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Introduction

For years, I've heard Phantom of the Opera fans (or "Phans" as they like to call themselves) express their desire to see the story produced in animated form. Debates have started over which studio they felt would do the story justice to whether it should be computer-generated or classically animated.

This section of the Archive will serve to realize that fan fantasy, at least to a small degree. As my next student project, I've chosen to animate a new "Music of the Night" music video utilizing the character designs I created nearly three years ago. This project will have multiple purposes:

1. To satisfy the desire of Phans to see the Phantom newly animated.
2. To serve as a useful animation exercise for me in creating believable lip-synch and subtle character acting.
3. To educate others in the process of creating classic, 2-D animation.

"The Art of Animation" will take the form of a journal, chronicling each stage of the process from pre-production to its completion. I will endeavor to describe the process as it applies to a lone, independent animator and not as a full-blown studio.

Be warned, however. Animation is a long process, even moreso as I am working alone on this project.

Still there? Then let's begin at the beginning...

Development

For Every Film... There is an Idea...

As with everything, you begin with an idea, an original story or an adaptation of an existing story.

As a rule, you should ask yourself two questions in regards to your idea:

1. Why animation?
2. Are you passionate enough about the idea to dedicate the time needed to see it through to its completion?

The first question refers to the medium of animation. Is your idea suitable for animation or live-action? For instance, a buddy picture about toys that come to life when people aren't around? Suitable for animation. Military courtroom drama? Eh, not so much.

With the advances in special effects these days, the line between live-action and animation is becoming less defined. Films like "Babe" and "Cats and Dogs" would be definite contenders for animation had it not been for realistic and affordable digital effects. One must weigh the pros and cons of producing in each medium and choose accordingly.

The second question addresses the time it takes to produce a project. The typical animated feature, averaging ninety minutes long, takes approximately three years to produce from start to finish. The next time you see an animated film, have a look at the end credits. Hundreds of people are involved, often working simultaneously on their respective jobs. As an independent animator, you do all or most of these jobs yourself. Do the math.

I had contemplated animating my Phantom characters for quite awhile, but today I took the first steps in realizing it by making a sketch of my Phantom and Christine in the classic "Music of the Night" pose. It was the success of this drawing that solidified my interest in making this my next student project.

The idea? A music video. Specifically, a "Music of the Night" music video. That simple statement establishes the story, characters and general feel of the project.

Why animation? In regards to music videos, suspension of disbelief is not an issue; every video you see has people singing and dancing en masse. Are there any other reasons why animation is a better medium for my idea than live-action? Except for the value as an animation exercise, no. But as that's the primary reason for me, I'm going to do it anyway. So there :-)

Do I have the interest and passion for the story to dedicate perhaps a few years to this project? In a word, yes. And I'll throw in a "sí," "da," "oui," and "you know it daddy-o" for good measure.

Pre-Production

Writing

Having an idea is great, but you have to flesh it out. A script is called for.

It should be noted that whenever one adapts content from one medium to another, in this case, theater to film; it is typical and usually necessary for changes to be made. Just as a book is more internalized, film is external. Characters in film express themselves in a visual manner. While theater acting and choreography must be as "readable" to audience members sitting in the back row of the rear balcony as it is to those sitting front row center orchestra, film has the advantage of the close-up, forcing the audience to see only what it will allow them to see. Each medium has it's strengths, and one must adapt the story to take advantage of those strengths.

In animation, moreso than in live-action films, the script must be locked down in these early stages before the actual work of animation begins. This is because of the time and money it takes to complete each scene. Nowadays, several live-action films go into production with only a half-completed script, writing new material while the production team is already filming. The script can undergo multiple changes, sometimes necessitating already filmed scenes to be rewritten and reshot. This simply can't be done in a cost-effective manner in animation. As a result, in my opinion anyway, animated films have a better track record for good scripts than live-action films. There are exceptions on both sides, of course, but this is just a general observation.

Design, Storyboard, and Sound

In a professional studio environment, separate departments handle each of these jobs concurrently. Taking the script, here is what each department does:

Design

There are character designers and there are set designers. Character Design involves taking each character that is in the script and developing their look. Packets of these designs (including expressions, body proportions, design limitations, and views from various angles) are given to the animators so that the look will remain consistent throughout the production regardless of how many different artists draw the same character.

Set Design essentially creates everything that isn't a character. This includes props, furniture, locations and so forth. These designs will be given to the layout department to render the backgrounds in proper perspective which gives the animators a starting point for their work. All designs (both character and set) will also be sent to the Color Department for color keys to be made.

Storyboard

This department takes the script and breaks it down into individual shots, drawing them in a sort of comic book panel format. Every action the characters make, along with all camera movements, are created here first. The storyboard is essential before the production can go forward since they are used not only as a blueprint for the layout department, but also describe all actions the animators will have to put the characters through.

