Production Starts!

Production has started!! 

So far I have been trying to get all of my backgrounds ready, painted and the detail added for the animation. I knew that I would have to create the backgrounds first and then animate within them... because they were hand painted, it would be impossible to make changes if something was not in the right place.

It has been going really well and I'm very pleased with the ones I have completed at this point. 

Below I have posted the painted ones before any detail is added, so that you can see the difference and my working method!

The above two painting were for long shots, where there needed to be some panning, and were somewhat of an experiment. They worked very well oppose to me trying to measure and tape together two pieces of canvas paper, that then bunched and crinkled out of line...

And then some scenes with their digital details!

As you can see I'm being quite picky, and making sure that each background is perfect! The top one is the final... I'm glad that I'm not being lazy and making these perfect :)

Animatic

Self Evaluation; Semester 1

During this first semester of my third year, I have to admit that I have not been as on-the-ball as I hoped I would be, or as I have been during previous years. I feel that the freedom of the final film brief as left me feeling a little lost, and I know that more guidance or critical feedback from other members of staff would have enabled me to pin-point my idea earlier in the year. This had led me to think that I would definately not want to be an independent film-maker, as I get too much excitement and energy from working in a group of creative people to make one final piece.

 In my second year I had hoped that I would have some of my dissertation written for review when I returned to my third year after the summer break. However, this was an unrealistic goal as I spent my summer in Walt Disney World in Florida, I was at work for more than 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, and the days I had free were usually very busy with laundry, shopping and running around the Disney Parks with Friends. When I returned I found it very hard to get back into my dissertation, it was quite a worry to me that James Manning had left, and it was with him that all my dissertation topics and thoughts had been discussed. I put off starting it for a long time, mainly because I am not all too confident in my academic writing skills. But I must admit that once I got into and had re-read my sources and proposal, I found it very easy and almost enjoyable to discuss my topic in relation to what I had read.

 I now feel better on track with my final film, although I am a little sad that I had developed another idea as far as I did, before realising that I need to keep it simple and went back to my original idea. It feels more natural to me and I knew exactly what I wanted from my original film idea and what I wanted the audience to gain from it.

 I can comfortably say that I am on track with my final film regards to deadlines, I have submitted everything required before the December break. I have also conducted some animation tests, background tests, technique tests and as well as my rough animatic. So I know that for the next deadline, I only have to have produced at least 3 of my final backgrounds, which will be hand painted watercolour, and 30 seconds of animation to place over these for the feasibility study. When I return to university after the christmas break, all I will have to complete in the week before the deadline will be the animation, of which I am confident that I can complete to the highest standard in the time I have available.

 I know that next semester I will be more driven than I was in the first semester as now my final film is planned out, and I just have to go into production.

January 7th

Happy New Year!!

I have now returned from Scotland and am back in Newport, ready to get cracking on my project! The work I managed to get completed over Christmas was... 

My CV

Internet Presence (Page)

Industry Report

An awful lot of reference photographs

Some reference paintings

Unfortunately I didn't have the means to produce any of the final backgrounds while I was away, mainly due to the lack of internet and photoshop.

And so my list of things to complete this week is as follows;

Showreel

30 seconds of animation

and the relevant background paintings

Compiled into Working Film Cut

So all in all it will be a very busy week, with that in mind, I think I can do it if I apply myself correctly :)

My Composer and produced another draft for my film and we are slowly getting there, we will be meeting up soon to discuss the next steps so that the third draft could hopefully be the final!

LET'S DO IT

Xmas Holidays: Update

Merry Christmas Everyone!! 

Since my last post, I had been focusing on completing the draft of my dissertation and moving home for Christmas. Because of the limitations on my work while I'm at home, these are the following pieces of work I will be focusing on;

• The Industry Report
• Compiling this blog for submission
• My CV
• A website or internet presence
• Drawing out in pencil the structure of all my final backgrounds, in relation to my Rough animatic
• Painting a few of said final backgrounds

Since the last post, I have been in contact with my composer, he put together a little piece that was really beautiful and he was definitely on the right track, however, I suggested that we meet in person so that I could better discuss my film and desires for the soundtrack. I was really really pleased with what he had come up with and can't wait to see what he comes up with next!

