Well the time has come, time to reveal what 3 months of thinking, deliberating and conceptualizing brings to the table.
From day one, i knew i wanted to do a animated sort film, somewhere in between 3-5 minutes, it had to be funny, able to be enjoyed by more than one age group, and by more than one culture. Drawing on inspiration off many of modern day 3D animated films, (where id one day like to end up) i looked closely at how these companies (dreamworks, pixar, aardman) translated/ conveyed their messages to the audience. Pixars "Walle'" was a great inspiration as it is from pure sound and movement that the story is told, little words are used but the method is still very effective. Also Pixars "UP" art style was extremely beautiful, and i loved that the story line moved everyone in the cinema, whether they be 6 or 60, everyone was moved by moments of the film.
Ultimately this is what id like to achieve, of course it is no easy task, but to achieve one must think big.
THE IDEA: After lots of deliberating, i decided to steer clear of little robots, they have been done to death in more recent times, i decided not to do anything too controversial, and decided to postpone my study ingot song and dance in animation. INSTEAD! i went all the back to grade 9, science class to be exact, where me and 2 of my old buddies were sitting up back mucking around, these two freinds are those very funny types, lots of great and stupid ideas, one day we came up with a very funny idea, a little story, one that has stuck with me till today.
CONCEPT: "Splitting the Atom" aka e=mc2
-- A old scientist, living seculeded in the middle of the desert, inhabiting a tiny wooden shack, falling apart, and well worn. you can tell he doesn't want company by the dilapidated signs outside his shack. you travel through his house, slowly drinking in the atmosphere, all the old furniture, the dust (at this point you dont know that he is a scientist). books of all sorts in piles, a combination of still shots, and slow animated shot make up this sequence, it lets you get to know the character before you meet him. You see a windows, dusty, slowly banging in the breeze, and then it catches some light in the glass and you can see dozens of complex maths equations drawn into the dust on the windows, at that point you start to see more and more scientific influenced objects, untill your views rests on the little hunch old man, dressed as a stereo typical scientist, eh is staring at his blackboard, crammed full of equations, on it you can see e=mc8, with the 8 crossed out, then e=mc7 with the seven crossed out, and so on and so forth. till he is now up to e-mc2. he seems to be pondering the board. muttering in a slightly Russian accent, you cannot make out what he is saying. suddenly he cries out with exclamation! starts scribbling on the board then rushes over to a little cage and bangs on it, waking the tiny hamster inside (so he does have some sort of company) which starts to run about on the wheel powering up some very old and unreliable lights, he goes crashing around his tool bench and finds a jar amongst the beakers and other apparatus. He undoes the lid carefully, and uses tweezers to slowly take out a single atom that glows green, he attaches a magnifying piece to his glasses (a very exaggerated magnifying piece) and we can now see the atom close up. he puts the atom into a clamp on his bench (you can only tell its there due to the glow) and reaches down to a drawer to and takes out... a hammer and chisel... with these he carefully strikes the atom twice and on teh third you hear a tiny crack and the world zooms out until all you see is his little shack go up in a mushroom cloud.
and that is my story... well my version of it.. the original concept me and my friends came up iwht all those years ago was of a little man in a shack in the middle of know where tries to litterally split the atom.. and ends with the classic zoomed out mushroom cloud shot. as you can see ive put a lot of thought and work into building up the character and making his more interesting, letting the viewer see into his life, become him for a small moment in time.
AUDIENCE: well i want my peice to be enjoyed by everyone, though especially kids, it is a comic piece, but still has a tension at the beginning, a slightly sinister approach which develops into harmless craziness and humor.
ART STYLE: mirco patterns, my aim to to get a very aged look, have very little shine, even the glass is opaque. to achieve this i will look to pattern, for example, instead of the glass being clear, it will be made up of tiny cirlces of the palest blue, still transparent, but the pattern will take away the excess shine, it will be so minute that you cannot actually see it. i plan to experiment with these all throughout the animation, different patterns and shapes can easily give different effects.
PROGRESS: character concepts and currently in production! obviously amongst other assignments i have to do abit of juggling, however i have a clear and firm picture of what i want the main character to look like! as well as his hamster, all i need is to be able to draw him like i want. (have a couple of basic sketches)
TIME FRAME: all the storyboards and the characters board will be done before they are due for submission... for the 3D modeling and texturing, i aim to have it doesnt over the middle holidays ready for animation and rendering and sound in semester 2.
PROBLEMS: the only major stumbling block that i can see is the mushroom cloud, which i will be looking into shortly on maya particle effects.
