Work Place

It’s got an almost endless range of furniture, doors, windows, stairs etc and is easy to use. In addition to that, you don’t have to install anything and if you create an account (which is free) you can save and return to your houses.

Examples (all done by me):

Here’s an example for how you can use it

Modern MoGal # 061 - Dragon is coming !

⚠️The actual MR-500 has no rocket punch function.The toy is for reference only.

👉 My twitter: https://twitter.com/shepherd_0821

These are the basic shapes I was taught, and I use. Standard lipsync shapes;; 

You have your closed mouth to open, to clenched teeth, to oohs, and your (often optional) F, L, and TH mouths.

Tips!

Your top teeth don’t move;  I mean, stylistically it happens sometimes (Gravity falls does it fairly well, as much as I haaaaate that), but your lipsync will prolly look better if they don’t.

My clenched teeth (SH) mouth is always a bit wider than my biggest AH mouth. It adds variation and helps your shapes blend more nicely. Conversely, my biggest AH mouth is narrower than my SH mouth and my closed (M) mouth.

My L mouth is a tiny bit more closed than my biggest AH, and not as closed as my second biggest AH. It fits between them nicely so that if you have to go from an L to an AH mouth, like you would for the word “Like” or “Love”, it doesn’t pop or look weird.

My R and oo mouths move forward on the face a bit, it adds dimension, and if you leave it all in the same place and have the mouth just shrink into a circle it miiiight look weird.

Aaaaand I think that’s it?  Never go from a SH mouth to a TH mouth, it’ll pop and look weird…uhhh;   Also! It’s alright to skip some shapes;; So below is a lipsync I made using the above shapes;

It’s clear what they’re saying, the mouth is moving nicely, but there’s only one problem. Veeeery rarely do they give you enough time to use all the mouths you want to make it move nice. Voice actors talk fast to fit everything in and holycrap do we hate  love them for it.

So here’s a fast one.

I tweeted these forever ago, but the internet just noticed and I figure I should probably at least put them on my blog. I’m glad people are finding them useful.

Here they are, a mix of things learned from directors & coworkers at Pixar, listening to writers & directors talk about their craft, and via trial and error in the making of my own films.

#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

#2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.

#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.

#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.

#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

#8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

#9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.

#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.

#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.

#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.

#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.

#17: No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on - it’ll come back around to be useful later.

#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d'you rearrange them into what you DO like?

#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?

#22: What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.