Hi there...
I haven't been posting lately because I've been hard at work on finishing my short film... and more recently on getting a job.
I also started a new website that has a blog... so I'm continuing to post there until further notice. It's just easier for me to upload slideshows and make changes.
So visit my new site at:
http://www.kennygmusic.com
Or go straight to my blog at:
http://www.kenmusicanimator.com/KennyMusicAnimator/MyAnimationBlog/MyAnimationBlog.html
Ken
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Animation Mentor - Class 5 - Week 11 - Final Layout
After getting feedback from my mentor and fellow students I decided to make a few changes to the magazine imagining part of the short. I feel it works better, please let me know what you think.
Here is the finished layout.
Final Layout in High Quality 864x480
Here is the finished layout.
Final Layout in High Quality 864x480
Monday, March 19, 2007
Animation Mentor - Class 5 - Week 10 - Full Layout
So based on the duration of my short (1 minute) I have decided to do the 6 month class 6 instead of 3 month. This will give me the additional time I will need to finish all the animation.
So since the last time I wrote we have been working on layout. Layout is a very rough placement of the characters in the set as they will apear in the short based on the storyboard. It gave me the opportunity to scout around for different camera angles and make sure certain things working like constraints on props and music and sound effects. This was also the time to model the set and any props that I will use so I worked on the houses, the street, the fence, and the props like the weight, magazines and watter can (thanks again Alex for the flower).
So the last 3 weeks I finished the layout. I have one more week to make any changes and corrections based on student, mentor, and of course your feedback. Please feel free to show this to friends and get their first impressions. Please let me know what they say. Is it clear? does it make sense? if something is unclear, what is it? Do they find it funny? If they think something needs to be fixed, what is it?
Here is the finished layout.
Layout in High Quality 864x480
So since the last time I wrote we have been working on layout. Layout is a very rough placement of the characters in the set as they will apear in the short based on the storyboard. It gave me the opportunity to scout around for different camera angles and make sure certain things working like constraints on props and music and sound effects. This was also the time to model the set and any props that I will use so I worked on the houses, the street, the fence, and the props like the weight, magazines and watter can (thanks again Alex for the flower).
So the last 3 weeks I finished the layout. I have one more week to make any changes and corrections based on student, mentor, and of course your feedback. Please feel free to show this to friends and get their first impressions. Please let me know what they say. Is it clear? does it make sense? if something is unclear, what is it? Do they find it funny? If they think something needs to be fixed, what is it?
Here is the finished layout.
Layout in High Quality 864x480
Friday, February 09, 2007
Animation Mentor - Class 5 - Week 5 - Animatic First Half
OK, started work early this week. Last night I finished the first half of the animatic which is the assignment for this week. I was also able to find a little music that might work. What do you think?
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Animation Mentor - Class 5 - Week 4 - Video Pitch
OK, here is the pitch for the story I chose. Right now it's called Light as Air but I might change the title to something else... like Pumped... or Pump It Up... or something. Any ideas or suggestions to make the story better are welcome.
And for those of you that can't watch the video, here is the story pitch in text.
WORKING TITLE: Light as Air
SETTING: Guy’s garage
TIME: Daytime on a weekend
PROTAGONIST: A self-conscious young guy that has a crush on the girl next door
PARTNER: Guy’s dog, always wants to play with his favorite toy
OBJECT OF DESIRE: Girl next door
GOAL: The guy wants to show off his manliness to attract the girl
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with a thin skinny guy is in his garage with his dog, garage door open. There are a couple of balls on the floor and other things clutter the garage. The guy is moving some boxes so he is crouched down next to the dog but he is looking out longingly, staring, across the street. We see a camera angle of his point of view and realize he sees a girl across the street that is watering her plants. He looks down at the box he is moving and he sees a weightlifting magazine.
The cover shows a strong guy at the gym curling a dumbbell with 100 lbs. written on it and an excited girl grabbing his arm muscle smiling. He fantasizes and the picture changes to himself curling and the neighbor girl grabbing his arm on the magazine.
The skinny guy looks down at his arm. His muscles look pretty sad. But then he sees a ball lying on the floor next to him and his dog. He gets an idea. He picks up the ball and looks at it... Fade out…
The next thing we see is him sitting on a bench by his dog just inside his garage. He is curling a dumbbell very similar to the one on the magazine and it says 100 lbs. We cut to the girl and we can see that she has now noticed him and is like “Whoa…” and smiles at him. He puts down the dumbbell, making sure he fakes how heavy it is, wipes his brow looking over at her.
We then cut back to the girl that is smiling and all of a sudden she gets wide eyed and starts looking away going back to her watering. We cut back to our main character who is looking dumbfounded. He thinks to himself, “What happened?” But then he looks down. The camera pulls back and we see that the dog is playing with the dumbbell and it’s obviously light. The dog then picks it up and runs away with it. The guy looks mortified and embarrassed and with a mad look on his face extends his arm to touch the wall where there is a button. He presses it and the garage door whooshes closed.
Credits roll.
The screen with the garage door shrinks and moves over to the right as the credits roll on black... and as they finish we see the dog run across the front of the garage with the fake dumbbell in his mouth.
And for those of you that can't watch the video, here is the story pitch in text.
