Friday, March 30, 2012

Norman?






Mina, Jake, and I sat down and modified my first guy a bit to create this new one. Now his hair doesn't move in an unexplainable way, HOORAY! We're all on board with this rig if everyone feels good about this one too. If anyone has any suggestions, let us/me know.


We changed his hair because it was moving all crazy. We realized that it makes him look a tad younger, but think it's alright? We figure he still has his youthful enthusiasm, and if he is too old he won't be capable of performing all our elaborate tricks? Also, this guy seems like he can be a little more goofy than the original guy I made.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Possible design for Norm

I just put in the balding one because I didn't know how to edit the hair.


Who is Norm????

Hey guys,
I felt that I didn't really know who our character was, so I wrote up a little something about his character. This doesn't have to be exactly what we go with, but I thought I should share to give you guys some inspiration.
Who is Norm the Magnificent?
He is a guy who has great enthusiasm and excitement for what he does, but no skill. Everything he tries to do ends up in failure, but he keeps going. Indefatigable spirit with a touch of vanity. In his mind he is great, but he clearly isn't. His father was a great entertainer. He lives with the belief that talent is seamlessly passed down from father to son. A lot of people were nice and complimented him in childhood about how talented he was, when they didn't want to tell the truth that he sucked. so he thinks he's great. he thinks everyone wants to see his performance talent.
What does he want?
(superficial) his goal and dream is to have his own show in Las Vegas. he wants to be acknowledged by the entertainment world. he wants to prove himself.
(deep down) truth be told, he's the son of a car factory worker in Detroit, MI. his dad was a magician as a hobby on the side, and was mediocre at best. but such things excited the mind of the kid in Detroit whose name was Norm. Deep down he fears that he is just what his name suggests: normal. yet he is in denial of this, he chooses to believe that he is Magnificent. That fear lingers still, and his is constantly denying it and battling with it, always needing to prove himself.
He wants to feel special and someone who is important.
He left his job at the factory and went traveling around the midwest doing shows. He wants to make it to Las Vegas. He is in his late 30's: 38-40 yrs. Just at the brink of midage, and with the flower of youth beginning to wilt. Right handed. of unathletic or dexterous physicality. medium height.
In all ways, uninteresting, normal, and boring in every way.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Norm The Magnificent?


 Ok, there is a problem I ran into while changing the hair to what I pictured, and maybe one of you will have a solution. As pictured below, when I turn the head (or rather do any motion which moves the head from the original position, like move the COG), that middle piece of hair wants to stay put. Does that make sense? Uhhh... :\

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Sword Swallowing

For real though... this stuff is hard for me to watch... eeeeekkkk

Thursday, March 15, 2012

got a unicycle




















I scored a unicycle prop to use, wondering if I should do the fire twirling as well, what do you guys think?

fire twirling alternative

I'm having a hell of a time trying to find a unicycle for my skit, so I think I might do an something else if I don't find a rig over the weekend. I had a look at some fire twirling videos as an alternative and I made a simple little fire baton in maya (below). I couldn't remember if anyone was doing something fire-related already, what do you guys think?

some great inspirational material




Juggling Cirque du Soleil

Thursday, March 1, 2012