Must See Animation - 6 Reasons Why You Should Watch "What If?" (Disney +)

Why is Disney + "What if",  in our list of must-see animation. Here are 6 reason why:

1.  You are a fan of the MCU.

If you liked everything leading up to Infinity Wars/ Endgame and beyond you will love this show. Action, laughs, and tear in the eye moments. 

2. The writing / storylines are really cool.

Imagine Rod Serling writing episodes for Marvel Studios. You kind of get the picture now... LOL. Hang in there for episode #2; a nice send off for Chadwick.

   
3. The production & character design are nicely done.

 

Character design and production work on this show is top notch! Ryan Meinerding and Paul Lasine  know their stuff and have been doing it for a while. Check out the links above. Some scenes brought back memories of  Akira and Ghost in the Shell, and who does not love Jack Kirby energy effects.. animated. Wow!


4. Voice acting is from the original actors.

85% of the voice acting is the original actors. Samuel L. Jackson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Micheal B. Jordan, Mark  Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Frank Grillo, Michael Rooker, Hailey Atwell..need we go on? 

5. Action scenes are spot on!




The animation is serviceable, but the action scenes are on point!

6. They finally got cel-shading right.




  


There has been some questionable cel-shading in the past from various studios. Iron Man, Armored Adventures, & Iron Man / Captain America in Hero's Unite come to mind. They got it right this time. Just the right touch of 2d and 3d. 

Check out the trailers here. Or better yet watch all 9 episodes

Do you have a must-see animation movie? Shoot me an email to jon@tripleadude.com
If your choice is solid I will add you to a write up.

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The Importance of Plot and Subplot

Plot supplies the general direction of your story, but the subplot keeps your audience hooked. How does that work? Let get to the specifics of plot vs. subplot and how they help each other. We are assuming that your story type is dramatic.

Plot:

The main storyline from beginning to end. The exploits of your hero and villain in a 3 act structure connect to your story's theme/purpose and give the reason why an audience stays engaged. Your audience wants to see the outcome of the drama.

Subplot: 

This is a smaller secondary plots that keeps the story moving. The subplot adds obstacles in the way of your main character and conflict. Obstacles require motivation and action to be overcome, while conflict creates drama and suspense. The subplot provides forward motion without which the story would be dead and motionless.


When you read a 1-2 line synopsis that is your plot remember, we have 1 1/2 - 2 hours of screen time to fill. Subplots keeps you audience involved and wanting to watching your film.


A good exercise is to watch a good movie and jot down the all subplots. Let's take a look at some classic examples.

Raiders of the Lost Ark-

Plot: Archaeologist Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the ark of the covenant before Hitler's Nazis can obtain its power.

Subplots (Act One & Two):

1. Indy must outwit some treacherous guides in the jungle to obtain a precious idol but has a run-in with his evil nemesis, Belloq.

2. Jones is also a teacher of history and is hired by government agents to track down a headpiece that will lead to the ark of the covenant. In this scene, he explains the purpose and power of the ark (setup) "The army that has the ark before it will be invincible". This is an information moment that explains the "why" of this movie.

3. Indy must track down his old mentor Dr. Ravenwood but finds out he is dead from Ravenwood's daughter, his spurned flame, Marion. She secretly has the golden headpiece which he discovers after he rescues her in a bar fight with the Nazis. They join forces. In the fight, the lead Nazi, Toht attempts to grab the headpiece but instead burns his hand with an inscription from one side.

The tension here between Indy and Marion from the backstory that is hinted at.

3. Indy and Marion go to Egypt to visit his old excavator expert, Sallah. Sallah tells Indy that Belloq is in charge of a dig that is near the Well of Souls. Indy knows that they can't find the precise location of the dig without the info from the headpiece and they seek out a man who can interpret the inscriptions on the headpiece.

4. An old man deciphers the inscriptions from both sides of the headpiece, and gives them precise instructions on how to find the ark. Indy and Sallah discover that the Nazis are digging in the wrong spot. Toht only had 1/2 the inscription burned into his hand. Sallah saves Indy from being poisoned in this scene. They must figure out a way to unearth the ark while in the Nazi's base camp.

At this point, all bets are off as Indy and Marion risk life and limb against Belloq and the Nazis, as they go toe to toe trying to get their hands on the ark. Note that in each instance, of subplot a crucial piece of info or backstory is revealed and is sometimes mixed with action to propel the story forward.

