Author Topic: Go ahead and take a look.  (Read 10171 times)

tushantin

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Go ahead and take a look.
« on: April 14, 2018, 01:03:14 pm »
EDIT: Feel free to use this thread to showcase your own work or project that is unrelated to the Chrono series.


It's been a while since I came to the forums, so I wanna toot my own horn for a bit.

If you guys know me well, you'd also know I have a terrible track-record with my head in the clouds, thinking up cool ideas but never actualizing them fully due to realizing too late just what a mammoth of a task I've put myself into -- you know, basic foolish things that kids do.

While I've finished many minor commercial projects before, and did it well, this particular one changed all that for me: It taught me to summon more will-power than I could possibly have to push through the ordeal, and also realize that (sometimes) it's far better to stab your own perfectionism in the eye to make sure the commitment gets FULFILLED, no matter how much you care about quality.

Of course, this resulted in a lot of short-comings that woudln't exist if I had more time and money to not only hire others but also fix things myself. I could definitely do better, given the many flaws I've noticed in this project even before wrapping up.

But this is still most ambitious commercial project I've ever taken AND finished. This is something I've always wanted to do, even if the story isn't my own. This is something I did all on my own, with my own bare hands, with no outside assistance.  On top of that, I've satisfied my client. And I'm proud of that.

So with all the cringy theatrical intro out of the way, let me present you with my best work yet: An animation for Rona, The Legend of the Kodiaks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzAadkVShug

Feel free to roast me in the thread. P.S.: Did you spot the JoJo reference?
« Last Edit: May 09, 2018, 06:56:51 am by tushantin »

Mauron

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2018, 01:23:07 pm »
That looked good.

tushantin

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2018, 01:29:57 pm »
Thanks! Happy you liked it.  :)

Boo the Gentleman Caller

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2018, 06:47:59 pm »
Eff yeah, Tushantin! Good for you man, you've done more than 90% of the people out there -- you are living the Radical Dreamer lifetyle -- you are in the Springtime of Youth, baby!!!
You've been digging deep and finding the willpower and drive to idea fruition, creation, and completion.

That's more than I can say. I've finished some of my writing projects but have yet to properly edit/polish them and get them in the hands of others. I have no excuse except fear of rejection and my own lacking willpower.

Dude, I'm seriously proud of you. You've been running with animation for as long as I've known you (almost a decade now) and you've completed it.

PS -- I looked at your webpage linked in the Youtube... I don't know if that's your real name or a pen name, but either way, it's badass.

tushantin

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2018, 10:30:23 pm »
Aww, shyucks, man, you gonna make a grown man blush!  :oops:

Haha, glad you liked it. I guess I still am in my Springtime of Youth! XD Sweet!

And yeah, that's my pen name -- was making art, poetry and stories under that name at first, but eventually just decided to buy the domain and make it my professional portal. How'd you like the website? Built the whole thing myself.

Hmm, looks like you need a professional editor for your writing projects. I think there are plenty around these days, especially on Fiverr, and I think FaustWolf would be happy to help you with that too if he's not busy.

Though, if for some reason you can't or don't want to approach an external editor... Looks like you might need a system, and in that regard, I think I have something for you. ;) Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3-dw9cIx2o

That's been pretty helpful to me, especially to pin down the essence of my poetry and stories. XD But it mostly functions as a system to help you edit the stories you've already written.

Boo the Gentleman Caller

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2018, 12:12:22 am »
Well, I was writing a novel. Got about 100k deep and said fuck it. It's supposed to be a child's story, sort of inspired by the comical/quaint quintessentially British fantasy works of Diana Wynne Jones. It's a full-on fantasy with wizards, but I throw in some time-travel and subtle science fiction in with it. Despite the light tone of the story, part of it was meant to show the horrors of war and how no one really benefits from war. I struggled with time-travel plot holes and the ending and felt there were parts too bloated, so I gave up and haven't touched it in about three or four years.

