Neighborhood Watch

I'm going to start writing and posting on this blog again, or at least until I get a website up. There are a lot of things I'd like to start talking about regarding animation, art, writing and making your own stuff. I'm going to kick this off with a screen shot from the short I'm currently working on. This is my 4th consecutive year making my own short films. Along the way I've been fortunate enough to have support from really great people in my life, which I think is really important when pursuing your art. Everyone from my wife, and family to my friends and collaborators has kept me going, and nothing but good has come of it. In future posts I'd like to go more into these things, and my experiences, and the things that came out of getting my own stuff out there, and maybe even talks with friends of mine about how they promote themselves and what drives them to make stuff. For now, check out this layout from my new short, which should be finished within the next month. I'm lucky to have Elliot Byrne, a good friend and insanely talented background artist provide the backgrounds for this short. Working with Elliot is awesome, and we're constantly running things by one another, and trying to make the best cartoon we can. Here are some links to his work. Check his stuff out you won't be sorry. http://orbitaltron.tumblr.com www.byrneworks.blogspot.com

Here are some Layouts with rough Bg's for compositional purposes from my new short!

Shorts!!!

I'll start this one off the way I start them all off with me not posting for months! Thankfully it's been a busy year. I've been fortunate enough to have worked on some killer projects both within Titmouse and on a freelance basis. Pilots, shows, shorts, etc. I've also been fortunate enough to have been the Animation Director on a few including the 3rd season of SUPERJAIL!, which I'm told is doing well. Cartoon brew also posted this sweet article about my personal work, which blew me away. I also posted some post it drawings for my next cartoon. I hope 2013 is just as good, and I'm thankful to be busy and get some recognition for my hard work. I do this stuff because I love it, and I happy people are enjoying the work. Thanks -Mike http://www.cartoonbrew.com/animators/mike-carlos-cartoon-madness-74408.html

Shadow Game

As usual it's been quite some time since my last post. Here is a link to my latest short film, from the annual MIDSUMMER NIGHT TOONS 4 event. This actually came about from a failed pitch to Nickelodeon... Once you watch it you may understand why they didn't go for it, although this short is tremendously different than the pitch I made. wrote, animated, Designed the Bg's and for the first time ever took a serious stab at color design (not without the advisement and help of AL PARDO, and ELLIOT BYRNE in that dept. I also provided the voices with the exception of the woman in trouble who was voiced by my wife Christina. She thinks her performance was embarrassing, but people have asked me "Who that female voice actor I hired for my film was!?". Can't wait for the next one. Please enjoy.

New Short

I've been working on a new short cartoon, and this is a 4 second shot that I thought i would share. It doesn't really give anything away, which is just the way I like it. Check it!

2012

Wow, remember this blog stuff? I barely do. Does anyone even use this anymore? I was checking out some blogs and figured I should update my own, especially because for once in my career a post helped get me some work. 2011 was an awesome year, I'm engaged, life is pretty good, and work has been good to me. I've been at Titmouse for over a year now, and its been the best experience I had as an animator to date. I get to work with some old and talented friends, as well as some very talented new comers who keep me inspired. I get to work on some great animated projects, as well as getting the opportunity to be the Animation director on Superjail! season 2 and shoon enough the 3 rd season, which we will be starting shortly. I finished another film and now I am working on a third on top of freelancing another animation directing gig for adult swim. I feel like all the hard work is starting to pay off and I want to keep on going with it all. 2011 was a great year and I hope this one is even better. Here is a sketch I did for my next short cartoon. Thanks everyone. Happy New year!

Superjail Reel!

This past year I not only had the honor of working on "Superjail" season 2, with a killer crew, but I had the distinct pleasure of acting as Animation Director working with teams on both the east and west coast for Titmouse inc. I decided to quickly put together a reel of some of my scenes. I think it's fun to watch and I hope you enjoy. Thanks
-Mike

Midsummernight toons screening!

The Midsummernight toons screening in NYC this past Friday was a huge success! Thanks to everyone for coming down and supporting ( I think the pictures explain it all), and thanks to Matt Lee for putting the show together as well as making a film, and to all the filmmakers for their participation and dedication. Also everyone who lent me a hand making Science Fare, Joey Capps, Al Pardo, Elliot Byrne, Ian Miller, Joey Spallina, Chirstina Tortorelli and Matt Lee. Below is a link to my short which premiered at the show. Please watch and enjoy.
-Mike

MIDSUMMER NIGHT TOONS 3!!!

This year I have another short film in The annual Midsummer Night Toons show. The show is at Slate on 21st and 6th in N.Y.C. on Friday June 10th.
Happy hour from 7-9
D.J. Mike will be performing, as well as 6 newly animated short films from N.Y.C.'s up and coming animation artists.
ADMISSION IS FREE! Please come down and support.