Over this Christmas break, I am being treated to an amazing trip to Scotland!! Not only is this very excited as I'm going with my Boyfriend, but we're staying right next to mountains and Loch Slapin on the Isle of Skye! Which means that I can create some amazing research paintings of water and mist, and there may possibly be a boat there, and if so that would be just perfect for me to take some reference footage! Or just paint... depending on how cold and deep the water is ... :)

But this trip also means that my work will the restricted even more, and to be honest that's alright by me! This is the last chance I'll get to relax this year until my work is submitted and so I feel I deserve it :)

Once again, Merry Christmas! 

xxx

Treatment

     My film has one main theme, and that is the theme of feeling lonely, and wanting the company of others. I have tried to portray this message through many elements of the film. The character looks at the Lilies that are grouped together, and recognizes that there is one segregated and out on it's own, and she relates to that, resulting in her placing the lone lily with the others. This visual metaphor communicates straight away what it is that she wants the most. The film is quite a slow paced one, and is set in the same environment throughout, which builds the sense that this is all that is on her mind, she is consumed by her quest for companionship, and will build the intensity of her and how she feels.
    The little boat has also brought up the expression 'We're all in the same boat', as our character feels lonely and even though she feels thoroughly isolated, there are always others who feel exactly the same as she does - 'We're all in the same boat'.  I wanted the purple lake to have a kind of mystical feeling, that the impossible could happen on this lake, because when she reaches the center, she touches her hands to her chest, and pulls out a bright light. This is what I have called, her 'Life light'  and I think is a very vulnerable thing. She's taking all of her inner-most hopes and fears and desires and putting it all out there, risking it to reach out to someone. I think that this reflects hugely on how shy and lonely people feel when they are trying to reach out to someone, or make friends or fit in, they give all of themselves for it. 
    When this doesn't work, she is obviously crushed, and she'd really hoped and believed that someone would see her life light, she looks up and spots a lighthouse. She then has renewed faith in her hopes and rushes to the top of the lighthouse, to use it's far reaching beam to send out the message of 'here I am'. The Lighthouse is a universal sign for those lost and trying to find ground, and also known as being very lonely places, often miles away from land, and often manned by a single person and so I thought the use of a lighthouse in my film would be perfect. When she reaches the top she shines the light around 3 times, looks frantically around but again, nothing happens. We see her shoulders droop as her spirits are crushed once again, and as she turns to leave, a whole bunch of life lights float up in the air around her, showing that people have seen her lights and come to the lake and offered up their own 'Life Lights' as well. I do not show this image but have chosen to let the audience draw their own conclusions, and I'll leave them with the beautiful image of all the twinkling lights floating around the girl.

My film with be created using 2D - Digital animation on Adobe Photoshop, I have chosen this as I have a deep knowledge of painting in and animating within the program, I also have more control over the aesthetic of the line quality and colour. I will be hand painting the main colour and atmosphere of the backgrounds in watercolour on Canvas paper, scanning them in and then adding the other elements of the scenes in on Photoshop (ie. the lighthouse, pier, lily pads and reeds)
It will have a painterly style that is close to the concept art that I have produced. The music will be one tune that then moves with the emotion of what is playing out on screen, with organic tones and instruments. The music will be key to conditioning the audiences emotions while watching the film. Other sound effects such as wind and water splashing will also create atmosphere and aid the action. I will composite all the elements of the film together in Adobe's Premiere Pro and After Effects. 

Week 11 {end}

So it's the end of week 11 and the hand in for the rough animatic and Production folder is Monday. I have both of these things finished and ready to submit. 

I finished off a lot of  design pages to put into the folder which I will post now.

Creating the Production folder really helped me to think about some things that I hadn't had a chance to think about yet. Here are some of the more developmental images I produced for the Production Folder.

So the next steps that I need to think about and maybe slip into this version of the Production Folder is the list of Scenes, with backgrounds, animations and moving elements. This way I can start production over Christmas and started picking away at the bulk.