tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45614447973017016652024-03-13T10:32:30.693-04:00Paws As HandsThe Comic Art Blog
of Michael LapinskiMichael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.comBlogger144125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-55650789791419886662019-02-08T12:31:00.000-05:002019-02-13T13:44:34.917-05:00PASSION ROXX - Sizzle Pitch<div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What happens when a hair metal band from 1986 is frozen by their hairspray and thawed out in 2019?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://passionroxx.com/">PASSION ROXX!</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I directed this short pitch for series at Magnetic Dreams but it's very much the baby of creator John Compton, a former front man who lived the life and survived to tell about it (he died twice).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">New for us to work on something Not Quite Safe For Work. I literally worked on this alongside projects for Sesame Street and a Christian curriculum but it felt our monitors were forever filled with assless chaps.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Below, some of the amazing and ridiculous artwork that went into making Passion Roxx possible.<br /><br />It's rare that we already start a project with such strong art from the client. John arrived with two rounds of character designs by his artist friend Michael "Sheik" Tisdale. They already communicated so much about the look of the characters and the energy of the show.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We knew that we'd be animating this in After Effects with a Duik rig, like we did on <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/2018/09/one-shot-making-of-creator-credits.html">"One Shot,"</a> and we needed to make the characters more animation friendly and, to my eye, cartoony. The guy for the job was <a href="https://devinclark.myportfolio.com/">Devin Clark</a>, creator of "Ugly Americans." He offered two rounds and I immediately fell for the giant hair, doll-like proportion version of the guys. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Along with final clean-up by Ashley Malone and what I crafted as an iconic "Scooby Doo" palette for the band, I felt like we arrived at a fun counterbalance to the crude humor and outsized personalities of glam metal.<br /><br />To my mind, the band was 4 of the 7 Deadly Sins: Taz = Lust, Mike = Sloth, Vic = Pride, Pete = Gluttony. This schema helped me stage and direct the performances going forward.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here are more designs from Ashley. We discovered that our Producer Randall Saba worked at Tower Records in the 80s and used to ride his Vespa on the Strip. With that in mind, I had to make him the inciting incident for their accident.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I also HAVE to share some of Kimberly Cranfield's secondary character designs. They are on screen for too fleeting moments to really show off how good they are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm always grateful for the ways that board artists and animators plus up a shot and this was a spot of excess where I largely felt it was best to just keep saying "yes" and see what hits. Board artist John Fountain started us off right with a little gag of a coughing seagull that I think set the scene and tone of what's to come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We all knew it was a shame when Magnetic animator and board artist Ben Fosselman recently moved to LA because he would have been perfect for the project. Luckily we got him for a few scenes that brought enough of the Ben we needed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And, here's the finished shot by Ashley Malone and myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">So many other key contributions from Tyler Goll on Edit (and utility on just about everything else), John Hill on EFX, and Abdel Pizarro on Comp.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">I also wanted to shout out getting to work again with Keith Conroy. He headed up the Background department when I was at Ninja Turtles and he's always made a crazy amount of detail look easy. Below, some of his designs with color by me and Ashley Malone.</span></div>
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Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-3652608350299352692018-09-26T16:34:00.000-04:002018-09-26T16:34:03.367-04:00ONE SHOT _ Making Of & Creator Credits<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In early June, musician Hunter Hayes got the idea that he wanted to be a cartoon and an animated video for his single "ONE SHOT" was the way to go. Just before Labor Day and 400 man hours later we delivered our shot at it, above.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">From L to R: Lisa Halsey, Rickey Boyd, Trea Bailey, Ashley Malone, James Elston, Hunter Hayes, Tyler Goll, Abdel Pizarro, Michael Lapinski, Joel Gibbs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: left;">Hunter enthusiastically pitched the video to <a href="https://www.magneticdreams.com/">Magnetic Dreams Studio</a> as starring a guy with "shot goggles" who thinks he's a superhero the more he drinks when the reality is far more mundane and messy. I fleshed out the concept from there with COO Jeff Galle and we tugged even more on visualizing those themes in the lyrics that yearned past the good times for another shot to get it right.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: left;">The story would be told from the perspective of a hungover Hunter rebuilding the night from false memories and embarrassing Instagram evidence to the contrary, each chorus a new bar and each verse a new reflection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The first step would be to arrive at a caricature for Hunter (along with band and friends) and a look for the spot that communicated the spirit of "Hunter" and the song. It needed to have a little edge, like Family Guy meets Teen Titans, and a dose of superhero pop like Batman '66.</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wS6j5Q4v4sc/W6vivMCP7pI/AAAAAAAADZM/_ESIFgh5wNUjx2n5SQ99mpEcm_mAfhGGQCLcBGAs/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_03.png" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="1186" height="265" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wS6j5Q4v4sc/W6vivMCP7pI/AAAAAAAADZM/_ESIFgh5wNUjx2n5SQ99mpEcm_mAfhGGQCLcBGAs/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_03.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VyPfDbRYH6A/W6viv75eeLI/AAAAAAAADZU/_h1-gHVVClIKHbI6jHHfZndfDUqUJ5N6QCLcBGAs/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_04a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1237" data-original-width="1600" height="308" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VyPfDbRYH6A/W6viv75eeLI/AAAAAAAADZU/_h1-gHVVClIKHbI6jHHfZndfDUqUJ5N6QCLcBGAs/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_04a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-60eeLmC3_0Q/W6viwMhvbnI/AAAAAAAADZY/EK777yQTmQIyDq2hfTWXEbq4pZX5s9qUwCLcBGAs/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_04b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1237" data-original-width="1600" height="308" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-60eeLmC3_0Q/W6viwMhvbnI/AAAAAAAADZY/EK777yQTmQIyDq2hfTWXEbq4pZX5s9qUwCLcBGAs/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_04b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have genuine affection for a number of the takes above and they would have resulted in a very different spot. But, the approved design by Ashley Malone, below, was that sweet spot that set us on our course. I knew she could cartoon but man it was also fun to find out how much fun she had drawing drunk Hunter's antics. With her design at the fore, Ashley became the lead designer, animator, and core of the project.</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UDQWzNDI3kE/W6viwBMCL_I/AAAAAAAADZc/yMneMUqvoLUltWvYnWP9V5GAhiVJSBH5gCLcBGAs/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_04c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1237" data-original-width="1600" height="308" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UDQWzNDI3kE/W6viwBMCL_I/AAAAAAAADZc/yMneMUqvoLUltWvYnWP9V5GAhiVJSBH5gCLcBGAs/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_04c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">From there, a visual development team consisting of myself, Ashley, Trea Bailey, Eva Helwig, and </span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Jasmine Soompholphakdy worked up the various gags and visuals that populated the story.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BWeabPatRaE/W6vixpWZFYI/AAAAAAAADZo/YR0JMPpTxOkazvDO0tDiFOzg9ASO2GUFwCLcBGAs/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_05a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BWeabPatRaE/W6vixpWZFYI/AAAAAAAADZo/YR0JMPpTxOkazvDO0tDiFOzg9ASO2GUFwCLcBGAs/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_05a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Various board panels from both Ashley and Trea that were later comped</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">together by Joel to create the opening montage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">One thing I couldn't shake was the need for both an unexpected element up front and a confidant to guide Hunter through his trough. I found both in the guise of a llama, llamas look inherently both comforting and condescending, that rode him home. I was prepared for everyone to shoot down the idea but it stuck.</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vjxxj4af3ok/W6viwqDx2XI/AAAAAAAADZg/GzblracZ_p41mR-j4cWYP51IyHCALOJCQCLcBGAs/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1237" data-original-width="1600" height="308" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vjxxj4af3ok/W6viwqDx2XI/AAAAAAAADZg/GzblracZ_p41mR-j4cWYP51IyHCALOJCQCLcBGAs/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Final boards were illustrated by Trea and Ashley and Trea was crucial in illustrating the gorgeous images that would become painted key art at climactic moments. </span></span>Editor Tyler Goll cut the animatic and we were off and running!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: center;">The great thrill of this project was to get the right people on the job and let them do their thing, especially with a quick turn pressure cooker deadline. For example, as sort of an animated superhero parody, I thought to call in a reunion of some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle buds who I knew would knock it out of the park even after almost 2 decades apart.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: center;">Below, I'm looking to credit everyone involved, not only with their job title but also with some of my favorite bits they brought to the project. Any pink text are links to their sites.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://ashleymaloneartist.wixsite.com/portfolio">Ashley Malone</a></b> (lead character designer, lead animator, board artist) - so much of Ashley is in the sheer volume of work that comprises this video. But, I'll forever love the moment I saw her clean-up of that initial side glance that the llama gives Hunter upon waking. Some of her rough sketches of Hunter in action were so good that I couldn't bear to lose anything in cleaning them up so I used them outright.</span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xUxNjgdpD5o/W6vixlU6-zI/AAAAAAAADZk/HSveAKPGJhAEsAogZoar6PamiIN5iN3VwCLcBGAs/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_07a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1600" height="160" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xUxNjgdpD5o/W6vixlU6-zI/AAAAAAAADZk/HSveAKPGJhAEsAogZoar6PamiIN5iN3VwCLcBGAs/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_07a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9KlG3M2MIK8/W6vi03kWakI/AAAAAAAADZw/jdgA49rAOfou-9dWDIGLBZitEIYCJEB_wCLcBGAs/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_07b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="1600" height="165" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9KlG3M2MIK8/W6vi03kWakI/AAAAAAAADZw/jdgA49rAOfou-9dWDIGLBZitEIYCJEB_wCLcBGAs/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_07b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Board panels and final characters by Ashley Malone, final background by Michael Lapinski</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://treabailey.carbonmade.com/">Trea Bailey</a></b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: center;"> (character designer, background designer, animator, board artist) - Trea was a font of ideas, visual solutions to thematic questions, and his innate grasp of composition and body language resulted in such beautiful key illustrations like the band performance and pedal tavern.</span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pir70dVoCvk/W6vi3iBVBTI/AAAAAAAADZ0/8OJTOMjX2l0p4tn7XOD-6t-eW2-3tSzGwCLcBGAs/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1293" data-original-width="1600" height="322" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pir70dVoCvk/W6vi3iBVBTI/AAAAAAAADZ0/8OJTOMjX2l0p4tn7XOD-6t-eW2-3tSzGwCLcBGAs/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_08.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Line art by Trea Bailey, color art by Michael Lapinski</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://vimeo.com/coolbeens">Jasmine </a></b></span><span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/coolbeens"><b>Soompholphakdy</b> </a>(vis dev, sound effects designer and animator) - so glad to have Jasmine's sensibility on this project. I'm a fan of her personal work and just wanted her to be able to infuse it into her work with us, such as, the byzantine way she arrived at the brand for the cinnamon liquor AND THEN making it the sponsor of the race car.</span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZwlAKUxmqM">Eva Helwig</a></b> (vis dev) - Eva knows cartoons and she an her sister are starting their own cartoon empire. Her early takes on Hunter and the llama in particular were key to doing right by their relationship.</span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><a href="http://kimberlycranfield.blogspot.com/"><b>Kimberly Cranfield</b> </a>(character designer) - Kim was only able to be on for a brief while but she owned those hockey players.</span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://jameselston.myportfolio.com/">James Elston</a></b> (character clean-up) - Jim's a former Disney clean-up artist who we called onto the ice in overtime and delivered on finishes for hockey player key art.</span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><b>Lisa Halsey</b> (money lady, Predators fan) - a die-hard Predators fan, she refused to let me name our doppelgänger hockey team "The Nashville Noodlers" and instead christened them "The Smashville Catflingers."</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2ZCcfTvMB7A/W6vivQ_sexI/AAAAAAAADZQ/XA23HgUIt10UgAzXf6sQbFY_szUTK7kmQCLcBGAs/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2ZCcfTvMB7A/W6vivQ_sexI/AAAAAAAADZQ/XA23HgUIt10UgAzXf6sQbFY_szUTK7kmQCLcBGAs/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Character art by Ashley Malone and James Elston, color art by Michael Lapinski</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Rickey_Boyd">Rickey Boyd</a></b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: center;"> (character clean-up, animator) - a man of many talents, it was great to get Rickey on this one actually performing one of his early loves, animation. Quick with the pencil, I was also fortunate to get him to draft an expressive moment of the pedal tavern passengers behind Hunter.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/solblight">Keith Conroy</a></b> (background design) - the man drew some of the most complex, perspective-driven, cityscape backgrounds in my time at Ninja Turtles and made total sense out of them. Who better to do a comic version of the honkey tonks of Nashville's Broadway? No one.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aNNPvXDUySs/W6viywCnkLI/AAAAAAAADZs/3V4xKM4s0pMQ6xhWgoOyMA7kYVjax2DSwCLcBGAs/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_09a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="935" data-original-width="1600" height="233" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aNNPvXDUySs/W6viywCnkLI/AAAAAAAADZs/3V4xKM4s0pMQ6xhWgoOyMA7kYVjax2DSwCLcBGAs/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_09a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tQ-29FZdyPw/W6vi4mCi0uI/AAAAAAAADZ4/jannMYy9Lo8w3uv_K_74jk-Sh81ltZ9tgCLcBGAs/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_09b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="935" data-original-width="1600" height="232" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tQ-29FZdyPw/W6vi4mCi0uI/AAAAAAAADZ4/jannMYy9Lo8w3uv_K_74jk-Sh81ltZ9tgCLcBGAs/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_09b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Background design by Keith Conroy, color art by Michael Lapinski</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.artstation.com/e-mann">Emilio Lopez</a></b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: center;"> (digital painting) - E-Mann has the touch. A painter for cartoons, comics, and video games he's got a style that is both dynamic and nuanced and very necessary for the key art here.