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Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Project for Weird Al

Hi again!

I've been really busy lately! A while back Weird Al Yankovic contacted my old boss John K., asking him if he'd be interested in doing an animated music video for one of his new songs. The song is really catchy and funny...and it's about girls! John asked me to help out, so for the past few weeks we've been designing, boarding, and laying out the cartoon.

Because the number of people working on it right now is so small, we've been using early Betty Boop cartoons as inspiration on how to make it simple, yet super silly and fun to look at. Hopefully it'll turn out that way! Here are some Grim Natwick inspired dance poses.
The layout system we're using has been really fun so far. I've had the honor of cleaning up John's rough scenes, and he's been nice enough to clean up mine. The dance poses above are mostly a combination of my roughs with John's clean up. I want to post some of John's original layouts soon, but perhaps I should ask him first!
Above is a funny picture of me pitching some of the gags in the cartoon to Mr. Yankovic himself! He was super nice, and even laughed despite my feeble pitching abilities. Hooray for Weird Al, he is nice!

46 Comments:

Evan said...

That's great. What song is the video for?

8:20 AM  
Jim M. said...

Can't wait to see them colored. Them shoulder bobs always kick up the cuteness.

9:07 AM  
Anonymous said...

Wow. That's really awesome. Those dance moves are super cute and fun. Perfecto!

10:47 AM  
Corey said...

Weird Al + John K. + Katie Rice = blissful delight!!

11:07 AM  
Jared Deal said...

AWESOME! weird al rocks!!! & your drawings are pretty kick-ass as well. i'm curious katie, do you ever animate? by the looks of these layouts & your strong character posing, im sure you do & quite well i would assume. anyways, nice work, post more of this video stuff if you can.

2:35 PM  
Hex said...

Now! that cool.

4:19 PM  
Anonymous said...

damn, your cute!

4:44 PM  
benj said...

Congrats Katie!
Nice drawings....:)

6:05 PM  
bc3 said...

In the words of Oceanspray, "Cran-tastic!"

8:59 PM  
Geoliquorlimodrivr said...

Hi Katie!

That's soooo cool, being able to work with John AND Al!!!
(youuuu lllllucky stifff!)
BTW: nice hooters. shirt. er- those ARE OWLS on your shirt, aren't they?? ;) and yes, you are sooooo cute. I like "little red haired girls"...)
Keep up the superb work, (you're living one of my dreams, girl!)

9:55 PM  
Anonymous said...

wow, looks like a fun little project to be doing, good stuff!

your pal

luke W

10:18 PM  
Tom Hay said...

Super Cool Katie ...YOU know I love everything you do.... send me an email sometime... my site is going to be updated soon with a special thing called the Scotland Crusade...and tell John to stop picking it???

Your pal
Tom....

9:12 AM  
Uloo said...

What groovy fun!

12:38 PM  
Pedro Vargas said...

wow, that's real awesome! weird al is back again yay!

7:51 PM  
Mitch K said...

You always draw the cutest girls, Katie! Beautiful work.

Betty Boop is great. John's music videos are always so wild, and with Weird Al, this thing is going to be insane.

Way to go Katie! You're certainly living the good life!

8:29 PM  
Anonymous said...

katie! that's so awesome!! that's a great picture and i love the girls dance moves. really cute. oh, it's megan^_^

9:07 PM  
RÃ¥nny said...

totally katie rice! I can't wait to see the final video. please keep us updated :^)

2:19 AM  
Matt J said...

Great gig! Didn't know Weird Al was still going. Remember FAT & EAT IT! SMELLS LIKE NIRVANA ?Those were the only records of his that made it over here to the UK. I guess he's bigger in the US right?
Look forward to seeing the spot.

6:41 AM  
jtruss said...

That owl shirt is the stuff!!!!

Oh and the drawings are crispy fresh too.

8:01 AM  
Anonymous said...

Those drawings are great. Can't wait to see the video, a great pairing Weird Al and John K. The photo has the perfect caption!--Funny Cute

8:33 AM  
Anonymous said...

Wow. I didn't notice the hooters shirt, but what a great gal wearing it!

8:51 AM  
brian Romero said...

Great drawings! I can't wait to see the final video.

11:28 AM  
tbone said...

Very, very cool. I'm jealous that you get to work with Weird Al.

