Bustin ma behind

Hey there- Many many things are happening to me right now, both good and challenging. I'm now freelancing and having a hell of busy month, which is wonderful. But I walk with a permanent slouch and can't handle daylight. All that said, I'm truly excited about going into business on my own.
So, anytime you need a penguin painted- you know where I am.

More soon. I'm off to do allnighter number 2.
JPx

Adrenalin Lemmings

Here's a test I directed for 'Adrenalin Lemmings', a project I created with Alex Orrelle of crew972. They came out of some rough sketches I drew about 4 years ago. I was trying to come up with something funny about koalas, but got distracted by drawing lemmings with crash helmets on in the background. So I thought it best to run with that, because koalas aren't exceptionally funny anyway.

The concept follows the activities of these four ambitious but idiotic lemmings as they use the urban jungle for their own perilous ends. It got picked up by a studio, and then got released back to crew972 again as their slate got cancelled. We're hoping somebody out there will give them a home before they explode.

The test was fun to shoot- we did it fast and dirty with a cheap camcorder, and a few health and safety infringments, hanging out of the side of the car.

Here a little vis-dev. They drive a modded lemming mobile- essentially an R/C car with the controller taped to the hood -I loved tamiya cars when I was a kid :)

Credits:

Director JP Vine Producer Alex Orrelle

Cgi and animation Producer Nir Ginat

Technical Director Menashe Morobuse

Compositor Ron Ganbar

Animators: Alex Orrelle, Nir Ginat

CG Modeller: Rafi Ben Aharon

Lighting and shading: Dror Revach

Sound design: Nati Zeidenstadt, Silk city Sounds

Music: Sepultura, Ratamahatta

Produced at Crew972

Visual development, a short history

I've been developing a tv show here a Crew972 over the last year, and thought you might like a peek at the visual development. It's a knights and dragons-based slapstick social commentary.

... I'm still working on ways to pitch it.

Anyway, in terms of style: My catchphrase for the design style, for all the talented folks that I'll hopefully work with on this show, is 'funky medieval', -or Medifunk, or Funkieval. A quick google search tells me I might just have coined those last two. I'm hoping it will catch on, you know, like steampunk.

I took some visual reference from some gorgeous danish architecture, which despite not being medieval, were funky. It's all subjective.

-Filled a sketchbook with scratchy little drawings like this:

And then played around with colour in photoshop,

-followed it up with some very rough previs:

And then, bringing it all into CG, we mockup the look and feel, aiming for a graphic, textural look, that should in the end be the essence of Medifunk.

I'll keep you posted. :)

The Battery Menace

How's about a bit of pulp-inspired cutout animation?

I recently had the fun task of designing this little viral for Mysh Mashko, a pair of directors over here. The brief was to get a classic b movie low-fi look. We collaged and distressed and scuffed up a bunch of photos in photoshop, and all the animation was created in flash. A soaring, ambitious picture, I think you'll find.

Oh, and I'm the guy with the gun.

See more at Mashko.com

lunchtime doodle

Tel Aviv has the best lunch time food....kebabs, felafel, humus...

-too bad I brought sandwiches.

Sketch update

I usually venture to and fro with my black a4 sketchbook and weapon of choice, a Japanese brush pen---ooh I love that pen. Can't find any more in my local art store, so may have to resort to mail order. Trying to get studies of people on buses usually ends up with awkward moments of eye contact with the subject. I'm not attracted to you sir/ma'am, I'm just - sketching you.

Want to smile?

Just a reminder that bad news is not the only thing that comes from Israel right now.

A gorgeous music video that should set you up for the day nicely, made for Oren Lavie by the Animation duo Yuval & Merav Nathan.

quietly waiting

A procrastination doodle for saturday. I have a free-ish evening, my wife has gone out to help deliver a baby (she's a childbirth coach) I have a storyboard to finish- but I am compelled to draw fat, flightless birds.

a-boardin'

A little screengrab of my recent storyboarding- not by any means a great drawing, but you can see how I like to work- usually super loose to start with. I'm using flash mainly because I love the way its brush tool behaves- crisp and responsive, as close as I can get to my favourite real drawing tool, brush and ink. Flash also allows for very easy fills of colour, just one click and your character's flooded with colour. Coupled with the ability to work on a timeline and flip your drawings, it becomes an awesome boarding tool.

I use colour if it will help clarify the image to the viewer (and also because the perfectionist in me won't quit) -but in truth storyboarding is about working fast , intuitively, and not getting hung up on detail- genreally I try to hit somewhere in between.

That said, I'm desperate to get my hands mucky with some oil paints this weekend.
Have a good one, folks!

Patriot- animated short from Roy Iddan

Patriot - Animated Short by Roy Iddan from Captain_Fantasy on Vimeo.


Take some time to watch Patriot, a short from a friend here in Tel Aviv, Roy Iddan. A classy piece of work that will keep your attention to the end.

Getting fishy

New years resolution?

Finish stuff.

I'm superb at starting stuff. Finishing is my area of concern. I will finish this fish. And all the other stuff I started.

Acrylic and oils.

2009

Happy new year. I look back on a wonderful and challenging year. I always seems to remember a year in terms of where I travelled- chronic wanderlust, I guess. Now I'm excited by what's coming up- learning so much and hungry for more. It's humbling to see the talent around me in Tel Aviv and Online, and so great to learn from it.

I spent my new years eve in bed. But also with champagne and wife, so that was just fine.

God bless. Have a great, fulfilling year. JP

Arr

A Pirate for a sunday. And yes, I still haven't finished the promised ballonist story. It's coming...yikes. I wish life was a little less busy. In the meantime I'll post the rough colour key...

Back to storyboarding!

Der Lavender Baron

Meet Erich Von Schmeck, AKA the Lavender Baron- A WW1 flying ace whose main instrument of war was a not a fokker triplane, but a hot air balloon. His first mission ended in disaster as he was unable to return to base due to lack of appropriate wind direction. He drifted aimlessly for some days before touching down on the Cornish coast, only to be speared by a local farmer.

German ace

Adding to the previous doodle, I'm preparing a story about the German hot air balloon aces of WW1. Needless to say, their careers were short.

I'll post the story by the end of the week.

you're excited, aren't you?