AARP spot

A few years ago I was asked to create some concept art for an AARP commercial pitch. The agency wanted something with... "movement and vigor. Youthful... but not juvenile." So I worked up several approaches... including this one... "Bruce E Petrie... Rocket Man!"

El TIGRE Color: Episode 013

A number of years ago I worked on a show called "El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera" created by the multi-award winning husband and wife team of Jorge Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua. My main job on the show was creating the color scripts that would help guide the art team. 

Though all the episodes of "El Tigre" have a similar feel... I tried to give each episode a unique pass of color that would describe the story and emotions of the characters. Often I would give a "straight" color treatment that I thought would fit the story well... then try another pass of something a bit different. That was the case of episode 013.

This episode was in fact one of the most difficult to design... just for the reason that there were LOTS of characters. I was very fortunate to have directors that were willing to let me experiment. Most of the time these experiments lead to interesting ideas... and other times... well ... looking back I often wonder what I was thinking about. :)

At the time of this post I am working with "El Tigre" creators Jorge and Sandra (as well as "El Tigre" art director Roman Laney) on Jorge's feature film "The Book of Life." It's been a joy... and we are getting to do a lot of the things that weren't possible in TV.

To see more of my color scripts from El Tigre... please go HERE!

Phone Home

A few years ago I was asked to design and direct the animation on a TV ad for a friend in my home town. There was no real budget to speak of... so I kept everything simple and direct. I also wanted to keep things modular, so elements could be plugged into different live-action ads.

Above: Some rough designs of the "blocks" in the ad.

Above: A board with rough timing.
It wasn't clear how long the animated segments should be. So I only timed out the animation roughly, designing frames that could be held in editing to cover whatever dialogue there might be. 

Dallas International Film Festival Interview

"Escape of the Gingerbread Man!!!" is still running the festival circuit, and was recently invited to screen at the 2013 Dallas International Film Festival. 

I had a chance to chit-chat about the film, and about story in general with Chad Jones. You can read the interview HERE. 

For those that haven't seen the film, an online version can be seen HERE .

To "The Monk Studio," "The Animation Workshop" and everyone who helped bring Ginger to life... thank you!

Indian Paintbrush and the SMK exhibit

-Recently I was asked to participate in an exhibition at the Statens Museum for Kunst, part of the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen. The show is called "Flowers and World Views"... For my subject I chose to paint the Wyoming state flower... the Indian Paintbrush. 

Please read more about the exhibit here

Above: I made several versions of the painting, inspired by the badlands near my house in Wyoming. The badlands are in fact an ancient seabed... and fossils of fish, turtles, and even crocodiles can be found way up in the mountains. Once I picked a bouquet of Indian Paintbrush flowers for my grandmother, not knowing they were endangered, and illegal to pick. Luckily she was kind enough not to turn me in to the authorities. I've not picked them since. -tod

Bumpers 1

Long ago, in my 21st year I went on a summer internship creating bumpers for a major network. Bumpers are of course the short pieces of film that often come before and after a commercial break. The agreement with the studio was to create five approved bumpers for my internship. I had already produced several bumpers for the TV show "Home Improvement" during my school days... So I figured these bumpers wouldn't be too difficult. 

The key phrase was "approved" bumpers. My fellow interns and I kept pumping out ideas and sketches... which of course were never approved... because the studio was going to get as many ideas out of us as possible. Days turned into weeks... and weeks into months. Soon the summer was over with dozens of good bumper ideas... but still no approvals... for any of us. We left.

Above: Quick concept sketches for a proposed action/horror theater. The character would turn to camera and under his breath.... whisper "FOX!" 

The above sketches were inspired by the great Italian comic artist Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri.  A style I was still trying to grasp at the time. This series was one of many, many looks I tried out that summer. More examples of those to come...  tod

Animation Workshop Films

This years crop of films from my students at the Animation Workshop were recently featured on Cartoon Brew. 