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.jtapp.com/">Jimmy Tran</a></b> (digital painting) - I didn't have the chance to work with Jimmy at Turtles but he quickly became a go-to color guy, making sense out of complexity and, in this case, making pedal taverns soar.</span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><b>Abdel Pizarro</b> (animator) - I knew any of the action shots belonged in Abdel's hands as well as crafting all of the anime blurs. But, it's the addition of a little butt wiggle to "broken Hunter" that will forever be his mark on this piece. </span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms, sans-serif;"><b>Shinichiro Matsuda</b> (animator) - Shin has done great visual effects and comp work with Magnetic but it wasn't until "Doing It" that he cracked me up as a character animator. He's responsible for some of my favorite shots in both, the belt buckle slow dance in "Doing It" and Hunter stealing the drinks here.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3LZPE5oF5_o/W6vnZi_L3tI/AAAAAAAADag/lpgabWTXxow4ck1N_vZPO47ST7NqJlqZQCLcBGAs/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="897" data-original-width="1600" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3LZPE5oF5_o/W6vnZi_L3tI/AAAAAAAADag/lpgabWTXxow4ck1N_vZPO47ST7NqJlqZQCLcBGAs/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Line art by Trea Bailey, color art by Emilio Lopez and Michael Lapinski</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.youngleif.com/the-short/">Joël Gibbs</a></b> (comp artist) - already directing several other projects of his own, </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Joël jumped on here and brought above what was needed in turning each shot green and working with us through the 25th hour.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Tyler Goll</b> (editor) - from literally start to finish, it's Tyler that got all our ideas to fit and hit. He also cut a perfect promo for the video using Jasmine's sound effects.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Beau Sherman</b> (production Coordinator) - you want a calming presence to make sense of the chaos. That's Beau.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Randy Saba</b> (producer) - beyond staffing this gig, the man has great taste in cartoons and I always knew I could trust his feedback.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><b>Rhea Borzack</b> (head of production) - the backbone of production/ comp, Rhea carries so much with grace, including a drunken Hunter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Special thanks too for <b>Jeff Galle</b> and <b>Mike Halsey</b> for making this happen with Mike Dupree at Warner Music and being key sounding boards throughout the process.</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-raOKLjARiMM/W6vi5e1yAgI/AAAAAAAADaY/a5yZfK8z6TcFK4E3XrOCo8mbvb8A0amCgCEwYBhgL/s1600/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="1600" height="222" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-raOKLjARiMM/W6vi5e1yAgI/AAAAAAAADaY/a5yZfK8z6TcFK4E3XrOCo8mbvb8A0amCgCEwYBhgL/s400/Hunter%2BHayes%2Bblog_10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Line art by Trea Bailey, color art by Emilio Lopez and Michael Lapinski</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; text-align: center;">OK, if THAT wasn't enough for you, here's another 40 minutes below of me talking about creating the video with Hunter and Trea. Much respect for Hunter for not only wanting to do a project of this kind but also for launching from our studio in a total Made In Nashville fashion. It's rare to not only have this sort of creative freedom with his already cool creation but to also to be able to process it in public after it's all said and done.</span></div>
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Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-85538745877534274922018-03-29T15:45:00.000-04:002018-03-29T15:45:42.465-04:00THE FRIST CENTER - Choose You Own Adventure...<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At the beginning of the year, I had the great pleasure to team up with the <a href="http://fristcenter.org/">Frist Center</a> in Nashville to create a "Choose Your Own Adventure"-styled book to accompany their exhibit ROME: City & Empire.<br /><br />The brainchild of curator Ginny Soenksen and with design by Phil El Rassi, "Fortune & Glory" offers a branching narrative and context to lead the viewer across time and dozens of artifacts in the gallery space. </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As the protagonist, our museum-goer steps into Rome in the role of merchant, soldier, or revolutionary, charting a fate that ends in acclaim or death.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For my part, I illustrated 20 images, including the cover, in a limited palette that evoked both art of the era and mid-century American prints on the subject.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The exhibit is up now and here are some examples:</span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u4OdldUJSgo/Wr1BXWn1YqI/AAAAAAAADMY/A0kuvQNINDYmoUr1YkbWdIBcqpV7cRShACLcBGAs/s1600/FNG_00_ART.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1146" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u4OdldUJSgo/Wr1BXWn1YqI/AAAAAAAADMY/A0kuvQNINDYmoUr1YkbWdIBcqpV7cRShACLcBGAs/s400/FNG_00_ART.jpg" width="286" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Sdqn5xfmQiU/Wr1BX6B1MgI/AAAAAAAADMg/MCQGmqtysuo9OQtmm5Ot2FT0goiz3IhVACLcBGAs/s1600/FNG_26_ART.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1129" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Sdqn5xfmQiU/Wr1BX6B1MgI/AAAAAAAADMg/MCQGmqtysuo9OQtmm5Ot2FT0goiz3IhVACLcBGAs/s400/FNG_26_ART.jpg" width="281" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span>Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-86222397504796683162017-11-15T11:07:00.000-05:002017-11-15T11:25:59.451-05:00SESAME STREET _ The Magical Wand Chase<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fb77nr9hvFs/WgvA4qpvS4I/AAAAAAAADFQ/TT_K3ikuqo8iiXYc7T4qH5-XpELniuLsQCLcBGAs/s1600/01_ss_getThatWand_birdPics_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="874" data-original-width="1600" height="217" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fb77nr9hvFs/WgvA4qpvS4I/AAAAAAAADFQ/TT_K3ikuqo8iiXYc7T4qH5-XpELniuLsQCLcBGAs/s400/01_ss_getThatWand_birdPics_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I got to design a Muppet! Anyone that knows me knows that Sesame and Jim Henson were essential to my becoming an artist. After several years of Art Directing for Sesame at Magnetic Dreams, the opportunity arose to design the fully CG antagonist for the new TV special, THE MAGICAL WAND CHASE. The movie was a fantastic adventure for the Sesame characters to leave the Street and visit other diverse neighborhoods.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The character, voiced by Elizabeth Banks, was written as a hapless villain who mistakes Abby's wand for a stick and triggers magical mayhem as the Sesame friends attempt to retrieve it. She needed to have a distinguishable pink head feather, but, beyond that, the design parameters were fairly open. Here's the sketch that led to the final design, chosen particularly because of her small stature and innocent gaze.</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DJ_kQYSLJ30/WgvBWaR8DhI/AAAAAAAADFU/UN4UrL6kq4IUxav-R6elsY4RVQi5OcE0wCLcBGAs/s1600/02_SS_GTW_birdRough_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1237" data-original-width="1600" height="308" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DJ_kQYSLJ30/WgvBWaR8DhI/AAAAAAAADFU/UN4UrL6kq4IUxav-R6elsY4RVQi5OcE0wCLcBGAs/s400/02_SS_GTW_birdRough_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Creative Director </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Rickey Boyd </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">and I worked up a book of designs for Sesame to select from. I tried different varieties of Muppet anatomy and felt pretty strongly about making her a lavender that would find its place in the rainbow palette of her six Sesame pals. Here are some unused designs:</span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dAG8y6_YsAc/WgvBXI56YGI/AAAAAAAADFk/WHYzJKkiiZ0lVywXotXMp8-tpgozjQnNwCLcBGAs/s1600/03_SS_GTW_birdRough_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1237" data-original-width="1600" height="308" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dAG8y6_YsAc/WgvBXI56YGI/AAAAAAAADFk/WHYzJKkiiZ0lVywXotXMp8-tpgozjQnNwCLcBGAs/s400/03_SS_GTW_birdRough_02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">FRONT and SIDE reference for the modeler.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Unsurfaced model by Ryan Kittleson (he nailed this thing on the first try with minor tweaks)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Surfacing reference for texture artist Joe Jones, who did an amazing job feathering with Ornatrix and capturing the fine detail of foam and fur.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There she is!</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EJ1diREWe7g/WgvBv7_zz6I/AAAAAAAADFw/rv57_f87GMUmSYrs9kuWgkXaqKpjF8c1gCLcBGAs/s1600/07_ss_getThatWand_birdPics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="874" data-original-width="1600" height="217" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EJ1diREWe7g/WgvBv7_zz6I/AAAAAAAADFw/rv57_f87GMUmSYrs9kuWgkXaqKpjF8c1gCLcBGAs/s400/07_ss_getThatWand_birdPics.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Rickey's also a Muppeteer and, with rigger Steven Alley, donned a glove to create a mo-cap performance of the Bird with nuanced head and lip synch and with all of the immediacy of a puppet. Our animation team (Jamie Coakley, Beau Sherman, Ben Fosselmann) continued to bring her to life as scenic and comp were responsible for the hot air balloons and CG city. The focus of my role on the project ended up being primarily on logo and opening and closing credit design.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The working title for the special was "Get That Wand" which I liked for its call-to-action kinship with "Follow That Bird."</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LnZgXsxhYW4/WgvBmcXFS8I/AAAAAAAADFs/hrJ237zTYoM1TY7F9g4xrU9NRulhG3lbgCLcBGAs/s1600/08_SS_getThatWand_logo_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="935" data-original-width="1279" height="291" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LnZgXsxhYW4/WgvBmcXFS8I/AAAAAAAADFs/hrJ237zTYoM1TY7F9g4xrU9NRulhG3lbgCLcBGAs/s400/08_SS_getThatWand_logo_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I was inspired both by the construction paper art of the reading nook on set and also the "Around the World in 80 Days" hot air balloon focus of the Special to arrive at this final design.</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mHL6IDbzGoY/WgvBybVPatI/AAAAAAAADF4/svDlp1jsmX0yDm2Hb-qBpDSWRx3maReMwCLcBGAs/s1600/09_ss_getThatWand_logo_FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1134" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mHL6IDbzGoY/WgvBybVPatI/AAAAAAAADF4/svDlp1jsmX0yDm2Hb-qBpDSWRx3maReMwCLcBGAs/s400/09_ss_getThatWand_logo_FINAL.jpg" width="352" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have the artist pack rat tendency to not throw away anything and the construction paper in the background is actually aged and bleached almost 20 years in my art supplies from college.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">After arriving at the cut paper look for the titles, I discovered that Sesame already had a similar style in their consumer products guides. I made sure a few fan-favorite characters found their way into the opening airplane.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sesame requested that we include Penelope Penguin (hysterically performed by </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Leslie Carrara-Rudolph)</span> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">from Elmo's "Airplane the Musical"</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IS2WrJoVKQs/WgvBxuzR4uI/AAAAAAAADF0/GWQExEBj3-8k8LV2FQpjKTwc5poThc8xQCLcBGAs/s1600/10_SS_MWC_plane_ML.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="1600" height="102" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IS2WrJoVKQs/WgvBxuzR4uI/AAAAAAAADF0/GWQExEBj3-8k8LV2FQpjKTwc5poThc8xQCLcBGAs/s400/10_SS_MWC_plane_ML.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For the closing credits, I was inspired by Pixar to continue the story in the moments after the final frame. It was important to me to reunite the friends with Nina, introduce her to the Bird, and let the rest of the neighborhood have their own sunset balloon festival. Rickey lent his hand to a number of these designs and Ashley Malone was my right hand in finishing them off and animating these shots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This last frame was a treat to design as a coda to the Special and, hopefully, a chance for us to get to revisit our new "Elizabird" friend on Sesame Street.</span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s1RbsDL1Ds4/WgvCJSYuQvI/AAAAAAAADGQ/7rH-OJExhHkzv2MMeWAlAONoNML07jTPACLcBGAs/s1600/14_SS_MWC_credits_Shot911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="859" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s1RbsDL1Ds4/WgvCJSYuQvI/AAAAAAAADGQ/7rH-OJExhHkzv2MMeWAlAONoNML07jTPACLcBGAs/s400/14_SS_MWC_credits_Shot911.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-3319381152890437532017-09-08T16:45:00.001-04:002017-09-08T16:45:19.586-04:00SESAME STREET _ The Count's Castle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YO9RGXT3HJQ/WbL9OrO6U2I/AAAAAAAADCQ/aKR2jfjV2RYca5th3CHciqbiCv9K9JGawCLcBGAs/s1600/01_countCastle_visDev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="1515" height="222" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YO9RGXT3HJQ/WbL9OrO6U2I/AAAAAAAADCQ/aKR2jfjV2RYca5th3CHciqbiCv9K9JGawCLcBGAs/s400/01_countCastle_visDev.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Concept Art</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">A little while ago, I had the tremendous opportunity to design the exterior to the Count's Castle for Sesame Street as Art Director at </span><a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Magnetic Dreams Studio</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px;">I based it on a number of his previous castles (on-air sets, book illustrations, theme park attractions) and situated it in the middle of a park, a la Belvedere Castle in Central Park.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CwOnIIRuJVw/WbL9OhYaKmI/AAAAAAAADCM/d7t4k_MP8XsLo45wqVThKh1j7iHJpGiNgCLcBGAs/s1600/01_countCastle_visDev2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1477" data-original-width="1600" height="368" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CwOnIIRuJVw/WbL9OhYaKmI/AAAAAAAADCM/d7t4k_MP8XsLo45wqVThKh1j7iHJpGiNgCLcBGAs/s400/01_countCastle_visDev2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Overhead Reference</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">It's finally seeing the light of day in this Sesame Street: Trick or Treat DVD and you can see it in action in the promo here:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here are some details of the model by Stephanie Miranda Goldstein and Brad Applebaum:</span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D3964GWIpFg/WbL9O5iQpZI/AAAAAAAADCY/VIoGeHKVeDUJZeW0TQqm7YpmelyX2ZlEACLcBGAs/s1600/04_gate_textured_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="816" data-original-width="852" height="382" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D3964GWIpFg/WbL9O5iQpZI/AAAAAAAADCY/VIoGeHKVeDUJZeW0TQqm7YpmelyX2ZlEACLcBGAs/s400/04_gate_textured_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C-JlYc8i9iw/WbL9PQyGddI/AAAAAAAADCg/3knWKnB6PC4RD4DbOY6Myiqbf7RWICpHACLcBGAs/s1600/04_guardTower_textured_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="562" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C-JlYc8i9iw/WbL9PQyGddI/AAAAAAAADCg/3knWKnB6PC4RD4DbOY6Myiqbf7RWICpHACLcBGAs/s400/04_guardTower_textured_01.