A while back, my friend Nat from Xhabition studios, approached me about helping her design a personal project based on the "Jakata" tales.
P'Nat liked the look and feel of the backgrounds on my short film "The Pumpkin of Nyefar"... and wanted something in a similar vein. I took "Pumpkin" as starting reference, then developed visual ideas that were more appropriate for "Jakata". The story takes place in India, so I wanted to use design elements from Southeast Asian art. For the background styling, my wife, On Krapook, and I would sketch the locations out in pencil... I would block the designs out in color, we would pass the designs back and forth for a while... then she would add the final finishing sparkle. It was fun to work back and forth this way on the designs.
Below: Some of my exploratory character sketches for the story. These inspirational sketches were then modeled in 3D.
My pal Mark Oftedal and I were asked a while back to do some inspirational character sketches for Wang Films animated feature based on the classic story "Journey to the West" ... or "The Monkey King". Above are a few of my developmental color sketches for the film.
Below: Stills from the final film created by Wang Film productions in Taiwan. Mark and I weren't on the production, and had little to do with the final outcome. But I think it's interesting to see what the studio did (or didn't do) with our designs.
Above and below: I was asked by the nice people at the Monk studios to help develop an in-house project called "Lava Boy"... a story conceived by P'Parn and some of the animators on staff there.
I was interested in developing the idea that the legend of "Lava Boy" was as old as time... and had been passed down from generation to generation. I love the power of Oceanic art, and drew inspiration from it in my early concept sketches.
I also was inspired from a working trip to Reunion Island. Reunion is incredibly beautiful, and has one of the most active volcanoes in the world. I could easily visualize the story taking place in a fragile environment such as this.
"Lava Boy" is still being developed as the studio has time. I hope my sketches will help inspire the artists in some way.
One of the most influential people in my career was my friend and mentor, Maurice Noble. He selected a small group of us right out of art school to train, and help him design projects at several studios in the Los Angeles area. This small group became known as the "Noble Boys".
One of Maurice's assignments was to develop and design folk stories from around the world using ethnic art as inspiration. We had all grown up watching Looney Tunes, and Disney. Maurice wanted to push us out of our comfort zone... looking to folk art, instead of simply regurgitating old cartoon design styles. The group of stories we developed eventually became known as the "Noble Tales". Maurice thought the ideas we came up with were so good, that at the ripe young age of 86 decided to start a company, and market "Nobletales" as a TV series.
Above: One of the incarnations of "Noble Tales" I designed... with a Captain Noble, and his crew as "host".
We pitched "Nobletales" all over town... and while many studios liked the concept... they felt it would be difficult to market a group of shorts as a series. They needed reoccurring characters to tie everything together... and of course, sell toys. So we developed a number of main character concepts... from Aliens, to an old explorer in a flying ship.
Above: A few of the "NobleTales" stories developed by Maurice and the gang.
We have yet to launch NobleTales as a series... I keep making shorts as I have time and money... mostly because I just like making short films. "Al Tudi Tuhak", "The Pumpkin of Nyefar", "Escape of the Gingerbread Man!!!", and at the time of this post, have just completed a rough animatic of "To Be a Cow", narrated by veteran actor Soon-Tek Oh.
Note: The Nobletales website is currently not working. I am hoping to relaunch the site soon.
For a number of years, the king of Thailand's oldest daughter would host a musical show on the Chaopraya river in Bangkok. The shows were usually big events based on Thai legends, or history.
The "River of Kings IV" concept revolved around the legendary Himaphan forest, and a brave warriors quest to find the one true king.
Above: Stills from the final TVC.
I was asked to design, and direct the advertising campaign for the show... appealing to an international audience. I thought it would be nice to show that old Thai myths, and legends were still very much alive in modern Bangkok. Having creatures from the Himaphan forest roam around the city.
The TV commercial was a mix of live-action, and 3D animation. It was a challenge, because at the time I had little experience with either medium. I was asked to direct the ads for a later production. But unfortunately the show was cancelled because of the tsunami.
