Chris Koelsch - Animation Reel 2018

Below is my animation/illustration reel for 2018. It contains many projects that I had the privilege of working on throughout 2017. I'm pretty proud of what I've done this year seeing as it was my first full year freelancing. That can be a very scary thing for a lot of different reasons, but it managed to keep me fairly busy and I'm proud of the work that came out of it. Hope you enjoy it.

TnT Tuts - #6,7 & 8 - Illustrating, Rigging & Animating a Cat in After Effects

In this tutorial series I tackle illustrating, rigging and animating a cat in After Effects.

The first thing people should know about rigging a cat versus rigging a human is that it's double the work (because it is double the legs). Also animal walk cycles are all just slightly different. Dogs vary from cats, cats vary from horses, and so on. So each animal rig is it's own unique beast so to speak. This is why it's always good to have lots of references. I have several books that reference various animal run cycles with photos and information. These are vital to understanding just how different animals walk, because if you don't understand the basics then there is no way you'll be able to deviate and add your own creative spin on things.

Another thing to note is that most animals require an extra bone by the shoulder or foot, so this adds to the complexity of your rig.

Finally, the other difficulty with animal rigs is that they often require extreme flexibility, especially in cats.  If you've ever seen a cat run you'll notice that their torso often stretches very wide on the jump and compresses very small on the landing.  This doesn't seem like a big deal but in terms of looking realistic, getting this to work is what will set your rig apart from others.  This flexibility can often be hard to pull off without breaking the rig as well.

In the following videos you'll see how I tackle these various challenges through the creative process.  I found this to be one of the most flexible cat rigs I've ever created and I had a lot of fun animating with it.

TnT Tuts - #5 - Animating a Bicycle in After Effects

This weeks tutorial features a character riding a bike.  You'll see how I use the same basic principles I've shown rigging characters with Duik, creating the bouncing ball, and using simple expressions to make this rig. 

Meet the Engineer Preserving The Last Analog Motion Graphics Machine

History lesson for all you animators out there. Do you know where the term "plug-in" came from? I'll be honest that I had never really thought about it until I watched this video. I'm also posting this video because I believe the work this man is making is pretty prevalent today even though the tools he is using are decades old. It makes me think of shows like Stranger Things. That intro is so iconic today yet it obviously takes all of it's cues from analogue motion graphics of the past. I'm just always surprised at how styles seems to go in a loop and how certain things can really never be replaced.

Sun Maker

A little late to the show, but I'm finally getting around to sharing the film I created with my friends for Sylvania's 2016 Tree City Film Festival. This film was a part of the 50-hour challenge during the festival. This basically means we had 50 hours to write, shoot, and edit a film (not a lot of time for those of you who don't know!) Before the teams break out and begin they are each given a genre (ours was western), a prop (lightbulb), a character name (Robin Chandler), and a line of dialogue ("it's in the trunk."). All of these elements must be incorporated somehow into your film for you to be accepted. So, we got our elements on Friday night and set off into the weekend of work and filming. We honestly used EVERY bit of time we had to make this film come to life, but I've honestly never been more proud of something that I filmed. We shot the whole thing on just my iPhone using the Filmic Pro app and a Moondog Anamorphic lens. After all was said and done I'm happy to say that this year, our 3rd time entering the festival, we won best picture! Ok, enough suspense, please enjoy both the film and the behind-the-scenes below.

Cats - The CATastrophe

I had the privilege of once again mentoring for Sylvania's Shorties U program.  Shorties U is a program in which kids (5th-8th) come together over 4 Saturdays to write, direct, shoot, and edit their very own films.  As a mentor I'm in charge of facilitating the whole production and just trying to keep the kids on rails.  This year our only prompt was to be in the Theatre of the school.  Naturally, we decided to write a film based on auditioning for a play.  Without spoiling anything else, please enjoy our film.

Chris Koelsch - Animation Reel 2016

It's been a crazy start to the year but I've finally been able to get around to finishing my animation reel for 2016. It's always a huge weight off my shoulders to get this done. It also serves as a great way to reflect on what I've done over the past year, how I've grown, and how I want to keep growing. This year I was lucky enough to get some original music from Glenn Davis. A fellow Ohian, Glenn currently resides in Columbus, OH where he can be found playing music solo or with his band Way Yes (I highly suggest checking them out). If you want to listen to more of Glenn's personal work you can go HERE. Well, that's it for now. Check out the reel below and keep your eyes peeled for more animation in the year to come!