Sound

It is a common misconception that in animation, the drawings are made first and the dialogue added later. In actuality, the opposite is true. Voice talent is hired and all the dialogue recorded first. Oftentimes several takes of the same line are made to give the sound department multiple versions to choose from and splice together to create the final dialogue track. Once the final track is put together, the dialogue is analyzed and bar sheets made, noting on which frame of film each vowel and consonant land. This is how the animators sync up the drawings with the voices.

With this project, the writing has already been done for me. The lyrics are set, the characters and their actions for the most part predetermined.

I have multiple versions of "Music of the Night" on CD and cassette, but my favorite has always been Michael Crawford's recording from his 1991 Performs Andrew Lloyd Webber album. Today, I made an AIFF file of the song in SoundEdit 16 for analysis. His vocals were remarkably clear and rather easy to pinpoint in the waveform that visually describes the sound.

I should mention something about obtaining permission if you plan on using an existing work for your film. If I had intended on submitting the finished film to animation festivals, I'd need permission from Mr. Crawford and most likely the Really Useful Group to use the song and visual likenesses of the props, costumes and such. As it's just an exercise for my demo reel, obtaining permission isn't entirely necessary. However, I will attempt to contact Mr. Crawford and ask just to be polite. Who knows? Maybe he'd like a copy when I'm finished :-)

As I have only a passing familiarity in working with dialogue during a previous animation job, I decided to break the vocals down progressively, beginning with sentences. I took a printout of the lyrics and notated the start and end frames for each line. Even breaths must be noted for an accurate description on the bar sheets. Working through the entire song took the majority of the day.

Over the weekend, I assembled all pertinent video footage I have relating to the song onto one videotape for study. I included the original 1986 music video, some "unofficial" footage of Michael Crawford during his LA run, several bits of press kit footage and news reports featuring clips of the song from San Francisco, Toronto, and Broadway productions. Mr. Crawford is a very physical singer, so I also included his non-Phantom music videos and studio and live performances on my reference tape for study as well. I've already begun making thumbnail sketches and notes on what elements I'd like to include in my animation.

In terms of my characters, I've chosen to use Michael Crawford's Phantom as the basis of my Phantom. Only natural as he is my favorite actor in the role and I'm using his recording of the song :-) I will be adding a few moves here and there from other actors, though, and altering the choreography a bit to make my Phantom a little more unique. My Christine is inspired by Lisa Vroman's (San Francisco's principal Christine Daae) rendition. Of all the productions I've attended or seen via Memorex, she is the only actress who has given the character life in that scene. True, it is The Phantom's song, but at least she doesn't just stand around like a zombie the entire time. Lisa's Christine feels and reacts to The Phantom's voice and his touch much moreso than other actresses, I think. I hope that this way, the acting will be more evenly divided.

I'm tackling sound, storyboard, and design all at once. It helps since I can only spend so much time in front of a computer with a pair of headphones on trying to break the vocal track down phonetically.

Jumping over to design, I've begun work on making schematics for the props found in the Lair: the Organ, the Candelabra, the Portcullis, the Mirror, and the Boat. The lighting design of the musical has been a hindrance at best as very few photos exist which give clear details of any of the props. Today, I worked on the candelabra. The Toronto souvenir brochure and flyer have provided the most help in reconstructing details for this prop. I've simplified the design somewhat and had to play fast and loose with the upper portion of it as the details in the arms are rather vague in all my reference photos. I tried to retain the "leaves and vines" motif that seems to run throughout a lot of The Phantom's furniture. The candelabra design also differs from production to production, so I've had to choose which elements to use from each design.

I'm spending the weekend in storyboard mode, sketching poses and angles and actions from my video reference. Michael Crawford is very expressive in his body language throughout the scene, it will be a challenge to imbue my Phantom with that type of movement. I'll definitely be using his movements during the portcullis portion (to the delight of female phans worldwide, I presume) and Lisa's movements in that scene as well. It's a shame these two never shared the stage together. Davis Gaines' gestures at the end of verse 2 are quite elegant, so I'm going to be using them as well. I thought about having the camera drift and recompose in feeling with the music instead of having it locked down from shot to shot. I'll have to make the necessary adjustments once I get to layout.

Today was sluggish, but I did manage to get a little more work done on the vocal track (the track's been broken down to word measurements now. Man, he can hold a note for a LOOOOOOONG time! "Soar" alone lasted for 195 frames) and sketch some different angles of the boat from video to see if I could figure out its dimensions. I'm thinking I might have to construct a miniature set in order to get my camera angles accurate. I'll have to look into recruiting some friends for that.

Did some more work in sound and got more headway in the candelabra and mirror design. All props are being drawn to scale to save time later. I've gotten a few rough sketches of the boat and I think I've nailed down the ironwork design using a photo from the Toronto brochure (gotta love those Canadian photographers!) and taken my first pass at a side view of the boat.

On the storyboard front, I was considering altering the choreography at the end by expanding the set to include a separate bedroom where Christine would find the mannequin (as they did in the 1990 film script). Doing this would require redesigning the Lair as a whole, so I'm hesitant in going forth with it. Time will tell.

