Well folks, I have had another recent adventure in animation. I was one of 4 animators that animated on a music video for American Idol 2012. Working with Paul Golden, Producer and owner of Ffake, LLC in Portland, Oregon and animators Dan McHale in San Fransisco, Chad Essley and Mike Smith, both also based in Portland, we were tasked with creating doodle-like animation of the Idol contestants for a Ford Escape product placement piece for the AI TV Show. Gordon Clark (SF) was Animation Director working closely with Golden and the Ford/Idol Director and Producers to come up with a scenario of a student opening his Math class notebook and his notes and doodles come to life.
Ford Escape Idol – Gordon Clark from FFAKE Animation on Vimeo.
My contribution was doing layouts for the opening scenes up to when the dragon exits behind the mountain road, before the bird enters. I animated a handful of bits including the Space Invader Idols high-fiving and shooting lasers at the dragon. Dan also worked on layouts and animated the falling rock scene, Chad did the opening Idol’s run to the car, the bird, the fire/smoke/dust effects at the end, as well as the cycling background doodles and Mike animated all the Dragon sequences. We all worked virtually from our homes. It made me miss working at a studio, side by side with colleagues, absorbing all the creative energy. But this experience had it’s benefits too!
