Underwater Schoolbus

Project Title: Bump Animation
Client: Adult Swim, Cartoon Network
Date created: 2007
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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This animation is one of the last in the Adult Swim series. It doesn’t quite come across, but the character is turning from white to red in the sun. The giant hand (representing Adult Swim) is actually helping him fend off harmful UV radiation. This bump wouldn’t be half as good without the guitar music in the background. I wish I could remember the song title and artist. It’s definitely Warp Records, maybe Boards of Canada. Almost all the music I used was Warp Records stuff, because it was good and already licensed for use on Adult Swim. One thing I learned early on, was how much the right music can add to visuals.

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Project Title: Bump Animation
Client: Adult Swim, Cartoon Network
Date created: 2007
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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This was my second animation to go on the air (the first animation is here). Actually, Michael Cahill, editor and head of the Bump Team, had creative control over this one. I had animated the cadaver’s tendons coming apart. He was the one who suggested the leaves growing and the little birdy. Kinda cute, kinda creepy. This version is slight different from what aired back in ‘07. The broadcast version was shorter, because is was part of a text bump. It also had different music. I can’t remember what the text said, something like, “You’ve all been good monkeys. Now enjoy this.” For some reason, I get a lot of compliments on this one from other animators.

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Flying Lotus, after he saw the GNG BNG Music Video, told me he wanted to send over some sketches for the next installment. The dude can draw. I got a series of character designs ranging from laugh-out-loud funny to deeply disturbing (and it takes some effort to disturb me!). Many of the characters in this vid are actually Ellison’s own designs, that I added some movement to. There’s lots going on in this animation. Favorites for me are the mutant anchor man on the opening page and the little drunk guy at the end, wedged in another character’s throat.

Project Title: Bump Animation
Client: Adult Swim, Cartoon Network
Date created: 2007
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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I just love this one. Once again, I used a Squarepusher song, which adds a lot. It took me a while to draw all the intestines sliding out of the bag and the little drops of garbage juice flying around, and it plays through so fast you barely see all the work I put in! The deer head is sort of a joke. Designers at the time were obsessed with sticking deer heads and antlers on every damn thing in magazines, TV, and web. The background was borrowed from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I was basically out of time, with no background, and one of the ATHF guys, Nick Ingkatanuwat, hooked me up with this piece of forest. When Mike Lazzo saw this animation he said, “That’s fucking disgusting”.

Here’s the original sketch from my moleskin:

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Project Title: Bump Animation
Client: Adult Swim, Cartoon Network
Date created: 2007
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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This little guy was “projected” on the wall outside the Executive Producers’ offices at Adult Swim. I used several computer animation programs, plus a Wacom tablet to do the drawing. The character design credit goes to Nick Weidenfeld, I think. There was a huge wall-sized poster of this guy outside my cubicle, and I thought he was just awesome. Actually, the simplistic style is something that has inspired me a lot since then.
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Project Title: Flying Lotus Music Videos
Client: Flying Lotus, Williams Street Records
Date created: July 2008
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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This was the final installment in the Flying Lotus Music Video series. The song is Brainfeeder. Flylo told me he was open to using whatever song I liked. I picked this one because it is mellow and pensive with a nice ambiance.

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Project Title: Bump Animation
Client: Adult Swim, Cartoon Network
Date created: 2007
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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This animation started with a song by Squarepusher called Steinbolt. To those who look at this cartoon and then ask me if I’ve just escaped from a mental hospital, I think you’re giving me too much credit. The insanity was in Squarepusher’s song to begin with. It just evokes ominous feelings somehow. The first thing that came to my mind was troops goosestepping in unison. So I modeled the troops on a video of a North Koren all-female corps I found at CNN and put my own twist on it. Since I was rereading One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, they all became little Nurse Ratchets, holding hypodermics. The figure in the background was adapted from a jester animation I had been working on previously and the projection on the wall came from some public domain 9mm home movies I found online. The Adult Swim logo animation was made in about 10 minutes using Adobe After Effects and some film effects were added, also through After Effects. All the parts sort of clicked. I still think this may be the best of my Adult Swim bumps.

Here’s the concept sketches that led to the jester character:

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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