WORKING TITLE: Light as Air
SETTING: Guy’s garage
TIME: Daytime on a weekend
PROTAGONIST: A self-conscious young guy that has a crush on the girl next door
PARTNER: Guy’s dog, always wants to play with his favorite toy
OBJECT OF DESIRE: Girl next door
GOAL: The guy wants to show off his manliness to attract the girl
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with a thin skinny guy is in his garage with his dog, garage door open. There are a couple of balls on the floor and other things clutter the garage. The guy is moving some boxes so he is crouched down next to the dog but he is looking out longingly, staring, across the street. We see a camera angle of his point of view and realize he sees a girl across the street that is watering her plants. He looks down at the box he is moving and he sees a weightlifting magazine.
The cover shows a strong guy at the gym curling a dumbbell with 100 lbs. written on it and an excited girl grabbing his arm muscle smiling. He fantasizes and the picture changes to himself curling and the neighbor girl grabbing his arm on the magazine.
The skinny guy looks down at his arm. His muscles look pretty sad. But then he sees a ball lying on the floor next to him and his dog. He gets an idea. He picks up the ball and looks at it... Fade out…
The next thing we see is him sitting on a bench by his dog just inside his garage. He is curling a dumbbell very similar to the one on the magazine and it says 100 lbs. We cut to the girl and we can see that she has now noticed him and is like “Whoa…” and smiles at him. He puts down the dumbbell, making sure he fakes how heavy it is, wipes his brow looking over at her.
We then cut back to the girl that is smiling and all of a sudden she gets wide eyed and starts looking away going back to her watering. We cut back to our main character who is looking dumbfounded. He thinks to himself, “What happened?” But then he looks down. The camera pulls back and we see that the dog is playing with the dumbbell and it’s obviously light. The dog then picks it up and runs away with it. The guy looks mortified and embarrassed and with a mad look on his face extends his arm to touch the wall where there is a button. He presses it and the garage door whooshes closed.
Credits roll.
The screen with the garage door shrinks and moves over to the right as the credits roll on black... and as they finish we see the dog run across the front of the garage with the fake dumbbell in his mouth.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Animation Mentor - Class 5 - Week 3 - Video Pitch
OK, here is my pitch for the 3 stories I picked. Some of the students have really liked story 2 although it is a bit complicated. It has 5 characters! I am trying to find a way to simplify it.
Please let me know what you think of the story pitches and if you think I should change or add things. All feedback welcome. :-)
Please let me know what you think of the story pitches and if you think I should change or add things. All feedback welcome. :-)
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Animation Mentor - Class 5 - Week 3 - Updated Stories
I'm about to do video pitches of these stories but I have updated them based on mentor and student feedback. Here is what I have so far. I will pitch 3 of my original stories.
STORY 1
WORKING TITLE: Tricks for Treats
SETTING: Guy’s back yard
TIME: Summer day and goes on into the evening
PROTAGONISTS: A young guy and his smart dog
GOAL 1: The guy wants to teach his dog really cool tricks to show off to his friends and family
GOAL 2: The dog wants to eat the treat
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with the dog owner looking at a Dog training book. We see a shot of the book cover. It guarantees to teach the dog the incredible somersault trick! The owner opens the book to the incredible somersault trick and rubs his hands together in expectation. There is a funny drawing of a command and a clipart dog doing the summersault trick.
The owner then turns around and looks over at his dog, who is laying on his bed. He wistles and motions for him to come over and the dog reluctantly gets up and walks over and sits in front of the owner and just looks at him. The owner, treat in one hand, gives the dog the new command from the book. The dog just looks at the owner quizzically and finally just lays down. The owner gives the command again and the dog just looks the other way. The owner then calls the dog’s attention with some snapping and starts mimicking the jump. Finally he takes the book which is open to the trick page and shows it to the dog, who just cocks his head to the side.
Finally he gives up, turns to leave, and throws the treat in the air as he goes. It is then when the dog in trying to catch the treat, jumps up in the air and does the incredible somersault trick. Landing on his feet and lays down to eat his bone. Fade to black and the credits roll.
After the credits you see the owner stop on his tracks and look back over his shoulder at the dog. “Did I just hear something? What was that?” going through his head.
MORAL: Patience is a virtue.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY 2
WORKING TITLE: Light as Air
SETTING: Guy’s garage
TIME: Daytime on a weekend
PROTAGONIST: A self-conscious young guy that has a crush on the girl next door
PARTNER: Guy’s dog, always wants to play with his favorite toy
OBJECT OF DESIRE: Girl next door
GOAL: The guy wants to show off his manliness to attract the girl
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with a thin skinny guy is in his garage, garage door open. We see that his dog is by his side looking up at him with a dog toy in his mouth… The dog pushes the toy towards the owner but he does not even look down. The guys attention is focused on something across the street. We see a camera angle of his point of view and realize he sees a girl across the street listening to some music. He looks up and thinks... there is a flashback.
We see a strong guy at the gym curling a dumbbell with 100 lbs. written on it. An excited girl is looking at him lift. Flashback ends.
The skinny guy looks down at his muscles and his arm looks pretty sad and he kicks a black ball that was lying on the floor next to him and his dog. A bell goes off and he gets an idea. He picks up the black ball and looks at it... Fade out…
The next thing we see is him sitting on a bench by his dog right outside his garage. He has a dumbbell on the floor that looks peculiarly like the ball he had kicked earlier but now it has the words 100 lbs. written on it. He picks it up and with the same pose and expression as the guy in his flashback starts doing some curls. He puts it down, making sure he fakes how heavy it is, wipes his brow, and waves to the girl next door.
We then see the dog who is chewing on his toy look at the dumbbell and we hear the familiar bell sound… the dog now gets an idea.
