Discuss your stories here.

I’ll start this topic with a question. Is anyone interested in a director position? If so, which short might you be interested in directing, and why?

I’m interested in a director position! (And exactly nobody was surprised…) I’d really like to direct the short that I pitched, but I also really enjoyed The Bus Stop, and I’d love to direct that, too, given the chance!

I think both shorts are, well, short enough to give us an opportunity to really, really polish them. With the Bus Stop there isn’t a whole lot to model and rig, whereas Daikaijuu (my monster movie thing) gives us a chance to really show off our modeling and rigging skills. There’s a fair amount of real character animation in both, and fun twists at the end. They both also have the opportunity for some really distinct visual flair. I think they both need some polish, but that comes with time and group input, obviously!

So, yeah, there’s my reasoning behind those. I… feel like I shouldn’t have picked my own short, though.

Good points — both “Daikaijuu” and “The Bus Stop” are very visual and succinct which are great qualities for the class production. Everyone that presented on Thursday actually did a really nice job thinking about story elements, and pretty much all of the ideas could be developed… not typical compared to other semesters. In fact, probably every short was named among the votes. Two others that did garner a lot of support (along with the two already mentioned) were “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Blade of Vengeance.”

Who else is interested in directing? Any of the four mentioned above, or another one? (Even, perhaps the absentees?)

Also, as requested in class, here is my animatic for Daikaijuu. http://katieknox.tumblr.com/post/17308933999/animatic-i-intend-to-go-back-whether-or-not-this

Didn’t get to present in class, but here’s my animatic. http://vimeo.com/36673137.
The story is about a robot that want’s to become an actor, but he doesn’t know how to emote. He gets picked on by a kid with a universal remote control that can control the robot’s emotion.

I am interested in directing. Here are a few story ideas I find interesting.

Kevin Boggs “Rat Trap” is a simple concept that I believe we can portray in a professional way. We will have to make the mouse a really likable character. We can make him afraid of his or her captors and full of adrenaline as he or she tries to escape.

The Blades of Grass concept is good too. It is simple so we can put a lot of effort into making it look and flow well. I think it is funny and dramatic. I think we can obtain good emotional reactions from it.

On Top Of Old Smoky is based on a story that everyone knows and will understand. I think if it is done right we can achieve several different emotional responses. Excitement for a great plate of food, Shock from being flung from the table, fear and despair from being lost and alone, grief with the realization that the meatball is dead, and a resolution in the end “RIP my poor meatball”.

There were several more clever stories presented in class that may work too.

I think creating a professional looking project is in the best interest of the whole class. Character and setting are keys in making this project great. We can all use it as a work example we can put in our portfolio. I believe that everyone in this class has some talent to provide in this project. I am the person who can help bring it all together, see the final product, and help involve everyone along the way.

Thank you for your consideration,

Benjamin J. Beeman

http://student.uncw.edu/bjb1433/index.html

Hey, Doug– I watched your animatic! I thought it was actually a really clever idea. I think it could use some real work, but it would be really fun to play with! Especially with trying to figure out how to make a flat robot face emote, that could be fun. Is it called Remote Emotion? Maybe we could even shorten it to The Emote Remote or something (just because of the silly/obvious rhyme…)

I agree that Blade of Vengeance would be a good film to play with, as it offers a lot of opportunities for polish. There’s a very classic cartoon sense of humor– probably something to do with the level of bloodless carnage that it affords– that mixes with more modern vibes. (I remember thinking it kind of reminded me of Courage the Cowardly Dog– just something silly and a bit surreal…) Rat Trap is another interesting option that could be played as a send-up of Looney Toons style storytelling, or even Ye Olde Mickey Mouse short.

To be frank, though, my concern with On Top of Old Smokey is that there isn’t much of a conflict, or a real story going on. That’s an incident that could spark a story, perhaps, but I think it needs more work to get it to a real plot, even a simple one. There are emotions, sure, but they feel very arbitrary. It needs a major push to get it going. You said that you believe character and setting are keys in making the project great, however, I don’t think Old Smokey provides us with the character we really need. It has some humor, but it needs to be elaborated on significantly. Without the character that is necessary, the punchline of the film falls a bit flat.

Does anyone else have any thoughts? It’d be cool if we could get a group decision instead of having Dr Patterson just hand something down to us. If it’s not something we all enjoy, we won’t have the motivation to finish it and make it pretty, you know? D:

Thanks Katie. I’m open to any and all suggestions about my story, and I think I like your title better. I think that my story, no matter how polished, would pass or fail based on how well the emotions of the robot are portrayed, which would be pretty difficult.

I think a story that has a lot of potential is The Thief. Its a simple story and I think that a lot of personality could be given to the raccoon character. I was thinking of something like the squirrel from Ice Age. The squirrel looked really stupid, but I think the character’s movements could be mimicked. I’d like to see the animatic again because it was really hard to see the first time.

Fly Me to the Moon was another one I liked for the same reason. I could see the mouse character scurrying around and getting the rocket together. If I remember correctly, though, the beginning and end need some work. In the beginning it needs to be very clear about what the mouse wants to do, and I think that the old lady distracts from that. I dislike the end for the same reason. If the old lady were taken out, the story would have to be reworked a little, but I think it would turn out better.

