Tim Szabo

Legend of the Chihuahua

2009-03-25T01:28:00.000-07:00

On March 3rd the Disney film Beverly Hills Chihuahua came out, and featured on the DVD was our new animated short, Legend of the Chihuahua. It's a multimedia collage of techniques and styles and was done primarily with Photoshop, Flash and After Effects, including both traditional and digital work. We used computers, scanners, digital cameras, stock photography, hell, even pencils. I say it was ours because we had a very small crew of about a dozen artists working on it.

Phil Pignotti was the Director and he also served as an animation supervisor, storyboard artist, additional bg designer, chief problem solver and the lead creative force behind the project. I served as Art Director, and I was lucky enough to be given the chance by Phil do quite a few of the backgrounds and much of the After Effects animation and compositing. My wife Suzannah Szabo was our Animation Producer. She rose to the near-impossible challenge of getting a crazy schedule and a complex project with a dozen busy artists all on the same page so we can get it all together, looking good, on time and on budget, without killing each other. (that last part is the tricky part.......)

Instrumental artists on the crew: Michael D'ambrosio editor and tech wizard. Rafael Hurtado character setup work, bg design and Photoshop Supagenious. Jason Brubaker and Todd Jacobsen on After Effects. Joel Reid, JC Chen, Rob Lilly, Jeff Zikry, Doug Gray and Steven Theis doing Flash animation. Rozalina Tchouchev and Ed Ghertner doing additional background designs. Scott Lowe helping out on the rendering of the final files. Michael Hurwitz, Chris Bonno, Laura Gerow, Peter Michail, Denny Siegel, Jeffrey Plamenig and Joe Whyte all doing voices for either the scratch track or the final short. (If I forgot anybody here, please accept my apologies)

Thanks also go to Sam Hurwitz, Pixel Plantation, and Renegade. This list certainly isn't meant to be an official, all-inclusive list, but being that we were unable to get credited on the end of the short, the talented crew deserves to be mentioned SOMEWHERE.

Thanks to all our crew! All these folks have day jobs at places like Dreamworks, Disney, Film Roman, Cartoon Network and Renegade that leave them dead tired at the end of the day, but everyone still managed to kick ass working on this stuff on their free time and everybody brought their A-game to the project. We couldn't have done it without you guys!!!!

I'm Alive!!!

2009-01-13T15:02:00.000-08:00

So heres something different, a quick Photoshop poster for a group event.

Ok, so its been a while since I have posted much of anything. That usually means either the blogger hasn't been busy or they've been so slammed they haven't had time to update anything. In my case, it has been the latter. I've been busy with plenty of freelance for multiple studios and individuals. Its actually been kind of a blur. Now I actually have some breathing time from a crazy summer and fall, so in the next couple weeks I'm gonna try to give an update on a little of what I've been up to. Some things I'm not sure I can show images for as they are not released yet, but at least I can mention what I've been up to.

Most recent project of note has been Art Directing a creative short film to be featured on the Beverly Hills Chihuahua DVD which is coming out in March. More on that soon.

So the moral of the story is to stay tuned as I'll try to update with some recent projects......

American Primitive

2008-06-03T15:39:00.001-07:00

I've been working on background designs for the title sequence of a feature film entitled "American Primitive" for the last couple months or so. Here's a sample. (Cintiq and Photoshop)

Headlight

2008-05-07T18:04:00.000-07:00

Messing around with Photoshop and the Cintiq again...... no particular destination in mind.

(The title is an afterthought.)

Chantry Flats

2008-05-05T11:37:00.000-07:00

A simple poster created in an hour or so for a hike.

Flash FX design

2007-12-08T20:22:00.000-08:00

Car chase abstract concepts

2007-09-28T01:04:00.000-07:00

As the name implies, these are still-frame abstract concepts for an animated car chase sequence from a short film project.... I wanted to try a style of animation with some experiments.... think fast, blurry action with quick cuts, sparks flying, grinding, skidding, teeth gnashing, violent spitting flames and the like. You get the idea.

Flash Op Art

2007-09-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

An experiment created in Flash.

Warehouse interior concept

2007-08-28T03:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a concept for a warehouse interior for the project formerly known as "Fairfield". Photoshop painting.

Invitation

2007-08-22T04:16:00.000-07:00

Well, OK, hello, everybody, I'm back Blogging again... after some minor distractions like getting married and buying a house and honeymooning overseas, class reunions, receptions, etc etc. Now that those little distractions are out of the way, I'm back on it again... hopefully at a slightly more relaxed pace.

This image, which was our wedding invitation, was initially based on a WWII vintage movie poster. This image first started as a sketch on paper, then the final artwork was created entirely in Photoshop with probably 40-45 layers. Painted with a Cintiq tablet. I found it best to not think about how to get the old lithograph style in the painting.... I had thought about it for quite a while when I was researching old posters and eventually I just started one night (because our deadline was fast approaching) and never really thought about the litho element of the look. It helps me to be in a rush because I don't waste time overthinking or second guessing anything. It was a fun project because it came together pretty fast once I started painting.

Cornwell Study

2006-11-28T00:39:00.000-08:00

Heres an oil value study after Dean Cornwell.

Kentucky Woman

2006-10-22T00:27:00.000-07:00

Kentucky woman
She shines with her own kind of light
She looks at you once
And a day thats all wrong looks all right
And I love her
God knows I love her
Kentucky woman

I've discovered an intelligent woman with a beautiful smile, a wonderful heart and a radiant soul. She brightens your day with her special smile and she brings genuine warmth to everyone she meets. Truly special people are very rare, but your soulmate is unique. Her name is Suzannah, she's my best friend, and I'm very happy to announce we're engaged!!!!

Hershey's concept

2006-09-08T01:26:00.000-07:00

This is an older concept for a Hershey's commercial.

Trees

2006-09-08T01:03:00.000-07:00

A couple of pix taken with the digital camera.

Spitfire sketch

2006-09-06T01:14:00.000-07:00

An experiment done tonight....

Valley Carwash

2006-09-06T01:05:00.000-07:00

Fairfield street concept

2006-08-29T02:01:00.000-07:00

Maybe its a Jeff Koons...

2006-08-29T00:10:00.000-07:00

A group of balloons just sitting there, out of context, in a center foyer of an art museum. Intended for a high school graduation party later that night... struck me as visually interesting, for some bizarre reason..

The luxury SUV craze in LA is getting out of hand...

2006-08-25T01:17:00.000-07:00

Photo Impressionism

2006-07-17T05:37:00.000-07:00

An unaltered photo taken of an undulating reflection on a metal surface...

Back in the Saddle

2006-07-12T01:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, back at it... courtesy of friends urging me to get back on the blog... you know who you are... an abstract piece created tonight with nothing particular in mind, just exploring stuff. Photocollage and cintiq painting.

Fairfield Mood...

2006-04-11T01:10:00.000-07:00

A new sketch tonight for Fairfield... messin' around trying to establish a mood and a technique for BGs.

My standard blog apology posting....

2006-04-09T03:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, so as is apparently a new tradition in the Blog world, this is the post where I say I'm sorry for not posting for so long and I'm back at it again! Wooo-hooo! Anyway, it's great to be back at it again! Here's a Photoshop painting.

Ok, so I've been distracted....

2006-03-09T03:59:00.000-08:00

I bought a new toy recently and I'm tweaking a few things.... changing some hoses, exhaust upgrades, urethane bushings, etc..... so Ive been a bit distracted.......... I'll keep bloggin'.... I promise......

Pirate

2006-02-07T01:07:00.000-08:00