did i say i was comfortable… aha .. i think thats where i had gone wrong.. never comfortable..

i guess its not as bad as the last time.. but yea i have had to make some changes still to my animatic and this time i am using a blue pencil (funny enough i would have never thought that the color in which i draw, would make a difference to my drawing skill… but absurd as it may sound – its true. Michael V thinks its a right brain -left brain issue )

I so wish i had gone to Ed Hooks’s seminar/workshop on ‘acting for animators’ but foolishly missed out on the opportunity thinking that no one was going for it. Apparently it was pretty good and as Kate pointed out afterwards that Ed Hooks had made a rather interesting point on ‘externalizing the most internal state of a characters decision making process ‘ A good example of this is the scene from the Iron Giant where the giant in the junkyard takes a bite out of a car setting the horn off… in a state of panic, he quicly evaluates his options and sits on the car. Realizing that this decision had failed, he throws the car off into the distance. James too pointed out that the best approach to showing this decision making process is to
-show the character making a decision – then unmaking that decision and then making another decision.

This was basically the main point that made me revisit my animatic to try and make the decision making process of the young boy more obvious to the audience.

I have by now reworked more than half the animatic on paper and now remains the scanning – timing and reworking of spotfx – AGAAAIIIN !! efff !.However, I believe that this time its more cohesive and has a better looking beady eyed character rather than my previous looneytoons like character.

its been a while now since i have posted anything on the blog..
been busy renovating my idea, coming up with a new storyboard and a new animatic.
Feel much comfortable with the direction in which the animatic and the story is heading this time around. Although, i realize i should probably show it to some more people and find out what they think. My recent concern has been the length of the film as it is rather short … almost 2 minutes. I do realize that the length of the film doesnt really matter, as long as the story is conveyed sucessfully.
( i guess being a ‘worrier’ i always seem to find something to worry about all the time – not really a desirable trait )

Saw the film Marcus Kellow gave me – ‘chasing rabbits’ ( somehow he couldnt imagine how i didnt have the time to watch a 20 minute film – after watching it now, i wonder myself )
-quite an interesting film written by Mark Fletcher, directed by Sion Mitchel, music by Marcus Kellow. The most appealing part of the film was the simplicity and clever editing. In more than one instance, it almost felt like he was talking to another person who looked exactly like him ( very much like what Michael V is trying to adopt in his animated film ) Actor Peter Hardy was great (apart from beign a good actor, it may have been because he had lived with the character and the story for two years before it was made – as stated in inside film magazine) The film take you through this journey of the inner psyche of a man and unravels itself beautifully with just a monologue. Some of the things that we have learnt in the course about offscreen sounds pushing the narrative ahead was clearly apparent and was beautifully executed. I think its a great example of what can be done with just a great idea.In short the film’s synopsis is

” Following a car crash on a hill outside a country town, Nick Walsh has been brought forward for questioning by the police. The crash becomes murder, retribution for abuse from 25 years earlier.”

Tried looking for a link for ‘chasing rabbits + Sion Michel’ couldnt quite find anything other than a list of the numerous short film festivals its been in.

My first animatic has failed misraebly, half way through working on it i somehow had a feeling it wasnt going to work so i just gave up. ( not a great attitude but it was an instinct that told me not to waste any more time on that shite ) I showed it to kate and matt and almost mentally prepared to get a good tongue lashing and so i did get one. But it was worth it, Kate got me thinking and seeing the bigger picture and since then i have started to storyboard a newer version of the story with some significant changes.

The story now accomodates more than just ‘ a leg ‘ and i see it working on many levels. Given that i had to go back a couple of levels, i think it has been a good step to take. Stewart and Michael have been struggling too and i know what it feels like. good luck to them.

Been at home for the past two days just storyboarding like a machine. Jasmine called me up yesterday and gave me quite a usual thrashing for not keeping in touch.. oooops jasmine. sorry.. i promise yet again to stay in touch. ( as soon as i finish this pre production )

feel like listening to pat boone today for some reason !

Random babble !!

This is a story about a man
There was a man who thought he was a horse, he would roam the plains and the hills, the valleys and the mountains, till his legs grew weary and he could walk no more. This is when he thought it was better to be a fish.
There was a man who thought he was a fish, he would swim the oceans and the seas, the rivers and the lakes, till his fins and tails grew tired and he could swim no more. This is when he thought it was better to be a bird.
There was a man who thought he was a bird, he would fly the skies morning and night, dusk and dawn, till his wings were tired and he could fly no more. This is when he thought it was better to be human.
There was a man who thought he was human , he would sit in the softest couch in the luxrurious apartment of the tallest building in the richest city watching the horses, the birds and fishes on his tv in a place he called home.

This was a man who thought he was happy for he lived happily ever after….. or so they say!

Yikes !!! i dont know if i can get the animatic done on time. I guess the only thing thats holding me back and delaying me is the hesitation that i seem to have everystep of the way with regards to ‘ have i made the right decision ? , should i go for the other concept ?, how is the audience going to react? am i going to pull it off ? ‘ oh well.. i guess i will know in about three months time .. wouldnt i ?

