Audience
The audience includes children of age 10 and up and grown-ups who can appreciate black humor
and tolerate films in which small animals get seriously hurt. This is a TV clip
more than a festival short.
Character
Harry is an elongated wingless insect (a sort of cockroach, but not as
disgusting) with a weakness for lukewarm sweetened beverages. He is agile
and courageous, but unfortunately more persistent than he is smart. Once
he has his mind set to a task, he is not likely to retreat. Harry is
flexible and strong, but somewhat goofy in the way he moves.
Environment
The story takes place on a coffee table in a messy studio apartment inhabitated
by a single man and several hundreds of cockroaches.
My main character reference is Chuck Jones' "Wile E Coyote". Harry, my main character,
is also trying to outsmart his fate, only to repeatedly find himself failing miserably.
The motion and poses of Wile E Coyote are also an inspiration to my main character.
Other Warner Brothers and MGM cartoon characters will also be used as
inspiration for motion, poses and attitude. Especially Daffy Duck and
Marvin the Martian offer themselves as inherent losers on power trips.
Marvin is also interesting since Harry Cockroach might be mouthless,
and Marvin could be a good facial animation reference for emotional
expression without a mouth. On the bottom, Tex Avery's drawings serve
as a prime example for over-acted gag cartoon.
Modeling and animating the cockroach will be based on several insect
characters. I would like to approach the color scheme used in "Antz",
as well as the general character design in that movie. Other references
include Disney's Jiminy Cricket and Subres' "Roadkill" Ant.
Style References
My intention is to composite this 3D animation with correlating pop art
backgrounds, lending the film a unique graphical style. My prime reference
for this pop art is Roy Lichtenstein, but other artists are also
reviewed, mainly for color influences.
Other pop art references are taken from everyday consumer items,
especially laundry detergents designs.
The idea to composite non-realistic backgrounds in realistic animation is based
on a widely accepted manga cartoon and animation convention, usually used
for motion blur or depicting strong emotional turmoil in the character's mind.
A similar technique is also used for religious pictograms, a style I might use
for the "Revelation of the Teacup" shot.
Environment References
Below are some reference images for my environment, a messy bachelor's
coffee table. Also below are references for the styrofoam cup, the tea label
and the chinese dish used in one of the scenes.
Film References
Below are 4 internet animations from the series "Roadkill" by Subres, a small Israeli animation house,
demonstrating how much can be done with a low budget, a short run length
and great character animation.
Classic - a more traditional soundtrack, based on orchestrated
classical music
Funky - my favorite at the moment, i think it's the most balanced of the three,
using the fewest different musical clips. It's also the sort of music I
like best
Creepy - the wildest option, some pretty neat musical clips, but i think i
overdid it on the cutting, too many different clips compressed in too
little time. too messy.
march 5th version - the latest version of the soundtrack (March 5th) - changed almost all the foley effects and cut down significantly on the number of clips used, and therefore clips cut short.
1A - Elevator Pitch for a TV Show
For Dawson's Creek Smalltown American teenagers deal with
life and love while talking like 30-something advertisement creative directors.
One of the most intriguing exercises to perform in film practice
is switching soundtracks to visual shots and scenes. It is amazing
how different the same shot can look when it is accompanied by
one specific soundtrack as opposed to another.
Below are two alternate soundtracks to my eperimental animation,
"Cruisin'", each changing the athmosphere without changing a single frame
on the visual side of the film.
__ pitch __ story __ script __ references __ color schemes __ character __ environment __ animation tests __ storyboards __ sound design
Animation Pitch
"Fatal Attroachion"under-one-minute narrative animation
Elevator Pitch
Harry the Cockroach struggles to get into a leftover cup of tea, only to find an unpleasant surprise inside.
Style and Inspiration
This film is intended to be a non-realistic 3D animation, focussing on character design and spending less effort on realism in background and set detail. The general style will follow the PIXAR logo scene (desklamp hopping around PIXAR logo) and similar nonrealistic 3D. Other examples include: "Subres"s Roadkill series. Character design will be inspired by cartoony 3D insect characters as in "Bug's Life" or "Antz". Story and gag design is inspired by Chuck Jones and MGM cartoons, especially Roadrunner and Tom&Jerry style action.
Audience
The audience includes children of age 10 and up and grown-ups who can appreciate black humor and tolerate films in which small animals get seriously hurt. This is a TV clip more than a festival short.
