IZ:TDM! Animation Tests and Stuff

Hey guys! Stanley Orr here again, and I just wanted to quickly update you (since most of the IZ:TDM! stuff I've done is stuff I can't exactly share without leaking info that I don't want leaked yet :B)



FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS: ANIMATION TESTSAlright, so you may have (or may not have) known that I'm doing animation tests (here are the videos: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] ), the purpose of which is to determine if an "animated comic" form would be a good fallback plan if full traditional animation doesn't work for IZ:TDM! I'll be updating you on these as they come along, and - fingers crossed - within the month you will see a sample of how IZ:TDM! could look in that style.

VOICE ACTING DEPARTMENTWe only have one person left to do their lines, as I said, and ZIM's Voice Actor is nearly done!!! :D He's got only a week or two to go before he can sit down and finish them up, so yay! :dance: Soon I'll be able to assemble the FULL vocal track for IZ:TDM! and that will be a huge step forward!

CONCEPT ART DEPARTMENTThings are looking better in here, actually! I have people back to working on necessary concept art, and I plan to jump in once the animation test is done so that I can keep things moving, too. Once concept art is completed for Sequence 1, I'll have my concept artists move on so that storyboard and thumbnail artists can step in and start working things out! ^_^

IZ:TDM! - General Update (and semi-exciting news!)

Hey there, all! Long time, no see. Kinda. Anyway, it's been a while since I've done an update, so - here ya go - here's an update! Yay!

PROJECT STATUS

Alright, so, currently, things aren't going as smoothly as I want them to. I think there are areas we could use more help in, and pick up the pace with. But as far as all else goes, things are on a pretty good trajectory.

Voice acting is great. We only have two characters left - ZIM and Purple - and they've only got Act III left in their lines. So that's good. As soon as all lines of dialogue are recorded, I'll be getting to work editing them together for use in the final product. That will be great.

Concept art is one of the areas we're lagging in. It's unfortunate, but the fact remains that concept art takes a lot of effort, and - generally speaking - volunteers do need constant reminders to ensure work gets done. Now, don't misunderstand me - this is not a jab at anyone, it's a mere statement of fact. If I could pay people in money, I would, because that ensures a more fastidious job. As it is, though, I find that I haven't gotten concept art in over a week, and that's mainly because I haven't poked, prodded, and reminded the few concept artists I have working that we need stuff done. So, that's something that needs to be taken care of.

Another thing currently going on is test animations for alternate animation styles. I'll be honest, guys, traditional 2D animation is not easy. It's hard, challenging, and time-consuming as is. The only way we'll be able to pull it off for a full-length feature film is with a crew of many animators, but that requires supervision, and I shudder to think of the way volunteers could manage to mess up shots, angles, and continuity simply by fact that I'm inexperienced as a director. To help, I'm experimenting with different animation styles which we will show at a later date. If all goes well, we'll demonstrate an accurate representation of how these different items could work to make a good animation in spite of it being a different style.

STORYBOARDING

Storyboarding is going to be interesting, to say the least. On one hand, I have an idiotic urge to do everything myself ("if you want it done right" and all that), but - on the other hand - I'm sane, and know that I cannot do it all on my own. Hence, I need help.

I'm planning to grab as many storyboard artists as I can (ideally eight to eleven members), and have us divy up scenes amongst ourselves based off of rough thumbnails. The storyboards will be refined, accurate, and work well. The only hangup is vision - I don't think many will share the same one I have, and I do not want to overstep a boundary and restrict their creativity. It will be a challenge to strike a balance there, but - hopefully - making a video dedicated to what I'm expecting in storyboards will alleviate this problem.

As for thumbnails, those will need a video as well. You can think of them as rough storyboards, and I would love to do them all by myself, but - in the interest of saving time and keeping the project moved along - I'm going to start staggering the workload (i.e. focuisng all efforts on one sequence at a time) so that actual progress is made (at least up to a finalized animatic).

IZ:TDM! AUDIO DRAMA

I intend to release an audio-only version of IZ:TDM! (complete with a deliberately cheesy narrator) alongside the animated version. There are two reasons for this.

First of all, if someone can't accesss YouTube videos easily, or if they're blind, or whatever the reason is, they can still enjoy the doomy madness via an audiodrama that I can be working on in my spare time.

Secondly, if the animation crashes and burns, well, this is a good backup plan. I'm an inexperienced director, after all, and so it's good to have a gameplan in place.

1,000 SUBSCRIBERS

Alright, this is it! This is the super exciting thing I wanted to talk about: IZ:TDM! has reached over 1,000 subscribers on YouTube! I'm so super pumped for this, guys! You have no idea! :D

Are a sizeable chunk spambots and content creators just subscribing to random channels in hopes to get more attention? Yes, very likely, but who cares? They helped get the number up that high, so I'm happy! ^_^

This is exciting for me, because it feels vindictive, in a way. It feels like I finally have a solidified base of supporters out saying "yes, we want an IZ finale, and we like the approach you're taking." To me, that's profoundly important, as it helps me mentally latch onto this. Every time something like this happens - be it a nice new comment, or a new volunteer, or (as here) a milestone of some sort - I feel more energy come in and pump me up for the project.

