Well, I received feedback from my three story ideas from my Mentor (Cal Brunker, what a cool name, I know).... I was going between the new computer idea and the bored bus driver idea. My Mentor thought that the computer idea was better, and I have to concur. Thinking about doing to bus driver story would be really funny and fun to do, but technically I wouldn't be able to handle it. So I thought I'd go with the more simple of the two and run with it. I still have some work do in the middle to set up the gag... but I'll do that this week.
Here's the pre-production structure I submitted:
‘Fresh out the Box’ Pre-Pitch Structure:
a. Setting: opening shot is exterior of house, all the rest of the shots are interior in the man’s office.
b. Time of day: afternoon
c. Characters: There’s only one character, a middle aged man
Pitch Structure:
a. We open with an exterior shot of a house, the sky is blue and the sun is shining.
b. Until the door opens and the main (and only character) pops his head out, looks around with curiosity, he looks down and sees the box. He gets a surprised then excited look on his face, steps out, bends down, picks up the box and brings it in the house.
c. And then now we’re in his office showing his empty desk all cleaned and ready to put his new computer on.
d. And then he starts assembling the computer components onto the computer desk (shown with quick 1-2 second cuts).
e. And then he’s ready to turn on the computer. He presses the power button
f. And then nothing happens, he looks surprised, shocked and confused, he presses it again. Still nothing. He looks angry now with some frustration.
g. And then it shows him trying different methods of troubleshooting, looking at the owner’s manual, maybe on the phone with tech support, studying the front of the computer, lifts up the mouse, etc (there are going to be 5 or 6 different things he does, again all shown in quick 1-2 second cuts). Man is getting more and more frustrated with each shot.
h. Until finally he gives up by banging his head and fists on the desk. Meanwhile the camera is trucking back to reveal that the power cord isn’t plugged in, cut to a close up shot so there’s no confusion what to look at.
i. The moral/point of the story is sometimes the simplest explanation to the problem is the most obvious one, there’s no need to get so upset by it.
Here's some reference I'm going to use in the planning (not for the animation, just some the timing of shots used are what I'm looking for with mine):
4.14.2009
4.10.2009
Short Film ideas.
So I'm moving along (hopefully in the right direction) in pre-production of my 30 short film animation project, that will consume the next 6 months of my life. I had a slew of ideas that I've been gathering for years and had to trim a lot off the existing ones because of the duration of the film. I originally thought were going to be 1-2 minutes in length. Come to find out it's only supposed to be 30 seconds long. I posted five ideas and think that I have it narrowed down to 2... Because of my Maya abilities and lack of effects experience it's forcing me to get really creative in my story choice. One character, one set and limited effects.
Here are my two ideas that I'm leaning towards, probably going to go with the first one because it's a little more simple of an environment to create and work around.
1. 'Fresh out the Box': Intro credits play with the sounds of outside (mid day)ambient noise and a door bell ring. Fade out from black, exterior shot of a door step, on it is a computer box (Dell, HP, Apple). A middle aged man opens the door and pops his head out, looks around, then down to see the box. He opens the door in excitement and goes to pick up the box to bring into the house. The next shot is an interior shot of the man's desk, empty and shiny of course. He sets down his computer box and starts to assemble it on the desk, close up cuts showing him adjusted the monitor position, setting up the mouse and keyboard, etc. Finally it cuts a medium shot of him going to turn on the computer. He has an excited look on his face, when he pushes the power button, nothing happens... he sits there for a second and then his expression switches to shock. The next cut is him troubleshooting, getting more and more frustrated with each shot, reading the owner's manual, lifting the keyboard, etc... Until he gets so frustrated he bangs his head and fists down on the desk and lies there still, as if he's defeated. The camera is slowly trucking back to reveal that the computer's not plugged in, maybe even cut to a close up shot of the plug lying on the floor underneath the outlet. Cut to credits. Cut back from credits to a quick shot of the character super frustrated holding either the monitor or the keyboard over his head with his teeth gritting and eye twitching. Cut back to credits with the audio of a large crashing sound effect. The end.
