GROJBAND Behind the Scenes

A small peek into the world of our Animation Director, Michelle Tripp

LANEY MADE A CAKE!!!

LANEY (Bryn McAuley) made a GROJBAND cake to celebrate our last record. 

THANKS BRYN! YOU ROCK!!!

P.S. - It was a bitter sweet record. So happy to have recorded the last ep. So sad to say good-bye to all the amazing actors. You made us laugh, you made us cry. Hope we get a second season.

Ep 26 HERE, US ROCK!

Big thanks to the hilarious Mike Kiss and his writing team for keeping us all in stitches this season. And to Merle Anne Ridley, our brilliant voice director for her keen ear and friendly demeanour.

ON THE SCHEDULE

Our friends from LA sent us this pic. So cool to see it on the schedule like this. And right before Adventure Time! Killer. Big thanks to the Quane family!!

WE ARE LIVE!!!

If you're NOT geo blocked (like me) you can check out all the new GROJBAND clips CN is putting up on their site.

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/grojband/video/index.html?atclk_gn=picker_Grojband 

NEW GROJBAND PROMO!!!

Killer GROJBAND promo from Fremantle Media.

A huge, HUGE thanks to the entire GB crew! This looks AMAZING and all your hard work has certainly paid off. You should all be very proud - I know Mark and I are. 

CAN'T WAIT FOR THE PREMIER! CONGRATS EVERYONE!!!

MUSIC MARATHON ON CARTOON NETWORK

Check out what's on the CARTOON NETWORK BLOG!!!! 

Musically inspired marathon?!?! Say WHAAAAAAAAT!

"The new show Grojband kicks off next week! And like any good concert, we’ve booked an awesome opening act. Check out a musically inspired marathon this Sunday, June 9. The killer lineup includes Looney Tunes, Johnny Test, MAD, Annoying Orange, Gumball, Adventure Time, and Regular Show! It all starts Sunday at 11a/10c!"

ANIMATION MAGAZINE

Mark and I did an interview with Ramin Zahed from ANIMATION MAGAZINE!!!

Check it out here - http://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/music-to-sooth-the-savage-teen/

Stay tuned for Q&A's with Mike Kiss, our executive story editor and other key members of our talented crew.

STORYBOARD PITCH!!!

Storyboard artist Brian Coughlan came in and pitched us a sequence for an upcoming episode where Trina's soul is trapped in her car. What does a possessed car do in the world of GROJBAND? Why, go to the mall for a make-over shopping spree, natch.

Storyboard pitches historically have been done by having the artist hang their drawings up on the walls and then talk and act their way through the show. We work digitally now, so we have the guys talk and act their way through the show while showing their drawings on our computer screen.

BREAKING NEWS!!!

"I'm BUZZ NEWSWORTHY, and this just in! 

Something new is about to hit TV's everywhere, LAUGHS!

And if you're like me, and prefer to have your laughs presented in an orderly fashion, 

you'll want to be the first in line to tune in and rock out 

June 10th at 5:00pm on CARTOON NETWORK. It's the place to be!

BUZZ OUT!"

Grojband
Mon Jun 10 - 5:00pm - 101 - Cloudy With a Chance of Malt Balls / 

Dance of the Dead [SERIES PREMIERE]
Tue Jun 11 - 5:00pm - 102 - Pox N' Roll / No Strings Attached
Wed Jun 12 - 5:00pm - 103 - Indie 400 / Math of Kon
Thu Jun 13 - 5:00pm - 104 - Space Jammin' / Wish Upon a Jug
Fri Jun 14 - 5:00pm - 105 - All You Need is Cake / Helmet

GROJ-TUNES !!!

GROJBAND, VOL. 1 NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD ON

ITunes!!!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/grojband-vol.-1/id647391024?showLC=true

ZOINKS... ZOMBIES!!!!

Here's some screen grabs of part 2 of our premier episode 

DANCE OF THE DEAD.

GROJBAND FUN FACTS

Betcha didn't know that the name GODZILLA came from the Japanese word 'Kujira'. 

(Screen grab from S1E02 Cloudy With A Chance of Malt balls)

Kin and Kon Kujira playing air guitar with their future selves. 

CHECK FOR UPDATED POSTS

FYI - I often go back and add NEW drawings to old posts. So jump into the archives and take a peek now and then - who knows, you may find something you haven't seen before.

GROJBAND STANDEES - WHA?!?!?

