Primetime for over 20yrs! What a privilege to be a part of TV history. Great party at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, CA.
Comp Studies
Here's a quick study from an old Disney movie (guess which one?)... Thankfully things have been very busy around here which makes it hard to update my blog from time to time. My next thing is to do more studies of Alfred Hitchcock films. The more we more forward in entertainment, the more I go back to the classics for reference.
Proudly Presenting Ideal Media Entertainment,LLC
Hello everyone! Please checkout my new company site. Lots of cool projects in the works, and available for all kinds of multi-media services. Looking forward to your to comments!
Highroad Entertainment Headquarters
Located in 10 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, is premiere entertainment company "Highroad Entertainment Group". It's an honor to work along side with world-class Hollywood executives. Having a competitive edge requires an enormous amount of passion to succeed. Please check out our new website!
www.highroadent.com
Indie Slate Cover
Here's the upcoming issue of Indie Slate Magazine featuring David Salzberg & Christian Tureaud. I was hired to shoot & design cover. I use Canon EOS Digital SLR with an 85mm lens & finalized design in Photoshop. Will hit stands this month! (Jan)
Here with Jim Reardon
Jim Reardon was Supervising Director on the Simpsons before he left to PIXAR to do the screenplay with Andrew Stanton for Disney's
Wall-E (Nominated for Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay) feature film. It was a drawing that I saw at his desk back in the late 90's that inspired me to draw in blue ball point pen for the show. Seems like a little thing,... but I found out that people were selling and buying my pen drawings at San Diego Comic Con for yrs without Fox permission. How they got it is a mystery,..it's illegal,.. but also a compliment too?
Photoshop at LA Auto Show '08
The LA Auto show is always a blast. Checking out cars that I can only dream of owning someday! Here's a little Photoshop tutorial about compositing. I took this shot (below) in the 2009 Porsche Boxster. Of course everyone who sits in any of these cars imagines themselves driving around town in style.
1. I have an archived shot driving through a tunnel on the 110 fwy. (I'm a trained professional, I can drive and take pictures at the same time). Since both pics are in my point of view, and colors & lighting seem to match nicely.... this will work fine.
2. First I use the LASSO tool and cut the window area out. Then I inserted tunnel pic underneath the dashboard layer and tilt to fit perspective. Notice the rearview mirror has a person's reflection. I just duplicated tunnel pic and overlapped it on the mirror with blur.
3. Next I add a RADIAL BLUR (zoom setting) to add more intensity to image. Now to really pump up the"Feeling" of the pic I start adding details. I copied and tilted the needles in speedometer and RPM with TRANSFORM Tool (as if I'm actually driving at 70 mph)4. I tweaked each layer with Color Balance & Hue/Saturation. Now here's a great tip, duplicate all layers, then in composite mode (layers window) make it into OVERLAY. This will help intensify colors and contrast quickly. I then tweak final color till it looks good. Use BLUR tool to blur off edges where I cut in LASSO mode.
I also added a layer and painted reflection on windshield. Then composite= OVERLAY. And then you get something like the image above! Me dreaming of driving in my new Porsche!!!
My Office
This is where I spend most of my time working these days. It's a great thing to breath fresh air whenever possible,... but also great to work along side with inspiring people at the studio. On my walls are cels from the Simpsons show, and pictures of people I've taken with in the film business. My Cintiq and Mac have nearly removed the need to buy art supplies,.... cause this day in age it's all digital!
Universal Studios Simpsons Ride Concept Art
These are some concepts I originally worked on last year at FOX for Universal Creative. I had the privilege of getting hired to work on the illustrated artwork that is placed throughout the lines before entering the ride. These were done in Photoshop. The "Screamatorium" was toned down cause they thought it was "too" scary!
Car of the month: Lotus Elise!
Here's a fun car! It belongs to a friend of mine (actually belongs to his son). What a toy!It drives like a race car,.. (of course not like a Ferrari Enzo) but with a sticker price of around $40,000 it's worth it!
The Perfect Game Movie
-Click Title above to visit official website-
I'm currently working with Highroad Entertainment as an Online
Producer and creating designs for the marketing campaign of this movie.
In Theaters 2009!
My Sketchbook Drawings
Here are some drawings from my sketchbook. As you can see I like drawing just about anything,.. especially compositional and tonal studies. I prefer drawing in blue ball point pen & markers because it forces me to think before I draw. I also study from favorite American Illustrators such as Dean Cornwell & J.C. Leyendecker.
Congrats to Creator/Producer Bob Boyle
For winning his first Emmy in the category of Individual Achievement in Animation. I remember when he was boarding the very first episodes of Wow Wow Wubbzy! yrs ago. I wish Bob continued success!
Panoramic Photos
Here are a couple panorama shots that I took recently, one at the new Simpsons Ride at Universal, the other at Long Beach Shoreline Park. Each photo is a series of 6 shoots. I'll post my method of professional photo stitching/compositing in the near future!
The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood
1st time ride with Directors, Executive Producers & writers.
