Last in my Zootopia Ref Series. This was exciting and challenging doing a run of slow-motion action shots. @chatsartbook and I went into the ref room with a gigantic beanbag and shot actual slow-motion footage of the running, jumping, pushing, impact and falls to see how the mechanics would feel at quarter speed. It was surprisingly helpful in the end, especially the direct contact shots. One of the most challenging bits was just creating a lyrical motion for Judy’s ears that felt both natural and visually interesting. Shout out to Nathan Engelhardt for supervising. #zootopia2 #behindthescenes #animationreference #judyhopps #disneyanimation IGReelsChallenge
Here is my Ref vs. Final of my first packet on Zootopia 2. I was excited to be animating two of my favorite characters, but clearly was still getting used to how to act them properly. The launch note for Nick was “Make his face as stupid as possible, he’s making a dumb joke and he knows it”. I refined the reference to get to his stupid-face earlier in the line delivery. Also, his flashlight-in-face reaction was originally too big, and co-head of anim Chad Sellers acted out this more in-character subdued reaction for me, which I then imitated in the ref room. Was a fun run of shots to start the show. #animationreference #zootopia2 #beforeandafter #behindthescenes🎬
Third video in my zootopia 2 reference series. This was a fun assignment since it’s what animators love to do; communicate fully with expressions and body language. The launch from directors was simply: “without words, have Gary say ‘Thank You’, and have Judy say ‘You’re Welcome’. The most challenging bit was Nick at the end, where they wanted him to basically say “you did it, kid” to Judy, much in the way a Harrison Ford archetype character would. I think it took me about 5 different versions, but we landed on this one. Shout out to @agreenster for supervising. #zootopia2 #behindthescenes #animationreference #animation
My 2nd Ref Comparison video for Zootopia 2. I was very excited to animate Jesus the Basilisk, especially with Danny Trejo giving great performances to chew into. Direction for this character was to be minimal, small, observational. You can see the larger gesture I gave for “It’s Fancy” in the ref, toned way down in the final per the directors and supes. It provided great opportunity to make his leg-slam gesture extra-big by contrast. Shout out to Andrew Lawson for telling me to push the timing on that foot reveal, and Adam Green for Supervising. Also, was jazzed to animate a Judy close-up! #zootopia2 #animationreference #behindthescenes #judyhopps #animation
So many Bad Guys 2 award nominations!!! So happy for the crew, hope we snag some this year, go Bad Guys! 🐺🐍🦊🦈🕷️ #badguys2 #dreamworksanimation #annieawards #vesawards #weregonnalosetoKpopDemonHunters
Before Bad Guys 2, a small group created a short that ran theatrically helping bridge the time-gap between BG1 & BG2 titled Little Lies & Alibis, directed by @liron.topaz.art Here is my reference comparison video for my run of shots on that fun project. I also got to 2-D animate the electricity-zap in the crane-car shot. Having animated Wolf’s beloved car on BG1, getting to smash it in this short was a fun assignment!! Shout out to @willipin0 for heading animation on this short. Cheers. #thebadguys #behindthescenes🎬 #dreamworksanimation #animationreference
Zootopia 2 wrap party! Was truly a long time dream come true to be a part of this sequel. I’m a huge fan of the franchise and being a small part of making it come alive was unbelievable. Cheers!! #zootopia2 #disneyanimation #tryeverything #wrapparty #bucketlist
Last part of my Bad Guys 2 reference series. This was my favorite section to work on in the film. Getting a chance to work with “Kitty” was such a fun opportunity. Pierre and JP had this “take-a-bow” motion in mind from the beginning on “Courtesy of us”, and I workshopped Kitty’s excited energy with fellow DWA animators. We looked at footage of World Series winners for her reaction on “greatest heist in history”, and ultimately simplified it to this final idea here. I also loved animating “I promised this.. rodent..” moment. Clearly Story dept, Previz, and animation all had the same idea because the over-the-shoulder delivery was apparent in all three versions of this beat in the film. Thanks everyone for watching this series, I appreciate all the kind words. Cheers! #badguys2 #animationreference #behindthescenes🎬 #dreamworksanimation
Part 2 of my Bad Guys 2 reference series. I had asked Head of Animation Benjamin Willis for some Diane shots and he graciously gave me this amazing section. Getting the dart-hit mechanics to feel convincing in animation took lots of reworking, but the ref still provided a good framework for the timing and look-reaction.
Getting the Diane fall-and-struggle also took many iterations to get the timing right. I did so many takes of the fall I ended up with bruised knees for the week, should have worn kneepads! You can see in the ref vs. final how the directors asked for Diane to stay upright a bit longer before collapsing onto her elbow. This was one of my favorite bits to animate. Shout out to Antony Gray for anim supervision on this. Cheers, all!
#thebadguys2 #animationreference #dreamworksanimation #behindthescenes🎬
