Friday, November 14, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
What's in a name!
I had to give my characters names. After much thinking and inspiration, these are the names I came up with keeping in mind that they are Indian tigers:
The dad is called:
Ranga (This is an Indian name, short for Rangasami)
The son is called:
Pappu (Means little child in several Indian languages and is also used as a nickname. Incidentally, it also happens to be my nickname)
The dad is called:
Ranga (This is an Indian name, short for Rangasami)
The son is called:
Pappu (Means little child in several Indian languages and is also used as a nickname. Incidentally, it also happens to be my nickname)
new story version 2: post midterm
I had several people look over the previous story and they like the story however the chef and butcher are too close in profession. Therefore for this version I changed the story so that the boy wants to be a sculptor.
This is the new story I came up.
Setting: A Meat shop in the jungle
Characters: Dad who owns the butcher shop
and his son (who wants to be a sculptor)
Both characters are tigers
- We see a long shot of a meat shop in the jungle
- we go into the meat shop where we see a wall filled with pictures of generations of butchers that have owned this shop and we see a picture of the current ownder
- He is cutting meat with a big chopping knife, his back is turned to his son
- we see his son looking back to see if his dad is looking and then he goes back to what he was doing
- we see the boy making a small sculpture out of clay
- in the background we see the father opening the fridge behind him
- the boys head picks up as soon as he hears the fridge door open
- he quickly puts his sculpture away
- we hear the fridge door closing and the dad comes over with a big steak in his hand and lays it on the table in front of the boy
- he starts cutting and then hands the knife over to the boy so he can try
- the boy doesn't look happy, he starts daydreaming
- (we see his dream in 2d/3d cell shaded above his head) he is showing his dad his sculpture, his dad gets mad and starts chasing him around the shop with his knife)
- the boy gulps and his dream disappears
- he takes the knife his dad is handing him to start cutting
- but when he moves his hand up in preparation to cut, the knife flies out of his hand and gets stuck on the wall behind him
- the boy looks behind and then at his dad (an embarrasses cheesy smile on his face)
- the dad sighs and shakes his head
- he shows him how to hold the knife and then gives it to the boy to attempt again
- annoyed that he has to try this again, the boy tries cutting the meat and then shows his dad when he has done
- the dad gets mad as he sees that the boy has cut a smiley face in the meat, he starts grumbling
- the boy takes the ground meet next to him and quickly starts making something
- the dad looks at him intreagued
- the boy shows the dad a small meat sculpture of him that he has made
- the dad looks at what the boy has done and smiles, his expression changes as he has gotten an idea
- scene fades
- we see the dad cutting and boy making little meat sculptures they are both happy
- camera pans out, we see little meat sculptures in the shop window
- the end
This is the new story I came up.
Setting: A Meat shop in the jungle
Characters: Dad who owns the butcher shop
and his son (who wants to be a sculptor)
Both characters are tigers
- We see a long shot of a meat shop in the jungle
- we go into the meat shop where we see a wall filled with pictures of generations of butchers that have owned this shop and we see a picture of the current ownder
- He is cutting meat with a big chopping knife, his back is turned to his son
- we see his son looking back to see if his dad is looking and then he goes back to what he was doing
- we see the boy making a small sculpture out of clay
- in the background we see the father opening the fridge behind him
- the boys head picks up as soon as he hears the fridge door open
- he quickly puts his sculpture away
- we hear the fridge door closing and the dad comes over with a big steak in his hand and lays it on the table in front of the boy
- he starts cutting and then hands the knife over to the boy so he can try
- the boy doesn't look happy, he starts daydreaming
- (we see his dream in 2d/3d cell shaded above his head) he is showing his dad his sculpture, his dad gets mad and starts chasing him around the shop with his knife)
- the boy gulps and his dream disappears
- he takes the knife his dad is handing him to start cutting
- but when he moves his hand up in preparation to cut, the knife flies out of his hand and gets stuck on the wall behind him
- the boy looks behind and then at his dad (an embarrasses cheesy smile on his face)
- the dad sighs and shakes his head
- he shows him how to hold the knife and then gives it to the boy to attempt again
- annoyed that he has to try this again, the boy tries cutting the meat and then shows his dad when he has done
- the dad gets mad as he sees that the boy has cut a smiley face in the meat, he starts grumbling
- the boy takes the ground meet next to him and quickly starts making something
- the dad looks at him intreagued
- the boy shows the dad a small meat sculpture of him that he has made
- the dad looks at what the boy has done and smiles, his expression changes as he has gotten an idea
- scene fades
- we see the dad cutting and boy making little meat sculptures they are both happy
- camera pans out, we see little meat sculptures in the shop window
- the end
New characters and story: Post Midterm
From the midterm analysis, I realized that I had to stay away from the tribal theme in order not to be offensive. Also, I had to create a story with characters or an environment that clued the viewers in to Indian culture. Initially I had come up with a story about a boy who wanted to be a Bollywood actor and his struggle to communicate with his dad who wanted him to be a doctor. While these are Indian professions that kids would immediately recognize, they are too literal and uninteresting.
