The Ingenious Animation Style of James Lee

[@do0mzday23-_-8]

Yes THANK YOU! I've been talking about this guy forever. He's everything, and as great as the 2d stuff is I'm the biggest fan of his live aviation. No one's ever done animation quite like him!

[@EZETAROaroMUSASHI]

his animation is good, but his topics are epic

[@onlyabusemejaegs]

Have you seen Sin City????

[@Zinzinnovich]

@@onlyabusemejaegs im wondering who doesnt have watch Sin City and yes it's the same style lol

[@icejackalgodofmetal14]

Subscribe to you man

[@Mister_Fancypants]

My man has seen *all* the media to know *nobody* did this kind of animation. What a dedication.

[@Nutrafin-3D]

I still think "Breaking up with adobe" is his best work

[@BenjaminSpencer-m1k]

Fkn love it, could remeber mom and dad arguing just like that irl lol.

[@SoCalledSwitch]

love that one

[@SirusStarTV]

😄

[@Shadowyartsdirty3]

The ending of that video is still relevant this year.

[@royalobasi1938]

​@@Shadowyartsdirty3it really is a very unhealthy relationship

[@junky802]

I always wanted to see animation style used with live action. Would love to see him direct a movie

[@onlyabusemejaegs]

Its called Sin City

[@Sebbir]

It’s not unheard of. Mike Diva was a youtuber with a very unique visual style who has moved on to being a real director at SNL

[@moritakaishida7963]

Closest thing to that, that I can think of is the Scott pilgrim movie

[@Sebbir]

As a James Lee patreon, i can tell you that the texture on the glasses is a fabric he stretches around the glass of the glasses. The glow is with a uv light where he removes the blue/purple tint in post

[@IstyManame]

Wait that's so cool

[@MetalGearsOfThought]

That is absolute genius

[@formerctgovernordannelmall1452]

James Lee's process really captures the magic of old behind-the-scenes technical work youd see from movie sets, like "man, how one earth did they DO that?" And you know the answer, for once, isnt just "lol computers and a green screen DUH"

[@ForlornCreature]

I suspect the glasses might be the same technique they used when shooting the original lightsabres. Reflective tape and a light behind the camera to always bounce off of it

[@HowardWimshurst]

smart idea 😮

[@glenmurie]

Or the glasses are painted solid green. Then he puts the textures over the glasses using green screen. My best guess based on how in many shots where the glasses merge with the background. He can do separate layers when the shot of the glasses is isolated from the background with his face or the frames of the glasses.

[@rambino7974]

He also could put some sort of net over the glasses to have the texture, it could explain how it rotates so well at different angles instead of an edited effect but also is probably not the real way he does it because that way they would appear when he stares directly at the camera instead of being invisible (this might be disproved by the reflective tape illuminating the camera too much to see it tho, kinda like a lens flare)

[@DavidMann3D]

You can get novelty glasses with a perforated screen print on the lenses, so you can see through them but they'll have an image on the front. I'm assuming he has a perforated green screen sticker laid over his lenses so he can chroma-key a mask to make them white.

[@themarlboromandalorian]

Boris at life of Boris had a cheap pair of sunglasses he literally painted with black paint to make them really opaque. I see the James Lee stuff and think it's probably just that. Either UV paint or sterile white... Or tape... Or green to be able to colour match in post.

[@SO-Negative]

James Lee is hand down my favorite animator in KZbin. His style is so unique yet gives me vibes of Sin City. He puts so much work and effort on his videos I've never seen anyone here do it on the same level as he does. Also his videos have good story and meaning to them, along side the part you see which is animation the part you don't but comprehend is equally valuable. These two together creates his videos soul that breaths fire and can carry itself because they don't fall flat, they live.

[@uyku]

I have admired James Lee for a long time. His animation technique is unique. I watched each video at least 5-6 times. This is purely my own guess; I think it was influenced by Jhonen Vasquez's "Johnny the Homicidal Maniac - a.k.a: Nny (1995-1997)" comicbook series. The dark elements and frames in his stories, especially the characters in Lee's first works, are as if they came from similar universes. and this is beautiful. Also If you watch the animation of the "Invader Zim" you can understand what I mean.

[@TeddSkylight]

Yeah his animations really reminds me a lot of funny alien shorty and some conspiracy obsessive nuthead kid.

