Days 11 => 14: The Final Sprint

The last few days were such a rush of finishing up that we weren't able to post every day -- we're so sorry about that! Everybody was working twice as hard as usual, but it was worth it; the film is beautiful! We've compiled some final frames and a shot for you to check out before the premiere in Campbell River on Saturday, October 4th, where you'll get to see the full project and lots more!  The on-line release of the film will be Monday, in celebration of UN World Habitat Day!

 A couple of final shots (don't want to give too much away!)

Some representative frames prior to colour adjustments.

After wrapping up work on Sunday, we had the studio to break down and put back into boxes-- our appreciation for our generous supporter for the loan of our computers and to Annex Pro and Wacom for the Cintiqs!  What a great platform for our creativity and art!!

The Team all returned to their various homes and the film is moving into post-production, with sound design, final picture, scoring, sound mix, colour grade, and output!  Shout out to sound designer Matt Gionet of Earworm Sound and film composer Alain Mayrand for their fantastic contributions that are adding so much to the story and emotion.  Rainmaker Entertainment has enabled our mix with Deluxe and Side Street Post is kindly handling our colour and output.  We have a few more intense days to get the final piece ready for the premiere.

We hope you've enjoyed this peek behind the curtain on what happened during the making of this Team Generous 2D animated film. Please keep checking our social media for updates -- there's more to come! 

Thanks for all your support as backers, readers and active followers during the first-ever Team Generous Canada event and for helping us 'make a film make a difference'!!

Day 12: Go Team!

With only a few days left in production, the Team is really feeling the pressure -- and is rising to the challenge super well! Our pipeline flows smoothly as the shots move through the different stages. 

Many shots are in production (and now in the grid we posted yesterday), and some are even coming out the other end and are in finalling! Here are a couple snapshots of some pieces of near-finished work:

These shots are still under construction, but they're wonderfully done! The Team is collaborating strongly and their vision and skillsets are coming together into this beautiful film!! 

Remember, if you're in the Campbell River, BC area, to come to our premiere next Saturday, October 4th.  And everyone else can watch for the on-line release of the film on U.N. World Habitat Day, October 6th!

Day 11: Jam On Production!

We are working incredibly hard -- it's clear why full feature films take years to make! Most of the shots have been animated and are in the colour and painting phase. Some shots are already being finalized in After Effects by Sarah Clark, who adds additional shot elements and animation, brings the environment to life, integrates all of the pieces, and sweetens the shot visually -- the last big step before completion!! 

Below is a final frame from one of the few shots that has been through rough animation, colour, cleanup, and into Sarah's capable hands, and a shot still in the rough animation phase:

Thanks to the Campbell River Creative Industries Council (CRCIC) board for providing a delicious potluck feast last night and taking such good care of us!! They also wrote a sweet paragraph about Team Generous on their website before we came; read it here.

Day 10: Beginning Character Painting

Yesterday we planned out the pipeline (workflow) for painting/colouring the scenes -- we mapped it out in detail with masking tape and sticky notes on one of the studio doors so we can stay organized!

And yesterday was another production milestone (Wow! Two in a row!) -- we started character painting, meaning that once scenes have been roughly animated with line work, the painters fill in those lines and shapes with colour. There are still several steps to go until the scene is finished, but this is a big accomplishment!

Artist DJ Cleland-Hura adds a base of colour to a scene in Photoshop

It's crunch time now and the Team is heads down working to complete the film -- everyone is very dedicated and collaborating well to solve our challenges as they arise.  

HUGE thank you to Joanne Millar and her team at the Royal LePage office in Campbell River for the incredible spread you set up for us last night! You left us speechless -- the beautiful food, the adorable decorations, and your hospitality. Your thoughtfulness touched us so much!

Day 9: Production!

Yesterday was huge -- we started production!! Originally we were worried that we wouldn't have enough animators to complete the project in two weeks, but artists Laura Bifano and Tara Williamson have jumped to the task and are now animating like pros!

We also planned the workflow for this week so that everyone can just work without any bumps! It's really exciting to begin production after an entire week of preproduction!!

