For those who are new here my warning tags are: “the seizure warning tag” “neuralblender” “ai art” “f slur” and “the drugs tag”. If you have anything else you want me to tag I’ll try my best to accommodate.
“By the world I was taken By storm I was tossed But I told myself that love’s never lost.”
- Love’s Never Lost from A Man of No Importance
I was feeling a bit nostalgic about campaign 2, so I thought I’d draw a little something
[ID: Art of various characters from Critical Role.
The first panel is Fjord looking at Vandren as he helps him fix a sail, with text reading “It was on a misty Sunday,”. Fjord is a green-skinned half-orc man with short hair, and Vandren is a pale-skinned human man with long blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. Fjord is dressed in a white shirt and Vandren wears a black one. Both of them are smiling
The second panel is of Veth kissing Yeza goodbye as he holds baby Luc, with text reading “We said our goodbye”. Veth is a brown-skinned halfling woman with long black hair in braids, Yeza is a pale-skinned halfling man, and Luc has brown hair and brown skin. Yeza wears a white shirt, and Veth wears a yellow dress with some bottles tied at her waist.
The third panel is of Constance greeting Caduceus, with text reading “And I can still see her smiling”. Constance is a grey-furred elderly firbolg woman with long white hair in a braid wearing a black cloak, and Caduceus is a grey-furred firbolg man with long pink hair wearing green armor. Constance is resting her hand on Caduceus’ cheek and looks at him gently.
The fourth panel is Marion kissing the forehead of a young Jester, with text reading “a tear in her eye”. Marion is a red-skinned tiefling woman with long hair, and Jester is a blue-skinned tiefling woman with chin-length hair. Jester wears a blue cloak and Marion wears a black dress. Marion looks forlorn and rests one hand on Jester’s neck.
The fifth panel is Caleb’s parents holding him, his mother kissing his cheek, with text reading “She said, Son: please remember”. Caleb and his family are all pale-skinned humans with red hair. Caleb is wearing a black shirt and smiling.
The sixth panel is Yasha holding Zuala, with text reading “no matter the cost”. Yasha is a pale-skinned woman with white hair, and Zuala is a pale-skinned woman with brown hair. Both are wearing leather armor, and spears are all around them as if pointed at them. Both have pained expressions
The seventh panel is Yasha holding Mollymauk tightly, with text reading “no matter the cost. Yasha’s hair is now black, and Mollymauk is a purple-skinned tiefling wearing a brightly patterned coat. Mollymauk looks surprised, and all around them are forget-me-nots.
The eighth panel is Beauregard being hugged by TJ, with text reading “But love’s never lost.” Beau is a brown-skinned woman wearing blue robes, and TJ is a brown-skinned boy wearing a grey shirt. A tear forms in Beau’s eye, and TJ grins as he hugs her tightly.]
I think one of the most profound forms of love is “I’ll try that, for you. I may not like it, but I’ll try it.”
It’s a confused middle-aged man in a pottery class, whose daughter is helping him with his clay’s plasticity. It’s a kid scrunching up their brow while listening to their mom’s favorite music, trying to figure out why she likes it. It’s a girlfriend who says “Yes, I’ll go with you” and her girlfriend cheering and buying a second ticket for a con. It’s a friend half dragging another friend through an aquarium, the one being dragged laughing and calling out “Wait, wait, I know we’re here for the exhibit, but I haven’t been here! Slow down!”
It’s being willing to spend some of your time trying something new because it makes someone you love happy.
No but literally this sucks if real. Like it does and it’s worrying
it is real. it sucks. my immediate reaction was outrage over them killing my favorite bus line. “promotes satanism” my brother in christ it’s a fucking joke. polish christians get a grip challenge.
however,
the bus line’s response to the controversy over the number was to change 666 to 669. which is some of the most beautiful malicious compliance i have seen in a while. and it makes up for the hope in humanity i lost while reading the above screenshot.
“Congrats to the WB and Cartoon Network production workers for filing an NLRB petition to unionize and demand voluntary recognition! Show your support to help them get the representation they deserve! #unionstrong #weare839 #production strong”
copying and pasting the comments i added to the disney tva prod unionization efforts post because this time, IT’S US, BABY!
if you’re not in this job, you would never know how intense, involved, and straight up complex animation production is, but because it’s mainly administrative, behind the scenes, and most skills are taught, production staff are often viewed as highly replaceable and unimportant. not everyone is nice to us, and more and more studios are stripping production personnel of our “corporate” status, meaning if the show ends or gets cancelled, studios aren’t required to relocate us to another one. when this happens to artists, the guild protects them, but production will lose all benefits and will need to file for unemployment until they can find a new job (which isn’t easy in the animation industry these days!). remember, a season of a show takes only about a year and a half to make. losing all benefits and having to file for unemployment every year and a half is NOT a way to build a career nor is it a stable and sustainable way to live!
