EXT. INSTITUTE FOR THE HIGH STRUNG (formerly The Institute for the Terminally Self-Righteous and Abysmally Contrarian):
THERAPY LEADER: "That's enough group therapy for now, class. Hey, it's lunch time. How 'bout if I make some sandwiches?
PATIENT #1: "Whoa! Whoooooooa!!!!! Wait a freakin' minute! So what your tellin' us is that you're going to make sandwiches, and that we just supposed to eat whatever you make. Like...we're not even consulted! Am I the only one here who can see something wrong with that!?
PATIENT #2: "He's right! This isn't the Third Reich, you know. We have rights!"
THERAPY LEADER: "Oh, sorry. Would you prefer something else?"
PATIENT #3: "What I prefer you're not offering."
PATIENT #4: "Will you all just pipe down and let the guy make some sandwiches? You crazy people disgust me!"
PATIENT #5: "Oh, it's Mister Sanity speaking! Well, listen up, goofball....You're just as whacked out as the rest of us!"
PATIENT #4: " Why you vile...filthy....if you weren't crazy I'd......"
PATIENT #5: "Is he right, Doctor? Am I crazy?"
DOCTOR: "No, no. You're just high strung, like everybody else here. A couple months on bland food and dreary, overheated rooms and you'll be just fine."
PATIENT #5: "Wha...? Y-you're
condescending to me aren't you? What kind of doctor are you? You're just a quack!"
PATIENT #5: "Oh, there I go again! Are you sure I'm not crazy, doctor?"
DOCTOR: "No, no...of course not."
PATIENT #5 : "That's good. Then it won't matter if I've brought my gun to class."
DOCTOR: "Huh? Gun?"
PATIENT #3: "Don't bother looking for it, it's right here. I saw it in your purse. First I'll kill everybody here, then I'll make the sandwiches the way I want them, then I'll take a bus into town and kill everybody there. This is going to be fun."
SLAP! ANOTHER PATIENT GRABS THE GUN.
PATIENT #6: "Whaddayou know about sandwiches?"
PATIENT #7: "Hit a girl, will 'ya!?"
PATIENT #8: "Oh my God! It's the clowns from the Institute for Deviant Clown Recovery next door! They must have been attracted by the slaps!!!"
(SFX: SCREAMS AND SOUNDS OF SLAPS FROM INSIDE THE INSTITUTE)
Fun essay, Eddie! But why no animators in that institute? They gotta be some of the most stressed people on this planet!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, have you ever posted a theory on animation inking (what works, what doesn't)? JK's current tutorials show inking far more complex than that done during my animation production days.
Good stuff! I'll have to start lobbying congress for a Theory corner variety hour.
ReplyDeleteKurt: I'd need to get better at inking before I could teach it to others.
ReplyDeleteJoshua: Haw! Thanks!
Actually, Eddie, my hankering was for theories on what animation inking works best to help characters act and tell stories the best.
ReplyDeleteThere's a ton of ink styles out there, some minus outlines (Samurai Jack).
Inking at Energee was simply scan the animation drawing, then for cheap shows crush the line to a bitmap for easy filling (expensive shows got a more elaborate process helping preserve subtleties - didn't work well enough for JK, though).
oh my! I'm on my lunchbreak and that just cracked me up. I belong there sometimes.
ReplyDeleteHey Uncle Eddie!
ReplyDeleteIt's your favorite Native American, Alex! I love your Ronald McDonald pic. I have a few questions for you. Would you mind emailing me:
alexander.camarillo {at} gmail {dot} com Thanks!
Kurt: For general purposes, even when the look is a modern one, I prefer a 40s Warners thick and thin line. That line allows the drawing to look like a drawing and doesn't pretend to be something else.
ReplyDeleteThe line can be colored or just plain black, whatever looks best. Deliberately lineless characters usually look terrible and I avoid that like the plague.
The Hanna Barbera technique of a noticably thick outline and thinner internal lines works fine for a limited animation look.
John did some great line animation on the roughs for his Simpsons title. The finished product was cleaned up and inked the regular way and it looked terrific, but the line quality of the roughs animation...which the audience never saw...was something special.
The Toon Boom Animate program combined with John's natural skill made for a new kind of 2D thick and thin line which arguably didn't need inking. I can't describe it, you'd have to see it. I hope john saved that rough version. It could be that this is the "inking" that would best suit my style.
Alex: You can say almost anything right here. It's easier for me that way.