Below are some character designs (final!) and a version of Scene 010 (a work-in-progress!):

360˙ view of the mom character's head

Final coloured character design, painted by Skyler Punnett

Thank you so, SO much to Henry Lui at the Canton Restaurant for providing wonderful Chinese food for dinner last night!! It was super delicious and it satisfied that inner need. Please check the restaurant out!

Day 7+8: The Weekend

We packed a whole lot into our half-day in the studio on Saturday (Day 7)! Most of our time was spent reviewing the animatic -- planning shots, breaking down elements, and going over the story. We also tied down character design, and we're now moving into colouring them and beginning animation.

Animator Sarah Clark layered various backgrounds, textures and elements to create this work-in-progress test image

These are the final line drawings of our four main characters

We projected the animatic, cut by Jericca Cleland, onto the large screen for an in-depth team review and discussion

Thank you to 40 Knots Winery and Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North for hosting us for a wine-tasting on Saturday -- it was wonderful! We really enjoyed the wine and the live music and everything!! Highly recommended!

Karen Bezaire of Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North hosted us for a fabulous dinner at her home with support from colleagues Ron Freeman, Tom Beshr, and Nicole Hamilton.  We had so much fun!!

Also, a special thank you to singer/songwriter Brodie Dawson and guitarist/vocalist Christy Vanden for the awesome house concert -- we all loved your music so much! And you guys sound so awesome together -- rock on! +brodie.dawson @dawson_brodie

Day 8, Sunday, was a play day!!  Everyone out on the water and hiking and enjoying the We Wai Kai campsite and the beauty of Quadra Island. A grateful shout out to Ian, Carol, and team member Tara Williamson for having us over for a delicious cookout!

Day 6: Revising Storyboard and Animatic + Design/Style Exploration

Artists Laura Bifano and Skyler Punnett have been storyboarding away and Jericca Cleland has worked super hard to edit the animatic of the entire short film. Meanwhile, the animators have been exploring animation styles while the other artists explored character design and look development. Yesterday was a busy day!

A selection of storyboard panels by Laura Bifano and Skyler Punnett

A sandcastle design sample drawn by DJ Cleland-Hura shows various angles of the structure plus texture and color

Background sky tests done in watercolour by Clive Powsey for various scenes

Thank you so much to Cheryl O'Connell and friends for the incredible dinner last night! We're so grateful to you for cooking for us -- you guys have serious cuisine talent!!

Day 5: Animation Tests and Starting Animatic

We're starting to see some major progress -- it's super exciting and encouraging! Team member Jericca Cleland has put together a rough animatic of the first half of our short film, the artists are working away at creating backgrounds and style design, and the animators are running tests and getting used to TVPaint Animation, which is the program we're using. 

If you haven't checked out our Facebook concept art albums, you can find the one with initial art here, and the one with current film art here.

A colour script, drawn by DJ Cleland-Hura, shows the colour scheme throughout the film as the mood and scenes change

A collection of watercolour textures and backgrounds by Clive Powsey

Sarah Clark layers images on TVPaint Animation 

A sample board provides reference for shells, driftwood, stones, and other natural items found at the beach

Team leader Jericca Cleland uses Final Cut Pro to create a rough animatic of the short film

Also, please keep an eye on our YouTube channel because we've uploaded some animation tests from our film and will be adding more shortly! The chronicled animations will show our progress and process and discovery of style!!

Thank you to the Creative Industries Council, based in North Vancouver Island, and Shelter Point Distillery for hosting our evening last night!  It was a lovely mixer for the Team to meet with local professionals in the digital media, entertainment, and technology sectors.

Day 4: Storyboarding and Concept Art

Yesterday was an incredibly productive and fundamental day for our short film. We have our story down, loosely, and are working on the style of art and animation now. We've posted albums of both current and brainstorm concept art on Facebook today! Here's a preview of some of the art from those albums...

Sand texture samples, done in watercolor, lie drying on the ground

A section of preliminary storyboard combines beat board panels with text

Footsteps fill in at the tide line

Different sizes of hands sculpt the sand

Abstract shapes explore eroding sand structures and waves

We'll update our albums with new art often to keep you posted on our progress. These albums showcase art from all of the various styles of our artists, so the images are interesting and diverse.

