Overseas Mutations?

Looks like we'll be two days late with the full animatic on our first movie.  We found a half page of script that was never handed to a storyboard artist.  I'm sure, animation professionals are shaking their head at that.  It's a sign of how crazy those inserts made our production and that we're moving too fast.

The good news is that the inserts are looking good and adding lots to the movies.  AND we know we're at the proper length, woo hoo!  What a relief.

Our second movie will also be a little late due to a holiday on Good Friday and the crunch needed to get the first movie out.  The inserts on that movie have added an incredible amount of emotion.  So much so, that I'm paranoid about the third movie.

Okay, don't get excited, no third movie has been greenlit.  But Mike and I have talked and you Hellboy fans will risk meltdowns when you hear the idea.  The idea is fun and packed with action but movie #2 has all this emotion to it, at least in my opinion.  So how do we get that smart right at the beginning?  Don't know, but the bar has been raised and I hope we get a chance to take on the challenge.

Okay, let's talk mutation.  No, the X-men are not crossing over with Hellboy but it's time to face the reality of the animation process.  When I watch a show like Justice League Unlimited or Teen Titans, every episode looks great to me.  The are some stories I like more than others but technically, everything looks good to my eye.  Not so when you talk to the guys on the production, they definitely have their favorites and gnash their teeth at the fluctuating quality...because they know what they sent and can see the differences in what comes back.

Long ago, I resolved myself to the idea that the design style of a series or movie is not what you send overseas but what comes back.  We are lucky to be working with Mad House Studios in Japan who have done great work in both in features and television.   We've started talking back and forth about the mood and quality level of what we expect.  Sadly, we can't just keep working until everything looks perfect; there are realities of time and money.  But with constant communication we have enough of both to make these things look damn fine.

If you look back to the early blog entries, you'll see backgrounds that show how we want to control the level of detail; we want detail where the action is, dropping off to just a couple of tones in other areas.  Extreme close ups can almost have solid colors behind the characters, much like Mike's comics.  Now look at the background above and the Japanese house that was posted a couple of weeks ago.  Where's the simplification?   The look great but every detail is rendered.  Well, two things: one we have to show the details of the room because the action will move all around it.  Secondly, when we're crunched for time it's had to see a beautiful background come it, we can't really send the artist back because he did "too good" a job.   So Mad House will paint some production backgrounds to show how they will interpret the detailed background keys into the design style of the show.  I've pointed out several of our background that hit the mix I want.  They'll do a similar thing with shadows and some of the more complex secondary characters.  The back and forth is vital to watching the quality.  Mad House will be working with a secondary studio that did the animation on The Amazing Screw-on Head pilot I'm sure most of you have heard about.  That show tried to imitate Mike's style as much as they could so they should understand the basics of his compositions and how he uses shadows on characters and backgrounds.

They'll also do test scenes for us.  I'm worried about Hellboy's tail for example.  In a still drawing, it's easy to give it a dramatic sweep.  But how will it look when he's walking away from camera?  How does it swing in a fight?  We can only plan so much on this side.  It's up to the animators overseas to make it right.  I've said we're being ambitious and so are they.  But this is always the scary part of a production.  They baby goes out the door and you don't know what it'll grow up like.  But it can be like Christmas morning too.  So here's hoping for visions of sugarplums.  -- Tad

Comments

[Tad]

Sorry the pop up is so big on the background. I'm not working on a computer with Photoshop so it is what it is.

[hb]

hey no worries, I'm sure the rest of it looks just as good as that creepy giant head staring back at me...
Its got some nice detail and once again...
I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to see some animation

[Spidey]

Really! Here you guys are talking about second and third movies and all I want to see is the pilot. Man, I wish I worked in that Holywood Studio though, it would be like a dream job!

[Kim Larsen]

Sort of an of-topic question... : Screw-On Head!!! -What's the deal with that? I have been searching the net the last couple of months, andwhat you just said is more than I have been able to find. You say the pilot is already finished? -Which animationhouse did it? -Do you have ANY kind of information to share on it?
(I know you're not part of that job, but you ARE an insider in the business ... right?) :)

[Kirk]

Tad, do you ever think you are too close to this project? I read your posts about it and can see you agonizing over every little detail. This current one in particular. It is like the Justice League series you mentioned, they ALL look great to you but the guys putting it together wince at some of the stuff - and you are a professional! So imagine how this whole thing is going to wash with the average Hellfan on the street? I for one am excited as all get-out just to see this thing happen. I'm thrilled to the dickens that you are involved along with Mike. And, had it not even been a joke, I would have been there when Hellboy sang a little Elton John song to Helldog - though I doubt it would have been my favorite part ;)
Anyway, don't freak out, sir. What I enjoy so much about the various aspects of Hellboy are the fact that they ARE various. And different. Each one a facet of the whole Hellboy experience. There will always be purists that will nitpick everything non-Mignola. But this is not for them.
Enjoy this special time, my friend. Don't freak out. We're with you because we know you are doing the job with the same passion and love that we would if we could.
I can't wait...it's going to be one wild ride.

Thanks!

[hb]

*clap*
*clap*
*clap*
;p

[Tad]

Kim -- Screw-on Head talk: http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=64115

Kirk -- of course I'm too close. And there's a part of me that realizes that even if 99% of Hellboy fans love it, I'll still be nitpicking things that I wish were better. But it's better than I get tension headaches than slack off and say, "whatever."

The production of the first movie is where all the bumps are found and get straightened out for the second movie. A third picture would have the huge benefit of the learning curve that happens as soon as you receive footage back from overseas.

[hb]

isn't that what animation is all about?
Saying oh..I could've done that or fixed that....
But you learn from it, so it's not completely useless.
Here's hoping for a third installment..