[@Goatythemeow]

Yesssss i love jthm and iz!! his art style does look inspired

[@CloyMush]

Oh funny thats the first thing i thought too when i found his work!

[@plixplop]

100% early 2000s "twisted" style

[@gr4vesthez0mb1e]

James Lee's style reminds me a lot of how Sin City was filmed. those movies were made to feel like you were reading the comics but with the characters actually moving and interacting with each other. especially when it comes to the lighting and how he is of course real but the background doesn't feel like it's actually there and is just a drawing or 3D space. hell, James in his videos even resembles one of Sin City's villains, Kevin. Kevin also mostly has his face obscured but with glowing glasses.

[@Metallite]

"Sin city wasnt made for you"🗣🗣🗣

[@Anonymous-kc3pv]

IDK why but his movements really looks like out of Jim Carry's movies and its just amazing

[@MrYulcha]

Jim Carry IS a cartoon character but irl = D

[@chrisronin]

YES! I've tried to push him onto so many people only to get a 'that's cool' reaction with no real appreciation. once it clicked for me that he was key-posing live video i was completely blown away that this wasn't a wider practice for something even like the recent live action cowboy bebop series. it's such a genius way to make art.

[@frederikeksteen2587]

The glasses is the same what cosplayers use inside their sci-fi helmets. It's a LED mesh that you can look through but people can't look in.

[@tciddados]

I don't think it's LEDs. A good telltale bit is at 6:25, when he winds up to throw the phone and he raises his other arm, there's a stark complete shadow on the glasses, which shows that they're reflecting a light source his arm's blocking. If they were just LEDs, they would keep their brightness through the shot.

[@frederikeksteen2587]

@@tciddados You don't think as an animator he would be able to put a fake shadow over the glasses? It could also be prismatic beads that reflect light straight back at the source. Thoughts?

[@tciddados]

​@@frederikeksteen2587 My guess was reflective glasses like other comments, so I'm not gonna argue against prismatic beads, since they're basically the same thing as reflective glasses in the practical sense. As for adding a shadow in post (assuming they are LED glasses), no doubt he could, but why would he? I assume the aesthetic he's going for is "glowing glasses" (like the unnatural glow he gives his teeth nowadays), and not "reflective glasses", so assuming he is wearing glasses that give off light, I don't know why he'd add an effect that'd diminish its look.

[@RealSquidShady]

I wonder if the glowing glasses are done entirely in post. They might be a light mask?

[@Jan_Strzelecki]

I'm seeing "JamesLee behind the scenes" video in my recommendations, where the glasses are green, and he keys them out.

[@Goatythemeow]

honestly playing with live action footage is probably a good exercise for animating without having to draw stuff.

[@XoXoDrxgstep]

I have so much respect for James Lee as a creator, and have wondered for so long how the animations were done. So thanks for making this video!

[@francisbaranski]

I am not an animator, but I watched this video about Facebook and was blown away. The storytelling is just another level too. This guy is wholesome I was so inspired that I created similar video, trying to copy the style (of course it is far from that). I really enjoyed your analysis, keep it going!

[@Ayyylien51]

I understand how he accomplished his color-grading for his visual style but what I'd genuinely love is a lighting analysis.

[@amanofnoreputation2164]

When Doug Walker tries to be like a cartoon character, he becomes more exaggerated and expressive, whereas James Lee intentionally becomes _less_ expressive in lots of idiosyncratic ways that would only make sense if he was a 2D character that had to be hand drawn over and over. Then he uses editing to exaggerate his movements in a way that only an animation would normally express itself. Unsurprisingly, the latter is much more impactful and stylized and merges animation with live action in a way that simply trying to act like an animated character doesn't acheive.

[@Oscar4u69]

good to see he's getting more recognition. his work is mind-blowing

[@ChurchofCthulhu]

The glasses are the easiest effect. They’re the typical printed lenses (some have words or flags printed on them) so you can still see out (that’s what the dots pattern helps with). Then just chromakey/green screen out the lenses, put the solid color you want for the lenses in the layer beneath, then crank up the glow/brightness effects.

[@YeOldeAccount27]

Perhaps he has light-up glasses. They exist (I actually own a pair that dont look to be the same style) and theyve got white LEDs under some white plastic to diffuse the light. You cant see through the glasses because the back is solid black plastic.