To celebrate it, I fully intend to do a livestream sometime in the future, where I answer questions about IZ:TDM! and prove my utter inept n00bishness with livestreaming tech. Should be great.

IZ:TDM! and 2016 - The Game Plan

I've failed you guys in the sense that this project has been in Development Hell for a while. That changes this year.

I think part of the problem stems from a lack of help in a few areas, like the concept art department. Now, hold on, this does not mean I think what help I got was useless! No, rather, it just means I didn't get enough volunteers (the ones I did get were awesome). So, first things must come first. Starting Monday, I'll redouble my efforts and talk to every concept artist I have to get things moving back to full steam in that department (and to get more character concept artists, and to get background design artists at last!) - it's a priority.

Secondly, I will be putting more emphasis on those VA's that haven't finished their lines yet, in order to ensure a speedy wrapping up of this so I can get to work on the film's audio track at last. I have a spreadsheet detailing who still needs to finish, so that should be a straightforward task to complete. I intend to get that done as soon as is humanly possible.

Lastly, should all go well, this is the year that will see Storyboards done and the animatic fully made. I've got a few people interested in storyboarding, and they will certainly be of help in that area. I just need to get my thumbnails finished so they have a reference point to go off of.

Well, there you have it. I hope I've sufficiently updated you as to what the plans are for this fan-film in 2016. Here's to hoping life knows that it needs to go take a hike while I'm busy bringing IZ:TDM! to completion.

Thumbnails Galore!

I know it's been a few days since my last post. Sorry about that. To make it up for you, however, I figured I'd share what I've been mainly focused on: thumbnails! These are essentially the foundation for Storyboard artists to come in later and use to do their jobs. As of right now, I have 7 pages worth of these things. Check it out!

Pretty neat, huh? In addition to thumbnails, I've been doing a lot of organizational work (ugh!), which is boring but necessary. After all, how will anyone be able to find anything if everything is everywhere and nothing is nowhere?

Yes, exactly.

So, on the agenda for tomorrow is creating more thumbnails, pulling together more background keys, organizing and updating the character concept art list, and organizing the voice samples I currently have. Speaking of voices, Saturday is a big Skype session planned for all the voice actors that still have lines to do. It will be all about organizing and scheduling due dates for recording the characters' parts, sequence by sequence. Should be awesome.

Anyways, that's all for now. See you in the next blog update!

From Bad to Worse

Hey there. Remember a certain post I made yesterday, one about how I was kinda feeling sick but could easily take care of business anyway? Well, surprise, surprise - I'm feeling worse today! Actually, I started feeling really awful as yesterday progressed, culminating in a horrible headache, a throat that felt like I swallowed sandpaper, and a nose that wouldn't stop running. I was filthy and miserable, and it's definitely not allergies, as I thought it was. I have a cold!

I hate this. But will I sit here and mope? Never! Once I take some pills and start feeling a little better, I still plan on working on Invader ZIM: The DOOM Movie!, planning things out, doing the checklist, etc. Plus, I suppose this will give me some downtime to improve some things that I think need redone in my fanfics.

I hate colds.

Kinda Sick, but Still Moving On

Ugh. For the past few days I've felt it - a sore throat. That in and of itself wouldn't be too bad, if it weren't for the fact that I have multiple Skype calls to make this week, one of which was yesterday, and one that's only hours from when I type this. But a sore throat wasn't enough, I suppose; coming to join the party are my old enemies running nose and stuffy ears. Allergies, man. They mess with you.

Interestingly enough, I haven't had allergies this bad ever. Usually my symptoms are relegated to sneezing, but nothing more. I guess this is God making up for all the extra years I've had without allergies, heh.

Also of note is that I'm drinking tea right now, which should tell you how bad it is. I hate tea, actually; it's bland and it has no flavor, and I can never seem to add just the right amount of sugar to make it taste good to me. Nonetheless, I enjoy drinking it when I'm feeling like this, as it helps ease my throat and allows me to deal with it.

So, in spite of my groggy state, I will continue on with my plans for today, among which are...

• Working with Smoots's Voice Actor to get more lines out.
• Skyping with the Voice Acting department's manager.
• Emailing some individuals regarding Skype sessions.
• Talk to a potential concept artist and see if she meets the qualifications.
• Create a schedule for thumbnails, so that they are complete come 2016.
• And, if I have time, updating my fanfics so that my readers aren't left hanging.

All in all, it's not so bad. This is one of the less-busy days, which is good. Hopefully my allergies will calm the heck down right away so I can be back to 100% working capacity (I'd like to start practicing my drawing skills again so that I can - eventually - resume assisting with Concept Art, Storyboards, and Animation). Until then, I'll be here, slurping tea and being absorbed in the world of Invader ZIM.