Latest reel

So here's the latest version of my Leica reel now. The quality's not very good. Unfortunately my good quality one is too big to put on vimeo. >(

Leica Reel

Character Bios

Goals

Sinii -  To keep all his friends together.
Benji - To not be left alone while not letting the other two know he's afraid.
Naranja - To be alone with Sinii


Obstacles

Sinii - Some unknown force keeps taking his friends away.
Benji - Some unknown force keeps taking his friends away.  Hiding his fears gets harder and harder as his friends disappear.
Naranja - Some unknown force keeps taking his friends away.  Benji's presence stop her from getting to be alone with Sinii.

Status Relationships


Sinii - Sinii puts his friends in high status because his friends are the most important thing to him.  He holds both Benji and Naranja in the same status.  (higher than he views his own status to be)


Benji - Benji puts himself on a higher status than either Sinii or Naranja.  He is friends with Sinii but he holds Naranja in a low status because he thinks she's annoying.


Naranja - Naranja holds Sinii in extremely high status because she really likes him.  She holds Benji in a low status because she feels he's always getting in the way of her being with Sinii.

Name	Sinii
Age	Timeless
Gender	Male
Childhood
Family, friends	Family is unknown.  Naranja and Benji are his closet friends.
Era	N/A
Culture	None.
Ethnic background	Game piece
Religion	None.
Profession	To be a game piece for Snakes and Ladders (not really his profession...but it's what he does)
Income	None.  He is a slave to the game. :D
Dreams	To be accepted.
Goals/Ambition	To help out his friends if they are ever in need.
Morals	Believes everyone should be treated equally.
Physical health	Good.
Hygiene	Very good.
Diet	Doesn't eat.
Sex life	N/A
Intelligence	Average.
Education	None.
Need/purpose	To be with his friends.
Idiosyncrasies	Always wears his little hat.
Weaknesses	He can be a little too nice/trusting.
Evolution/Life Cycle	N/A
Stereotype/Archetype	Hero.
Obstacles	Some unknown force keeps separating him and his friends.
Values	Friendship, loyalty.
Sense of Humor	Has a very innocent sense of humour.  Does not often understand sarcastic humour.
Fears	Losing those close to him.
Environment (Environment they feel comfortable or uncomfortable in)	Does not like the dark much, but being with others makes it not as bad.
Self View	Likes himself but holds his friends as more important.
Nocturnal habits	Goes to bed early.
Flaws	Can be slightly oblivious to various things.  Such as Naranja's interest in him.
Talent	Has an 'aura' about him that people can't help but like.
Addictions	None.

Name	Benji
Age	Timeless
Gender	Male
Childhood	None.
Family, friends	Family unknown.  Friends with Sinii.  Tolerates Naranja.
Era	N/A
Culture	None.
Ethnic background	Game piece.
Religion	None.
Profession	To be a game piece for Snakes and Ladders (not really his profession...but it's what he does)
Income	None.  He is a slave to the game.
Dreams	To become famous.
Goals/Ambition	Has none he will admit to.
Morals	Hates violence.
Physical health	Good.
Hygiene	Good.
Diet	Doesn't eat.
Sex life	N/A
Intelligence	Average.
Education	None.
Need/purpose	Doesn't want to be alone but doesn't want his friends to know that.
Idiosyncrasies
Weaknesses
Evolution/Life Cycle	N/A
Stereotype/Archetype	Poser
Obstacles	Some unknown force keeps separating him and his friends leaving him alone.
Values	Friendship.
Sense of Humor	Enjoys sarcastic humour
Fears	Other finding out he's really a big coward.
Environment (Environment they feel comfortable or uncomfortable in)	Doesn't like to be alone.  Prefers to be in places with lots of people.
Self View	Thinks he's awesome.
Nocturnal habits	Stays up late playing video games.
Flaws	Closes himself off from people.
Talent	Skateboarding.
Addictions	None.

Name	Naranja
Age	Timeless
Gender	Female
Childhood	None.
Family, friends	Family unknown.  Friends with Sinii.  Hates Benji.
Era	N/A
Culture	None.
Ethnic background	Game piece.
Religion	None.
Profession	To be a game piece for Snakes and Ladders (not really her profession...but it's what she does)
Income	None.  She is a slave to the game.
Dreams	To marry Sinii.
Goals/Ambition	To become brave enough to sing in front of people.
Morals	Believes everyone should be treated with kindness.
Physical health	Good.
Hygiene	Good.
Diet	Doesn't eat.
Sex life	N/A
Intelligence	Average.
Education	None.
Need/purpose	To be with Sinii.
Idiosyncrasies	Usually stands with her arms close to her chest.
Weaknesses	Scared easily
Evolution/Life Cycle	N/A
Stereotype/Archetype	Damsel in distress.
Obstacles	Some unknown force keeps separating her from Sinii.
Values	Friendship.
Sense of Humor	Yes.
Fears	The dark.
Environment (Environment they feel comfortable or uncomfortable in)	Is okay as long as Sinii's there.
Self View	Can be a little down on herself, but not too bad.
Nocturnal habits	Can't stay up past 10.
Flaws	Shy.
Talent	Singing.
Addictions	None.

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