Under a Big Tree
Under a Big Tree by Michael Piazza
Who?
Me! Michael Piazza. I’m a second (now third) year Character Animation student at CalArts.I modeled, rigged, animated, storyboarded, wrote, directed, and After Effects’d this little short. Stephanie Armstrong was my sound designer, and my cousin Chloe Rose voice acted.
What?
A little boy asks some tough questions to Panda, and the universe answers. Sort of.
Why?
This is actually inspired by real life events! Without spoiling too much, I accidentally on purpose shot a bird with a wimpy airsoft gun when I was a kid. To my relief, the bird wasn’t killed – but I did manage to initiate a sequence of events that would end in the bird’s demise. It was weird. I’ve been thinking about death and birds ever since.
How?
All the characters were fully Maya (except one animal), and layouts done in Flash. I did compositing and effects in After Effects. Minimal and well designed CG is really inspiring to me, as is that great lineless Flash style (2D Flash is actually my background – this was the first year I really picked up Maya). I used mostly ramps (gradients), surface shaders, and some colored ambient occlusion to shade my characters. No lights!
Next?
I’m starting up a CG Animation internship at Disney Feature in a few days, so right now I’m just focusing on honing my animatin’ skills. There’s so much I want to learn – next year I may make multiple short vignette films rather than one longer film. That way, I get to experiment with different techniques without getting bogged down in a massive year long project. I’ve found that I’m typically more creatively satisfied with shorter projects as well.
What I wish I Made
CG Feature: The Incredibles or Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Student Film: orfeau (don’t tell nelson)
Cartoon: Adventure Time