Above: Caught somewhere between the worlds of humans and animals... John Deer must learn to fit into his new world, dealing with cultural misunderstandings, and the call of nature, while avoiding being eaten.
I've been developing a number of T.V. show ideas of my own over the last few years. One of those deer to my heart is an idea based on my experiences growing up in a small mountain town in Wyoming. I call the project "John Deer".
Above: My town doesn't look like this EXACTLY... but it WAS settled primarily by Danish, Swedish, and English immigrants. After working in Denmark I realized that a lot of what I took for granted as "American" or "Wyoming" building styles were in fact Scandinavian. Of course I have made a few minor embellishments here.
Above: Like my own home town, the community of Killdeer is rich in folklore, and characters from folklore: Big Foot, Jackelope, the monster in the lake. But to John Deer... these aren't mere mythological creatures, they are friends.
Drawing on the richness of my real, (and imagined) Wyoming roots. Spinning yarns, and telling tall tales has long been a tradition in my town. I plan to incorporate this style of storytelling into the world of John Deer.
Above: The main characters of the show
I've written quite a number of stories around these characters. I am still looking for a production partner, but am hoping to make a "John Deer" pilot episode in the near future.
Sometimes you have a pet project that you never feel quite ready for the challenge. I have been working on "Topaz Diary" with my friend, composer Bill Benson, since college. The story is about another friend of mine, Fred Hoshiyama, and how his life was completely changed in the "Japanese-American Internment" camps of WWII. The story shows how by simple faith, and a lot of love... a bad situation can be turned into good. The score will drive most of the film, Bill and I met recently to discuss plans for the project, he has some wonderful musical ideas and I am working out some visual ideas.
Below: Early inspirational sketches for the story from a few years back.
To learn more about the internment camps, please visit HERE.
A clip from my student film, made under the guidance of my mentors Jules Engel (UPA, Cal-Arts), and Maurice Noble (Warner Bros). With narration by Maurice Noble, and music by Bill Benson. Additional animation by Mike Polvani, and Ben Jones. This year marks sort of an anniversary for "Al Tudi Tuhak" so I thought I would put a bit of it up.
When I first moved to Los Angeles I saw a show of masks from the Northwest coast of the U.S. The power and simplicity of the design inspired me to create a short film using Northwest coast story and design as a theme. Several of the Northern stories I researched mentioned the "creator"... or "father of Raven"... but I found no stories specifically "the creator" himself. So, I wrote a story trying to capture the depth and feel of a story from long ago.
Above: Development art presented to the board at Cal-Arts in order to get "Al Tudi Tuhak" approved as my thesis.
My pal, musician Bill Benson and I traveled to Seattle for research. There we were honored to meet with Upper Skagit tribal elder/ storyteller Taqʷšəblu (Vi Hilbert). She really liked the story, and named the film "Al Tudi Tuhak"... which in the Lushootseed language means "... long, long, ago." I am not native American, and I had gradually began to feel more and more uncomfortable using native motifs. Taqʷšəblu encouraged me to make the film the way I felt it should be made. "We are storytellers, the stories find us... we don't find them. If you honor the spirit of our people, and yourself, you have done nothing wrong... the story must be told"
I shot the film on 35mm... using house paint, and cut-out paper... using a very simple style. Unfortunately at the moment I have no clean digital copies. Someday I hope to re-transfer the film using modern technology.
"Al Tudi Tuhak" toured the festival circuit for a few years, winning the student "Oscar", and receiving an "Annie" nomination.
A long time ago when my pal, Dave Thomas, and I were working together in San Francisco... the studio we were at "requested" that we come up with a new fantastic t.v. show idea. We were too busy with our other projects to focus on something new. So as a joke, drawing on our Wyoming heritage... we pitched the dumbest thing we could think of "Mantelope": Half man, half antelope! ... hunted by "Hunter Jack" who's only mission in life was to cause the "Mantelope" serious harm... and yes, even death!