2. 'Over Bored'. (still working on the story a bit). First shot mid morning, interior of a bus driver driving a bus. The bus driver has a very bored look on his face and in his every movement. Slow blinking and slow movements in general. Gets to a stop and there's no one there, he still goes through the action of opening the door waiting a second then closing the door to head back on his route. This goes on for a few more seconds to get the point across that he has a really monotonous job that he's really bored at. Finally he appears to get an idea (may even show a light bulb) and springs up. The next shot is him ramming all kinds of vehicles with the bus. (Now what I might do is have him see a bulldozer at one of the stops with the keys in the ignition and that's when he gets the idea and is ramming the cars with the bulldozer instead of the bus). Either way he's ramming the vehicles with something. The next shot is the same as the first shot, except now he look happy in his face and in his whole attitude. He gets to the stop (same as before) and now there a bunch of people waiting to get on the bus with disgruntled looks on their faces. Here I might have the people in casts and crutches and the camera pans back to reveal that it's a handicap bus..... cut to credits.
So there they are, a bit lengthy, but as the story develops in my head I like to get it down on paper....
I'm really excited to start production on this. Stay tuned as I'll be posting my progress as I go.
Till next time.
Here are my two ideas that I'm leaning towards, probably going to go with the first one because it's a little more simple of an environment to create and work around.
1. 'Fresh out the Box': Intro credits play with the sounds of outside (mid day)ambient noise and a door bell ring. Fade out from black, exterior shot of a door step, on it is a computer box (Dell, HP, Apple). A middle aged man opens the door and pops his head out, looks around, then down to see the box. He opens the door in excitement and goes to pick up the box to bring into the house. The next shot is an interior shot of the man's desk, empty and shiny of course. He sets down his computer box and starts to assemble it on the desk, close up cuts showing him adjusted the monitor position, setting up the mouse and keyboard, etc. Finally it cuts a medium shot of him going to turn on the computer. He has an excited look on his face, when he pushes the power button, nothing happens... he sits there for a second and then his expression switches to shock. The next cut is him troubleshooting, getting more and more frustrated with each shot, reading the owner's manual, lifting the keyboard, etc... Until he gets so frustrated he bangs his head and fists down on the desk and lies there still, as if he's defeated. The camera is slowly trucking back to reveal that the computer's not plugged in, maybe even cut to a close up shot of the plug lying on the floor underneath the outlet. Cut to credits. Cut back from credits to a quick shot of the character super frustrated holding either the monitor or the keyboard over his head with his teeth gritting and eye twitching. Cut back to credits with the audio of a large crashing sound effect. The end.
2. 'Over Bored'. (still working on the story a bit). First shot mid morning, interior of a bus driver driving a bus. The bus driver has a very bored look on his face and in his every movement. Slow blinking and slow movements in general. Gets to a stop and there's no one there, he still goes through the action of opening the door waiting a second then closing the door to head back on his route. This goes on for a few more seconds to get the point across that he has a really monotonous job that he's really bored at. Finally he appears to get an idea (may even show a light bulb) and springs up. The next shot is him ramming all kinds of vehicles with the bus. (Now what I might do is have him see a bulldozer at one of the stops with the keys in the ignition and that's when he gets the idea and is ramming the cars with the bulldozer instead of the bus). Either way he's ramming the vehicles with something. The next shot is the same as the first shot, except now he look happy in his face and in his whole attitude. He gets to the stop (same as before) and now there a bunch of people waiting to get on the bus with disgruntled looks on their faces. Here I might have the people in casts and crutches and the camera pans back to reveal that it's a handicap bus..... cut to credits.
So there they are, a bit lengthy, but as the story develops in my head I like to get it down on paper....
I'm really excited to start production on this. Stay tuned as I'll be posting my progress as I go.
Till next time.
4.01.2009
Class 5.... 6 more months left.
Wow, so I've officially been a student at Animation Mentor for one year now. I can't believe how much I've learned (and how much more I still have to go). I started my Pre-production to my short film last night and am a little intimidated by the whole thing. The two biggest things is going to be plan plan plan and keeping it simple. I feel like I already have a big head start because I'm always coming up with ideas and have about 25 in my journal. But I want to explore some more and come up with something awesome and original! The duration of the short is only 30 seconds (only, Ha!). Sounds easy right... wrong.
