Okay - I want you to be super-realistic with yourself as you plan this project - everything from how much of the carbon cycle you're going to tackle to how many characters/environments you're going to include. I say this not to 'clip your wings' but to encourage you to reflect on your level of experience and technical proficiency and think about how you can meet the challenge of this project most effectively in the time available. I say this, because in the first line of your unfinished script, you have a father and son (2 characters) shooting an animal (another character) and you do all of this even before you get into the nuts and bolts of the carbon cycle. This is already sounding alarm bells for me - remember, with animation you get 'nothing for free' - you have to design, model, texture, rig and animate everything you need...
I also think it's a problem - in an educational film in the UK - to start an animation for young people with the image of hunting an animal for pleasure. It's not appropriate for a bunch of different reasons and I suggest you come up with a different means of starting with a dead animal - for example, children are used to their hamsters dying, and burying them in the garden - this would be an experience more likely to resonate with children.
I'm already a bit confused by your thumbnails - you've got high-levels of surrealism and whimsy going on - there's a vintage cartoon feeling - as in the 1930s 'cup-head' rubber-hose idea - am I reading this right? This kind of thing? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b8isnhYMjg
If so, you'll want to research the following animators: Ub Iwerks and Max Fletcher and also 'rubber hose' animation.
You mention the word 'game' in the early part of your OGR - is it that you're thinking of the carbon cycle as a sort of gaming experience - or a simulation of someone playing a game, as on Youtube? Making game-style animations are often unsuccessful because they are 'not' a game - so audiences cannot interact with them - it's not impossible, but it is difficult to make 'watching a fake game' as appealing as it sounds on paper. I'm not sure if you do mean 'game' in this sense - your OGR is not completely clear.
I'm looking at your OGR and in truth I'm not sure what I'm looking at - are the little characters representations of Carbon itself - is the environment outside or inside? Where are you deriving your visual concept?
Filipe - it's REALLY important that you take a moment to think about your level of skill, your audience, and your art direction. Don't set yourself up for failure by creating some epic scenario requiring dozens of assets; the emphasis of this project is on effective communication and high quality output - look again at this example of a recent first year film - everything in it is actually very simple in terms of 3D models, but it is nonetheless highly polished and was completely finished for the client on crit day: you need to think about what you need to do in order to realise a final film that meets this same criteria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIgtW7MD26M
You need to think about what you're scripting and what it means for you - and for your audience. Don't write a script you cannot make.
Hi Phil, So my idea was all about start the cycle with this hunt of young people but I just understood that obviously it’s not the best way of starting a animation for teenagers between 13 and 15 years old! Although after I read your feedback, I was struggling to continue the story in the most effective way. But from what I realise here Phil says that it would be more effective for the project time we have, to create the reaction of a youtuber playing to the game of the carbon cycle by levels is that what you mean? Example: 1* Maybe my animation could start with a Plant growing and start dying because of extreme levels of co2 and lack of water as well. Continue with a character of CO2 flying around killing every single plant in the farm of this "children", (also he lost his fish because of lack of available air to breath, burying him in is garden) so making this scene look sad. 1* “this would be an experience more likely to resonate with children of the age that I’m looking to engage with.” Is that what you mean when you said that? Can I continue? 2* Afterwards the children understood that he need to begin to treat better his animals and is plants given them food and sprinkling his plants and then I can zoom in the plants and create a scene with before and after ending my 3 min animation with a happy ending showing that all living beings should be treated in the same way and that if the boy treat their domestic animals and plants with affection and love showing also along the animation that the process of PHOTOSSINTESYS these horrible things do not happen Thus leaving society a criticism. (Using the animation techniques of the creators of the game cup-head starting with silhouettes)! 3* The audio can be a reaction of a youtuber looking at this animation instead of looking at a game. This animation influenced my idea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB2O1zriSBE
1) 1 idea might be to create a simulation of a game about the carbon cycle that the audience experiences as someone might experience a Youtube video of the game play. If this is the case, the actual game-play of the game needs to be very clear and probably about 'collecting carbon' or something - so a game mechanic that we are already familiar with from platform games or similar - simple charming cartoony world.
2) It seems that you're interested in expressing an ecological message about the carbon cycle - so underlining the importance of trees to the survival of the planet... if this is the case, my advice would be to focus on a smaller section of the carbon cycle because doing the whole thing + an ecological message feels like it could quickly get very complex. I think the idea of a rogue CO2 causing damage is a nice idea actually, but you'll need to ensure you're also giving the facts of the cycle so people are clear.
My advice is to take everything as simply as possible - the idea of an out of control CO2 character having an effect on its environment feels strong to me - it's imaginative and if you ensure you get the facts into the story, you'll also have your eco-message.