He drops his toy, and walks over the dumbbell, picks it up with his mouth, and runs off with it... The guy looks down at the dog, looks back at the girl all embarrassed and chases after the dog.
Credits roll.
MORAL: You should not try to act like something you’re not.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY 5
WORKING TITLE: Microdog
SETTING: Scientific lab, 3 coffee shop exteriors, coffee shop
TIME: Daytime
PROTAGONIST: A smart and awkward scientist
PARTNER: The scientist’s dog
ANTAGONIST: The coffee store signs
GOAL: The scientist wants to be able to have a cup of coffee in the company of his best friend
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with a scientist looking over his new invention. It looks like a ray gun of sorts and it is on his lab table. He is sitting on a stool and his dog is sitting by his feet looking up at him. He makes the last adjustment and is happy to be done. He takes it in his hand and shoots at the first thing he sees on his desk, an apple. It shrinks to a tiny size and he picks it up and looks at it in awe. But now all he wants to go for a cup of coffee. He tosses the mini apple in his mouth and chews, swallos, then he looks at his dog that is sitting next to him and motions him to come.
Next scene they are walking towards the corner. They look at the door and see a sign “No dogs allowed”.
The guy looks longingly through the window… then all of a sudden he as an idea… He looks down ad the dog and the dog just looks back. They turn around and he hurriedly runs off to the lab… dog chasing behind. Fade out…
The next scene we see the scientist sipping on his coffee at the coffee shop. Then the camera pulls back and we see his micro-dog happily eating a crumb on the table right next to him. He pets his head with his finger.
Credits Roll
MORAL: Its nice when your inventions find good uses in your own life.
STORY 1
WORKING TITLE: Tricks for Treats
SETTING: Guy’s back yard
TIME: Summer day and goes on into the evening
PROTAGONISTS: A young guy and his smart dog
GOAL 1: The guy wants to teach his dog really cool tricks to show off to his friends and family
GOAL 2: The dog wants to eat the treat
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with the dog owner looking at a Dog training book. We see a shot of the book cover. It guarantees to teach the dog the incredible somersault trick! The owner opens the book to the incredible somersault trick and rubs his hands together in expectation. There is a funny drawing of a command and a clipart dog doing the summersault trick.
The owner then turns around and looks over at his dog, who is laying on his bed. He wistles and motions for him to come over and the dog reluctantly gets up and walks over and sits in front of the owner and just looks at him. The owner, treat in one hand, gives the dog the new command from the book. The dog just looks at the owner quizzically and finally just lays down. The owner gives the command again and the dog just looks the other way. The owner then calls the dog’s attention with some snapping and starts mimicking the jump. Finally he takes the book which is open to the trick page and shows it to the dog, who just cocks his head to the side.
Finally he gives up, turns to leave, and throws the treat in the air as he goes. It is then when the dog in trying to catch the treat, jumps up in the air and does the incredible somersault trick. Landing on his feet and lays down to eat his bone. Fade to black and the credits roll.
After the credits you see the owner stop on his tracks and look back over his shoulder at the dog. “Did I just hear something? What was that?” going through his head.
MORAL: Patience is a virtue.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY 2
WORKING TITLE: Light as Air
SETTING: Guy’s garage
TIME: Daytime on a weekend
PROTAGONIST: A self-conscious young guy that has a crush on the girl next door
PARTNER: Guy’s dog, always wants to play with his favorite toy
OBJECT OF DESIRE: Girl next door
GOAL: The guy wants to show off his manliness to attract the girl
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with a thin skinny guy is in his garage, garage door open. We see that his dog is by his side looking up at him with a dog toy in his mouth… The dog pushes the toy towards the owner but he does not even look down. The guys attention is focused on something across the street. We see a camera angle of his point of view and realize he sees a girl across the street listening to some music. He looks up and thinks... there is a flashback.
We see a strong guy at the gym curling a dumbbell with 100 lbs. written on it. An excited girl is looking at him lift. Flashback ends.
The skinny guy looks down at his muscles and his arm looks pretty sad and he kicks a black ball that was lying on the floor next to him and his dog. A bell goes off and he gets an idea. He picks up the black ball and looks at it... Fade out…
The next thing we see is him sitting on a bench by his dog right outside his garage. He has a dumbbell on the floor that looks peculiarly like the ball he had kicked earlier but now it has the words 100 lbs. written on it. He picks it up and with the same pose and expression as the guy in his flashback starts doing some curls. He puts it down, making sure he fakes how heavy it is, wipes his brow, and waves to the girl next door.
We then see the dog who is chewing on his toy look at the dumbbell and we hear the familiar bell sound… the dog now gets an idea.
He drops his toy, and walks over the dumbbell, picks it up with his mouth, and runs off with it... The guy looks down at the dog, looks back at the girl all embarrassed and chases after the dog.
Credits roll.
MORAL: You should not try to act like something you’re not.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY 5
WORKING TITLE: Microdog
SETTING: Scientific lab, 3 coffee shop exteriors, coffee shop
TIME: Daytime
PROTAGONIST: A smart and awkward scientist
PARTNER: The scientist’s dog
ANTAGONIST: The coffee store signs
GOAL: The scientist wants to be able to have a cup of coffee in the company of his best friend
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with a scientist looking over his new invention. It looks like a ray gun of sorts and it is on his lab table. He is sitting on a stool and his dog is sitting by his feet looking up at him. He makes the last adjustment and is happy to be done. He takes it in his hand and shoots at the first thing he sees on his desk, an apple. It shrinks to a tiny size and he picks it up and looks at it in awe. But now all he wants to go for a cup of coffee. He tosses the mini apple in his mouth and chews, swallos, then he looks at his dog that is sitting next to him and motions him to come.