I had quite a scare! I forgot I left my reference tape in one of the VCRs in the puppet animation room on Monday. Luckily, one of the students removed it before he began filming his final project. I wasn't looking forward to re-recording all those segments.

I've managed to break the vocal track down to phonetics through the first two verses. Campus is closing down this week and I probably won't be able to gain access to the software until classes begin again in January. I really should buy the software myself... After talking with another animation student, I'm toying with the idea of having the props rendered in wireframe and imported into the Toonz software in the Animation computer lab upstairs. It's probably the closest thing to Disney's "Deep Canvas" process that I'll be able to get. Like expanding the Lair, it might be more trouble than it's worth.

The front-view schematic of the Mirror is complete, as are the ones of the Candelabra and Portcullis. I shifted over to character design this afternoon and pieced together some expression poses of both The Phantom and Christine from various drawings I've made over the years. I did a little more work with the storyboards also. Still having trouble in the first cut and what to do in the 292 frames between verses 1 and 2...

A phan located a rare reverse-angle picture of the Organ at www.GrandFoyer.com. I'd forgotten that Barbara (the webmistress of that site) had taken a backstage tour of the London production several years ago and had a photo journal on her site. This clears up a few things about the design, but I'm still hunting around for good shots of the base of the Organ.

Most of the day was spent working on a freelance graphic design job. But I did succeed in getting started on the turnarounds for my Christine. I did some sketches last night of Christine in 3/4 view but none turned out completely right, so today I took the body of one and a head from the expressions sheet and spliced them together in Photoshop. I then scaled her to match the proportions of the prop schematics I'd already made. Christine's never looked better :-) As soon as I have the time, I'll do a Phantom sketch to match.

Making a storyboard for animation is more detailed than making one for live-action. Every major pose the characters make requires a new panel, resulting in a more panels overall for the entire project. It is because of this that I'm returning to my reference video to study Mr. Crawford's movements more thoroughly. In his book, "The Animator's Survival Kit," Richard Williams (animation director for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?") devotes a section to acting. Animators, to a great degree, are actors. But we act with our drawings; we have to take the emotions the character we're animating is feeling and put it down on paper. Mr. Williams quotes Frank Thomas, one of the Disney's original Nine Old Men, as saying, "You're trying to grab the audience's attention and hold it -- hold it with something real that they can identify with." Animators must experience the emotions and magnify it in order to bring it across.

Therefore, I have to get into the heads of both The Phantom and Christine, figure out what they're thinking and feeling throughout the song. While doing so, I make little thumbnail sketches as to how they express those things physically. It's a time-consuming process to say the least.

I've made a rough storyboard pass over the first four shots of the video, encompassing verses one and two. It looks pretty good so far, and I've been keeping in mind various camera movements required for the shots (right now, all of them have some sort of camera movement in them). I'm tweaking the shots themselves to make the cuts flow more smoothly, even though I imagine I'll be using a lot of cross-dissolves in this project.

I did a few more rough sketches of the closing sequence with Christine in the boat and The Phantom by her side. The Beast's death / transformation scene in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" was what came to mind as I was sketching my ideas down. I'll have to screen the movie again to refresh my memory.

I'm working on the "Mannequin" sequence right now. It's probably the most dramatic sequence in terms of what you can do with camera angles and cutting.

I'm still up on the fence about expanding the Phantom's Lair to include a seperate room for the bed, even though I'm currently boarding the closing shots. The song doesn't allow for much time between the faint and the conclusion of the song. It's still possible, I suppose, but the change in location would have to take place prior to the revealing of the mannequin.

Anyway, I've decided to have the Phantom catch Christine as he does in the London production, and am coming up with variations on how to present it.

I've also cleaned up the first few shots to get the characters on model, so I'll probably put those up sometime soon. I found myself getting bogged down in details recently, so I'll try to loosen up and fill in the few transition shots and assemble an animatic within the next month. I can always go back and clean the rest up for my portfolio later.

Animatic

An animatic, or leica reel, is a filmed version of the storyboard edited in time with the soundtrack. It is at this point that the pacing and cuts can be analyzed to see what works and what doesn't before the costly process of animation begins.

I've begun assembling the first two verses of the music video in animatic form. I'm still learning the ins and outs of Final Cut Pro, so work is going slowly.

I've made arrangements to incorporate my film into a TOONZ animation class I'm enrolled in presently, thereby speeding up the process of getting a shot animated, colorized, and outputted. Images of the newly-colored characters will be up shortly, once I resolve a bit-resolution problem.

Working slightly out of order, I'm proceeding with the animation of a shot from verse two: "Turn your thoughts away / from cold unfeeling light." It's a very straightforward movement and shouldn't be too difficult to animate.

Color Keys

Once characters, backgrounds and props are designed; they must be colored so that they complement each other. Various color palettes may also be created for various lighting situations they may appear in (daytime versus nighttime, etc.).