This event isn't affiliated with ANY organization at this time.

Re-Vamping! no pun intended.

Damn It's been a long time. Usually when this happens it's because I'm crazy busy, and once again that's true. I have tons of news to talk about and something to show... Finally! Let me see if I can get to it all without being too long winded about it. First off I'm very excited to say that I was made the Animation Director on the second season of Superjail. This totally caught me by surprise, but I've really been diving in to the role. I'm super lucky to have been given this opportunity and I have to say that the team I'm heading up over at Titmouse N.Y. are some of the best people and artists you could hope to work with. This is my first time seriously directing anything, and I always said that if I was in charge of anything ever in animation that I would get down in it, and really try to be helpful to the people working with me. That's another thing, I hope the guys over on Superjail feel they are working with me rather than for me. Those guys make it easy though, and you can tell from the work being done on season 2 that everyone is working real hard, and having a blast, so I gotta hand it to them all for doing such an amazing job and accepting my input and advice.

On another note we just recently participated in the annual Titmouse "5 second Day". Every year Titmouse picks one day where everyone comes in and works on any short piece of their own animation. I figured this would be a good opportunity to post what I did. I got this done in maybe a total or a little more than a work days time, so excuse the fact that its rough around the edges, and the audio isn't mixed super professionally. Either way I think you can still enjoy it.

One last thing or maybe second to last thing. I'm working on a new short for this years "Midsummer Nights Toons 3" event, which will be held at Slate on June 10th of this year. I'm very excited for this new film, and being that work has been so insane lately I recruited a few of my good friends to work with me on this one. Maybe you're heard of them... Al Pardo, Joe Cappabianca, and Elliot Byrne. These guys are super talented and also work with me on Superjail. We're going into the studio this Wed to do our voice record, and everyone seems to be psyched for it, so I'll have more on that soon.

here's the last thing, I'm getting kind of tired of this blog, so I was thinking of doing something interesting with it. I was thinking of doing regular posts just talking about some of my experiences in N.Y. animation. Lately I've been asked to speak at a few classes and offer up some advice to the students as well as speak to them about what it's like to work in animation, and what some of my personal experiences have been. The only thing stopping me is that I don't want to come off as the guy who thinks he has to school people, or tell them how it is. I have to think about that one more, and see if I can do it without giving the impression that I'm being pretentious. Any thoughts on this? I can just as easily say fuck it! Anyway thanks. Hope you enjoy my 5 second day.

5 Second Day Titmouse-TWO SCOOPS from mike Carlo on Vimeo.

Design stuff... Sort of.

I've been busy working on a couple of personal projects. I'm gearing up for another short film, and possibly a pitch. I'm really excited about the next short, and I've been trying to work on it whenever I get free time. I've finally gotten to the point with the story where I can start thinking about design, or at the least the early stages of it. I was going in one direction then realized it was too forced for me. Every time this happens its usually because I'm trying to prove to myself that I know how to draw and then I try to make everything look like someone else's stuff, which is always a recipe for disaster. I think for now rather than stay in comfort zone I'll will try something new, but stay true to myself. I'm really diggin' what I have so far, and I hope you do to.



This one is more of where I started out. I may have been looking too much at "ARt of Books", Thanks for nothin' you super talented sons of bitches. The last thing I want is to be a cheap biter of awesome stuff.

These next few are where I'm going! They may not be amazing drawings, but they pump me up and I have fun doing them.

New Short

Been Busy all summer, but I did start working on a new cartoon. I have a couple of ideas, and I'm not sure which idea I am going with right now, but here are some rough sketches of a character for one of them. Thanks.

Final Cartoon!

Ok so here it is free to be watched however many times you want to watch it! I am going to try to get a slightly higher res up but this looks good to me. Enjoy it! I worked hard on it!

The President of The Universe from mike Carlo on Vimeo.

oh and here are some pics from the Midsummer night toons screening last night. Thanks to everyone who made it out. We packed the bar out to full capacity and we couldn't have done it of course without all of you. Thanks so much I hope you all know how appreciative myself and the other film makers are for your support!

Finished film and Midsummer night toons 2!