A Bun House Christmas 2015

Made a little animated holiday card featuring the Bun House crew. I was listening to a lot of Charlie Brown's Christmas while making this and it definitely affected the whole vibe. Enjoy.

Metal Gear Solid V: Snake's Worst Day

This animation was inspired by a series of doodles I was making while playing through Metal Gear Solid V. I enjoyed a lot of the games gadgets and mechanics and thought it would be fun to explore those in an animated short. I also got to test out and play with the most updated version of Duik, which was pretty educational. It is far more robust that the older versions and rigging is now much more powerful.

Bun House Film's entry for the Tree City 50 Hour Film Festival: Missing Meow

For the second year in a row my friends and I aka Bun House Films, have entered into Sylvania's Tree City Film Festival. The festival is a 50 hour film challenge, which basically means we only have 50 hours to complete the entire film and turn it in. The genres are selected at random and this year we were given "The Cat Lady". I think if we learned anything from our experience this year it's that cats are straight divas. Please enjoy our entry, Missing Meow, and a view at our Behind The Scenes. Until next year!

C.P. the place to be

Growing up in Toledo, Ohio there is one thing that almost everyone does each summer, and that's go to Cedar Point. It's one of our few claims to fame in this area and I'd be damned if I didn't celebrate it's majesty at least once a year. We didn't make it out until Halloweekends this year, but with my iPhone6 and GoPro in hand I managed to make a little video out of what was pretty much a perfect Cedar Point day.

Cutting Room Floor Update #1

For those that don't know I am undertaking a much lengthier animation in my MeanMug & Slim style in the vein of old Scooby Doo cartoons. I've completed the script and audio recordings and I'm estimating the final piece coming out to around 15 minutes, which is a great length for an animated short. However, that's a lot of work and planning for just lil' ol' me. Probably in over my head actually...but I figured it would be entertaining and possibly educational to show you bits and pieces along the way. Seeing as how I have my script all read and a general storyboard, the next thing to do was to get my characters into After Effects, rig them up with Duik, and test them out. Below are some fun results I've had playing with my newly rigger character. Stay tuned for more updates!





And here is a bonus shot of D-Man with a giant bong, just because.

Arup - Future of Mobility

Really inspired by this most recent animation from Ross Phillips for Arup. It's a long piece and it really kept me entertained throughout the whole thing, and to be fair it's almost like two pieces in one. I love how the first half of the animation is setting up the world we live in via the dialogue, but the animation isn't exactly 1 to 1 with the script. We are seeing a separate story that is enhancing the feeling of the dialogue, instead of just reiterating it. I also like how we then take that character and actually build him out more with the specific family stories. The transitions were seamless and the piece really felt alive.

Slim's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Yep, this thing has made its way to lil' ol' me. I can't believe it and honestly didn't want to be called out in it for multiple reasons. But, I also have terribly guilt and can't let my friends down. So, I decided to take the opportunity to put my own spin on it (are you surprised). Anyways, here is Slim's A.L.S. Ice Bucket Challenge.

Take Back Chicago

This is an animation I created in association with Grassroots Illinois Action to promote and raise awareness for their new website, takebackchicago.org. The goal of the website is to help the communities of Chicago look up their aldermen, find out how they are voting, and learn what's really going on in their city.

Bun House Games: D-Man Plays Don't Starve

I have to admit, instead of animating I've been playing a lot of PS4 instead. So, I thought I'd put all my hours spent playing into good use and release a play through video every once in a while. Recently I've been obsessed over the game Don't Starve. It's a fairly hardcore survival sandbox type game that sort of resembles Minecraft in the way you play. However, it is much a much more stressful experience overall. For this reason I wanted to put one of my fellow Bun House Crew members through the experience of playing the game for the first time. Below is the result.

Lovaganza

When Jordan Scott's animation skills meet The Academy's designs great things happen.

Dog Walk Cycle

This is my first real stab at a dog walk cycle.  I've been practicing more using Duik as an animation tool as well.

Royal Canoe - Bathtubs.

Really enjoying this music video from Nathan Boey for Royal Canoe's song Bathtubs.


Royal Canoe - Bathtubs from Nathan Boey on Vimeo.

Johnny & Berry

A hilarious short from Sang Lee not only about the importance of confidence, but also a lesson in being a good wingman.