spaceshiftteam

[spaceshiftteam]

Indie Workplace Harassment We havent uploaded in a while but as you can see we're working very hard lol

[spaceshiftteam]

FOLKS!! We are looking for VOICE ACTORS [Position Filled]

We're looking for anyone wanting to add another role to their portfolio for a small pilot episode called The Space Shift

The casting call page is here It's an unpaid gig, but we're hoping that once the pilot is done we can keep everyone on for more episodes that will be most definitely paid. (Sorry guys this pilot is just being run by 3 people working for free) We're having a bit of trouble getting auditions for Makayla, a panic-prone and incredibly smart recent college graduate. ** There is no defined accent for Makayla, go ham, have fun**

If you don't want to go the the Casting Call site, you can send an email to us here or send a DM to Sojuwu on Discord

[spaceshiftteam]

We've hired a friend to help us with our social media presence so we've gotten started making lil shorts about who we are and what we're doing You can find all our shorts on our YouTube

or on TikTok

and Instagram

We'll post those onto here too in a bit so you don't have to leave tumblr if you don't want to ^^

[spaceshiftteam]

TEASER! TEASER! TEASER!

Four store clerks manage a general store IN SPACE! (Funded by your local governments in association with Ma and Pa.)

Join them as they juggle intergalactic relations, themselves, and who ever is trying to run their store into the ground... Welcome to..

The Space Shift!

Stay tuned for more later in 2024!

[spaceshiftteam]

End of Year Progress Report

Happy new year everybody from all of us here at the Space Shift.

We would like to thank you all for your support on our continuous journey to making the pilot, and tho we haven't been posting much lately we’ve still accomplished a lot this year.

When we started out, we had a different script, even prepared a bunch of thumbnails for it, but after showing it to someone, they pointed out that it was pretty long. We also realized (while trying to rework it) that it wouldn't work as a pilot, so we stared over.

What we initially did was script first then thumbnails/storyboards, but for our second try we had a general outline of the plot, and the rest was storyboarded. At this point we had a couple of images done like the final looks of the characters, exterior of the store and our new thumbnails.  It was then that we decided to create a discord server to better organize our progress and in case we wanted to bring more people on board in the future.

Speaking of social media, we figured if we wanted to market ourselves the best way to do that was establishing an account for Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter (right when Elon musk happened). We took some time creating promotional art of the characters, memes and introducing them as well as the setting of the store. We were still figuring out the whole “marketing yourself on social media” thing since posting became slower and slower due to us still creating as we go. It was becoming harder to keep up on a consistent schedule, so we limited ourselves to posting whenever we could, and if we had something to post about. But rest assure just because we weren't posting didn't mean we weren't working.

For example, we started experimenting in blender with the hope that if we make the environments in 3d it would be a lot easier for us when we start animating, that way we don't have to create new backgrounds of the store at different angles. We are still testing out a style shader in blender that would make the 3d background look like 2d, starting out small by testing how it would look with on the store products.

This year we finally got our logo. We Originally commissioned it back in 2022 but for reasons it didn't work out, but luckily a fellow artist @kusokoneko offered to create it for us. We went back and forth with concept sketches and notes on how the design should look until they presented us with the final concept. Needless to say, we loved how it turned out. Shout out to @kusokoneko you’re awesome, and we are forever grateful to you!

There are many things we've been doing behind the scenes this year like the look of the store's interior and prop designs, things that don't seem to take that long to do but believe us it does.

So, what do we have planned for 2024? Well despite it being a year we are still in the preproduction phase, but hopefully not for long, we still have a couple of character looks to do as well as background designs and storyboarding. After that we should be moving on to the production stage which means you might be see some animation progress from us, and possibly sooner than later because we have something planned for you guys that will be posted on February 16th, 2024, so keep a look out for that.

We hope to see you all in 2024.

[spaceshiftteam]

HAPPY BELATED HALLOWEEN

From the space shift crew to you.

Meant to post this on the actual day but we missed the deadline, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, fall is still fall. If Christmas can start early than we can extend Halloween for just a bit more. ENJOY!

bottom left: oh wait what's this-? (tumblr.com) bottom right: This. Is. Madness! (tumblr.com)

[spaceshiftteam]

Character progression: Makayla

So, when coming up with the main characters for the story I based them on aspects off my personality mixed with the feeling of being an adult in your 20's, that feeling of not having everything figured out or life not being what you expected.

For Makayla her personality is centered around her being an achiever, so she would be very studious, orderly, kind of a perfectionist.

Admittedly when I came up with her design, I sort of just went with the first design I had in mind (something that I did for everyone else). I gave her twin buns because it gives this idea of symmetry which in turn gives the impression of perfectionism, plus I thought they would be cute on her. I also wanted her to be tall with a high waist, and her shirt tucked in to show her professionalism/ neatness.

Next step that I did was trying to find an art style for the show. Since my style is a general anime/realistic style I wanted to have the show in a more simplified cartoon style, something that will give way for more exaggerated expressions without it looking too weird but also easy to replicate for others to draw. I did this for everyone and asked my partner (Ebetto) which style to go with for Makayla.

For the most part I agreed with their picks for the character's art style except for Makayla's. they chose image 7 but I personally like the look of image 3. I think I just felt that image 7 was a little too realistic compared to the other character's looks and thought 3 fit better. So, we compromise with having the art style of 3 with the coloring of 7.

After making the turn arounds, Ebetto made some edits to the character and behold: Makayla's finalized look.

[spaceshiftteam]

Could you tell us more about the backstory?