Work progresses slowly but surely on the test animation. Christine's slow head rotation in this shot is going to give me nightmares, but I hope it will all work out smoothly. The storyboards are available for viewing here.

I've also decided to switch software for my animatic as TOONZ has more capabilities in camera movement. I know the software, so it shouldn't be a problem to make the jump.

Unfortunately, I'm jumping around in the process which might make things confusing for those of you reading this journal, so I wanted to take a moment to lay out the entire procedure:

Pre-Production
1. Script
2. Design (Character and Set)
3. Storyboard
4. Sound Recording
5. Color Keys
6. Layout

Production
1. Animation (Character and Effects)
2. Background Painting
3. Ink and Paint

Post-Production
1. Camera
2. Final Mix

Technically, I'm still in pre-production since the storyboards are undergoing alterations and little can go forward until those are all approved. But since scene b2 IS ready (minus a background), I figured I'd skip ahead and animate it.

While waiting for the TOONZ setup to be modified, I've gone ahead and continued animating the test shot. Luckily, I have a group of animator friends who congregate once a week on campus to get feedback from and that has helped quite a bit.

Considering the amount of free space allotted to me by Angelfire, I may extract the animatic as a Flash file.

I've also scaled the opening shot up to full-size in preparation for disassembly into its component parts. This is a rather complex shot with multiple levels, a camera move and a simulated rack focus. I think it's quite an attention-grabber and probably one of the most complicated shots to plan out. And since I'm talking about layout, why don't I explain it...

Layout

Once the storyboards and animatic have been approved, each shot is given to the Layout Department to be developed. Using the storyboard as a guideline, the layout artist takes the set designs and creates a detailed rendering of the background within the determined field size (viewing area of the camera). Layout artists are kin to cinematographers in my view. They are responsible for staging the right camera angle and movement, the type of lens, and required lighting. It is a meticulous job that requires a knowledge of perspective and excellent drafting skills as well as an understanding of mise-en-scene.

The head rotation is coming along better than I had expected, although it's sort of tricky to gauge the smoothness of the motion with only rough pencil lines to go on. It encompasses around thirty drawings (and that's on two's), which is pretty slow, so the change from drawing to drawing has to be precise so Christine doesn't jerk around like one of those hydraulic dinosaurs you see at theme parks.

It's working fine when I flip the pages with my fingers, we'll see how well it stands up when I shoot it.

Production ramps up again after a rather busy summer of freelance work.

I'm planning on upgrading my software, so it may be possible to upload flash movies of the test animation once it's completed to my satisfaction. Flash may also allow me to put up segments of the animatic as well without using up the remainder of my web space.

The "Beauty and the Beast" Special Edition DVD gave me some ideas into how Christine would move (rather obvious, now that I think about it), as Belle's motion was modeled after ballerinas.

More inspiration came from a Japanese animated film titled "Blood: The Last Vampire." The traditional 2-D animation was supplemented by using After Effects and Photoshop to give more of an atmospheric "cohesion" to the scenes. Might have to bring in other animators to do it, but it definitely would add to the overall look of the video.

Animation

You've got the character designs, you've got the sound, you've got the layouts. Now you have to bring it all to life at 24 drawings per second.

Piece of cake, right?

Animators are the actors of the cartoon world. They never appear in front of the camera, but it is their hard work that takes some pencil lines on a sheet of paper and makes the audience believe that what they're seeing are real people with real emotions.

Animation unfolds in stages, seldom emerging full-blown onto the paper. The standard procedure is as follows:

1. Thumbnails: Based on the storyboards and listening to the sound recorded for the scene, the animator sketches out how he or she imagines the characters should act -- usually to the extent of acting it out physically with their bodies to get a better sense of the movement.
2. Keys: Once the animator is satisfied that he knows where to go with the scene, the key poses -- the drawings that tell you what the action is -- are drawn. In a studio setting, this would be the job of the Lead Animator. These keys can be tested to see how the timing works.
3. Breakdowns: The breakdown drawings are those that fall in between each pair of key drawings. But to simply have the object drawn smack-dab on the halfway mark leads to dull and mechanical movement, so usually some part of the object begins the action with the rest following afterwards -- as it does in real life. These can be tested along with the keys to get a clearer idea of how the finished animation will look.
4. In-betweens: These are the drawings that fill the gaps between keys and breakdowns. In a studio setting, this is the job of... the In-Betweener.

Testing and retesting is required to get the animation right. Sometimes, it can take several passes before the weight feels accurate or the follow-through on the clothing feels real.

I spent most of last night and this afternoon watching video footage of Michael Crawford and studying his hands, making little sketches of the positions he uses and trying to get a handle on how he uses them to express feeling. It's of particular importance in this shot since it is a close-up of Christine's face and The Phantom's hand, so detail in their movement is highlighted. I've already modified the first key of The Phantom's hand to be more faithful to Crawford after trying the movement out for myself about dozen times.