Co-director Michelle Tripp with our newly acquired 

GROJBAND STANDEES!!!

Comin' atcha in AMAZING 2-D!!

NEW PREMIER DATE!!!

Get yer TiVo's ready!

GROJBAND is set to premier on CARTOON NETWORK US 

Monday, June 10 at 5pm (ET, PT)

Will air Monday-Friday at 5pm (ET, PT) on Cartoon Network

GROJBAND MUGSHOTS

(Screen grabs from GB_S1E11_Line of Cred)

C'MON LANEY... IT'LL ROCK!!

Laney's usually pretty skeptical of Corey's big ideas for the band. And for good reason. Things never turn out exactly as they plan. 

This is a storyboard panel from a sequence I'm working on this weekend. Doing boards digitally lets us drop actual production backgrounds into our scenes where we can draw our characters on top. It makes things a bit easier for each department down the line. 

NICK MALLORY

NICK MALLORY

16 year old Nick Mallory is a real looker, and get this - he’s NICE too. He sits between Trina and Mina in homeroom and ALL the girls are crushing on him - EVEN the school's principal seems to be smitten with him. Maybe it’s because he’s a straight A student, captain of the football team with all the charm of a Hollywood heart throb.

So if Nick Mallory could have anyone, why does he want Trina? Good question. It seems the more Corey and the band mess with Trina, the more interesting she becomes to Nick Mallory. He sees her differently then the rest of us and thinks Trina’s vulnerable side is a whole lotta fun and kind of adorable. Nick Mallory’s one flaw - Nick Mallory talks in the 3rd person.

NICK: "The secret to a cool lean, is not needing anything to lean on"

GROJBAND FUN FACT

Betcha didn't know: The name Nick Mallory comes from Nick Moore and Mallory Keaton -  two stars from the 80's hit TV show Family Ties. 

Betcha didn't know: Not only is Graeme Cornies the voice of Nick Mallory but he's also one of the "real life" composers that writes Grojband's wicked tunes. When we hear a rough cut song in production, it's usually Nick's voice singing them.

SO, HOW DO YOU DO IT?

When people find out what I do for a living, they usually say "Wow, that's a cool job!" And they're right! But making cartoons is a lot of work. Dozens and dozens of people work together on about a million different parts of a production just to make one 11-minute episode.

Here's a really bare-bones breakdown of the process for GROJBAND. Each of the stops along this timeline could easily be expanded to be a full page of it's own.

It's still a cool job!

~M 

(full-size version HERE)

TRINA'S DIARY SEQUENCE

Here's a section of Trina's diary sequence. The idea behind this sequence was to have a 

Sailor Moon-esque moment that could be reused in every episode. Although, we do tweak the sequence depending upon what mood she's in when she 'GOES DIARY'.

This particular freak out is from S1E03 Creep Away Camp. Thus the marsh mallows. It has nothing to do with TDI ;) But I must admit, I do like marsh mallows.

GROJBAND WIP OPENING

A few choice screen grabs from our 20 second w.i.p GROJBAND opening. Thanks for all the hard work GB team - this looks wicked!!! Lyrics below:

Got a band that's pretty cool
Stealing word from you know who
Playing gigs when we can
Trying to impress our fans
Older sister goes berserk
Her temper is her biggest quirk
I got a plan that might just work
Now - we're gunna rock
And we're gunna roll
We are Grojband woah-oh-ooooh.

GIFS FOR YOU

Compliments of our co-director/animation wizard Michelle Tripp.

I think we need a Tumblr page.

And now we do - http://neptoonstudios.tumblr.com/

GROJBAND GRAFFITI

CARTOON NETWORK UNVEILS GROJBAND

Cartoon Network will introduce two new action-adventure half-hour series based on heroes from DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation, Teen Titans Go! and Beware The Batman; a new animated series from LEGO, Legends of Chima; a new animated musical-comedy series, Grojband, from FremantleMedia; an all-new series iteration of The Tom and Jerry Show, produced by Warner Bros. Animation; a new season of the animatedTotal Drama “reality” series from CAKE Distribution, Total Drama All Stars; and also from LEGO, three quarterly installment specials of The Yoda Chronicles, a new CG-animated foray into the “Original Saga” world of Star Wars.