Therefore I decided to make the father and sons characters Indian tigers. This would be a lot more fun for animation and appealing to kids than human characters. I also changed the setting and professions. The story is now set in a meat shop that the father owns and the boy is a wannabe chef
These are the characters I came up with
This is the first version of the story I came up with:
Setting: A Meat shop in the jungle
Characters: Dad who owns the butcher shop
and his son (who wants to be a chef)
Both characters are tigers
- We see a long shot of a butcher shop in the jungle
- we go into the meat shop where we see a wall filled with pictures of generations of butchers that have owned this shop and we see a picture of the current ownder
- He is cutting meat with a big chopping knife, his back is turned to his son
- we see his son looking back to see if his dad is looking
- he goes back to his part of the table where he is a preparing a meal following along with the Indian chef (from Khana Kazana, an Indian cooking show) on TV
- While he is cooking we see the dad in the background is taking meat to the fridge and putting it in
- The boys head picks up when he hears the fridge open
- he shuts off the TV and starts putting all his stuff away before his father can see
- we hear the fridge close as he manages to put everything away
- the dad comes over to the boy with a big piece of meat in his hand and puts it on the table in front of him and hands him the cutting knife
- the boy looks at the raw meat in disgust
- he goes into a day dream (2d animation) where he sees himself dressed up in chef's attire with the meat cooked in the form of a gourmet meal presenting it to his father
- the dad gets mad and starts chasing his son with the butcher knife
- the boy gulps and his dream vanishes
- he looks back at the meat on the table and the knife
- he picks up the knife and starts cutting the meat but he does it all wrong
- the father gets mad and bangs his fist on the table for the boy to try again but get it right this time
- the boy looks at his chef's hat and gets mad
- he takes it out and puts it on his head and hands the meal he prepared to his dad
- the father gets furious and picks up his knife as he is not happy about what his son wants to do
- the boy sees his fathers rage and drops the plat on the table
- the dad chases him around the restaraunt with his knife in hand
- the boy panting, stops and motions his father to stop
- the father stops in his tracks
- he takes the food that he prepared and gives it to his father to taste
- the dad takes a bite a smile on his face as he enjoys the food he is trying
- the boy looks happy
- screen fades
- we see the dad in his butcher shop cutting meat, the picture behind him has the sons cooking with the boy
- the boy is next to his dad on the stove with a sign on the wall that says "Get your fresh Kebabs here!"
The end
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Legend of the Drum Beats: Video Animatic
video animatic from Rohini Metharam on Vimeo.
For the final animatic of Legend of the Drum Beats, I used actors to get the timing of the movements.
New Story Beats_FINAL_version 2
I've already had a few people read the story and give me feedback on it. They really like it but suggested introducing the son first as then it would be clear that he is the main character in the story. Keeping that in mind, I came up with this adjustment to the story.
- we see the father showing his a picture of himself and his father doing the rain dance when he was smaller.
- the father gives his son a smaller version of the hat he is wearing and asks him to put it on to learn the rain dance
- the boy looks upset and runs over to his drums and starts playing
- the dad walks over to the boy, the hat in his hands and motions for the boy to stop playing
- shocked the boy stops and looks at his dad
- The dad walks over and puts the hat he had in his hands on his sons head and then pushes the drums aside
- the boy looks upset, he immediately starts walking towards the drums but his father motions him to come back.
- The boy reluctantly leaves the drums and goes to his father.
- The dad starts doing the rain dance singing his chant as he dances .
- The boy looks annoyed
- The boy reluctantly does the rain dance but he's not into it at all.
- The dad stops him and tells him to watch him again. he does the rain dance again.
- But the boy is looking away at his drums.
- The dad gets angry at the boy when he notices that he isn't paying attention.
- lighting strikes and fire breaks out
- the dad panicks and starts doing the rain dance chanting as he dances
- not much rain falling
- the boy takes his hat off and runs to his drums
- he starts playing furiously
- The dad looks towards him but annoyed
- The rain falls really heavily and puts the fire out.
- The dad and boy start rejoicing,
- dad hugs his son.
- picture on the desk, you see the picture of the dad and his father and next to that another picture of the dad doing his rain dance while his son is drumming.
The end.
- we see the father showing his a picture of himself and his father doing the rain dance when he was smaller.
