2/3 process has me straight up vibin
- Semi Sunnie
- Dec 19, 2019
- 3 min read
It’s coming to the point where I am going to work on this project every day over the winter break. I’m completely fine with it because I’m not busy at all besides the fact that I need to create Christmas presents and do commissions; however, I think I can manage my situation.
Again, I am behind and I hope to break this continuous habit by working my all into this project. Throughout the winter break, I will give myself personal due dates to hit. (I will create a calendar and post it here!)
From my previous critique, I got feedback to do storyboard revisions because my story had a lot of plot holes and no clear resolution. With my new storyboards, I try to focus on sunnie exploring throughout his general location, building his story of the environment he lives in. I was told by an SVA representative at portfolio day to include species related to the environment sunnie is situated in. I did just that adding catfish and hermit crabs/crabs into the story, and adding stars because of branding/aesthetic.
Throughout the storyboards, Sunnie has 3 phases of his emotions he has a problem controlling. (Excitement/fear, Aggression/anger, and deep sadness.) To give a basic rundown, When sunnies heart rate increases rapidly he will turn yellow, Aggression is triggered from memories or actions from others, and the deep sadness sunnie experiences occur when his heart rate is at his lowest point. (His melancholy is almost always triggered from thoughts of loneliness or the absence of having a family.)
Each interaction sunnie has he tries restlessly to fit in somehow and they all, unfortunately, lead to complications. Leaving him in the end in heartbreak because of the thoughts that no one likes his company. However, sunnie meets a sea snake Rob who has dealt with a similar situation being outcasted and unwanted. (He isn’t supposed to be in a freshwater lake and also people pertain to stereotypes against snakes and fear them.)
Sunnie understands what it’s like to feel outcasted and avoided because of his differences so he tries his best to cheer up rob, leaving successful with his first true friendship.
The feedback I got from the ⅔ critique was mostly positive criticism. They both agreed that it was an appropriate idea to do re-visions. (My newest storyboards outshine my previous storyboards extremely!) I was told I should start working on color keys and figuring out the color schemes I will be using. They also insisted that I shouldn't animate everything and create still backgrounds and animatic like scenes. I agree because of timing and also aesthetic purposes not everything needs to be smoothly animated. I will be exploring different ways of the animation process such as rigging, frame by frame, and liquifying animation.
With the music choice, I’m particularly inspired to use soundtracks from the little prince and classical music.
Check out The Little Prince soundtrack here!
I would also use Otamatone, stylophone, and xylophone for additional sound effects/background noise. (I’m getting an otamatone and stylophone for Christmas so hopefully, I can get the additional soundtrack done quickly by then.)
Sunnie and the other characters do not talk at also, the music will influence the mood of scenes. In the critique, my classmates suggested adding funny songs such as crab rave and ocean man for the ending credits. They also gave me tips on how the music could affect the overall character of Sunnie, having using single note in the area when he expresses one of his 3 extreme emotions.
Some quick inspiration I had while doing my storyboard revisions. If you know me I love Steven universe, so taking inspiration from the steven universe movie was a given. There is one scene in particular I really enjoy because of perspective! I plan on using a similar perspective when Sunnie is running from the catfish.
Check out the full video here!
I was also inspired by storyboards from Helluva Boss created by Vivienne Medrano or better known as Vivziepop. There is a scene where the camera follows drips of blood and they create a bigger picture. I did a similar thing where Sunnie breaks a plant which releases a dye. The camera follows this dye and shows the bigger picture which is Sunnie drawing a face on his back.
Check out Helluva Boss here!
Created by Vivienne Medrano
I think it was really smart of you to create a calendar for yourself. That should definitely help you meet your own deadlines if you stuck to it. I also agree on cutting down on your animating process by animating smaller pieces. I know it wasn’t your initial plan but it’s a good adaptive idea that will still allow you to make your project work. Also, yay! You have a story! It is definitely well thought out but you did spend a lot of time on it and I’m afraid that it may be more than you can handle to create in the short amount of time we have left to create these pieces. But your color ideas and your…
While I think your storyboards are interesting, I'm really worried about your progress this far, specifically that you haven't even started animating. I think you're underestimating how much time this is actually going to take you. I would seriously suggest cutting some things to try to reduce the amount of artwork you need to do. The easiest place to do this would be to scrap the rolling credits artwork all together. This wouldn't change your story at all, so it would easy to do, and there's nothing wrong with having your credits come across a simple background in a solid color. You could always change it later to something more elaborate, but I think you really need to be looking…