Animatic With Sound

We've decided to put the sound together once every bit of the animatic is together. However, when I was waiting for others to finish I've decided to put in just the sounds that will appear in my part. It wasn't much but it will speed up things later on. The sounds I've added were church bells, people walking and door opening.

Animatic 02

This is updated animatic with all the changes that will work with other team members. I've changed the designs of the bikes and the church. Added some backgrounds to make it feel like another planed and also changed few camera angles just to enhance the story.

This animatic will stay as it is. I think the camera angles and transitions between other people's part work well.

Now we'll need to gather together and using Premiere create the final animatic with sound.

Changes

After we've watched everyone's animatic, we had to decide whose designs we are going to choose.

After a long discussion we've decided to take a little bit from everyone's designs.
From Sean's designs we've chosen the bad character design and the church design.
From Ozi's designs we've chosen bad guy's bike and some backgrounds.
From Ant's designs we've chosen Axl's bike, more backgrounds and music.
From my designs we've chosen colours.

Animatic 01

Here is my first attempt for the animatic. It's very rough just to see if it works and how it works with other's animatics.

Storyboard 03

Here is my third and I think final storyboard for this project. Here I've used the models and colours that I will use for the animatic.

My Designs

Here are my designs. they are already in 3D so I can import them into the scenes straight away.

The colours I've chosen for my characters are very important. I've used dark colours for the biker who is chasing Axl to indicate he's a bad guy.

Preparing For The Animatics

I want to make my animatics in 3D. But before I'll start it I want to create my own designs in 3D and finalise my storyboard.

This is going to be very rough animatic as we still need to decide on the final look of the characters and backgrounds.

Research

For my research I mainly focused on the bikes, as there isn't many close ups of the characters. For the research I mainly looked at 'Akira' and 'Tron'.

Here are some images I came across:

For the church I've decided to use classic design. It might not be very suitable for this story but I will see what other's designs are.

Another Group Meeting

Now our story was working pretty good. Everyone's part just needed a few tweaks here and there. But still we haven't decided on a look of our characters and backgrounds. So we've decided to make some designs for our next meeting and also start the animatics

Storyboard 02

Based on the new screenplay I've drawn a new storyboard:

New Screenplay

We've added some scenes at the beginning to introduce the character. We've removed a lot of scenes where Axl is riding his bike. In the last screenplay the wedding scene was too distracting. It felt almost like the main plot of the story. In order to fix that we've decided to add one more character who is also riding a bike and chasing the Axl. And the wedding scene will only be there to get rid of the rider.

Here is updated screenplay:

Group Screenplay - redRobe

ANT - Enter with a fade from black showing a desolate field with corpses everywhere (have 2 or 3 more shots of the camera panning round the field at different angles). Cut to a shot with bodies close up to the camera and in the distance, a shadowy figure is climing onto a motorbike (slowly zoom in on him). Cut to an aerial 3/4 perspective of the road with Axl on his bike. The camera pans up to his face and then zooms in to show the fine detail (hold this shot for two or three seconds) *Also start playing the song - Gualagara's The White Condor* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1knkis2H2U. Then cut to low perspective shot of the road, Axl enters right again as we watch him drive into the distance.

OZI - Cut back to the field to show a pile of dead bodies. They begin to rumble and then a fist pushes out from them. Then the upper half of the evil driver’s body appears. Now repeat the same shot of a shadowy figure getting on to a bike (slowly zooming in). Aerial view of the road Axl is driving down, showing all of the sharp turns and twists that he just manages to drive round. Cut to a front view shot of Axl as he looks down at his monitor. Show whole monitor with the timer “00.09.59” flashing red with a map underneath it (like a satnav). Cut to a shot of Axl’s face as he looks over his shoulder to see the other rider, he then frowns as he faces the camera(anger, worried, you choose). Cut to Axl’s right hand as he forces down the accelarator. Side view of the bike as it accelerates off screen. Cut to a perspective view from behind Axl as we see him drive off screen very quickly. Cut back to the other rider as he does the same (repeat the panels of Axl speeding up and driving faster).

