Patrik The Alien.

Hello there people!
Allow me to introduce you to Patrik. Patrik is a character I designed for a 40 seconds animation exercise that was appointed to us this last semester. The team that worked on Patrik was made out of four members including me. The creator of Patrik and initial character designer was Lauren Bulter, my design for Patrik got picked in unanimity by the human race as final design for the character(more like a practical joke if I look back on it now, cause the character is hard as nuts to animate), and also two of the most awesome guys I ever worked with, Colin Dick and Duncan Foreman. We've done everything from writing the script, to designing the character, the storyboard, layouts, key frames and inbetweening.

A little bit more about Patrik.
Patrik is a "grounded bird".  He has the natural ability to fly, but lost his wings' membrane and, as a cherry on top, somehow his growth was stumped, leaving him unable to access his innate memories, and unable to get off the ground. He is vulnerable and always on the ground. He has no eyes, he relies on his hearing and smelling senses to navigate the enviorment, as well as his touch. He uses his long fingers as whiskers but also to try to catch fish. When designing Patrik I got into an argument with myself on how to design him properly. I know that the fact that he was not able to fly meant that he would need a pair of developed legs for him to actually be able to stay alive and on the move, but I had to take into consideration the fact that his natural predisposition to flight would leave him with a better developed chest and a great wing span. A balance was needed, legs too developed would mean he's build for speed, legs less developed would mean he won't be able to survive. So, after a number of tries I came up with this design. I thought he would naturally use his legs to climb trees and get into the air without too much effort(in the right environment of course). He has hollow bones, strong muscles and well developed cartilages to offer him ridiculous mobility (cause you know, this is a cartoon, so, WHY NOT!?). He has a strong trail, that is almost 2 times the length of his body, which he uses to balance himself out and steer (along with his big ears) while in flight. He eats fish though he is afraid of water(if this sounds funny, blame Lauren, it's her concept hehe), he's intelligent and curious and often finds himself not quite in the right situation, and he absolutely adores sunbathing.
Oh and he has like a bazillion rows of teeth so, his smile is one of a kind(his teeth are like shark teeth...or the Persian immortal army, one falls another takes it's place).

Ok, less talk more drawings.
You may find here the character sheets I did when designing my version of Patrik, and some other drawings of him in different poses. Just click on them to enlarge them.

"Character turnaround".

" Construction sheet".

A basic "Bone structure" to get an idea on what's on the inside.

"Poses and expressions".

This is an older version of the "Poses and expressions".

Patrik "Flight poses". How he would look with his wings intact.

And of course, a "Color sheet".

(My favorite is the bottom left one. Not the best camouflage but there has to be a downside to looking good, right :P)

Awkward "Hunting pose".

"Flight test gone wrong".

Another "Hunting pose".

I'm Batman "Hunting pose".

Old "Hunting pose".

Patrik "Sunbathing" after a hard day's work.

Now here's a treat for you all, a glimpse at the "torturous" process of acting the animation before going ahead and drawing it.

 Here's Colin, our designated actor of the day, getting ready for playing the part of Patrik.

You can read the excitement on his face.

Ready for action.

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Two awesome guys.

The whole movement proved a bit tricky to act in real life. Patrik is supposed to be reckless due to his hunger, and risks his life by trying to hunt some fish from a pretty uncomfortable fishing spot: an apparently stable tree trunk. The result is not necessarily the most favorable for our dear Patrik, who will find himself in a bit of a pickle, struggling for his dear life.

Alrighty then... Now, time for the serious part.
Here is the complete 40 seconds animation test. Do try to watch it in HD if possible, the line tester quality wasn't that great and the videos are pretty bad quality.

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And it goes like this.
00:00 to 00:10 Animator C.D.Popa Inbetweener Lauren Bulter.
00:10 to 00:20 Animator Lauren Bulter Inbetweener Colin Dick.
00:20 to 00:30 Animator Colin Dick Inbetweener Duncan Foreman.
00:30 to 00:40 Animator Duncan Foreman Inbetweener C.D.Popa.



So these were the 10 seconds of keys that I animated.

And these were the last 10 seconds I inbetweened.

Yeah... it was fun, really fun, a lot of work involved and I honestly can't wait for the next year so we can work on the next one, the proper one.

p.s. I am really sorry for the poor quality of the tests. I will try to get a better version of them asap. 

Hope you guys enjoyed this. Will be back soon with some more stuff!