PERMISSIONS: i have sought permission from my 2 mates for use of the idea, as it was a joint idea, both have agreed and are looking forward to seeing it.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
The old Wooden Shack
Old... so very old, the wooden shack is a place of pondering, a simple, sparse, and quite space.
A place people go to be alone, just them and nature, a place where people dwell deep into their own minds. A place of extreme mysticism!
The old wooden shack can be peaceful, a place of tranquility and refuge, but on the flip side it can be a place of gruesome murder, and hideout for the evil or a haunted dwelling.
as far as buildings go, it has nearly as much character as a .. well.. character! can a evil murderous character go to the peaceful hut and dwell on his thoughts? can the hero go there to murder and hideout for something he did wrong?
could the shack turn the hero to a villain? or a villain to a hero? when someone is along, in such ancient isolation i guess anything could happen.
the old shack is immediately recognizable, being primarily made outof wood, old, splinterd and broken, a dull brown and grey color, generally the old building for miles around. glass in the windows can be smashed and definatly dusty.
its a place where people are instantly wary, not.. afraid per-say but more uneasy, its a complete unknown, a old place, for people who look to sit in their own minds and carry out their lives in their own company.
The pictures Below and are in NO WAY my own work, All pictures were takes on a google images search (search :old wooden shack) and are the property of an assorted websites. All images were only used a research and inspirational material and are NOT the property of Pierre Isnard nor Pieman Design
This dwelling has a very global significance, of course this building means different things to other cultures, but at the same time an old wooden shack is globally a place of safety, uneasiness or isolation, these buildings are everywhere in the world which is why it makes a worthwhile and meaningful setting for my major assignment. the level of meaning this building are give will place nicely along with the characters and their experiences...
A place people go to be alone, just them and nature, a place where people dwell deep into their own minds. A place of extreme mysticism!
The old wooden shack can be peaceful, a place of tranquility and refuge, but on the flip side it can be a place of gruesome murder, and hideout for the evil or a haunted dwelling.
as far as buildings go, it has nearly as much character as a .. well.. character! can a evil murderous character go to the peaceful hut and dwell on his thoughts? can the hero go there to murder and hideout for something he did wrong?
could the shack turn the hero to a villain? or a villain to a hero? when someone is along, in such ancient isolation i guess anything could happen.
the old shack is immediately recognizable, being primarily made outof wood, old, splinterd and broken, a dull brown and grey color, generally the old building for miles around. glass in the windows can be smashed and definatly dusty.
its a place where people are instantly wary, not.. afraid per-say but more uneasy, its a complete unknown, a old place, for people who look to sit in their own minds and carry out their lives in their own company.
The pictures Below and are in NO WAY my own work, All pictures were takes on a google images search (search :old wooden shack) and are the property of an assorted websites. All images were only used a research and inspirational material and are NOT the property of Pierre Isnard nor Pieman Design
This dwelling has a very global significance, of course this building means different things to other cultures, but at the same time an old wooden shack is globally a place of safety, uneasiness or isolation, these buildings are everywhere in the world which is why it makes a worthwhile and meaningful setting for my major assignment. the level of meaning this building are give will place nicely along with the characters and their experiences...
Thursday, March 11, 2010
pattern, MICRO, MACRO, NORMAL
This is hard thing to talk about as its nto realloy a original concept, but at the same time its does not have a 100% defined characteristic, or description. With a google search, you get images of very simplistic patterns that can be used in larger pictures as texture, or used a micro art.
There is a procedure called micro patterning that is where aerosol spray is used to create micro pattern.
HOWEVER!
micro pattern is NOT uniform, well not in a simplistic sense, it is still a pattern but a bit more complex, as my outlook on color and texture stems purely from patterns, ive decided to use a combination of micro pattern in my 3D animation, pattern and MACRO pattern.
My theory is, that i can utilize the micro pattern to eliminate that unrealistic sheen, and age most of the objects found on the set. even though you may think that your looking at a solid surface there will be 100% pattern in front.
The macro pattern will be used to an immense scale, these HAVE to be handled carefully else teh pattern will stand out, in fact i doubt youd see more than a half of a macro pattern on a whole wall! Macro pattern has to be super simplistic, so not to draw too much attention.
then we have normal pattern. this occurs naturally, but with shading, coloring and texturing. this can be enhanced and be made more and more effective.
There is a procedure called micro patterning that is where aerosol spray is used to create micro pattern.
HOWEVER!
micro pattern is NOT uniform, well not in a simplistic sense, it is still a pattern but a bit more complex, as my outlook on color and texture stems purely from patterns, ive decided to use a combination of micro pattern in my 3D animation, pattern and MACRO pattern.