Sitting at home working on the animatic ( which is due tommorow and i still havent done any sound ) i realized the importance of using the camera in a locked off state. Attempts in using cinematic tricks with rack focus’s, zooming in and out, i have come to realize that its very possible to screw up your film by not having full concious control of when and where you start your camera move and where you stop. I guess the key note that i am trying to hit at is

DONT LET THE CAMERA PROMPT AN ACTION FROM YOUR CHARACTER, LET THE CHARACTER PROMPT THE ACTION FROM THE CAMERA.

thats my note for the day!

its open day in college today, will go to check out what the scene is like !

Currently re-storyboarding most of the scenes in the animation and trying out different angles. Still having heaps of problems visualizing the concluding shot. Somehow i want to be able to prolong the suspense but am running the risk of not resolving it at all.

I want my audience to be intrigued otherwise they will just assume that the boy is a brat who likes breaking his toys. Using the toy’s handicapped state to represent the boy is a good device but i may just need to emphaisize on the relation of the two, otherwise they run the risk of being seen as distinct elements.

The visual style of this film is also of concern. My earliest approach was stopmotion but because of the complexities involved in producing highly finished puppets, i decided to abandon the thought. My production shot seemed complex to many, however i really dont think so ( but you know how it gets when you start making an image – its hard to keep track of time ). Kirrily showed me an image of Angela Anaconda – a tv cartoon series done in two and a half D production
(http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/angela/flash.htm) The real player video explains how they achieve this look of flat cutout collagey look.

Went to watch the Melbourne Int. Film Festival Best of Shorts tonight with Kirrily tonight. It was grrrrrreat! The show began with the awards following Adam Elliots Harvey Krumpet.

Amongst the other films that were played, The projectionist was a real eye catcher – had some beautiful sequences and highly saturated images that made every frame a stunning image. It was directed by Michael Bates using pixillation.
(http://pub157.ezboard.com/ffilmnetfrm8.showMessage?topicID=545.topic)

The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly DESTINO – a premiere presentation of the Salvador Dali and Walt Disney’s film. It was rather interesting to see Dali’s surrealistic artforms playing against the typical doe eye shaped disney characters. Personally i enjoyed watching the various artforms blend into one another, way more than the character( which was without doubt a very well animated character ). Nonetheless, a true treat to the eyes to see a collaborative piece from two such revolutionary artists of their times.

Its not fair to categorize and set formulaes, but i couldnt help but notice a few parallels in few of the very succesful animations i have seen recently and i have devised two broad categories into which i can categorize two forms of short story telling techniques (particularly animation)

1. The kind of story where the hero/protagonist is seen to be tackling a common mans everyday problem, such as the search for true love, overcoming loneliness, search for uniqueness; etc etc…In stories such as this, once the director has been successfull in telling ppl what the problem is, its assumed that the protagonist will either

+overcome his problem

I must admit that i have been very influenced my Jonathans Nix’s wonderful animation ‘Hello’ - a truly wonderful story, great character design, beautiful ambience and amazing craft ( is a great example of this category – CONGRATS JONATHAN for a fabulous piece of art), simmilarly Jenille Kilners A-List or Hamish Kochi’s Fog Eyes deal with the same issues in a simmilar pattern.

+fail misreably and will thus take him back to square one. Whats waits to be seen is how its done !

‘Reds Dream’ by Pixar tackles the same issue of self-worthiness and at the end of the film leaves us where we had started off but in the middle cooks up a rather humorous and witty set of actions. The same goes for ‘Knick Knack’ by Pixar ( beautifully set up and very very very cleverly resolved )

‘The Cat Came Back’ by Cordell Barker definitely has to be one of the BESTEST animation i have ever seen and it falls into this category but gives you also rounds up the animation with a beautful ending.

‘The big snit’ , ‘The Toll Collector’ from the Jiri Trinke Studio

2. The second category is where the protagonist or the hero is seen executing a series of unexpected and unexplainable set of actions, and its towards the conclusion of the film these actions are justified and a message is sent across. Examples from the top of my head would be Wolfgang Laurenstein’s absolutely marvelous and brilliantly crafted ‘ Balance ‘ ( Academy Award winner ).

Somehow though, i really cant quite figure out what category i would put Ignazio Ferreras’s How to cope with death (beautful images on this animation-absolutely stunning.

maybe this formulae thing is not true… but it was just a thought….

Its the middle of week four of production of our major project. I realize i should have started this blog from day one but oh well…

So far, my experiences this semester has been highly dillematic with regards to story, script, style, characters – you name it….

After many discussions with the lecturers and much debate with myself and myself, i have come to the conclusion of directing the story of the ‘disabled boy’. It seemed like a great idea when i wrote it, but i guess when one comes down to the nitty gritty details of producing, writing and directing a film, you come face to face with many obstacles that give you the benefit of doubt.

I have so far come to the stage of storyboarding my animation and its now time for slapping together a quick animatic for the story. i received some very valuable feedback int he last group critique we had and James had come up with a great suggestion of making the kid hyperventilate before he starts ripping out his toy. i think its a great EMIS ( External Manifestation of the Interior State ) Also it intrigues the audience and asks them to investigate into the mental state of this kid rather than immidaitely coming to the conclusion that he is a spoilt brat who breaks all the toys that he gets… ..