Star Wars: A New Hope 

Plot: Luke Skywalker must join forces with Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi knight, Han Solo, a cocky pilot, his second mate Chewbacca and two droids to rescue Princess Leia from Darth Vader and his Imperial forces.


Subplots (Act One & Two):  

1. Princess Leia's ship is overtaken by Lord Darth Vader and imperial forces. The princess however has planted secret information in the memory unit of a droid (R2D2) who escapes to the planet of Tatooine along with his fellow droid C3P0.

2. The droids are captured by Jawa's and sold to Uncle Owen and nephew Luke Skywalker.

3. While Luke is cleaning the droids he comes across a fractured message from Princess Leia needing help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke is asked to remove a restraining bolt which might enable R2 to play the full message. This doesn't seem to work and Luke is called away for dinner.

4. At dinner Luke reveals that the droids may belong to an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke asks if Obi-Wan is possibly related to a hermit named Ben Kenobi who lives several miles away in the Dune Sea. Owen claims Ben is a crazy old man and Obi-Wan is dead. Owen makes a reference that Obi-Wan may have known Luke's father but when pressed on the matter he changes the conversation. Luke is asked to stay on the farm another year when he was planning to join the academy to become a space pilot. This angers Luke and he leaves in a huff. Luke's aunt Beru tells Owen that he has too much of his father in him. Owen says that's what he is afraid of.

Quite a lot of inference and backstory packed in this short scene which has major foreshadowing implications.

5. When Luke returns to the garage he discovers that R2 has escaped. Luke tells C3PO that it is not safe to chase after him during nightfall because of the dangerous Sand People in the area and they would have to do that in the morning hopefully before his uncle finds out.

6 . What happens next is that Luke tracks down R2, has a run-in with the Sand People, and is rescued by Ben Kenobi.

7. In the scene that follows Ben reveals that he is Obi-Wan Kenobi but has not gone by that name in a long time and that he and his father were both Jedi Knights back in the day. Ben also reveals a pupil named Darth Vader betrayed and murdered Luke's father.  He gives Luke his father's lightsabre. Leia's message played in full reveals that important info must be taken to her father on the planet Alderaan and the Obi-Wan is her only hope.  Ben needs Luke's help

A lot more backstory is revealed here and all bets are off when Luke discovers his aunt and uncle are killed by the imperial stormtroopers. He joins Ben on the journey. Note once again that in each scene, the subplot moves the story forward and also supplies crucial information and action.


What is interesting about subplots, as you can see in the examples are the additional character types that are added to keep the subplots going. Also notice that without subplots, your story will have no forward motion and generate no interest at all to your audience. In essence total DOA! It's pretty obvious that your book page count or movie screen time is integrally tied into your subplots.

Tip from Hitchcock (The Master of Suspense):
Hitchcock sometimes refers to the subplot as the McGuffin. It is the thing that everyone is after but we the audience don't care. What does that mean?  We care about what happens to our characters, if the story is told well but not necessarily what they are after. The subplot adds complications that make the audience more concerned about the characters.
.
So when creating your next story pay particular attention to your overall main plotline and keep your subplots interesting.

Want more? You may also want to check out:

Types Of Story & Why It Matters
Secrets to Overcoming Writer's Block
Overcoming Writer's Block Part II
Character Types Will Make Or Break Your Story

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The Etherington Bros - Inspirational Art / Tutorials or Both?

 

I happened to go through my Pinterest pins. I have them neatly organized by category now. It has become my inspirational rejuvenation / drawing reference tool. However, I keep seeing these interesting and cool mini drawing tutorials that show up in my pins!

 

 
 

Ok, it's my fault. Yes, I can't help but save these bad boys every time I see them, but who are these guys...The Etherington Bros? 

 

 

Lorenzo (the artist) and Robin (the writer), it appears started posting work on sites like deviant art, conceptart.com. and their under banner, Studio Blink Twice in the early 2000's.

Things really took off when they starting promoting their "How to Think When You Draw" & "How to Think When You Write" books on Kickstarter back in 2017. They have since broken the record for the most funded artbooks of all time on Kickstarter for three consecutive years; in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

The Etherington's have been blogging since 2009 and their client roster includes studios such as Disney, DreamWorks, Aardman, and the BBC.    