I have an idea using the Azary rig called 'Identity Theft', and one called 'Over Bored' (which has a clever play on words), and then 'Spring Time' is another one... I have to go through each idea I have and fine tune them. What I like and don't like about them...
Till next time.
I'll try and post more progress for my short film pre-production.
I have an idea using the Azary rig called 'Identity Theft', and one called 'Over Bored' (which has a clever play on words), and then 'Spring Time' is another one... I have to go through each idea I have and fine tune them. What I like and don't like about them...
Till next time.
I'll try and post more progress for my short film pre-production.
3.25.2009
On to class 5.... Short Film Pre-production
Well, that's that, I made it through Advanced Acting with a recommendation to move on from my Mentor. I wasn't anticipating being held back, but you never know. It was a very tough class, but I persevered through it with a bunch of 14 hour homework Saturdays, 2 and a half hour lectures, tougher shots, facial comparisons, and endless critiques for my classmates. It was a really long class, between work, wife and baby. I really feel like my social life is on a timeout, which is fine. It's for a good cause. I know I say this every class, but here goes: I learned a lot, looking back at my older work, I can catch a whole bunch of issues with it and I want to go change it, so that must mean I'm learning. I still need more practice, and want to keep animating. Not sick of it or burnt out of animation. I'm burnt out, but from exhaustion. No thoughts of thinking that I made the wrong decision or am getting sick of animating.
Before starting AM and watching the testimonies of the students and how they always talked about the AM community and the awesome Mentors. That's not even the half on how truly amazing Animation Mentor is. Not to mention the endless amount of animation talent. I learned so much from my mentor, but I learned tons from the students and alumni stopping by giving feedback. Another thing that I found that was really helpful is leaving feedback for others. Maybe it's cause I'm finally getting the hang of animation, and know more what to look for and am thinking more like an animator, remember all the principles and mechanics of how the body moves.
Since there was only a two day break between classes, we decided to take a trip away from Maddon. No computer, no work, no packing lunches every night, no animation (just some animation books on the beach), no dog, no baby, no responsiblities, no rush hour, no waking up in the morning, no agenda. We're off to San Pancho Mexico. A small town just north of Puerto Vallarta. So I'm really excited to get away from it all.
Class five is starting on Monday when we get back. It's going to be a tough rebound, getting back in the swing of things, that I'm trying not to think about and live in the now. Getting back is going to be hitting the ground running, laundry, work, and school in full speed when the plane lands back in Denver. I have a lot of ideas brainstormed and I'm going to go through them and hopefully come up with some new ideas on the beach.... Here is my final shot for class 4. It's from the movie School of Rock (if you didn't recognize it). It still has some minor adjusting and some tweaks.
Before starting AM and watching the testimonies of the students and how they always talked about the AM community and the awesome Mentors. That's not even the half on how truly amazing Animation Mentor is. Not to mention the endless amount of animation talent. I learned so much from my mentor, but I learned tons from the students and alumni stopping by giving feedback. Another thing that I found that was really helpful is leaving feedback for others. Maybe it's cause I'm finally getting the hang of animation, and know more what to look for and am thinking more like an animator, remember all the principles and mechanics of how the body moves.
Since there was only a two day break between classes, we decided to take a trip away from Maddon. No computer, no work, no packing lunches every night, no animation (just some animation books on the beach), no dog, no baby, no responsiblities, no rush hour, no waking up in the morning, no agenda. We're off to San Pancho Mexico. A small town just north of Puerto Vallarta. So I'm really excited to get away from it all.
Class five is starting on Monday when we get back. It's going to be a tough rebound, getting back in the swing of things, that I'm trying not to think about and live in the now. Getting back is going to be hitting the ground running, laundry, work, and school in full speed when the plane lands back in Denver. I have a lot of ideas brainstormed and I'm going to go through them and hopefully come up with some new ideas on the beach.... Here is my final shot for class 4. It's from the movie School of Rock (if you didn't recognize it). It still has some minor adjusting and some tweaks.
3.18.2009
Class four coming to an end....
