MikeAnnear

Lunch Lab Season 3 Launches!

2012-02-05T17:25:00.005-05:00

Season 3 of the Lunch Lab has launched and there is so much to check out! From leader boards and a customizable kitchen to your own robo avatar, we all worked really hard over at CloudKid to expand the Lunch Lab experience. While your there check out our latest game Delivery Day- It's our second largest game to date and it's a fun one. I worked on everything from Directing the Cinematics, writing scripts, and level design to storyboards and animation. It was a really great project to work on and we are all really excited about how it came out. (You can read more about Season 3 at the CloudKid Blog)

So go give it a PLAY!!

Peg + Cat = Adorable

2011-10-13T17:42:00.006-04:00

Another project we have been working on over at CloudKid launched today! Peg + Cat is an extremely cute animated pilot created by Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson about an adorable little girl named Peg and her sidekick Cat. The math based pre-school show is super fun and we had an awesome time creating the animation, games, and interactive content for the website. Go check it out and be sure to play the games!

http://pbskids.org/peg/

Also there is a post about the project over at the CloudKid Blog.

It's a Greasy World

2011-09-26T08:55:00.004-04:00

Over the past few months CloudKid and Hero4Hire have been hard at work creating our latest and largest game to date- Escape From Greasy World. The Math based, PBS funded title is a much different game than we have ever produced. It contains eleven minutes of in game cinematics and six "mini-games" set in to a narrative to create one gaming experience. So check out some of the screen shots below then go give it a play!

Escape From Greasy World

Sneak Peek!

2011-08-08T14:22:00.003-04:00

We've been hard at work over at cloudkid wrapping up production on our largest Lunch Lab game to date. It will be released to play in about a month or so but in the mean time check out some nice in-game screen grabs over at the ole Cloudkid Blog.

Cloud Kidz

2011-04-19T23:45:00.004-04:00

Just Relax and draw some happy clouds.

Detail

Our Newest game!

2011-04-03T22:16:00.003-04:00

Hey there! We recently released our newest game over at the LunchLab website. This game looks great, is so fun to play, and everyone at CloudKid was really pumped to work on it. It's called Hectic Harvest, the goal is to grow and harvest as much food as you can before the time runs out. I ended up storyboarding and animating all of the in game robot animations(watering plants, flying, ect.) Go play! its mad fun and the sound track is great!

Heres the link- HECTIC HARVEST

Intro game screen

Gameplay screen shot

Another Oldie

2011-03-31T22:49:00.004-04:00

While backing up some ole files I stumbled upon this guy from way back so thought I would post it. Why is he so emo? Must have forgot his astronaut ice cream.

Freestyle Fizz

2011-02-12T11:54:00.003-05:00

Fizzy's Lunch Lab just released a sweet skating game that you should go check out HERE! I ended up animating the main skating loops (normal, fast, and slow). It was a really fun project for all of us over at CloudKid, and our most ambitious game so far. Go and check out these sweet blogs to see some production art and hear more about the game! Below are a couple of screen shots.

secret bonus points: I heard a rumor there is a crazy easter egg if you type an "old skool code" in a certain screen. shhhhh, you didnt hear it here.

Intros!

2011-02-10T10:48:00.009-05:00

In 2010 I ended up animating/storyboarding the opening sequences for 2 different shows currently airing on TV. The first was a freelance project with Soup2Nuts Productions for a PBS Kids series called SciGirls (pictured below). You can watch the intro HERE, or check out full episodes on the website.

The second opener was created over at Cloudkid for a new television game show based on the popular board game Pictureka (Also Pictured below). The show currently airs on the new Television Network "The Hub". There is some really nice production art that can be seen here, and also some more info on the process in this post. There was a lot of already existing art and animation to work with so it was definitely different from how we usually work. Anyway you can see the whole intro HERE. Phew, that's a lot of links! Enjoy!

(A screen shot of the Pictureka opener)

(A screen shot of the SciGirls opener)

Lil' guys

2011-02-03T23:06:00.003-05:00

Some fun little designs I recently did for a project over at the ole CloudKid Studio.

Mo Pixels

2011-01-14T18:30:00.004-05:00

Another practice round with the pixel brush. There's been talk of doing some animation using the pixels, so Im tryin to get used to it before I begin that possible project. This may be the nerdiest thing I have ever drawn.

