009



Hey guys! Here's a showcase of (almost) all of my animation work up through 2009. I put it together for my application to SCAD's MFA in Animation. Jennifer DiMassino Cram is the creator and owner of all characters, and is responsible for the creation of all content unless otherwise stated.

Notes:

1) Sleasel the Weasel, Character Animation. 56 sec, pencil and Lightwave 9, 2009. This represents my first attempts at 2D animation, rigging, and 3D animation. Sleasel was the second character model I'd completed.

2) Sleasel the Weasel, Modeling/TD Reel. 2 min 7 sec, Maya 2010, 2009. I brought Sleasel into Maya and explored some more advanced rigging when my school (Montclair State University) got Maya 2010. I give a lot of props to Steven Murdoch for his excellent biped rigging tutorial, and to Swinburne University of Technology in Australia for making it available (link at the bottom). Also, thanks to my old prof, Wobbe Koning, for helping me iron through the rough parts.

3) Funk Skunk: Trippin' Up! Animation Layout and Keyframes/Color Script. 2 min 12 sec, pencil, Prismacolor marker, crayon, and Adobe Flash, 2009. Music by "The Inferno" - Guitar, Dante Cornella, Bass, Jeff Little, and Drums, Sulaiman Ismail. Sounds collected from The Freesound Project (http://www.freesound.org/). Massive props to the prof I never had, Kyeong Won Youn, for his help with Flash. =)

I used a free version of TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress to compile everything - hence the stamps in the upper right corner at the beginning and the end.

Murdoch's biped rigging tutorial - (http://www.swinburne.edu.au/design/tutorials/P-maya/T-Maya-Rigging-Rigging-a-biped-character-for-animation/ID-125/)

MUCH to update!!

SO! Excellent news abounds!

First off - I've graduated from Montclair State University with a BFA in Animation/Illustration! Hooray!

I've found temporary summer work - that might prove to be a lucrative long term investment. I'm life guarding again! It entails oodles of fresh air and requires me to stay in shape. Also, I hear there are lots of beaches and pools down at Savannah that might need guards... Which leads me to my next bit of excellent news!

I got into the Animation MFA at SCAD! They gave me a bit of money, too - huzzah! Now begins the housing/roommate/scholarship/grant/work study search. I'm so excited!!

FINALLY - the bit of news I'm MOST excited about - oh, no no, it's too good. I'll have to make a new post for it!

But here are some sculpture tidbit's I've been playing with. My uncle and aunt, Jim and Tay, gifted me with some taxidermy eyes that Jim used to sculpt with. What great inspiration! Also, my beagle, Savannah, is adorable. Just a quick gesture.