snailschool

[snailschool]

Storyboarding and Comics final project.

[snailschool]

Final 2D Animation 2 project, titled “Dancin’ Bug.” Improved version coming as soon as possible.

[snailschool]

Lip sync exercise. Audio source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1UhABiAfVk

[snailschool]

Disney character animation project - Marie from The Aristocats

[snailschool]

Disney character animation project - Marie from The Aristocats

[snailschool]

Colored and shaded dancing cat animation

[snailschool]

Comic thumbnails part 3

[snailschool]

Comic thumbnails part 2

[snailschool]

Comic thumbnails, part 1

[snailschool]

Comic/Graphic Novel Script

[Casey walks down a dirty-looking alleyway.]

Casey: Look at this place... So dingy and dreary.

[She looks down the path at a bunch of raggedy looking stalls.]

Casey: "To think *this* is the town I live in!" [A dog runs past, knocking over a trash can.]

Casey: "Stuck in this miserable place... with nothing but potatoes to eat!" [We see Casey at a stall selling potatoes. The seller puts potatoes in a bag and gives the bag to Casey.]

Casey: "What I wouldn't give for something more..."

[We see Casey take a few steps before noticing a strange looking object on the ground. She crouches down to pick it up.]

Casey: "Huh... Figures. People leaving their trash wherever. What else is new?!"

[Casey continues down the alley and comes across a scraggly, pathetic-looking Christmas tree]

Casey: "Ugh! And they call that a Christmas tree?! I wish we could at LEAST have a nice Christmas tree!!"

[A swirl of magic surrounds the tree and it becomes huge and beautiful. Casey stares up in shock, rubbing her eyes in disbelief.]

Casey: "...Am I in some kind of weird dream?"

[Casey looks down at the magic thing in her hand.]

Casey: "Huh..."

[Casey turns a corner into another alleyway. Some loud, distorted music plays. Casey turns to look and we see an eccentric looking band playing on a stage.]

Casey: "Those weird street musicians again, always putting on a show."

[Casey takes out the magic thing again.]

Casey: "I... wish they'd play a song I like..."

[Another swirl of magic surrounds the band. The piano player begins to play the notes of a different song, and the other musicians join in.]

Casey: "Well I'll be darned! I love that song!"

[Casey looks down at the magic thing again.]

"Could this thing... really be granting my wishes?"

[We cut to later that afternoon and see Casey walk through the door into her apartment. Her roommate, Eddie the bug, is standing on a table.]

Casey: "Hey Eddie!"

Eddie: "Hey Casey. You bring home those potatoes?"

Casey: "Yep. But... I brought home something else, too."

Eddie: "Something else? When we're so tight on money?"

Casey: "No, no... It's this *thing*. I found it on the ground on the way home, and... It's weird."

[Casey sets her potato bag on the table and retrieves the magic thing out of it]

Casey: "Like... unless I'm hallucinating... I think it might have some kind of wish-granting power."

[Casey holds up the magic thing.]

Eddie: "Aw, Case, don't make jokes like that."

Casey: "No joke. Watch..."

[Close-up of the magic thing. Casey then looks over at their vacuum cleaner.]

Casey: "Hmm... What the heck! I wish our vacuum cleaner could talk!!"

[Magic surrounds the vacuum cleaner, and it comes to life.]

Vacuum: "Hi!! Wow, it's so cool being all *alive* and stuff!"

[Eddie's jaw drops.]

Casey: "See?"

Eddie: "Case... Do you realize?! This means we can have more than plain potatoes tonight!! Heck, we don't even have to spend time cooking!"

[While the two aren't looking, Vacuum snatches the magic thing, which Casey has set on the table.]

Eddie: "Wait-"

Vacuum: "I wish EVERYTHING in this room could talk!!"

[The room fills with chaos and noise as every single object in the room starts talking in unison. Eddie and Casey block their ears. Casey frantically runs after Vacuum, and snatches the thing back]

Casey: "Got it!! I wish everything in this room would SHUT UP!!"

[Things go silent.] Casey: "*phew* There. Back to normal."

[Vacuum is now teary-eyed.]

Vacuum: "*sniff*"

Casey: "Look, I'm sorry I-"

Vacuum: "I just... I just wanted... some friends to play with."

[Vacuum rushes to the door and opens it, crying.]

Casey: "No,  wait-!"

[The door slams.]

Casey: "Eddie. We need to be careful what we wish for. Now there's a sentient vacuum roaming the streets!"

Eddie: "No... *really*? But I mean... Maybe we can wish for the poor little thing to come home."

Casey: "Probably a good idea."

[Casey opens the window, and holds out the magic thing.]

Casey: "I wish-"

[Casey drops the magic thing and it falls to the ground.]

Casey: "Oh!"

Eddie: "You... really didn't need to open the window to-"

Casey: "Yeah, I know."

[Casey rushes down the stairs, with Eddie riding on her hat. They fling the front door open and run out, only to find they're too late - a garbage collector guy has picked up the magic thing and is about to throw it away.]

Casey: "Oh no."

Garbage Guy: "Ugh. The garbage can's *right there*! I wish people knew where to put their trash!"

[Magic swirls, and a giant crowd of people gathers around that garbage can to throw their trash away.]

Garbage Guy: "Huh?"

[Garbage Guy scratches his head and looks down at the magic thing.]

Garbage Guy: "That *never* happens. Hm... Lookin' at this little doodad... There's somethin'... *special* about it."

[Garbage Guy holds up the magic thing.]

Garbage Guy: "I wish the Dirtville Litterbugs would win the game tonight! And I wish there was a six pack of beer waiting for me when I get home to watch it!"

[Garbage Guy looks at his watch.]