Next scene they are walking towards the corner. They look at the door and see a sign “No dogs allowed”.
The guy looks longingly through the window… then all of a sudden he as an idea… He looks down ad the dog and the dog just looks back. They turn around and he hurriedly runs off to the lab… dog chasing behind. Fade out…
The next scene we see the scientist sipping on his coffee at the coffee shop. Then the camera pulls back and we see his micro-dog happily eating a crumb on the table right next to him. He pets his head with his finger.
Credits Roll
MORAL: Its nice when your inventions find good uses in your own life.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Animation Mentor - Class 5 - Week 2 - More short ideas, feedback welcome
Thanks a lot for your feedback and ideas. I took your input and here are my ideas so far.
STORY 1
WORKING TITLE: Tricks for Treats
SETTING: Guy’s back yard
TIME: Summer day and goes on into the evening
PROTAGONISTS: A young guy and his smart dog
GOAL 1: The guy wants to teach his dog really cool tricks to show off to his friends and family
GOAL 2: The dog wants to eat the treat
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with the dog owner looking at a Dog training book. We see a shot of the book cover. It guarantees to teach the dog the incredible somersault trick! The owner opens the book to the incredible somersault trick and rubs his hands together in expectation. There is a funny drawing of a command and a clipart dog doing the summersault trick.
The owner then turns to the dog with a treat in his hand. The dog gets super excited seeing the treat and starts trying to please the owner. The owner starts giving the new command and the dog starts attempting tricks... first he sits… the owner shakes his head and tries again. The dog lifts his paws and dances… the owner shakes his head again and shows the dog the book picture… we can see he is getting annoyed… the dog continues to do tricks and the owner continues to show the book, each time more frustrated, his hair disheveled… the dog laying down... rolling over... the dog is obviously confused and has never seen this command before each time give the owner a more quizzical look. Fade out...
Time has gone by... the shadows have changed... the sky is turning orange... by now the owner is tired, hunched over... tired of trying... he's obviously been trying this for hours.... yet the dog is still super excited… still looking at that treat.
Finally he gives up and throws the treat in the air as he turns around to leave. It is then when the dog in trying to catch the treat, jumps up in the air and does the incredible somersault trick. Landing on his feet and lays down to eat his bone. Fade to black and the credits roll.
MORAL: Patience is a virtue.
HUMOR IDEAS:
The owner could also try to perform the trick himself landing on his head. The dog could be smart and actually be playing the owner making fun of him and at the end laugh to himself while eating the treat and wink at the camera.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY 2
WORKING TITLE: Light as Air
SETTING: Guy’s garage
TIME: Daytime on a weekend
PROTAGONIST: A self-conscious young guy that has a crush on the girl next door
PARTNER: Guy’s dog, always wants to play with his favorite toy
OBJECT OF DESIRE: Girl next door
GOAL: The guy wants to show off his manliness to attract the girl
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with a thin skinny guy is in his garage, garage door open. We see that his dog is by his side looking up at him with a dog toy in his mouth… The dog pushes the toy towards the owner but he does not even look down. The guys attention is focused on something across the street. We see a camera angle of his point of view and realize he sees a girl across the street listening to some music. He looks up and thinks... there is a flashback.
We see a strong guy at the gym curling a dumbbell with 100 lbs. written on it. An excited girl is looking at him lift. Flashback ends.
The skinny guy looks down at his muscles and his arm looks pretty sad and he kicks a black ball that was lying on the floor next to him and his dog. A bell goes off and he gets an idea. He picks up the black ball and looks at it... Fade out…
The next thing we see is him walking past his dog and sitting on a bench right outside his garage. He has a dumbbell on the floor that looks peculiarly like the ball he had kicked earlier but now it has the words 100 lbs. written on it. He picks it up and with the same pose and expression as the guy in his flashback starts doing some curls.
He puts it down, making sure he fakes how heavy it is, wipes his brow, and waves to the girl next door.
We then see the dog who is chewing on his toy look at the dumbbell and we hear the familiar bell sound… the dog now gets an idea. He sees one big toy instead of a dumbbell.
He drops his toy, and walks over the dumbbell, picks it up with his mouth, and runs off with it... The guy looks down at the dog, looks back at the girl all embarrassed and chases after the dog.
Credits roll.
MORAL: You should not try to act like something you’re not.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY 3
WORKING TITLE: Pumped
SETTING: Joe’s Gym
TIME: Daytime
PROTAGONISTS: A pumped up strong guy that loves to do bench presses and curling and a thin lanky character that is insecure about his image
GOAL: The guys want to show off how much they can lift
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open up with a shot of the outside of a location… in big corny letters it says… Joe's Gym. Then we see the inside of the gym and our main character has come into the scene and is looking all insecure… he goes to take the heaviest dumbbell and cannot even move it. He takes the second one and it’s still too heavy. He resigns himself toe the smallest dumbbell and does a couple of curls.
It is then that a really bulky strong guy comes in and takes the heaviest dumbbell, the 100 lbs one, and starts curling like nothing.
The skinny guy quickly puts the small weight down and goes to the leg press machine… he’s better at this one and puts in 100 lbs… the strong guy is waiting nearby for the leg press machine.
He starts doing some leg presses and finally finishes, gets up tired and leaves screen right.