16-bit

2011-01-12T20:04:00.007-05:00

I have always wanted to play around with a pixel brush and today I finally sat myself down and messed around a bit during work breaks. It' took longer than I thought and this has a lot of "jaggies", (when pixels clump together and look gross) but it was still a fun lil experiment.

Close

So long 2010 it's been swell

2011-01-04T11:35:00.004-05:00

2010 was a great year for us over at CloudKid. Go check out our latest blogpost for a year end review.
Happy new year!

Heeeey

2010-12-26T13:47:00.003-05:00

Random sketchy greaser dude I drew a lil bit ago. Killer side burns.

Found This

2010-12-20T19:19:00.003-05:00

I was looking through some old files and I stumbled across this style study I did way back. The character is pretty cute but boy those colors are gross haha.

Anyway thought I would post it!

Flurry's with a chance of heart

2010-11-19T16:24:00.004-05:00

I made this lil guy during lunch break today. Just trying to play around with some photoshop brushes. enjoy!

Lunch Lab Season 2!!

2010-11-09T22:06:00.006-05:00

Hey! The second season of The Lunch Lab has launched! This time around there is so much new stuff to offer. From new games and videos, to Sully the cell getting his own section, and even a playable Iphone app! So yah, you should go check it out. Lately I have been mostly working on story boards and such, below are a few production stills from the first episode. You can watch the full episode here.

Candy Massacre!

2010-10-28T17:38:00.005-04:00

Here's a fun illustration I did for some Halloweeny celebrations over at CloudKid. Go and check out what some of my co-workers did over at the ole CloudKid blog. Happy Halloween!!

Chamber 4 Anthology Cover

2010-10-13T20:25:00.004-04:00

A little while back I was asked by a friend if I could work on an illustrated cover for his upcoming anthology. Of course I said yes! Right now it's available on the interwebs, but soon it will available on paperback as well. The anthology contains 25 of the best short stories published on the web in 2009 and 2010 as chosen by the editors of ChamberFour.com. It's free and a really good read so go check it out! Also for you bookies, their website is really entertaining and is chock full of both funny and informative book reviews.

Down load the Anthology here.

And check out the website too! (I also did the header)

CloudKid revamps!

2010-08-04T17:43:00.004-04:00

Cloudkid has revamped it's website with all sorts of great clips, process work, and developement art. Go check it out here to see a few of the productions that I have had the pleasure to be a part of.
Nice jobbo Matt Moore!

Double Header.

2010-07-23T17:59:00.003-04:00

I made two versions of the same idea and couldn't decide which one I liked better so here are both!

Another Lunch Lab Ep!

2010-07-14T15:33:00.003-04:00

Check out this months episode of The Lunch Lab that promotes exercise!
I handled most of the animation in this one.

Watch here!

Dueling Banjo Piggies

2010-06-30T11:43:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Renee Kurilla I stumbled upon this amazing blog where all sorts of artists are posting their versions of "dueling banjo pigs". If you haven't seen it yet you should definitely check it out! Below is my submission!

Meet Marty!

2010-06-04T15:12:00.004-04:00

Heres another clip from the latest episode of the Lunch Lab. In this episode we get to meet a great character named Marty the Muscle. I handled the thumbnails, storyboards, and animation on this one. Click the link below to watch the whole thing!

Full episode here.

Fizzy gets an Emmy Nomination!

2010-05-12T10:35:00.003-04:00

Just found out that Fizzy's Lunch Lab got an Emmy nomination for new approaches in children's television!! It's been a really fun project to work on and if you havnt checked it out yet you totally should!

www.lunchlab.com

or follow Fizzy on twitter!

Character designs

2010-05-05T21:21:00.004-04:00

This is a color study for some character design I have recently been working on.

and some sketches to get there.

New Lunch Lab Episode!

2010-04-12T16:29:00.004-04:00

Heres a short clip from the latest episode of the Lunch Lab. I handled the storyboards and all the animation on this one. Click the link below to watch the whole thing! Enjoys. (sorry this clip is pretty low res, blogger grumble grumble)

Watch Full episode here

Oldie but Goodie

2010-03-05T13:55:00.002-05:00

While looking for fun stuff to show at the AIB panel I dug up this clip from Between the Lions that I worked on a few years back.
It was a neat lil series designed and directed by Dave Schlafman. I handled the storyboards and animation.

Thanks AIB!