Character
Harry is an elongated wingless insect (a sort of cockroach, but not as disgusting) with a weakness for lukewarm sweetened beverages. He is agile and courageous, but unfortunately more persistent than he is smart. Once he has his mind set to a task, he is not likely to retreat. Harry is flexible and strong, but somewhat goofy in the way he moves.
Environment
The story takes place on a coffee table in a messy studio apartment inhabitated by a single man and several hundreds of cockroaches.
<<< top __ pitch __ story __ script __ references __ color schemes __ character __ environment __ animation tests __ storyboards __ sound design
Story
-
Harry the Cockroach walks along a coffee table with lots of leftover
cups of coffee and tea on it.
-
Harry envies his fellow roaches, who feast on thick sugary residue.
-
Suddenly he happily spots a cup with nobody else on/in it.
-
Harry tries to climb it, but slips.
-
He then attempts to pole jump it using a toothpick, but doesn't jump
high enough, slamming smack onto the cup.
-
Lightbulb idea: why not climb the tea label string like a rope?
-
As Harry climbs, the label starts to lower dangerously, pulling the tea bag
behind it, threatening to squish him like a bug, but in a last second save the teabag
drops back into the cup and pulls Harry in with it, with the poor bug flipping
over the edge of the cup like a fish on a hook, dropping hard on the teacup floor.
-
But. the teacup is empty, save for the dry teabag! What the?!?
-
Harry's luck changes suddenly, as he feels sugar being poured into the cup. He
forgets his frustration and starts to eat the sugar hungrily.
- But then Harry suddenly realizes
what is about to happen to him, looking into the camera and gulping, Wile E. Coyote style.
-
Pulling back, we see the cup being filled up with boiling water.
<<< top __ pitch __ story __ script __ references __ color schemes __ character __ environment __ animation tests __ storyboards __ sound designScript
Below are links to PDF files of the different script revisions:
The Script (Feb 18th) The Script (Feb 10th)
<<< top __ pitch __ story __ script __ references __ color schemes __ character __ environment __ animation tests __ storyboards __ sound design
References
Past work
Below are a few references from my past work leading up to this animationpencil animation: koalabear
3d modeling: subway train (front) (side)
3d modeling: poolroom
graphic design: party invitation
photography: life
photography: portrait
photography: chess players
cartoon: smoking bird
storyboard: denton's death
storyboard: denton's death
my full portfolio (dec 2001)
Character References
My main character reference is Chuck Jones' "Wile E Coyote". Harry, my main character, is also trying to outsmart his fate, only to repeatedly find himself failing miserably. The motion and poses of Wile E Coyote are also an inspiration to my main character.Other Warner Brothers and MGM cartoon characters will also be used as inspiration for motion, poses and attitude. Especially Daffy Duck and Marvin the Martian offer themselves as inherent losers on power trips. Marvin is also interesting since Harry Cockroach might be mouthless, and Marvin could be a good facial animation reference for emotional expression without a mouth. On the bottom, Tex Avery's drawings serve as a prime example for over-acted gag cartoon.
Modeling and animating the cockroach will be based on several insect characters. I would like to approach the color scheme used in "Antz", as well as the general character design in that movie. Other references include Disney's Jiminy Cricket and Subres' "Roadkill" Ant.
Style References
My intention is to composite this 3D animation with correlating pop art backgrounds, lending the film a unique graphical style. My prime reference for this pop art is Roy Lichtenstein, but other artists are also reviewed, mainly for color influences.Other pop art references are taken from everyday consumer items, especially laundry detergents designs.
The idea to composite non-realistic backgrounds in realistic animation is based on a widely accepted manga cartoon and animation convention, usually used for motion blur or depicting strong emotional turmoil in the character's mind. A similar technique is also used for religious pictograms, a style I might use for the "Revelation of the Teacup" shot.
Environment References
Below are some reference images for my environment, a messy bachelor's coffee table. Also below are references for the styrofoam cup, the tea label and the chinese dish used in one of the scenes.Film References
Below are 4 internet animations from the series "Roadkill" by Subres, a small Israeli animation house, demonstrating how much can be done with a low budget, a short run length and great character animation.roadkill (ant)
roadkill (bird)
roadkill (fox)
roadkill (deer)
<<< top __ pitch __ story __ script __ references __ color schemes __ character __ environment __ animation tests __ sound design __ storyboards
Color Schemes
Color schemes for character (warm colors) and for pop art backgrounds
<<< top __ pitch __ story __ script __ references __ color schemes __ character __ environment __ animation tests __ storyboards __ sound design
Character Designs
Harry the cockroach is my main character. Following are several character sketches and test renders of Harry. There are some earlier versions of harry that have been dropped over the time.
