Week 5.2 - Rough boards and concepting.

Oh, Progress..

Between being sick and working, I managed to scrap up some rough storyboards and a little.. Story of the animation I plan to make.

Posting them up here to keep track of progress:

Storyboards

I said rough, I meant really rough...

Story
Synchronising the life of two characters and their feelings for each other, despite how far apart they are. The world behind the glass screen of the internet is one that can be quite heart warming, unique and yet so lonely.

These two characters are shown to be so empty until that moment when they are connected once more, only seperated by the glass. Then the smiles say it all. Touchy and personal, to me. :)

Characters
Two characters in this one. Keeping it simple and personal. Each character resembles a person in my life (one of them being me.. ha..).

Each has a small profile. :)


Keiiri
Keiiri is a caring yet insecure character. She loves to draw and play games and has a intense light sensitivity. She spends 90% of her time online, playing with friends and sharing her time with those closest to her. She panics very easily and can get easily confused.











Teiiri
Teiiri is a laid back character, he likes to sit back and let things happen around him. He's learning to take responsibility. He's quite the musician, playing guitar and keyboard for Keiiri. He spends all his time between working, playing games and chilling with his music.









Overview of shots
As my theme is syncronisity, the shots will swap back and forth between Keiiri and Teiiri (my characters). Each character has a main colour that will make the scenes for each one a little easier to work out for the viewer. Colour toning it in After Effects will be fun..

Purple = Keiiri

Blue = Teiiri

Start:

Fades in from White.

Camera is looking down at the room, panning over to the left from the window to the bed. The duvet is up in a lump. 

Side view of the middle portion of another bed, Teiiri sits up with his back arched and looks down.

Floor view of the room, with the side of the bed and a door in view at an angle. Keiiri's feet come down to the floor, wait a moment then walk towards the door.

Close up of the door handle, Teiiri's hand reaches forward and pulls it down, opening the door.

Keeping the same camera, with the door now opened, Keiiri steps into the bathroom.

An over the shoulder shot of Teiiri's reflection in the mirror, he's washing his face with a towel.

As the towel comes down, Keiiri is there instead of Teiiri. You can't see her eyes, just from the mouth down.

It zooms in on her frown a little before fading out to black.

You hear a door closing.

Fades in from black

Keiiri is leaning on the bathroom door, now closed, hugging her side.

Teiiri is off centered from the camera, leaning on the door frame with his hand.

Reverse view, looking from behind Keiiri towards the window. it pans over to the right and fades to

Reverse view, looking from behind Teiiri towards the window, it stops panning to the right for a moment as he bows his head downward.

Fades out to black

Fades in to a close up of the laptop power button, Keiiri's finger presses the button as it lights up.

Close up and pans from the desk to Teiiri's hand on the mouse.

3/4 view of Keiiri, looking from the surface of the desk. Her dark sad face lights up before she smiles.

Close up view of the corner of the monitor. Keiiri's hand appears up on the screen.

Teiiri's hand touches her's on his side of the screen, keeping the same view.

Swaps to an over the shoulder view of Keiiri, looking at the screen, it pans out to the left, showing Teiiri on the monitor.

Fades out to black
End

And with that, I can try an animatic and get into animating my final piece. Should all be test animations from here. So chuffed I got an idea, finally!

Watch this Space~

Week 5 - Better late then never!

Right..?

Class first
A quick After Effects touch up, learning about how to properly correct various parts of your footage to make it look more life-like. From too bright, not blue enough skies to green or orange faces blinded by purple spots. I dunno. Improvise.

Otherwise class was short lived as poor Mark was ill.. Hangover symptoms anyone?

On to my inspiration!
Well after spending a stress-free week with the other half coming over from the Netherlands, I finally got an idea! Finally.

My theme choice will be Syncronicity, with a twist. It will be an animation compared to film.

To start I was stuck on a style, until I was playing "Don't Starve Together" with a few friends. I love the gothic, cartoony style. There's so much detail in a simple character it was touching in a way.