We pitched the show knowing the studio... and Cartoon Network would never go for it. But to our amazement... everyone involved liked the idea! ... and this is the "Pilot episode" we put together. There was interest in developing the idea as a series... Dave and I developed a number of fun, quirky story plots... then the whole thing got hung up in legal limbo. So for better or worse... this is the end of the story of the "Mantelope".
Above: Color keys that would later be reworked in flash.
One of my main tasks was developing the look, and getting the short to be less that 1MB ... so I kept things really graphic and simple... re-using as many elements as possible wherever I could... trees... leaves... etc. Mantelope was our first flash project... Dave, and I would later join Jorge, and Sandra on their flash show "EL TIGRE: The adventures of Manny Rivera".
For the last few years I have been helping my friend, director/ producer Saksiri Koshpasharin develop his epic "Kung Fu" feature film..."Swordsman Legend". It's a personal project for Saksiri, and his crew at Imagimax, so a lot of love has been given to the art and story.
In my opinion, personal projects are the purest form of expression in animation, because the films aren't motivated by profit ... but by a passion for storytelling and art. Those are the sort of projects that I try to be involved with. Of course if those projects also make money for the artists... fantastic! But no matter how much money you have... you can't buy sincerity, and "heart". The elements that make a project really special.
Above and Below: Some of my development sketches for the project. The characters are based on designs by Imagimax staff artists.
Saksiri wanted to explore combining elements of eastern, and western art styles. Here I have attempted to combine the feeling of Chinese ink paintings, with my own graphic sensibilities. To be honest, my personal style has been strongly influenced by Chinese woodcut artists such as Lu Ping, and Hong Tao, among others.
"Swordsman" is still in production, slowly being put together as the crew has time. None of these sketches are "finished" paintings... they are more like inspirational artwork. Every once in a while Saksiri will call me up and ask me to sketch up something new for him. The art department has created some amazing art since my initial sketches, taking the look to another level. I look forward to seeing Saksiri's dream hit the big screen in the near future. -tod
-My pal Tomm Moore, and his crew at the The Cartoon Saloon are putting together a piece of animated poetry, a feature film project called "Song Of The Sea". Above is the teaser for Cartoon Movie.
-Tomm asked me to do some inspirational sketches for the trailer exploring light and color, based on his storyboards. I sometimes take a "Shotgun" approach to color when I first get involved with a project, trying out a lot of different things until I get a sense of what the director is looking for. Even though I had worked with both Tomm and "Songs" art director, Adrien Merigeau on "The Secret Of Kells", both wanted to explore a different look for "Song". I have always been fascinated with "Lumage," a technique that involves animating cut-out plastic pieces on a light table... giving a backlit feeling to the images. Even though I was sketching digitally... I thought the feeling of "Lumage" would be appropriate to the "magical" quality of the story.
-Tomm and his crew are still developing the story and look of "Song of the Sea". To read the latest on the project please visit:
-A while back, my good friends, Jorge Gutierrez, and Sandra Equihua asked me to help them develop the look and color styling of their new t.v. show idea, "El Tigre". Working under the guidance of Jorge, and art director, Roman Laney. I started with rough sketches of the various locations that would be used in the pilot episode.
Above: A few early exploratory sketches from "El Tigre!"
Most of my early sketches were close in value, with little or no black in the backgrounds. There was a lot of black on the characters, and I wanted them to read well. But this gave a sort of calm feeling, and Jorge wanted everything in the show to be "Super Macho!"... having more contrast, more texture, more of everything. It made designing a bit more difficult, but also gave the intensity Jorge wanted. A lot of the art styling was worked out in the pilot by Roman. By the time "El Tigre" had been picked up as a series... the look had been fully established.
Above: Art director,Roman Laney, and his team took a lot of the development art, and created a beautiful, and unique look for "El Tigre". Check out Roman's website to see more amazing art from the show.
Above: A visual structure chart for one of the episodes.
