Friday, September 17, 2010
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Sunday, February 07, 2010
Aphid Animation on Howcast
I am having lot’s of fun animation these Howcast videos. Here is just a taste:
And for all our Howcast videos go here: http://www.howcast.com/search?q=craigstaggs
Monday, November 02, 2009
FTFN’T Title Sequence
This is the title animation for our new short FTFN’T. It’s a roto-scoped comedy about a romantically frustrated writer. Weird, right? We are working our tails off to make the SXSW dead-line.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
How To Crash A Party
This is a cartoon we produced for Howcast on How To Crash A Party. Enjoy.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Did You Know
Christopher Sharpe turned me on to this video. We didn’t make it, but it is still pretty good. It is one in a series and you can find the rest on YouTube.
Aphid offers an approach to new media and social network campaigns that is highly visual and organic. We produce elements that maximize the authenticity of your message or product and inspire contact between old and new friends. It’s all about sharing. And it is always better to share something pretty.
An extraordinary new media campaign can drive sales, increase traffic, make you more money and cost way less. And Aphid is all about extraordinary.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Aphid’s Visual Effects for Invicta
Here is just a taste of the work we’ve been doing on Invicta, a feature film about killer fire ants. The approach was unique in that we wanted a realistic look that wasn’t 3-D. We animated several photo-realistic elements to be used together in a complex application of key frames to create believable effects. Each of these elements were hand painted individually then reconstructed as the shot was composited.
We were also contracted to do the title and credit sequences which turned out great. Keep an eye out for our new show reel that will include some of these low-fi, old school sequences that really sell the 1970’s horror feel of Invicta.
www.invictamovie.com
Monday, September 14, 2009
Spotlight: Christopher Sharpe
One of the ways Aphid stays healthy and lean is by growing relationships with producers and artists like Christopher Sharpe. Chris is a writer, director, designer, blogger with an eye toward digital marketing and internet strategy. His blog, christophersharpe.com, chronicles his life as an indie movie director and is a must read. He adds depth to our team and increased flexibility to our approach.
“I quit my day job, sold everything I didn’t absolutely need and decided to live like a gypsy until I got a movie made. In hindsight, this was really, really dumb because I had a pretty great job with insurance, a good investment plan and everything else. But, I was obsessed and there was nothing more important to me.”
-Christopher Sharpe on making a movie
This is the only known photo of Chris working. He is the one without the gun.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Become an Ex & Aphid Make a Smoking No Smoking Team
One of our favorite partners is the Legacy Foundation. We work with them through GSD&M/Idea City on the Become an Ex campaign. We’ve produced several web animations, TV spots and Icons for www.becomeanex.org. And we are very proud to announce we’ve licensed art to them for print. These cartoons illustrate the organic, home style approach we employ at Aphid.
That wonderful smell is animation made from scratch. If your real good, we’ll let you lick the spoon.
Yummy!
Monday, July 27, 2009
UB Funkeys Ace & Mulch In Stores Now
From Mockingbird Games:
Ace & Mulch, two new toys in UB Funkeys Series 5, are on their way to stores this month. These Funkeys feature the Mockingbird-powered Game Factory and art by Aphid Animation. You can build your own Funkeys-themed games. Look for Ace, Mulch and the rest of the UB Funkeys Series 5 characters in stores later this month.
Here are some screen shots of the games:
Monday, June 22, 2009
FTFN’T Applies for The Texas Filmmakers Production Fund Grant
Money for paperwork! What an unusual idea. And I happen to have an unfinished film right here on my hard drive. So I took a shower, got a hair cut, bought some flowers and applied for a TFPF grant. We will find out if I am good at paperwork or not this September. Thanks to all who gave a letter of recommendation. You rock. And again thank you to everyone who has and will work on FTFN’T. Here is a little about the grant:
From Austin Film Society’s http://www.austinfilm.org
Since 1996 the Austin Film Society has awarded $850,000 in cash and $80,000 in goods and services to 265 film and video projects. We award grants once a year to emerging film and video artists in the state of Texas through our Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund. The 2008 Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund grant recipients are listed here.
TFPF recipients have shown their films at renowned festivals like Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, Tribeca, Slamdance and SXSW and have been nominated for Gotham Awards and won Independent Spirit Awards, and Student Academy Awards. Several have been released theatrically or in the cable and home video markets. The Austin Film Society is proud to support these Texas filmmakers making their mark in the world.
Awards are provided to artists whose work shows promise, skill, and creativity. Every August, an independent panel of highly esteemed professionals from the national film community convene in Austin to review applications and administer awards. Award announcements are posted on our website at the conclusion of the panel session and grant disbursements are made in early September.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Legacy Foundation “Be an Ex” Cartoons
Kevin and I had lots of fun animating these anti-smoking cartoons produced for the Legacy Foundation through GSD&M/Idea City. They are rough, organic and funny like the mental state of someone trying to quit smoking. They were shown on TV and the web. We’ve done a couple new cartoons for them recently and look forward to working on more.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Making FTFN’T
Here is a great post from Christopher Sharpe who is the Co-Producer and shooter for FTFN’T on the making of the live action movie on which the animation is based.
From Chris’s blog entry:
“The movie is a romantic comedy about dating and relationships in Austin, TX. We had 2 and a half days to shoot over 20 pages of script. I normally subscribe to the rule that 5 pages a day is a good number to shoot for, so this shoot required working fast and smart. The thing that allowed us to move faster than normal is that the final film will be completely animated via rotoscoping. This means that all the video footage will be drawn frame-by-frame by Craig and a team of animators. Craig was one of the animators who worked on Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly, so he knows a little bit about what he’s doing in this area.”
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
FTFN’T Sneak Peek
I couldn’t resist. This is the first 100 frames or so of our new animated short FTFN’T. The name is NSFW, so we are going with initials in caps like the kids do on their portable phones. This clip is from the teaser we are working on right now. The movie is set to release this October. It’s a black and white, rotoscoped comedy about a cynical writer experiencing a break-up.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Small Smiles
This spot was produced by Shiny Object who hired us on to do the character design and animation. It’s a good example of the traditional animation we love to produce. Shiny did a great job compositing the live action elements into the animation. The result is a spot with a charming and organic feel with appeal across age groups.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Mockingbird Games and Aphid Team Up with Mattel and Dreamworks
Aphid Animation works closely with Mockingbird Games, providing art, animation, and character design for playmockingbird.com and projects like Mattel’s U.B. Funkeys and Dreamwork’s Madagascar 2. Mockingbird Games has began licensing it’s Mockingbird Platform to businesses. They bring the smarts and we bring the pretty.
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