Garbage Guy: "And lookit that, my shift is over!"

[snailschool]

Comic/Graphic Novel Narrative

While walking down a dingy alleyway in Dirtville to pick up some potatoes, Casey the cat finds a strange object that she soon realizes has the power to grant wishes. She brings it home and proves this to her roommate, Eddie the bug, by wishing for their vacuum cleaner to come alive. While the two discuss what they could potentially wish for, the now-sentient vacuum cleaner gets hold of the magic thing, and wishes everything in the room could talk. Casey snatches it back and wishes for everything in the room to shut up. This upsets Vacuum, who only wanted some friends to play with. Vacuum rushes out the door in tears and Casey and Eddie decide to wish for them to come back. Casey opens a window to make the wish and drops the magic thing, which is then found by a garbage collector who wishes people in Dirtville knew where to put their trash. The garbage collector realizes the thing's power and wishes for a 6-pack of beer and for the local sports team to win the game. He heads home as soon as his shift is over and sees the beers on the table. His young child notices, and sneaks into the living room to grab it while he's asleep on the couch. The child makes the one wish they have - for dinosaurs to play with - which comes true. The dinosaurs take the child for a ride around town, scaring everyone below. Casey and Eddie see the dinosaurs out the window; meanwhile, Vacuum, roaming the streets alone, sees the dinosaurs come around the corner and realizes the kid on the T-rex's head must have the magic thing. Vacuum convinces the child to give the magic thing back, saying it belongs to Casey and Eddie and that they only have a few potatoes for dinner and were going to wish for more food. Casey and Eddie tear up at Vacuum calling them "my parents." Vacuum also suggests wishing the dinosaurs to be a little smaller, and says they'll be the kid's friend. The kid agrees, gives the thing back, hugs Vacuum and asks to play tomorrow, then runs back home while waving goodbye. Casey rushes to hug Vacuum and apologize for earlier. Vacuum makes one last wish - that they'll all live happily ever after - and they head home. A witch watches all this from afar, reaches into her bag full of identical magic things, and says "somehow these things always end up in the right hands." The witch then walks off towards another town to leave another one for someone to find. THE END

[snailschool]

5-panel and 20-panel extensions of a single-panel comic

[snailschool]

One Punch Man: Anime vs. Manga

For this exercise I chose to compare the first book of the manga One Punch Man to the first two episodes of its anime adaptation, which are essentially comprised of the chapters (called “punches”) in that book. There were many similarities between the two, and in fact there are many scenes in the anime that seem to use the art directly from the manga. However, there were some noticeable differences that can be seen in the anime. One of the greatest differences between adaptations occurs in how the first episode of the anime segues from “Punch Two” to “Punch Three” compared to the manga. In the manga, “Punch Two” (a flashback to protagonist Saitama’s battle with villain Crablante that occurred three years prior) ends with a simple shot of present-day Saitama walking down the sidewalk with grocery bags and thinking to himself, and “Punch Three” opens with the origin story of the next villains, the massive “Strongest Man” and his normal-sized scientist older brother. In the anime, after the Crablante flashback, we see Saitama in the grocery store, reflecting on the same thoughts while looking at crab claws. He then goes to pay for his groceries and, while he fumbles for cash, the earth rumbles, the lights flicker, and everyone else flees the store before he realizes. Then the Strongest Man rips the roof off the store, we cut to a giant footprint he crushed into the city, and then we see the scientist encouraging his brother from on top of his shoulder, followed by a flashback to the origin story. This was an interesting change from the source material, but it worked well as it transitioned from a clever referencing of Crablante in the grocery store as Saitama thought to himself into the next villain sequence. Starting with their origin might have worked well in the manga as the start of a new chapter, but it would have been an odd transition in an animated format. Another major difference lies in how Punches Four through Eight are handled in the second episode. Punch Four of the manga involves a battle with the “Subterraneans,” which Saitama is immediately thrust into just upon waking up. Punch Five, which introduces Mosquito Girl and her army of deadly mosquitoes, opens with an internal monologue from Saitama about how nothing thrills him anymore. In the anime, this monologue is used prior to the Subterranean battle instead. This was actually a good choice in my opinion as it makes his second monologue, during that battle, about feeling “the exultation of a fight” again, much more poignant. A monologue by the character Genos is also treated differently in the anime: in the manga, his long, wordy monologue is depicted by two panels of his face in profile, each with a giant, hard-to-read block of text beside it. This is followed by Saitama yelling in frustration that he wants a more concise explanation. In the anime, they chose to show random shots of scenery in and around the apartment, which begin to repeat as Genos talks faster and faster. We eventually see Saitama begin to twitch impatiently until finally he cuts Genos off and yells. The text block treatment definitely would have only worked in the manga, whereas the anime’s treatment of that scene creates the same effect (making the viewer think “this is way too much backstory”) but in a way better suited for animation. Other small observations I had were that the anime included slightly more dialogue shots and shots emphasizing certain characters and details, more exaggerated graphic violence (as in Crablante’s death), and even more blatant “fanservice” shots (in the case of Mosquito Girl) than the manga. Given that the manga already contains its fair share of intense and graphic imagery, it would seem that the anime wanted to turn the absurdity level up to 100%, which in all honesty works very well given the series’ sense of humor. Overall, both the manga and anime adaptations of One Punch Man have their strengths and weaknesses, but many of the major changes made in the anime work in its favor, suiting both the format and story better.

[snailschool]

New and improved Snail School storyboard

[snailschool]

Walk cycle of the queen ant from Fleischer’s “Ants in the Plants”

[snailschool]

“Morph” animation project

[snailschool]

"Sneaking Into Class" storyboard, about a slug that sneaks into snail school.