Poor Pedro

So far, this is the coolest thing we have done in my animation class! I just finished my puppet for my next animation and I think he looks pretty neat. His name is Pedro and he is a French mime. Pedro was created when I was still in grade school and didn't want to pay attention in class. I started drawing these short two drawing comics. The first drawing Pedro would be miming something, and then in the second he would die from it. For example, he would be inside an imaginary box, and then suffocate. It was a rough life for Pedro and my immature mind, so that's why I called the comic Poor Pedro. Anyways, here are some pictures of him! Hopefully he stays together for my animation which I will be posted once I finish.

Pixelation and a Lip Sync

Two latest assignments from class...a pixelation animation and also a lip sync test. I used my truck driver character from my cutout animation for the lip sync test, as I did not have enough time to make a whole new one...Also if you notice, the truck driver character is from a drawing I posted a couple posts back. Enjoy!

New Animations!

As usual I have been extremely busy with class, however that means that I'm cranking out numerous amounts of animation! Unfortunately, I'm only doing just that, cranking things out. I'm not spending as much time as I want to on these, and I think they could be so much better, but we only have about 3 days to prepare and shoot each. That's not enough time! I need more! Anyways, here's three different bits from my last two weeks.


Chalk Animation


Cutout Animation


Clay Animation Tests

Boxing Day

Alright...I've been INSANELY busy with these online classes. Like madness. I haven't had time to do much of anything except projects for my classes. Fortunately one of them is an animation class, so I'm definitely benefiting. Also my creative juices are being sucked dry by internet vampires and 3 day deadlines. It's rough, but here's my first assignment from class. It's a stopmotion featuring some boxes, fans, and lamps.

Characters!

So sorry for the lack of posts, I've been incredibly busy since I got back from California. By the way, the trip was incredible! I'm still going through pictures and videos we took- there's so many! Anyways I thought I would share a couple character designs I've been working on for some story ideas I have brewing. They aren't finished, but I thought I'd at least show my work in progress.

I've also just started AAU online class, so be prepared for an onslaught of projects!



Here's your cliche tired truck driver!


And this is an old lady named Ethel!

Road Trip Info!

I was planning on doing this in facebook, but there's an odd bug roaming around and it ate all my notes and is preventing me from writing any more. So I decided to post all the info here, and post this on facebook! Ha!

Me, Michael, and Jordan are embarking on an insane round trip adventure to the west coast with a primary destination of San Francisco this Tuesday. That's TWO DAYS AWAY. The offical name for this road trip is:

The "Chris, MP, and Ted's Excellent Adventure May Never Have Another Epic Chance To Occur During The Timeframe Of Their Lives Due To Future Commitments, and When They Planned It Out On Mapquest it Ended Up Looking Like A Crocodile Head, Showless" Tour

Stops along the way include:

The Big Texan Steakhouse - Amarillo, TX
The Bonneville Salt Flats - Salt Lake City, UT
The Grand Canyon - Tusayan, AZ
The Hoover Dam - Boulder City, NV
Las Vegas, NV
Mount Rushmore - Keystone, SD

among many other things and also a slew of California coolness. Due to the epicness of this trip, we have decided to bring everyone with us! via the internets! Here are a few ways to follow us on our journey:

Twitter! We will be updating this most frequently, so if you want constant news, be sure to follow us if you have a twitter, or just check our profiles!

Chris: www.twitter.com/chrisroman
Michael: www.twitter.com/lookitsmp
Jordan: www.twitter.com/jordanblaskey

Facebook! Be sure to check our facebook for video and photo updates! (Chris Roman, Michael Plese, Jordan Blaskey)

Youtube! If we post any video updates on youtube, they will most likely be under my channel at www.youtube.com/chrismroman

Flickr! Photos may also be uploaded to Flickr! Here's my photostream!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28524619@N05/

Well that's all for now. Like I said, be sure to follow twitter for continuous updates and also links to external sites if we post anything elsewhere. We leave Tuesday, May 19th and get back on the 29th!

Here's the map!

Coming Up Next

In my previous post, which I posted some 5 minutes ago...I mentioned that I am done at Columbia, which is true. I don't lie. Trust me. Maybe.

I thought I would kind of outline my plans for the next few semesters, so that you all know, and in case I forget I can use this post as a reference.

In June I am starting summer classes at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. However, I am doing this online from my room, in Illinois. Sad I know. I'm taking a figure drawing and an experimental animation class, which should be pretty cool. I should have some nice drawings and other weird things to post here. At the moment I'm not sure what I'm taking in the fall. I know I'm taking a computer animation studio class and two other figure drawing classes, and also a history of visual effects or something or other.

I'm taking all these classes online for now, and in the spring I will most likely continue. However, I'm going to try and reapply to Ringling College of Art and Design this fall to see if I would get into their animation program. I tried this in the winter, but missed the cutoff date.

So that's the plan right now. I hope AAU has better instructors and more interesting classes so I can build my portfolio and fill this site with useless, but cool, things!

-Chris