Holy moses, time sure is flying. Four classes down and two to go. I can't believe that I've been in school for a year now. Thinking back at how excited I was to start, getting ready for AM.... And now it's almost over. What a great class this was, really awesome kids in my class and my Mentor was truly amazing. So chill and real with an awesome eye for animation. I really feel like I made some good progress this class.
My next two classes are pre-production and production of making my very own short. I'm really excited. I have a bunch of ideas in the hopper and need to figure out which one is going to be the best story and realistic for me to do. I would definitely say that my Maya abilities are limited so that's going to hold me back a bit, but as long as I come up with a good story and the animation rocks, nobody will notice that I suck in Maya. We don't get much of a break between classes... they're over on Friday and start back up on Monday... 2 days!! Wow! I'm planning on turning in everything early cause my wife and I are going to Mexico. We're leaving the little guy at home and am really looking forward to relaxing on the beach, spending time with my lover-muffin.
Till next time,
My next two classes are pre-production and production of making my very own short. I'm really excited. I have a bunch of ideas in the hopper and need to figure out which one is going to be the best story and realistic for me to do. I would definitely say that my Maya abilities are limited so that's going to hold me back a bit, but as long as I come up with a good story and the animation rocks, nobody will notice that I suck in Maya. We don't get much of a break between classes... they're over on Friday and start back up on Monday... 2 days!! Wow! I'm planning on turning in everything early cause my wife and I are going to Mexico. We're leaving the little guy at home and am really looking forward to relaxing on the beach, spending time with my lover-muffin.
Till next time,
3.06.2009
Oh yeah... Animation Mentor....
Sometimes I forget that this blog is for my time spent at Animation Mentor.... the last few posts have dealt with animation and other nonsense. School is going good... and absolutely zooooming by right in front of my eyes. It's a crazy schedule I'm on. Usually my wife works nights from Weds to Sat, so that means I get Maddon all to myself, it's great but crazy. So on said days I go to work till 5 drive home get Maddon, feed him and play with him till about 7:15, then feed him again, give him a bath and put him to bed... luckily he's such a good little baby, no fussing and always fun to hang out with and play. He's really good at playing catching and he seems like he's always willing to share his toys with you. I don't know if that's something common in babies or unique to him. Either way it's adorable. Okay... Animation Mentor, stay focused... so what I was getting at is that once I put him to bed, make and eat dinner, make lunch for the next day and clean up after myself it's dang near 9 o'clock... I usually sit for an episode of Seinfeld or 30 minutes of animation to get motivation and then begins the homework. Last night I started about 830 and worked till about 130 in the morning. Usually with iTunes or some animated movie on in the background, then get up for work the next day and repeat... It's been really hectic and I feel like I have no life other than this... usually Saturday consist of juggling Maddon and homework, the homework portion is roughly 14 hours, but have gone as long as 16 hours (with various breaks).
I guess my whole point to this post is TIME MANAGEMENT. I knew going into Animation Mentor is was going to be a big sacrifice and a huge commitment on my part. Parts of me is completely fried, from learning animation, then applying what I learned and struggling with, the gaining some knowledge and climbing up the mountain. Reading a lot of posts (mostly on 11secondclub.com) so many people are worried about starting AM and having it just flow along with their life (whatever their current situation is). For them I just say, it's a lot of work. Especially with a full time job, baby, wife and house. Adding school to the mix, there really isn't time for much else. Yes, I still see friends, but not nearly as often as I'd like to. I haven't had a 'boy's night' in over a year, a vacation in over a year and half. I'm not complaining one bit... I'm just saying that it's been a big commitment and wouldn't trade it for the world!
I'm currently in week 9 of class four and can't believe it. I'm starting my short next class already! I'm really excited for that, but I know how I am and I'm a little nervous (I tend to go overboard on these projects). For instance when I attended the Art Institute for one class we had a final project for a character animation class that was supposed to be 30 seconds in duration... I ended up doing a 4:30 music video with like 6 sets, lighting, textures and multiple characters. It was a great experience but it was a bit much. I'm going to keep the short to about 90 seconds, no longer than 2 minutes.... that's pretty reasonable. I already have a bunch of ideas brainstormed that could be really good. I'm trying to make something original and entertaining... the goal of any animator!!