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/student/the-reward-and-other-films-from-denmarks-animation-workshop-77016.html

As always... it has been a pleasure working with such passionate, creative, young artists. They are a constant reminder of why I got into the business into the first place!  A big thanks to Morten Thorning, Michelle Nardone and the rest of the gang at the Animation Workshop for asking me back. -tod

Car Colors

Above: A first pass

Not too long ago I was asked to create some quick color boards for a series of car commercials. Having never worked with this particular client before... it took a day to get a handle on what the director and art director were looking for color wise. I made several passes on most panels... which were then discussed and adjusted for the final color pass. (not pictured)

Above: A second spot
The later spots went much more quickly... and the art director was willing to let me experiment a bit more. I have yet to see the spots... so am unsure how much the color boards influenced the final commercial. 

The Noble Approach FLIP interview

A great interview for Alex Williams of FLIP! regarding the making of Maurice Noble's design book " The Noble Approach." To check it out ... please click HERE.

Above: A few Maurice Noble images from the article.

"The Noble Approach; Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design" is available for pre-order at Amazon.com

Gulls of Jutland

With the book nearly complete I have had a bit more time each morning to stretch my wings ... so to speak... working up some sketches just for fun. These particular sketches are inspired by a field of Black Headed Gulls I pass on the way to the Animation Workshop where I've been teaching the last few weeks. The gulls of Denmark are quite a bit different than most of the birds we observe in Thailand and Wyoming. Fascinating critters.

Year 3

This year I made a sketch to commemorate our 3rd year anniversary, as well as On's birthday. I tried to hide a number of 3’s in the design, and chose a cockerel because of the beasts my father-in- law raises at our home in northern Thailand. We have many fond memories of them waking us up long before the crack of dawn. -tod

Noble Approaching

The Noble Approach is at last available for pre-order on Amazon!

Release Date: May 31, 2013

This extraordinary volume examines the life and animation philosophy of Maurice Noble, the noted American animation background artist and layout designer whose contributions to the industry span more than 60 years and include such cartoon classics as Duck Dodgers in the 24 ½th Century, What's Opera, Doc?, and The Road Runner Show. Revered throughout the animation world, his work serves as a foundation and reference point for the current generation of animators, story artists, and designers. Written by Noble's longtime friend and colleague Tod Polson and based on the draft manuscript Noble worked on in the years before his death, this illuminating book passes on his approach to animation design from concept to final frame, illustrated with sketches and stunning original artwork spanning the full breadth of his career.

Shoot For the Stars

Not too long ago I was asked to put together a pitch for a commercial set in space. 

Above and Below: A few of my concept sketches for the pitch. I imagined  translucent layers of space dust... making space feel rich and deep. The art team at the studio then took these sketches and others that I had created... and used them as inspiration... experimenting with shape... color and form. But as in many projects ... I am unable to show most of the work that was done.

The character designs above were from the client... which we eventually re-designed to something more appealing. Ultimately the client decided to go in a different direction with the spot. Perhaps someday I'll get to play in space again.

ACMN- logo

-Recently On and I were asked to come up with some logo ideas for a new media group composed of members from various media organizations. The idea was that this group could share ideas and resources... taking on media projects that would be difficult to do on their own.

After submitting a few different ideas in thumbnail form, the group selected a bird image that I had roughed out... as seen above.

Then On did a color pass... trying to incorporate different ideas from group members. The jury is still out as far as I know as to which idea was chosen... if any... I'll be curious to see what direction the group goes.

Lego Design Week

Recently I was asked to hold a week long design workshop at Lego world headquarters in Denmark.

The crew I worked with were fantastic! A great group of people with some really interesting design challenges. Most of the work they were doing was top secret... so I was unable to photograph much...

One of the hi-lights of my trip was seeing some of Lego's original wooden toys... produced before they began selling their famous plastic blocks.

Above: A mold for the bricks.

All in all it was a good week... and I hope the designers found a few of the design philosophies I shared useful.