I recall an interview he had some time ago describing how his Phantom moved and how physically tense some of the actions were -- something I noticed as I was acting it out. My hand kept shaking involuntarily at the end of the first move. Wierd.

I tested the new version of The Phantom's hand for the beginning of the shot. Looks rather good, and I'm just a bit perturbed about how much work went into getting the fluidity of the gesture down when so little will actually be seen onscreen.

Also, I was rereading the fan-written screenplay to the "Phantom of the Opera" movie musical (adapted from the original 1990 script) and came across the authors' comments on how the Phantom's Lair might look. I thought it was a very interesting take on the set and am considering adapting it for use in my music video. I am attempting to contact one of the authors in the hopes of discussing the set in more detail.

Thanks to "PPCSAW" (although I'm sure he didn't realize it), I am now in posession of more accurate schematics for several of the stage props, most valuable of all, a plan view of the organ. I was somewhat close in my early version (see journal entry #20), but this one gives me clear insight as to the design and makes it that much easier to hand off the schematics to a 3-D animator should this growing desire to computer-render the set become concrete.

Speaking of which, I am collaborating with Jake and Clarisse from the Michael Crawford Phantom Movie Campaign in order to come up with a full 360û Lair set based on their ideas in their revised version of the film screenplay. A sort of German expressionist version of the stage of the Opera Populaire comes to mind, with shattered mirrors all around, bedrooms for The Phantom and Christine and a more forbidding organ design.

Work continues on refining the keys after some errors were found in the first pass. Once these are done to my satisfaction, the breakdowns (the drawings that come halfway between each pair of keys) will be added.

Tested the first portion of the shot (Phantom slips his hand under Christine's chin, turns her head back towards him). Feedback from some of the other animators has me going back and tweaking some of the animation for the better.

It's always good to have a few people critique your work so you get a fresh perspective on it. You shouldn't do it to death, though, or you'll never get anything completed. Take what is suggested under advisement. If you feel it will help the animation, go ahead and do it. If you feel it works the way it is, leave it alone.

More progress on the test animation, along with more critiquing and modifications. I'm also finding that there's a fine line between and facial expression that looks dreamlike and mesmerized and one that looks stoned :-)

I'm eager to get this test animation completed and online as soon as possible. Perhaps naively, I think putting it out there with Michael Crawford's voice featured may rally more people to the cause of the Phantom Movie Campaign.

Another hiatus due to a string of outstanding projects is over, but I did manage to complete the clean-up of the key drawings for the animation test shot.

Clean-up, for me at least, is a time-consuming process in which the rough drawings (after animation has been approved) are traced over and brought "on model," making them look like the characters they're supposed to be. Details are added and shadow lines are delineated. Here is one such cleaned-up drawing.

Sometimes, in bringing the characters back on model, some things just don't end up being where they're supposed to be and some reanimating is required so that the objects track across the inbetweens to the correct location in the next key drawing.

P.S. To any prospective employers who may be reading this journal. I SWEAR it usually doesn't take me this long to complete a project! *L*

With access to the campus lab minimized due to outstanding factors and a seemingly endless wave of small projects popping up left and right, I've still managed to do some work on this particular animation.

Having seen the stage musical twice in the past couple of months (and another trip planned for August 17th), I've been able to study Phantoms and Christines live onstage. It's also helped with costume and set details.

I also returned to the storyboards with a mind to alter the design of the Phantom's Lair, reimagining it as an actual lived-in space that is part 1925 Lon Chaney-lair and part Maria Bjornson-lair. This will significantly change the choreography of the entire animation, but I feel the benefits will outweigh the difficulties. The space itself will remain generally faithful to Maria Bjornson's design (organ, portcullis, shattered mirror, candelabra), but it will now have walls, sconces for torches, and bedrooms.

The first part of the Lair that I'm tackling is the organ, converting it into a pipe organ that takes up an entire wall of the Lair (as described in Leroux's novel). This pipe organ will be an amalgamation of the ALW organ, the Chaney organ, and the organ illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt in a copy of the Leroux novel. Adjustments have already been made to the choreography illustrated in the first few panels of the storyboard.

Christine's bedroom will be inspired by the one in the 1925 film. After Christine faints, The Phantom will catch her (that's right, I said *catch* her) and carry her into this room.

Outside of storyboards, I've continued to do more clean-up and animation on the test shot. A bare minimum, as when I get started, I have to continue for the bulk of the day. With a pile of cleaned-up drawings, there will be more than enough to scan in and start coloring when the campus reopens in the Fall.

More clean up, more storyboarding, and more design work.

I'll also be taking advantage of my second row center orchestra seat on the 17th to observe and analyze Lisa Vroman's performance as Christine in MotN so I can imbue my animated Christine with some of the same. Perhaps I'll ask Ms. Vroman about it after the show as well.

Real life seems to be asking a lot of my time recently, but I did manage to pencil test shot b2_01 again. It looks much better after I doubled up the number of drawings for Christine's head turn, slowing it down and making it flow more naturally into the rest of the movement. The keys are done, so now I'm going back in to bring Christine back on model and roughing out the last portion of the animation.