The strong guy then comes over to the machine and looks a little impressed… he looks left and right to make sure nobody is looking… and puts the weight down to 20 lbs… the strong guy has really small weak legs.
Roll credits
After the credits we see the strong guy sitting in the leg press machine but his feet do not reach the foot platform. It seems his this machine is also not made for his body type.
MORAL: Even the most confident guys can have their own insecurities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY 4
WORKING TITLE: Rules
SETTING: House living room, bedroom and dinning room
TIME: Daytime
PROTAGONIST: A guy’s dog
ANTAGONIST: A guy’s cat
SUPPORTING ROLE: The owner
GOAL: The dog wants to have liberty to do as he wants
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open in the living room of this guy’s apartment. We see the dog jumping on the couch and the owner reprimanding him for it and scolding him, he’s not allowed on the sofa. We then see the dog, turning to look at the family cat who is sitting comfortably on the back of the owner’s chair.
Next we fade to the bedroom where the dog is told he is not allowed in the closet, but again he turns to look at the cat who is sleeping on the owners pillow this time.
Finally it moves to the kitchen, where the dog is told not to beg for food- however the cat appears to be walking across the kitchen table sampling food as he goes.
We then go the next scene where the dog is in a costume shop and he is buying a costume from the dog clerk. (a cat costume!)
MORAL: Life is unfair
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STORY 5
WORKING TITLE: Microdog
SETTING: Scientific lab, 3 coffee shop exteriors, coffee shop
TIME: Daytime
PROTAGONIST: A smart and awkward scientist
PARTNER: The scientist’s dog
ANTAGONIST: The coffee store signs
GOAL: The scientist wants to be able to have a cup of coffee in the company of his best friend
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with a scientist looking over his new invention. It looks like a ray gun of sorts and it is on his lab table. He makes the last adjustment and is happy to be done. He wants to go for a cup of coffee. He looks at his dog that is sitting next to him and motions him to come.
Next scene they are walking towards the corner. They look at the door and see a sign “No dogs allowed”. They continue on and go to the next coffee shop “No dogs allowed”. They go on to the next location, another sign. Fade out.
They are back at the lab and the scientist looks at his ray gun and back at the dog. He decides that he needs to test it anyways and shoots at the dog… who shrinks to a tiny size. He puts his hand out and the dog jumps on. He then scoops the dog into a matchbox and the scene fades out.
The next scene we see the scientist sipping on his coffee at the coffee shop and the micro-dog happily eating a crumb on the table next to the matchbox.
Credits Roll
MORAL: Its nice when your inventions find good uses in your own life.
STORY 1
WORKING TITLE: Tricks for Treats
SETTING: Guy’s back yard
TIME: Summer day and goes on into the evening
PROTAGONISTS: A young guy and his smart dog
GOAL 1: The guy wants to teach his dog really cool tricks to show off to his friends and family
GOAL 2: The dog wants to eat the treat
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with the dog owner looking at a Dog training book. We see a shot of the book cover. It guarantees to teach the dog the incredible somersault trick! The owner opens the book to the incredible somersault trick and rubs his hands together in expectation. There is a funny drawing of a command and a clipart dog doing the summersault trick.
The owner then turns to the dog with a treat in his hand. The dog gets super excited seeing the treat and starts trying to please the owner. The owner starts giving the new command and the dog starts attempting tricks... first he sits… the owner shakes his head and tries again. The dog lifts his paws and dances… the owner shakes his head again and shows the dog the book picture… we can see he is getting annoyed… the dog continues to do tricks and the owner continues to show the book, each time more frustrated, his hair disheveled… the dog laying down... rolling over... the dog is obviously confused and has never seen this command before each time give the owner a more quizzical look. Fade out...
Time has gone by... the shadows have changed... the sky is turning orange... by now the owner is tired, hunched over... tired of trying... he's obviously been trying this for hours.... yet the dog is still super excited… still looking at that treat.
Finally he gives up and throws the treat in the air as he turns around to leave. It is then when the dog in trying to catch the treat, jumps up in the air and does the incredible somersault trick. Landing on his feet and lays down to eat his bone. Fade to black and the credits roll.
MORAL: Patience is a virtue.
HUMOR IDEAS:
The owner could also try to perform the trick himself landing on his head. The dog could be smart and actually be playing the owner making fun of him and at the end laugh to himself while eating the treat and wink at the camera.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY 2
WORKING TITLE: Light as Air
SETTING: Guy’s garage
TIME: Daytime on a weekend
PROTAGONIST: A self-conscious young guy that has a crush on the girl next door
PARTNER: Guy’s dog, always wants to play with his favorite toy
OBJECT OF DESIRE: Girl next door
GOAL: The guy wants to show off his manliness to attract the girl
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with a thin skinny guy is in his garage, garage door open. We see that his dog is by his side looking up at him with a dog toy in his mouth… The dog pushes the toy towards the owner but he does not even look down. The guys attention is focused on something across the street. We see a camera angle of his point of view and realize he sees a girl across the street listening to some music. He looks up and thinks... there is a flashback.
We see a strong guy at the gym curling a dumbbell with 100 lbs. written on it. An excited girl is looking at him lift. Flashback ends.
The skinny guy looks down at his muscles and his arm looks pretty sad and he kicks a black ball that was lying on the floor next to him and his dog. A bell goes off and he gets an idea. He picks up the black ball and looks at it... Fade out…
The next thing we see is him walking past his dog and sitting on a bench right outside his garage. He has a dumbbell on the floor that looks peculiarly like the ball he had kicked earlier but now it has the words 100 lbs. written on it. He picks it up and with the same pose and expression as the guy in his flashback starts doing some curls.