My film is finally done, and just in time for the Midsummer Night Toons 2 screening, this Thursday June 10th at 7 pm at the M1-5 on walker street in NYC! I can't believe I got this one done I think it clocks in at about 5:30. I handled all the animation, design, and bg design. Al Pardo hooked up all the color design, after effects work, and looked over a lot of shit to point out my mistakes. Not to mention the hours of hard work he put into color, edit and just helping me get it together. Thanks AL! Let's not forget to mention the sweet musical score and sound design, which was handled by Joey Spallina and my girlfriend who produced the sound at tonefarmer which is a music house in NYC. There's also Matt Lee who was nice enough to help color in my animation to help speed along the process and who also finished a film himself and managed to put together this kick ass show, which will hopefully continue for years to come. Thanks Matt for helping us all get off our asses to get our films done. Man there are so many more people I am thinking about as I am writing this. There's Joey Capps, and Gary doodles who also have films in Midsummer night toons and were cool enough to show me some of there work as it was being done which totally helped push me to get mine done. Then there's everyone else who would just stop by this blog or see anything I would post or show in the process , and who seemed excited about what they saw. You guys all rock, so come down to the show this week, and check it out. Thanks.
-Mike

Oh here's some screenshots and bgs from my film. Layout and design by me, color by Al.

Appauling!

Animation Line test from mike Carlo on Vimeo.

I haven't posted in forever it seems. Really busy trying to get this short done and out the door without rushing it. I am posting some keys from a bit of lip sync for the main character, as well as some video of the sync itself. I think the video got a little messed up when it rendered but whatever, you guys and girls should all get the point. Anyways I've been super stressed about getting this thing done, but I am very excited at the same time. I've really been pushing myself and trying not to cut any corners regardless of the time restraints. Also Al Pardo was nice enough to take on the job of Designing all the color for my film seeing as I am partially colorblind. I'll post some of his color comps soon.Also here's the link to the Mid summer night toons 2 website, which is where this film s=with debut.Thanks
http://www.midsummernighttoons.com/

Voice Record!

I went to my girlfriends studio last night to do a voice record for my short film, and it was badass! My girlfriend works at a recording studio in NYC called tone farmer. One of her composers to handle the audio aspect of my short. I am super busy with work and trying to get this thing done, but now I am one huge step closer, and once again super pumped up for it. Here is a video from the record and some screen grabs from other video from the night. The audio engineer who can be seen from the back in the video is Joey Spallina, also you can see some of the other participants screaming in the sound booth like, My smoking hot girlfriend Christina Tortorelli, Al Pardo, Patrick Tortorelli, and Bryan (Whose last name I can't spell from memory).

President of The Universe Voice Record Vid_001 from mike Carlo on Vimeo.

I am not a background artist but I play one on T.V.

I am trying really hard not to keep posting stuff from my short. I'd really like it to be as much of a surprise as possible, whether it'll be any good is a different story. I am amazed though by how responsive everyone has been about the previous post, and it's really keeping me pumped and excited as I continue to work on it. I don't consider myself a background artist, but I am doing the bgs for my film. I just finished up this one and thought I'd share it. Thanks!

More short stuff...and Midsummer night toons 2

Untitled from mike Carlo on Vimeo.

I'd really like to talk about my experience so far with making this short film, but I don't know if any of it is important to anyone or if it would benefit them in anyway. It's been a long time since I made a film that told a story, and I've wanted to make one for a long time, but never did. What I know now is that I am having a really great time working on this project for myself, and I am really trying to push the limits of what I am capable of. People in animation seem to complain about not being able to work on projects that allow them to hold their artistic integrity, or show off what they can do, or to create real animation. I am also guilty of complaining about this same thing, but I've changed my attitude in the last year and a half, and I am much better off. I will say this, if you want to do something, then do it. We have all these tools at our disposal, to make films and test animation. Do something for yourself to counter balance any jobs that may not offer you exactly what you want artistically. Go for it! anyways here are two rough layouts from my short. One of them needs a bit of work still. I also posted a very short cllip of animation. Nothing too crazy, just a taste. Enjoy. Thanks!



Update: I forgot to mention that I am making this film and showing it at the next Midsummer night toons screening, which will be at m1-5 bar in downtown New York. The screening will take place Wed, june 9th. It's being hosted by Matt Lee, and last years turnout was great and help spawn this years line up. here's the poster, more to come.

More shorts!!!

Here's a weird sort of key pose thing I did for one of my shots, I drew it in Photohop because it's crazy fun to draw in. Maybe I'll put up animattion soon, but I haven't decided yet.

Short

I think every single post starts off with " I've been busy as shit lately!", which is totally awesome. I've been bouncing around alot, working freelance, and even testing for a character design postion on a new CN show, which I was fortunate enough to land the gig. Now that I have a steady job for a while, and things have calmed down I am going to get back on this short film of mine. I boarded it out over the course of August and September, and with the exception of a few minor changes, it's ready to roll. I'm really trying to see this through. It's a bit of an undertaking, but it's an idea I've had for a while now and I really want to make it. Here are some random sketches of the main character. I am going to keep it loose and really fuck with his design throughout the short. I am not doing any of that turnarounds bullshit, or trying to make it look like something. I just want to draw in a way thats super fun for me to do. I might not even rough things out sometimes. These were all drawn straight ahead with very little or no roughing out at all. I'll post some more stuff when I get home later.

