Latest reel

Here's the link to my updated version of my Leica reel right now. I made the beginning start more suddenly like many people had been continuously suggesting. I think it helped give the beginning more impact.

Leica Reel

My only concerns are regarding the the part in the beginning 20 seconds in where the character walks into the distance only to find himself coming back the way he came. I feel it slows down the pacing of my film so I was wondering if it would be better to just get rid of it. (same with when the other character does the same thing 44 seconds in)

Also, I made the second stairway into a ladder but I'm not sure if that conflicts with the previous stairway. I'm wondering if I should make them both ladders, keep them both as stairways or if it even matters.

(Assuming anyone actually reads this...lol) Your opinions would be greatly appreciated! :D

Production Stuff

Okay, so here comes the boring but necessary part of this...

Here's my production schedule as of right now:

Production Schedule

And here's my task list of sorts...


January 18

-Update blog
-Fix the beginning of film
-Composite new parts of film into the Leica
-complete 5 seconds of animation


January 19 -31

-animate 5 seconds everyday except for Saturday and Sunday (animate 5 seconds in total for those two days)
-start character bios (have at least 3 characters done by the end of the month)

-have sounds recorded for sound designer by Jan 31

-send sounds to sound designer once collected

-finish sound designer contract

-find a 3rd year who can help colour my animations

-complete 2 backgrounds a day

-remember to eat/sleep
-get more tea

(1:25-1:30 minutes of animation done by the end of Jan)
(26 Backgrounds done by end of Jan)


February 1-28

-animate 5 seconds everyday except for Saturday and Sunday (animate 5 seconds in total for those two days)
-re-record/send any sounds I find after or need to do over for sound designer by the end of the first week of Feb
-finish the last 2 character bios (due on Feb 9)
-complete 2 backgrounds a day (should be done by Feb 12)
-remember READING BREAK is from February 21-26 (going to Victoria from Feb 24-26)


March 1-31

-Keep up the 5 seconds of animation a day unless more/less is needed to have all animation done by March 15
-the rest of March will be editing the animation as well as a buffer point to finish any more seconds of animation that might still need to be completed.

-begin test renders by the end of the month

April 1-13

-have entire animation + sound completely rendered in HD by April 5th

-time between April 5 and April 12 is a buffer for the final render

-HAVE EVERYTHING COMPLETED AND READY TO HAND IN BY APRIL 12

-FINAL GRAD PANEL IS ARPIL 13-19  DX

-rest of the month is to fix anything that might need it for the very final product

May

-Graduation May 7

-sleep for rest of month

Inspirations

So why am I doing this film and what were some of my inspirations?  Last semester I had to write an essay on both these questions.  If you want to read the entire thing there will be a link to the entire thing at the bottom of this post.  Otherwise, I'm just going to write out what it says about my inspirations.


Inspiration 1

Snakes and Ladders

I decided to make this film because I enjoy changing the meaning of things with imagery.  I want to change how people look at board games, even if it is only for the duration of the film.  I would like to shine a different light onto board games and show the game pieces point of view throughout the game.  I chose snakes and ladders because it was my favourite board game when I was younger.  Also, it is a very well known game which will make it more relatable to a larger number of people. 


Inspiration 2


Board game pieces

Another detail I focused on was making sure I kept them all the same size and relatively the same shape as the Snakes and Ladders game pieces.  I did not want to make it obvious to what they actually are but I also did not want to throw off the viewer entirely and make them completely different.  For colour I chose to make them all a neutral colour to help unify them, all the while giving them different colours for each of their outfits.  The colours I chose are the typical colours one would normally see in a board game: blue, yellow, and green.


Inspiration 3

Harry Potter 4

When creating this idea I was greatly influenced by the labyrinth in Harry Potter 4.  I really liked the aesthetic of the hedges and was immediately attached to the maze idea and how the entire labyrinth was covered in a shroud of mist, limiting vision.   I wanted to create a film about the inability to escape and a labyrinth shrouded in mist and darkness fit really well.  


Inspiration 4

9

When I was designing the characters I always had the characters from the movie 9 in mind.  9 has such wonderfully thought out character designs that made it easy for the audience to feel for them and the hardships they had to go through.  Their situations feel very similar to what my characters go through: a small number of tiny characters trapped in a larger world with no know way of escape. 

 
 Inspiration 5

 Luxo Jr.

In terms of animating, Luxo Jr. by John Lasseter is a big influence on character acting.  It is amazing how Lasseter was able to portray father and son characteristic to inanimate objects strictly through movement alone.  It was commented that just by watching the film it was obvious that the filmmakers cared about the characters and made something beautiful.I would like people to see my love for my characters come through in the character acting of my film.  When I animate my characters I want each of them to stand out as individuals.