In other news, the release of "The Phantom of the Opera: The Ultimate Edition" DVD has allowed me even more reference of the 1925 Lair set. I've come up with some ideas of what my new "fully functional" Lair will look like and just have to commit them to paper now. Once I get a basic diagram down, I can go back into the storyboards and do the final versions: staging new angles and reworking some of the choreography.

The re-design of the Lair is coming along nicely. I've called in some assistance from "Queer Eye for the Phan Guy" to help figure out the decor. It probably won't look quite like what phans are used to since we're augmenting things like the candelabra and organ, etc andtrying to include little things seen in the novels and films as well, but it will remain true to the spirit of Maria Bjornson's original set design. Thus far, it's looking somewhat like a grandiose version of the 1925 set with a Bjornson/Hildebrandt pipe organ hybrid. Still pretty spacious. Thankfully, I don't forsee the choreography being altered drastically.

I've added a color key to the journal's photo gallery. Color keys are usually done during pre-production to settle on a color scheme for the sequence that fits the mood, but since I dove headlong into the animation, I'm playing catch-up now. This will serve as a guide for coloring the frames once they're loaded into the TOONZ program and cleaned up. The scanner and main server in the computer lab are still down, so work on that side will have to wait until we can find a tech person to fix the problem. In the meantime, animating and cleanup continue, along with storyboarding and animation on three other projects.

More rough animation completed and tested today. I've yanked the Phantom's exit since I've never been completely happy with it and am retooling it now. Also spent a few hours refining the inbetweens on Christine to facilitate clean-up.

A good average for an animator is 2 seconds of usable footage a day, so I'm aiming at that goal. Just have to reign in my tendency to go back again and again and tinker with things.

Another pencil test completed, this time with some of the new animation at the end. I've also done some new roughs for the Phantom's exit from the shot which look much better than what I had originally done -- more elegant and in keeping with his style. I've been doing a lot of drawing the past couple of weeks, so my drawing arm fell off around 3:30pm. I'll recoup for a bit and then get back into it on Friday (these are the days I wish I was ambidexterous).

I also have to buy a few more reams of animation paper. Thankfully, I just got a part-time job today, so I'll have the funds to make the purchase.

Work (even part-time) is hell. I am finding less and less time to dedicate to my projects. But you do what you have to do.

The Phantom's new exit is looking much better -- far more graceful than his original one. I've keyed it out and timed it to what seems like a good speed, so I'll be going back in and adding the inbetweens next. I've also been adding and tracking the movement of his coat earlier in the shot to make sure it rises and falls believeably.

Christine's final turn back to the camera at the end of the shot needs tweaking since it still feels a bit robotic. Maybe start the head turn straight out of the relaxing pose, shift the weight a little earlier then have the torso rotate and finish with her lifting her head to hit the next key drawing. She's got a bit of a wait before the inhale/cross-dissolve, so I'll most likely have her eyes shift around a little and put in a few blinks. Since she isn't moving, this will be a prime spot to do more "acting" animation and try to convey what the character's thinking or feeling at that moment.

More work done on the inbetweens for the Phantom's exit. No pencil test, though, since the machines were occupied by other students working on their midterms.

Bad news is that the scanner in the SGI lab isn't functioning and therefore, no further drawings can be scanned into the TOONZ software until it's fixed. But with over 200 drawings still left to clean up, I don't think scanning will be much of a concern for awhile.

I just converted my most recent pencil test into Quicktime format and put in online, complete with soundtrack. Click here to view it or access it through the Art of Animation photo gallery.

This test is done in long shot to show all the animation. The finished piece will be cropped much closer and the bulk of what you see at the bottom of the screen will not appear.

The gist of the movement is done -- minus a few details. There will be some subtle stuff done with Christine's eyes and head between her final turning back and the inhale at the end, that being a nice spot for character acting as I've said before. I'll also go back in and put in some more subtle head movement for the Phantom when he leans in to help sell what he's saying more.

The campus has shut down for the holidays and I'm currently doing clean-up on the parts of the shot I'm satisfied with. The performance of the lab's scanner has been sporadic of late, so I'm hoping we can get someone to check the software and figure out what's wrong.

I'm also doing more work on the set since I've been neglecting that for awhile. A basic, unfurnished floorplan can now be seen in the Art of Animation photo gallery. As you can see, it retains the basic look of the Bjornson set while introducing elements of the 1925 Carre set as well.

Back to work. To help supplement the traditional animation entries from our college, I submitted a non-audio version of the latest pencil test to a local arts competition. We had several very nice entries this year, so I don't have high hopes of mine being selected for top prize (especially since it's an unfinished pencil test using a non-original subject), but I see it as an opportunity to get some of my animation seen by the judges. Even a little exposure can be a good thing.