OGR 15/03/2018
ReplyDeleteHi Filipe,
Okay - I want you to be super-realistic with yourself as you plan this project - everything from how much of the carbon cycle you're going to tackle to how many characters/environments you're going to include. I say this not to 'clip your wings' but to encourage you to reflect on your level of experience and technical proficiency and think about how you can meet the challenge of this project most effectively in the time available. I say this, because in the first line of your unfinished script, you have a father and son (2 characters) shooting an animal (another character) and you do all of this even before you get into the nuts and bolts of the carbon cycle. This is already sounding alarm bells for me - remember, with animation you get 'nothing for free' - you have to design, model, texture, rig and animate everything you need...
I also think it's a problem - in an educational film in the UK - to start an animation for young people with the image of hunting an animal for pleasure. It's not appropriate for a bunch of different reasons and I suggest you come up with a different means of starting with a dead animal - for example, children are used to their hamsters dying, and burying them in the garden - this would be an experience more likely to resonate with children.
I'm already a bit confused by your thumbnails - you've got high-levels of surrealism and whimsy going on - there's a vintage cartoon feeling - as in the 1930s 'cup-head' rubber-hose idea - am I reading this right? This kind of thing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b8isnhYMjg
If so, you'll want to research the following animators: Ub Iwerks and Max Fletcher and also 'rubber hose' animation.
You mention the word 'game' in the early part of your OGR - is it that you're thinking of the carbon cycle as a sort of gaming experience - or a simulation of someone playing a game, as on Youtube? Making game-style animations are often unsuccessful because they are 'not' a game - so audiences cannot interact with them - it's not impossible, but it is difficult to make 'watching a fake game' as appealing as it sounds on paper. I'm not sure if you do mean 'game' in this sense - your OGR is not completely clear.
I'm looking at your OGR and in truth I'm not sure what I'm looking at - are the little characters representations of Carbon itself - is the environment outside or inside? Where are you deriving your visual concept?
Filipe - it's REALLY important that you take a moment to think about your level of skill, your audience, and your art direction. Don't set yourself up for failure by creating some epic scenario requiring dozens of assets; the emphasis of this project is on effective communication and high quality output - look again at this example of a recent first year film - everything in it is actually very simple in terms of 3D models, but it is nonetheless highly polished and was completely finished for the client on crit day: you need to think about what you need to do in order to realise a final film that meets this same criteria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIgtW7MD26M
You need to think about what you're scripting and what it means for you - and for your audience. Don't write a script you cannot make.
Hi Phil,
ReplyDeleteSo my idea was all about start the cycle with this hunt of young people but I just understood that obviously it’s not the best way of starting a animation for teenagers between 13 and 15 years old!
Although after I read your feedback, I was struggling to continue the story in the most effective way.
But from what I realise here Phil says that it would be more effective for the project time we have, to create the reaction of a youtuber playing to the game of the carbon cycle by levels is that what you mean?
Example:
1* Maybe my animation could start with a Plant growing and start dying because of extreme levels of co2 and lack of water as well. Continue with a character of CO2 flying around killing every single plant in the farm of this "children", (also he lost his fish because of lack of available air to breath, burying him in is garden) so making this scene look sad.
1* “this would be an experience more likely to resonate with children of the age that I’m looking to engage with.” Is that what you mean when you said that? Can I continue?
2* Afterwards the children understood that he need to begin to treat better his animals and is plants given them food and sprinkling his plants and then I can zoom in the plants and create a scene with before and after ending my 3 min animation with a happy ending showing that all living beings should be treated in the same way and that if the boy treat their domestic animals and plants with affection and love showing also along the animation that the process of PHOTOSSINTESYS these horrible things do not happen Thus leaving society a criticism. (Using the animation techniques of the creators of the game cup-head starting with silhouettes)!
3* The audio can be a reaction of a youtuber looking at this animation instead of looking at a game.
This animation influenced my idea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB2O1zriSBE
Hi Filipe - okay... so I'm still a bit confused:
ReplyDelete1) 1 idea might be to create a simulation of a game about the carbon cycle that the audience experiences as someone might experience a Youtube video of the game play. If this is the case, the actual game-play of the game needs to be very clear and probably about 'collecting carbon' or something - so a game mechanic that we are already familiar with from platform games or similar - simple charming cartoony world.
2) It seems that you're interested in expressing an ecological message about the carbon cycle - so underlining the importance of trees to the survival of the planet... if this is the case, my advice would be to focus on a smaller section of the carbon cycle because doing the whole thing + an ecological message feels like it could quickly get very complex. I think the idea of a rogue CO2 causing damage is a nice idea actually, but you'll need to ensure you're also giving the facts of the cycle so people are clear.
My advice is to take everything as simply as possible - the idea of an out of control CO2 character having an effect on its environment feels strong to me - it's imaginative and if you ensure you get the facts into the story, you'll also have your eco-message.