Update

Please see an important update to Storytime with Nigel on my website:

http://www.priebelieving.com/2011/10/storytime-with-nigel-final-chapter.html

Inspiration for Film Premiere

I have just taken a look at my buddy Justin Rasch's blog Stop Motion Mission, which I visit often to see the progression of the short film he's been creating with his family for the past 3 years. I haven't met Justin in person yet, but he posts often here and we've chatted/emailed online quite a bit.

The most recent monster blog entry explains in great detail their big film premiere in the L.A. area where they live. I must say it excited me to no end, what an amazing and absolutely thrilling experience it must have been for them.

The plan for Storytime with Nigel has always been to rent a theater and host a big premiere just like theirs when it was completed. Seeing what Justin and his family were able to put together has given me an extra boost of aching to keep trying to move forward towards this goal. Their story is a unique blessing and inspiration to me, and to anyone chipping away at any personal pet project after-hours.

Take a moment to soak it all in here:

Stop Motion Mission: Film Premiere

Colored-In Monkey Drawing

Here's a sample colored drawing I got back from one of my ink-and-paint volunteers. Pretty exciting...

Final Color Models

Some more new progress on the film over this holiday break. A few in-betweens added to the toad sequence, and several scenes are scanned, organized and ready for farming out to color. Jay helped me lock down some better-looking color models for 3 of our main characters.

More Scanning.....

Well, today I actually made a good chunk of progress on the "flimm." I set up the dope sheet for the massive toad sequence & another monkey scene, and scanned most of the drawings. Also with the generous assistance of VanArts student Michael Sali, got several scenes re-scanned at greyscale. Next step for those scenes will be farming out for color, once I lock down a specific color palette.

Gettin' there...

Nigel's Return...

I've often said that pet projects are named as such because a pet knows when it needs to be fed, and then it's fine for awhile. Well, 'Nigel' has been dormant for quite awhile due to vacations & other activities...but it's finally been fed a few snacks again as of late.

A few days ago I overlooked the infamous Toad sequence and added in a couple in-betweens, and today I did the same with another Monkey scene. My plan, at this point, is to recruit some student assistance this Saturday and work a bit myself at re-scanning a bunch of scenes in greyscale and also scanning in the monster Toad scene.

Here's hopin' I can stick with it...

First Color Animation Test

Here is our first color animation test for "Nigel." There is one drawing that's missing color at this point, hence the white flash near the beginning. Overall thoughts are that the colors need some adjusting and we'd like to go for a different approach to the backgrounds, more muted and simple. It's nice to see a shot like this to get a sense of which direction to take everything else.



I wish to thank those who have been supporting this project thus far. With so many projects going on and interests drifting elsewhere, it's hard for me to stay excited about this film all the time. I'm rather torn and just need some encouragement to keep it simmering on the stove.