Counting down to Christmas

Making a project on a tight deadline is a real challenge and 
I was hoping to have our Watchcat Holiday card for this posting, but I've been fighting Murphy's Law all the way on this one. I will post it in the next few days, so be sure to check out our Watchcat Facebook page when it comes out.

https://www.facebook.com/watchcat/

We would like to thank Andy Jones and Rick Almada for their voice work in our upcoming Holiday short, "Tis the Season" and Soloman (Sal) Carreiro for his animation help as well.

Sal's an animation student at Woodbury University in Burbank,CA, who returned to his home in Fall River, MA, to help clean up Scene 5; the Bad Guy punch to camera. It was a small scene, but we really appreciated the extra help. Thanks Sal!


BTW, the scene was based on this footage of Chuck Norris punching at the camera.

And speaking of the Bad Guy.

The winning entry of our "Name this Bad Guy" Contest goes to Peg Foley of Albuquerque, New Mexico for her entry "Toodles McGee!" Peg wins an official Watchcat button!
Congratulations! 

Thanks again to everyone who have been clicking on the ads. Last week, we got $3.00 in ad clicks raising our total to $59.22. Only $40.78 more clicks and Google will send us a check which we intend to donating to a local Animal Shelter.

So click on the ads and click often. Thank You!

19,000 all time blogviews and growing! 

Next posting will be on last Watchat Wednesday of 2017, be sure to join us for Watchcat: Year in Review

You like? Let us know and Happy Holidays!  

Watchcat at the World Animation Celebration

Last weekend, I was in Dallas,TX at a Portfolio Day event while Greg visited the World Animation Celebration festival in Culver City which our film Watchcat was in. I really would have preferred to go to this festival too, but Greg went to represent our film and hand out Watchcat postcards to as many people as he met along the way.

The festival was held at Sony Pictures Animation studio and was a great venue for portfolio viewing, meeting professionals in the animation industry and seeing a lot of animated films.

At a panel about Classic Disney animators, Greg ran into this classic, Nik Ranieri, Disney Animator of characters including Lumiere, Jafar, Meeko, Hades and Mother Gothel, just to name a few.

First of all, Greg doesn't know who people are in the animation world and he reported that at first, he felt like the festival was a very small event, unlike the CTN Expo. Greg said, " It felt like a small gathering of folks, but you felt very welcomed to all the events and I had a better  time than I thought I would."

Greg even got to meet Glen Keene, who I met years ago at Siggraph. There's Mike Cedeno, another famous Disney animator photobombing behind.

So while I was sitting in the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, TX, in this giant room waiting for arriving art students to show us their portfolios...

Greg was sitting in a crowded theater, listening to Glen Keane talk about his latest animation film entitled "Dear Basketball". Animated by Keane about Kobe Bryant's tribute to his sport.

Written by Kobe Bryant, animated by Glen Keane and a music score by John Williams.

Dear Basketball,

From the moment
I started rolling my dad’s tube socks
And shooting imaginary
Game-winning shots
In the Great Western Forum
I knew one thing was real:

I fell in love with you.

A love so deep I gave you my all — From my mind & body
To my spirit & soul.

As a six-year-old boy
Deeply in love with you
I never saw the end of the tunnel.
I only saw myself
Running out of one.

And so I ran. I ran up and down every court
After every loose ball for you.
You asked for my hustle
I gave you my heart
Because it came with so much more.

I played through the sweat and hurt Not because challenge called me
But because YOU called me.
I did everything for YOU
Because that’s what you do
When someone makes you feel as
Alive as you’ve made me feel.

You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream And I’ll always love you for it.
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.
This season is all I have left to give.
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.

And that’s OK. I’m ready to let you go.
I want you to know now
So we both can savor every moment we have left together.
The good and the bad.
We have given each other
All that we have. 

And we both know, no matter what I do next I’ll always be that kid
With the rolled up socks
Garbage can in the corner
:05 seconds on the clock
Ball in my hands.
5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1

Love you always, Kobe

In this 5 minute and 22 second film, Kobe Bryant narrates this emotional tribute about his life, career and love for Basketball. With amazing animation by Glen Keane and a music score by

John Williams, I am putting my money on this film animation short for this year's Oscars.

Thank you Mr. Keane!

Please support us by Subscribing to our Watchcat Films Youtube Channel! and become our 110th or more subscriber!

Well now, if you enjoyed anything from the above post, please leave a comment below. Or better yet, help us raise some money for an Animal Shelter. Google pays if viewers click on the ads and we intend to donate that money to an Animal Shelter in need. 

But, we are only at $ 50.58, and Google won't send us a check until after we reach $100 or more. So every little click helps and it won't cost you anything, only a click on your mouse. Thank you!

Please Click today!