However, it didn't fit with the idea I wanted to do so despite how much I tried to fit the characters and scenes into it.. It didn't work. Onwards..

Style selection number 2
This one is inspired by an incredible animation called "Draw with Me" created by Mike Inel for his Girlfriend. Awww..

View "Draw with Me" here.

It was something that inspired me to draw as it touched my heart. I love the story and the style so much. It's so simple, with the sketchy touches yet it's so smooth and you get so much from it. Exactly what I want from my animation. 

Synchronizing two lives together as one, I've got my idea...

Watch this Space~

Week 4 - Stuck in the Mud..

The lack of updates..

It makes me feel bad, but I really don't have any inspiration for brief 1 and with time running out I'm starting to panic.

I can't seem to keep my ideas rolling in a forward and positive direction. They all fall short. 

I'll give it another week and hopefully week 5 will bring me some ideas to put on the table!

In terms of class, there's nothing to report this week as it was cancelled. I spent my time watching short animations to try and get a feel for my own idea.

Watch this Space~

Week 3 - The Jean Short Project

Damnit Jean!

Week 3 of moving image, introducing the Jean Claude Van Danne movie.. Short.. competition!

4 hours, split in groups. Put the handsome hero into your own movie short! Free reign, GO!

This.. Was awesome.

The Green Screen Project
Jaime, Nathan, Andrea, Jay and myself all pitched together in the flat to create a small masterpiece. We can be film directors now right?

We had a few rough storyboarding, scribbled out some lines. Giggled a lot at Jean, hacked at the 'too big' ideas. And got to work. 

Clear up the kitchen, it's shooting time!

After the 4 hours, this is our result. Bit touch and go but hey, we had 4 hours and a lack of people for trains :c

Back in your cage, Jean!

Still need to rough storyboard Pedro's story.. And think of a project idea. I have nothing right now, let's.. Not panic.

Watch this Space~

Week 1.5 - Script.. Edits. Pedro!

Too long.. Must Edit..

Shortening down the script a little to fit the.. 'Short Film' concept.. Heh..

Act 1
Pedro is sitting on a rooftop, observing the town square. He's looking for a fresh target. He takes off into the sky and aims up the target below. Concentrating hard, he tries to send a shot of poop down below. But nothing comes out!

Plot Point
He hasn't ate anything to poop out, so he seeks out food. Diving into an alleyway, he picks through the rubbish but he finds nothing! A group of teenagers throw their chip packet into the street. Pedro waddles over and feasts on the leftovers happily.

Act 2
After a meal, the pigeon is feeling more content, stretching himself out a little to prepare for flight, he tries to take off...

Plot Point
But he's ate too much! He can't support his body weight. He jumps around the alley like a crazy bird, trying to get rid of the food inside him. Desperately trying to fly away. He eventually burns enough to take off and soar above the square again.

Act 3
The look of content on Pedro's face as he picks up his old target close by and poops on them. Mission Accomplished!

Well, they'll get you eventually.. :C

Week 1 - Script Workshop - Flesh out!

Fleshed it out, I took Plot 2 - The Gameee.. Ha, Poop.

Act 1:

Pedro the pigeon wakes up in his tree nest, feeling well rested and full of energy. He looks out the hole in the tree trunk that's made into a window. Turning then to the picture of his mother on the wall. He puts a wing on his chest before saying how proud he is of her for following her dreams. He goes downstairs for his breakfast – worms, yum... - before heading out.

Flying to his usual roost spot down an alleyway, he finds other pigeons crowded around a poster. He lands and waddles over, questioning his fellow kin of their curiosity. They explain to him that it's to advertise the Annual Poop Shot Championships, they are currently accepting entries! Pedro's heart skipped a beat as he started to discuss with the others about being the representative for the competition. His friends supported his cause, and any doubt was subsided.

Pedro and his kin took flight to the town square to register for the championships. They recognised his appearance to that of this mother (an old champion) and they got speaking about her and how good she was at the time. They have high hopes for little Pedro and they say he will do his mother proud.

