We covered a lot in last weeks meeting. Sean's animatic kicked ass, and Conor had a pretty cool idea with the pamphlet. I gotta come up with more styles & designs. The main thing I have to do is articulate a debate to choose a certain style.
We have to time out the animation a little more. Give everything a defined time slot to fit inside of. So, we can say 'Introduction: 10 sec', 'Lugh & Crow meet = 7sec', etc. This way, we get to create an animatic that will really reflect our vision, like the pacing & the overall time taken to tell the story.
We also need to develop some visual cues indicating potential occurrences. Like Paul said, if something doesn't cross a viewer's mind before it happens, it's probably going to be confusing. Especially since our main audience is young children, we'll have to be very clear. One great example we had was the brewing storm. Not only does it reflect Lugh's frustration/anger and maybe give some atmosphere, the thunder/lightning it causes helps tie up our story. But to have this really work, we'll have to have it strike once or twice in the background, growing closer each time.
The story's going to build to a climax, which will be Lugh falling onto the grain. Everything up to that is preparation, and the subsequent scene(s) will be wrapping it up, & finalizing the lesson to be learned. (which is karma/you can't always get what you want.)
I'd say we're all doing some pretty good work :)
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Further Concept Development
Alright, so this parts gonna be about our discussions last week.
Really, we're progressing well. If we follow the guidelines Paul set out for us we'll continue this. We have agreed that our ultimate viewer will be the funding body, and that our animation will target an audience of 2 - 12 year olds. The animations main areas of distribution will be in primary schools/preschools as an educational video. As such, we'll have to keep our artwork stylized & friendly, our characters young & relatable, our sounds clear & non threatening, and our storyboard/animatic clear, concise and really easy to understand.
Another big step we made was based on Conor's suggestion: A booklet/pamphlet/leaflet to present to the funding body during the presentation. The contents of this will pertain to the story & concept behind it. (IE, the story being about the crow and the concept behind it being the lesson learned.) Conor will provide the textual information, and I will provide the Illustrations.
This week I've set out to mix & match with the styles I chose last week, and also to introduce a little bit of color.
Conor should continue his character development, research, and maybe consider the content for the pamphlet.
Sean should flesh out the story board and get a Zoom recorder and capture some sounds to present.
Really, we're progressing well. If we follow the guidelines Paul set out for us we'll continue this. We have agreed that our ultimate viewer will be the funding body, and that our animation will target an audience of 2 - 12 year olds. The animations main areas of distribution will be in primary schools/preschools as an educational video. As such, we'll have to keep our artwork stylized & friendly, our characters young & relatable, our sounds clear & non threatening, and our storyboard/animatic clear, concise and really easy to understand.
Another big step we made was based on Conor's suggestion: A booklet/pamphlet/leaflet to present to the funding body during the presentation. The contents of this will pertain to the story & concept behind it. (IE, the story being about the crow and the concept behind it being the lesson learned.) Conor will provide the textual information, and I will provide the Illustrations.
This week I've set out to mix & match with the styles I chose last week, and also to introduce a little bit of color.
Conor should continue his character development, research, and maybe consider the content for the pamphlet.
Sean should flesh out the story board and get a Zoom recorder and capture some sounds to present.
Monday, October 12, 2009
The Story
Here's our story in Bullet Point form! I guess it'll take about 2 minutes to tell via video. I made some changes for the sake of continuity. Lugh still collects grain, but he puts it into a cart, not a barrel, because I figure that'd be easier for him to carry. Also he's brushing grain off of stored grain stalks.
**OPENING**
*Scene opens from black. The viewer is looking over a market.
*Environment sounds: Din of a crowed, leaves rustling, breeze.
*Title sequence is shown.
*The view cuts to our one human character, Lugh. Lugh is a young male of Tuatha De Danaan descent.
*Lugh is at a pile of grain stalks. He is sweeping the grain from the stalks into a cart.
*A crow hops up to Lugh, on the ground, and squawks loudly. Lugh takes no notice and continues filling his cart. The crow squawks again but receives no response.
*The crow flies onto his pile of grain, and as he turns to his cart with a fresh scoop of grain the crow squawks loudly in Lugh’s face.
*The crow picks up a piece of grain and flaps his wings, implying that he wants to take some of the grain to eat.
*Lugh takes no notice of the gesture and shoos the crow.
**BRIDGE**
*Lugh turns away, and the crow is a little angry with Lugh’s actions. He squawks loudly again, takes a piece of grain.
*Lugh is unimpressed, but keeps working. Crow returns to take more and more grain.
*Lugh grows angry and chases the crow for a few steps until it is out of reach.
*The crow flies up to it’s nest in a nearby tree.
*Lugh, frustrated, picks up a pebble and throws it at the nest.
*Environment: The sky grows darker and a wind begins to pick up.
*The crow, in retaliation, flies down and pecks Lugh in the head, then swiftly returns to his nest.
**CONCLUSION**
*Lugh, now furious at the crow begins to climb the tree to reach the crows nest up top.
*Environment: Storm clouds roll in the background. It begins to rain. Thunder is heard in the distance.
*The crow notices Lugh climbing, and flies down to peck at his head more.
*Lugh hangs onto the tree by his legs and swings at the crow with his hands.
*Lugh loses his balance and grip, falls from the tree. He lands on the cart containing his grain, ruining it. (The grain falls to the wet, muddy, grassy ground.)