My theory is, that i can utilize the micro pattern to eliminate that unrealistic sheen, and age most of the objects found on the set. even though you may think that your looking at a solid surface there will be 100% pattern in front.
The macro pattern will be used to an immense scale, these HAVE to be handled carefully else teh pattern will stand out, in fact i doubt youd see more than a half of a macro pattern on a whole wall! Macro pattern has to be super simplistic, so not to draw too much attention.
then we have normal pattern. this occurs naturally, but with shading, coloring and texturing. this can be enhanced and be made more and more effective.
Monday, March 8, 2010
The aquisition of approval
My idea stems from a collaborative and witty time wasting group of friends from way back when (high school). Its a wonder that all three freinds remember the idea! probably if myself, Beery and lil james had paid more attention we would all be doing much better (though in saying that the other two are doing well and not paying attention to the past...) as the other two were really funny guys, and i was the more artsy its a natural progression that it is my duty to bring the idea to life.
Now seeing as the idea was a 3 way effort, and me be pedantic not to cause any sort of idea infringement, i sought out the other old school chums (who i lost contact with, when i moved to Melbourne) and asked them if they even remembered the idea... to my surprise they both did! and then i asked wether i could convert the idea into a short animation, both of which said yes.
so there it was, all relevant parties have given permission for me to use the idea, even if it was actually needed, i though it best to seek it. Plus its the nice thing to do, without that time wasting session called CLASS id probably be twiddling my thumbs struggling for an idea!
But looking back at the conversations, Beery was genuinely surprised and pleased to momentarily re -live those moments in his mind and is eager to see the finished product.
Yet lil james was more like "why the hell are you wasting my time?" which is understandable as its probably the best way to start a convo with a old friend... or maybe it is!?
But non the less the acquisition of approval is done! and the idea is now purely in my hands, i can destroy it and trample it into the ground, or resurrect it into a glorious beacon of "old schooledness" ( which should totally be a word).
Personally i feel good about myself and the idea, im happy that i went and talk to the old friends and made sure things were OK use. So my advice to all those who are struggling for an idea, look back to your past, all those funny and stupid ideas you and your mates used to come up with. and see what can be used! and then jsut for fun, seek out those freinds and ask them if they remember it, and ask them if you can take it upon yourself to bring that idea to life...
... and yes i am totally aware i have not said what my idea is yet :-P
Now seeing as the idea was a 3 way effort, and me be pedantic not to cause any sort of idea infringement, i sought out the other old school chums (who i lost contact with, when i moved to Melbourne) and asked them if they even remembered the idea... to my surprise they both did! and then i asked wether i could convert the idea into a short animation, both of which said yes.
so there it was, all relevant parties have given permission for me to use the idea, even if it was actually needed, i though it best to seek it. Plus its the nice thing to do, without that time wasting session called CLASS id probably be twiddling my thumbs struggling for an idea!
But looking back at the conversations, Beery was genuinely surprised and pleased to momentarily re -live those moments in his mind and is eager to see the finished product.
Yet lil james was more like "why the hell are you wasting my time?" which is understandable as its probably the best way to start a convo with a old friend... or maybe it is!?
But non the less the acquisition of approval is done! and the idea is now purely in my hands, i can destroy it and trample it into the ground, or resurrect it into a glorious beacon of "old schooledness" ( which should totally be a word).
Personally i feel good about myself and the idea, im happy that i went and talk to the old friends and made sure things were OK use. So my advice to all those who are struggling for an idea, look back to your past, all those funny and stupid ideas you and your mates used to come up with. and see what can be used! and then jsut for fun, seek out those freinds and ask them if they remember it, and ask them if you can take it upon yourself to bring that idea to life...
... and yes i am totally aware i have not said what my idea is yet :-P
Friday, March 5, 2010
The old man
Why is it that the old man stereotype always has them wearing a suit?
is it because they are too old school to wear anything else... back in there day they would run around the playground in suits or summin?
or maybe it is a representation of their death suit? that they are closer to death that the symbolism of the suit is a type or personal mourning?
The old man trope, is commonly used one, they are usually portrayed as grumpy, and slightly sadistic, trying to dissociate with the "youth" (anyone younger the 100 pretty much). they take pleasure in the nativity of everyone else and laugh at our misfortunes... in saying this though, they are rarely portrayed as evil or bad. in most cases "misunderstood" is the term coined for their behavior... i prefer senile personally.
But the old man CAN be portrayed a good, or turn good towards the end.... much like the hermit, the old man can in times of dire need, help the heroes of the story to overcome the challenge, and offer wisdom and all that jazz.
in hind-site the OLD MAN trope, is very similar to the HERMIT trope, with the main difference being their location.!