[@NoName_NoTitle]

I think it's some sort of hi-vis reflective material that he's applied to the glasses

[@Kevin_Reems]

Awesome breakdown that explains a lot of what makes his work so special that us non-animators may not quite pick up on.

[@HoovyTube]

Fantastic video! It's clear how passionate You are about this, so there's an immidiate Viewer to Creator connection!

[@222liss]

I am not an animator (yet) but even without the knowledge of how Lee works, I can see the amount of work he puts in. His style is really cool. Another perk is his humor. Quite uniquely expressed.

[@EBThisThat]

I've become a huge fan of all the surreal expressions he creates. His use of squash and stretch rivals Tex Avery !

[@arftrooper2057]

I think his glasses may be LEDs. They have a light shined across glass that is foggy in a hexagonal pattern, gives off the illusion of a solid glow while allowing the wearer to see through. It's often used in like iron man costumes and such.

[@Gamingawesomeness121]

Yup found him through tar boy, was shocked how little subscribers he had and I’m still shocked how little he is known considering the level he is at, truly an amazing animator.

[@zoastertheboaster]

That's was really useful! I've been looking for someone to break down James Lee's work. I have an animation bk but it's been a while, but his work just fascinates me and I've been struggling to understand "what" exactly he does. So great vid :D

[@purplegalaxies2149]

I love this “live-action animation” style he got! It’s hypnotising!

[@DarkExcalibur42]

Thank you so much for this. RIGHT AWAY I saw the connection to animation in his style, but I'm uneducated on such matters. I love seeing the joy and surprise in an animators face as you explain the elements and tricks and tools he's using. James Lee's style really is a magic trick that turns live action video into something else.

[@maggiem6209]

One of my favorite things about Lee's performance style is the little animated bobs he makes with his whole body. His mass makes a little counter motion or a preparatory bounce in order to shift. Beautiful.

[@Moon404yt]

I found him a week or so ago and binge watched all his videos, absolutely love him

[@TheSuperWariotf]

on 1 of his videos you get to see how the glasses are done, its reflective tape on the other side of the glasses and then behind the camera he has got a light shining at his face.

[@BonezJones93]

Great video Howard, awesome to learn you've been a fan of James for awhile! I'm convinced the man has learned to live his life on 2's and 3's for maximum readability haha

[@coldnhot369]

I’m glad you’re coming James Lee. I came across him about 3 months ago and thought it was the most unique video and edits I’ve ever seen. Now I know why. Thanks!

[@treschlet]

It gets even more wild when he's augmenting his physical performance with a photo-real 3d model of his face; he'll do things like just replace his mouth with the CG animated mouth, so he can push his mouth animation beyond his physical limits, but gets it blended together so well you can't even tell, so it just comes out amazingly uncanney

[@reinbew62]

James Lee is one of my favorite animators for sure. But I especially love how he acts during the live action segments of his videos, the perfect amount of creepiness

[@Bukkataro]

James has actually explained how he does the glasses effect before on Twitter as a response to a now deleted post: "UV lights on matte white glasses, then color correction to take out the blue. Then 'glow' effect in AE."

[@weebler]

Great breakdown. Brought here because I watched the brand new one that just came out.

[@plixplop]

Seriously one of the most unique and creative animators! His hand movements crack me up and I think it's creeping into my own mannerisms... I believe the glasses texture is a real printed decal on the lenses. He messes with levels / contrast to make the dots more or less visible.

[@ourochroma]

4:02 I think you can kinda seee here that the glasses have two layers? I might have caught a glimpse of that again in another video as well, but I think the glasses have a greenscreen.

[@Soul-eg5tf]

My favorite from James Lee is "Chilling with your AI homie" or something like that....🗿

[@EloraDoodles]

i love james lee so much he always amazes me

[@jayantbhandari6833]

Howard, When are the Animation tuitorial coming back? I miss them!

[@TennebrumReloaded]

Hey Howard, I know this video was done a while ago, but he avhieves that look with Reflector Glasses. THey are made out of the same reflective material you see on highway guard rails at night.

[@H4MLET_]

I think he uses white mesh on the glasses. Here recently I think it's now like a green screen type mesh.