I liked Daikaijuu, but my main problem with it is relatability. It has a clear plot and I like both characters, but I just don’t feel very attached to the story. I think it could be entertaining and fun to make, but I think you should add a reason for her going to school beyond just going to school. Maybe a big test or graduation?

When do we have to choose by?

Mm, I don’t think the emotions would be particularly difficult to display with the right art direction? I think it all depends, in the end, for that short, on the design of the character. Another thought I had about that was that the other humans (like, the casting people) should remain offscreen for the most part. Less to model and rig, for one, but also it lends more humor as well as serves to isolate our robotic protagonist, and make us sympathize with him. Deep in his processor, he’s probably lonely! If we did that, too, we could do Charlie Brown-style kind of hidden cartoon adults, which I’ve always thought was particularly funny.

….I feel really, really bad because I don’t actually remember The Thief very well. Was that the one with the Indiana Jones rolling ball gag? However, I think we should strive for originality, not necessarily imitation? Scrap was a fun character, but he was very… twitchy. Real squirrels, while panicky, don’t behave quite like that. We wouldn’t be imitating reality, we’d be imitating another person’s created personality for something. I agree, though, I’d really like to see that animatic again to refresh my memory…

I think Fly Me To The Moon would definitely benefit from the removal of the woman, but….. if we cut her out, though, would the cheese-ball/moon gag work? (If we keep her, though, can we call her Grandma Rockabilly…?)

And yeah, that is the big problem with Daikaijuu! Dr. Patterson gave me the same note when he watched it before class and I was going to actually add that motivation to the short. It really, really needs it, too…. the idea I came up with was that she was going to be presenting something about Komodo Dragons or some kind of school report and we see that on her desk at the beginning. After the school is destroyed at the end, maybe during the credits, we would see that she had left it on her desk at home and the entire journey was ultimately even MORE pointless. It needs different music, too, I really don’t like the scratch audio I was using.

Aaaaaaand as far as when we have to choose…. I have no earthly clue. Dr. Patterson said on Thursday he was hoping that everyone would really join in the discussion and we’d have something picked “by next week” but I don’t know how feasible that is. I get the feeling he’ll just pick for us based on all of our implied preferences.

Hey everyone, I uploaded the finished version of my animatic. Here is the URL: http://student.uncw.edu/jmt6198/ComputerAnimation.html

Thanks Ben for your post!

For those of you who did not get to see my animatic here is the link:

I Would love to have an opportunity to be one of the project leaders and/or work closely with the director for this project. I think I am going to start modeling a Rat and see if I can’t get some simulation hair going and see where that goes.

I absolutely loved the blade of grass short but I feel that would be a easy quick thing to make maybe if we decide to do 2 shorts (or go all out and make it look amazing)

I loved the effort Katie put into her animatic while I do think it is very in depth and it would be hard to model i do think it would make for a good short the art direction and the overall theme is amazing and she did an amazing job! Id love to see the model of the Godzilla!

I also like Ben’s: On Top Of Old Smoky because I could see the class going crazy with all of the possible art directions! (especially in the sewer)

Wow didn’t know that posting the link would make that huge post sorry!

Jenny & Ben, I think there’s something wrong with the student websites because I can’t get to your animatic (or any student sites). Think you could post it to vimeo or youtube?

Katie, thanks for the comments. Do you mind helping me flesh out the character a little bit more with some concept art? Also, I think that the school report is a nice and needed addition to your story.

The simplicity of Rat Trap is both good and bad. I think that the story is a little on the simple side, but it could end up being an advantage. Since the animation is short and simple, it allows us more time to work on each scene and movement. The art direction is also really important on this one. I think that before you jump into modeling it would be good to figure out the style, like whether it will look cartoonish or realistic (maybe you’ve already done this?). I’d be happy to help if you need anything

Doug, they’ve been having problems with the servers on campus lately, that’s probably why you can’t access them.

I honestly believe that Daikaijuu– my monster movie– would be less impossible than you’re imagining, Kevin. I’m doing the main girl for my project three character. (I’ve actually been working on her maquette today! I’m so excited about this, ha ha…) There is one fairly detailed location (her bedroom) and a bunch of nondescript streets and side-streets. I’m kind of imagining a comic-book kind of look to the whole thing, so there definitely isn’t a whole lot of realism needed. The planes can be models made for 220, obviously refined just a bit. The monster would be the only other character necessary for modeling. The run really only has to take place over a nondescript city block and a back alley. The school is the only building with any amount of noticeable detail. I can do concept paintings and whatever we need to really flesh out the areas she moves through. I’m sure Dr. Patterson can teach us some stuff about particle and special effects for the explosions for the gunfire and the school being sat on– another option we have is doing traditional effects animation over top of computer animation, to try and give it a more “comic-y” look. Lots of colored screen tones and stuff like that. I think it’s very possible– and it needs some polish, but I think we can give it that. It’s short enough in duration that we should be able to accomplish what needs to be done.

Obviously I… am kind of gunning for my film to be put into production, but hey!

And, uh, I have to agree with Kevin about Blade of Vengeance. It would be a fantastic idea if we were to be split into two productions, and needed to each do something smaller. But it’s still definitely fun!

While on the topic of Kevin, I also agree with Doug (totally wrote “dough” the first time, oops) that the simplicity is good and bad. However, I will argue until I am out of breath (words? text?) that we should work to create strong, memorable characters. Now, that could come through in Rat Trap if we get some art for the film going, so I hesitate to knock it out of the running.