because our roles in animation are rarely talked about, here’s some of what production staff does:
STORYBOARD AND ANIMATIC
managing the master project file, which sometimes means scanning, cropping, camera adjusting, and typing hundreds or even thousands of panels, dialogue, and action notes by hand into storyboard pro if the artist drew them in photoshop or traditionally
pinning up and taking down boards for pitches and reviews (yes, manually, with push pins on walls). every note drawn on those pieces of paper needs to be scanned and sent to the artists.
inputting new and revised panels into the board project file and then exporting them to the animatic editor, which necessitates memorizing the board front to back because artists don’t always track their panels or tell you which ones have been updated and you have to know instinctively.
conforming, which means going panel by panel and comparing it to every frame of the animatic to make sure they’re a complete match, which happens multiple times and usually requires quick turnarounds.
RECORD
reaching out to recording studios, voice directors, and talent agencies to coordinate record times and availabilities.
creating the schedules, typing up scripts, adding line numbers, updating line counts, exporting boards, collecting audition tapes, arranging catering, watermarking literally everything, and making sure everyone involved gets the right stuff and the most updated versions of that stuff ahead of time.
circle takes.
sending the raw selects to the dialogue editor, arranging radio plays, and sending the clean selects to the animatic or post editors.
DESIGN AND SHIPPING
creating all the templates artists need to design a show’s assets (hundreds of them!), which includes pulling board references so they know exactly what to draw, compiling brush libraries, mood boards, and vis dev pieces.
tracking the progress of hundreds of designs across multiple episodes in every stage they’re in and making sure the artists turn them in on time.
creating a reference list (a GIANT spreadsheet breaking down every single use of every single design in every single scene of the episode–takes DAYS to create for just one episode!)
preparing shipments of everything the animation production facility (usually international) needs to make the cartoon, which involves a lot of exporting, layer adjustments, cropping, re-exporting, and cataloguing.
POST
acting as the main point of contact for those overseas animation facilities. CNS uses mostly korean studios, which often means trying to field questions from a non-native english speaker every day.
making sure the showrunner and exec producer review weeklies/dailies quickly and thoroughly and the notes get to the overseas studio on time.
configuring the retake list so the production can stay under budget (determining retake categories and footage count, which are connected to prices–involves a surprising amount of math!)
assembling retake materials, including creating lists of tasks for artists to do, getting them the shots or designs they need to fix, and making sure all fixes are completed in time.
CONTRACTS
negotiating rates with every non-corporate player involved in the making of a cartoon and making sure all NDAs and legal contracts are signed and correct.
sending boards, designs, animatics, and time cards to dozens of people with highly specified jobs who require very specific items to do those jobs, making sure they get them at the right times, and making sure whatever they send back (be it notes, sheets, or lists) makes it to the appropriate party so the right action is taken.
and this is all in addition to very stereotypical secretarial work like taking notes at meetings, managing the showrunner and producer’s calendars, and maintaining a pleasant atmosphere for the crew (coordinating game nights, decorating the office, organizing parties or lunches, etc.). production is expected to know everything, what’s going on at all times, and how to fix it, which is a lot of work and often, a lot of pressure!
Shit therapists say really does feel like those “shouldn’t this be obvious” game loading screen tips. Like you got stuff like “communicating your feelings verbally will make others aware of how you feel” and “if you feel overwhelmed in a situation, you can remove yourself from the situation until you calm down” and you roll your eyes like ugh isn’t that just common sense, but someone who got thrown in with no tutorial and is operating everything completely wrong will spit out their cereal like HOLD ON YOU CAN JUST DO THAT?
Hey. Why isn’t the moon landing a national holiday in the US. Isn’t that fucked up? Does anyone else think that’s absurd?
It was a huge milestone of scientific and technological advancement. (Plus, at the time, politically significant). Humanity went to space! We set foot on a celestial body that was not earth for the first time in human history! That’s a big deal! I’ve never thought about it before but now that I have, it’s ridiculous to me that that’s not part of our everyday lives and the public consciousness anymore. Why don’t we have a public holiday and a family barbecue about it. Why have I never seen the original broadcast of the moon landing? It should be all over the news every year!
It’s July 20th. That’s the day of the moon landing. Next year is going to be the 54th anniversary. I’m ordering astronaut shaped cookie cutters on Etsy and I’m going to have a goddamn potluck. You’re all invited.
Hey. Hey. Tumblr. Ides of March ppl. We can do this
