Spaceman Carl and the Northern Brightness

Spaceman Carl and the Northern Brightness · 01:11 AM

After two years of production, Spaceman Carl and the Northern Brightness is finally done! This was written by JP and myself during a brainstorming session a few years back, and I directed the movie from that point based on some sketches he had created. Working on this movie was what largely developed my latest style for blending 2D animation and v3dmm, which was first shown in RadioFlyer.

Enjoy this unorthodox Christmas movie and please leave comments for JP and I!

High-quality audio Youtube version NOW UP:

But I really recommend you watch the v3dmm file instead. The proper aspect ratio really makes it much easier on the eyes

Santiago · 12-24-2007, 10:36 PM

Holy fuck, this looks insane...will comment in a few minutes, yay!

Kevitus · 12-24-2007, 11:13 PM

Oh my god, that was just incredible! So well animated and a nice story. A must see. 9.5/10

Space Goat · 12-25-2007, 01:00 AM

OUTSTANDING. Really enjoyed the 2D animation style.

Gorosaurus · 12-25-2007, 01:10 AM

Thank you for the comments! I hope that it was fairly understandable.. I'm not positive that it would be coherent to anyone but me, but I did my best to try and explain things as well as I could without any dialogue

YOUTUBE LINK UP

Tuna Hematoma · 12-25-2007, 01:33 AM

I didn't understand anything, but I enjoyed it

Rabid Dinosaur · 12-25-2007, 01:42 AM

Yeah, I'm not sure I really understand

. Very innovative, though. Lots of cool visuals. Made me laugh, too.

Jesterfoot · 12-25-2007, 02:23 AM

very nice style, but I didn't understand what it was about. It just seemed like random scenes strung together. Still the style was great and original so I'll give it an 8/10

maybe higher if I hear an explanation

Flounder · 12-25-2007, 05:32 PM

It's been a long time since i've even SEEN a new 3dmm movie and I saw things here that completely blew my fucking mind. I liked the contrast of space and then the nativity scene...I don't even know how to rate this. I felt like I was on serious drugs watching this.

Stefan · 12-26-2007, 03:35 AM

I really enjoyed it. Got a few laughs and at the end was all "aww...". What a great way to end Christmas.

Mabdog · 12-26-2007, 06:04 AM

that was pretty cool, and very unique.. but.. I don't understand why you did this in 3dmm.. I mean... It's different and all.. but couldn't you have done this same movie in flash? It would probably have been less of a pain in the ass.

Gorosaurus · 12-26-2007, 07:37 AM

Believe it or not, pre-production is almost all of the workload for these sorts of movies. After creating everything in Illustrator, it is actually easier to work in v3dmm than in flash, though only because of my familiarity with it.

Michael Sandford · 05:36 AM

I thought it was brilliant!
if a little random.

EDIT: I laughed much more than I should have at 'Good, good mission"

*thumbs up*

Fredrick · 12-26-2007, 11:03 AM

Very cute.

Even if it seemed very random at times. But I kinda liked that. I've never seen anything like it, that's for sure.

Air Rick · 12-26-2007, 10:32 PM

I enjoyed that. I really like your way of making movies with no dialogue, much like Radio Flyer. And after watching that, it's clear that original characters are really one of your strongest points. Well done, buds.

Dave Miles · 12-26-2007, 11:45 PM

The space scenes were great, especially the guys legs floating around inside the ship. Everything was bizarre and visually interesting, I really like this style a lot.

Compcat · 12-27-2007, 02:18 PM

Great movie.

Pepperoni's smiles were really funny to me.

Dan Jacquier · 12-28-2007, 11:35 AM

this is brilliant stuff mate i haven't seen many movies as good as this b4 hats off to you

Sarat · 12-28-2007, 01:07 PM

Hey the movie was good showed a lot of hardwork (i.e textures).I rate it 4.5/5.Hey iam a big fan of you so can you please tell me when are u releasing Ninja Gaiden 2.

Aaron Haynes · 12-29-2007, 03:34 AM

Holy crap, you finished it. Watching immediately.

Aaron Haynes · 12-29-2007, 03:57 AM

Quick thoughts (contains spoilers):

Journal maybe should've been narration, though this would change the style of the movie quite a bit.

Wish there had been more journal, regardless of whether it was done as narration or text. JP's Spaceman Carl dialogue is extremely fun and it was missing here (more scenes of Carl writing in his journal, documenting the experience, with the ending left wordless, would've been my suggestion).