Noir Wraps and Animation Cats

Over the weekend was a very successful one for writer & co-creator of Watchcat, Gregory J. Bradley, with the help of his producing & co-directing partner Lee Anthony Smith just completed principal photography on of their independent feature, "Noir."
 
We all did different jobs and roles to make this project happen. I was the special-effects make up artist as well as prop master and even filled in as an actor. But now, after two years of shooting, Noir has finally wrapped principle photography and is now headed for the editing room! Congrats everybody!

And with the new year, we at Watchcat Films are beginning to work on a brand new episode. I'm currently in the process of re-designing our animation workflow. I know its a very exciting thing to talk about, but I have been doing a some research into other films about cats.

There seems to be two types of Cat designs.  

1. Cartoony cat characters based on real cats, either on two legs or on four.
2. Stylistic cats in human form who wear human clothing and are bipeds.  

Beginning with a film from 2008 called "Second Wind", Ian Worrel from CalArt, features a very tall legged and stylized cat character who's owner is a tiny white bearded man.  

The cat has very large and expressive eyes with cat like mannerisms. Its a very unique and interesting story about the two characters discovering a windmill spirit character. Very Celtic in its style and presentation.

Another very interesting film is "The Cat Piano" from an Australia studio called the Peoples Republic of Animation. Based on a poem by Eddie White, the co-director of the film with character designs and animation by Ari Gibson and crew. This is a very dark film where I really like the cat designs with human characteristics and the look of night throughout the film. The cats are more human than real cats as if all the cats evolved to become bipeds on an island faaway from mankind.

The classic "Cats don't Dance" is set in more cartoony and upbeat world than "The Cat Piano", featuring the world of working biped animals in 1940s Hollywood.

It features very traditional animation using cartoony cats in period clothing of the era. The story isn't as good as the animation or the character designs, but there are some funny moments.

And then there is Felidae, a 1994 animated feature from Germany which is set in the modern day world. I had never heard of this film before researching this post and after watching it now I know why. This film has a lot of very graphic and adult themes within and I would not show it to kids under 16.  The cats are shown very realisticly in this Film Noir world where cats swear, kill each other and have sex just like real cats!

Spoiler Alert:
The main cat named Francis is the detective cat character who discovers several murdered cats in the neighborhood he's just moved into. Eventually, he meets a blind female cat named Felidae, who is introduced and soon winds up dead. There is way too much dialogue in this film and forget about any musical numbers or humor.

Not for little viewers...

This is film looks like it could have been animated by Don Bluth and could have been retitled, " All Cats go to Hell". After viewing it, I can now see what kind of cat story we need to avoid.   

Do you have a favorite animated film featuring a cat as a main character?  Please let me know in the comment section below.

 
New Year's Resolution
January 2017 = $26.83 from clicks on the ads on this blog. Help boost this amount by clicking on the ads and when its over $100, Google will send us a check which we will donate to a local animal shelter.

Watchcat Holiday Episode is here!

"Two episodes in 1 year, why it can't be done?!" They said it was impossible, but who listens to "They" anyway and as we say goodbye to 2016, here is our Watchcat Holiday episode as a present to you. Please share it with your friends, family and other Watchcat owners across the country and the rest of the world.

And a big "Thank You" goes out to two gentlemen who we worked with this year on both Watchcat projects. Alejandro Torres for composting the animation and kicking up the production value and Marcello De Francisci, for his sound recording and mixing expertise. Thanks Guys!

Have a safe and happy holiday season from Watchcat Films!

Stand by for Holiday Episode

We will soon post an animated Watchcat Holiday episode which you can send out to all your friends and family to enjoy this holiday season. So check back before Christmas eve! 

How will Santa get out of this one? Find out in this special Watchcat Holiday episode!

Enjoy it below... 

 

Its almost done!

This blog has just reached 9200 all time views and I'm happy to report that all animation has been completed on Watchcat episode 2. I am currently editing sound effects and adding music and as I am finishing this episode. Take a look at this opening sequence from "A Cat in Paris", which I drew some inspiration from. You can see the rest of the film on Netflix.

I really like the character designs and how they played with the animation of the cat burglar's movements. Watch how his body moves and arms bend in multiple places in some scenes. They could have kept them straight, but this is animation, where you can do anything as long as it adds to the story or scene.

Did you like this post? Want to see more? Click on the ads to help keep a cat off the street and away from criime. 

The next posting, you will finally see the finished Watchcat episode,,,

Watchcat Donation plan

I have mentioned in past posts, if you like this blog, you can click on the ads to help support what you see. I setup an Adsense account about a year ago and to date I have only collected about $19 bucks in ad clicks. Google will only pay out when the amount goes over $100.00. At the rate of ad clicks I'm getting so far, I might not see that Google check until a few years or more from now.

To speed up this process, I am willing to donate the Google money I receive to a local animal shelter when everyone clicks on the ads from now on! I've volunteered at our local animal shelter in the past and we even fostered kittens for a bit. I've even thought about making a Watchcat Public Service Announcement to help them promote any upcoming special events.