Two more animation short projects have been added to my ever-growing list of things I have to do, but this project is still one of the two top priorities for me. I took time during my winter vacation (when not suffering from the flu or earning some income or bruising my ribs) to rough out some new storyboard panels using the new set design. I'm working *really* rough so I can whip through these panels and not hover over them in an attempt to get all the little details right.

Progress on the new storyboards is progressing, having reworked four shots and conceptualizing several others.

I've also done some refining of rough drawings from the test shot, smoothing out movements that appeared a bit jerky in the last test. I've made enough money to start purchasing more supplies, so I'll most likely be doing more clean-up in the near future as well.

Between a part-time job, an illustration deadline, teaching a class and working on three other animation projects, I think I'm easing back into things well.

I finally got around to adding facial features and the rest of Christine's hair to the beginning of the test shot. Initial pencil test looked alright, so I'm going to move on to other portions of the shot (ie. Phantom and lipsync)

Also have the first and second verse of the song locked down in storyboard format and about half of the third verse roughed out. I'm still tinkering with the new pipe organ design, so I haven't added it into the first couple of shots when it's featured heavily; but as far as it goes, it looks quite good. I may see if I can put together an animatic for what I have so far (up to and including the test shot) and throw it up here within a couple of weeks.

Thumbnails for the choreography of verses four and five have been completed (incorporating a couple of poses struck by Franc D'Ambrosio), now I just have to select camera angles and rough them out in storyboard form. The portcullis choreography is a direct lift from Crawford's, which should please some fans immensely. It's spliced with what I remember of Vroman's Christine from the same sequence, which makes -- for me, anyway -- the perfect blend of Phantom and Christine.

The next verse through the end will be tricky since it relies on the new set design. Some reworking of the choreography will be in order since there will no longer be a free-standing mirror for the mannequin to stand behind. Bedrooms for Christine and The Phantom have been added (although only Christine's will be featured) and they have yet to be furnished, so I'll most likely be leaping into set design work in the very near future.

I'm running on all cylinders now, cranking out about a verse a day in thumbnail form. The last verses of the song aren't as bad as I thought they would be planning-wise, and I added a little bit of punch with some of the camera movements. The instrumental section (what would you call that, a bridge?) was kind of fun to work out since I had nothing but music to set my cuts against. I left off with The Phantom carrying Christine into her bedroom and laying her down on the bed (that's right, you romantics, The Phantom actually *catches* Christine in this version). Last verse is pretty much worked out in my head already, I just have to commit it to paper.

Tomorrow, I'll whip those last thumbnails out and get a couple more verses down in storyboard format.

All the thumbnails are done, and I'm currently transferring them to storyboard format. I'll continue to try to work loose in order to expedite the process, so don't expect a wealth of details -- just the bare bones of character placement and action.

Depending on the size of the final animatic file, I may break it down into chunks for easier viewing.

Continuing to whittle away at the new, improved storyboards. I'll scan a batch of them into the computer and try laying them down to the soundtrack when I get into the lab on Thursday.

To help figure out backgrounds, I've been spending the past couple of days blocking camera positions on a floorplan of my Lair set, using my rough storyboards as a starting point. I'm finding uses for various types of lenses -- normal, wide angle, telephoto -- for various shots to help convey a sense of depth or compression. Blocking the shots this way is also helping me make sure I'm not breaking any of the cardinal rules of camera placement.

In addition, I've also been scaling the set and character turnarounds to match in order to get size references for everything.

A rough director animatic is coming along, so things are looking good for a series of quicktime files featuring each verse. I'll have to split up the aiff file into smaller chunks this week so that I can add them to each movie file.

In other news, I submitted my test shot pencil test from late last year into a state-wide arts competition to help bolster the number of entries from my campus. Last Friday I was notified that my entry had won some sort of award. Not *quite* sure what type of award, but I'll be finding out more in the next few weeks.

More fiddling around with the Director version while simultaneously assembling the FinalCut version, this time bringing in some assistance from a friend who knows more about both software programs than myself.

So the Director file has been exported as a Quicktime movie again, this time as low as 4.5MB, which is great. However, it exported without sound. This Tuesday, I'll make a few tweaks with the original file and see if embedding the sound file directly into the timeline will make a difference upon export.

Good news: we may have found a computer specialist to fix our SGI lab problems. If things pan out, I may be able to scan and assemble the test shot in the professional 2-D software program very soon.

In other news, more tests have been done in compressing the first animatic. Thus far, no solutions have presented themselves in creating a QT file that's of managable size for web use.

Illness and deadlines have kept me from working on the MotN test animation for about a month, but good news came this week when I learned that the SGI lab is in full working order now. I am presently doing more clean-up work so that I can begin scanning in the hundreds of drawings in this piece. I hope the server can manage me :-)

On the animatic front, I have a nice "edits-only" version of verse 1 just about ready to go. I still need to finesse the opening camera movement since it's a little too fast in the beginning, but after that, all I have to do is find the right compression to convert it into a quicktime movie for uploading to the web. I'll see if I can take care of that tomorrow.