The animation and timing (especially in the early sections) are impeccable, and charming. Possibly the greatest expressions and facial animation ever done in 3DMM history. That you have a talent for 2D animation has always been evident, but that you have a talent for detailed 2D animation, with all of the morphing, timing, and frame control that comes with it, is extremely clear here. There is a big difference between placing shapes until they move fluidly, and drawing each frame from scratch, and you maintain both consistency and character. That is hard as hell to do.

The music is well chosen and it all flows as a kind of sublime, drifting hallucination. Carl's bemusement anchors the randomness, and Pepperoni drives the action through the first two-thirds. It drags and gets a little muddled in the last third; the cinematography during the space fish section didn't make it clear what was happening, so we spend our time figuring out what you're trying to tell us rather than it unfolding naturally. Still fun, but as evidenced by the comments above, it comes off as a little random and confusing.

The ending is a solid idea, but the teddy bear needed to be set up in the first or second act, rather than immediately beforehand. Carl finds it, falls in love with it, then makes his selfless gesture. It's too linear and too quick. Somehow he needed to grow attached to it, and then make that choice. The current incarnation feels disconnected from the storyline, which plagues the Nativity scene as well (as touching as the Christmas atmosphere is). Basically what I'm saying is that the earlier stuff doesn't lead to this, and with a little restructuring it could have.

None of this sacrifices the movie's enjoyment value, though. The charm of Spaceman Carl for me was his bizarre wording and adventurous nature of the journals, and while they only make a cameo at best here, you've crafted a new, wordless charm that is a joy to watch. Great work.

Gorosaurus · 12-29-2007, 08:12 AM

Thank you for the thoughts!

I will agree that this is a very different product from the journal entries of Carl that JP had wrote. I just couldn't find a way to give him a voiced narrative because it was really written 3rd person from the start. I really wish that we would've been able to work much closer on this project, but life got in the way on both ends. I'd imagine that a sequel or remake with JP directing would be much more coherent and closer to Carl's world. The diary wasn't in the original plan at all- I just had to fit it in there as a sort of reverence to the source material.

I of course am flattered by your analysis of the animation. It's a very slow process with absolutely no onion skinning, so I'm as surprised as anyone that most of the action worked out well when it was just 'eyed up' for the most part. I might be most proud of the snow globe, though. That was an idea that just sprang up and I had no idea how to get it done efficiently. It's no Playbill, but it's nice for short credits. Keen eyes might notice how the characters slowly morph from JP's original designs to my own interpretation over the six minute run.

I knew pretty early on that there would be trouble in following the scenes, and I did my best to compromise between workload and substance. I think that with a little more work this could be a much more effective movie, but I was too stressed and too pushed for time to tell the story properly. And some of the events that happen in Carl's voyages are so abstract that I can't blame any one for getting lost.

I feel that it's somewhat a shame that this story I fell in love with seems to only stand out because of the novelty of its medium. Hopefully, however, this is enough of a crash-course to pique some interest in JP's work and perhaps get him to post some here.

Oh, and TWO MOVIES IN ONE YEAR. Awesome

Orcus · 12-30-2007, 05:52 PM

Really really amazing animation. It's great to see someone still being innovative in the program even though no one's really doing anything at all. I agree with Aaron that the facial expressions and music carry the movie pretty well. My only gripe was that I got lost pretty quick with the story, only picking up little bits along the way. The part where Pepperoni blows up the planet made absolutely no sense to me since it came out of no where with no explanation.

In any case I can't complain too much since I love the style of it all. Excellent job.

JP · 01-05-2008, 11:23 PM

yo

I think Jason mentioned this was based on a script he and I wrote years ago. Far back enough that I couldn't really remember the story until I started watching the flick. Needless to say, seeing it in movie-form was an awesome surprise.

The Spaceman Carl character came about as just a simple way for me to entertain and crack some people up, basically. I created a faux livejournal that I updated as the character, which was inspired I think by the generally upbeat and good-natured humor I associated with popular comic strips. I did my best to keep the comedy clean and silly, although I couldn't avoid throwing in some urine-drinking jokes now and then.

you can find the journal at
http://space-carl.livejournal.com/

The "Diary of a Spaceman" journal eventually faded as I lost interest and became busy with other things. However, Carl made his way into the comic strip I draw for the college paper. I'm putting together a book of all the strips and may upload em when that project is done. They're not all great, but organizing and publishing them as a collection seems like a worthwhile thing to do.

I may post a bit more later. I kinda just wanted to say that Jason's pretty fantastic for taking it upon himself to complete this thing. Thanks, dude.

Tuna Hematoma · 01-06-2008, 12:25 AM

When is Doom 3 coming out?