Check out their blog here, and be on the lookout for their free art tutorials, free writing tutorials 
(300 + each and counting) and content on Pinterest.

P.S. - Who are your favorite artists for inspiration? Shoot me a message at jon@tripleadude.com

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Manga Studio / Moho / Poser / Anime Studio Users - Important Read!!

 

 

Smith Micro no longer supports Manga Studio, Clip Studio Paint, Poser, Moho and Anime Studio.

Take a look here to see who is supporting Manga Studio /  Clip Studio Paint / Poser / Moho / Anime Studio and get your latest updates.

Free Stuff for the Holidays 2022

Another new year is almost right on us.

Here is our new free stuff for 2022. Quite a bit here too!

ART

Character Design Thumbnail Process
James Douglas aka, "moderdayjames" gives you a great rundown on the initial character design process. Great info.

Note: his recommendation of additional resources in this video clip. I'd be remiss if I did not mention the other drawing tutorials on his YouTube channel.
Excellent work.

Learning to Ink Part I &  Part II
Leila del Ducca is a comic artist with an energetic, sketchy inking style. The links above show you her tricks of the trade.

See a full playlist of 12 comic related videos here: Comic Book Tutorials.

Comic Balloon Placement
Master letterer  DC artist Todd Klien  gives you the low down on balloon placement. Check out his links on hand lettering, logo design, cool examples, and computer lettering.

Jim Zub.com
Jim's website came recommended so I clicked on the link and poked around. I suddenly saw to the right on his webpage his # Comic Tutorials, and was very impressed. Check it out.

Natalie Nourigat
A story artist at Walt Disney Studios. She has a link to help aspiring young artists age 14-18. I was blown away with the info and links. Read and scroll. This link comes highly recommended regardless of age. Check it out!

See this link to check out her: Animation Resources. Wow, quite the list.
Scroll and read baby, scroll and read... LOL.

Ethan Becker vs. Ross Draws on Backgrounds
Came across these two links which supposedly supplement each other. Two great videos  with tips and points of view.

  

Check out our Triple A Dude Pinterest link for more inspiration and drawing resources. 12 categories, 818 pins with more coming soon.

If you like links like these above please check out the: Cartoon Production Resource Guide that has even more good stuff. 

Now 50% off at Smashwords till Jan 1st. Makes a great holiday gift.

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Want to know more about graphic design? Check out Satori Graphics. They had some cool graphic design resources listed in a video here: Must Have Design Resources

AUDIO

Big Fish Audio
Big Fish free sample collection. A taste of what you can purchase in six music categories. Try typing, free sample in search window and check it out.

Loopmasters
Loopmasters free samples page. Another taste of cool stuff from Loopmasters.

Producer Loops
Royalty free loops and sample packs. Quite the selection.

ORCHESTRAL - Looking for a free orchestral VST?
Check out Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra Community Edition. Both work from a collection of Creative Commons orchestral samples. Super cool.

How to Install Loops Into Garageband
If you ever wanted to install your own loops to Garageband, here you are courtesy of Soundtrack Loops.

If you like links like these above please check out the: Audio Production Resource Guide that has more good stuff.
  
Now 50% off off at Smashwords till Jan 1st. Makes a great holiday gift.

FILM

Adobe Premiere Tutorials
Billy Eilish shows you some cool Adobe Premiere effects courtesy of Creative Cloud.

Looking for free stock footage?  It's worth looking at sites like Pexels, Pixabay and Videvo if paid stock video is out of your budget.

DaVinchi Resolve Complete Tutorial
Justin Brown show you it all. Did you know that this video editor is free?

The School Of Motion Blog has a few interesting tutorials. Worth checking out. Scroll and see.

MISC

Envato Elements - By signing up for a free account you get monthly free downloads of  website templates, sound files, graphics, stock images, video templates and more to use. Definitely sign up by clicking on - create a free account.

3D MODELS

Sketchfab, our old go to has some new cool free 3D models if you are willing to sift through their site. No price means free. Check it out.

Want more? Try Turbosquid or CG Trader. 

Enjoy these links and subscribe if you don't want to miss any. Stay tuned. More great stuff in the New Year.

Share this with friends and family and have a wonderful holiday.


Check out our previous free stuff here: Free Stuff 2021

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3 Things to Help You Stay Positive