[RESOLVED] Looking for Animators for Non-Profit Web-Based Animated Series

[Cliff Roswell]

Evening, all.

My name is Cliff Roswell. I'm part of the online Ghostbusters community; more specifically, part of the small group that puts together Ghostbusters: The Animated Series. GB:TAS is a web-based cartoon by Ghostbusters fans, inspired by both the films, comics, and cartoon series. (please check them out, as the available episodes are well-crafted)

The only drawback to doing the series is that the episodes are very time-consuming. The scripting and design phases go quickly enough, as does the recording of the voices, but the animation is the real killer. And for a small group of fans with only two people who work in Flash, it's pretty difficult. There are many things to take into consideration: the characters, the actions, the props, vehicles, backgrounds, lighting effects, special effects...the list goes on.

So, even though we're not too keen on the idea, we're trying some, er, outsourcing.

We're looking for an additional animator or two to help with the slack. Now, please keep in mind that we cannot pay you (this is a fan-produced cartoon), but we would appreciate the help.

Please visit the Ghostbusters: The Animated Series website for previous examples of animation (i.e., previous episodes), and contact me at Toads revenge @ aol.com (without the spaces, of course) for more.

Thank you for your time and consideration, and we hope that you get back to us in a timely manner.

--Cliff Roswell

[RUSHVision]

Hi Cliff ~

Unfortunately the Flash Freelance forum is for paying work only so I had to move your thread. Based on the nature of the project I think Art & Animation would be your best bet for finding someone suited to help you out.

[Cliff Roswell]

Hi Cliff ~

Unfortunately the Flash Freelance forum is for paying work only so I had to move your thread. Based on the nature of the project I think Art & Animation would be your best bet for finding someone suited to help you out.

Understandable, sir. Thanks much.

[Cliff Roswell]

Yes, yes, double post and all that but....

Come on! Seriously! No one wants to help out? There's gotta be somebody, one guy or gal at least.

Okay, so we can't pay you, big deal. This project, this series, this is for fun. This is...this is something for the fans of Ghostbusters to enjoy over and over again.

Speaking as one of those fans, I gotta say that before I came onto the series myself, I was really appreciative of it. Seriously. Because we fans are getting screwed six ways til Sunday by Sony (the cats who own Columbia/Tri-Star, who own Ghostbusters). Here's a few examples:

The 20th Anniversary DVD set: Basically, it's a two-pack of rehashed material that we've already seen before. No deleted scenes or special features for Ghostbusters II, save for two episodes of the "Real Ghostbusters" cartoon series.

The recent "Ghostbusters: The Return" novel from iBooks: It was an okay book. Granted, it was somewhat flawed, but an interesting addition to the Ghostbusters Universe as we know it. There was a planned series of books to be published, but since orders were so low and Barnes & Nobles screwed the general fan by declining to order the book --vehemently, no less-- we got screwed out of a series. In addition to that, the low orders took a toll on the iBooks Company itself, driving a spike into it's sales charts and helping to pave the way to bankruptcy.

The Recent Comic Series from 88MPH Studios: Promises broken, all over the place. The guy who runs the studio is a nice guy, but he is unable to keep his end of the stick up. There were huge, six-month gaps between issues as the guy mostly paid for everything out of his own pocket (understandable), but he promised us an ongoing, monthly comic series as well as a hardcover collected edition --with a foreward by Dan "Dr. Ray Stantz" Aykroyd himself-- which was supposed to be shipped to use last May. It's been over a year, and those of us who have pre-ordered the book basically have $25 of our money, waiting for a book that will more than likely never be published. Sure, the cats in the UK got a softcover without the foreward, but they're still holding out for the hardcover.

The "Real Ghostbusters" DVDs: Admittedly, Sony has relented a little bit on the cartoon, but they've still got a death-grip on it. There are no plans for future releases of more episodes, no plans for a full season box set, nothing. This is something that we love and hold near and dear to our hearts, and yet we have to deal with shady dealers at comic conventions to get crappy copies of our favorite cartoon while the pure copies are practically rotting away in some storage unit at Sony Studios. Where is the justice, I ask?

Bill Murray: He's an excellent actor, very good man...but it looks like there's no chance that he'll ever come back to comedy until he gets an Oscar.

The Action Figures from NECA: These were really awesome. You got Slimer, both Terror Dogs, Gozer, AND an amazingly-detailed Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. There's a planned second series featuring the original "Boys in Grey" themselves, but since Bill Murray also has a death-grip on his character --Peter Venkman-- it's extremely unlikely that this second set will see the light of day.