12-24-2007, 10:36 PM	#2
Santiago Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 3,471	Holy fuck, this looks insane...will comment in a few minutes, yay!
Santiago Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 3,471

12-24-2007, 11:13 PM	#3
Kevitus Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 4,561	Oh my god, that was just incredible! So well animated and a nice story. A must see. 9.5/10
Kevitus Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 4,561

12-25-2007, 05:32 PM	#9
Flounder Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 6,509	It's been a long time since i've even SEEN a new 3dmm movie and I saw things here that completely blew my fucking mind. I liked the contrast of space and then the nativity scene...I don't even know how to rate this. I felt like I was on serious drugs watching this.
Flounder Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 6,509

12-26-2007, 03:35 AM	#10
Stefan Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 1,190	I really enjoyed it. Got a few laughs and at the end was all "aww...". What a great way to end Christmas.
Stefan Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 1,190

12-26-2007, 06:04 AM	#11
Mabdog Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 5,682	that was pretty cool, and very unique.. but.. I don't understand why you did this in 3dmm.. I mean... It's different and all.. but couldn't you have done this same movie in flash? It would probably have been less of a pain in the ass.
Mabdog Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 5,682

12-25-2007, 01:00 AM	#4
Space Goat Administrator Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 6,081	OUTSTANDING. Really enjoyed the 2D animation style.

12-25-2007, 01:10 AM	#5
Gorosaurus Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 16,211	Thank you for the comments! I hope that it was fairly understandable.. I'm not positive that it would be coherent to anyone but me, but I did my best to try and explain things as well as I could without any dialogue YOUTUBE LINK UP

12-25-2007, 01:33 AM	#6
Tuna Hematoma Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 10,062	I didn't understand anything, but I enjoyed it

12-25-2007, 01:42 AM	#7
Rabid Dinosaur Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 14,924	Yeah, I'm not sure I really understand . Very innovative, though. Lots of cool visuals. Made me laugh, too.

12-25-2007, 02:23 AM	#8
Jesterfoot Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 7,475	very nice style, but I didn't understand what it was about. It just seemed like random scenes strung together. Still the style was great and original so I'll give it an 8/10 maybe higher if I hear an explanation

12-26-2007, 07:37 AM	#12
Gorosaurus Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 16,211	Believe it or not, pre-production is almost all of the workload for these sorts of movies. After creating everything in Illustrator, it is actually easier to work in v3dmm than in flash, though only because of my familiarity with it.

12-26-2007, 09:16 AM	#13
Michael Sandford Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 919	I thought it was brilliant! if a little random. EDIT: I laughed much more than I should have at 'Good, good mission" thumbs up
Michael Sandford Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 919	Last edited by Michael Sandford : 01-02-2008 at 05:36 AM.

12-26-2007, 11:03 AM	#14
Fredrick Moderator Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 5,123	Very cute. Even if it seemed very random at times. But I kinda liked that. I've never seen anything like it, that's for sure.
Fredrick Moderator Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 5,123

12-26-2007, 10:32 PM	#15
Air Rick Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 6,784	I enjoyed that. I really like your way of making movies with no dialogue, much like Radio Flyer. And after watching that, it's clear that original characters are really one of your strongest points. Well done, buds.
Air Rick Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 6,784

12-26-2007, 11:45 PM	#16
Dave Miles Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 10,398	The space scenes were great, especially the guys legs floating around inside the ship. Everything was bizarre and visually interesting, I really like this style a lot.

12-27-2007, 02:18 PM	#17
Compcat Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 9,110	Great movie. Pepperoni's smiles were really funny to me.
Compcat Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 9,110

12-28-2007, 11:35 AM	#18
Dan Jacquier Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 41	this is brilliant stuff mate i haven't seen many movies as good as this b4 hats off to you
Dan Jacquier Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 41

12-28-2007, 01:07 PM	#19
Sarat Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 246	Hey the movie was good showed a lot of hardwork (i.e textures).I rate it 4.5/5.Hey iam a big fan of you so can you please tell me when are u releasing Ninja Gaiden 2.
Sarat Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 246

12-29-2007, 03:34 AM	#20
Aaron Haynes Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 15,130	Holy crap, you finished it. Watching immediately.