Pedro walks into the training area practising on trash in a back alleyway. He's a little rusty and nervous, his friend tells him not to be so nervous. It's a talent of his, it's in his blood to be a champion like his mother! This makes Pedro feel pressured.

Plot Point 1:

In Pedro's anxiety, the “big shot” pigeon Dean approaches him. He start to poke fun at him, laughing with his own friends. Pedro starts feeling really small and nervous. He tries to make out that Dean isn't intimidating him but Dean continues to break him down to the point where Pedro is unsure if he is even going to to enter anymore.

Dean tells him that a rookie has no place in this sort of place. He's only going to shame his mothers pride. He wasn't built for this and he's only going to make a fool of himself. Pedro gets self conscious, noticing everyone looking at him for a response but the pressure starts to crack him. Dean keeps hammering on him trying to make sure that Pedro does not threaten his winning spot.

Pedro takes flight, stumbling in the air as he is desperate to get away from that place. Leave it all behind, go home and pretend it didn't happen. Continue his life like normal. He shed a tear as he can imagine his mother looking down on him, upset at his choice but he doesn't fee any form of confidence to compete in these games! He apologises to his mother, saying he wish it could be different.

Pedro lands in a grassy park, pacing around aggravated by Dean's behaviour and how it's effected him. Behind him, his best friend Penny landed down and tried to show him a bit of sense.

Act 2:

Penny tries to calm down Pedro by explaining that Dean has been the ongoing champion for years now and he's only trying to defend his tite. He's scared of a bit of competition. Pedro explains how he feels so rock bottom and his skills wont match Dean no matter how hard he tries. Taking his anger out on Penny for letting his mum down like that.

Penny hits Pedro in frustration. She tells a shocked Pedro that he's being stupid and his mum isn't disappointed by him. She would always be proud of him. Penny doesn't want to see Pedro all beaten up by a jerk like Dean. She wants to help him out and make him realise that he's a bigger and better person then Dean is by a long shot.

Pedro gets emotional and has slight flashbacks of his mother and him before he died as a happy little family in the same tree he lives in now. The picture he looked at that morning floods into mind. He snaps to reality and realises how stupid he's been.

Him and Penny embrace, he thanks her for helping him realise how much of an idiot he's been. She smiles and pats the top of his head saying she'll always be around to save the day. Pedro says they should get back to the tournament before he gets disqualified. Penny says that it'll be starting very soon. Pedro starts to panic and takes off into the air. A smiling Penny follow along behind him. They fly off together.

Plot Point 2:

Dean is happy not to see Pedro at the competition after their little talk. The judges are giving him a few more minutes to appear before they disqualify him. In the last second Pedro and Penny land on the rooftop to continue the competition. A look of disgust sweeps over Dean's face.

The competitors are minimal, scared and sent cowering by Dean's rolling behaviour. The competition gets underway anyway. Dean storms over the top of every other pigeon apart from Pedro. He keeps his mother in mind as he tries to kick Dean out of the competition.

Dean starts getting irritated. He calls Pedro out after every shot claiming that he's missed and he's cheating. The judges over rule his outbursts. Dean approaches his friends in the audience and tell them to distract Pedro and create a scene so he can be the champion again.

With doubtful minds they oblige, flying around and making noises to distract Pedro's shots. Dean is perfect and Pedro starts to struggle. The Judges start to question...

Act 3:

The events host calls the pigeons down and they get questioned for their unruly behaviour. They try to act rebellious before they're noticed to be Deans fellowship. Dean is then caught out to be cheating his way to victory. They approach Dean on the field and openly accuse him of cheating to which he is sarcastically shocked. The police pigeons(!) take rule over all the evidence and find him guilty, disqualify him.

Pedro says he wants to win fairly so they reschedule the final match for another day giving them both a shot at the title to see who the better Poop Shooter is.

The final match approaches and needless to say that Pedro's followers diss Dean heavily but his kind heart pays no attention. They compete and Pedro ends up the victor. Making his mother proud, capturing Penny's heart and building his self confidence.

Pedro the Champion Pigeon!

Workshop conclusion!