NOTE TO EXPOTEES JUDGES: This is the project that I would like to present at ExpoTees. I do also have a second short film in production (called Amour de mimes, aka Two Mimes) which is discussed in my blog alongside Jane & James.
“A girl presents a mysterious box to her very unwitting brother.”
This is the tagline for the comedic short film I’ve been working on since December. It is set to be around 1 ½ minutes long, and takes influences from old Hanna Barbera and Tex Avery cartoons, such as Tom & Jerry and Bugs Bunny. There is also a throwback in the story to the cult classic, Pulp Fiction.
This project aims to score on a few different goals:
- First, it has to be entertaining. That means having a good ole story, animation and music.
- Second is to increase my employability a 3D animator in film or games. To this end, I’ve created a story that has a good mix of action to show off body mechanics, and emotion to show off acting skills.
- Third is the purpose of passing uni, hopefully with a good score. This film accounts for 60% of my grade.
- Finally I would like the film to achieve an unusual but beautiful visual style.
- Although the film is made using 3D software, I’m aiming to give it a painted feel. There will be a minimal of shadows and shading. Camera movement will be limited to panning and zooming. Textures will look like they were painted and props will look simplistic. Music and sound production will be influenced by old cartoons, just as the rest of the film.
Currently the short is in pre-production. This entails story editing, modelling and texturing, which I am almost all done with. Animation should commence within a week or two from now.
The intention is to have the film watchable by the deadline in April. What I mean by this is that I will get all the scenes animated to an understandable level and then as much of it rendered as possible. There will also be music and sounds, but perhaps not the exact ones that I’d like. After finishing uni, I will continue refining the film until I believe it’s ready for public viewing. It will appear first on the festival circuits rather than the internet.
That’s it :) I will be continuing to post pictures of my progress here on this blog.