Inspiration 6

Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki is also a huge influence on my work.  His character acting and story telling are flawless and his worlds are beautiful.  I am mostly fascinated by how he uses hair and clothing to show emotion in his characters.  With subtle movements of the characters hair and clothing Miyazaki is able to convey quite powerful emotions.  Even though my character do not have hair I still want to use this technique to give my characters life and express their emotions with elements such as their shoulders rising or their clothing rising.



Here's the link to the entire paper:

Why Paper

 

Ok, so here goes...

So, all through last semester I had always considered writing a blog of my experience doing my grad film but I never got around to actually doing one.Of course, the post I made at the end of November doesn't really count....lol Although I suppose you could argue I technically started one.

Anyway, now that it is mandatory a pleasant suggestion for my class this semester I shall now have to do it become more dedicated...

So if I've done this right this should be my lastest Leica reel as of right now. Although, I've done a bit more work on it and will have done more today so I suppose it's technically not the latest...just the latest one I have rendered. Okay...here goes...nope, the files too big to load so here's a link to my vimeo account:

Just a warning, the sound is just scratch so I won't be using any of it in the final piece.  It's just there to show what kinds of things to expect.  There will also be a lot more sounds as well.

Leica reel


Assuming this loads be sure to watch it before reading the rest of this post if you have not yet seen it. It's just more fun that way.



Now that you've seen it. I shall describe a bit about it.

As of right now I have no title for my film so if anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated. :D

Summary

This film will be a 3-4 minute animation about three characters experience in a maze. As of now it is 3:18...I hope to cut that down even more. It will be drawn in 2D using Photoshop and a little pencil drawn if needed (though not likely). The final render will be done in After Effects because it hates me less than Premier does.

Synopsis

My story is about a small character, Sinii, who finds himself and two others trapped within a maze where none of them have control over anything.  They are unable to explore but still need to find their way out.

Description

My story is about a small character, Sinii, who finds himself and two others trapped within a dark maze. One by one each of them is picked up and carried away various distances, against their will, every time there is a loud booming sound accompanied by an earthquake. They find that even though they can often see one another they are unable to get back together. One by one, Sinii watches his friends disappear into the darkness. As time goes by Sinii, himself, experiences both falling and progressing further into the darkness and his fear of the place gradually begins to lessen as he becomes more used to the constant cycle.Even the constant loud booming sounds and earthquakes are not as frightening. In the end it zooms out to reveal three people sitting on a bed playing a game of Snakes and Ladders.

My intention for this film is to make a suspenseful, but humorous animation that people of all ages can enjoy it. I would like the tension to be driven by sound effects, the actions of the characters and the close encounters they are subject to as opposed to using music to sway the viewer's emotions. I only hint at the Snakes and Ladders game until the very end and leave the rest confusing and mysterious to allow the viewer to experience the 'game' right along side the characters.

This idea was inspired by both my love for the game Snakes and Ladders and how I enjoy taking something and changing the meaning a bit with imagery. I wanted to show how a game piece might feel as its entire existence is constantly being manipulated by a second, unknown, party and how frightening that would be.

Visual Treatment

I would like the visuals to be rendered in 2D, drawn and cleaned up in Photoshop. I plan to composite everything in After Effects. My plan for the background is to be a hedge maze. The lighting will be dark but gradually get lighter as Sinii gets further to the end. However, even though the area gets brighter there is a deep fog so sight is still limited. My colour palate will be dark but still rich, deep colours. As it gets brighter the colours of the labyrinth will change. The characters will be coloured with flat, light colours. Each one will be wearing a different coloured outfit to hint of their game piece origins. These colours will be the very basic colours that can be found in any given board game: blue, green and orange.

 Here are the character designs:

And here's a link to a few backgrounds I have:

Sound

Sound will be a big part of my film. I want the loud booming sound to be the sound of a dice roll only deepened and distorted to a point where it is unrecognizable as dice. I want my film to have SFX only. I would like to create a feeling of tension with this film but do not want any music to dictate what the viewer should feel like is done in films such as suspenseful movies and/or thrillers. I remember a friend of mine saying that she felt it was far more frightening to be alone somewhere in silence with only the ambiance of the area and the sound of your own footsteps to tell you what is out there.

The characters will not talk but any sounds that they do make will be higher pitched 'voices'. It will consist of gasps, screams and few possible other noises.

When the ground/environment opens up and 'swallows' the characters I want to make it a very distinctive sound so when the audience hears it without the visual they will still be able to connect it back to when they saw the first character fall through the hole in the beginning.