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5fl3LHU9JIA/WbL9PDZdQCI/AAAAAAAADCc/7YWnOikpurscYGi3RQyNZhLO8Y4p9nGEACLcBGAs/s1600/04_secondFloor_bayWindow_3Quarter_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="863" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5fl3LHU9JIA/WbL9PDZdQCI/AAAAAAAADCc/7YWnOikpurscYGi3RQyNZhLO8Y4p9nGEACLcBGAs/s400/04_secondFloor_bayWindow_3Quarter_03.jpg" width="387" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A look at the full model:</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v3MuQtQYTVw/WbL9OX1FMaI/AAAAAAAADC4/PYIhVxdvfn8yl83bcKsKnjcdbbIjyu9hgCEwYBhgL/s1600/02_castle_front_textured_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="1457" height="243" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v3MuQtQYTVw/WbL9OX1FMaI/AAAAAAAADC4/PYIhVxdvfn8yl83bcKsKnjcdbbIjyu9hgCEwYBhgL/s400/02_castle_front_textured_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tgclkMV4AW4/WbL9OzW632I/AAAAAAAADCU/PRxWX-NCMQ4BBiJyv4MWNMQ20JflxRVOgCLcBGAs/s1600/03_castle_textured_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="1336" height="265" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tgclkMV4AW4/WbL9OzW632I/AAAAAAAADCU/PRxWX-NCMQ4BBiJyv4MWNMQ20JflxRVOgCLcBGAs/s400/03_castle_textured_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And, a comparison of the final lighting and rendering by Don Culwell and compositing by Rhea Borzak:</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vycOE9FXmiE/WbL9PDGZ_dI/AAAAAAAADC0/rw_uaiTeUQon4mUQIcO5lQRPnNBBvNhawCEwYBhgL/s1600/05_countCastle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="1023" height="221" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vycOE9FXmiE/WbL9PDGZ_dI/AAAAAAAADC0/rw_uaiTeUQon4mUQIcO5lQRPnNBBvNhawCEwYBhgL/s400/05_countCastle.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yqlniftQ51k/WbL9PxrQKYI/AAAAAAAADCw/iDXx99ofEtUpoRVjpIf3Till3TV0mYJsQCLcBGAs/s1600/06_countCastle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="1024" height="223" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yqlniftQ51k/WbL9PxrQKYI/AAAAAAAADCw/iDXx99ofEtUpoRVjpIf3Till3TV0mYJsQCLcBGAs/s400/06_countCastle.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zj7h_9OmjIQ/WbL9PZ_eCwI/AAAAAAAADCo/C7EYTEdrPQgTK6S4UabBluAE-CTPG6wagCLcBGAs/s1600/07_countCastle_overhead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="1002" height="222" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zj7h_9OmjIQ/WbL9PZ_eCwI/AAAAAAAADCo/C7EYTEdrPQgTK6S4UabBluAE-CTPG6wagCLcBGAs/s400/07_countCastle_overhead.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3_5ptKWIdgc/WbL9P2d4reI/AAAAAAAADCs/N6aiH-r0G60Z1BrV8i-3WMuKvkwBL14iACLcBGAs/s1600/08_countCastle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3_5ptKWIdgc/WbL9P2d4reI/AAAAAAAADCs/N6aiH-r0G60Z1BrV8i-3WMuKvkwBL14iACLcBGAs/s400/08_countCastle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-64021325791929417642017-07-20T00:14:00.000-04:002017-07-20T17:55:08.808-04:00DOING IT TO COUNTRY SONGS - Backstage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hw13Fd65spI/WXAaUNYn1aI/AAAAAAAAC-M/OfU1ZYFRVDUq6pPdRjLakwQmlpnivihPQCLcBGAs/s1600/Belt%2Bbuckle%2Bfinal5-26-17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1500" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hw13Fd65spI/WXAaUNYn1aI/AAAAAAAAC-M/OfU1ZYFRVDUq6pPdRjLakwQmlpnivihPQCLcBGAs/s400/Belt%2Bbuckle%2Bfinal5-26-17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For about two weeks of my life, I was consumed by a country song. Specifically, DOING IT TO COUNTRY SONGS by Blake Shelton & The Oak Ridge Boys.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/">Magnetic Dreams</a> producer Jeff Galle pitched the concept of Blake and the Oaks as country critters living and loving around a local watering hole, Lake Shelton. When we landed the job, one of the few notes we got was that Blake needed to be a deer. Blake Shelton loves deer, he thanks them on every album. And, although it’s no easy task to caricature someone as a deer, Blake Buck was born.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oRP-qQZ31DM/WXAavUpw9PI/AAAAAAAAC-Q/1sn0GOXut3IKh5WV8Hdg22_6XMInPzbegCLcBGAs/s1600/DOINGIT_CH_roughs_Michael_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="911" data-original-width="1500" height="242" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oRP-qQZ31DM/WXAavUpw9PI/AAAAAAAAC-Q/1sn0GOXut3IKh5WV8Hdg22_6XMInPzbegCLcBGAs/s400/DOINGIT_CH_roughs_Michael_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">an earlier more graphic version of Blake</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nNGOQM3ZM84/WXAZCx_OlUI/AAAAAAAAC98/UPKQ60wrtgM1iYrA-Nj02IxIB7N8UyZVACLcBGAs/s1600/DOINGIT_CH_blake_guitar_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1157" data-original-width="1500" height="307" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nNGOQM3ZM84/WXAZCx_OlUI/AAAAAAAAC98/UPKQ60wrtgM1iYrA-Nj02IxIB7N8UyZVACLcBGAs/s400/DOINGIT_CH_blake_guitar_02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">final version of Blake</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">I’m grateful for the opportunity to shepherd this project on an incredibly tight turnaround at the service of country royalty, a devoted fanbase, and this cheeky barroom tune. I did a little bit of everything on the spot, from creating the narrative and look and Blake to peppering the place with easter eggs, but the real thrill was to captain an A-Team of talent in getting it done. Thanks to Mike Halsey and Don Culwell for bringing us all together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Full credits and links below along with my favorite contribution from each artist.</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T4ntAmm1ljU/WXAa0epoNWI/AAAAAAAAC-U/HSK7HO4IiFocygC8mugUrLmhJIui_jyTACLcBGAs/s1600/DOINGIT_CH_roughs_Rickey_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="911" data-original-width="1500" height="242" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T4ntAmm1ljU/WXAa0epoNWI/AAAAAAAAC-U/HSK7HO4IiFocygC8mugUrLmhJIui_jyTACLcBGAs/s400/DOINGIT_CH_roughs_Rickey_02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Character Designer</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0101890/">Rickey Boyd</a></b> - Fun fact: Rickey once designed animatronic animal versions of the Oak Ridge Boys for a proposed theme restaurant, but that’s a story for him to tell. Here, Rickey designed most of the characters, immediately capturing the Oaks but also lending a sultry charm to our lady skunk that I didn’t know he had in him.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wlmsdbw02lI/WXAaK2tfQMI/AAAAAAAAC-I/csdO5g1ijy4rat-MmmeWBzDfLGrRybiUACLcBGAs/s1600/DOINGIT_CH_roughs_Ben.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1385" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wlmsdbw02lI/WXAaK2tfQMI/AAAAAAAAC-I/csdO5g1ijy4rat-MmmeWBzDfLGrRybiUACLcBGAs/s320/DOINGIT_CH_roughs_Ben.jpg" width="277" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">an unused version of William by Ben Fosselman</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/treabaileyart/">Trea Bailey</a></b> - My right hand on the project, Trea did finishes on characters and especially made his mark on the crowd and his final version of Ol’ Red the bartender.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://ashleymaloneartist.wixsite.com/portfolio">Ashley Malone</a></b> - That moose! The utensils on the antlers is a sight gag that still makes me nod when I see it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://kimberlycranfield.com/">Kimberly Cranfield</a></b> - She owned the raccoon, in all his underlit glory.</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NT3eK6xpeAA/WXAZiTafsyI/AAAAAAAAC-A/s_GS0nVNwTAaUuSfW1HWSJexc6hNic80ACLcBGAs/s1600/DOINGIT_CH_crowd_front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1500" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NT3eK6xpeAA/WXAZiTafsyI/AAAAAAAAC-A/s_GS0nVNwTAaUuSfW1HWSJexc6hNic80ACLcBGAs/s400/DOINGIT_CH_crowd_front.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sZD-s1pzX_U/WXAa9kYIXZI/AAAAAAAAC-Y/69tdMmdBUFEk3Qs0bGAH1pSRrXymBzHMwCLcBGAs/s1600/doingit_BG_opening%2B_more%2Badded.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="841" data-original-width="1500" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sZD-s1pzX_U/WXAa9kYIXZI/AAAAAAAAC-Y/69tdMmdBUFEk3Qs0bGAH1pSRrXymBzHMwCLcBGAs/s400/doingit_BG_opening%2B_more%2Badded.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">detail of the exterior BG - I wanted to show off Joe's boats!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://joesartwork.blogspot.com/">Joe Spadaford</a></b> - I knew I needed a background designer/ painter who could own the exterior. Joe created a centerpiece for our video, even though he had never worked in the style before.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Amanda Wood</b> - Mandi painted all of those Bill Wray-inspired detailed DOING IT stills. In the thick of things, when I received her painting of the buckle, I knew we had our key art and the heart of the piece.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&text=Mike+Lapinski&search-alias=books&field-author=Mike+Lapinski&sort=relevancerank">Michael Lapinski</a></b> - hey, that’s me. I was just pleasantly surprised they let me ride with the John Hubley meets country-fried Samurai Jack style I cooked up.</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6NuaF2iaQJg/WXAaC0Gb88I/AAAAAAAAC-E/TeN4wodXC0kFjoX4KOk1AnlKA9HGeL1rACLcBGAs/s1600/02I_BG_redsBarNight_Int_CAM2_MED_NIGHT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="1500" height="223" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6NuaF2iaQJg/WXAaC0Gb88I/AAAAAAAAC-E/TeN4wodXC0kFjoX4KOk1AnlKA9HGeL1rACLcBGAs/s400/02I_BG_redsBarNight_Int_CAM2_MED_NIGHT.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Kimberly Cranfield</b> - Kim and Ashley pulled double duty on this. All-Stars, both. Kim really brought the raccoon to the forefront as the bar’s soul.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Ashley Malone</b> - Although she brought a sly charm to the Oaks, its her spastic chattering of Joe Beaver at the end that never fails to make me smile.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Shin Matsuda</b> - Shin hadn’t done much character animating before but man did he ever nail that smushy slow dance buckle grind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><a href="https://vimeo.com/awesometania">John Hill</a></b> - Fire! Once I knew we would have John on the piece I had to have him animate the few EFX we had.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><a href="http://benfosselman.weebly.com/">Ben Fosselman</a></b> - I couldn’t imagine doing this without Ben on it and luckily we got him long enough for some Crow meets Hound romance and Richard Frog’s post-show snack.</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FSY8JVknYvY/WXAjvLbhwJI/AAAAAAAAC-o/r1y5BNg-6xItF1noEpqlkm139ObnDyTCQCLcBGAs/s1600/fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="1433" height="217" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FSY8JVknYvY/WXAjvLbhwJI/AAAAAAAAC-o/r1y5BNg-6xItF1noEpqlkm139ObnDyTCQCLcBGAs/s400/fire.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Rhea Borzak</b> - As always, everything flows through Rhea and it wouldn’t get out the door or look nearly as good without her. But, it was her late addition jowel jiggle to Ben’s hound animation that I applaud her for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Shin Matsuda</b> - blazing fast as a compositor but now I want to get him character animating again</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><a href="https://vimeo.com/fourthcrown">Joel Robertson</a></b> - with more than a few music videos under his belt, Joel livened up our camera and delivered on the red light scene change in middle of the piece.</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--QXbmLDE1R0/WXAbXt3H7kI/AAAAAAAAC-c/ikni0CsX5iUgjfJLI3URLKoeJegy5FIiwCLcBGAs/s1600/DOINGIT_colorChange.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1500" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--QXbmLDE1R0/WXAbXt3H7kI/AAAAAAAAC-c/ikni0CsX5iUgjfJLI3URLKoeJegy5FIiwCLcBGAs/s400/DOINGIT_colorChange.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thanks team, thanks Blake, thanks Warner Music, thanks Lindsay, and, most of all, thanks to the deer.</span></div>
Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-29189677212515121632015-12-07T14:50:00.000-05:002015-12-15T16:01:25.350-05:00SESAME STREET _ Smart Cookies<div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--fAvkSaREn0/VmXDtfExr4I/AAAAAAAACi4/NMIRux3sDr8/s1600/city_B_night_v005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--fAvkSaREn0/VmXDtfExr4I/AAAAAAAACi4/NMIRux3sDr8/s400/city_B_night_v005.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Smart_Cookies" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms', sans-serif;">SMART COOKIES</a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> will be a new recurring segment on Season 46 of SESAME STREET (the one premiering on HBO in January).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The segments star <a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Cookie_Monster">Cookie Monster</a> as the rookie agent of a team of crime-fighting cookies called "Smart Cookies." His teammates include leader <a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Chipowski">Chipowski</a>, tech-guy <a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Figby">Figby</a> and clue-giver <a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Miss_Fortune">Miss Fortune</a>. In each segment, Cookie Monster learns about self-control and regulation as the team thwarts the dastardly attacks of a villain known simply as "<a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Crumb">The Crumb</a>."</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5_HQZlmfNpA/VmXDrBnjqpI/AAAAAAAACiM/BhTup4ue4hQ/s1600/Sesame-Street-Smart-Cookies.png" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5_HQZlmfNpA/VmXDrBnjqpI/AAAAAAAACiM/BhTup4ue4hQ/s400/Sesame-Street-Smart-Cookies.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here's a preview episode on Sesame's YouTube page:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As with other Sesame segments like <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/search/label/Super%20Grover%202.0">SUPER GROVER 2.0</a>, <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/search/label/Elmo%20the%20Musical">ELMO THE MUSICAL</a>, and <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/search/label/Crumby%20Pictures">COOKIE'S CRUMBY PICTURES</a>, the Muppets are shot on green screen and it's the privilege of the artists and animators at <a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/">Magnetic Dreams Studio</a> in Nashville to create and integrate the world around them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I thought I'd use this post to share some development art and to credit the team involved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As an educational parody of an action adventure cop show, we first explored the possibility of doing 2D illustrated backgrounds like the ones below (by me with layouts by Creative Director Rickey Boyd).</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kvoO63VP9Sg/VmXDsII_A9I/AAAAAAAACic/fL21i7_7odM/s1600/SC_BG_skyline_color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="260" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kvoO63VP9Sg/VmXDsII_A9I/AAAAAAAACic/fL21i7_7odM/s400/SC_BG_skyline_color.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZUeleQ2TnXM/VmXDsMz_FzI/AAAAAAAACiY/NOSv5ECcltw/s1600/SC_BG_street_rough01c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZUeleQ2TnXM/VmXDsMz_FzI/AAAAAAAACiY/NOSv5ECcltw/s400/SC_BG_street_rough01c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ultimately, Sesame asked us to build a world from baked goods and packaging that complimented Cookie's "fish out of water" position on the team. Below you can see some stills of the day and night versions of the city exterior featured in the open. All assembly and renders by <a href="http://www.timcrowson.com/smart-cookies/">Tim Crowson</a>.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7hyJAIGuAlU/Vmm452Oh6kI/AAAAAAAACkY/PhKOfV_LZ9c/s1600/SC_open_cityAssets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7hyJAIGuAlU/Vmm452Oh6kI/AAAAAAAACkY/PhKOfV_LZ9c/s400/SC_open_cityAssets.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(my Photoshop style frame reference for city asset CG modeling)</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HXudmQZiCac/VmXDt0YGybI/AAAAAAAACjE/Ruh8hohrB7w/s1600/city_rev_v007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HXudmQZiCac/VmXDt0YGybI/AAAAAAAACjE/Ruh8hohrB7w/s400/city_rev_v007.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(<span style="font-size: x-small;">unsurfaced CG models)</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qiXSWHLPCn4/VmXDsI_nyaI/AAAAAAAACiU/BUpdXQjvzgI/s1600/city_A_day_v004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qiXSWHLPCn4/VmXDsI_nyaI/AAAAAAAACiU/BUpdXQjvzgI/s400/city_A_day_v004.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ext City Day 01)</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-774VHaCsIT8/VmXDsj55arI/AAAAAAAACig/uV9Eihsgs_s/s1600/city_A_night_v005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-774VHaCsIT8/VmXDsj55arI/AAAAAAAACig/uV9Eihsgs_s/s400/city_A_night_v005.