New Post

Digital Cable Commercial from mike Carlo on Vimeo.

I actually have something new to post. This is a commercial I worked on when I was at Curious this past summer. I animated the spot, and did some of the bg design (Which changed dramatically). I had a lot of fun working on this one.

Render time sketches

I am noticing a trend with this blog and that is a post every two months. Thankfully I've been busy. I just finished up another gig and managed to roll into a couple of small ones for the time being. It's kind of nice to go a little easy. It's been a busy summer, and I hope to keep it going. I am posting some sketches I did while waiting for files to render at work. The last two images are two rough comic panels from this freelance gig I am working now. I like the drawings, but I am not even sure if I am allowed to post them yet or even at all. I have a lot more stuff to come, but I have to wait before I can post certain things from these past few jobs. Thanks for all the nice comments and encouragement. You guys rock and I'll have more soon. Thanks
-Mike

Pencil Test

Animation Jet Pack pencil test from mike Carlo on Vimeo.

Busy as hell, did this in my free time. It's not finished, but it's been such a long time since I posted anything that I wanted to put up what I had so far. I'll continue to update as soon as I have more.

Weirdo

It's been awhile. Been busy. LAY off a me!

ODD JOB HITLER!!!

WWW.ODDJOBHITLER.com
How do you start off a blog post when the title is something as absurd as Odd Job Hitler!? I'll do my best. Al and myself finally came together to make a cartoon. It's short as hell, but we're making it into a web series so there will be followup episodes coming within the next few months. One of which will further elaborate on how Odd Job came to be doing just that... Odd Jobs.I know I can speak for the both of us when I say we had an awesome time making this, we worked super hard to get it to look the way we wanted, and best of all we didn't fight each other at any point when it came to decisions or suggestions. It was a great example for us of what can be achieved with a small team (2 People). The cartoon although short and simple, was animated in flash by hand, using a traditional method of animation. Both Al and myself animated, designed, cleaned up, and storyboard-ed it ourselves. Let's give a shout out to Matt Lee who recorded me doing ridiculous voices for this thing, as well as helping us get the website up, and to my neighbor Matt Radman who never reads this blog, but who also helped us get this website up a great deal. Thanks guys, please go to the website, check it out and enjoy.Let us know what you think!
WWW.ODDJOBHITLER.com

Where the F have you been?

I can't believe I haven't posted anything in months! Although I've been virtually non existent in the blogging world, that doesn't mean I've been slacking... well, maybe a little. I haven't been drawing as much as I'd like too, and I've been playing a little too much X box, but I have been working, and continuing with my Tues. night drawing classes. I'll have to wait to post some of the things I've been working on, but for now here are some of my more recent figure drawings. The first two are from last week, and mark a bit of a breakthrough for myself. The bottom drawing is from this weeks session, and although they are not as strong they're still pretty alright. I need to work more at this, especially when it comes to the female form. There are a lot of subtle things going on with some of these female models that trip me up big time. I've been working real hard at changing things up like my approach and letting go of my instincts to make "Pretty Drawings". It seems to be working well, it also helps that the instructor (Stephan Gaffney) is the bomb teacher. I highly recommend taking his class if you haven't already. I think I am on my 4th straight semester. Anyhoo, enjoy more to come soon. Thanks for not giving up on this page.
-Mike

NEW REEL

MIKE CARLO ANIMATION DEMO REEL from mike Carlo on Vimeo.
I've been busy moving, hence the lack of blog posts. I've also been looking for a job so in the process I cut together a new reel. Check it out.

Here's alittle something I put together because I am bored out of my skull. Get a job!

DJ & FRO

DJ and Fro from mike Carlo on Vimeo.

Back in May AL "Electric Boogaloo" Pardo was working on a pilot for the FX channel. Al was nice enough to throw some work my way, and here is a scene I animated for that project. The pilot was Called "DJ & FRO", and in my opinion it was pretty good. I had a lot of fun working on it... Probably the most fun I've had in a long time working in New York animation. It was hard work, and a tight deadline. This scene took me 5 days to animate, and clean up. It was also nice to work with Al again, as well as some other good friends of mine. I had a little help with the clean up from Gary Doodles, who helped me bring this to completion, and handled the lip sync. We all worked under Mark Marek, who did all the boards and directing. The show ultimately was dropped, and FX opted for a reality show instead... because T.V. needs more reality shows. Please enjoy.

Union Squares

Hipsters suck! Here is a post based on some observational sketches I did in union square. Feeling really inspired by New York lately.