I was working overseas, away from the rest of the team, so it was essential that I knew what Jorge, Roman, and Director Dave Thomas wanted for each episode. We were under such tight deadlines that there really wasn't much wiggle room for exploration. You will notice, that all the art follows the story Arc in the visual structure. We set up themes early in the show... and then generally kept them throughout all the episodes. For example, high contrast for exciting segments, low contrast for duller moments. We also used color themes throughout the show. Evil was often symbolized by using black and red, (or the main color of the villian) and El Tigre with green.With so many episodes going on at the same time... it was important that everyone was on the same page.
Above: A small sampling of my color scripts from the show.
My pal, Dave Thomas' storyboards were the blueprint for everything I did. Dave is a real master of timing, and staging. He and Jorge had worked everything out to make the rest of the teams work as easy as possible. I would usually do a first pass on the color script based on Dave's beat boards, and sometimes keys from Roman. Then Roman, Jorge and I would talk about it... after which I would make my adjustments. From the color scripts, the rest of the team would have a feel for lighting, mood, color.
A fan video... cut together from various episodes.
As in most of the projects I am involved with, "El Tigre" was a collaboration of friends, who also happen to be some of the most talented people I know. I was saddened when I learned that "El Tigre" had been canceled. Not only is it one of the best projects I have ever worked on... it is one of my favorite shows to watch.
Thank you Sandra, and Jorge for making a place for me. -tod
My old schoolmate, Michelle Meeker, asked me to take part with 11 other animation artists in her short film "When I Grow Up."
Michelle interviewed young people aged 7-10 years-old about what they would like to be when they grow up, and then interviewed elders to find out that they dreamed of being when they were younger and where life took them. She then gave short sound clips from the interviews to individual animators. Each animator had artistic control over their own piece. The film shows what we dream about becoming as children, and where life really ends up taking us.
I called my section "Bad People", the old woman in the interview talked about her dream of becoming a doctor. But her dreams were taken away by "Very Bad People". She wasn't specific about who the "Bad People" were... but from her accent, and her age... I guessed it to be the Nazi's during WWII ... but in fact I never knew for sure.
Above and Below: My design keys from Michelle Meeker's short film "When I Grow Up."
I wanted to be as vague in my design as the woman had been in her interview. Some of the other artists in the project became upset because of my seeming "lack of research". In fact, I did a lot of research on the uniforms, medical instruments,and architectural style for the piece. But instead of being literal... I chose to create a nightmare. Uniforms that might remind one of SS troops... without being specific. I also wanted the art style to be reminiscent of WWII poster art... but again, to give only a hint of the style... without being too specific to the period.
Ironically, most of these design keys were created at the old Nazi headquarters in Viborg, Denmark. The old fire station the SS had commandeered during the war... which also served for a time as the "The Open Workshop".
"Bad People" was animated in "After FX" at my pal P'Nat's studio... XHabition
... and here is the official trailer for "When I Grow Up."
I have wanted to do a series of bird paintings since first coming to Thailand. But I have always been too busy with animation projects to just sit down and do something for "me". Thus I've decided to give myself a reason to paint, and am putting together an art show called "The Birds Of Thailand." Inviting both local artists, and bird lovers to participate.
It's quite amazing how many different bird species exist in southeast Asia. I am hoping the show will help raise awareness of Thailand's birds, and their shrinking habitats.
Above:Some early test renders and lighting set-ups from Aaron Schmidt, and some of the gang at the Monk Studio.
I was approached by Juck Somsaman, founder of Monk Studio to help develop and train his team in Bangkok through the creation of a short film. As it so happened my friends in Ireland at The Cartoon Saloon approached me at about the same time to create an "Irish themed" short to open "The Secret of Kells" feature they were making. Just seemed meant to be...
Above: A small section of the "color script". This board is a combination of quick color sketches, rough 3D renders and more finished backgrounds. The more 3d looking scenes are keyed by going over frames from maya in photoshop.