[@onepunchman6165]

His glass is actually green. Like a green screen. You can check out his patron for more info

[@TrizziEhgan]

ever since i watched his film "tarboy" back in 2019, i keep thinking about how he made almost all of this in adobe flash/animate in 2007, which was the year this film was finished, 2 years before its public release. many animations made in adobe flash at that time are nowadays often seen as low-budget, but seeing something amazingly made like tarboy always fascinates me.

[@CheebsCheeby]

I somehow only recently discovered this gentleman via Corridor Crew. So awesome!

[@melimsah]

Tarboy was incredible back in the day, and yeah, followed James Lee since then. So good.

[@44Hd22]

2:58 maybe he has uv paint on them or has them tinted a very thin colour. On the spectrum on hin frequency and stuff.

[@daidreemer]

I love James Lee. His style is soo cool. Definitely innovative and creative and so fun.

[@myshowpodcast]

I came across him just yesterday. BRUH! HE IS A BEAST! I LOVE IT!!!!

[@milmundos]

Tarboy was something I also could never forget

[@epicman9105]

dude his animation is so fucking cool and special. a true genius with a genuinely unique style

[@endanarchy]

I love his work, hey. He is probably the most artistic KZbinr that I've come across. His work is so distinct. Really refreshing work.

[@theorangeoof926]

His animation style reminds me of the music video Radiohead filmed for “There, There”, despite that video airing long before James made his channel.

[@zabijavak2329]

there's a tutorial somewhere on instructables for those glasses, it's like a backlight panel or something in them. even his video thumbnails are wicked sick, makes me want to draw like that now

[@BVK.]

I've been practicing those 2d animated movements that he does very compulsively cause i just find thosse really satisfying, it's just amazing omgosh!

[@VisualSpaghetti]

For the glasses u can go in and like cut them out and apply a Ben day dot effect that is affected by luminosity and have it start with a white edmiter effect so it is pure white but u still get the dots.

[@sodathejunker]

James is a horrifically talented animator. Unsettling in the best way, and one of those unique minds that is keeping life in Newgrounds to this day. Really appreciate his work.

[@Blacksumeri]

If they ever try to do another sin city movie they need to hire James Lee

[@timelessperspective]

2:49 My first instinct is that he's wearing polarized glasses, whilst using a circular polarizer and rotating it until the grains are perpendicular. Not quite sure how to technically say that, but with a good circular polarizer, you can cut through reflection, or perfectly reflect it, which is what he's probably doing here.

[@Ixarus6713]

Couldn't agree more, James Lee is god-tier! :D

[@Praecantetia]

imagine the glasses just being a green screen.

[@mrbennett]

Not impossible, but then you'd still need to track the texture to the frames of the glasses.

[@Praecantetia]

@@mrbennett blender can do that

[@mrbennett]

@@Praecantetia Yes. All DCC's and compositing software can.

[@idontknow8898]

Would the glasses not be rotoscoped? I think the corridor crew deep dived into this on their episode where they covered James Lee but discussing Klaus 🤔

[@fredremotion]

James Lee is a legend

[@kormannn1]

6:23 what is that ambience playing on the background? Want to find and listen more of it.

[@HowardWimshurst]

I can't remember the exact track I used, but the genre is drone music. Here's a playlist containing some examples: open.spotify.com/playlist/0Sa72ueBtxPseuuf3hzDin?si=9b9bbc04c69e40cf

[@grafboystef]

His video "Infected by Stupid" actually broke me. "No sir I will not move along, I just lost my job, what else am I supposed to fucking do?"

[@koiiz1969]

i was wracking my brain trying to know where the hell i remembered his from, i looked him up and to my immediate regret found his overwatch animation (yes i know its good but it make me feel weird i cant help but not like it) and thought god i haven't seen this in a few months. I check the comments and THREE years ago i commented ' what the hell did i just watch' surprised how long its been

[@TeddSkylight]

I remember watching one of his first animation and that is where he is arguing with his wife (Mrs Adobe). And I'm surprised they still didn't got divorce yet.

[@Cathair]

Man, THANK YOU for showing me this.

[@zout6550]

Believe it or not I was trying to do something like this so I was looking for an animation style to match real life action about a content idea am about to create and you just popped out of nowhere thank you for introducing this artist ❤❤

[@shishumaru]

damn man. That looks fire

[@arnarogbjorn]

Explaining animation? I know all the tricks, but the editing is the interesting part!

