Raw Footage taken of Petals Falling

Falling Pedals

After the shoot

Today we sequestered ourselves in the green screen room to shoot some practical effects for the falling cherry blossoms. This footage will eventually be composited over the animation.

Discussing how we will shoot the practical effects

Setting up the camera to drop pedals from above

Dropping the pedals at variable densities

Layout for Shot 5

Here is the layout for shot 5. The next step will be to composite this layout with the animation on which we are currently working. Look forward to seeing the finished shot! We are working through the whole pipeline to smooth out the kinks of production. This will allow us to plan our time efficiently for the next couple weeks.

Exploring the Animation Style

Unfortunately we have 5 short weeks to finish this film. Because of this we have started to explore ways to economize the animation. Shot 5 is our test dummy and will be used to find a compromise between the original tradigital style and the new symbol animation direction.

Symbols aligned ready for animation

The character has been broken down into sections to be animated using the drawn keys as reference.

Symbols separated (missing right hand and book)

Rough Animation Tests

We're ramping up for production and to kick it off we started on some animation tests. Some very, very rough, volume morphing, off character sheet animation tests that is. But we are beginning to refine the staging and explore the acting in a few shots. Working first on the longest shot when Goddard reaches the top and at the base when he first looks up to see Mars.

These are two critical shots. One exploring how a 62 year old man might climb a tree; slow and hunched over.
The other focusing more on acting to show the young Goddard's reaction to this beautiful glowing planet that looks to be living in the tree.

Film Title

We spent a short meeting yesterday brainstorming some titles for our film. "Red" has been the working title however there are already several films with the same title, both live action and animated.

Below is the mind map created as we explored titles.

The top names are the following

1899
Elysian

Halcyon-16

Hutchins

First Cut Animatatic

Color Script

Parallel to working on the Animatic to refine the timing of the film, we have been using the storyboard thumbnails to develop our color script.

Initial Storyboard

The initial thumbnail storyboards.
ShortShort_Storyboards_01 -

Prop Designs

Looking at the design of various props throughout the film. We started by exploring the critical props, mainly the rocket ship. Additional props will include things such as his hatchet, his book and the ladder.

An early cockpit design.

Rocket shape exploration.

Character Design

We are still exploring the look of the character in relationship to the environments. The character will be animated 2D digitally using Toon Boom. We are currently leaning towards options without the paper edge.

Exploration of the paper edge around the character animation.

Above is a character line up of Goddard at various ages.

Lastly some thumbnail sketches of 16yr old Goddard's facial expressions.

Environment Development

We have been exploring a variety of color palettes and design directions for the environments. The team is narrowing in on a final direction of the film that includes photo textures and compositing, with watercolor backgrounds, digital painting and digital 2D character animation.

Initial direction. Colors based on colors from a prop concept.

A revised concept adding more colors to the sky. This also explore the ripped paper cutout look for our character.

A newer concept exploring a blue color palette and watercolor textures for the sky. Also another approach to the character animation.

A concept exploring the original styleframe color palette and a fully colored character design. This concept also introduces some flower blossoms scattered on the branches.

Final environment direction includes the texture quality of watercolor.

Story and Art Direction Initial Pitch

Art Direction Concept 1

Sound Design Concept 1

Film Summary

The short begins with a close up of cherry tree branches. Limbs are twisted and contorted to create a complex graphic pattern similar to synapses of the human brain. The camera cranes down through the thicket of dead branches to lush budding flowers, and reveals the title card carved into the tree’s trunk.

The environment is expansive and empty with a single tree in its center, extending above the frame with a short ladder leaned against its trunk. A teenage boy walks towards the tree.

The boy climbs the ladder and slowly ascends the tree. Branches transition from ripe with life to dying as he climbs higher and higher. When he crests the canopy, the boy is looking out into endless space. In the distance the young boy sees a hazy red planet. He reaches towards the planet in awe. Suddenly, the branch he is supporting himself on breaks and he begins to fall back to the ground. He turns slowly while falling and now, with his back towards the ground, is looking back towards the red planet. He is aging as he speaks the line "it has often proved true that the dream of yesterday is the hope of today, and the reality of tomorrow."

The words physically animate from his mouth and decay into black soil that collects on his chest where a seedling begins to sprout. The frame slowly tightens around his face as he calmly closes his eyes. He dies.

A hatch closes, framing his face in a porthole window. The camera trucks out to reveal a rocket ship being propelled into space. The loud rumble of a rocket is increasing and increasing in volume as the reverb layers and builds. Hard cut to black as only the echo of the rocket reverberates into hollow space.

The final frame is an old man sitting on a red planet under a cherry tree reading the book The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells as credits roll to the side of the frame