He puts it down, making sure he fakes how heavy it is, wipes his brow, and waves to the girl next door.
We then see the dog who is chewing on his toy look at the dumbbell and we hear the familiar bell sound… the dog now gets an idea. He sees one big toy instead of a dumbbell.
He drops his toy, and walks over the dumbbell, picks it up with his mouth, and runs off with it... The guy looks down at the dog, looks back at the girl all embarrassed and chases after the dog.
Credits roll.
MORAL: You should not try to act like something you’re not.
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STORY 3
WORKING TITLE: Pumped
SETTING: Joe’s Gym
TIME: Daytime
PROTAGONISTS: A pumped up strong guy that loves to do bench presses and curling and a thin lanky character that is insecure about his image
GOAL: The guys want to show off how much they can lift
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open up with a shot of the outside of a location… in big corny letters it says… Joe's Gym. Then we see the inside of the gym and our main character has come into the scene and is looking all insecure… he goes to take the heaviest dumbbell and cannot even move it. He takes the second one and it’s still too heavy. He resigns himself toe the smallest dumbbell and does a couple of curls.
It is then that a really bulky strong guy comes in and takes the heaviest dumbbell, the 100 lbs one, and starts curling like nothing.
The skinny guy quickly puts the small weight down and goes to the leg press machine… he’s better at this one and puts in 100 lbs… the strong guy is waiting nearby for the leg press machine.
He starts doing some leg presses and finally finishes, gets up tired and leaves screen right.
The strong guy then comes over to the machine and looks a little impressed… he looks left and right to make sure nobody is looking… and puts the weight down to 20 lbs… the strong guy has really small weak legs.
Roll credits
After the credits we see the strong guy sitting in the leg press machine but his feet do not reach the foot platform. It seems his this machine is also not made for his body type.
MORAL: Even the most confident guys can have their own insecurities.
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STORY 4
WORKING TITLE: Rules
SETTING: House living room, bedroom and dinning room
TIME: Daytime
PROTAGONIST: A guy’s dog
ANTAGONIST: A guy’s cat
SUPPORTING ROLE: The owner
GOAL: The dog wants to have liberty to do as he wants
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open in the living room of this guy’s apartment. We see the dog jumping on the couch and the owner reprimanding him for it and scolding him, he’s not allowed on the sofa. We then see the dog, turning to look at the family cat who is sitting comfortably on the back of the owner’s chair.
Next we fade to the bedroom where the dog is told he is not allowed in the closet, but again he turns to look at the cat who is sleeping on the owners pillow this time.
Finally it moves to the kitchen, where the dog is told not to beg for food- however the cat appears to be walking across the kitchen table sampling food as he goes.
We then go the next scene where the dog is in a costume shop and he is buying a costume from the dog clerk. (a cat costume!)
MORAL: Life is unfair
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STORY 5
WORKING TITLE: Microdog
SETTING: Scientific lab, 3 coffee shop exteriors, coffee shop
TIME: Daytime
PROTAGONIST: A smart and awkward scientist
PARTNER: The scientist’s dog
ANTAGONIST: The coffee store signs
GOAL: The scientist wants to be able to have a cup of coffee in the company of his best friend
GENRE: Comedy
PITCH:
We open with a scientist looking over his new invention. It looks like a ray gun of sorts and it is on his lab table. He makes the last adjustment and is happy to be done. He wants to go for a cup of coffee. He looks at his dog that is sitting next to him and motions him to come.
Next scene they are walking towards the corner. They look at the door and see a sign “No dogs allowed”. They continue on and go to the next coffee shop “No dogs allowed”. They go on to the next location, another sign. Fade out.
They are back at the lab and the scientist looks at his ray gun and back at the dog. He decides that he needs to test it anyways and shoots at the dog… who shrinks to a tiny size. He puts his hand out and the dog jumps on. He then scoops the dog into a matchbox and the scene fades out.
The next scene we see the scientist sipping on his coffee at the coffee shop and the micro-dog happily eating a crumb on the table next to the matchbox.
Credits Roll
MORAL: Its nice when your inventions find good uses in your own life.
1st Ever Animation Mentor Graduation - Winter 2007
Guys, tell me if this isn't the most exciting graduation ceremony you have ever seen! You guys have to see this! Make sure you let it play for a while... they go through all these awesome themes.
And here are some of the speeches give at the ceremony. Very inspiring. A friend gave me a copy of these.
And here are some of the speeches give at the ceremony. Very inspiring. A friend gave me a copy of these.
Animation Mentor Rigs
In order to keep my preproduction and production times down and be able to focus on animation, I am thinking of using the rigs provided to us by Animation Mentor and not modeling a rig of my own. These are the rigs provided to us. I thought I would share these with you so you can think of ideas with these characters in mind and also visualize how my story ideas might work out with these characters.
Click on the image to see it full size.
Ken
Click on the image to see it full size.
Ken
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Animation Mentor - Class 5 - Week 2 - Short ideas, feedback welcome
Here are my story ideas so far. Feedback greatly appreciated. Please let me know if anything is unclear or if you have any ideas that would make the story better... Different ideas also welcome.