2010-03-02T11:05:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I had the privilege of participating in an artist discussion panel at the Art Institute of Boston with the two very talented Illustrators Joe Quinones, and James Yang. I just wanted to thank AIB, all the people involved in putting the panel together, and everyone who was able to attend for a great evening. It was an amazing experience and I was honored to be a part of it.

If you get a moment, pop on over to their websites and take a look at the beautiful works of James Yang, and the wonderfully rendered comics of Joe Quinones.

Freddy's Sneaky Switcharoo

2010-02-26T10:18:00.003-05:00

Go take a peek at the new game available at The Lunch Lab! Its called Freddy's Sneaky Switcharoo, I had a lot of fun working on the animation and some of the illustrations and props. The talented Matt Moore was responsible for Game design and Programming. Fun Stuff, check it out!

Here's the link-

Freddy's Sneaky Switcharoo

And Here are some screen shots-

K-Town Episode 2!

2010-02-05T12:30:00.002-05:00

In this second installment of K-town Elementary, we get to meet 2 more of the weird faculty in this strange little school.
Created by Joe Plieman, animated by myself and Dan Flynn. Enjoy!

Christmas Jingle

2009-12-10T19:47:00.002-05:00

Happy Holidays! Here is a music video I animated a few months back with Dan Flynn and Joe Boyle. The video is for the release of The Summer Villians Christmas album featuring Three Day Threshhold.

The official site can be seen here
www.iwantazooforchristmas.com
enjoy!

Lunch Lab Launches!

2009-11-18T22:29:00.004-05:00

Fizzy's Lunch Lab, the project I have been Animation director on over the past few months has now launched its official website. The site looks amazing and there is so much content for kids to watch, it makes me really amped to be working on such a fun project. We will be rolling out new recipes, animated videos, and games every week for the next 40 weeks, so come back and check it out as the show progresses and try out a recipe too! They are yum.

TIME FOR LUNCH

2009-10-02T15:29:00.005-04:00

Been busy working on thumbs, storyboards, and animation for a great new web based show for PBS KidsGo. Created by Dave Schlafman and Evan Sussman, Professor Fizzy's Lunch Lab teaches kids to cook healthy treats and have fun doing it. It's being produced at CloudKid studios which also recently lauched a temporary site to display the studios demo reel. Check dem out!

http://pbskids.org/lunchlab/

cloudkid.com

chicks.

2009-09-23T21:46:00.001-04:00

Another K-towner.

dudes.

2009-09-22T08:33:00.003-04:00

Two more quick character designs I did for "K-town".

Larry Bruce in theatres near you....

2009-08-02T16:39:00.004-04:00

Well A theatre...near me. For the month of August Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline will be showing several different animated shorts before each movie.
"Larry Bruce: memoirs of a bicycle" a short Joe, Dan and I did in less than 13hours, was chosen to be played. It should be pretty funny to see such a silly little short on the big screen. So If you are catchin a flick at the Coolidge keep on the look out for it!

K TOWN ELEMENTARY

2009-08-01T17:01:00.002-04:00

This is the first episode of an animated short series I have been working on over the past few months. K Town Elementary is a series about the teachers and students of K Town Elementary school and the awkward, crazy, ish they get in to daily. It was created, written, and recorded by Joe Plieman. Character design, background design, story boards, and animation were all handled by the talented Dan Flynn and myself.

Ep 2 is on the way!
Enjoy.

Doodlez

2009-05-27T18:11:00.003-04:00

Some quick work doodles of a silly comic collaboration. yay doodlez!

and some girly doodles.

Unicef

2009-05-13T19:52:00.003-04:00

This is a spot I recently worked on for a really cool cause. The short is to inform donors and governments about UNICEF's Education in Emergencies initiative.
It was directed by Dave Schlaffman, background art was handled by Jen Blicharz, then it was storyboarded and animated by Dan Flynn and I. Evan Sussman handled the post production. It was a cool crew and a fun lil project. Enjoy!

UNICEF Education in Emergencies from Jennifer Blicharz on Vimeo.

bG's

2009-03-21T19:37:00.006-04:00

This be a background I have been playing with for an upcoming project.
Havnt done backgrounds in ages but I think they fit the simple style of the shorts.

cartoonz!

2009-03-08T12:52:00.002-04:00

A fun project I animated a while back with the talented Dan Flynn for some good friends.

character sketches

2009-03-06T20:07:00.005-05:00

Some designs that ended up changing completely so these ones went unused. I like the style though so I'll probably play around with them for another project.