Here with Matt Groening at the Simpsons Ride Premier
Hello Simpsons Fans!!! The Ride is finally here!!! at Universal Studios Hollywood & Orlando Florida. We had an exclusive preview yesterday with Matt Groening, writers, artist and everyone else that was involved in one way or the other. I worked on the illustrated posters that hang in-between the lines before entering the actual ride. I also created a lot of the interior & exterior artwork. I'm very proud to be part of this great project! The ride was awesome!!!! It's truly one of the best experiences here at Universal Studio hands down! And don't forget the new Kwik-E-Mart! It's Simpsons Mania all over again!!! See you this summer at the Ride!
Highroad Entertainment
I'd like to introduce "HIGHROAD ENTERTAINMENT GROUP", an entertainment company that produces, distributes, markets and supports entertainment content in all mediums worldwide. I designed their site,.. with more content to come! First Feature to be released this summer
"The Perfect Game".
check out www.highroadent.com for more!
10 min Figure Drawings
Here are some more figure drawings from the past. Studying the human anatomy is really a challenge, and rewarding! It's a great tradition in the world of art dating back hundreds of years. One of my favorite artist of all times, Michelangelo "The Renaissance Man"! The drawings on top were from live models, Bridgeman and Dean Cornwell studies.
Hanging out with Jay Leno
Hello everybody! And heeeres Jaaaay Lenoooo! We bumped into each other at,.. yes, Panda Express(next to Burbank airport). If you missed it, we did a short animated segment version of the "Jay Leno show". Mike Scully, if you're reading this... Jay says hi.
Composition studies from Shawshank
Shawshank Redemption remains to this day as one of my favorite Movies of all time. The concept of "Fear can hold you prisoner, Hope can set you free",... is what dictates my life personally. The dynamic relationship between Andy Dufresne(Tim Robbins) & Red(Morgan Freeman) is of course what drives the story. Frank Darabont (director) skillfully chooses the right angles to bring Steven Kings story to life on screen. Here are just a few breakdowns of the movie.
In this scene, Red and other inmates have just finished re-tarring the roof.
This was were Red mentioned how they felt like "Free men." As you can see he takes up most of the shot, with the sun hitting him with warm light. The guards hang in the lower 1/4 area, in darkness. This gives the "feeling" of Red dominating the situation. If only for a while.
In this shot, Red approaches Andy after doing time in "the hole" for a very long time.This is the breaking point for Andy,.. where he remains in the shadow of the wall. As the scene progresses, Andy steps out into the light area,.. leaving Red on the other side. Again this is a very smart way of using environmental surroundings to help magnify the storytelling. Also the perspective of the wall helps the audience focus on Andy, which is placed exactly in the lower right side"Sweet spot"( based on 1/4th grid). The use of dark and light also conveys enlightenment vs being held prisoner.
Here's another great example of how the right lighting, props and composition can take a scene to the next level. Here all heads are facing directly at Red. The way the two men on each table are sitting at an angle gives the sense of really putting Red on the spot. Also notice the legs of the chairs. The fact that they are very pointy(giving a very threatening feeling) casts a shadow pointing directly at Red. As if they were being used as a weapon in a threatening manner, during an interrogation! Again very smart! It's all in the details!!!
Here is a grid based on 4ths/anamorphic aspect ratio. This is a great tool to have, I use it a lot when I compose my shots. I use it to reference 1/2's, 1/4 spaces, the sweet spots (circles), etc. Feel free to download and use it!
Old Actor
This was drawn in charcoal on newsprint, then I added some paint in Photoshop. I referenced from an old black and white photo of an actor based on "Monsters" of classic cinema! I forgot his name,.. I just liked the under lighting quality! This was a fun exercise.
Figure Drawings
I studied many years with Jeff Watts, Steve Huston & Paul Wee. Learning everything from the human anatomy to design & rendering. It's a never ending journey! I've been very fortunate to learn from the best instructors in the business!
My Rough Sketches
Here's some more drawings! These were some of the very first drawings I did for the movie. At the time I didn't have a copy of the script at the time,... I just got bits 'n pieces of information about the story, events, new characters,.. etc.
© 2007 20th Century Fox
My Sketches for Simpsons Movie!
Here are a few drawings I did for the Simpsons Movie. I use a regular blue ball point pen to create my comps. Then add tone with an Indigo Blue Col-Erase color pencil. Usually I would add a red border to help tighten up my comps.
© 2007 20th Century Fox
Simpsons Movie Production!
My name is Erick Tran, I worked on " The Simpson" TV show, and just finished working on my very first feature length film, " The Simpsons Movie!". I've been with the Simpsons since summer of '96 as a character layout artist. Since then I've worked as an AD ( assistant director), and then went on to Lead Character artist for the movie.
My responsibilities ranged from supervising the animation crew, storyboarding, character designs, promos, finalizing the Simpsons family models for the big screen,.....and to hang out in all kinds of meetings with David Silverman (Director) and Richard Sakai (Executive producer). It's a privilege to contribute to a film that is a world wide success!
Here with Academy Award® winner Hans Zimmer. He's a world renowned film composer, and the coolest guy you could ever meet. I had the privilege of shooting "behind the scenes" footage during scoring for DVD content. The music was amazing!! It was truly an honor working along side with him!
Going over film sequences with Directors.
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