First Rough Animation

Here is Scene 1 of rough animation. It is as much a test in the pipeline as the beginning of production.



Scene 01 - Rough Animation from Michael Spilsbury on Vimeo.


The issue I face right now is whether to continue this process by drawing on paper. I have found paper animation to be more time consuming and more frustrating than digital means, but I aim for the hand drawn look to be present in the final film. And there is a natural attraction to the simplicity of the paper and pencil duo.

I have been told that ToonBoom could lend itself to a pencil on paper look while maintaining the advantages of digital production. I have yet to experiment with the program, though I am interested to see what could be produced. I only know that it must be resolved quickly.

Fall 2008 Timeline - Rough Animation

The best way to keep yourself on track is to surround yourself with others who are able to keep you honest and accountable. For that reason, and perhaps because it might pique your curiosity, I have attached my Fall Timeline for the project. I invite you all to bother me to no end in order to keep this project on its due course.

	Scene Name	Scn #	Points	TOTAL
Week 1	Sept 9 - Sept 15			24
	Man runs: surprise	1	24
Week 2	Sept 16 - Sept 22			61
	Sees them floating	2	17
	Surprise and excitement	3	14
	Runs off	4	17
	Success!	22	13
Week 3	Sept 23 - Sept 29			67
	Left behind	5	27
	Tries to follow	6	22
	The ascent	8	18
Week 4	Sept 30 - Oct 6			69
	Decides to climb	7	26
	A ledge!	9	10
	On the ledge	10	18
	A long way down	11	7
	Ahh!	12	8
Week 5	Oct 7 - Oct 13			29
	Attack!	17	29
Week 6	Oct 14 - Oct 20			71
	Testing the waters	13	57
	A long way up	19	9
	Another cliff	25	5
Week 7	Oct 21 - Oct 27			67
	A hard fall - back on his feet	14	44
	The developing scheme	16	23
Week 8	Oct 28 - Nov 3			30
	Frustration	20	30
Week 9	Nov 4 - Nov 10			65
	Another fall	18	44
	A lazy traveller	15	21
Week 10	Nov 11 - Nov 17			34
	Celebration	24	34
Week 11	Nov 18 - Nov 24			46
	Travelling up	23	21
	A new friend? (20%)	21	25
Week 12	Nov 25 - Dec 1			24
	A realization	26	24
Week 13	Dec 2 - Dec 8			50
	A new friend? (40%)	21	50
Week 14	Dec 9 - Dec 15			50
	A new friend? (40%)	21	50
		TOTAL		687

An Animatic - Final, We Hope

Technical difficulties abound, an animatic has made it's way to this blog. The ending has changed a number of times, though I would like to hope this is a final version.

There may still be playback issues, vimeo.com has not been cooperative.


Thesis Animatic from Michael Spilsbury on Vimeo.

The Beginning

Though the date may say September 1, 2008 the real beginning of this film was over a year and a half ago. Ideation, conceptualization, and storyboarding began Winter 2007. Four months of planning, drawing, and critique followed. By June 2007 I had decided that I would not begin production on the film until September 2008. As work on the film moved into a state of hibernation so did my consideration of the project. I rarely thought about the film until this past August when the project was rudely awakened from its slumber by the onset of the school year.

At first I was concerned that the film would no longer be of interest to me - that I would be sucked into an inescapable maelstrom of regret and disdain for my original idea. But I was thankful to find that my feelings were somewhat the opposite. After reviewing my storyboard I discovered a rejuvinated desire to create and communicate through the film. I only pray that this feeling remains lest it be a tough journey ahead on the road to April.