Follow A long New Shot-Beginning to End

So here is a follow along for my latest shot. I will try to record myself working through some of these phases and post here, so you can grab some tips :)


Step 1: Imagination
 I visualized my shot and new I wanted something super wacky and over the top dramatic. So I decided to do a little girl eager to eat her hamburger and fries and BAM her parents decide to ruin it with vegetables. So she freaks and then decides to smell the veggies and the smell is so brutal its tweaks her and then she faints. Might even add her waving a little white flag at the end, where all you see is the flag as if saying "i surrender"
Definitely a very Looney Tunes style inspired animation and as said by Genndy Tartakovsky said "if I wanted realism, I'd watch a live-action movie."

*This shot shows:
1. Change of Emotion
2. Character in conflict with the situation


Step 2: Video Reference

Here is my Video Reference (A little crazy and embarrassing but hey go big or go home right!! #sportsMetaphors)

Step 3: Drawings
Extract all my Key poses from my video reference, and clean up poses for line of action, negative space.
(For more on this please refer to the lectures section where I go into more specific details)

Step 5: Set Up Scene and Shelves
Basically set up my scene and reference my character and my set in to keep my Maya file as light as possible.
Build shelves for my character so I can easily select All the controls, the Rarm, Larm, Arms,ect..
(If you find yourself selecting more than one control twice, build a shelf for it. This will increase your speed tenfold)

Step 6: Blocking Key Poses
Here I blocked in my Key poses and even a few extra sort of holds. Notice how I blocked in the nose sniff because I felt it was important, but not the head shake on the initial scare. (You can't see the headshake now, but i know it will go there and it will be in my breakdowns.) (Make these decisions on your own, always go with what YOU need for the shot to make sense and feel solid. Everyone works differently, as long as you feel like you know what will happen in every drop of every pose than your good)

Notice:
-I fully pose the face, making sure to avoid twinning. Solid expressions that convey an exact emotion (these can take me and hour or more, but you have to invest the time at some point so might as well do it early) Also helps to see if your shot is working
-I fully pose the fingers-they are so expressive and essential to selling your entire pose. Give them love, even if you have to tweak every single controller they have. Get the pose YOU want, not what Maya gives you.

Here is my blocking with NO timing, it's just 20 frames played super slow. I usually just scrub my timeline and imagine general timing in my head. (Timing will not come until after Breakdowns, right now all the focus is on Key poses and then breakdown poses)

That's where I am for right now, more to blog as soon as I get it done! All these steps have detailed descriptions in post throughout the blog and in the Lectures sections. If you want more info check those out. Stay inspired, Stay motivated, Keep Calm and Animate On!