And thank you so much to the Dolphins Resort for the magnificent dinner last night! We will never forget that feeling of being spoiled and loving every second of it!!

Day 3: Finding the Metaphor and Beginning Concept Artwork

Yesterday was a time of discovery; we drilled down on the messaging of the film and worked through different metaphors and ideas using sketches, doodles, and freeform painting!! By lunchtime, we found the visual metaphor we were looking for to strongly convey our message and began concept artwork. It's very exciting to have the general shape of the story idea!

Artists DJ Cleland-Hura, Tara Williamson, Skyler Punnett, Laura Bifano, and Clive Powsey have been working away, so we'll show you some of their illustrations and paintings soon!

Tara Williamson uses Photoshop to create concept artwork

Ian Blum uses a Cintiq and laptop to begin animation style exploration

A page of concept art on Skyler Punnett's Cintiq

A bulletin board is covered in key messages and ideas for the project

The palette and brushes of watercolor artist Clive Powsey rest on his desk

Remember to check our Facebook and Google+ pages for concept art albums, and look back here for more of our day-to-day updates. 

Also, thank you very much to the Royal Coachman Pub for sponsoring our meal (again!!). Dinner was fantastic!

Day 2: Brainstorming, Discussing, Being Creative

Yesterday was our first day in the office, which is situated in the Campbell River Enterprise Centre (we are very grateful to Rivercorp for providing the space!). We brainstormed our goals, objectives, expectations and challenges associated with the project, as well as our impressions so far from our contact with Habitat and the partner families.  Then we moved into developing metaphors as we come up with ideas for the style, the story, and the message of our short.

Sticky note walls in the background during a collaborative time in the studio

Sticky notes describing the Team's impressions of Habitat for Humanity cover one of the studio walls

Another wall is covered in goals and outcomes for the short film

Metaphors related to the project are represented on sticky notes and in artwork from our Aug 19th House Jam for Habitat

Sticky notes covered in Sharpie drawings and artwork litter the studio's communal round table

Everyone looks to Team member Diego Maclean as he expresses a thought

The entire day was extremely interesting and productive -- it's hard to put twelve creative people in a room and not generate a ton of ideas! The brainstorming continued after we left the studio, too: the Team further explored concepts during dinner and on the ferry. We aim to continue that flow of creativity throughout the next two weeks, so remember to click back here daily to see how it's going!

Welcome to the Team Generous Blog!

Welcome to the Team Generous Blog!!

Kicking it off with Team Generous Canada 2014
September 14-28th, Campbell River, British Columbia - Canada

in support of

We are heading into the final flurry of planning for TGC2014, which gets started on Saturday Sept 13th when the Team gathers on Quadra Island, BC, at the warm and wonderful We Wai Kai Campground--home for the next 2 weeks!

Check back regularly for updates on the event, which starts officially on Sunday, Sept 14th with the Team Generous volunteer build day on the Habitat for Humanity house site in Campbell River. 

Production on our short animated film for Habitat for Humanity Canada begins Sept 15th and wraps Sept 27th.  Keep an eye on how it's all going through this blog, Facebook, and Twitter @GoTeamGenerous!

The project is being led by Jericca Cleland (director/editor) and hosted by preproduction studio Twenty One Inc.  The Team Generous Canada 2014 team members are:

• Ian Blum: character animator - http://ianblum.com/ 

• Laura Bifano: storyboard artist/illustrator - http://www.laurabifano.com/

• Sitji Chou: animator/motion graphics artist - http://sitji.tumblr.com/

• Sarah Clark: motion graphics designer/animator - http://futureperfect.tv/

• DJ Cleland-Hura: painter/designer - https://www.facebook.com/djclelandhurafineart

• Diego Maclean: animator/motion graphics artist - http://www.diegomaclean.com

• Clive Powsey: painter/background artist - http://clivepowseywatercolour.weebly.com/

• Skyler Punnett: designer/illustrator - http://skylerlukepunnett.com/
  
• Tara Williamson: illustrator - www.taraywilliamson.com

Frederik Villumsen, CEO of Danish animation studio Nørlum, will be attending the event as well, hailing from Copenhagen, Denmark.  Niki Cleland-Hura will be handling our social media, pitching in, and taking care of the team!