But, that's the future.. now for the present. I'm in the middle of a 2 person dialogue shot and it's challenging being responsible for bringing 2 characters to life (plus 2 background characters). I chose a line from School of Rock and it's turning out good. My workflow has definitely improved in clarity and speed. I've learned so much this class thanks to the awesome lectures and my awesome Mentor! I'll try and post progress on the shot when I get a free minute.
Till next time.... party like its 2099!!
I guess my whole point to this post is TIME MANAGEMENT. I knew going into Animation Mentor is was going to be a big sacrifice and a huge commitment on my part. Parts of me is completely fried, from learning animation, then applying what I learned and struggling with, the gaining some knowledge and climbing up the mountain. Reading a lot of posts (mostly on 11secondclub.com) so many people are worried about starting AM and having it just flow along with their life (whatever their current situation is). For them I just say, it's a lot of work. Especially with a full time job, baby, wife and house. Adding school to the mix, there really isn't time for much else. Yes, I still see friends, but not nearly as often as I'd like to. I haven't had a 'boy's night' in over a year, a vacation in over a year and half. I'm not complaining one bit... I'm just saying that it's been a big commitment and wouldn't trade it for the world!
I'm currently in week 9 of class four and can't believe it. I'm starting my short next class already! I'm really excited for that, but I know how I am and I'm a little nervous (I tend to go overboard on these projects). For instance when I attended the Art Institute for one class we had a final project for a character animation class that was supposed to be 30 seconds in duration... I ended up doing a 4:30 music video with like 6 sets, lighting, textures and multiple characters. It was a great experience but it was a bit much. I'm going to keep the short to about 90 seconds, no longer than 2 minutes.... that's pretty reasonable. I already have a bunch of ideas brainstormed that could be really good. I'm trying to make something original and entertaining... the goal of any animator!!
But, that's the future.. now for the present. I'm in the middle of a 2 person dialogue shot and it's challenging being responsible for bringing 2 characters to life (plus 2 background characters). I chose a line from School of Rock and it's turning out good. My workflow has definitely improved in clarity and speed. I've learned so much this class thanks to the awesome lectures and my awesome Mentor! I'll try and post progress on the shot when I get a free minute.
Till next time.... party like its 2099!!
2.26.2009
2009 Can you smell the animation in the air?
Wooooowser! 2009 and it's an exciting time to be an animator! There are some really good lookin' movies coming out this year! I'm getting more and more excited about starting production on my short when I see this. I finally feel like I'm ready and confident enough to attempt it (as far as my animation skills are concerned)! I know it's going to be a massive challenge and a major struggle at some points, but that's how you learn and become better. I'm making good progress on my two person shot and feel like I'm going to have time to really polish it and put on my new demo reel.
Now, let's talk about some movies coming out this year that I'm getting excited for:
Pixar's new movie Up... the animators are saying that it's their best one yet... I know they always say that, but they seem to excel and get better and more defined each movie they make.
Dreamworks has some fresh original animation coming out this year in Monsters Vs. Aliens, I'm really excited, I was starting to lose faith in their animation with all the Shrek sequels that weren't very entertaining, and then they totally redeemed themselves with Kung Fu Panda...9 looks amazing, a unique world with an interesting style out of the ordinary! Another one I'm really excited for is Ice Age 3. The first one was great, the second one was nowhere close. I think I'm really excited to see this one because I actually know a bunch of people that worked on it.
Students from Animation Mentor mostly, they took off from school to go and work on it. Lost and Found comes out this year... it's from a smaller studio called Studio AKA, a girl in my class from Brazil told me about it. It's a children's book, and like 9 the style is so magical and original, it looks like it really captures the essence of what you can do with 3D. I wish Maddon was older, because I would totally be going with him.
And last but not least is Planet 51.
This one just looks like a fun movie, crazy interaction between aliens and humans on their planet! So overall it looks like a great year for animated movies! One that I don't know anything about and is an old children's book is Cloudy with Chance of Meatballs by Sony Animation. I'm looking forward to seeing some trailers on that one. Till next time... keep on truckin'.
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