Background Art

It’s interesting how totally different a background looks without the characters on it. With nothing obstructing the view, one can really appreciate the look and feel of the art – especially all the nuances that have been added. I particularly enjoy the shadows and the subtle wallpaper designs used in this art.

These backgrounds were designed and painted by G. Brian Reynolds for "Crawford's Classics: Cinderella" - a show currently in production at our studio. Nice work, Brian.

To see some animation on these backgrounds, Click here.

On Spec

Occasionally, at Perennial Pictures we will produce a spec piece of animation to help sell a concept. While digging through the archives, I found a little piece of animation we made a couple of years ago. The image above is from a 10 second network ID we made as part of a pitch to Cartoon Network. The pitch was made during the time Cartoon Network was putting together their “Tickle U” morning cartoon programming block for preschoolers. They didn’t buy the idea, but we did make some new friends and contacts along the way.

To see the Cartoon Network spec ID, Click here.

Enjoy,

Russ Harris

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To see a "Crawford the Cat" clip, Click here.

To see a "Handycat" clip, Click here.

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Subtle Multiplane Camera

What’s a retelling of Cinderella without a scene featuring the lead character arriving at the ball and the Prince taking notice? In this scene, we again use a multiplane camera technique to create a subtle, yet slightly 3D effect of the chandeliers passing by.

Another simple, yet effective technique used in the scene was the flipping of Crawford's animation over, re-coloring it, and letting it serve as a reflection on the floor. Both of these effects and the rest of the eye-candy was created by G. Brian Reynolds. Nice work, Brian.

To see a few seconds of the animation, Click here.

To see an over-scan of the animation, Click here.

To see our other post regarding the Multiplane Camera, Click here.

Enjoy!

~ Russ Harris


“Crawford the Cat Classics – Cinderella” is the pilot for a proposed new series of hour-long TV Specials featuring the characters from “Crawford"s Corner”

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"Squash and Stretch"

Animation for “Crawford’s Classics – Cinderella” comes along nicely this week. The image above is from a scene that introduces the Fairy Godmother character in this show. The background art and animation is by G. Brian Reynolds. Brian used a lot of “squash and stretch” in the animation to create the character’s clumsy entrance. “Squash and stretch” is a great old phrase that refers to a time-tested animation basic. Today, an animator can easily squash and stretch the art in programs like FLASH. What does not come easily is that animator’s knowledge of where and how much to use this and other animation techniques. That knowledge only comes as the result of a lot of hard work and experience.

Nice “squash and stretch” G. Brian Reynolds!

Click here to see the CLIP.

Enjoy.

~ Russ Harris