The Old Man normally resides in a awkward residential establishment... weather it be in a large retirement village full of petty arguments (sometimes very convenient mystery murder cases). in a normal suburb, being the only person on the street who refuses to do X and Y causing half his neighbors to hate him, and the other half to pity him. or in a very recent case (and slightly exageratted.. to good effect) living in a upcoming major developing residential district, full of massive steel towers and walls of glass, holding out against the big wigs of society. (UP in case you were wondering).
So the old man is always in a awkward space, they can be loved and hated very easily. never found to be evil. and mostly misunderstood. they can be HAPPY, and can be GRUMPY, but seem to be mainly wearing suits.
A old man takes his time, never rushes about, and does systematic and good work. The old people seem to have honed skills that come with the immense age wetehr it be reading, doig crosswords, playing the pokies, through to Woodcraft, aero-nautical engineering, and adventuring, they have talents that exceed their age. (oh and they have the talent of complaining).
The below images have all been taken from a Google Images search, and are in NO WAY my own work. These pictures are displayed here purely as inspirational material, to be anaylised and used in the thought developmental process. these pictures can easily be found by going to GOOGLE IMAGES and searching "old man"
This stereo type is certainly interesting,, especially when comparing it to the hermits attributes. as i aim to have a larger audience to view my work, the old man stereo type would have to be handled very very carefully, so to not customized to much toward the western outlook.. as age is a unviersal occurrence the the elderly and respected as a whole, it is a fairly safe trope to utilize, but the actual mental and character personality need careful sculpting and manipulation.
is it because they are too old school to wear anything else... back in there day they would run around the playground in suits or summin?
or maybe it is a representation of their death suit? that they are closer to death that the symbolism of the suit is a type or personal mourning?
The old man trope, is commonly used one, they are usually portrayed as grumpy, and slightly sadistic, trying to dissociate with the "youth" (anyone younger the 100 pretty much). they take pleasure in the nativity of everyone else and laugh at our misfortunes... in saying this though, they are rarely portrayed as evil or bad. in most cases "misunderstood" is the term coined for their behavior... i prefer senile personally.
But the old man CAN be portrayed a good, or turn good towards the end.... much like the hermit, the old man can in times of dire need, help the heroes of the story to overcome the challenge, and offer wisdom and all that jazz.
in hind-site the OLD MAN trope, is very similar to the HERMIT trope, with the main difference being their location.!
The Old Man normally resides in a awkward residential establishment... weather it be in a large retirement village full of petty arguments (sometimes very convenient mystery murder cases). in a normal suburb, being the only person on the street who refuses to do X and Y causing half his neighbors to hate him, and the other half to pity him. or in a very recent case (and slightly exageratted.. to good effect) living in a upcoming major developing residential district, full of massive steel towers and walls of glass, holding out against the big wigs of society. (UP in case you were wondering).
So the old man is always in a awkward space, they can be loved and hated very easily. never found to be evil. and mostly misunderstood. they can be HAPPY, and can be GRUMPY, but seem to be mainly wearing suits.
A old man takes his time, never rushes about, and does systematic and good work. The old people seem to have honed skills that come with the immense age wetehr it be reading, doig crosswords, playing the pokies, through to Woodcraft, aero-nautical engineering, and adventuring, they have talents that exceed their age. (oh and they have the talent of complaining).
The below images have all been taken from a Google Images search, and are in NO WAY my own work. These pictures are displayed here purely as inspirational material, to be anaylised and used in the thought developmental process. these pictures can easily be found by going to GOOGLE IMAGES and searching "old man"
This stereo type is certainly interesting,, especially when comparing it to the hermits attributes. as i aim to have a larger audience to view my work, the old man stereo type would have to be handled very very carefully, so to not customized to much toward the western outlook.. as age is a unviersal occurrence the the elderly and respected as a whole, it is a fairly safe trope to utilize, but the actual mental and character personality need careful sculpting and manipulation.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Cardboard set
this is the set for the architecture assignment #1
it feature 2 circular bases, one for the main feature, so that we do not have to damage the integrity of the structure whilst animating it. as well as a second disk, so that we can also move the scenery.
the scenery is just simple, tri fold, self standing pieces, which are no there to pull focus, just to break up the background and tell a part of the story.
it will also aid in animation movement, to change the flow and speed of time in relation to our main object.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Hermit...