- the father gives his son a smaller version of the hat he is wearing and asks him to put it on to learn the rain dance
- the boy looks upset and runs over to his drums and starts playing
- the dad walks over to the boy, the hat in his hands and motions for the boy to stop playing
- shocked the boy stops and looks at his dad
- The dad walks over and puts the hat he had in his hands on his sons head and then pushes the drums aside
- the boy looks upset, he immediately starts walking towards the drums but his father motions him to come back.
- The boy reluctantly leaves the drums and goes to his father.
- The dad starts doing the rain dance singing his chant as he dances .
- The boy looks annoyed
- The boy reluctantly does the rain dance but he's not into it at all.
- The dad stops him and tells him to watch him again. he does the rain dance again.
- But the boy is looking away at his drums.
- The dad gets angry at the boy when he notices that he isn't paying attention.
- lighting strikes and fire breaks out
- the dad panicks and starts doing the rain dance chanting as he dances
- not much rain falling
- the boy takes his hat off and runs to his drums
- he starts playing furiously
- The dad looks towards him but annoyed
- The rain falls really heavily and puts the fire out.
- The dad and boy start rejoicing,
- dad hugs his son.
- picture on the desk, you see the picture of the dad and his father and next to that another picture of the dad doing his rain dance while his son is drumming.
The end.
New Story Beats_FINAL_version 1
From the last story I presented, I realized that I had to shorten my story a lot as it was going over 2 minutes and there were too many characters. Also the father's expectations were not very clear. Keeping that in mind, I changed my process to develop this new story.
I started by writing out a dialogue between the father and the son making sure that both their expectations were clear. Once I wrote this dialogue out, I replaced it with actions. Below is the new story. I think it is clearer and the expectations definitely come through here. I have also limited the story to just two characters so this will be more manageable as far as time and production is concerned.
- we see the father looking at a picture of himself and his dad with pride
- he starts to hear drum beats, his looks in the direction of the sound
- he sees his son playing the drums enjoying himself
- he looks back at the picture and then picks up the smaller version of his hat on the table and takes it over to his son
- the boy keeps playing
- the father interrupts the boys drumming and motions him to stop
- shocked the boy stops and looks at his dad
- The dad walks over and puts the hat he had in his hands on his sons head and then pushes the drums aside
- the boy looks upset, he immediately starts walking towards the drums but his father motions him to come back.
- The boy reluctantly leaves the drums and goes to his father.
- The dad starts doing the rain dance singing his chant as he dances .
- The boy looks annoyed
- The boy reluctantly does the rain dance but he's not into it at all.
- The dad stops him and tells him to watch him again. he does the rain dance again.
- But the boy is looking away at his drums.
- The dad gets angry at the boy when he notices that he isn't paying attention.
- lighting strikes and fire breaks out
- the dad panicks and starts doing the rain dance chanting as he dances
- not much rain falling
- the boy takes his hat off and runs to his drums
- he starts playing furiously
- The dad looks towards him but annoyed
- The rain falls really heavily and puts the fire out.
- The dad and boy start rejoicing,
- dad hugs his son.
- picture on the desk, you see the picture of the dad and his father and next to that another picture of the dad doing his rain dance while his son is drumming.
The end.
I started by writing out a dialogue between the father and the son making sure that both their expectations were clear. Once I wrote this dialogue out, I replaced it with actions. Below is the new story. I think it is clearer and the expectations definitely come through here. I have also limited the story to just two characters so this will be more manageable as far as time and production is concerned.
- we see the father looking at a picture of himself and his dad with pride
- he starts to hear drum beats, his looks in the direction of the sound
- he sees his son playing the drums enjoying himself
- he looks back at the picture and then picks up the smaller version of his hat on the table and takes it over to his son
- the boy keeps playing
- the father interrupts the boys drumming and motions him to stop
- shocked the boy stops and looks at his dad
- The dad walks over and puts the hat he had in his hands on his sons head and then pushes the drums aside
- the boy looks upset, he immediately starts walking towards the drums but his father motions him to come back.
- The boy reluctantly leaves the drums and goes to his father.
- The dad starts doing the rain dance singing his chant as he dances .
- The boy looks annoyed
- The boy reluctantly does the rain dance but he's not into it at all.
- The dad stops him and tells him to watch him again. he does the rain dance again.
- But the boy is looking away at his drums.
- The dad gets angry at the boy when he notices that he isn't paying attention.
- lighting strikes and fire breaks out
- the dad panicks and starts doing the rain dance chanting as he dances
- not much rain falling
- the boy takes his hat off and runs to his drums
- he starts playing furiously
- The dad looks towards him but annoyed
- The rain falls really heavily and puts the fire out.
- The dad and boy start rejoicing,
- dad hugs his son.
- picture on the desk, you see the picture of the dad and his father and next to that another picture of the dad doing his rain dance while his son is drumming.
The end.
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