Above, is a photo of the Pastel drawing I made to fill in one of the frames in the hallway. I haven’t used the medium in a long time, so I felt a little rusty with them (I used a box of pastels I haven’t even opened for the last five years I had ‘em)
I’ve very rarely spoken about the true origin of how Ivan came to be. In fact, I don’t have any known old drawings of the stubby viking anywhere. But it all goes back to the days of Junior High, where I was first introduced to an animation program on the Amiga Computers.
Ya see, Ivan used to be a ghost…
Yep, you heard me, Ivan was originally a ghost with absolutely no features other than his gloves, shoes, eyes, a vest and his top hat. As years went by, I started to dabble with the concept on Ivan’s past life, like; who he was when he was alive? This started to bring up all sorts of weird ideas, but the one that stuck on me was a Nordic background, a viking so to speak, where he himself was constantly bombarded with other ghosts. Ivan then became, “Ivan the Haunted”, and years afterward, [Read more…]
I’m, right now, at possibly my favorite section of the storyboard where I completely brutalize one of my characters in the short, named Bjorn (a big troll security guard.) Bringing up funny visuals for this guy is a must, for one; he’s a giant who’s getting a lesson in pain from a short, harmless, chubby viking. and two, I can’t stress enough that visual humor needs to still stay alive and well (spanning from classic Looney Tunes.)
Bjorn has really changed from my first original pitch, he used to be a writer for novels… Try explaining that to the rest of your Troll buddies at the bar.
~AWD!
Goodness, this week just flew by for me, possibly because of all the excitement. I’ve been cranking away at the storyboard, which is quite a task. Challenging, but very fun.
The above image is a concept sketch of how I envision “Ma”, Ivan’s cranky mother. Even if her son, Ivan, is a bumbling, walking disaster waiting to trigger, he’s still her son. But that doesn’t mean she has to look forward to it…
Yesterday I had a casting meeting, and I’m really looking forward to (possibly) getting the great, Tress MacNeille (Mom, “Futurama”) to voice my female lead.
Speaking of Ma, I want to take this opportunity to thank most of all, the folks who have always supported me in hopes to acheive my goals, my mom and dad. Throughout this production, I’m not doing this mostly for myself, but for them. I hope to continue with my career and make them proud, [Read more…]
One thing about creating a story is understanding the world within it. What kind of people would you find? Where is the setting based? How do characters react to each other? But for the most part, the most important aspect is will they fit together in the same world?
Like our own world, everyone has distinguishing characteristics, it’s what makes them different from each other, the fine line on how we can tell them all apart. How I feel, is that every character has a noticable “quirk” to their appearance, a definitive mark on their own personality. This goes along the lines of size, weight, facial features, markings, clothing, shapes and etc. whatever you can imagine is what will make a character completely different from all the rest of the surrounding characters.
Even so, character variation also plays a dangerous part in the “style” of a piece. Depending on the world setting, [Read more…]
Hi folks, it’s-a me, Andrew “AWD!” Dickman. I made it in, they had to barricade the doors, but I was actually able to break in and start on my very first OFFICIAL cartoon. Anyway, I’m kidding about the breaking in part… But everything is definitely off to a good start.
I can tell you one thing, being within this very building feels a whole heck-uhva lot different than my first studio job back at Warner Bros. It was, however, a great experience, and I’ve taken alot of that time to learn the ways of the animation industry while meeting up with wonderful, amazingly talented folks.
To me, this is certianly a dream come true. Not only as someone who has just started out in the business, but for someone who has always looked toward the future in developing their own creations.
While I’ve only just started, I want to thank everyone who has [Read more…]
