January Update: Animation tests and a Whole lot of Writing!

Dear Patrons,

Happy New Year! I realize I'm a little late to say so, and also quite late on the update this month. I have good excuses though, so let's jump right into it!

TALES OF ZALE:

I have been deep, deeeeep down in the story caves, writing and exploring. I wanted to get an outline of the full storyline down before our next meeting with the broadcaster on Wednesday. An outline is the stage right before the script, where all the scenes are accounted for and as fleshed out as possible - so needless to say, it has been a lot of work. Now, this is only going to be a first draft. There'll still be room for revisions, so it doesn't have to be 100% perfect, but the more on-point it can be, the better. It's best for the intention to be clear, structure to be structured, and character arcs fleshed out. So I've been hard at work, adapting the initial synopses we had into a storyline I can be proud of. At the time of writing, I'm still missing work on a couple of episodes though, so that's why it's been hard to sit down and write on anything else - like a Patreon update. Buuut, here we are - I couldn't really hold back the monthly update any longer, could I?

Anyhow, my brain can't handle writing all day, so I have also been sneaking in some animation tests - which is what you see in this month's video!

Storyboard by Rambu:

Rough anim by Eliana Stemm:

 Clean-up & color by me:

(There's also a posing stage in between storyboarding and rough anim, but I don't usually export that one out)

So this is one of the shots we did this summer. There were some things I wanted to adjust with the character model around the eyes, so it made a good contender for a clean-up test. There was a little while where it looked like we were going to be working with some extremely tight resources. So therefor I wanted to do what I could ahead of time. Now, things are looking a little more hopeful, but I think it's still nice to lay as much foundation as possible ahead of time, so I plan to keep at it with these little tests, and share some of the ones that are less spoilery. This is just me fiddling in my spare time though; we are still not in production. I think this year will be mainly focused on financing and writing. I'd love to tell you a little more about what we're planning, but I think it's still a tad too early. A lot can still change - let's see how Wednesday's meeting goes!

MORE APPLICATIONS:

In related news, as soon as I am done with writing the outline, I'm going to have to buckle down and get working on some applications. There's a big one with deadline here in February. Because of this, I've decided not to do the yearly recap this year. You all have access to previous months' posts, so it's mainly something I tend to do for the sake of progress overview and for new supporters coming in. But I'm going to have to be a bit wise with how I spend my time right now.

LOFI ZALE:

We've also still got a lofi Zale track coming up! I've done the main animation loops but still need to clean it up (and maybe add a few more loops). It is delayed though. For one, the background artist got super sick and has been very busy catching up with other work after that. For another, Matthew Pablo, the composer, is currently affected by the California wildfires - though thankfully, he is safe and in good spirits. My thoughts go out to everyone affected by those apocalyptic scenes.

MUSICAL PIPERS:

Obiviously, I've had to start winding down on this project, but I'm still trying to finish off the last couple of shots. Everyone's work is coming together quite nicely, so I'm really looking forward to being able to share the final thing!

WORK:

And of course, I'm back at it animation supervising on the next project at Nørlum. Although, we're doing a soft start-up period, so right now it's pretty managable on top of everything else. Not anything I can share from that, but basically, that's what's up!

ROUND-UP:

And that's it, I think! As far as I recall. It's a short update this month, but that's just the nature of things when most of the work I've been doing is writing. And when I need to hurry back into the story caves this instant-- I'll pop my head back up again next month, hopefully with a more timely update, and some good news.

Actually-- ok, ok, one last bit of news because I like to sprinkle in some bird news here towards the end because it makes me happy. Remember how I got two new canary birds last year, but that they turned out to be very sick? One died, but the other one - Chili - is still hanging in there, just chilling. But that's one female bird for two males, which is going to get stressful when spring comes around. So I was kind of forced to go get another female canary before that. Long story short, meet Pepper! She's sitting atop my head, while Hazel is on my shoulder. She's full of pep, and it's been so nice to get a new bird that has clearly been cared for greatly and is full of confidence. Because that has turned out to be a rarity. Happy New Year!