I am going straight into animation with a sneak cycle using a Norman rig. I've decided to use Norman since I'm really confident with the rig and know his restrictions and what he can and can't do. I decided to start with a sneak cycle because I want the audience to be engrossed in the reel as soon as they see Norman sneaking in on screen.
Rough Storyboard
I got inspiration for this from one of The Pink Panther cartoons, "Pink Pyjamas" by Blake Edwards which was released in 1964. In this particular episode we see our favourite pink feline sneaking into a house for the night whilst hiding from the owner. One thing that drew me to these cartoons when I were younger was how the music worked really well with what was going on screen, it was almost as though the music was created specifically for that cartoon ...
I started off with a quick storyboard to get an idea of how it will play out ...
After deciding how it will play out, I then started recording reference videos of ,myself performing different sneaks, taking note of how I control my arms and hands. Next I used the Animator's Survival Kit to get a rough idea of how to animate a sneak cycle, especially the legs and hips.
Contact position
Passing position
Blocked animation
When I had finished blocking the animation, I then tweaked the camera so it didn't move so much when Norman hits the words and then I polished the animation even more
Screenshot in Maya showing the Norman Sneak scene set up
Changing the colours of Norman to look like a cat-burglar
