"Art is a Game" Art Show at Gam3rcon

Over Comic-Con weekend this year, there was a video game art show put on by my good friend Ben (aka "Mister Benja" of the 8-Bit Cubist.com. The venue was the top floor of the theater that featured Gam3rcon.Two of my 8-Bit Legends prints were among the awesome artwork displayed. More pictures of the event are on the 8-Bit Cubist Facebook page.

Bug-eyed at the "Art is a Game" show with fellow 8-Bit Cubist Ben.

Despicable Me "Minion Mayhem" ride opens at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL

"Minion Mayhem," the Despicable Me 3D ride at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, is the latest project I worked on through The Third Floor, and it opened earlier this month. Unlike the movies I have been a part of, where I helped previsualize an assortment of individual shots, this theme park ride was essentially one continuous shot, animated by several Third Floor animators. It was a unique challenge, and my first chance at animating some really cartoony characters. Having worked with motion capture and keyframed almost exclusively realistic human motion for over a decade, it is hard to overstate how much of a breath of fresh air it was to work with this type of material.

NBC's Today Show recently visited the theme park to see the ride in person, and here is the video segment they made about it (you can catch glimpses of the parts I helped animate at 0:46, 1:16, and 1:21). The final animation did a great job of matching the very particular timing and blocking we established, and including dynamic background elements and detailed sets. The main chunk I worked on was the ending, but of course that part was not in the video. If it's anything like how the rest of the ride ended up, it will be bright, colorful, and lots of fun. For the readers of this blog who are able to see the ride, I hope you enjoy it.

StudioDaily article on the pre/tech/postvis of The Avengers

An excellent piece that goes into good detail on what The Third Floor's work was for the blockbuster movie. All of the teams did a great job.

List of VFS graduates on The Avengers

Link to the Vancouver Film School blog post is here. Nick and I first met each other there in Class 28, and Aaron was one term ahead of us in 27 (I'll never forget his "vulture burglar" reel). The rest of the names I don't recognize, but I'd like to say "congratulations" to them all.

FXGuide's writeup of the VFX in The Avengers

A nice and thorough account of how the visual effects teams worked together on the movie.

Previs'ing the Avengers

'The Avengers' takes Los Angeles

Now that The Avengers is wrapping up its record-breaking opening weekend, I thought I'd post some pictures of ads I've seen around town.
 

Setting up for the world premiere on Hollywood Boulevard

Highland

Barham

La Brea

Hollywood/Highland

Hollywood Blvd. Site of the world premiere.

Wilshire

'Avengers Assemble' art show at Gallery 1988

On the way home from work last night I stopped by Gallery 1988's new space on Melrose (across from their original gallery, which is still there) to see their new "Avengers Assemble" art show, with art inspired by the movie. I could only stay a short while, and it was a day after the opening night (which meant that cupcakes, Joss Whedon, and Clark Gregg had been long gone), but I enjoyed seeing the variety of styles and takes the artists used to reinterpret the famous characters. I ended up purchasing one of Anthony Petrie's "Some Assembly Required" prints, which I was happy with:

Also on the walls of the gallery was NC Winters's excellent Iron Man piece:

 And many more:

Collider did a nice post about the opening night show here. LA is definitely the best city to be in for fans of movie art. Nuff said.

The Avengers is now in theaters!

Earlier this week I was able to finally see The Avengers. I attended one of the cast and crew screenings at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with my longtime friend Sean. He and I had created and drawn our own comics as kids, so seeing the movie together all these years later was very special. Cellphones were not allowed inside, but the theater was incredible: 1,000+ spotless seats, red drapes over the screen, and a huge golden Oscar statue on either side of the screen. I had to pinch myself throughout the movie to make sure I wasn't dreaming. The film came out incredibly well: funny, well-paced, and the visual effects are top-notch. It is truly a blockbuster in every sense of the word, and I feel very fortunate to have been involved with it. You could definitely tell it was a cast and crew screening at the end, because no one got up when the credits started rolling. The cheers and shows of support from everyone in the room made it a very touching experience.

Sean and I outside the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, after watching The Avengers.

The Third Floor credits at the end of The Avengers (I'm on the left side).

Most of the shots I worked on were mentioned in an earlier post, but I noticed a few more that made it into the final edit, which I will mention after the break (spoiler alert!).