The main focus of the color script is really making sure the characters read on the backgrounds... and making sure that there is a artistic progression in the film... making sure each sequence and place feels unique from one another... yet still tie together in some way. One of my former students Susanne Olesen came to Thailand for a few months to help paint backgrounds. I've worked some of those back into the script.
"The Escape of the Gingerbread Man" is a personal short film, and the third installment of the "NobleTales" short film series. A series of original stories from around the world... created by my mentor, Maurice Noble, and the group of us fortunate enough to train under him.
Above: An early sketch by me... inspired by the work of that talented Dub, Barry G. Reynolds.
-Above: A few of my development sketches for Brendan
My main job on "Brendan" was helping set the color... and to a lesser extent help out with development. Originally I was slated to be head of backgrounds... unfortunately there was a scheduling conflict... so my stay in Kilkenny was shorter than expected. But I was able to get through the rough color script, and Tomm and I were able to get in a few good work outs.
I have to say the Brendan team was different than any other I have worked with... they were all "artists" who happened to be doing animation. For example, Producer Paul Young was heavily involved in theater, and writing a comic strip. Art director Ross Stewart could as easily be off painting canvases... or playing music ... as designing film.
So the approach to making Brendan was totally different than I was used to... the art team wasn't referencing Disney, or UPA, they were just splashing color... blowing paint around... creating textures... looking at ancient illuminated manuscripts... just trying to create something new that fit the story. It was totally refreshing... and in my short time in Ireland... I learned a lot! I couldn't really rely on shortcuts... I actually had to draw! And I have to admit... I was more than a bit rusty. But the approach to the art was simply a reflection of Tomm, and the crew making the film... honest, real, and direct.
Above: More development sketches. I tried to keep "color themes" to the various sequences of the film. For example... the vikings represented death and destruction. So I thought it would be good to use more "primitive color"... the kind of colors a caveman might use... for those sequences.
Above: A section of the color script for "Brendan and the Secret Of Kells". All the sketches here are based on the storyboard, painted after talking to Tomm, and Ross about the mood and feel of each sequence. The color script is a rough guide for the crew... a sort of "map" for the background artists... fx artists... compositors, and so on. These sketches were completed very early in the process... and you can see how they were used by watching the trailer. It is interesting to me to see what changed, and what stayed the same in the final film cut.
I feel very fortunate to have been a small part of "The Secret Of Kells" ... a very special film, made by some special people... who I am lucky enough to call friends. -tod
Several years ago Kantana Films asked me to help develop a t.v. show project called "Khan Kluay". The stories were about the adventures of a little Thai elephant that would go on to save Thailand from outside forces.
Being short on time, I designed something very simple and graphic that would be easy to animate in Maya. I decided to make the end of the teaser a series of illustrations... showing less animation, and more of the world of "Khan Kluay".
Above: Early character and color sketches for the t.v. show pitch. Several of these designs are inspired by doodles by the famous Mark Oftedal.
This pitch generated a lot of interest in the project in Europe. Thus the studio asked me to develop "Khan Kluay" as a feature film.
We got some seed money to develop the feature. I was able to bring over writer Ariel Prendergast to help develop the script, and "super artist" Aaron Sorensen, as my co-director. Above is the first test we did with a more 3D look.
I wanted to keep a soft, artsy children's book feel. The studio wanted to make the film look like a Pixar movie... but without Pixar's budget, or experience. This test was my compromise. The rigs weren't finished... and we were still figuring out the background styling... but it was enough for the studio to push forward with production.
I worked closely with Aaron Sorensen on the story and character design, Aaron's style is really graphic and fun... translating well to 3D. It's Ironic that Kantana "let us go" because the character designs were too "western"... after all, the studio hired us to help make the film "international". The designs remained virtually unchanged after we left... and can be seen on t-shirts, cups, and other products throughout Thailand.