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ext City Night 01)</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tfSjjp0QiPQ/VmXDshNECII/AAAAAAAACik/hJqenkB_MOc/s1600/city_A_night_v006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tfSjjp0QiPQ/VmXDshNECII/AAAAAAAACik/hJqenkB_MOc/s400/city_A_night_v006.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ext City Night 01, with final color correction and compositing)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Smart Cookies drive around in a tactical vehicle that I always imagined as a cross between a cookie jar and the A-Team van. Modeling by Brad Applebaum, surfacing by Stephanie Goldstein and Tim Crowson based on my design. Will there be a toy? (I hope there's a toy) Also fun incorporating kitchen details into the interior consoles.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jvBauW0gOdE/VmXDuQwToII/AAAAAAAACjU/WT2M1JXJ19I/s1600/jarCarExterior_rev_v005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jvBauW0gOdE/VmXDuQwToII/AAAAAAAACjU/WT2M1JXJ19I/s400/jarCarExterior_rev_v005.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eKnR0XUvnYg/VmXDt8N4X6I/AAAAAAAACjM/zc3t0Qg5cyA/s1600/jarCarExterior_rev_v001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eKnR0XUvnYg/VmXDt8N4X6I/AAAAAAAACjM/zc3t0Qg5cyA/s400/jarCarExterior_rev_v001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Lastly, a look at the classy gallery interior of the preview episode. We're just about finished with all of season one and have created our full share of corrugated cardboard and piped icing.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IqKF62NpMNo/VmXDur_7XEI/AAAAAAAACjg/GY6lAx4SZ2k/s1600/lounge_surfaced_v005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IqKF62NpMNo/VmXDur_7XEI/AAAAAAAACjg/GY6lAx4SZ2k/s400/lounge_surfaced_v005.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I love working with this Magnetic team and so much talent and ingenuity went into developing the look for this show. Here's a rundown of those involved:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Executive Producer - Mike Halsey</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Producer - Randy Saba</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Creative Director - Rickey Boyd</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">VFX Supervisor - Julian Herrera</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Storyboard Artists - Benjamin Fosselman, Kimberly Cranfield</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Concept Designer - Kimberly Cranfield</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">CG Modelers/Assembly Artists - Tim Crowson, Brad Applebaum, Stephanie Miranda Goldstein, Wenie Rahardja, Don Culwell, <a href="http://www.andrewtroutfx.com/">Andrew Trout</a>, Meghan Connor</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Dynamics - Wenie Rahardja</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Compositors - Rhea Borzak, Josh Stafford, Judd Eschliman, Abdel Pizarro, Joel Robertson</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Rigging - Steven Alley</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Animators - James Coakley, Richard Aldridge, Abdel Pizarro</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Money Lady - Lisa Halsey</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Computer Guy - James Ramsden</span></div>
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Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-68536426249513544822015-04-06T11:52:00.000-04:002015-04-07T11:46:26.390-04:00SESAME STREET _ Game of Chairs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JQk_1DHECRM/VSP5mKtnMUI/AAAAAAAACaU/pFTIRz1obk8/s1600/header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JQk_1DHECRM/VSP5mKtnMUI/AAAAAAAACaU/pFTIRz1obk8/s1600/header.jpg" height="95" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Recreate one of the all-time classic opening credits but substitute chairs for castles? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">No problem. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Especially with Stephanie Miranda Goldstein and </span><a href="http://www.timcrowson.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tim Crowson</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> on some stellar modeling. This was another fun job for </span><a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Magnetic Dreams</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> to partner with Sesame Street on one of their pop culture parodies.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dhWUFXvaZjo" width="400"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Morbid inside jokes for "Game of Thrones" fans and a great use of Grover in this one. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here's a closer look at some of the details and my development art.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HaPMycwPujg/VSKq63-sZCI/AAAAAAAACZw/3KqO-x4CS-g/s1600/gameOfChairs_black.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HaPMycwPujg/VSKq63-sZCI/AAAAAAAACZw/3KqO-x4CS-g/s1600/gameOfChairs_black.jpg" height="242" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aoPjvBpjQvc/VSP5lQ3Oi2I/AAAAAAAACaI/5taVdBaTmkU/s1600/GOC_chair_Animation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aoPjvBpjQvc/VSP5lQ3Oi2I/AAAAAAAACaI/5taVdBaTmkU/s1600/GOC_chair_Animation.jpg" height="308" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nYgE-S8gwDk/VSP5ldu0VgI/AAAAAAAACaE/aWm3n9e7pFU/s1600/chair_rig_v001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nYgE-S8gwDk/VSP5ldu0VgI/AAAAAAAACaE/aWm3n9e7pFU/s1600/chair_rig_v001.jpg" height="308" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bHVnUMAZm5Y/VSP5lsu3FCI/AAAAAAAACaM/sgWgBl_H5bI/s1600/crests.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bHVnUMAZm5Y/VSP5lsu3FCI/AAAAAAAACaM/sgWgBl_H5bI/s1600/crests.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_MAOSawOlqM/VSP5pCFLklI/AAAAAAAACak/tn8QnWW-QMo/s1600/logoPlate_3Quarter_04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_MAOSawOlqM/VSP5pCFLklI/AAAAAAAACak/tn8QnWW-QMo/s1600/logoPlate_3Quarter_04.jpg" height="260" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I also snuck a personal homage to both my family and GoT creator George RR Martin into the first frame if anyone can identify it...</span><br />
<br />Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-47605335871585556792015-02-23T16:27:00.000-05:002015-02-23T16:27:31.534-05:00SESAME STREET _ House of Bricks & More<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/92NXMtVtv8o" width="400"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week saw the premiere of a few more Sesame Street segments with backgrounds and animation produced by <a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/">Magnetic Dreams Studio</a>. It's always a treat to be able to dive into a classic Sesame parody and marry the aesthetic of the show with that of another pop culture institution, in this case the very adult Netflix series HOUSE OF CARDS. AND, we got to filter it through the tale of the 3 Little Pigs. Marty Robinson's "Frank Underwolf" may be my favorite recent Muppet performance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You can see the full spot above and here is the original HOUSE OF CARDS opening for reference. Re-creating the time lapse montage was my most enjoyable task for this spot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The first challenge was to re-imagine the Capitol Building, Supreme Court, and White House as constructed of straw, sticks, and bricks. These are my concept designs, final modeling was done by Stephanie Miranda Goldstein.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PSwICXkpH_M/VOuTGI96RBI/AAAAAAAACYE/23oGsOyUntQ/s1600/house_STYLE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PSwICXkpH_M/VOuTGI96RBI/AAAAAAAACYE/23oGsOyUntQ/s1600/house_STYLE.jpg" height="115" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But, the real test was for us to destroy them. All three buildings needed to be built and rigged to be blown apart. Our simulator Wenie Rahardja did all of the heavy lifting here, working out the particle dynamics with Stephanie under the guidance of Creative Director, Rickey Boyd. Additional animation by Jamie Coakley. Here's a cool sneak peek at our Capitol Building sim in one of its later stages.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxmufrs-FM5bGTkAFFewO29chbO_6giGSUHeZI1SG4VEdRXaq_09udzJp5myTT9_Oy0nUfRcp2-r123nYC9SQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>SUPERGROVER 2.0 - "Fruit" and "Underwater Bowling"</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week also featured the return of 2 new segments of Super Grover 2.0.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Fruit" starred a pineapple painter who allowed me to include some paintings of food-related inside jokes from Sesame's past.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zt1qTAfTh4M/VOuTE6GQngI/AAAAAAAACX4/S1C6Wa00fNU/s1600/self_portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zt1qTAfTh4M/VOuTE6GQngI/AAAAAAAACX4/S1C6Wa00fNU/s1600/self_portrait.jpg" height="320" width="206" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5ZZxCXSTZBI/VOuTHQ_qFhI/AAAAAAAACYU/fZME4GjRQhc/s1600/warhol_orange.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5ZZxCXSTZBI/VOuTHQ_qFhI/AAAAAAAACYU/fZME4GjRQhc/s1600/warhol_orange.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XDK1RusUi3A/VOuTGep1C1I/AAAAAAAACYA/Iz8hEafskDk/s1600/sg_fruit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XDK1RusUi3A/VOuTGep1C1I/AAAAAAAACYA/Iz8hEafskDk/s1600/sg_fruit.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Underwater Bowling" featured the amusing premise of an Octopus and Shrimp unable to keep their pins from floating away. Brad Applebaum and Ayan Akbar on modeling and Josh Stafford and Judd Eschliman on compositing did a fantastic job capturing the detail, lighting, and spirit of the location.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I shared the above model sheet by Rickey and myself to give a sense of the production process involved in one of these spots. For more on this pipeline, check out the video below. Our <a href="http://johndhamm.com/management/feat-mgmt-project-01/">production manager</a> <a href="http://johndhamm.com/">John Hamm</a> illustrates what it requires to take a Sesame short from green screen to your screen.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/116078667" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"></iframe> <br />
<a href="https://vimeo.com/116078667">pipeline process</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user35826847">John Hamm</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-16069442316025921902015-02-17T18:24:00.000-05:002015-02-17T19:02:13.995-05:00SESAME STREET _ The Cookie Thief<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9m5_ScJNzoM/VOPEI7DayiI/AAAAAAAACXM/gUZt5_9yNBs/s1600/starryNight_FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9m5_ScJNzoM/VOPEI7DayiI/AAAAAAAACXM/gUZt5_9yNBs/s1600/starryNight_FINAL.jpg" height="313" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Museum of Modern Cookie Art (MoMCA?) made its debut on a recent special episode of Sesame Street, <a href="http://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/theshow/episodes/the-cookie-thief">"The Cookie Thief."</a> A closed door whodunnit, the show features a self-regulating Cookie Monster who is falsely accused as the titular art thief by the museum guard, guest-star Rachel Dratch.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RyKHXqBT1fg/VOPEEx1Xg1I/AAAAAAAACWE/IW_KavBW3Io/s1600/cookieEarring_FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RyKHXqBT1fg/VOPEEx1Xg1I/AAAAAAAACWE/IW_KavBW3Io/s1600/cookieEarring_FINAL.jpg" height="400" width="310" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/">Magnetic Dreams Studio</a> provided CG set extensions and exterior of the new location as well as historical art studios of some master painters </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(by Stephanie Goldstein and Brad Applebaum)</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. More than that, the special afforded us the opportunity to paint cookie-themed Muppet parodies of classic artwork. They were all painted digitally (with the extremely responsive brushes by <a href="https://gumroad.com/kyletwebster">Kyle T. Webster</a>) and then printed, framed, and hung in the set. What an incredible way to collaborate with the stellar Sesame crew. You can see my "Cookie Night" and "Girl with a Cookie Earring" paintings as they were hung, below. Note: It's humbling and futile to try to do justice to a Vermeer in 3 hours.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZEk-6DksyVI/VOPEHPwjZ8I/AAAAAAAACWg/j1Rk8raeR7E/s1600/IMG_2613.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZEk-6DksyVI/VOPEHPwjZ8I/AAAAAAAACWg/j1Rk8raeR7E/s1600/IMG_2613.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Some paintings, like the above two and the "Pablo Picookie" below as well as the featured "Muncha Lisa" were scripted inclusions. Otherwise, it was fun to draft up a museum's worth of iconic imagery. </span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lCk_WjTlXhI/VOPEIHapZiI/AAAAAAAACW8/ZjvHXLsc98k/s1600/picookieMonsterMirror.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lCk_WjTlXhI/VOPEIHapZiI/AAAAAAAACW8/ZjvHXLsc98k/s1600/picookieMonsterMirror.jpg" height="400" width="332" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our cookie painters included: Rickey Boyd, Kirby Atkins, Ben Fosselman, and Kim Cranfield, along with Rhea Borzak, Taylor Blair, and Joel Gibbs. The Muppet Fans at Tough Pigs featured some of our paintings <a href="http://www.toughpigs.com/cookie-art/">HERE</a> (along with some half-baked art criticism) but you can check out a collection of mine below:</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WxkDrbyD2U8/VOPEEG-ROuI/AAAAAAAACV4/PB0zfMKmUPE/s1600/VanDough_SelfPortrait_FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WxkDrbyD2U8/VOPEEG-ROuI/AAAAAAAACV4/PB0zfMKmUPE/s1600/VanDough_SelfPortrait_FINAL.jpg" height="400" width="332" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nh3ARZBqRaE/VOPEFqrtMmI/AAAAAAAACWM/wRLDOYauoMI/s1600/kandinsky01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nh3ARZBqRaE/VOPEFqrtMmI/AAAAAAAACWM/wRLDOYauoMI/s1600/kandinsky01.jpg" height="251" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(this one is a cross between a Kandinsky and the opening credit chalk cookies)</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cDhmeld6jLY/VOPEHWReKvI/AAAAAAAACWk/ZLCf-YOhhuc/s1600/matisse01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cDhmeld6jLY/VOPEHWReKvI/AAAAAAAACWk/ZLCf-YOhhuc/s1600/matisse01.jpg" height="251" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">(Matisse does <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr8vUTm64h0">"The Ladybugs' Picnic"</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">BONUS: Here's a look at my rough logo concepts for the Museum. Number 3 was clearly inspired by the Met's logo. Number 2 was the approved design.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U9LuZ_8IUao/VOPED_9nclI/AAAAAAAACV0/NqA1hEN0hAg/s1600/MOMC_logoOptions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U9LuZ_8IUao/VOPED_9nclI/AAAAAAAACV0/NqA1hEN0hAg/s1600/MOMC_logoOptions.jpg" height="308" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-42335428392736312292014-12-18T14:24:00.001-05:002015-01-12T11:20:43.327-05:00ELMO'S CHRISTMAS DREAM<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J8ZMIy0ycA4/VJMnDHX-azI/AAAAAAAACTk/MMDDsK7a1Iw/s1600/ECD_elmoDream_SHOT022b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J8ZMIy0ycA4/VJMnDHX-azI/AAAAAAAACTk/MMDDsK7a1Iw/s1600/ECD_elmoDream_SHOT022b.jpg" height="261" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">At </span><a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Magnetic Dreams</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, we've had the chance to work on a number of </span><a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/search/label/Sesame%20Street" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sesame Street</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> spots in the past including one-off parodies like </span><a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/2012/10/elmo-musical-concept-art-02.