Finally done after 5 years. This was a challenging personal project as I am not great at modelling characters like humans etc. I kept trying and changing and adapting from pre-made characters but finally got to the point where it was accept what I have now or NEVER do it. I changed the street a hundred times as well choosing to go with a more based on the story description version than what I had in my head and I think it was a good choice. The sets are much more complicated and realized than in previous solo projects and this time I am really telling a complicated story and trying to get more subtle emotions into the characters. Plus little horror I hope.
The street set from above:
The final street:
Early Zann concept:
Early street concept:
6 comments:
Hey, just to let you know, I did see you posted this. I haven't commented because I've had two vacations in three weeks and am still trying to catch up with life enough so I can watch this and not feel rushed. Sorry about that. I really do want to watch it.
2 vacations! maybe Apple isn't so bad to work for after all...
take you time I am not going anywhere, least of all on vacation!
I have started work on a second animation like this one, another Lovecraft story.
Ok, I've had a chance to watch it now. What kind of feedback would you most like to have? I will say that there are some stunning shots in it and the scenery is really wonderful!
well whatever you think you;d like to comment on. I have had a couple people (my mom and a neighbour) say they thought the text on the screen wasn't long enough. I would have preferred narration but I don't have a narrator so that wasn't an option.
That was one of my feelings, too. The text felt like it was distancing me from the rest of the movie. I think you said you wanted the characters to feel like puppets. I think they definitely felt that way but why did you want that feeling? I really liked the way that the monster's voice sounded like a kind of warped violin sound. I know it would have been impossible on no budget to have music, but it would have helped the tone of the movie a lot if you had someone playing that atonal, weird violin music at the appropriate time. I also might have lengthened the end scene so that we see the main character/narrator playing the music to keep the monster at bay. I could also see making that room much more shadowy so that we see less of the actual monster, just more hints of how horrible it was, though that's just a taste thing on my part. Here's a thought, though an odd one; what if you showed strings on the characters and made them actual marionettes? That's one of the weird things I do in my comics for no other reason than it just feels right, so it's probably not a good one. Still... there's obviously a lot of work here. A work of real passion. Any possibility of getting a grant from the Film Board or something to add the details you feel are missing or for work on the next one? Maybe use this one as an entry to such things?
Puppets in the sense of puppet animation, like Harryhausen or nightmare before christmas, but having strings would have been interesting and maybe impossible to animate with my set up.there is only one light from the doorway in the monster clip and I thought it might not be visible on some screens. It's weird how different it looks on the monitor and the TV screen and again on the iPad. So I think I was over cautious on that. I REALLY wish I had a violin player, though I doubt i would have used him or her for the weird music... I was thinking of using horns or something for that just to underline how not like violin music it was! I experimented with just having silence for the weird music parts, but it didn't work at all. Maybe if I change anything in future I'll add an extra shot of the character playing the weird music before dawn comes up... might help me get rid of one title card at least! The next one I want more 3d animation-like characters I think. I really like the control of rigging them like real puppets over using traditional 3d techniques, especially for the arms.
The monster sound I found on whim wondering what a certain animal sounded like and discovered it was really really creepy sounding. I figured no one could guess what it was and so far I am right!
Post a Comment