NEW ANIMATIC: 12-11-08

Here's a new animatic, pretty much final. I ironed out the narration in terms of tempo/pacing/placement and I also put the rendered (not comped) backgrounds in with the storyboard art to get a sense of my lighting.

Music is still just a hack job temp track, nothing more than a mood indicator.

Style Frames

Here are a few style frames I did recently. The differences are subtle, some have fog, some have that awesome...and entirely gratuitous lens flare; the textures tend to differ from one to the next in my attempt to see what works best.

This isn't an actual shot in my film, but its close, the art is temporary placeholders I threw together.

The Alleyways Chase

Here are some choice renders from the Alleyways chase sequence, textures aren't perfect yet, and there are a fair amount of moving cameras that you can only see in the animatic.

THE ALLEYWAYS -


FYI, some of the renders are a little dark, that's an issue that'll be cleared up.

The Diner

THE DINER SETS -

Surreal/Nightclub Sets

SURREAL SCENE 2 -



THE MIRROR [NIGHTCLUB] -

The Pawn Shop

THE PAWN SHOP -

Virgil Brigman Back on the Air!!!

Here are some renders from the sets for the film. A couple scenes are final, but some (like parts of the club and pawn shop) need a little work.

THE DETECTIVE'S OFFICE -

Thesis Animatic - MAY

Here's the animatic I presented to the committee, it's not final final, but it is getting there. The voice over is a bit overbearing at times, but some of it works really well.

I sort of overloaded the VO track on this go around to see what worked, what didn't and where I needed to just let the film play out. A couple things have changed since...and my voice over is just too awesome for words...by awesome, I mean awful.

Sean

The Stranger - New Head

That's the final head design I'm going to go with for The Stranger, much better than the previous two incarnations.

I'm also working on an updated design for the pawn shop owner, much more old school dealer with the green visor and skinny build than big time bouncer that I had. I think that will help give him a silhouette that is more defined/different than those of the other 3 models.

Semi-Final Character Designs

So these are the character designs I'm working with right now. The Detective is set, as I really appreciate the balance of tiredness and strength in his form; The Pawn Shop owner might change, as right now, he is far too beefy, might end up a bouncer in the club; The Quarry is right, although his color is not; and The Stranger's shape is still the same, although his face needs work, I especially dislike the one in the upper right of his page.

Thoughts, comments and criticisms are most welcome.

Visual Development #3

So here are the worthwhile pieces of Vis Dev I've done so far. All of them were done in Photoshop or Painter, the first is a great indicator of the energy I'm looking for in the chase sequence in my film, and the last two are excellent examples of what I'm aiming for visually...granted, with a bit more spit and polish.

The second and third ones were experiments I might draw from in some regard, but in no major way.

Visual Development - #2

This is the second piece of Vis Dev I did, this was in Painter...and clearly I haven't used it much, all in all though I think I learned quite a bit from it. I won't be going this direction with the figures in my film, but texture wise I might draw from it.

It was all charcoal, or what Painter calls charcoal anyway...which the more artistically inclined I know have said actually does look the part...who knew?

Visual Development - #1

This is my first piece of Visual Design I did for my film, at this point I was very much into just trying out all my different options when it came to digital coloring/animating, something that will be readily apparent when post the newer samples.

Done in Photoshop, the look I was going for was very much so an updated old school Noir appearance, simple palette, familiar iconography with a higher level of contrast. Pretty much all solid colors with no gradients to speak of; there was also some very rudimentary compositing, just for fun, but nothing really of note. I think it turned out really well and will definitely have to be considered for part of the final look.

- Chef Cox -

Antagonist Final Design - Sketch

Here is the final look for my antagonist, very boney, sharp angels and triangles everywhere.

The movement will be somewhere between that Squirrel from Over the Hedge and those twisted hallucinations from Jacob's Ladder. Very jerky, but purposeful at the same time.

I'm totally diggin' on those skinny legs too, they look pretty wicked.

Script!

Alas, the blogger system won't let me upload a simple word document, and in all other formats my script becomes a tragic disaster.

Sooooo if you want a copy, shoot me an email or ask for one in the comments and I'll give you one!

Wow...that was a totally worthless post...hmm.

The Killer - Sketch

This is the companion personality to the character of The Salesman, whose picture I just posted. As you can see, they are radically different personas and were meant to collide both visually and with regards to the ways they acted.

Even though the idea has shifted, I plan to retain much of the physical traits of this sketch in my new idea, toning down the skeletal nature but keeping the lanky, bone like make up of his physique.

"The Killer"

The Salesman - Preliminary Design

So this is a sketch I did for a character in my film who is comprised of two distinctly different parts. One a duplicitous 'Salesman' of sorts, the other a ravenous killer.

Since this sketch the character has changed quite a bit, and no longer has that defining trait, but nonetheless, the design is one that has elements I appreciate, and as a result, could be used in another fashion.

"The Salesman"

The Circle Chase - Thesis Project

HEY HEY!

So this is my Thesis Blog, it's new obviously, hence has ZERO content. But this will be remedied asap.

- Commodore Cox -