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">BIRDWALK EMPIRE</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> and recurring segments like </span><a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/2014/09/crumby-pictures/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">COOKIE'S CRUMBY PICTURES</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE1gPVK0ST8&list=PL8TioFHubWFucN8uHuSR0cptOzTqYLjC8" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">SUPER GROVER 2.0</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">, and </span><a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/search/label/Elmo%20the%20Musical" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ELMO THE MUSICAL</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. Most often, we're creating 3D computer-generated worlds and characters to populate around Muppet performances shot on green screen. But, with ELMO'S CHRISTMAS DREAM, we had the great opportunity to re-imagine the characters for 2D animation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The spot is a music video greeting card of Elmo and friends celebrating the holiday. I conceived of a somewhat hand-crafted aesthetic of cut shapes and oil crayon with graphic patterning introduced as the character textures. This approach allowed me to play to my love of <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=mary+blair&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=3CiTVJyhFMargwSssIPwCg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1319&bih=981">Mary Blair</a> and <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=mary+blair&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=3CiTVJyhFMargwSssIPwCg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1319&bih=981#tbm=isch&q=maurice+noble">Maurice Noble</a> and the final animated product is 2D After Effects puppeting much like that we used on <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/2011/08/blues-clues-back-in-blue.html">BLUE'S CLUES</a>. I think we were able to make some magic </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">with an incredibly short turnaround and</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">create something lively and quick.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This was an all-hands-on-deck-the halls way for us to end the year with an incredible crew: Creative Director Rickey Boyd co-directed with me while also boarding it and overseeing animation (it was also his idea to do those character-themed snowflakes). Abdel Pizzarro rigged these guys and he and Kimberly Cranfield animated the leads. Rhea Borzak animated the secondary characters and heads up the comp department of Judd Eschliman and Joel Gibbs on effects. And, producer and john-of-all-trades John Hamm was crucial in bringing it all together and making it happen even as he reminded us it was impossible.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OtxpAGJhhz8/VJMnDAeZHPI/AAAAAAAACTw/RjYHkfwNn94/s1600/ECD_lineup1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OtxpAGJhhz8/VJMnDAeZHPI/AAAAAAAACTw/RjYHkfwNn94/s1600/ECD_lineup1.jpg" height="175" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here's a closer look at my character and background art. Ernie in his full snowsuit still puts a grin on my face.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you, your friends, and family!</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4bYjUmdqAG8/VJMnC11yIsI/AAAAAAAACTc/9WSl_UfP-4M/s1600/ECD_05_DreamLand_full_FINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4bYjUmdqAG8/VJMnC11yIsI/AAAAAAAACTc/9WSl_UfP-4M/s1600/ECD_05_DreamLand_full_FINAL.jpg" height="261" width="400" /></a></div>
Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-12892432623948420072014-11-10T17:13:00.000-05:002015-01-12T11:20:57.856-05:00SESAME STREET _ 45th Birthday Easter Eggs<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today is brought to you by the number 45, as in, the 45th Anniversary of Sesame Street.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's not an overstatement to say that I wouldn't be the artist, and person, I am today without Sesame Street. As a kid I was a twice a day viewer and early on I identified Jim Henson as my first artistic idol.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This has been a dream job to follow and walk alongside all of the great talents that have had a hand in making the show what it is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Over the last few years, I've hidden a number of Easter Egg references to classic skits inside spots that I've art directed. They're nods to other fans, tributes to creators, and generally continuing the visual legacy of the show.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've shared the King of 8's castle <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/2013/02/elmo-musical-detective-and-prince-elmo.html">HERE</a> and some Star Wars-themed guest appearances <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/2014/09/star-smores-art-direction.html">HERE</a> but below are a few more along with their original inspirations to honor the occasion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>PINBALL COUNT SERIES</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The insanely catchy animated classic is referenced in the "Sesame Kinect" game as a wall clock and as the animated graphic behind Elmo in the "Dance, Dance, Revolution" parody in "Elmo's Alphabet Adventure."</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zusHUReVBoU/VGEoh377QfI/AAAAAAAACRs/ptjmHvT5-n8/s1600/Kinect-PinballClock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zusHUReVBoU/VGEoh377QfI/AAAAAAAACRs/ptjmHvT5-n8/s1600/Kinect-PinballClock.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mJQd_9gKfFw/VGEohhWbk_I/AAAAAAAACRo/RderNNujjxs/s1600/EAC-DanceDanceRevolution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mJQd_9gKfFw/VGEohhWbk_I/AAAAAAAACRo/RderNNujjxs/s1600/EAC-DanceDanceRevolution.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The main hall of the "Crumby Pictures" Harry Potter parody is loaded with Sesame references, including the Dragon as gargoyles, Elmo and Abby in their World of Wordcraft costumes as statues, paintings of <a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Amazing_Mumford">the Amazing Mumford</a>, <a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Herry_Monster">Herry Monster</a>, and the witch from Cookie Monster and the Cookie Tree, as well as house banners featuring semi-retired Sesame characters <a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Sammy_the_Snake">Sammy the Snake</a> (Slytherin), <a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Chicago_the_Lion">Chicago the Lion</a> (Gryffindor), and <a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Little_Bird">Little Bird</a> (Ravenclaw).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NzS8sES2vAY/VGEoh8mIT5I/AAAAAAAACR8/ruziVDWe0O0/s1600/IJ-FurryPotter.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NzS8sES2vAY/VGEoh8mIT5I/AAAAAAAACR8/ruziVDWe0O0/s1600/IJ-FurryPotter.png" height="225" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's Herry Monster in action counting with John John, one of my favorite kid moments on Sesame.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>SUPER GROVER 2.0</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Super Grover 2.0 was the first regular segment that Magnetic Dreams Studio worked on for Sesame, providing full computer-generated environments and some characters. This season was the first time I got to design for the segment as well. Two of them have already aired, including this one with a super cute duckling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But, it's an upcoming episode where I added these references to two of the most memorable clips, including:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: center;">The slightly unnerving Operatic Orange</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q-hNb8jtRKs/VGE4GC_rrII/AAAAAAAACSY/euXHgqZIWhw/s1600/warhol_orange.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q-hNb8jtRKs/VGE4GC_rrII/AAAAAAAACSY/euXHgqZIWhw/s1600/warhol_orange.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and the oh so 70s "I Can Remember"</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RBZhgnK18hU/VGE3m7AMN3I/AAAAAAAACSQ/RReyPde5lFA/s1600/still_life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RBZhgnK18hU/VGE3m7AMN3I/AAAAAAAACSQ/RReyPde5lFA/s1600/still_life.jpg" height="257" width="320" /></a></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/MNghp9tPXjo" width="400"></iframe>Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-42027235870387112822014-09-25T12:31:00.002-04:002015-01-12T11:21:10.626-05:00STAR S'MORES _ Art Direction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The 45th Season of Sesame Street premiered last week and with it came the 2nd Season of <a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/2014/09/crumby-pictures/">COOKIE'S CRUMBY PICTURES</a>, a show within the show that features Cookie Monster parodies of <a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Cookie's_Crumby_Pictures">popular films</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's a continuation of <a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/">Magnetic Dreams Studios'</a> work on various Sesame <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/search/label/Sesame%20Street">projects</a> and another chance for us to do farcical recreations of movies that inspire us. None of them elicited more enthusiasm and creativity from our team than the Star Wars spoof, STAR S'MORES!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Below are some pieces of concept art and finished frames. As Art Director, I create the initial brainstorming pieces with Sesame and Creative Director, Rickey Boyd. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F3NYN1G1rkg/VCHuaWFdMfI/AAAAAAAACPk/HU9WSKjEDts/s1600/deathstar_options.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F3NYN1G1rkg/VCHuaWFdMfI/AAAAAAAACPk/HU9WSKjEDts/s1600/deathstar_options.jpg" height="160" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Determining the nature of our dessert-based "Death Star."</b></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Once it was confirmed that it would be mechanical, I incorporated baking-themed hardware (muffin trays, spoons, waffle irons) into the interior design.</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From there, I'll do rough photo plate work-ups as reference for backgrounds that will be fully modeled by our CG dept. There's usually one per episode but we ended up with 4 for this one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OJjxceloS6s/VCHuaauY6OI/AAAAAAAACPs/_MjaMpsVfMo/s1600/FalconRough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OJjxceloS6s/VCHuaauY6OI/AAAAAAAACPs/_MjaMpsVfMo/s1600/FalconRough.jpg" height="169" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">My rough concept for a graham cracker and kitchen cockpit for the "S'morellennium Falcon."</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EujoX2j-E3E/VCHubAf6A6I/AAAAAAAACP0/EyfN3PJdhKE/s1600/starSmores_00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EujoX2j-E3E/VCHubAf6A6I/AAAAAAAACP0/EyfN3PJdhKE/s1600/starSmores_00.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">And... the final model by <a href="http://applebaum3d.com/">Brad Applebaum</a> with additional lighting, color, and effects by our Compositors. </b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Finally, I'm responsible for any of the 2D assets: photo plates, logos, graphics, and any puppeted characters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FhqazY49FbU/VCHuaml_VYI/AAAAAAAACPo/3hqQYSZ09ys/s1600/TatooineRough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FhqazY49FbU/VCHuaml_VYI/AAAAAAAACPo/3hqQYSZ09ys/s1600/TatooineRough.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>A closer look at my 2D Tatooine and our cameos of a "Banthalupagus" and "R2-PU."</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">With stellar writing, performances, and source material to work from, these have been a blast to develop. We're currently in production on the recently-announced Avengers and Jurassic Park spoofs and here's a sneak preview of a few more upcoming episodes this season...</span></div>
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<br />Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-44888308794020265122014-09-22T15:36:00.000-04:002014-10-27T12:45:33.704-04:00THE SHOWING _ Poster Illustration<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 20px;">I got to illustrate this poster for S/Lang Entertainment's </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 20px;">stellar short film,</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mgx1oVuEY_E/VCB50zsAt_I/AAAAAAAACPM/1bQ3841hb-Y/s1600/theShowing_poster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mgx1oVuEY_E/VCB50zsAt_I/AAAAAAAACPM/1bQ3841hb-Y/s1600/theShowing_poster.png" height="640" width="432" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">It's dreamy material and I had a beautifully shot still and "Hitchcock blonde" lead actress Katie Morrison to work from.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 20px;">It was also my first time doing digital watercolor, abetted by Kyle T. Webster's extremely natural and responsive <a href="https://gumroad.com/kyletwebster">brushes</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #37404e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;">The film will drop this fall, trailer below and an IMDb profile has been added <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4031968/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">HERE</a>:</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/106342139">The Showing Trailer</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user32364995">S/Lang Entertainment</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-53950471897697920952014-08-07T23:34:00.000-04:002014-08-08T10:17:59.696-04:00NINJA TURTLES _ Color Supervisor<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Bay-ification of The Ninja Turtles has hit movie theaters, noses and all. These characters have been realized in so many iterations across every medium but I still enjoy that such an oddball concept can continue to have such cultural currency. The impending release resulted in a little reminiscing with color artist <a href="http://e-mann.deviantart.com/">Emilio Lopez</a> and director <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2424570/">Roy Burdine</a> about our time working on the 4Kids' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series in the early 00s. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The series ran closer to the action roots of the comic book than the popular pizza eating version of the 80s. Aesthetically, the characters had an angular athleticism and the backgrounds were built around large swaths of black.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fLuLcnKvj2c/U-TZrOLGqFI/AAAAAAAACF4/0GjGG0YqdwE/s1600/1TMNT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fLuLcnKvj2c/U-TZrOLGqFI/AAAAAAAACF4/0GjGG0YqdwE/s1600/1TMNT.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I wrote about the cinematic approach we had to color <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/2012/04/tmnt-background-painting-for-animation.html">HERE</a> but here are two more of my paintings, the first featuring one of my favorite places on the planet (the blue whale room of the Museum of Natural History in NYC).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">By the end of the series, the Turtles visited dark alternate futures and went on an epic adventure tracing the origins of the original Shredder. There was the episode, Insane in the Membrane, that didn't originally air in America. Although it's notable for delving into Baxter Stockman's back story, his decomposing clone body gets his jaw kicked off by April O' Neil (!). </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And, </span><a href="http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/showthread.php?t=17576" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">another</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> show had its plug pulled before we completed production because it featured the back alley surgery of conjoined infants who become two of the Turtles greatest enemies. Yeesh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Going after a lighter tone, the network sent the team to the future and rebooted the show as Fast Forward in 2003.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A flatter, brighter palette accentuated the change and I had the opportunity to develop the color for the core cast and vehicles:</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GIPBy7aVI4A/U-RC_03n6wI/AAAAAAAACFU/jyDRadbw2A8/s1600/TMNT_CHS_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GIPBy7aVI4A/U-RC_03n6wI/AAAAAAAACFU/jyDRadbw2A8/s1600/TMNT_CHS_01.jpg" height="640" width="460" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I mean, really bright. I originally colored the "Dark Turtles" skin tones in off shades of green before they landed on something closer to their corresponding bandanna colors.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uGkyMEwchcw/U-TatJpTuqI/AAAAAAAACGE/3FdJf39VI7Y/s1600/1414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uGkyMEwchcw/U-TatJpTuqI/AAAAAAAACGE/3FdJf39VI7Y/s1600/1414.jpg" height="163" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And, with their future swank penthouse headquarters and training dojo, here are a few of the Fast Forward Turtle backgrounds I painted:</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tj2ZqgjH6KA/U-RC_suUhJI/AAAAAAAACFY/Lzpd9-e0T18/s1600/TMNT_BG_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tj2ZqgjH6KA/U-RC_suUhJI/AAAAAAAACFY/Lzpd9-e0T18/s1600/TMNT_BG_02.jpg" height="640" width="388" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">PART I <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/2012/04/tmnt-background-painting-for-animation.html">HERE</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-76480138173265130372013-11-02T18:04:00.001-04:002014-09-22T16:14:14.886-04:00DETONATOR _ Movie Poster Design<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.detonatormovie.com/#!">DETONATOR</a> is a killer first feature film by bud Damon Maulucci and his co-creator Keir Politz. Even though I'm biased, this tale resonated with me in its conflict of art, big dreams, big business, and the responsibilities of adult domesticity. Here's the rub:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sully fights to hold on to his family when a toxic friend resurfaces. In this gritty thriller, Sully, former frontman of a once prominent punk band, anxiously trudges toward a new world in order to remain in his young son’s daily life when ex-bandmate, Mick, catches him mid-stride with a promise to make good on an old debt. In one hellish night that stretches till dawn, Sully chases Mick through the recesses of Philadelphia.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had the chance to help the filmmakers work up a poster for their showing at the <a href="http://indiememphis.com/">Indie Memphis Film Festival</a> this weekend. The subject matter begged for a lo-fi photocopied concert flier treatment. After a few iterations, we arrived at the following image based on a flier they did for a local screening and with my hand lettering for the credits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And, here's a look at some earlier roughs (with dummy copy as credits).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-52850547246804097282013-09-18T19:10:00.001-04:002013-09-19T14:52:21.267-04:00CRUMBY PICTURES _ Art Direction for Sesame Street<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q7PrEB_FkHY/UjoHr-z6iJI/AAAAAAAAB64/BjcBJiEzaPE/s1600/CRUMBY_Open.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q7PrEB_FkHY/UjoHr-z6iJI/AAAAAAAAB64/BjcBJiEzaPE/s400/CRUMBY_Open.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Long