Of course! The Space Shift takes place in modern day on a far flung moon outside of our solar system where we find a couple of humans manning a small general store simply called The Store. These humans were sent out as a part of an Earth Outreach Program to help acclimate other more established societies to Earth customs and products, spearheaded by Ma and Pa :) The Store is quite a normal store by Earth standards, with varying outlandish shenanigans the crew finds themselves in. Everything is fine and normal and they definitely are not the next target of a certain intergalactic SuperMarket Corporation bent on controlling all commerce outlets, markets, and associated planets hahaha

-

These four people are a bit dysfunctional as a team but we're sure they'll figure themselves out eventually.

[spaceshiftteam]

THE SPACE SHIFT LOGO!!!

We have a logo!! Thank you so much @kusokoneko (on twitter/ instagram for designing this gem for us!!

[spaceshiftteam]

Exterior of The Store Concept Art

The back story is that the store was establish in the late 40's to early 50's so I wanted to give it that sort of retro feel but also have a modernize look to it.

So after looking up a couple of reference photos, I found that a lot of the 50s style of architecture had a sort of these exaggerated angular shapes implemented into them while modern buildings are a lot more minimalist. I also thought about incorporating the UFO design into the exterior of the store, tying it back to its origins of how it was founded.  Ebetto like the idea of the checkered tiles and even suggested that It could have a holographic screen projector (think Blade Runner) that showed different ads. I really like that idea cause it combined the look of the 40/50's with something more modern/ futuristic.

I really like the look of the fourth image and saw how I could incorporate the UFO motif into the sign and reworked it. After showing this to Ebetto we both decide on the third image as the look of the store, which unfortunately means we had to drop the holographic screen idea, which thinking about it is for the best, as cool of an idea it would've been to see, in reality it probably would take too much time especially on a scene that would probably last a sec.

All and all, i'm proud with how it turned out. What do you guys think?

[spaceshiftteam]

The Space Shift Character Intro 4

Finally our final human character, Andy!!!!

[ ID:  A pretty chill and laid-back kind of person compare to everyone else who takes their work seriously. Andy sees it as kinda of fun, considering they're working in a store in SPACE! (I mean, how cool is that?). Although most of the time they're level headed, they can be quite impulsive and never backs down from a challenge. Even if their doctor tells them to stop, they'll keep going, cause nothing CAN stop them! Other than their proficiency of injuring themselves, they are, for the most part, pretty easy-going. In fact, their down-to... -moon personality makes it easy to talk to them, someone you can always rely on and hang out with. Because of this they get along great with other employees, seeing them as close friends. So... sure their impulsiveness might lead them to make some stupid decisions, but it's also comforting knowing that if any one of them is in danger, rest assured, Andy will be the first to jump in and help. Because no matter what, they will always stand by their friends >:)   /End ID ]

And with that, we’re going to move on to sharing production bts!! Stick around for our cool logo, color schemes, and animation tests :00000

[spaceshiftteam]

The Space Shift Character Intro 3

Next up, our lovely boy, Jesse! Don’t mind his weird handwriting lol

[ ID:  The youngest member of the space shift gang. He's a sweet little dork that mostly has his head up in the clouds, which often times interferes with his work. One minute you ask him to stock the shelves, the next thing you know he comes back emerging from the ceiling saying he just discovered a tiny kingdom in the vents. Believe it or not that's a normal thing for him. Situations like this doesn't really make him the best worker, according to Roy. Though he is easily distracted you can't deny that he gets along great with the intergalactic customers. There's just something about his smile that makes it so reassuring. Like Just looking at it can brighten anyone's day. He's just that friendly of a guy, and though he may come across a little ditzy, he is the heart of the group.  /End ID ]

[spaceshiftteam]

The Space Shift Character Intro 2

Moving on to our manager of the storefront, Roy

[ ID: He doesn't say much but what he lacks in communication skills, he makes up for with his actions... which ultimately range from "let me do my job" to "you come near me you die". But scary though he may seem, he loves nature having been born and raised in the woods. He can adapt to any new habitat whether it be of the Earth or the bizarre creatures in space. Anything except a place filled with advanced new technology and robots, the very things he despises of which he refuses to work with. However, through his keen analysis of animal behaviors and differences he has a keen awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of his fellow employees. When things go bad, using what he knows of his employees...he would prefer to work alone. /End ID ]

At least he's a good worker, and is worthy of being the manager of The Store. Just avoid making eye contact with him. Or being near him. Or in the same building as him, maybe??? In fact-just don't.

[spaceshiftteam]

The Space Shift Character Intro 1

Thank you all so much for the fine welcome- we’re super excited to show you what we’re cooking up when the teaser drops. Till then, we decided it would be good to slowly tell you more about our characters, the plot, and setting over the next few weeks.

For now we’ll start with Makayla:

[ ID: An image of Makayla with the words: “ Makayla is your typical Straight-"A" over-achiever who always strives to do better each time. A reliable and persistent character, Makayla is the responsible one of the group, making sure everyone stays on task. She always encourages her fellow employees to be their best while giving them a healthy dose of criticism, never straying too far from the "Certified Strategies to Maintaining a Healthy Work Environment". Whenever there's a problem you can always count on her to make a plan. But if that plan fails... you can guarantee she'll be the first to panic.” /End ID ]

That last image is basically her entire character summed up

[spaceshiftteam]

Hello Tumblr!

We are a small animation duo working on an indie animated pilot with hopes of making more in the future.

We’re trying to post to as many places as possible to get the word out!! If you want to see behind the scenes, concept art, test animations, definitely give us a follow :3

 Here is our series protagonists! The crew on The SPACE SHIFT!

We’ll talk more about them individually later on~