Red Dwarf-- Animated

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pebbles_briggs

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Related Link(s):site http://www.karcreat.com/RedDwarfAnimated.html
Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETRLrufHp1w

Now what happens when you take a great British Sci Fi live action Comedy and bring a bunch of animators who are crazy about the series and you get perhaps the weirdest animation idea to come down the pike.

Yes I know one of the animators personally and in fact these guys are taking the live action sci fi comedy series Red Dwarf and are going to turn it into an animated series for fans by the fans.

So get ready for Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and Cat to grace the animation airwaves as we see Red Dwarf Animated for the fans by the fans.

There's even a teaser for the upcoming series.

But let's hear from the Peanut Gallery about this one shall we?

So who's up for curry?

Edited Note:Also since this is also about a Live action series being animated would this also fall under the entertainment board as well?

:coyote:
 
Hey All!

Kevin Karstens here, I'm the friend that tucsoncoyote mentioned knowing that's involved with 'Red Dwarf- animated'...

Just added some new character sketch art and vids plus some news to the RDA site...have a look, let us know what ya think...we value all input from fellow fans...:)

Thanks!

K
 
I watched the opening and the teaser with and without laughtrack.

This is much better without the laughtrack. The sound quality of the voices needs adjustment. Each character sounds like they were recorded in a different city with different equipment, which may indeed have been the case but it shouldn't be so easily evident.

Even though this is a fan project, the animation really has a long way to go. Anything can happen with cartoon characters in space, and so far they're just sitting around talking without even moving their chins! That's barely to the standards of the average Newgrounds cartoon, much less Filmation's Star Trek.

The Charlton Lerna character design looks an awful lot like Leonardo from Clerks. Speaking of which, all the character designs are a bit tight and complicated. Loosening them up, not necessarily to the style of the Clerks animated characters but as an example of degree, might enable your animators to explore greater expressive options.
 
We know...these are early tests, and the audio will hopefully be adjusted in the future, or at the very least, tweaked...and yes, the parts are being recorded seperately from the USA and the UK...;)




Hmmmm...sorry you see it that way, honestly...but we are quite happy with the great work Pete has done so far concerning the animation...we are unable to 'get the chins to move' as you noted, the animation software is not that advanced (at least I am PRESUMING this to be the case, as I recall from discussions with Pete before we jumped into the whole thing) but we think the varying mouth 'positions' work just fine.

Not sure if by 'the animation' you are refering to the MOVEMENT of the characters, or the art itself...could you elaborate a bit on that?

Thanks in advance..



Good eye there, actually...:D

When I read Carl's script for that story and his description of Lerna as 'basically Allan Rickman', the FIRST image that popped to mind was the wonderfully goofy/evil Leonardo Leonardo...so basically, we cast him in the role!
I'm happy you were able to recognize him from my artwork...!



Not sure what you mean here either...'tight and complicated' as in the level of detail drawn in? ('tight'?)

I actually drew them in a style I THOUGHT was rather 'simplistic' (well, compared to the stuff I usually do, anyway, in comics and so on)...I really feel making them any MORE 'simple' (less wrinkles in the clothing, less lines in their hair...is this what you mean?) would give them a rather 'cheap' look...

Let me know what exactly you meant...and sorry you don't seem to have liked our efforts thus far, but thank you for posting your opinions, man...

K
 
No disrespect intended. Animation is a difficult process.

As for my comment on the animation quality and character designs, it comes down to what your goals are.

Are you trying to accurately reproduce the characters and scenes from the TV show in drawn form? Are you trying to explore story options that would be impossible in live action? Are you trying to illustrate a radio play? Are you trying to make a funny cartoon?

Each of those (among other choices) might lend themselves to different styles of animation.

From what I've seen so far, it looks like you're going down the illustrated radio path. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. Jay Ward did that successfully with Rocky and Bullwinkle and his other shows. The early works of Filmation did it somewhat less successfully.
 
The feeling I get with the character designs is it looks like you're trying too hard.

You should be working very hard to look like you're NOT trying too hard.

This of course makes absolutely no sense and probably isn't helpful. I'll screw my art director hat back on and come back in a bit once I find it.
 
LOL!!!

