Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Winning Characters



1st Place : Sassy Frassy
Hero of the Elementary School Playground.

This Collaboration with Sharon from Smiles and her granddaughter Brooklyn  not only received the most votes in the contest, but also the most views and conversation through facebook and the blog.














2nd Place : Conga Princess Conquers the Aliens
If you think she looks like my wife, that is because she is based on a cousin. With only one vote less than Sassy Frassy, Conga Princess has been hailed as a hip idea and appeals to the audience's love of dance (Which is how she conquers the aliens). Click the image to view her story.














3rd Place : Apotheterra Seedling
Meant to be a possible branding strategy for Nate Stout's new company, this character has gained attention as having one of the strongest, original stories and most appealing design. This idea was inspired in part by David Wilson Illustration for his love of seeds and natural formations. With his fascination in memory,  I often visited the park with my son and I found myself exploring and sketching the surrounding wonders more and more. Click the image to read more about this story.



Honorable Mentions

As this contest progressed, my wife and I agreed that there was some interesting skewing in the voting patterns due to quality and appeal in the drawings (which were all meant to be quick sketches) and also female votes vs male votes. The ideas above won fair and square, but the runners up below have an interesting history.




 Runner Up # 1 : Siggs Thinks In Pink Ink
In looking at the Marathon overall, this idea received alot of interesting said. Zach Smith, a remarkeable innovator himself, made the following comment:

"That's a GREAT story. I really think you should pursue this further. I don't know the entire process to developing a full-length feature animation film, but this has HUGE potential. Keep up the great work. You TRULY are inspired."

To read the story, simply click the image above. In addition to the attention during the marathon, both pieces of art have a history of success prior to the marathon. And I personally think there may be something special here to explore in the future.





 

Runner Up # 2 : Monsieur Revieu & The Carousel Clock.
This is another story idea which received hearty praise during the contest. It was also noteable to me because the idea came as I pondered the negative reviews on the first movie I ever worked on, Chipwrecked. This story has much unexplored potential.














Runner Up #3 : The Junk Collector




Of Mention : Misfit Supers & Invizy the Villian of LenseWorld
There are several ideas who tied for 4th runner up, but I take the liberty to un-mention those. This next idea received only 1 vote and hardly any attention during the marathon. Yet the other day, I found myself imagining this story as a great children's book. So I looked back to see who  voted on this idea and found it was a fellow professional visual storyteller, Paul Cox. Okay, so maybe he sees potential. Also, the characters as I was imagining them for the book look nothing like the image below (which I felt were quite inadequate). Also, my wife says the lenseworld idea is "out there". So I think with further exploration (better visuals and clearer story), this could become a solid idea ... but I could be biased. What do you think?



Last Place : Clown For Governer
The only post to received -1 votes. It reminded the voter of "Vermin Supreme", whoever that is. It is also my least favorite piece. But politically active people seem to like it. So if anyone wants to steal the idea, he's yours (Just let me know first).


Stay Tune : Surprise Development 
As great stories have unexpected turn, so does my story. As of now, these ideas are officially "shelved" and I will be using this blog for my next development. As I seek to become more established as a character animator, I will now be animating a few brief shots to add variety to my demo reel. As I feel this is simply a continuation in my life's marathon toward Character Driven Story, I will post updates here.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Vote For Your Favorite Characters

I actually plan to explore some of these ideas, so your feedback now will determine my course this coming year (storyboards, animation, &  maybe even sculptures). Click on the picture to view the original post for more information, and click my signature a the top of the blog to return to this page. Please vote for your top 3 of the character ideas below by either commenting on facebook or at the bottom of this post. Anonymous comments are enabled.

Voting will end January 17th and the "winners" will then be posted.

Also, as some news ... my demo reel ranked well on the YouAnimator.com search engine, so my "last sprint" will hopefully help me professionally as well!

01 :: Solitary Man & Energetic Cat 
Exact Opposites, together in an old cabin.

02 :: Dainty Bus Lady
03 :: Minature Cozman
So involved in miniature causes that he never helps anyone significantly.

04 :: No Shadow Man
Your shadow makes you his puppet, has no shadow, afraid of shadows.

05 :: Yes Yetzl
Her curse : no one can ever tell her no.

06 :: Clown For Governer
His fame was falsified by a magic flower which makes his dull gags hillarious.

07 :: Tree Braider
Braids trees across the county. 
Can only speak around 5 words a day (his brain overloads after that.


08 :: Misfit Supers of the Lense World
Each has superpowers and SUPERweaknesses. Only together can they be "unstoppable"

09 :: Invizy, Villian of the Lense World
A pair of floatings glasses who smells amazing and banishes superheroes.
10 :: Amelia Mythos
500 years old (appears 14) and holds the secret to save humanity.

11 :: Easter Burglar
Leaves eggs in place of stolen belongings. Chocolate dulls pain.

12 :: Siggs Thinks In Pink Ink
With only a magic pink pen, he must convince others to join him in 
saving the world from disappearing forever.
This post had the highest quality & quantity in comments.


13 :: The Junk Collector
Through his son's dreams and as a visiting angel, he "takes care" of his stuff
14 :: Monsieur (Miss-Your) Revieu & The Carousel Clock
Based on the Clock Critics ' daily critique of his personal performance,  he changes from day to day, trying to make sense of their varied reviews.

15 :: Trash Vs Nature

16 :: Apotheterra Seedling
With power to heal, bring youth, and enhance human physicality, she must find someone who'll
properly use her power.
17 :: Skinny Hamburger Eater
She must eat BIG to avoid wasting away.

18 :: Angry & The Chipper Monks
The other monks just don't appreciate his fashion sense - they'll regret it (cue evil laugh).

19 :: The Perfector
Superpower :: She can stand next to anybody and do better than them
Superweakness :: She needs someone to outperform, but her presence is emotionally draining.

20 :: Sassy Frassy
Hero of the wild elementary school playground.

21 :: The Worshipper
A lifelong devotion to God.

22 :: Commercial Claus
Out to outshine the true meaning of Christmas

24 :: Fun With Shapes



25 :: More Fun With Shapes

26 :: Even More Fun With Shapes

27 :: Many Regrets
He must set his crooked past straight


28 :: Conga Princess Conquers the Aliens.
This shy girl has some EPIC dance moves.