*He steps away from the grain and is very disappointed & sulky.
*Crow flies down, caring not about the filth and goes to peck at the grain in the dirt.
*As the crow approaches, the lightening strikes the spilled grain.
*The grain is completely ruined.
*Lugh sits, disappointed. Crow lands on Lugh’s head, also disappointed.
*Fades to black.
Moral of the story:
What goes around comes around; Lugh should have given to the crow, but the crow should have left him alone once he was refused grain from Lugh’s stock.
**OPENING**
*Scene opens from black. The viewer is looking over a market.
*Environment sounds: Din of a crowed, leaves rustling, breeze.
*Title sequence is shown.
*The view cuts to our one human character, Lugh. Lugh is a young male of Tuatha De Danaan descent.
*Lugh is at a pile of grain stalks. He is sweeping the grain from the stalks into a cart.
*A crow hops up to Lugh, on the ground, and squawks loudly. Lugh takes no notice and continues filling his cart. The crow squawks again but receives no response.
*The crow flies onto his pile of grain, and as he turns to his cart with a fresh scoop of grain the crow squawks loudly in Lugh’s face.
*The crow picks up a piece of grain and flaps his wings, implying that he wants to take some of the grain to eat.
*Lugh takes no notice of the gesture and shoos the crow.
**BRIDGE**
*Lugh turns away, and the crow is a little angry with Lugh’s actions. He squawks loudly again, takes a piece of grain.
*Lugh is unimpressed, but keeps working. Crow returns to take more and more grain.
*Lugh grows angry and chases the crow for a few steps until it is out of reach.
*The crow flies up to it’s nest in a nearby tree.
*Lugh, frustrated, picks up a pebble and throws it at the nest.
*Environment: The sky grows darker and a wind begins to pick up.
*The crow, in retaliation, flies down and pecks Lugh in the head, then swiftly returns to his nest.
**CONCLUSION**
*Lugh, now furious at the crow begins to climb the tree to reach the crows nest up top.
*Environment: Storm clouds roll in the background. It begins to rain. Thunder is heard in the distance.
*The crow notices Lugh climbing, and flies down to peck at his head more.
*Lugh hangs onto the tree by his legs and swings at the crow with his hands.
*Lugh loses his balance and grip, falls from the tree. He lands on the cart containing his grain, ruining it. (The grain falls to the wet, muddy, grassy ground.)
*He steps away from the grain and is very disappointed & sulky.
*Crow flies down, caring not about the filth and goes to peck at the grain in the dirt.
*As the crow approaches, the lightening strikes the spilled grain.
*The grain is completely ruined.
*Lugh sits, disappointed. Crow lands on Lugh’s head, also disappointed.
*Fades to black.
Moral of the story:
What goes around comes around; Lugh should have given to the crow, but the crow should have left him alone once he was refused grain from Lugh’s stock.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Task List & the Mock Presentation
Our task & position list is as follows:
Mitchell: Illustrator & Project Manager.
Conor: Research (Market & Funding), Presenter.
Sean: Sound Designer & Animatic Generator.
Sean, I'd recommend collecting sounds & researching music. Anything prepared for this Thursday would be great, even some sketches of the story boards. We have to keep it royalty free/original/without copyright. Paul suggested staying away form the internet for sounds, music and that. So maybe if you could grab a Zoom recorder from Leo or the CSM, and record the din of a crowd, or a bird flapping it's wings. Maybe some wind.
Conor, I'd say it'd be ideal if you came up with a detailed description of the characters. Maybe create a document fleshing out Lugh's personality, kind of like the blurb alongside characters.
Here's a guide: http://www.squidoo.com/Character profiles some of it's kind of bullshitty, like "character's Zodiac sign". What the hell. But it's an alright framework.
I'm going to photocopy a bunch of stuff from magazines and stick them to a big piece of card, and then draw out a bunch of characters to choose from. I'll do the same for locations. I think I'll start with books and stuff I have, and the photocopier in the Students Union, and then take some photos of the Market in town.
Mitchell: Illustrator & Project Manager.
Conor: Research (Market & Funding), Presenter.
Sean: Sound Designer & Animatic Generator.
Sean, I'd recommend collecting sounds & researching music. Anything prepared for this Thursday would be great, even some sketches of the story boards. We have to keep it royalty free/original/without copyright. Paul suggested staying away form the internet for sounds, music and that. So maybe if you could grab a Zoom recorder from Leo or the CSM, and record the din of a crowd, or a bird flapping it's wings. Maybe some wind.
Conor, I'd say it'd be ideal if you came up with a detailed description of the characters. Maybe create a document fleshing out Lugh's personality, kind of like the blurb alongside characters.
Here's a guide: http://www.squidoo.com/Character profiles some of it's kind of bullshitty, like "character's Zodiac sign". What the hell. But it's an alright framework.
I'm going to photocopy a bunch of stuff from magazines and stick them to a big piece of card, and then draw out a bunch of characters to choose from. I'll do the same for locations. I think I'll start with books and stuff I have, and the photocopier in the Students Union, and then take some photos of the Market in town.
This is our Gantt Chart
This is essentially our timetable for the project. We have to adhere to this pretty closely in order to get this done successfully.
We'll mainly be working by ourselves, but still have to update one another semi-frequently of our progress so we can make our work cohesive.
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