Ok, that's DEFINTELY simply your own feelings, then, man....:D

Honestly, I wasn't 'trying too hard', that's just my art style...but thanks for the compliment!

K
 
I LEEEETLE bit of 'all of the above', actually....:cool:

So far, the reaction we have had from all of the fans on the BBC forums has been 100% positive (and since they are the 'original fans', the fans that hail from the UK where the show was created, this pleases us to no end)...Basically, I've tried to do 'toony versions of the cast, the original show WAS somewhat 'like a radio play' in that it DID center primarilly on the characters talking to one another (over 'action sequences'...tho we WILL have a few of those, too) AND it will hopefully be funny as well...;)

Oh, and I brought up what you stated concerning the 'chin movements' to Pete, our animator...and it turns out I was wrong, it CAN be done (tho a lot of reworking will be required, its worth it!)...I redid the Lister characters chins/mouths...heres a test clip, let me know what you think...any better?)

http://www.karcreat.com/ListerMouth2.wmv

Thanks!

-K
 
That is a very significant improvement. With the chin moving, the whole face seems to open up and become more expressive.

Next is to introduce secondary gestures. You already have some of that with the eyebrows and head position. I don't quite care for the way Lister's head slowly drifts from side to side, but some of the ups and downs are working. Try working in some shoulder shrugs and chest heaving as he breathes. Not all the time obviously, but a little of that when he pauses between lines could go a long way.

Remember, the animator needs to be as much an actor as the one doing the voice, if not more so.
 
Of course, take my advice with an agricultural grade salt lick. I realize this is a fan project and your time and resources are limited. I just want to encourage you toward excellence, not to bite off more than you can chew.
 
I ran across another fan project here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBPH1yOz6mM
It doesn't seem to be nearly as far along, and animated South Park style.

The new clip with Holly looks like Holly: bland and emotionless, but that's Holly most of the time, which makes it all the more shocking when he does exhibit a smidge of feeling. I can't say I fully agree with the phonemes (specific mouth shapes associated with sounds) as they're used, but that is highly subjective. There's obviously more to it than just mouth flap, and you guys get it that much, but I think it can be even better.

I had been hoping some other people would comment. I hate being the only critic when I'm not even a qualified expert.
 
Hey All!

Quick question for those of you following this project...

We recently received a very polite inquiry from Grant Naylor, asking us to please not use their Red Dwarf logo and the theme music from the original show...other than those two small points, they did not seem to take issue with our work, for which we were quite grateful.

We have since replaced the logo with one that reflects the animation aspect of our project, (I'm actually very happy to have done this, since we wanted it to be clear to viewers that this is an animation venture) but there has been some concern voiced among our group that fans will not respond well to our episodes if we use different music for the opening/closing credits. The thought seems to be that without the theme music, fans will be 'turned off' from wanting to watch the episodes we create...I would love to hear from you all on this point...will different theme music in 'Red Dwarf- Animated' put you off from wanting to watch our episodes?
Thanks in advance!
-K
 
It's not at all unheard of for different renditions of a program to have slightly different to only vaguely similar music cues (Star Trek: TOS vs. Star Trek Animated, called again as an example).

There is also a tradition of knock-off music, done with similar orchestration and structure of a familiar song, but with a sufficiently different specific sequence of notes to dodge copyright claims. This is often seen in advertising where the background music sounds almost but not quite like a currently popular song.

Will such music put off the viewers of your show? It probably will be a bit jarring in the first couple of viewings, but if the merits of the show its self pull them through, they'll quickly get used to the music.
 
Funny you would mention the 'knock off' possibility...;)

I have recommended that we perhaps do a new theme that combines elements of both the opening and closing music from the original show, so that it will feel somewhat 'familiafr' to viewers...not sure if it will be possible (all depends on what the musicians are able to put together, playing a new original tune) but if THAT cant be done, Ive suggested a 'heroic' tune with a nice uptempo beat...

K
 
Just be sure to make your music different enough. A wailing guitar melody with a horn reply could be done up many different ways, I'd guess, but I'm no musician.

I recall the time John Fogerty wrote a song, was sued for plagiarizing another song he had written. Record companies do shifty things like that.
 
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