[@mnspstudioLOST]

He is keying his glasses, likely via the contrast between frame and lens in AfterFX, but also just as likely by physically altering them like a green screen key. That printed dot matrix is a red herring to make it seem like a digital screen on the glasses.

[@NiklasFreidwall]

Yes, I öove James Lee. Always thought he was inspired by The MAXXX

[@hanyoukimura]

Good to see James Lee getting recognition.

[@icejackalgodofmetal14]

Yeah the reflective glasses are probably the thing that puzzles me the most and also One of my favorite things about his style the glowing eye glasses So . I'm guessing it's mesh that he uses reflective paint on them? Maybe some shots it's white mesh and he uses special effects to make it glowing white And other times he might just use flat white reflective tape like I use for glowing eyes and glasses And the light is behind the camera shining towards his lenses But he also can't see so these will be shots that are just for the camera and not for him to be able to see he doesn't need to see he stationary Those are the only two things I have and I think I've contacted him and he never answered me I don't know how he gets that look but I love it and I want to find out how he does it so I can try it myself

[@DioDudeFurry]

He is the best when it comes to this kinda AR content!

[@ReneAlex]

"a long long time ago..." 14 years, it was 14 years ago.

[@HowardWimshurst]

that's a long long time ago!

[@ReneAlex]

@@HowardWimshurst it's certainly relative, if are 20 something or less yes. But if you are older, a long long time ago is in the 80s or earlier.

[@Storse]

​@@ReneAlexgatekeeping time is crazy. A decade is a decade

[@ReneAlex]

@@Storse gatekeeping time is crazy, yeah right... a decade ago in animation, We are talking black and white silent animations and scratching celluloid.

[@smileystuff261]

I rember when I was 7 watching tar boy way back inbthe day. So glad he is still creating :)

[@The_Daliban]

0:00 i feel like he got that style from sin city. Robert Rodriguaz explains in a 15 min bts video how they didi the glases of elijah wood. They used uv tape and uv light. That way the glases lit up even in the shadow side of his face. They keyed the color of the tape and corrected it in post to be white. There you go

[@benjackson6560]

I went to uni with James studying animation back in 2004-06. He animated allot with 'Flash Animation' at the time. He made a final year film called Tarboy, which is phenomenal if you get to see it. From memory, he was dating a girl into music, and she did allot of the music compositions for him, which was pushed with the timing of the snappy movements in his films. Nice to see you do an homage to James...he deserves the recognition.

[@ssadq]

i knew immediately you were leading into tar boy at the beginning. a youtube classic

[@lisasdesigns93]

The first ones were great, i think he's burning out. 🔥

[@tsuwu5260]

His most recent work at the time I make this comment, "The Answer", is really impressive though.

[@CrowleyBlack2]

Always love James' style.

[@InsaneCinnaRoll]

This is a fun guy to watch, i like his stuff

[@KingdomCome257]

Tarboy and Infected with Stupid are constant rewatches for me

[@rilijohnmichael]

Oh that's live action? I honestly thought i was a really really good 3d model. It would never crossed my mind that it was him.

[@KMasterBomb]

I believe for the glasses thing.He puts clear grip tape over it and has a flashlight attached to the creates a super bright reflective effect(don't do this to your License plate to run cameras 😉)

[@joshfarnham7668]

i love his animations they are top notch.

[@Raww_Numbers]

The glasses have green on them. Effects added in post.

[@SilasSeiler]

He's a truly unique artist

[@Leeroy002]

the glasses is literately just a taped image to the inside of them.

[@playlistfiend754]

why isn't the video you discussed linked anywhere?

[@JustPlayerDE]

His newest video is explaining some effects very good too, i can recommend watching it. (How I Broke up with Adobe)

[@Riste.R]

this guy rocks!

[@AnyBodyWannaPeanut]

Y'know.... you can take the glove off when you're not drawing.

[@PhriekshoTV]

Always love seeing Newgrounds artists spread elsewhere and grow Long live Newgrounds

[@teminternetemmordor7178]

This guy live inside of my backside of my brain...and i just can't kick him out.

[@rickardbengtsson]

Oh yes his stuff is sick, come across it every now and then but turns out I wasn’t subscribed. Fixed, thanks!