The Whiskey Child Music Video (Update)

Hey there! So far, it's been a long road, but I figured I would post an update kind of discussing what is currently going on with my current project!

"The Whiskey Child" has been a music video I have had in the works for a couple years now. Originally, the idea came from a song that my friend, Shane Stowers, and I accidently wrote called, "The Whiskey Child." While listening to the song one day, I saw a vivid cinematic story unfold in my mind. The premise of the short film is the day in the life of an outlaw that goes by the name, "The Whiskey Child" (Are you seeing a pattern here yet? haha). It is essentially an homage to the old school western, while adding a twist... which is hopefully going to make you want more! I am trying to bring something to the table that is ambiguous enough that I could potentially pitch the idea or continue developing it into a series if it gets enough support!

After feeling good about the general idea, I then storyboarded the vision out, and proposed it to a few of my animation buddies. It has been a huge undertaking and probably my most ambitious project to date. There has been a lot of time spent trying to figure the graphic look out, as well as developing on how each shot could be composited, etc. I primarily focused in stop motion animation throughout my time in college, but due to restrictions in workspace, I really wanted to try a different approach with this short.

Along with trying to brush up on my hand drawn animation, while trying to optimize in something that had a unique look and feel... it has taken some time to develop the characters and environment. At last, I have come to the point where things are really starting to come together! A lot of the backgrounds are almost complete. Also, there is a tiny bit of character animation already done. Plus, I have my good friend, Greg Lyons, assisting on some animation of the side characters. I might be enlisting another friend or two to help out on animation/coloring, but as of now, I am trying to keep this project pretty contained.

Lately, I've been juggling a lot, between work, life and other endeavors, but I am aiming to (hopefully) finish this film by Summer 2015/Fall 2015.

I am providing some idea of what the style of the film will look look here... but I probably won't post much more until it is completed!

Keep in mind that a lot of this isn't entirely polished and some aspects are subject to change... but feel free to take a gander. Be sure to stay tuned in the future for the finished project! :)

A video posted by Rob Sassi (@stoprobsassi) on Feb 14, 2015 at 3:59am PST

Byrd VS Worm (A Stop motion short by Rob Sassi)

 Everyone starts somewhere, and my somewhere was a walking skeleton named Byrd.

I initially made this character as a joke in MSPaint, while sitting in computer animation class, waiting for the rest of the class to catch up.
My neighbor thought it was hilarious, and at the time I was looking for a character to work with for my animation 2's walk cycle... and if you know me, I enjoy taking advantage on an open assignment.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT, THE DEAD NAIVE WALKING BYRD WAS CREATED...

But he wasn't perfect.

This was my first turn around I did with my initial design, but I needed to add more appeal.

 Of course, I was pursuing a more stop motion approach at the time so I pushed the sculptural feel of Byrd... and this is what I came to before I started to build him. Somehow, everything I do turns out cute... oh well...

I wasn't as keen to documenting my process as much as I am now, so I am sorry to inform that I don't have much to show of the armature I used for Byrd, etc...

Also, this was my first "real" short that I invested time into, and I literally had no storyboards! I pretty much just had the general idea, and went with it... There were a lot of little things I added on the spot... But I really enjoyed how this turned out under the pressure... but wouldn't recommend it.

I was still pretty new to animating with a puppet, so experiencing first hand what I could get away with and such, was a very exciting time!

I made a simple story, a character with a goal, and it was reasonable for one person to handle. I honestly never thought Byrd would become such a big deal (or develop as much as he is at this point in my head!), but apparently people are still talking about him at Edinboro, even now that I am gone.
I did end up producing a sequel named Byrd vs Gravity, but I shall do a seperate post talking about that project.

Thanks for the read, and below is the link to my animated short, Byrd VS Worm!
(Filmed Fall 2010 @ Edinboro University)

PS. I composed the music in this!

Animation Begins Today

I wanted to do a brief update before I start animating my two person lip sync.

A picture of my friend, Sparkles, helping out on the construction of the set.

Some shots of the puppets before the shooting. As you can see, you can barely tell I used newspaper for the clothes.
This shall be interesting...

Clothes for my Puppets!

Here are some more progress shots of my puppets I am building.

Going to paint these babies tonight. Made the clothes out of newspaper… obviously. The puppet on the right has his mouth on, which is made of clay… and I will be sculpting the mouths frame by frame. Eyes, brows and wrinkles, etc will be made from clay, and stylized in an unique manner.

Progress Shots of my Puppets

I am trying something new with these two puppets. I am going to be attempting to  build replaceable jaw pieces to get a fuller sense of motion from the lip sync. I have never done something like this, so this is an experiment as well as a performance test.

The hands are covered in masking tape now, so I can get more of a curve out of the finger motion, without having one weak spot.

I plan to eventually make their clothes out of newspaper, so that's why the body isn't sculpted like the face, etc.

Stay tuned for more updates on this project!

New Puppets

These are a couple shots of the armature of my newest puppets.