The Hermit (to put it simply) is stereotypically a person who lives in a secluded/ wildness area, living off the land and keeps to themselves due to person reasons. Often Hermits are OLD, WISE, wear RAGS, DIRTY, in your face, and generally (not in any sexist way) MEN.
the old and wise are mostly synonymous each other...
it can be assumed that the hermit, is wise due to being old, and lives in such secluded and isolated terms because they have the life experience and knowledge to thrive where us naive youth would not. (maybe also due to piece and quiet).
The hermit is normally deemed to be slightly awkward, insane, crazy, and a loner, most likely due to their lack of exposure to the rest of the world. however the hermit is sometime portrayed as friendly, and a vital role model and help to certain protagonists, offering assistance (wisdom, shelter, food, aid, new battle moves) to those in need.
the hermit is a fairly neutral role, not really deemed important enough to be a threat, more a side role.
The pictures Below depict various types of hermits, all of these pictures were pulled from Google Images and are in no way any part of my own work. The images were used for analysis purposes only, as well and inspirational. to find these images or more like them search GOOGLE IMAGES for "Hermit" or "old Hermit".
unlike the Mad scientist, the hermit stereotype has a fair bit of wiggle room for character tinkling and manipulation, there are common traits associated, but it seems reasonable to customize the personality of such a character to easily fit within a story as need be. the Hermit role also compliments the mad scientist in the areas of social isolation as well and locational isolation.
the old and wise are mostly synonymous each other...
it can be assumed that the hermit, is wise due to being old, and lives in such secluded and isolated terms because they have the life experience and knowledge to thrive where us naive youth would not. (maybe also due to piece and quiet).
The hermit is normally deemed to be slightly awkward, insane, crazy, and a loner, most likely due to their lack of exposure to the rest of the world. however the hermit is sometime portrayed as friendly, and a vital role model and help to certain protagonists, offering assistance (wisdom, shelter, food, aid, new battle moves) to those in need.
the hermit is a fairly neutral role, not really deemed important enough to be a threat, more a side role.
The pictures Below depict various types of hermits, all of these pictures were pulled from Google Images and are in no way any part of my own work. The images were used for analysis purposes only, as well and inspirational. to find these images or more like them search GOOGLE IMAGES for "Hermit" or "old Hermit".
unlike the Mad scientist, the hermit stereotype has a fair bit of wiggle room for character tinkling and manipulation, there are common traits associated, but it seems reasonable to customize the personality of such a character to easily fit within a story as need be. the Hermit role also compliments the mad scientist in the areas of social isolation as well and locational isolation.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Mad Scientist
Well, the Mad Scientist seems to be stereo typically.. well... mad.
Crazy hair, wild open eyes, over large nose, white hair, palish complexion, and wearing a lab coat.
The Images below have all been pulled from Google images (search "Mad Scientist") and are in no way my own work. and are only displayed here as reference and brain storming material.
each picture seems to be related to the next in at least one way, showing that there is a definitive character type circulating throughout today's culture. so embedded that harnessing it would not only compliment possible characterizations, but also will (possibly) move my short film towards a more international level, allowing the target audience to spread a bit further, and allow a lot more acceptance.
Crazy hair, wild open eyes, over large nose, white hair, palish complexion, and wearing a lab coat.
The Images below have all been pulled from Google images (search "Mad Scientist") and are in no way my own work. and are only displayed here as reference and brain storming material.
each picture seems to be related to the next in at least one way, showing that there is a definitive character type circulating throughout today's culture. so embedded that harnessing it would not only compliment possible characterizations, but also will (possibly) move my short film towards a more international level, allowing the target audience to spread a bit further, and allow a lot more acceptance.
TV tropes - compilation of relevent stereotypes
MAD SCIENTIST
RELUCTANT MAD SCIENTIST
"I WORK ALONE"
INTELLIGENCE EQUALS ISOLATION
ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR
HERMIT GURU
GRUMPY OLD MAN
"SCREW POLITENESS, IM A SENIOR"
all these links are from a collaborative database of TV, movie and game stereo types, it is to be classed in the same regard as wikipedia, as information/ data can be manipulated by the general public.
http://tvtropes.org
however it is AWESOME! very useful and contains many hours of interesting content and fun!
and in many cases.. is so true!~
RELUCTANT MAD SCIENTIST
"I WORK ALONE"
INTELLIGENCE EQUALS ISOLATION
ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR
HERMIT GURU
GRUMPY OLD MAN
"SCREW POLITENESS, IM A SENIOR"
all these links are from a collaborative database of TV, movie and game stereo types, it is to be classed in the same regard as wikipedia, as information/ data can be manipulated by the general public.
http://tvtropes.org
however it is AWESOME! very useful and contains many hours of interesting content and fun!
and in many cases.. is so true!~
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