time, no blog.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm finally able to open the oven on <b>CRUMBY PICTURES</b>,
the Cookie Monster movie trailer parody series that premiered on
Season 44 ( ! ) of Sesame Street this week. Rather than a classroom
curriculum of math or literacy, these shorts teach <a href="http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130919/LIFE05/309190014?gcheck=1">executive functions</a> (self-control, patience, delayed gratification) by having the impetuous monster
face personal challenges as the star of famous flicks (including
Lord of the Rings, Life of Pi, and Hunger Games).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/">MAGNETIC DREAMS</a> has worked with Sesame Workshop for years now (<a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/search/label/Elmo%20the%20Musical">Elmo the Musical</a>, shorts like <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/2012/10/elmo-musical-concept-art-02.html">Birdwalk Empire</a>, Super Grover 2.0) creating computer-generated characters and backgrounds to accompany
Muppet performances shot on green screen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For Crumby Pictures, the goal was to make the production feel as much
like the original movies as possible from little Easter Egg details
to overall polish.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In
classic Muppet fashion, the opening starts with a bang. A send-up of
the Universal logo animation, one bite into a chocolate chip planet
results in an exploding crumby debris field (rigged by </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/benjamin-rodriguez/51/a98/727" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Benjamin Rodriguez</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">). Below is an alternate
snazzier version of the logo I had proposed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>THE BISCOTTI KID </b>(parody of The Karate Kid) was the first to air as a sneak preview on the internet. After the video are my logo and some still frames (Creative Director, Rickey Boyd and Comp Director, Rhea Borzak). A lot of great in-jokes in the script and I threw in some recognizable objects like the handheld drum from Karate Kid 2.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">THE SPY WHO LOVED COOKIES </b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(parody of both the old and new Bond movies, including the song "Cookie Fall") was essentially our pilot episode of the series. Most episodes contain a single full CG set (here, Ladyfinger's lair as concept art by me, final model by Brad Applebaum) and photocomp plates that I create and are thoroughly embellished by our compositing team.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Below are my backplate for the vista outside Ladyfinger's Lair and unused backgrounds for scenes in M's office and Q's lab that were cut for time.</span><br />
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<br />Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-6764721712961457642013-07-14T17:14:00.000-04:002013-07-14T17:16:35.454-04:00"NOBODY CARES" _ An Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AuvlHoTih2U/UeMUDwUpJNI/AAAAAAAAB44/VlN9EdAr0zE/s1600/STN_FRIST_NOBODYCARES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AuvlHoTih2U/UeMUDwUpJNI/AAAAAAAAB44/VlN9EdAr0zE/s400/STN_FRIST_NOBODYCARES.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">At the end of last year, I helped a group of local Nashville students create an artwork that expressed the violence in their neighborhood. It's called "Nobody Cares." For more detailed information, go <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/2012/12/nobody-cares-community-art-installation.html">HERE</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">They depicted themselves as piñatas, burst open and spilling traits on paper that would be their eu</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">logies, those qualities the world would lose in their passing. But the piece wouldn't be finished until the public was able to interact with it at the Frist Center gallery in the entrance hall this April. Now, only a few months later, the artwork is literally overwhelmed with the red and pink accounts of violence the viewers have experienced and of the lives they mourn. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fafbfb; color: #4e5665; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">"NOBODY CARES has really filled out and is a vibrant shock to the viewing public as a whole. Many responses have been shared to the point we are having to regulate the weight of the paper messages so other can continue to add to the piece."</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Today's a day to remember the deceased, celebrate the living, and denounce those who choose to bring more violence into the world by their own hand.</span>Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-43700751836252174772013-02-13T12:47:00.000-05:002015-01-12T11:21:35.956-05:00ELMO THE MUSICAL _ Detective and Prince Elmo (Easter Eggs)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After a brief break, Sesame Street is airing the remaining Elmo the Musical episodes for Season 43. As with any production, I feel like the team at <a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/">MAGNETIC DREAMS STUDIO</a> continued to learn and improve upon our computer-generated environments and animation over the course of the season, including a fully CG-animated character in the form of a stinky-breathed Dragon in <b>PRINCE ELMO THE MUSICAL</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week's <b>DETECTIVE THE MUSICAL</b> (Thursday 2/14) was actually one of the first scripts that I did development art for. You can see in the following collection how I experimented with a more graphic, abstract, rendition </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">for the show </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(the bottom row, along with the <b>SEA CAPTAIN </b>pilot) that was ultimately surpassed by the fully-realized sets of the top row.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Below is a closer look at the Muppet Noir concept art for the episode's motel room (design by <a href="http://www.astridriemer.com/">Astrid Riemer</a> and additionally lighting by me, final models by Tim Crowson, lighting effects by Josh Stafford). Correct me if this isn't the seediest set in Sesame history...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">An arty inside joke for the older kids (and adults), we needed to add some motel art so I digitally painted a Cubist still life to accompany the episode's math curriculum about cubes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>DETECTIVE</b> was one of the few episodes where I did concept art for scenes that were eventually cut for time. Although we do feature a felty femme fatale and a cube criminal with a signature trait, the show almost also originally featured the streetlight lit encounters in dark alleys and on foggy docks that also populate classic Film Noir.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>PRINCE ELMO THE MUSICAL</b> (full episode online along with web games <a href="http://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/theshow/episodes/elmo-the-musical#game/0db364b0-1baa-44d8-a715-79970b5fb0bd">HERE</a>) is our epic journey of an episode with our largest sets and a number of complicated effects and models (like an undulating, burping, Hill of Beans - models by Brad Applebaum and Lyn Lopez, effects by Abdel Pizarro). I added a pretty prominent Easter Egg homage for old school Sesame Street fans. See if you recognize it and then check the video at the end of the post.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9GOqM18Bhhg" width="480"></iframe>Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-59101873312215779172012-12-16T20:59:00.001-05:002012-12-18T13:39:36.190-05:00"NOBODY CARES" - A Community Art Installation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I recently had the great privilege to work as a teaching artist for a group of 7th and 8th graders as a part of the Frist Center for the Arts "Stop! Take Notice" community art installations in Nashville. To launch the program, we introduced 4 groups of teens and pre-teens from centers throughout the city to the socially-motivated art of the Carrie Mae Weems <a href="http://fristcenter.org/calendar-exhibitions/detail/carrie-mae-weems-three-decades-of-photography-and-video">retrospective</a> on exhibit at the museum.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Weems has created <a href="http://carriemaeweems.net/">decades of art</a> in the form of photography, on its own and in juxtaposition with text, that challenges the viewer on issues of race, gender, and our social fabric. In 2011, after the gang crossfire death of a 2 year-old in her neighborhood, she created <a href="http://carriemaeweems.net/galleries/operation-activate.html">Operation: Activiate</a>, exhortations on violence (eg. "Killing a man doesn't make you a man.") that directly engaged with her community as posters, lawn signs, billboards, newspaper ads, and even matchbook covers at the local bodega. She helped establish "Safe Zones" where children who felt threatened could find haven. Art left the gallery and met reality head on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For "Stop! Take Notice" we asked that the student artists discuss an issue that they felt had the greatest impact on their community and to create a public interactive artwork that fostered a dialogue about that issue. My group, from The Oasis Center, was the youngest of the bunch and yet we faced issues of mortality together as they wanted to delve into the impact that violence had on them. They introduced me to this aspect of their lives; what streets they can't walk down, parents moving their family due to repeated break-ins, and losing family members to gang violence. Their after-school teacher entered her line of work in part after discovering that a goofy high school associate of hers had grown up to become a now-imprisoned gang leader with a body count he would boast about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And yet, they are still kids. They were quick and funny and absurd and caring and catty and loved their snacks. When it came time to give their experience a form they were utterly creative in their approach. Although I helped to continue the conversation, all of the decisions and direction were theirs over meeting once a week for several weeks. The artwork would be a piece that was a memorial to those we lost, the ways in which violence has taken from us, but also a memorial to the living, the potential loss we still face. It needed to be colorful to capture attention. Rosario proposed the idea of floating messages on balloons. No, how about fortunes in fortune cookies? Piñatas?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Piñatas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They would make piñatas. In the center of the exhibit would be a destroyed piñata of the Earth spilling candy as well a memorials to people and ways of life taken through violence. Surrounding the Earth would be a constellation of self-portrait piñatas of the students, fragile vessels also containing candy as well as slips of paper listing the qualities that the world would miss if that student were ever killed or ruined by violence. They would invite viewers to add messages of their own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was messy and fun and the group took pride in decorating their work. But the seriousness of the piece was always behind the surface. It was Guadalupe who reminded the students that they should consider those who have fallen, the loss and hurt they felt, as they took whacks at destroying the Earth. The kids also pointed out the inherent contradiction in doing so.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last bit: what to call it? Inspired in part by a SpongeBob Squarepants online meme, the group decided on "Nobody Cares." Not intended to be glib, but, even surrounded with teachers and parents and community leaders that care about them, this is what they wanted to give back as a response to the violence they face and the potential they stand to lose. It was as smart and audacious as they are and we can only strive to meet their challenge in creating a world that they deserve.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I know teens and pre-teens often get a bad rap for being lazy and disrespectful. But, this group showed me how sharp and sensitive they can be. They had innate BS detectors and the way they joked with each other showed how much they "got it," digested it, and spit the world back at itself. Their teacher Vanessa cared deeply for them and they knew it. Even when they would get rambunctious they were hemmed in by their desire to not let her down. I am better for having met them and sharing in their lives if only for a little while.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Below are some pics of the process along with the exhibit write-up and the final installation.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cjJf1nGEtMU/UM5tj0zjOTI/AAAAAAAABz8/PsY5PK-HtbI/s1600/IMG_1215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cjJf1nGEtMU/UM5tj0zjOTI/AAAAAAAABz8/PsY5PK-HtbI/s400/IMG_1215.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jdnjPXOGjj0/UM5tn7c3-xI/AAAAAAAAB0M/RyjvAcfKI6g/s1600/IMG_1516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jdnjPXOGjj0/UM5tn7c3-xI/AAAAAAAAB0M/RyjvAcfKI6g/s400/IMG_1516.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h6-xnmObpAM/UM5tpzJ2qsI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/TxMzT0UpLIs/s1600/IMG_1521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h6-xnmObpAM/UM5tpzJ2qsI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/TxMzT0UpLIs/s400/IMG_1521.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.08431685110554099" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nobody Cares</span></b> </blockquote>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.08431685110554099" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.08431685110554099" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mixed media, 2012</span></b></blockquote>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This interactive work of art was created as a part of the Frist Community Art Project: </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stop! Take Notice! </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with the intention of connecting the surrounding area to themes present in the work of socially motivated artist Carrie Mae Weems.</span></b></blockquote>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The group of young artists at the Oasis Center chose to address the role that violence plays in defining their experience of their community. Each artist is represented by their own hand-crafted piñata, a vessel that contains not only candy but also documents that detail the unique qualities that they bring to the world; gifts that would be sacrificed if they were ever the victims of violence.</span></b></blockquote>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">These piñatas surround the debris of a destroyed piñata representation of the Earth. The remnants include written messages about the impact of violence in the community and memorials for those we have lost to violence.</span></b></blockquote>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please participate in adding to this artwork in two ways:</span></b></blockquote>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- You may write about your own distinct gifts on the slips of paper and insert them in the open piñata next to this sign.</span></b> </blockquote>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- You may offer memorials to people who have been hurt and taken by violence or accounts of how violence has affected your life by writing them on the slips of paper and including them among the pieces of the destroyed piñata.</span></b></blockquote>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-18BFN7iMKZ4/UM5twS7Q_RI/AAAAAAAAB0w/ISIidoyayJY/s1600/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-18BFN7iMKZ4/UM5twS7Q_RI/AAAAAAAAB0w/ISIidoyayJY/s400/photo.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Only revealed to me after the breaking of the piñata, the above message stopped me cold. It reads: "My uncle who was a dancer was stabbed to death, because he was homosexual. He was a professional dancer."</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8mLa_kBBwlM/UM5tlyTSJVI/AAAAAAAAB0E/qrLpecUlGjk/s1600/IMG_1296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8mLa_kBBwlM/UM5tlyTSJVI/AAAAAAAAB0E/qrLpecUlGjk/s400/IMG_1296.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The above is me, as SpongeBob, by one of the kids.</span></div>
Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-41802584915176983822012-10-26T15:53:00.000-04:002015-01-12T11:22:32.398-05:00ELMO THE MUSICAL _ Magnetic Dreams Studio<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/51260650?badge=0" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/51260650">Magnetic Dreams 2012 Demo Reel</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/magneticdreams">Magnetic Dreams</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Since moving to Nashville, I've been working with the local animation studio <a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/">Magnetic Dreams</a> as Art Director on a number of <i>Sesame Street</i>-related projects, specifically the new <i>Sesame Street</i> segment <a href="http://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/theshow/episodes/elmo-the-musical"><i>Elmo the Musical</i></a>. Shot entirely on green screen, Magnetic is responsible for creating and compositing the fully computer-generated environment, effects, and any additional characters, like Velvet, Elmo's theater curtain companion. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">If you check out the reel above, you can see that Magnetic, co-owned by<b> <a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/studio/about-us/">Mike Halsey and Don Culwell</a></b>, brings the highest level of skill to a diverse array of projects and animation techniques. They've turned Marvel's <i>Iron Man</i> and <i>Thor</i> "motion comics" into mini blockbusters, designed motion graphics for videos for musicians like Taylor Swift and Shakira, and conjured creature and special effects for the feature film <a href="http://www.after-movie.com/"><i>AFTER</i></a>.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Magnetic Dreams’ working
relationship with Sesame goes back a few years now, on CG-animated projects like <i>Twiddlebugs</i> and <i>Super Grover 2.0</i>, and <i>Elmo the Musical</i> is the next great step forward.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I've said before that my favorite part of working in a studio is how everyone's contributions go into making the whole greater than the sum of the parts. As I showed in previous <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/search/label/Sesame%20Street">posts</a>, the look of a given episode often begins with Photoshop style frames by myself and freelance artist <b><a href="http://www.astridriemer.com/">Astrid Riemer</a></b> and storyboards by <b><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rick-ritter/10/48a/b26">Rick Ritter</a></b>. But, the team at Magnetic goes way beyond those initial designs to make them a reality for Elmo to play in. Since movie or TV credits rarely give you any real insight into the work people do, I thought I'd use this post to shout out some of my favorite contributions from the crew here on the first few episodes of <i>Elmo the Musical </i>so far.You can find pictures and bios for the following artists on the Magnetic website, <a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/studio/staff/">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(Barna</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">cles from SEA CAPTAIN: THE MUSICAL<span style="font-size: x-small;">, CG models by Tim <span style="font-size: x-small;">Crowson)</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The creative director, <a href="http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Rickey_Boyd"><b>Rickey Boyd</b></a>, is also a Muppeteer who basically brought Nashville animation to <i>Sesame Street </i>and vice versa. He’s part of the Sesame family and he
couldn’t be more attuned to the needs of a shot at both ends of the
camera and production pipeline. But, I'm mostly in awe of how he can channel the spirit of the Muppets, with on-model Muppet anatomy, into his hand-drawn character designs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Barna<span style="font-size: x-small;">cles from SEA CAPTAIN: THE MUSICAL, design by Rickey Boyd)</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bz-qoP65854/UIm6V6GI4nI/AAAAAAAABxk/Y25ezRROY8M/s1600/asteroid_faces.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bz-qoP65854/UIm6V6GI4nI/AAAAAAAABxk/Y25ezRROY8M/s400/asteroid_faces.jpg" height="400" width="307" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Unused Asteroid character<span style="font-size: x-small;"> from PIZZA: THE MUSICAL, design by Rickey Boyd)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Producer, <b>John Hamm</b>, <span style="font-size: small;">steadies the ship with <span style="font-size: small;">brightly colored schedules. <span style="font-size: small;">On the creative/<span style="font-size: small;">tech<span style="font-size: small;">nical end, John works with Layout Artist <b>Craig Simpson</b> and Visual Effects Supervisor <a href="http://www.vidjuheffex.com/"><b>Julian Herrera</b></a> to <span style="font-size: small;">integrate the <span style="font-size: small;">footage and camera movements of the live action shoot with that of our CG environm<span style="font-size: small;">ents<span style="font-size: small;">. Julian is initially on-set at Sesame in Queens to problem solve <span style="font-size: small;">on the front end and record set data <span style="font-size: small;">with the placement of tracking markers. All of this <span style="font-size: small;">was best realized in a shot from CIRCUS: THE MUSICAL in which Elmo walks a plank, bounces from a trampoline, and leaps through the air as the camera whips around to capture his cro<span style="font-size: small;">tch-first landing on the <span style="font-size: small;">head of a cactus.<span style="font-size: small;"> It's a living...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yH0zZzkInak/UIm6SpBIQXI/AAAAAAAABxM/G_yUnO3HltY/s1600/ETM_10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yH0zZzkInak/UIm6SpBIQXI/AAAAAAAABxM/G_yUnO3HltY/s400/ETM_10.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(<span style="font-size: x-small;">CIRCUS: THE MUSICAL)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our CG department is responsible for modeling, texturing, lighting<span style="font-size: small;">, and rendering <span style="font-size: small;">all assets for the show. <span style="font-size: small;">My <span style="font-size: small;">first literal "Wow" moment was when <span style="font-size: small;">I saw my style frame for the "Temple o<span style="font-size: small;">f Spoons" come to life in <span style="font-size: small;">the <span style="font-size: small;">model by CG Lead <a href="http://dynamiclens.com/wordpress/"><b>Tim Crowson</b></a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EbNuOP8NOo0/UIrftv671xI/AAAAAAAABzI/Dfzy2JytwIU/s1600/ELMO_temple_of_spoons_CONCEPT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EbNuOP8NOo0/UIrftv671xI/AAAAAAAABzI/Dfzy2JytwIU/s400/ELMO_temple_of_spoons_CONCEPT.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">("The Temple of Spoons"<span style="font-size: x-small;"> from GUACAMOLE: THE MUSICAL, <span style="font-size: x-small;">Concept Art by Michael Lapinski</span>)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">("The Temple of Spoons"<span style="font-size: x-small;"> from GUACAMOLE: THE MUSICAL, <span style="font-size: x-small;">CG <span style="font-size: x-small;">by Tim Crowson</span></span>)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tim alternate<span style="font-size: small;">s leading episodes with CG Artist <a href="http://www.applebaum3d.com/"><b>Brad Applebaum</b></a>. Brad modeled most of Pizza the Musica<span style="font-size: small;">l, especially the rad spaceships but <span style="font-size: small;">I think it's cool to note that he's respo<span style="font-size: small;">nsible for problem-solving the iconic opening to the show along with </span></span></span>M<span style="font-size: small;">otion Graphic Director, <b>Rhea Borzak</b>. </span>I can<span style="font-size: small;">not wait to share more work from fu<span style="font-size: small;">ture episodes </span>by Ti<span style="font-size: small;">m, Brad, and the rest of<span style="font-size: small;"> the CG Team, including</span></span> <b>Yannick Amegan</b> and <a href="http://cargocollective.com/lynlopez"><b>Lyn Lo</b></a><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://cargocollective.com/lynlopez"><b>pez</b></a>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Opening number<span style="font-size: x-small;"> from ELMO<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>THE MUSICAL, CG by Brad Applebaum)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Our Compositing department </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></span>is responsible for bringing everything together, from the unsung art of keying out the green screen footage and rotoscoping </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">(particularly<b> Melissa Cowart</b>) </span></span>to color correction to the final lighting changes and visual effects.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Rhea Borzak</b> leads the team and is an accomplished artist in her own right, designing the backgrounds for the infamous Katy Perry/ Elmo <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHROHJlU_Ng&noredirect=1">video</a> and short Sesame films like this magical firefly <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4JqQuruBQ0">spot</a> for the letter "N." On ETM, Rhea created and animated the playful squiggles, bursts, and pops that illustrate Elmo's thought process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(<span style="font-size: x-small;">ELMO<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>THE MUSICAL, motion graphics by Rhea Borzak)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">The next few images should give you an idea of the extra artistry that the Comp team brings to <span style="font-size: small;">each episode. In order to emulate the <span style="font-size: small;">aesthetic and devices of a Broad<span style="font-size: small;">way musical, I'll often <span style="font-size: small;">design special lighting for the musical <span style="font-size: small;">numbers<span style="font-size: small;">. Compositor <b>Joel Robertson</b> was the first to master<span style="font-size: small;"> this challenge head on for GUACAMOLE: THE MUSICAL.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(<span style="font-size: x-small;">Special Ligh<span style="font-size: x-small;">ting</span> from GUACAMOLE: THE MUSICAL, <span style="font-size: x-small;">Visual Effects by <span style="font-size: x-small;">Joel Robertson</span></span>)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">PIZZA: THE MUSICAL was our space epic. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>Judd Eschliman, <span style="font-size: small;">Justin Burks, Josh Stafford, and Joel Robertson </span></b><span style="font-size: small;">were responsible for animating the deep space <span style="font-size: small;">effects<span style="font-size: small;"> below:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></span></span><b>Abdel Pizarro</b> had already shown his goods as a<span style="font-size: small;"> CG character animator on our direct-to-DVD video game parody movie <i><a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/2012/08/elmos-alphabet-challenge-concept-and.html">Elmo's Alphabet Challenge</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></i><span style="font-size: small;">but I didn't know he was also a natural <span style="font-size: small;">Compositor and effects guy. He cooked up the lasers and force fields for PIZZA and composited Elmo'<span style="font-size: small;">s <span style="font-size: small;">"Golden Shoes" dream world for ATHLETE.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(<span style="font-size: x-small;">PIZZA: THE MUSICAL, <span style="font-size: x-small;">Special Effe<span style="font-size: x-small;">cts by Abdel Pizarro</span></span>)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Dream Sequence<span style="font-size: x-small;"> from ATHLETE: THE MUSICAL, <span style="font-size: x-small;">Visual Effects by Abdel Pizarro</span>)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Remember what I said way back at the top about the "whole being greater than the sum of the parts?" Well, this shot below is <span style="font-size: small;">a little bit of gravy that added subtle character to the entire meal. As sc<span style="font-size: small;">ripted, Elmo's flying up and down in his AIRPLANE:THE MUSICAL plane. But <b>Josh Stafford </b><span style="font-size: small;">decided to play with my ch<span style="font-size: small;">ubby marshmallowy clouds by having the wing nick one with a r<span style="font-size: small;">ubbery recoil and a strafing trail of mist. <span style="font-size: small;">It's the sort of whimsy that Kevin Clash brings to his performance <span style="font-size: small;">of Elmo and I love it when our artists <span style="font-size: small;">infuse moments with <span style="font-size: small;">as much charm.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(<span style="font-size: x-small;">AIRPLANE: THE MUSICAL, <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Visual Effects by Jos<span style="font-size: x-small;">h Stafford</span></span></span>)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Perhaps the gre<span style="font-size: small;">atest challenge we face on <i>E</i><span style="font-size: small;"><i>lmo the Musical</i> is <span style="font-size: small;">to model, texture, light, and animate completely computer-g<span style="font-size: small;">enerated character<span style="font-size: small;">s so that they <span style="font-size: small;">believably interact with and live in the same space as Elmo and the other Muppets. Velvet the Curtain <span style="font-size: small;">appears in every episode<span style="font-size: small;"> but there are guest stars that present their o<span style="font-size: small;">w<span style="font-size: small;">n challenges. Designed and Animation Directed by <b>Rickey Boyd</b>, the goal is to create characters that look Muppet-crafted and convey <span style="font-size: small;">some of what makes puppeteering so endearing and ye<span style="font-size: small;">t employs the dynamism the script calls for<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">with CG <span style="font-size: small;">Animation<span style="font-size: small;">, and rigged to do so by Technical Di<span style="font-size: small;">rectors <b>Harry Han</b> and <b>Jeremy Estrada</b>.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sometimes, an Animator has to bring a slab of rock to life, as <span style="font-size: small;"><b>Jamie Coakley </b>had to do with the singing and dancing Rhombus of Recipes...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(The Rhombus of Recipes<span style="font-size: x-small;"> from GUACAMOLE: THE MUSICAL, <span style="font-size: x-small;">Animated <span style="font-size: x-small;">by Ja<span style="font-size: x-small;">mie Coakley</span></span></span>)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">... and sometimes, an Animator <span style="font-size: small;">has to perform an elegant dance number with the stumpy flippers and trunk body of a whale<span style="font-size: small;">, as <a href="http://andrewatteberry.blogspot.com/"><b>Andrew Lee Atteberry</b></a> had to do with Moby Pink.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Moby Pink<span style="font-size: x-small;"> from SEA CAPTAIN: THE MUSICAL, Animated by Andrew <span style="font-size: x-small;">Lee Atteberry</span>)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you've made it this far, I think you can appreciate how much work, talent<span style="font-size: small;">, and thought go into each moment of a deceptively simple looking show. And, that's not to mention the even more invisible <span style="font-size: small;">contributions like that of <span style="font-size: small;">Human Resour<span style="font-size: small;">ces and Accounting Guru <b>Lisa Halsey</b><span style="font-size: small;">, Editor <b>Victor Albright</b>, </span>an<span style="font-size: small;">d our IT team of </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>George Friend</b> and <b>James Ramsden</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Lastly, the entire crew at Sesame has taken 40+ years of experience writing, scoring, singing, designing, educating, and performing for children (and adults) and created a perfection distillation of all those skills and poured them into vibrant mini-musicals of Elmo's imagining.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It's all a part of Elmo's imagination, we just work for him.</span></div>
Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-35200881820505829582012-10-11T15:09:00.002-04:002012-10-11T15:09:58.212-04:00FEEDING GROUND _ NYCC 2012 Effective Pitches Panel<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">New York Comic Con is here again but this will be the first time in a few years that I won't be attending. I'm already missing old friends, the meeting of new people, and the little tingle you get from all of that paper drying out your lungs.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jzVX-I9q5sI/UHcW-wXreRI/AAAAAAAABv4/epK6gzxvkxI/s1600/17924993.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jzVX-I9q5sI/UHcW-wXreRI/AAAAAAAABv4/epK6gzxvkxI/s400/17924993.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">FEEDING GROUND co-creator and co-hort, writer Swifty Lang will be representing us signing at the Archaia booth from 3-4PM on Friday, October 11th.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">He will also be included as a presenter and the following panel:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>How to Prepare an Effective Submission</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Friday, 10/12 5:15-6:15pm, Room 1A06<br />
Want to pitch your idea as a graphic novel? Archaia editors and a pair
of Archaia creators—Feeding Ground’s Swifty Lang and Pantalones, TX’s
Yehudi Mercado—show what should go into an effective submission.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Our publisher Archaia, and in particular our Editor-in-Chief Stephen Christy, have pointed to our NYCC 2009 Pitch Book (cover above) as a great format, both in style and content, for other aspiring creators to follow when pitching their ideas. We were one of very few books that they signed right on the Con floor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Now, you can NOW download the whole Pitch Book PDF </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chrismangun.com/_FG_FB/pb/FG_Pitch_2008.pdf">HERE</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">There's video of me talking through the process at the NYCC 2011 Panel on my YouTube page <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/michaellapinski?feature=watch">HERE</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">And, I went into some discussion of the particulars of the pitch book in a previous blog post <a href="http://mlapinski.blogspot.com/2010/07/feeding-ground-pitch.html">HERE</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Good luck, all - have a great Con and score some free posters for me.</span>Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-5978185284546641632012-10-02T23:52:00.002-04:002012-10-03T11:10:32.157-04:00SESAME STREET _ Concept Art 02<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pop culture parodies are a staple of SESAME STREET. I art directed two recent bird-centric additions to the genre that appeared in the premiere week for Season 43: BIRDWALK EMPIRE and the PIZZA episode of <a href="http://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/theshow/episodes/elmo-the-musical">ELMO THE MUSICAL</a> (that stars a chicken in the guise of Darth Vader).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>BIRDWALK EMPIRE</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A send-up of the HBO Prohibition-Era crime drama set on the boardwalk of Atlantic City, NJ. Except this version is populated with gangs of chickens and ducks and adorned with birdhouses instead of the beachfront palaces. Although it was fun in itself to create designs to closely match the period-specific art direction, the real treat was designing for one of the few episodes that Muppet godfather Frank Oz performed in this season (he's Clucky Luciano).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here it is:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(and in case you've never seen the opening to BOARDWALK EMPIRE)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The spot was produced for Magnetic Dreams by <a href="http://www.vidjuheffex.com/">Julian Herrera</a> and our editor Victor Albright shot the footage of saltine packs in the surf while on a trip. I'm especially proud of the opening and we heard through the grapevine that show's cinematographer dug our take on his work. You can get a closer look at my style frames that influenced the final CG models, below:</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-93D65c1DjGI/UGuwTvknzwI/AAAAAAAABt4/WUDBpM_ajH0/s1600/SW_BIRDWALK_Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-93D65c1DjGI/UGuwTvknzwI/AAAAAAAABt4/WUDBpM_ajH0/s400/SW_BIRDWALK_Logo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bAHTBGYWeeU/UGuwVN1eiCI/AAAAAAAABuA/L1s2k3-DGMo/s1600/SW_BIRDWALK_Signs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bAHTBGYWeeU/UGuwVN1eiCI/AAAAAAAABuA/L1s2k3-DGMo/s400/SW_BIRDWALK_Signs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6o7yWalWk3E/UGuwXiN0DyI/AAAAAAAABuI/eF5gxaL6KnM/s1600/SW_BIRDWALK_Sizzle_BG_FLAT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="395" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6o7yWalWk3E/UGuwXiN0DyI/AAAAAAAABuI/eF5gxaL6KnM/s400/SW_BIRDWALK_Sizzle_BG_FLAT.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WxoNmfX5Ows/UGuwZAYCETI/AAAAAAAABuQ/IrMjH-ZhIXc/s1600/SW_BIRDWALK_Style.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WxoNmfX5Ows/UGuwZAYCETI/AAAAAAAABuQ/IrMjH-ZhIXc/s400/SW_BIRDWALK_Style.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>PIZZA the MUSICAL</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In this episode of Elmo the Musical, Elmo imagines he is a "Pizza Delivery Astronaut" who must face a chicken dressed as Darth Vader in order to deliver a pepperoni pie to the classic Muppet "Yip Yip" Martians.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's a clip, you can find the whole thing <a href="http://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/theshow/episodes/elmo-the-musical#video/2f7f41b8-e6b5-4d36-816d-8485dc9b2b5a">HERE</a>:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The challenge for this one was creating an outer space that felt both iconic and new and retained our theatrical touches while exploiting special effects and 3D camera moves. Plus, with a script calling for Star Wars references, I wanted the designs to contain some pretty specific Easter Eggs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's a look at some of my Photoshop style frame backgrounds, including the one featured in the clip above. The visual effects were achieved by the J-Team (Judd, Josh, and Joel) of our compositing department.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-89p11MY5egA/UGuzeP1wLbI/AAAAAAAABuo/bhEcohTvKdQ/s1600/ETM_PIZZA_01_Open_Ten_PAN+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-89p11MY5egA/UGuzeP1wLbI/AAAAAAAABuo/bhEcohTvKdQ/s400/ETM_PIZZA_01_Open_Ten_PAN+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l7CkYK_o6s8/UGuzgECA6VI/AAAAAAAABuw/BTkjgBCvUkM/s1600/ETM_PIZZA_02_Zoom+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l7CkYK_o6s8/UGuzgECA6VI/AAAAAAAABuw/BTkjgBCvUkM/s400/ETM_PIZZA_02_Zoom+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xSOPLSIR0KY/UGuzg6_RGII/AAAAAAAABu4/QPsDoZOrPZI/s1600/ETM_PIZZA_Mars_Peaks_style.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xSOPLSIR0KY/UGuzg6_RGII/AAAAAAAABu4/QPsDoZOrPZI/s400/ETM_PIZZA_Mars_Peaks_style.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The script called for this specific Star Wars reference (modeled and lit by Brad Applebaum) but I also threw in some additional SW design shout-outs. The special effects for the ship were designed and animated by Abdel Pizarro. Notice too that the same chicken played "Clucky Luciano" and the villain here. On the Sesame set, they refer to him as "Stunt Chicken."</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lSWtAO0CfRo/UGuz-zmO25I/AAAAAAAABvI/ryP0h0vL0qg/s1600/ETM_Pizza_villianShip_reviewMedia_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="381" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lSWtAO0CfRo/UGuz-zmO25I/AAAAAAAABvI/ryP0h0vL0qg/s400/ETM_Pizza_villianShip_reviewMedia_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UsNltje8pOk/UGuz-X_GJiI/AAAAAAAABvA/1Dk_n6JIU7c/s1600/ETM_Pizza_Death_Egg_Interior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UsNltje8pOk/UGuz-X_GJiI/AAAAAAAABvA/1Dk_n6JIU7c/s400/ETM_Pizza_Death_Egg_Interior.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And here's a close-up of Elmo's dashboard, just because we barely see it in the episode.</span></div>
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Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-16254789168699916232012-09-21T22:56:00.002-04:002015-01-12T11:22:54.323-05:00ELMO THE MUSICAL _ Concept Art 01<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3rOlvb2qPdg/UFzkpG1GLXI/AAAAAAAABsw/P6ybMkGd5o0/s1600/ETM_guac_STILL_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3rOlvb2qPdg/UFzkpG1GLXI/AAAAAAAABsw/P6ybMkGd5o0/s400/ETM_guac_STILL_01.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have a confession to make... I never liked Elmo. I was too old for him when he became a regular and then star of Sesame Street and saw him as a juvenile pretender to the Grover throne. I was so wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the last year, </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I've had the </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">privilege</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> of working</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> as Art Director at Magnetic Dreams Studio on a number of Sesame projects, the centerpiece of which is the launch of a new interactive segment featuring Elmo's imaginary Broadway Show, appropriately titled ELMO THE MUSICAL. Shot in front of blue screen, it's our job to create the entirely computer generated environment of Elmo's direction. I'll go into detail about the process in future posts but just want to say here what an honor it's been teaming with an animation studio and Sesame crew working at the top of their game.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With his great humanity and innovation, Jim Henson was my artistic idol growing up. With the Muppets, Jim and co. created what amounts to another living, breathing, sentient species for us to share the planet with. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now I can say how fulfilling it is working with Muppeteers Kevin Clash and Rickey Boyd as they bring as much wit, talent, and attention to detail to their work.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I've been immersed in Elmo and I am in awe of the subtlety, humor, and, most of all, heart, that Kevin imbues in his creation. I now love the little guy and it's my great pleasure to help create a world for him to play and learn in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">ELMO THE MUSICAL premieres with this 43rd season of Sesame Street on Monday, September 24th 2012.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>BEHIND-THE-SCENES</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's a great short "making of" documentary that includes the show opening and gives you a great idea of all the work that's gone into it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>LOGO DESIGN</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My various logo concepts for the show, Sesame went with the one on the top left that Magnetic was already in the process of developing when I came on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>GUACAMOLE THE MUSICAL - Concept Art</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The premiere episode is "Guacamole the Musical" in which Elmo is an explorer chef (think Indiana Jones in a chef's hat) in search of a legendary Guac recipe. Below are my style frames for the "Nacho Picchu" and "The Temple of Spoons" locations, followed by their fully composited CG models.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">NACHO PICCHU</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rEgaIwS9ul4/UF0fswKG4-I/AAAAAAAABtY/CbqdsZ_YNks/s1600/ELMO_nacho_picchu_CONCEPT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rEgaIwS9ul4/UF0fswKG4-I/AAAAAAAABtY/CbqdsZ_YNks/s320/ELMO_nacho_picchu_CONCEPT.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">THE TEMPLE OF SPOONS</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s6BnKRd1s8Q/UF0ftjw2QgI/AAAAAAAABtg/qWQSLY0Hia0/s1600/ELMO_temple_of_spoons_CONCEPT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s6BnKRd1s8Q/UF0ftjw2QgI/AAAAAAAABtg/qWQSLY0Hia0/s320/ELMO_temple_of_spoons_CONCEPT.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561444797301701665.post-42930280898380228902012-09-18T18:33:00.002-04:002015-01-12T11:23:14.126-05:00SESAME KINECT _ Background Design<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/-qkkivRA0hY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Today saw the release of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kinect-Sesame-Street-TV-Xbox-360/dp/B0050SW9OC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1348007291&sr=8-2&keywords=sesame+street+kinect">SESAME STREET KINECT</a>, an interactive experience for the Xbox and the first project I worked on with <a href="http://www.magneticdreams.com/">Magnetic Dreams</a> studio in Nashville.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Below you can see some of my background designs for segments of the game. The first is a rough Photoshop comp that I created as reference for the 3D modeling team on an Abby short called "Poodle Parlor."</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p8WjvDqnlXI/UFj2QvmackI/AAAAAAAABrU/7U_QNj0QKP0/s1600/ABBY_MAIN_LAYOUT_V2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p8WjvDqnlXI/UFj2QvmackI/AAAAAAAABrU/7U_QNj0QKP0/s400/ABBY_MAIN_LAYOUT_V2.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">For the following bunch, I actually painted these backgrounds in Photoshop (first time in a while) with a digital brush from the studio that I've fallen in love with. They comprise three environments (a circus, farm, and swamp) from a game in which kids are prompted to throw a Muppet ball at Elmo.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SBwE4xUFBog/UFj2REJFrzI/AAAAAAAABrc/4JlrUCqD3jc/s1600/ELMO_CIR_4_CLOWN_PAINT_V2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SBwE4xUFBog/UFj2REJFrzI/AAAAAAAABrc/4JlrUCqD3jc/s400/ELMO_CIR_4_CLOWN_PAINT_V2.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nVY23iwjNHo/UFj2RvvgdJI/AAAAAAAABrk/7iLzoaoRgwc/s1600/ELMO_CIR_5_CANNON_PAINT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nVY23iwjNHo/UFj2RvvgdJI/AAAAAAAABrk/7iLzoaoRgwc/s400/ELMO_CIR_5_CANNON_PAINT.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-azFEhRvExUw/UFj2SKyoGlI/AAAAAAAABrs/-5XTma5shis/s1600/ELMO_FARM_2_MAIN_PAINT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-azFEhRvExUw/UFj2SKyoGlI/AAAAAAAABrs/-5XTma5shis/s400/ELMO_FARM_2_MAIN_PAINT.jpg" height="220" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CrAjiV_ml74/UFj2S9heUYI/AAAAAAAABr0/VQkwymEv4uc/s1600/ELMO_FARM_3_COW_PAINT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CrAjiV_ml74/UFj2S9heUYI/AAAAAAAABr0/VQkwymEv4uc/s400/ELMO_FARM_3_COW_PAINT.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
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Michael Lapinskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03212539351021166409noreply@blogger.com0