Sound like a good plan to you? If so, let me know what you think about it? And start clicking on those ads to help out dogs or cats.

And speaking of Watchcat, I'm still working on it...  

In the City

August is here and Summer is almost over. I am currently in the process of finishing up the   last scenes for WatchCat Episode 2. I've been working on the beginning and ending scenes, where we see the city scenes at night. I'm using After Effects and importing flat artwork of buildings, putting them together and flying a camera thru the cityscape. Here's an example of what it looks like...

Intro "Work in Progress" from Toondini on Vimeo.

Now, I'm working on the ending and soon, I'll only have 12 scenes to go! I feel like one of those bikers in the Olympics, riding uphill with nobody cheering them on, so please let me know what you think about this scene. Any comments are helpful.

Вы реальные люди или роботы ? 

We really would like to hear what you think about this post, please take a moment and 
leave us a comment below. Thank you!

Back to the Cat!

For the "Drawing Mindy" post, I let you know the results of the NOIR Indiegogo campaign, included a work in progress of SC 07 and a quickdraw video of our Mindy character. As usual, your comments and suggestions were greatly welcomed. And as promised, there will be only discussion from now on about the making of this animation short from here on out.

Here is the final shot from scene 07.

WC02_SC07_Final Shot_ from Toondini on Vimeo.

 If I were do this again, I would tell a shorter story like :30 to :90 seconds with a production schedule of 1 to 2 months at the most. I would also make at least 3 finished films first, before downloading them to our Youtube channel. That way, while I would be working on the next 3 chapters, the first 3 episodes would be released, 1 episode every 2 or 4 weeks.

In the meantime, August is just around the corner and this blog has just passed its 8,000 all time views!

I now have 14 scenes to go and I can't wait to get them all done. Thanks for reading this blog and any comments or feedback are always helpful and keeps me going to the finish line. Here's the first episode of Watchcat.

Drawing Thug 2

I moved my animation studio recently to an enclosed patio area of our house to escape the heat that builds up during the day in our garage. I'm now in a brighter location with a slight breeze for my co-workers and I to enjoy.

                                                                                 (wrong date)

And then, Burbank was hit with a few days of crazy hot weather with 100 and 109 degree temps. Most of my time was not spent animating on Watchcat, but instead, working on a freelance gig in air conditioning. When the gig was over and the weather had cooled off, I managed to make this quickdraw video to see if any pencils had caught fire during the night. Let me know what you think of this one...

This was the first week of the NOIR Indiegogo campaign and we hope that some of you loyal Watchcat Filers will consider supporting this feature film project. 

Here is a link to the NOIR Indiegogo campaign which needs your help in finishing this feature film project. Below is a trailer to the film, enjoy...

If you like what you see, support the Watchcat Files by clicking on an ad or two, leave a comment to let us know what you like or want to see more. Merci !

John Musker likes Watchcat and our T shirts...

A very special Watchcat Wednesday....

It was June 8,1991, when these two people got married and gave their wedding guests flipbooks at their wedding reception to remember this special day. 25 years later, for their 25th wedding anniversary, the flipbook's frames have been updated into this animation below...

 

And the young animator and his bride, had two beautiful children and today, that same animator is still animating both 2d and 3d projects. 

Here are two shots he managed to finish just last week.  Now only 30 scenes to go. 

WC02_SC20_SC21 from Toondini on Vimeo.

Next Wednesday: 
NOIR Indiegogo Campaign?

Inside of NOIR

I am currently working on turning rough animation scenes into final shots. I'm taking the next 3 weeks to finish up as many shots as I can before school is out for the Summer. I;ve got about 45 scenes to go and estimate that I will be done by the end of June or July. In any case, here are several final scenes for your review and comments.

Final22_25 from Toondini on Vimeo.

In the meantime, Gregory Bradley and Lee Anthony Smith are finishing up principal photography on their feature film "Noir". An indiegogo campaign will be happening sometime in May for post production. The date of this will be published in this blog in the next few weeks. 

Until then, Greg and Tony want to thank everyone who's been supporting their indie film and ask everyone to continue to Like their NoirTheFilm Facebook page & follow them on Instagram and Twitter. 

Here's are some production stills from their film, NOIR.

If you liked this posting, click on the ads to the right or below this article or let us know you like what you see by leaving a comment below, Thank You!

Spot a WatchCat

While working on this project, I find myself noticing a lot of watchcats in my own neighborhood.They patrol our streets and sidewalks always in a hurry, never on a stroll. They sit under cars, in bushes, in windows keeping an eye on things.

 

Take a walk around your own neighborhood and you might be surprised to see a well hidden cat looking back at you. Here is a photo of a true watchcat, he is very well hidden. Can you find him?