In this video clip I explain our basic development process, and present an early trailer to the movie. The trailer at the end of the presentation is "unfinished". My co-director, Aaron Sorensen, and I were only able to make a "first pass" on the animation, texture and lighting... as the studio felt it was "good enough". The sound on the trailer was re-dubbed after Aaron and I left the project.
The two years I spent as the creative director of "Khan Kluay" was a real joy. A small crew of us working together, writing, designing, and researching. The team spent a lot of time "outside" the studio, researching how wild and domesticated elephants live, working with "Mahuts", and animal experts. We also worked closely with historical experts, and even members of the royal family to make sure that we got everything just right.
Here are some samples of the key artwork we generated based on the script. A big thanks to Patchanu Noree and the crew for doing such a great job! Patchanu is an amazing designer, and a good friend, who was able to help translate my vision to the screen. We made dozens of paintings like this describing each major story beat. Spending months designing trees, grass, Thai huts, insects, clouds... trying to give the film a unique feel... mixing Thai and western design. After I left, the studio opted for "realism" in styling... but I think some of the spirit of what we made still remains. Until next time - tod
"The Pumpkin Of Nyefar" is a personal hand animated short film I wrote with Maurice Noble (Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century and What’s Opera, Doc?) in Turkey, and co-directed with Mark Oftedal (Toy story, A Bugs Life) at the "Wang film studios" in Taiwan, and Bangkok. The film is narrated by June Foray (the voice of Rocky in Rocky and Bullwinkle).
Prince Abadaluh... Named after Maurice's surgeon
The Palace of Nyefar, complete fantasy, but inspired by trips to Turkey and India
Above: Some stills and color keys from the film. Character designs and character layouts by the amazing Mark Oftedal.
In 1994, Maurice Noble began training a group of young designers at Chuck Jones Film Productions. A lot of us were working on our own personal short projects, several of them based on ethnic folktales. Maurice thought it would be a great idea if the group of us could develop a series of shorts inspired by stories from around the world. We called this series “Noble Tales,” and we, his trainees, became known as the “Noble Boys” (which also included a few girls). Many of us traveled around the world and developed and together designed several dozen idea.
“The Pumpkin Of Nyefar” was one short idea Maurice and I wrote while visiting Turkey. Our first morning in Istanbul we came downstairs to the dining room and around the table were twenty belly dancers and a lot of pumpkin dishes. All the girls of course were smitten by Mr. Nobles charm. Ha ha… I can still see him grinning from ear to ear.
Afterwords we talked things over, and decided to write a story about a prince who could marry any beauty in his kingdom, but instead chooses to wait for true love. As fate would have it, the prince finds true love in the form of a pumpkin. While I was supervising a TV show in Thailand, James Wang (Wang Flm) invited Maurice and I to use his Thai studio to make our short. Maurice underwent surgery so that he could make the flight to Bangkok. Unfortunately he died a few weeks later. I came to Thailand a few months later to work on the short myself. But my friends didn’t leave me to do the film alone.
Soon after, my pal Mark Oftedal, came to town for a visit. His short vacation, turned into a several year working holiday. He became so involved with the project, re-working designs, storyboards, editing, setting the animation style, that he became the co-director. It was very much a partnership and it was fantastic working with such a talented fellah. Other friends from America helped out too. June Foray donated her voice to the film. Ben Jones, and Lawrence Marvit both did short stints in Bangkok to help get things going. Sue Kroyer did a lot of inspirational character design as did Roman Laney. Jules Engel looked over a lot of the early design and color. Aaron Sorenson, Dave Marshall, Dave Thomas, and Mike Polvani all donated time to the project. It was really a great collaboration of friends, just the way Maurice had dreamed about: doing a short film together, everything donated, just because they wanted to do it.
Please visit the link below to see the Pumpkin website!!! with more information and artwork! Put together by my friend p'Nat, and her company xhabition -tod
A while back, my friend Nat from Xhabition studios, approached me about helping her design a personal project based on the "Jakata" tales.
Below: Some of my exploratory character sketches for the story. These inspirational sketches were then modeled in 3D.
