Kickstarter

Just a quick update, yes, Fathoms is still alive. I'm currently working on the edit, finalizing animations for locked shots and revising (fixing) the shots that don't make sense.

I just have to say that I am so thankful for everyone's continued support and patience with this project (and with me in general). I'm using the Thanksgiving break to crank out a few more shots.

The attached Image is a locked shot / final render from the final animation. I'm not sure how to make the image display larger here on Kickstarter, but it's a pretty big image, so if you save it (or open the image in a new window), you should be able to see all the magic happening in that shot. Pretty cool huh? 

I have an entire rough cut done with first-pass animation. I'm currently going through and doing second pass of animation for every single shot. This will take quite a while, as it should be the final animation, barring a few shots. I'm then rendering and compositing each shot as I complete the animation for it.

This process takes a while (the current cut is roughly 15+ minutes long), and the schedule has been pushed back as I changed careers and moved half-way across the country, but, it's still kicking.

I could post the rough animation, but a lot of people have asked me to keep the behind the scenes / work in progress stuff spoiler free, so, I'm trying not to post anything more than stills and little tests.

Cheers,
Joe

Finally, got my office rewired! So I was able (just this morning) to hook up my computer again. I still have to unpack a bunch of other gear, but, at least I can access the files for FATHOMS again.

Teaching at Ringling has been very exciting as well as time consuming... as all life-change+career changes tend to be, hah. As I settle into a routine in the next few weeks and months I will start working on Fathoms again. This is the big downside to making a big life change - big life projects have to be delayed, but, it's still happening!

Keep on swimming!

Hi all,

If you haven't been following my blog, I have been hard at work on turning FATHOMS into something beautiful and (hopefully) meaningful.

The good news is, I am moving in a few days, from NYC to Florida. I am changing my career path and have taken a position as a visiting professor at Ringling College of Art & Design. This is an exciting time and part of my bigger long term careers goals - which include giving back and finding more time to produce my own creative works (versus commercial art for someone else).

The sad news is that, all this life change stuff (packing, moving, changing everything, saying sad goodbyes) means FATHOMS is going to take longer than I expected. The film will still be completed, but, with the hectic schedule I have now and in the coming months, things will be pushed back.

All I can do is ask for your continued patience and trust. I can't promise that FATHOMS will be the greatest thing since submarines, but I can promise that I will complete it and deliver all the rewards that I promised along with the finished film.

Thanks, and keep on swimming!

I am currently wrapping up the animatic. I have been spending the past few weeks tweaking the animatic with feedback from a few trusted sources. The more I do this, the more I realize it's like software development...you keep refining the piece until it's better and better, or until you are out of time and money, hah.

Anyway, I should be starting final animation this week, the film is currently about 17 minutes long, so that's both exciting and scary news!