Sound Design

So I'm writing part of the soundscape at the moment, looks as if its going to be a blend of guitar and synth with a lot of ambiance. The way I want to do it is not as one single track but as a series of motifs which will be complied together in the editing software. This means that the soundscape can be developed in direct relation to visual elements so things could be cued directly on cut as well as allowing a cohesive integration of both foley and melodic components. It's hard to say where inspiration the soundtrack is coming from, its not really mimic anything in particular, more just coming out the way I think it should feel.

Shooting The First Two Scenes

A lack of updates on here doesn't mean a lack of progress - I've shot around the first third of the film! Still a lot of work ahead but it's looking really good so far. Animation-wise it was quite difficult to start with considering I hadn't done any stop motion in over a year. Luckily the movements of the character are fairly passive in these parts so it was a good way to ease into the project. The hospital scene is looking really good and the materials came out great on camera. The 'darkness' is quite obviously just clay but there's a sort of real, material aesthetic which I quite like and in many ways it actually suits the medium. The next scene is going to use a lot of computer generated effects and was shot on my home made red screen (a piece of A3 taped to a box!). Hopefully by the end of next week this will all be edited and some new footage taken.

A few shots from production over the last week:

Decaff

Decaff - an interesting series of films by New Zealand (originally Hamilton) animator Greg Page. Although the dark yet comedic tone is quite different to my own work, this film is quite inspiring in terms of the animation process and the associated aesthetics.


Decaff (1994)

Despite the simplicity of the sets and low production values this film is still highly engaging and for me, a lot more enjoyable than many animations which I have seen with far greater technical qualities. In relating this film back to concepts of animated space and on screen realities it is interesting to consider that regardless of the aesthetic disconnection to our own world, that in the context of the film and by nature of the stop motion medium, a cinematic reality of its own is formed which is entirely compelling.

Hospital Room

Considering different aesthetics for the hospital room set:



The lighting is defiantly going to be what sets the mood in the final film, cold, dark and eerie.

My character is humanoid but not human, meaning that the 'real' world in the film is not necessarily the same as our own so there could be a lot of experimentation in the environment. Still, being that this is the only location of its kind I think a traditional approach would work best to draw a distinction between the two realities and make the shift to alternate world more impacting.

Got a few more bits still to make but I think it's coming along quite nicely:

The bed was kind of tricky to design, I wanted there to be a bare skeletal kind of look to it. The framing is actually an old TV aerial, the head and foot boards drawer handles and the springs a fish net glove.

Plot Development (Finally)

Been doing a lot of design stuff lately and it's starting to feel a little aimless. I've really just needed to get actual story down to a concrete form to keep a sense of direction. I'm still not 100% happy with all of this, I like the start but the ending feels a little lackluster at the moment.

Beat Script

-Character lies alone in hospital room. There are dead flowers at their bed side table.

-Darkness begins seeping through the walls, tentacles engulf the scene until they wrap around the bed, dragging the protagonist into blackness where darkness tears out their soul.

-Character awakes to find themselves in a strange landscape covered in giant black thorn like plants which wrap around themselves over and over. Feeling the emptiness inside themselves they begin to wander through this new world.

-Eventually the character comes across a set of footprints which they begin to follow.

-In a clearing stands another creature, similar to themselves with their back turned. As the protagonist approaches, this creature turns around, revealing that it is in fact faceless. It points up a hill to a nearby well.

-The main character approaches the well, looking into their own reflection to see a bright light and he voices of spirits callng out. The protagonist climbs in.

-Underwater, they swim to the surface finding themselves at the edge of a long river with mist rising from the water. They climb aboard a nearby raft and begin paddling.

-Eventually they come to a cove with a chest. Opening the chest releases the soul which is now reunited with the protagonist.

-The darkness doesn't take kindly to this defiance and purses the fleeing character.

-The sound of static, a beating heart and screams are set to a rapid montage interspersed by the protagonist being torn apart. This sequence comes to a sudden end, returning to the hospital room where all that is shown are the flowers at the bed side table which are no longer dead, but now fully alive.

Storyboards

These are some storyboards I drew up, they are quite rough and were more intended as a way for me to sort out my ideas than to act as a comprehensive guide to how it's all going to be shot.

The ending hasn't been drawn up yet but will be added soon. Just thinking of the best way to do it.

A New Character

I started working on a new character, this one is slightly smaller than the last one which will make set construction easier and users thinner wire which should make movement a lot smoother. Also experimenting with different kinds of heads, despite my fascinations with the Kuleshov Effect, I have to say that facial features seem to express a lot more emotion. I suppose the same philosophy can still be applied but it might require a bit more effort in terms of animation.

Overall this is very similar to the last character, just refined in structure and design. (Also looks less alien like than the old one which is something I wasn't really going for anyway.)