On November 2nd, we had an online workshop with Joe Childs where he presented a new project for us to complete: a full 40-second animatic, utilizing at least 16 drawn frames, with original audio and created using a full creative process. The theme we’re supposed to follow is simply the words “Topsy-Turvy”; what we take and make out of this is completely up to us. It is due to be completed in early January, and we have received (and will keep receiving) new videos every Wednesday since then, explaining the steps of the process needed for us to create it.
So far, we should have a solid idea of the story, a short synopsis to show it, a moodboard to capture the short’s main elements, character designs and plans for the setting.
I’m still working on some of these, as I’m taking some time to choose which elements would work best for the story, but I’ve been doing a lot of brainstorming and concept art for characters, location, etc.
On the right: a more detailed brainstorming mindmap, and some plot ideas for 3 main concepts (tornado, space, and break-dancing).
In the end, I decided to base my story on an astronaut in space; I’m planning on making him traverse through zero gravity, connecting the story to the ‘topsy-turvy’ concept we were given.
What I wish to do is having the astronaut protagonist go outside his ship and traverse through some asteroids to meet up with other people; whether that’s other astronauts or benevolent aliens, I still have to decide. Overall, I’m going for a fun, optimistic and somewhat silly vibe for the project as a whole.
As a logline for the short, I think I’ll use: “A lonely astronaut faces the depths of space to reach some company”. It’s short, to-the-point, and makes the reader empathize with the protagonist, as loneliness and seeking company are two things most of us can relate to, especially in these times.
As for the moodboard, I’ve collected a variety of images I believe fit the aesthetic and tone I’m going for; I just have to collage them into a single document.
By next time, I’ll try to have fully decided on the secondary characters’ nature, and have a full character sheet for the protagonist as well as a decent layout map for the space ship.
This has been challenging so far, as we’ve had to build a concept up from nearly nothing, but the challenge made it fun in its own way; plus, I really enjoy creating characters and worlds for them to inhabit, and having actual guidelines is making this much more detailed than my personal work. I genuinely feel like I’m learning something from the course, which is really exciting.