12-29-2007, 03:57 AM	#21
Aaron Haynes Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 15,130	Quick thoughts (contains spoilers): Journal maybe should've been narration, though this would change the style of the movie quite a bit. Wish there had been more journal, regardless of whether it was done as narration or text. JP's Spaceman Carl dialogue is extremely fun and it was missing here (more scenes of Carl writing in his journal, documenting the experience, with the ending left wordless, would've been my suggestion). The animation and timing (especially in the early sections) are impeccable, and charming. Possibly the greatest expressions and facial animation ever done in 3DMM history. That you have a talent for 2D animation has always been evident, but that you have a talent for detailed 2D animation, with all of the morphing, timing, and frame control that comes with it, is extremely clear here. There is a big difference between placing shapes until they move fluidly, and drawing each frame from scratch, and you maintain both consistency and character. That is hard as hell to do. The music is well chosen and it all flows as a kind of sublime, drifting hallucination. Carl's bemusement anchors the randomness, and Pepperoni drives the action through the first two-thirds. It drags and gets a little muddled in the last third; the cinematography during the space fish section didn't make it clear what was happening, so we spend our time figuring out what you're trying to tell us rather than it unfolding naturally. Still fun, but as evidenced by the comments above, it comes off as a little random and confusing. The ending is a solid idea, but the teddy bear needed to be set up in the first or second act, rather than immediately beforehand. Carl finds it, falls in love with it, then makes his selfless gesture. It's too linear and too quick. Somehow he needed to grow attached to it, and then make that choice. The current incarnation feels disconnected from the storyline, which plagues the Nativity scene as well (as touching as the Christmas atmosphere is). Basically what I'm saying is that the earlier stuff doesn't lead to this, and with a little restructuring it could have. None of this sacrifices the movie's enjoyment value, though. The charm of Spaceman Carl for me was his bizarre wording and adventurous nature of the journals, and while they only make a cameo at best here, you've crafted a new, wordless charm that is a joy to watch. Great work.

12-29-2007, 08:12 AM	#22
Gorosaurus Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 16,211	Thank you for the thoughts! I will agree that this is a very different product from the journal entries of Carl that JP had wrote. I just couldn't find a way to give him a voiced narrative because it was really written 3rd person from the start. I really wish that we would've been able to work much closer on this project, but life got in the way on both ends. I'd imagine that a sequel or remake with JP directing would be much more coherent and closer to Carl's world. The diary wasn't in the original plan at all- I just had to fit it in there as a sort of reverence to the source material. I of course am flattered by your analysis of the animation. It's a very slow process with absolutely no onion skinning, so I'm as surprised as anyone that most of the action worked out well when it was just 'eyed up' for the most part. I might be most proud of the snow globe, though. That was an idea that just sprang up and I had no idea how to get it done efficiently. It's no Playbill, but it's nice for short credits. Keen eyes might notice how the characters slowly morph from JP's original designs to my own interpretation over the six minute run. I knew pretty early on that there would be trouble in following the scenes, and I did my best to compromise between workload and substance. I think that with a little more work this could be a much more effective movie, but I was too stressed and too pushed for time to tell the story properly. And some of the events that happen in Carl's voyages are so abstract that I can't blame any one for getting lost. I feel that it's somewhat a shame that this story I fell in love with seems to only stand out because of the novelty of its medium. Hopefully, however, this is enough of a crash-course to pique some interest in JP's work and perhaps get him to post some here. Oh, and TWO MOVIES IN ONE YEAR. Awesome

12-30-2007, 05:52 PM	#23
Orcus Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 8,149	Really really amazing animation. It's great to see someone still being innovative in the program even though no one's really doing anything at all. I agree with Aaron that the facial expressions and music carry the movie pretty well. My only gripe was that I got lost pretty quick with the story, only picking up little bits along the way. The part where Pepperoni blows up the planet made absolutely no sense to me since it came out of no where with no explanation. In any case I can't complain too much since I love the style of it all. Excellent job.
Orcus Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 8,149

01-05-2008, 11:23 PM	#24
JP Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,200	yo I think Jason mentioned this was based on a script he and I wrote years ago. Far back enough that I couldn't really remember the story until I started watching the flick. Needless to say, seeing it in movie-form was an awesome surprise. The Spaceman Carl character came about as just a simple way for me to entertain and crack some people up, basically. I created a faux livejournal that I updated as the character, which was inspired I think by the generally upbeat and good-natured humor I associated with popular comic strips. I did my best to keep the comedy clean and silly, although I couldn't avoid throwing in some urine-drinking jokes now and then. you can find the journal at http://space-carl.livejournal.com/ The "Diary of a Spaceman" journal eventually faded as I lost interest and became busy with other things. However, Carl made his way into the comic strip I draw for the college paper. I'm putting together a book of all the strips and may upload em when that project is done. They're not all great, but organizing and publishing them as a collection seems like a worthwhile thing to do. I may post a bit more later. I kinda just wanted to say that Jason's pretty fantastic for taking it upon himself to complete this thing. Thanks, dude.
JP Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,200

01-06-2008, 12:25 AM	#25
Tuna Hematoma Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 10,062	When is Doom 3 coming out?