<<< top __ pitch __ story __ script __ references __ color schemes __ character __ environment __ animation tests __ storyboards __ sound design
Environment
Some 3D environment element sketches. More to come soon.
<<< top __ pitch __ story __ script __ references __ color schemes __ character __ environment __ animation tests __ storyboards __ sound design
Animation Tests
Following are several tests and exercises for my character animation.<<< top __ pitch __ story __ script __ references __ color schemes __ character __ environment __ animation tests __ storyboards __ sound design
Storyboards
these are the new storyboards for the animation.here is a 3d animatic of the timing, editing and sound design for the piece. (mar 18)
you can also view a older 3d animatic for this storyboard (march 10)
Below are earlier storyboards. You can also view a rough timing of these storyboards as an animatic (beware: 16.7M)
<<< top __ pitch __ story __ script __ references __ color schemes __ character __ environment __ animation tests __ storyboards __ sound design
Sound Design
The sound design in "Fatal Attroachion" will be heavily based on its musical soundtrack. Stemming from the fact that it relies on visual gags and has no dialog whatsoever, the role of music in the production will be paramount. Music will drive the action and underscore it as well as creating tension in combination with camera angles and staging.Sound effects will be cartoony, but not exaggeratedly so. I do not want to create too much of a slapstick sound to the film. They will sound more like action film Foley effects than "musical" cartoon sound effects as were popular in the 40ies and 50ies (harps for slides, cymbals for crashes etc).
My music will hopefully not be conventional for this style of cartoon. I will try to aim for a soundtrack that will contrast the action as well as support it. Several far-out ideas come to mind, like using 60ies Hindi pop, or Goa Trance, but I believe I will find a middle way either in Jazz or - most probably - in Funk or 90ies DJ style funk. At this stage other ideas, such as classical music, are also experimented with. I will work with composed music, written and produced by Udi Pladott. His musical style fits my favorite concept of electronic funk music and since I am hoping to send my animation to festivals I do not want to rely on unlicensed music and my budget does not allow for licensing. I also believe that 90ies DJ-syle funk ("big beat", "breakbeat", "trip hop") fits in with what I plan for the visual style of the production, i.e. pop art, action filled editing and ecstatic camera work.
I will use licensed or license free sound effects, from the school's library (licensed from 20th century fox and Lucasfilm) and from free online sound effects libraries. If called for I will also record simple sound effects.
Here are three sketches for testing out how different sounds feel for the production. I also wanted to experiment with timiing various sound clips to action.
1A - Elevator Pitch for a TV Show
For Dawson's Creek Smalltown American teenagers deal with life and love while talking like 30-something advertisement creative directors.1B, 2B, 2D - Experimental Animation
Cruisin' is an experimental cutout animation. This is my first attempt at doing cutout animation. Inspired by the simple, yet comically effective style of "South Park" and the "Monty Python" animation sequences, I wanted to explore this medium, particularly for its value in generating laughs without relying on visual spectacular. Without complex walk sequences, strech and squash or elaborate facial expressions, cutout animation needs to be interesting especially in staging, script and sound. I also wanted to experiment with different "camera angles" on paper cutout, like close ups and long shots. I wanted the close ups to show clearly that this is actual paper.My aim is to have a very crude visual style, emphasising the campiness of the project and the fact that this is real paper cutout and not computer simulated. This is achieved by combining photogaphic image with paper cutout (emphasising the physical medium), and by not using replacement techniques, only mirroring of the paper pieces. Also, the very stereotypical nature of the characters, should have a comic effect. I have experimented with mouths and comics style captions, but found that they deduct from the general juvenile feel of the animation.
Except for the background which is a photograph, blurred at times, all the rest are colored paper cutouts, scanned into GIFs with transparency and animated in Flash. I have scanned the cutouts in high resolution to allow the close up shots. The foley effects are partially effect WAVs and partially mouth-generated (such as the engine and the whistle). I have laid these over a music soundtrack that has been filtered to sound as if it comes from an old radio.
watch the animation
download
3A - Designing Alternate Soundtracks
One of the most intriguing exercises to perform in film practice is switching soundtracks to visual shots and scenes. It is amazing how different the same shot can look when it is accompanied by one specific soundtrack as opposed to another.Below are two alternate soundtracks to my eperimental animation, "Cruisin'", each changing the athmosphere without changing a single frame on the visual side of the film.
dubbed x-files scene
download
italian movie
download