Story 1
Title: Tricks for Treats
Pre-Pitch Structure:
Setting: Guy's Back Yard
Time: Day through to the Evening
What and Who: A Guy and his dog
Pitch Structure:
We open with the dog owner looking at a Dog training book. We see a shot of the book cover. It guarantees to teach the dog the incredible summersault trick! The owner opens the book to the incredible summersault trick and rubs his hands together in expectation. There is a funny drawing of a clipart dog doing the summersault trick.
The owner then turns to the dog with a treat in his hand. The dog gets super excited seeing the treat and starts trying to please the owner.
The owner starts giving the new command and the dog starts attempting tricks... Sitting... lifting his paws..... laying down... rolling over... the dog is obviously confused and has never seen this command before.
The owner is getting frustrated and takes the book and shows the dog the clipart diagram. The dog looks back cocking his head to the side obviously confused. Fade out...
Time has gone by... the shadows have changed... the sky is turning orange... by now the owner is tired, hunched over... tired of trying... he's obviously been trying this for hours....
Finally he gives up and throws the bone in the air as he turns around to leave. It is then when the dog in trying to catch the bone, jumps up in the air and does the incredible summersault trick. Landing on his feet and lays down to eat his bone. Fade to black and the credits roll.
Alternate ending:
Owner is upset that the dog can't do the trick so he throws the bone at him, and the dog does the trick as he jumps in the air. The owner gets super excited and so does the dog eating the bone... the owner pets him and hugs him as the screen fades and the credits roll. As the credits show I could flash a couple of pictures of the dog doing the summersaulting trick in different venues.
Ideas for humor
have him throw the bone at the dog and the bone just slams right into the dogs face, that would be funny, maybe?
I could also have him look at the book, and on the page is a picture of the trick (ex. siting) but the dog only roles over, never sits, but then when the guy turns back to the book, the dog sits down... then the guy looks at the dog, dog stands up... looks at the book, dog sits down... then he decides to forget that trick and move on to the next trick. (this type of stuff might lengthen it too much).
Story 2
Title: Lite as Air
Pre-Pitch Structure:
Setting: Guy's Garage
Time: Daytime
What and Who: A Guy, his dog, and a girl across the street
Pitch Structure:
We open with a thin skinny guy is in his garage, garage door open. We see that his dog is by his side looking up at him with a dog toy in his mouth. The guy looks over and something calls his attention. We see a camera angle of his point of view and realize he sees a girl across the street listening to some music. He looks up and thinks... there is a flashback.
We see a strong guy at the gym curling a dumbbell with 100 LBs written on it. An excited girl is looking at him lift. Flashback ends.
The skinny guy looks down at his muscles and his arm looks pretty sad and he kicks a black ball that was laying on the floor next to him and his dog.
A bell goes off and he gets an idea. He picks up the black ball and looks at it...
The next thing we see is him walking past his dog and sitting on a bench right outside his garage and putting down a towel. He has a dumbbell on the floor that looks peculiarly like the ball he had kicked earlier but now it has the words 100 lbs written on it. He picks it up and with the same pose and expression as the guy in his flashback starts doing some curls.
He puts it down and wipes his brow and waves to the girl next door. We then see the dog who is chewing on his toy look at the dumbbell and we hear the familiar bell sound, he gets an idea. He sees one big toy instead of a dumbbell.
He drops his toy, and walks over the the dumbbell, picks it up with his mouth, and runs off with it... The guy looks down at the dog, looks back at the girl all embarrassed and chases after the dog.
Credits roll.
Story 1
Title: Tricks for Treats
Pre-Pitch Structure:
Setting: Guy's Back Yard
Time: Day through to the Evening
What and Who: A Guy and his dog
Pitch Structure:
We open with the dog owner looking at a Dog training book. We see a shot of the book cover. It guarantees to teach the dog the incredible summersault trick! The owner opens the book to the incredible summersault trick and rubs his hands together in expectation. There is a funny drawing of a clipart dog doing the summersault trick.
The owner then turns to the dog with a treat in his hand. The dog gets super excited seeing the treat and starts trying to please the owner.
The owner starts giving the new command and the dog starts attempting tricks... Sitting... lifting his paws..... laying down... rolling over... the dog is obviously confused and has never seen this command before.
The owner is getting frustrated and takes the book and shows the dog the clipart diagram. The dog looks back cocking his head to the side obviously confused. Fade out...
Time has gone by... the shadows have changed... the sky is turning orange... by now the owner is tired, hunched over... tired of trying... he's obviously been trying this for hours....
Finally he gives up and throws the bone in the air as he turns around to leave. It is then when the dog in trying to catch the bone, jumps up in the air and does the incredible summersault trick. Landing on his feet and lays down to eat his bone. Fade to black and the credits roll.
Alternate ending:
Owner is upset that the dog can't do the trick so he throws the bone at him, and the dog does the trick as he jumps in the air. The owner gets super excited and so does the dog eating the bone... the owner pets him and hugs him as the screen fades and the credits roll. As the credits show I could flash a couple of pictures of the dog doing the summersaulting trick in different venues.
Ideas for humor
have him throw the bone at the dog and the bone just slams right into the dogs face, that would be funny, maybe?
I could also have him look at the book, and on the page is a picture of the trick (ex. siting) but the dog only roles over, never sits, but then when the guy turns back to the book, the dog sits down... then the guy looks at the dog, dog stands up... looks at the book, dog sits down... then he decides to forget that trick and move on to the next trick. (this type of stuff might lengthen it too much).