Escape of the Gingerbreadman!!! goes live!!!

After a great festival run Ginger is at last running on the net...



'Escape of the Gingerbread Man!!!' is a 12 minute short about a young storyteller who challenges the old master in a pub on the west coast of Ireland.

This film was inspired in part by my experiences living and working in Ireland. The story is also inspired by legendary Irish storyteller Eddie Lenihan.

Jon Kenny stars as: the storyteller, Paul, and as "the monsters of Kerry"
Nora Twomey stars as Ms. Fox
Michael McGrath stars as The Gingerbread Man
Michael Polvani stars as Tommy

"Rattle The Boards" from Waterford, Ireland, arranged and performed the songs.
Mathias Winum provided the film score.

Produced at "The Monk Studios" Thailand by
Juck Somsaman and Nitipat Somsaman

co-produced by Tod Polson for NobleTales

co-produced by the "Animation Workshop" Denmark by
Tim Leborgne, Morten Thorning, and Michelle Nardone.

Directed, written, and designed by Tod Polson

This film was a labor of love, and I want to sincerely thank everyone who helped in putting it together.

All content © 2011 Tod Polson

A Pumpkin Pan

Over the last month or two we've been moving house back to the USA, and feverishly finishing up the text, and gathering image with the fine folks at Chronicle books for the upcoming "The Noble Approach: Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design." And thus have been unable to create many new posts. As of today, all the material is in the hands of the publisher... and the lights in our house turn on.

While unpacking I came across an old scene from one of my short films "The Pumpkin Of Nyefar."  I'd always wanted to try a super long pan of a countryside with sheep. Pumpkin provided the perfect opportunity. The above is a scan of a reference printout which is 2 inches (5.08 cm) tall... and 6 feet (182.9 cm) long.  The shot itself is a massive 3 seconds long.

The end of the pan goes from the fertile fields of the rich prince, to the more desolate dunes of his true love... Violet the Pumpkin. A three week trip to Turkey provided the main inspiration for the landscapes of the film.

Monkey Kingdom

 A while back I was asked to put together a pitch for a short film project set in a tropical jungle. The star of the film was to be a small monkey, who was to play on the lost "monkey" ruins.

A sort of mood pass on the environment... exploring texture... inspired by trips to Angkor Thom.

 An earlier pass on the environment... exploring shapes.

A rough 3D model was started... but we ran out of time to really hone it. Ultimately the job was awarded to another director... but there are things in this pitch that I really like.

Howl Testing

A while back I was working in Beijing, and was asked to make a test for a feature film about Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl." This was a film to be directed by Oscar winners, Rob Epstein, and Jeffrey Friedman. The look was to be based on the art of illustrator Eric Drooker, who had known Ginsberg personally... illustrating his book "Illuminated Poems."

Above: An early test for "Howl."
A big thanks to Eric Drooker, and Jeffrey Friedman for allowing me to post this test.

The background art in the test is actually from one of Eric's paintings, which has been broken down into layers in photoshop. The character design was intended to give the feel of German expressionist sculpture. The animation, though a bit clunky in the test, was enough to prove to the directors that animation would work in illustrating the poem, and this test would be used to help raise finances for the film.

Above: My design for the character. Inspired by German expressionists such as Oswald Herzog.

After a few years, and a few false starts the animation for "Howl" was created at The Monk studio in Bangkok. I would go on to art direct the animation for the film with Eric, and supervise the production in Bangkok. With John Hays serving as the animation director. While the final film would have more bells and whistles than this test. There is something about the simplicity of this that I still like.

Escape of the Gingerbread Man!!! Pub Portraits

Posting a few rough portraits that graced the interior of the "Escape of the Gingerbread Man!!!" Pub. Thomas Moore, Yeats, and Guiness look down angrily at the main characters in the closing scenes of the film. Seen from a distance, they are barely noticeable, but add texture and atmosphere. The sort of small details we added throughout the film, that might not be noticed until viewed several times.