Look, all we ask for is about some of your time. It doesn't even have to be top priority, you can just fiddle around with it in your spare time. We've got one guy who's handling all the animation, and for a ten to fifteen mintue long episode, that's way too much to pile on one dude's shoulders. We need some help.

Look at it this way: you're helping a bunch of adults to enjoy their childhood, fifteen mintues at a time. Most of the day, we're cynical, bitter jerks, but when we see that special something that we loved as a kid and still love to this day...all our cares just melt away.

Plus, you'd be getting your name out there, you'd meet a lot of new people, and you'd further hone your craft by trying something new, something fresh. You can look at that episode with pride and say, "God damn...I did that. I friggin' did that." And other people will love and appreciate it as well.

You can make a difference. Yes, it may sound corny to say so, but you're helping a bunch of fans give the finger to the man by saying, "You don't want to play? Fine, we'll be over here, making our own cartoons and movies!"

Please, help us out.

Sincerely, Cliff Roswell

[goliard]

Ha ha -- Cliff, that was a heartfelt plea! OK, put me down for some Flash animation -- just don't expect round the clock dedication...I live in England, so maybe if you can get contributors from other time zones, we can play international "pass the parcel" with the files or something.

How does this work? I presume you have someone working on the scripts and dialogue, storyboard it up and then pass it along to the animators? Do you record the soundtrack first, like all good cartoons should?

I looked at one of the episodes, and the characters could do with some improvement, if you don't mind me saying -- are you open to suggestions?

So many questions, so little time...

G

[detroitwhat]

this must be a co-incidence or something cause i was just starting some ghostbuster stuff, im down designing and what not

[Cliff Roswell]

Ha ha -- Cliff, that was a heartfelt plea! OK, put me down for some Flash animation -- just don't expect round the clock dedication...I live in England, so maybe if you can get contributors from other time zones, we can play international "pass the parcel" with the files or something.

How does this work? I presume you have someone working on the scripts and dialogue, storyboard it up and then pass it along to the animators? Do you record the soundtrack first, like all good cartoons should?

I looked at one of the episodes, and the characters could do with some improvement, if you don't mind me saying -- are you open to suggestions?

So many questions, so little time...

G

First off, I wanna thank you and detriotwhat for replying. This means a lot to myself and the GB:TAS crew.

Secondly, the answers to your questions, goliard:

It's like a traditional animated show or movie. The script comes first, then the dialouge is recorded, then there are character designs (when called for), and finally, the storyboarding and animating kinda happen in synch with each other.

As for the characters themselves, they are going through some design changes in order to give the series a darker, more "serious" tone. We are basing this off the movie styles of the characters instead of the ones from the "Real Ghostbusters" cartoon. This is kind of like, uh, Justice Leauge in a way, in that it respects it's predecessors ("The Superfriends") without making fun of them.

If you could, please drop by the GB:TAS Board (aka "Egon's Study") and your questions will be answered in full. I can't really say all that much, because I don't want to give anything away that might spoil the fun of the new episode.

Thank you again, and I hope to be able to work with you soon!

--Cliff Roswell

[goliard]

Just been over to "Egon's Study", and WHOA!, too much information!! It's like a firehose coming at ya! What I need to start off with is just a simple job to do, say, main character designs or a couple of backgrounds or something.

I agree with the stated aim of fostering a darker mood -- IMHO the characters seem too much like dolls and the backgrounds are not atmospheric enough.

So what kind of stuff has top priority? Let me know at john[dot]oakley[at]talk21[dot]com -- it's going to be quicker than communicating via the Flashkit forum.

[detroitwhat]

no where near done with the guy so dont critique that but heres just a tad of what im starting

[Cliff Roswell]

Interesting stuff, detriotwhat. I especially like the rendition on the trap. Quite cool.

Again, right now, we're mainly looking for people to help out with animation, as most of the design elements are being covered, but feel free to drop by Egon's Study to chime in. Just be sure to introduce yourself first.

Edited to fix link. It's clickable now.

[RUSHVision]

Just so you know, you've got an extra 'http//' in your link.

[Cliff Roswell]

Okay, desipte some minor setbacks, we have found an animator. Production is set to go ahead as scheduled and we hope to have the new episode out on time. Thanks to everyone who was interested, and we hope you'll drop by in the future to see the new episodes!

--Cliff