11:56 AM  
David said...

Hey thats awesome you get to work with Weird Al. I was wondering what school you went to? Right now im at Savannah College of Art and Design to get an animation degree. Well i dont exactly know how this site works so ill give you my email if u wanna send me an answer. Mrmonopoly9@bellsouth.net Thanks : )

2:22 PM  
Marc Deckter said...

When I was growing up I knew the lyrics to all of Weird Al's albums backwards and forwards. What an honor to work with him. The designs look great!

12:59 AM  
wonderful woman said...

those are some cute cute poses. i adore betty and those early cartoons are fabulous for movement, expression and silliness.

what a great project.

5:25 AM  
Lychii said...

Those are so adorable, not to mention yourself! I can't wait to see this. This looka really delectable by looking at who's on the team. *_*

9:14 PM  
Brian "My Fault" Nicolucci said...

What an amazing pairing. Should be fantastico!!

10:55 PM  
Shawn Escott said...

Wow! Seems like a great project!!! Very nice concepts!

5:18 AM  
pamcakes said...

Thats so cool Katie! Did you tell him to "eat it in Amish paradise" just for fun?! ;)

1:13 PM  
Elisson said...

I've been a big John K. fan for a long time. As tasty as this project sounds - and it do sound mighty tasty! - I'd really love to see what John could do vis à vis music videos for some of the late Frank Zappa's work.

Zappa did a wee bit of voice work on a Ren & Stimpy episode - but could you imagine John's animated version of "Cheepnis" or "Inca Roads"?

12:11 PM  
Elisson said...

Oh - and did I neglect to say that your own work is terrific?

12:13 PM  
Thesporq said...

Mozzel Mozzel! My two worlds are colliding and it makes me downright giddy. Congrats on the gig Miss Rice.

12:31 PM  
UM said...

Nice whacky stuff here on your blog. Looks like your having fun! Curious now how this video will turn out.

1:55 PM  
Katie said...

Thanks everyone! Now to answer questions…Evan- I can’t reveal the name of the song, sorry! Jared- I’ve tried to animate, but never been successful with it. I suppose doing layout and key poses requires some basic animation knowledge, but I’ve never even done a decent walk cycle. Argh! David- I didn’t go to any college, but I did get a lot of training while I was working at Spumco. When I was in highschool I had wanted to go to CalArts, but I didn’t get in. Elisson- Yes, I would LOVE to see John do a video for Frank Zappa! John is a huge fan of his. I have only just started listening to his music…I bought “Weasels Ripped My Flesh” on John’s recommendation, and really liked it!

7:52 PM  
Anonymous said...

I wonder what Grim Natwick used for inspiration? ; )
Nice cleanups! Beautiful line as always from Spumco. The poses themselves look exactly like the ones John used for Bjork in her video...they are silly, yes!

2:22 PM  
Anonymous said...

Frank Zappa is dead, but maybe he should still make a video for him.

6:18 PM  
Katie said...

Unfortunately, most the musicians who would be fun to do videos for are dead...

4:23 PM  
ted said...

Wow - good lookin' stuff! Want a job in Canada?

12:03 PM  
anhdres said...

those drawings look really beautiful. you surely have some nice skills. good luck with your work!

1:16 PM  
secseanz said...

AWESOME> HAVE MY BABY!!

3:16 PM  
krilli said...

THE UPPER LIP BULB! You found it!

Holy crap, she's awesome, your girlie. I don't recall having seen the lip bulb drawn before. Your powers of observation are impressive. The bulb imparts great character.

Is it true that John K. looks like Powdered Toast Man?

3:37 PM  
Anonymous said...

Weird Al's last album (Poodle Hat) has a very very long song which is an homage to Frank Zappa. It's uh, very odd. Called "Genius in France". That could be funny as a video. Great album, you all should get it.

7:15 PM  
Jesse said...

Hi!
Someone directed me over here, so I figured I'd say hello.
You do some very nice work! I hope I am able to see the video, what with not having cable and all.
I have heard that Al is a really down to earth guy. It's so cool that you get to work with him! And your job seems like fun regardless!

9:01 PM  
Anonymous said...

hey, that's really cool! :D

7:08 PM  
Anonymous said...

Funkiness! The Wierdest of the Als and Spumco joining forces....can't wait to see the final results!

9:55 PM  

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