I think switched to writing screenplays, specifically television. I have written several pilots, each one with a series bible and overall mythology and what-not. I submitted one to the Black List, a website where you can get paid reviews by scriptreaders. I got average-to-above-average marks or around 7.5, but didn't nail anything out of the park (which is extremely rare there; if you can get a 9 or 10 and a good enough pitch, potential agents/managers may end up seeking you out).

I figured television writing was a little easier to break into, because I could write a 60-page script with a 20-page bible in 100 hours or so; much, much quicker than I could write a novel. The problem is, just like writing a book, breaking in to get an agent or a manager in a nightmare.

My pilots all need rewrites and editing, and despite some feedback from a friend and from the Blacklist website, I need to give them TLC. TLC I don't know how to give. I feel like I need three really solid original pilots to try and get a literary agent, and even then I don't know how to find one. The screenwriting circuit here in the States is very different than the literary one.

The question is, how the heck did you manage to channel the energy to put all that together?

PrincessNadia78

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #6 on: April 16, 2018, 02:15:31 pm »
I will definitely check this out after work. I can't wait to see!

I'm starting to think I need a list. Ha ha!

tushantin

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #7 on: April 17, 2018, 12:49:55 pm »
Well, I was writing a novel. Got about 100k deep and....

YIKES! All that sounds like a heck of a lot of work... Though i can relate (in more ways than one, even though I know jack shit about writing screenplays for TV).

If you'd still like to work on and finish that novel, that Story Grid thing I linked you can definitely help you out and prune-away the bloat. It can help you figure out what the essence of your story is, what matters and what is redundant, what is lackluster and doesn't serve much to the core of the story, etc. helping you make it tighter.

In my case, I also seek out chapter-based / line-based meaning so that nothing I do is unimportant to the story, because if it is, then it has to be ruthlessly... thrown into the trash-can until I can recycle it some other way. I don't just write in parts, like a 3-part or 5-part structure like in a traditional story, but I also contextualize what each chapter is meant to represent, and why each scene within that chapter matters. It also allows me to reduce my story into an outline in my head so I can mull it over when I'm not actually working on it.

The point being, every part of my story must have a purpose to exist, otherwise it's just fluff, and I fear it might bore people.

That is one of the self-imposed limitations I keep for myself, along with contextual (not word-count) length, defined by theme, which also determines what beats of the story I want to hit. Not just for the quality of the story, but also to make sure I get it done (because, as I said, I have at terrible track-record for getting things done). Good set of limitations lead to a good system (especially a writing system), and a good writing system will allow you to consistently produce good-quality stuff quickly every single time.

But this might not be as useful to you as my next response, which is...

The question is, how the heck did you manage to channel the energy to put all that together?

Orderliness, Plan of Attack, and sheer hard-work. Let me explain...

I knew this project wasn't mine, but it was something that somebody else trusted me with (along with her own money). I did not want to betray that trust, and I did not want to take that for granted. And beyond just giving them the best-possible thing I could give them at a rate, I also knew that what they were looking for, first and foremost, is to have to have that animation done. So I couldn't afford to not be practical about this, and therefore needed to rely on a system that will always be reliable to me no matter what I do. I also can't afford to make things so difficult on myself that I would cough up blood before the project is completed.

So a Plan of Attack was necessary for me. I needed to figure out what I needed to do how and in what order before anything else, otherwise I would be bumping along forever, lost and unable to do anything for a long while. I needed to be swift and efficient, even with my creativity. So I storyboarded and created layouts and kept sending it until I got to the final revisions VERY early on. Then I kept in mind what each of the cuts in the storyboard required, and created assets that I can commonly use, as well as keep track of what each scene required to pull them off immediately. I also planned out which tool would be the best to create which cut to save me time, which is why there are so many tools mentioned on my website. Even "how many frame needed per-cut" was decided way ahead of time to make sure I don't over-work myself (and despite that, I did end up overworking and also got stuck a fair amount).

Having a general idea on what you need to do and how you need to execute it helps a TON! And if a plan-of-attack doesn't seem to be working well, there's no shame in trying something else, but if you do it early on it will save you a lot of pain. Of course, you don't have to be too meticulous, because...