New Trailer for The Avengers

The new trailer for Marvel's The Avengers went live today, and like the previous trailer, there are a few shots in it that I worked on.
Watch in 1080p:

Shots I worked on:

1:53 Hulk catching a falling Iron Man and scraping against a building
2:15 Non-CG shot of Thor and Cap looking up
2:19 Monster chasing Iron Man around corner of building


I think it's the best trailer yet, and I couldn't be more excited to see this one when it comes out on May 4. There is also a gallery of hi-res stills from the trailer here.

New "8 Bit Cubist" interview podcast up

Myself and MisterBenja of the 8 Bit Cubist had a fun talk about video games, film, and staying focused on the long road to self-fulfillment over here at the 8-Bit Cubist site. Check it out and leave a comment.

Mark 7

Original post on the Miracle Mile Marksmen blog

This week was tough because we decided on the mark literally as she was walking past our group of tables and it was hard to absorb all the details in that short amount of time. I'm not even sure that she had an orange bag with a yellow jacket--it could have been the opposite. I guess I still have a long way to go in training my short term memory.

Detail maybe no one else noticed: the horizontal stripes on her boots.

Mark 6

original post on the Miracle Mile Marksmen blog

This guy was definitely exuding a sense of "please look at me," and I find it funny that he has no idea that six people were observing him to sketch an impression later. Although the color palette of his clothes wasn't more than a few brown tones, he had a lot of details to capture.

Detail maybe no one else caught: the white threads at the end of his scarf & the unbuttoned shirt cuffs.

Jack the Giant Killer trailer is here!

Jack the Giant Killer was the very first movie I worked on with the Third Floor when I moved to L.A. last year, so it has a special place in my heart. The trailer came out great and I'm greatly anticipating the movie when it comes out in IMAX:



Jack the Giant Killer trailer on Quicktime.com

There are only a few shots in the trailer that I personally worked on, but the movie will have many more that I 
worked on during my stint on the project.
0:45/0:46 (Jack on the ground/Isabelle in the house being raised into the sky)
1:09 (Elmont preparing for battle with the troops behind him)



Jack the Giant Killer in the news:
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=32705
http://collider.com/jack-the-giant-killer-trailer-poster/131392/

New Sketch Blog: The Miracle Mile Marksmen

Some other Los Angeles animation professionals and I have started a "sketch club" in the Miracle Mile area. We've been picking random people on the street to all draw from memory and posting the results here:

MIRACLE MILE MARKSMEN

Subscribe, comment, and enjoy!

I've been doing mine by sketching the person loosely once I get back from lunch and then fleshing out the illustration on my Cintiq at home in my spare time. It's been a great way to stay sharp and a good outlet for trying out new styles.

Hat tip to Marcelo and the rest of the Sketch Club in Culver City for showing their support.

Empty Streets

Last year I helped out with some of the package design and promotional materials for this short film Empty Streets. The short is about a young war veteran returning with PTSD and has been shown in festivals nationwide. The production blog link is here: www.emptystreetsmovie.blogspot.com

Daily Show has a Red Dead Redemption reference

Saw this video and thought the graphic gag was worth sharing (It comes on at 8:16 and 11:02). Nice to see the references continuing in outlets like this.

New Avengers Movie Trailer

The new Avengers trailer came out this week.



Two shots that I worked on it are in the trailer:

0:56 Damaged flying Quinjet
1:09 Thor reaching out and catching his hammer Mjolnir

"Grandpa" mini-comic

Here it is in full. Feedback is appreciated in the comments section.

©2011 Josh Lange. All rights reserved. All of the characters and events in the story are completely fictional. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. No similarity to any person either living or dead is intended or should be inferred.

"Grandpa" is now at Meltdown Comics!

The first print run..

Tina and I sold my first copies to Meltdown Comics in West Hollywood tonight. They can be found in the indie comics section at the far left side of the store. Pick one up if you're in the Los Angeles area!

My mini-comic is here!

I picked up my copies of "Grandpa" at the printer today:

The first two pages:

Sure, it's a mere eleven pages and printed on copy paper, but I learned a ton in the process and it feels great to call my first comic project complete and have it in my hand. I'll be at Meltdown Comics tomorrow night to put it on their indie shelf with the other self-published mini-comics from their Meltdown University class. All those who read this blog that live in the Los Angeles area are welcome to come by and pick up a signed copy.

For those who can't get their hands on a physical copy, check back to this blog later this week because I will be posting the mini-comic in its entirety very soon.