8/29/2014: Grooovin' With The Sharks

A new avatar for my Grooveshark account. If you groove with the sharks, add me! :)

http://grooveshark.com/#!/runnerinthegarden

6/29/2014

Trying something new, with Poussey's help.

3-28-2013: Zbrush Zbrush Zbrush

My challenge to myself this week has been learning Zbrush! I decided that, even though my thesis film is going to be 2D, a digital maquette of my character might be helpful to keep the animators (myself included!) on-model. Here's the character turn (there are some errors I'll need to fix, the position of the arms, for example):

With the help of some Lynda.com and Pixelogic tutorials, and my great friend Kintan Chauhan, I've made a great deal of progress in the last few days! Though it started out a little rough, ha ha.

Seriously?

Ew...

Here's where it is now!

Getting a little more comfortable here! Woo!

For those who might not know, the rough spots on her shoulders are what "Zclay" looks like before it's been smoothed out. I'm loving this program! And the tools I've learned so far are only the tip of the iceberg. Huzzah!

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.

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!

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.

Hello again, guys!

So, it's official! I've applied to SCAD's Animation MFA, and internships at Blue Sky (visual development) and Pixar (art and animation). Wish me luck!

What now? Well, I guess I should apply for some actual JOBS. Also, continual development of portfolio/reel/ability, ha ha.

Anyway, here's some of the stuff I submitted. It went out in various formats to the various places, but these are the basics.




















I'm gonna try to get all of my animation reel stuff up on YouTube to share with you soon, too.

Best,

Jen Cram

Sleasel the Weasel

Introducing Sleasel the Weasel! (And Jen Cram as a modeler/rigger, ha ha.)

Sleasel is best friend and worst enemy to Funk Skunk, the lead character of my main animation endeavor lately (more on that later). He's a sweet, well-meaning guy, but somehow always manages to cramp Funk Skunk's style and throw awkward wrenches into situations. Still, his happy-go-luckiness and winning-but-goofy smile always manage to patch things up.

Here's my second attempt at rigging a character - the first time I've tackled things like spline IKs, controls and stretchiness expressions (and expressions at all, for that matter).



I'll post some character sketches for Sleasel in a bit - I'm just a bit giddy about how this turned out. =}

Jeanne d'Arc

This was a quick little ditty for a character challenge on ConceptArt. They have bunches of challenges here, just for fun - a great source of inspiration.

I never submitted her, because I didn't feel it was enough of a finished illustration, but I still like the concept. Modernized, soldier/guerilla Joan of Arc. Of course, she fights in Vietnam, not Northern France.