Read more: http://kidscreen.com/2013/01/28/cartoon-network-goes-face-to-face-for-this-years-upfront/#ixzz2JNGebQMN

GROJBAND STORYBOARD SAMPLES

GROJBAND_BOARD SAMPLE 01 by paulwatling

GROJBAND_BOARD SAMPLE 02 by paulwatling

GROJBAND_BOARD SAMPLE 03 by paulwatling

Hey GB fans! Curious what our storyboards look like? Well, check these puppies out. We'd love to put up a whole board - but that'll have to wait until after the episodes air. Until then, here's three great storyboard samples from three great storyboard WIZARDS. 

Sample 1: Pox-n-Roll - Brian Coughlan

Sample 2: Rockersize - Kyle Marshall
Sample 3: Super Zeroes - Chad Hicks

There's even more talented artists on our GB boarding team. So if you like this little taste let us know and we'll keep posting them!

Below is part 1 and 2 of WISH UPON A JUG - storyboard by Brian Coughlan

GB09b_Wish_Part 1 STBD Final Conform Oct19

 

GB09b_Wish_Part 2 STBD Final Conform Oct19

GROJBAND ANIMATION

Corey, Laney, Kin and Kon against the green screen in their mocap suits. (Screen grab from GBS01E05 'No Strings Attached')

Sigh. If it were only this easy.

GROJBAND is actually animated in FLASH. The main character models are drawn from a number of angles with multiple hand positions, eye-blinks, and full mouth charts. These pieces are considered MDP (Master Design Pack) and the animation crew skillfully moves them around to make the actions that you see in the show. For the most part, the master designs cover all the the actions that the characters need to do. Sometimes though, the characters need to be in a position, or make an expression that the animator just can't recreate. For this, our posing department creates scene-specific drawings. Above is a sample of the custom posing done for 'No Strings attached'.

GROJBAND THEME SONG

Here's the original 1 minute Grojband theme song. Unfortunately we had to cut it down to 20 seconds so you'll never actually hear the awesomeness of this version. But do not fret - the new version is EXTRA awesome! 

GROJBAND CAST

Above: Screen grab from GBS01E02 'Dance of the Dead'

Corey Riffin - Lyon Smith

Laney Penn - Bryn McAuley

Kin Kujira - Sergio Di Zio

Kon Kujira - Tim Beresford

Trina Riffin - Alyson Court

Mina Beff - Denise Oliver

Nick Mallory - Graeme Cornies

Mayor Mellow - Kedar Brown

Buzz Newsworthy - Dwayne Hill

Chance Happening - Julie Lemieux

Above is our super talented Grojband family. There are many, many more brilliant voice actors who have made our record sessions a blast to be at. And every once and awhile I get in the booth and blow everyone away with my uncanny ability to sound like a growling bear or wedgied nerd. 

*Voice directed by the amazing Merle Anne Ridley. 

HOLIDAYS ARE OVER. NOW...

LANEY PENN

GB FUN FACT: Laney was based off the character "Watts" from the movie 

"Some Kind Of Wonderful".

GB FUN FACT: Laney was originally the drummer of Grojband.

LANEY PENN

Short in stature, tall in ambition; Laney is the rock of this rock and roll band. This red-haired firecracker is the band's bassist and self-proclaimed BAND MANAGER. 
Laney's biggest secret is her MEGA-CRUSH on Corey. She sees him as a true star in the making and for whatever reasons thinks he'd never be into her (being mistaken for a dude doesn't help her self esteem much). Her thick shield of sarcasm makes her feelings toward Corey painfully obvious to everyone but Corey.

Laney takes a bum wrap for being the only girl in an otherwise all boy rock-outfit. Even though she can hang with the best of them, she has secret dreams of being treated like a lady. She openly mocks frilly girly-girl things, but her bedroom is a rainbowed shrine to unicorns, teen magazines and boy bands. NO ONE WILL EVER SEE HER ROOM!

If you ask anyone at Elementary High what they think of Laney Penn – they'd simply say “Who? You mean that dude over there?” 

Above: Laney rotation

Yup  - That's a lot of costumes. But this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. We

have 52 unique and fun filled adventures for Laney and her friends. I see many more costumes in her future. 

GB FAN ART!!!

Courtesy of Hobo Divine ;)

Grojband's 1st Fan Art - Run Corey!!!!

Compliments of Janet Yi

And another great piece from artist Hanna Fiese

Thanks so much! Art by Molly Torsvik

How cute is this Laney - Thanks simonTBLR