Being orderly also helps a ton. I'm not a very orderly person because I think very laterally, but I also freeze every time I confront a goddamned mess. So it's still in my best interest to make sure everything has the right place to go so that I don't have to think twice about where to find them. And if I'm orderly and have a plan of attack, so long as my plan isn't too rigid to have autonomy, I can also plan for unforeseen circumstances and jump right into work anyway -- such as, if I don't have much time to spare, I can finish a cut that is relatively simple to achieve, but if I finish one cut and still have a lot of time and energy I can tackle yet another cut immediately. I don't have to work linearly (except when it comes to phases); I can finish Cut 24 today, and Cut 2 tomorrow.

(This is how I also work with my poetry and short stories, btw, just in a MUCH smaller scale.)

And after you have all that, it's all a matter of determination and hard-work. XD Because without that, I doubt I'll ever be able to complete anything. I just have to sit down and slog my way through to at least complete one thing -- anything -- in a single day. Even a single step of progress matters if you can get that in. So long as you have a plan you're not going to lose track. Ever.

What do you think? Does that sound helpful?

tushantin

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #8 on: April 17, 2018, 12:57:36 pm »
Just a head's up! I wrote brief Behind-The-Scenes for this. http://cyanlos.com/rona-legend-of-the-kodiaks-the-fall-animation-behind-the-scenes/

PrincessNadia78

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #9 on: April 18, 2018, 12:47:19 pm »
So I watched this and omg I thought this was amazing! This is the kind of thing I would love to learn how to do! This piece reminded me of The Lion King which is a huge compliment to your work! Congrats to you, it sounds like you worked really hard on it AND the client is happy with it. Great job!! I also subbed to your channel.

In speaking of YouTube animations though, have you watched Lucus the Spider? I love that one and Simon's Cat as well. Both are so cute! He he!

tushantin

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #10 on: April 19, 2018, 05:20:43 am »
Thank you! :')

And yeah, The Lion King was what my client had in mind when she handed me the script. So I was trying to match the quality with the little budget I had. (AV Originals isn't my channel, BTW, it's my client's. But that's okay, she appreciates the sub. XD)

I haven't seen Lucus the Spider, nor Simon's Cat. I'll definitely check them out sometime.

PrincessNadia78

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #11 on: April 19, 2018, 05:36:36 pm »
Then you did a fantastic job because it definitely has a Lion King feel to it. In face, as I was watching, I wanted to yell "Simba!!" LOL (Well I could have, I was home alone when I watched it. LOL) Also, it made me tear up a little too because it evoked those same feelings. So seriously, GREAT JOB!!

tushantin

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #12 on: May 08, 2018, 08:02:28 pm »
Let me suck my own cock a bit more. (BTW, if anybody needs, feel free to use this thread to show-case your own projects, art or whatever you're working on that's unrelated to Chrono series.)

I just made a new fan-art based on the upcoming movie (yeah, a movie I haven't even watched yet, but I know it's going to be awesome) called Bhavesh Joshi - Superhero. You can watch the trailer here, but just make sure to enable subtitles in case you aren't fluent in Hindi.

Anywho here's the my fan-art. You can probably tell I took some liberties with the costume design, since the trailer is too dark to make out the details.


Boo the Gentleman Caller

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #13 on: May 08, 2018, 10:46:02 pm »
Nice!

FaustWolf

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Re: Go ahead and take a look.
« Reply #14 on: May 08, 2018, 11:54:56 pm »
TUSHANTIN! Your work on Ronin and the Legends of the Kodiaks is seriously awesome, dude! It's amazing to come back and see how much you've progressed as an animator over the years. And I can't help but love how the old guy is portrayed, 'cause old guys should rock. And in your capable hands, he rocks! As Boo said, you're epitomizing the Springtime of Youth here.

I'll check into the "Story Grid" concept, that sounds really useful.

And since you invited non-Chrono works, I'll bite! This is a fantastic idea for an artistry-sharing thread. Your animation and Boo's mentioning screenplays inspired me to dust off a little ditty I did back in 2015: an adaptation of The Hollywood Standard screenplay format for a JRPG concept. I've just gotta figure out why the heck Final Draft is misbehaving on me...