Monday, November 13, 2006

soulMAID


I recently finished a project for my friend, Jeff Maccubbin. He asked me to animate a short story within the independent film he was working on. It's called "soulMAID", and it's a joint effort between four different filmmakers telling one story. My animated segment will appear within the third chapter of the film, directed by Dan Mohr.


This was a lot of fun to make! Dan provided me with a bizarre little tale that needed a look and feel that would set it apart from the rest of the film, yet provide a back story for several main characters. Originally, the segment was told using filmed slide projection graphics, but the directors felt it needed to be animated instead.


That's when Jeff recommended me to Dan. Jeff showed him my website and Dan agreed that my style would fit the bizarre and campy tone of the film. It's a truly wacky tale of love, lust, destiny, and...sponges.


One article summed it up as, "a comedy about a gay house cleaner's attempt to save the world from a vengeful goddess."


I worked on the project during a brief break between freelance gigs, so it was a tight turn-around. Dan created the musical score and one of the main characters in the film narrates the story. I tried my best to stylize the art in such a way that limited animation would suffice, since I am not a traditional cel animator. I think the final product came together pretty well, considering time and bugetary limitations.


I'd love to hear what you think.
You can see the finished animation here:
The Clean Demon

Check out the soulMAID movie trailer here:
SplitPillow

Here's a write-up on the film:
ReelChicago.com

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Fun stuffs!

JustMe said...

Thanks Alina!

personally, I wish I'd had more time to animate and perfect this little short. The more I look at the final movie, the more I think I could've elaborated some of the movements and character expressions. It would've been a dream to work with an actual cel animator to pump-up and refine the characters' actions, and add special little flourishes here and there.

But, in hindsight, it was still fun! Glad ya like it! I really admire your traditionally animated linework.

Anonymous said...

this is a really fun blog justin. great stuff and i really like your style and colors. great job. will keep checking back.

MareAmaro said...

that's true, you could have elaborated
more the animation part. by the way i like the backgrounds and the female characters. also the toilet scene eeh eh!

JustMe said...

Thanks, Todd. I checked out the work on your blog. VERY nice stuff! I'm flattered by your compliments. It's so cool to be complimented by an artist with such a colorful and original vision.

Hey Piero! I know, I know...I wish I had additional time to go back and enrich the whole piece with more movement. Thanks for the honesty on that, and I appreciate your other compliments! I'm also glad you dug the bathroom scene!! ha