Long hours in the lab are finally starting to pay off.

I've just completed the animatic for Verse 1 (What's an animatic? Click here and find out). The past few days have been dedicated to compressing the file size down to something managable for web release. As it currently stands, the first animatic is 6.6MB -- image resolution is low, but I maintained the best audio quality I could. This is the "cuts-only" version, a bare bones take on what the video would look like. I envison more movement with the camera -- somewhat like that used in the Chinese film, "The Phantom Lover" during their opera scenes. Of course, these camera moves will be within the confines of 2-D animation (I have no plans to construct and render out a complete 3-D Lair set in which to animate the characters to), pans, pushes in and pull outs, drifts, etc. The cuts will also be less jarring, instead using cross-dissolves to soften the transitions as much as possible from shot to shot as required. Click here to see Verse 1 in animatic form.

And that thing about the test footage winning an award? It did. Won a Special Merit Award in the Traditional Animation category of the Media Arts Competition. Not top prize, but what can you expect from a pencil test?

There was a ceremony to go to and everything. Guess I was so preoccupied with other things I forgot to follow up on that.

The animatic for verse 2 is now online, replacing the original animatic.

In the animation process, pencil tests are typically spliced into the animatic reel as they are completed to give a better sense of the overall work. In this animatic, I've included the test animation in its current stage. The verse will end with a slow cross-dissolve over Christine to the next verse/shot.

Click here to see the Verse 2 animatic.

Animatic #3 is up and running (file size 2.7MB), replacing Animatic 2. The first shot of this verse is choppier than it should be since I couldn't quite manage the camera movement in conjunction with the storyboard changes (this shot is to be a pan right with the Phantom as he slowly walks to the organ).

Click here to see the Verse 3 animatic.

Animatic #4 is up and running (file size 2.5MB), replacing Animatic 3. This verse involves a nearly 180 degree camera move that took the better part of a weekend to calculate due to the various angles of the Lair's walls and the fact that the camera drops to a low angle shot towards the end. Of course, all this work culminates in about 1 second of screen time.

Click here to see the Verse 4 animatic.

My time has been occupied with work of late, so I've had little opportunity to work on the MotN phanimation. However, I have had a chance in my spare time to piece together the next verse of the animatic.

Animatic #5 (file size 2.6MB) has just been uploaded for viewing. A relatively simple sequence in terms of shots -- no outlandish camera moves or anything like that.

Click here to see the Verse 5 animatic.

One freelance job done, three more in the pipeline. But I did manage to get a little bit done on the test animation and the next animatic.

Test Animation: After some tests revealed errors in maintaining volume consistency in a section of the cleaned-up artwork, I went back and redid the offending drawings. I also redid some of the Phantom's motion since I wasn't pleased with the way it was looking. I might add some more head movement to accentuate the lyrics as he leans in, but I'll check to see how many frames will any movement on his part actually be visible.

Animatic: "Floating, falling" is pretty straightforward, but this verse also contains the *most* complex camera move in the entire piece: an x-axis rotation during a movement along an arc as The Phantom and Christine spin around and take their marks next to the covered mirror. The boards themselves don't put across the camera movement as well as they could, but are servicable. Due to the extensive changing of perspective throughout the single-take shot, it may definitely require a CG-rendered background with the 2-D characters animated frame by frame to match the perspective of the set.

I have no clue how I'll actually accomplish this :-) But I'll do my best to capture some of the feeling in the boards when they're converted into animatic #6.

Today marks the release of the sixth verse in animatic form (file size 2.2MB). As stated in the previous entry, this verse has possibly the most difficult camera movement in the entire video: a nearly 180û camera pan along a movement arc -- following the Phantom and Christine as they walk, pivot, and spin to their marks in front of the shattered mirror. Had this been a simple camera pan, layout of the background would be much simpler, but since I wanted a grander sense of movement about them (as well as keeping it in one take until they settle before the mirror), I chose to have the camera move positions within the "set" as well as rotating on its x-axis. The result is a constantly shifting persective throughout the entire shot which very well may require creating a 3-D environment and outputting it in wireframe frame by frame and animating the figures (whose perspective will have to match that of the background) to that.

Click here to see the Verse 6 animatic.

Since the Archive will be on hiatus for the holidays, may I first say thank you to those of you who have kept checking in on the progress of this little pet project of mine. It has been equal parts inspiration and frustration in attempting to bring forth a Phantom performance I would love to see onscreen.

Currently, I have been working with a friend in decorating the Phantom's lair -- using inspiration by all aspects of the character's legacy but dominated by Maria Björnson's stage designs, Ben Carré's 1925 set designs, and descriptions given by Gaston Leroux and Susan Kay. My friend is well-versed in the design of the period, so the end result should be a lair that is very much "lived in." Once work has completed on Christine's bedroom, the final chapter of the animatic may proceed.

Additional work has also been done on the animation for the test shot, mostly clean-up and re-working the Phantom's animation to give it more life.