A 24 hour film!

2008-11-16T12:18:00.006-05:00

I was recently inspired by a website called 24hourtoons in which a theme is posted at midnight, and you have 24 hours to complete and submit your film.
I thought it would be cool to get a few freinds together and see what we could come up with so Dan Flynn, Joe Boyle, and I met up around noon on saturday, threw out some ideas, and finally started production around 3. We ended up finishing the short in about 12 hours. It was a really cool experience and we all worked on so many different parts, it was a sweet group effort. Props guys! I think it came out pretty funny.

Anyway, this weeks theme was "Bicycle".
The short is titled "Larry Bruce: Memoirs of a bicycle" Enjoy!

If you want to see see the other films you can go here:
24hourtoons

AnxioUs CrAcker

2008-10-09T00:56:00.007-04:00

This is a lil comic I did for the words of the week at S2N. It's called "anxious cracker".

Mo Ole stuff

2008-10-04T13:48:00.003-04:00

This is a t-shirt design I did a few months ago for Mary's neuro-science lab.

SeXy PlaTyPuS

2008-09-26T10:20:00.003-04:00

The drawing of the week. I couldnt make this up if we drew random words from a jar...oh wait we did.

the close up

OLDIES

2008-09-23T22:57:00.004-04:00

Here is a recently revisited storyboard shot of a project I mess around with from time to time, maybe one day itll actually get done hah!

An old drawing I did while working on a pitch at the soup.

And a stupidly simple drawing of a paint brush and a cell....

MaNy MoOns LaTeR.....

2008-09-17T11:01:00.007-04:00

So I FINALLY got my blog password and login back, all the other Mike Annears out there are probably crying. Its been over a year since I last posted but I got my ish together and will now try and jump back into the world of Bloggin. (now you cant yell at me anymore Casey u Sally) So anyway, here is my first new post. We have been doing a weekly drawing over at soup and then posting them here-

http://soupynuts.blogspot.com/

These are the first 3 that I had fun with.
yay blogface!

Granny Served

2007-03-09T16:52:00.000-05:00

A recent drawing that went unused.

quick sketches

2007-03-05T18:31:00.000-05:00

Some 2 second sketches I bumped out before leaving work. Thought they were fun.

a dogg I know

my lil bro

Story board sketch

2007-02-05T09:48:00.000-05:00

Heres a still shot from part of a storyboard Ive been messin with.

New Character Sketches

2007-02-02T17:10:00.000-05:00

Once again its been too long, but Casey Leonard has convinced me to post some new stuff. Here are some character sketches I have been working on for a short I would like to eventually animate.

My friend Dan is the BEST!

2007-02-02T14:24:00.001-05:00

He fixed my blog!

posters posters posters

2006-09-25T12:19:00.000-04:00

A lil bit back I did this as a promotional poster. Thought it was fun so I thought Id post it. The whole thing was done in flash and its huge!

yum

2006-09-20T16:46:00.000-04:00

Been a While

2006-09-08T15:57:00.000-04:00

Its been to long since my last post, I blame it on deadlines and moving. But I finally figured out the final version of the kids and also thought Id post some character designs I did for Game Tap.

Character designs

2006-08-03T14:59:00.000-04:00

This a couple sketches I did today for our upcoming short, the kids are waiting in line to get on the skool bus in one of the beginning scenes.

More design

2006-08-02T17:20:00.000-04:00

This is a series of cars I created using Casey Leonards original design (the brown one). I thought they were fun so I decided to post them.

Just a Lil bit

2006-07-31T15:47:00.000-04:00

This is a sample of the background style we decided to go for. So far all Bgs and Bg designs have been done by the amazing Jonathan Renoni, lead back ground artist at s2n.

and quick animation test I did of the frog jumping to catch up with the kid.

Recent Illustration

2006-07-28T17:00:00.000-04:00

This is one illustration out of a series that I did recently of an old character revisited.

And it begins

2006-07-27T17:46:00.000-04:00

So this is my very first post. I recently started production of an animated short with four other animators I work with and I wanted to post parts of the project as we move along, as well as put up some random illustrations from time to time. This is a run cycle that Ive been working on for our short. Casey Leonard did the character design for the main character and I designed his pet frog. I love the style that we decided to go for so Im amped to see how this project comes along.

http://img103.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kidrunwu2.swf