Story 2
Title: Lite as Air
Pre-Pitch Structure:
Setting: Guy's Garage
Time: Daytime
What and Who: A Guy, his dog, and a girl across the street
Pitch Structure:
We open with a thin skinny guy is in his garage, garage door open. We see that his dog is by his side looking up at him with a dog toy in his mouth. The guy looks over and something calls his attention. We see a camera angle of his point of view and realize he sees a girl across the street listening to some music. He looks up and thinks... there is a flashback.
We see a strong guy at the gym curling a dumbbell with 100 LBs written on it. An excited girl is looking at him lift. Flashback ends.
The skinny guy looks down at his muscles and his arm looks pretty sad and he kicks a black ball that was laying on the floor next to him and his dog.
A bell goes off and he gets an idea. He picks up the black ball and looks at it...
The next thing we see is him walking past his dog and sitting on a bench right outside his garage and putting down a towel. He has a dumbbell on the floor that looks peculiarly like the ball he had kicked earlier but now it has the words 100 lbs written on it. He picks it up and with the same pose and expression as the guy in his flashback starts doing some curls.
He puts it down and wipes his brow and waves to the girl next door. We then see the dog who is chewing on his toy look at the dumbbell and we hear the familiar bell sound, he gets an idea. He sees one big toy instead of a dumbbell.
He drops his toy, and walks over the the dumbbell, picks it up with his mouth, and runs off with it... The guy looks down at the dog, looks back at the girl all embarrassed and chases after the dog.
Credits roll.
My Animation Reel So Far and New Mentor!
Here is my animation reel so far:
OMG, I can't believe I'm starting class 5. I've come up with a couple of story ideas but I need 3 more by the end of the week. I'll be sharing my ideas in my next posts.
But once again I got a new mentor. So exciting... I'll tell you some about him. His name is Dean Wellins and is currently working at Disnew with Glen Keane on the new upcoming short Rapunzel! He also worked with Brad Bird on Iron Giant, one of my favorite animated films.
This is from his profile in AM: "I was enrolled into the CalArts Character Animation Program from 1990 to 1992. In May of 92’ I was recruited into an internship on Turner Feature Animation’s The Pagemaster. I moved up from intern to breakdown artist on the Pagemaster, and during that time, got a chance to do my first production animation under Bruce Smith. In 1994 I left Turner to work in commercials, where I became a supervising animator at Renegade Animation. In 1996, I left Renegade to work with Brad Bird as a story artist/animator on Warner Bros’ The Iron Giant. I received Annie Award nominations in story and character animation for my work on The Iron Giant. From there, I rolled onto Warner Bros.’ Osmosis Jones in 1999, where I supervised three separate characters including the villain, Thrax, and once again received an Annie Award nomination for character animation. In august of 2000, I left Warner Bros to work at Disney with Glen Keane on Treasure Planet specifically on “Long John Silver”. After TP, I moved into development and story at Disney, where I gypsied around for a few years before finally landing a job as Head of Story on American Dog."
In the next few weeks I will be coming up with animation short ideas and will be needing help so any feedback you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Kenny
OMG, I can't believe I'm starting class 5. I've come up with a couple of story ideas but I need 3 more by the end of the week. I'll be sharing my ideas in my next posts.
But once again I got a new mentor. So exciting... I'll tell you some about him. His name is Dean Wellins and is currently working at Disnew with Glen Keane on the new upcoming short Rapunzel! He also worked with Brad Bird on Iron Giant, one of my favorite animated films.
This is from his profile in AM: "I was enrolled into the CalArts Character Animation Program from 1990 to 1992. In May of 92’ I was recruited into an internship on Turner Feature Animation’s The Pagemaster. I moved up from intern to breakdown artist on the Pagemaster, and during that time, got a chance to do my first production animation under Bruce Smith. In 1994 I left Turner to work in commercials, where I became a supervising animator at Renegade Animation. In 1996, I left Renegade to work with Brad Bird as a story artist/animator on Warner Bros’ The Iron Giant. I received Annie Award nominations in story and character animation for my work on The Iron Giant. From there, I rolled onto Warner Bros.’ Osmosis Jones in 1999, where I supervised three separate characters including the villain, Thrax, and once again received an Annie Award nomination for character animation. In august of 2000, I left Warner Bros to work at Disney with Glen Keane on Treasure Planet specifically on “Long John Silver”. After TP, I moved into development and story at Disney, where I gypsied around for a few years before finally landing a job as Head of Story on American Dog."
In the next few weeks I will be coming up with animation short ideas and will be needing help so any feedback you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Kenny
Animation Mentor - Class 4 - Week 12
This posting is a little late. Last term was a lot of work. I wasn't able to make all the polishing changes on my animation unfortunately. It is hard when working a full time job and doing AM at the same time.
Here is the final Guitars animation.
And here are the facial poses. I really had fun with these! Can't wait till I get a scene actually animating some similar expressions. Check these out...
Week 408 - Pose 1
Week 409 - Pose 1
Week 409 - Pose 2
Week 409 - Pose 3
Week 410 - Pose 1
Week 410 - Pose 2
Wow... so I'm all done with Class 4. I can't believe it. Now I am off to create my short film... I'll be telling you more about that in my next postings.
Kenny
Here is the final Guitars animation.
And here are the facial poses. I really had fun with these! Can't wait till I get a scene actually animating some similar expressions. Check these out...
Week 408 - Pose 1
Week 409 - Pose 1
Week 409 - Pose 2
Week 409 - Pose 3
Week 410 - Pose 1
Week 410 - Pose 2
Wow... so I'm all done with Class 4. I can't believe it. Now I am off to create my short film... I'll be telling you more about that in my next postings.
Kenny
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