KAMIL -Quick aerial shot of Axl as he cuts off from the main road onto a faded dirt road. Landscape shot of the village “Vajrayana” as Axl drives towards it. The biker enters shot once Axl drives off screen. Cut to a shot of Axl’s face as he is in deep thought with the other rider lurking behind him, here have the music quiet down to a background echo with the background going into slow motion. Cut to a front view of a church (everything is quiet). Then the doors open and we hear people coming out of the church cheering and being happy. Just as everyone steps down onto the ground Axl enters the shot from the right (cut to a new shot when Axl is in the middle of the screen). Front view of Axl on his bike which is inches away from the bride and groom (just narrowly missing them).

SEAN - Cut to a shot of the bouquet flying through the air. Cut to a flashback of Axl’s wedding day and fade back to reality. Just as Axl narrowly avoids everyone the other biker tries to skid out of the way but drives into the church and then his bike bursts into flames killing him. Then cut to a back shot, showing Axl driving off into the distance, with the wedding guests to the right of the screen looking shocked. Cut to a perspective shot of Axl again, as he’s driving away from the village with a huge smoke cloud in the background. As he is driving along a shadow covers the road and him. Cut to his glasses/helmet visor and show a reflection of the city and cruiser appear. Then cut to another landscape shot, showing the city rising up above the horizon as Axl drives towards it.

Putting Together The First Storyboard

When we've put together our storyboards we've realised that it didn't work exactly as we wanted it. It is based just on a piece of text from the book. So the viewer who is not familiar with the book would have some difficulties in understanding the story.

We've decided to change the story a little bit by removing some scenes or adding new ones.

Storyboard 01

Once I've planned everything I begun storyboarding. This is very  short section of the book and once it's divided between four people it's even shorter. But I think it's good because rather than struggling with finishing it off we can focus on planning each shot using thing we've learned so far.

In this storyboard I've tried to use golden rule and rule of thirds.

Planning

Before storyboarding I've decided to plan how everything will be positioned. I've drawn the top view of the scene putting in the arrows indicating actions and lighting.

Group Screenplay

We have gathered together and wrote a script listening to each other's ideas and critiques. When we couldn't agree on particular scenes we gave each other advantages and disadvantages of the scene. This way we've worked out the best solutions and written our script.

Group Screenplay - redRobe

ANT - Enter with a side view shot of the road. Axl enters right and zooms past the camera, making it shake as he drives past. Cut to 3/4 perspective of the front of Axl on his bike. The camera pans up to his face and then zooms in to show the fine detail (hold this shot for two or three seconds) *Also start playing the song - Gualagara's The White Condor* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1knkis2H2U. Then cut to low perspective shot of the road, Axl enters right again as we watch him drive into the distance.

OZI - Aerial view of the road Axl is driving down, showing all of the sharp turns and twists that he just manages to drive round. Cut to a front view shot of Axl as he looks down at his monitor. Show whole monitor with the timer “00.09.59” flashing red. Cut to a shot of Axl’s face as he frowns (anger, worried, you choose). Cut to Axl’s right hand as he forces down the accelarator. Side view of the bike as it accelerates off screen. Then ground perspective shot of Axl as he drives towards the camera, then as he drives past, have the camera follow him round to see him drive off into the distance. Quick aerial shot of Axl as he drives off the main road onto a faded road.

KAMIL -Landscape shot of the village “Vajrayana” as Axl drives towards it. Cut to a shot of Axl’s face as he is in deep thought, here have the music quiet down to a background echo with the background going into slow motion. Cut to a front view of a church (everything is quiet). Then the doors open and we hear people coming out of the church cheering and being happy. Just as everyone steps down onto the ground Axl enters the shot from the right (cut to a new shot when Axl is in the middle of the screen). Front view of Axl on his bike which is inches away from the bride and groom (just narrowly missing them).

SEAN - Cut to a shot of the bouquet flying through the air. Then cut to a back shot, showing Axl driving off into the distance, with the wedding guests to the right of the screen looking shocked and angry. Cut to a perspective shot of Axl again, as he’s driving along a shadow covers the road and him. Cut to his glasses/helmet visor and show a reflection of the city and cruiser appear. Then cut to another landscape shot, showing the city rising up above the horizon as Axl drives towards it.

