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

Merry Eggno- er, I mean...

I couldn't sleep, so I made you all a present, with Santa's Seal of Approval... Or maybe Santa's Weasel of Approval?

Love, and a Very Happy New Year,

Jen

Breathing

I found myself a fish outside the bowl
So I grew legs to find a new one,
Lungs to tide me over,
And a brain to avoid the snakes.
Suddenly, I was a brand new creature,
Capable of great processes and feats,
But aware, always and achingly,
Of the distance between me
And water.

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