Tony Trimmer Lecture

We've had a lecture with professional storyboard artist Tony Trimmer. I've learnt a lot from his lecture. When making a storyboard it's important to not be precious about your work. Keep it simple and readable as a lot of the frames will be replaced or removed. He also told us about the golden rule and how important it is in animation and film making.

After the lecture my group had a chat with Tony explaining what we are doing and what plans do we have. We've decided to come up with our own screenplays and storyboards and than meet together and choose the best bits. However, Tony said that it's not a good approach. This could lead to arguing and choosing only one person's work. He advised us to write the script together and split it into four sections so everyone has his own section to work with.

Storyboard

I've created a very rough storyboard keeping in mind camera angles and telling a story. However,I think my drawings are too rough in this storyboard and might be difficult to read. To help understand what's going on I've used a lot of arrows.

My Screenplay

Here is my idea of a screenplay:

Camera on the empty road. Sound of engine. Axl comes in on his motorbike very fast towards the camera. For a split of a second his face is so close to the camera so every detail of his skin is visible. Camera is showing him as he disappears. Music starts when his face is very close.

Cut to a side of a curve. Axl goes very quickly and lean his bike as he’s turning. Cut to his eye view as he quickly goes on straight and approaches another curve. Camera is moving according to the Axl’s head movements. Cut to the side of the road on a straight bit. Camera is not moving. Axl quickly passes by. Cut to the bird’s eye view. We can see a big bit of road and camera is following the road and approaches very wide curve. We can see Axl going a little bit faster than camera.

Close up to Axl’s face. Show him thinking. Cut to marriage procession. Camera is slowly following the people. Axl quickly passes by scaring people. We can see him only for a split of a second as well as hear the engine. Back to Axl’s face. Cut to a field near the road. We can hear the engine far away. As the sound approaches some horses run away. Back to his face. Cut to his eye view as he approaches another curve. As he comes out of the curve we can see he’s going to hit a cart. Quick cut to a view from the middle of the road. We can see he barely missed the cart. Close up to his face and we can hear as he accelerates even more.

Getting Into Groups

Everyone had to present chosen story and then we had to get into groups. Unfortunately, I'm not going to work on the story I've chosen. Instead me and my group will be working on a section from a book 'Red Robe' by Jon Courtenay Grimwood.

As we were in group of four we've arranged a group meeting and decided that everyone should write their own screenplay and do a rough storyboard.

Here is the piece of text from the 'Red Robe':

Chapter Forty-Seven

Down Through Zero

The gyrobike ate up the road like Axel was in some advertisement for nanetic shaving dust, penis transplants, sperm-freezing facilities…Something typically macho but tender. Gualagara’s The White Condor ran as a backing track (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1knkis2H2U), Axl wasn’t big on reworked Dutch trance but he figured it was the Ludwig Van/Tierra del Fuego mix. Light and breezy like the new countryside.

Each tight curve came up to meet him in an easy blur of hedgerow and overhanging oaks, the straights opening out to zip past on either side. The curves getting less tight and the straights longer each klik the Honda got closer to Vajrayana. ‘00.09.59’, read the Seiko timecode. It had been flashing deeper red, in ten minute bites, for the last fifty minutes. Had Axl enough time, he’d have stopped and found some way to disconnect it. But the city was at least thirty minutes away and the airport was beyond.

Axl was going to make that cruiser. Without Kate, without Mai, but at least with himself. Some things you just did, no matter how atupid they appeared to others…He’d broken up one marriage procession, terrified more horses than he dared to remember and only just managed not to leave himself as a smear along the road when he flipped out of a curve and almost went under the wooden wheels of a cart.

Dutch to Deutsch, the trance choon changed a gear and Axl instictively blipped his throttle, grinning like a lunatic.

Taken from redRobe page 345  by jon coutenay grimwood

Choosing Source Material

As my source material I've chosen a story by Aleksy Tolstoj 'Fox and Rabbit'. It's a children story. The characters are animals. I think this story is a very good material for an animation, because animation is telling a story using metaphors. And using animals who act like people is excellent idea.