So Long week 6, Hello 2 Week Holidays.

Today is the last day of week 6 and i cant believe its already the holidays.

I have been working on my thumbnails and concentrating on what each shot will look like. I am starting from scene 2 as i still havent decided how i want the starting montage to look. I will be working on it over the holidays.


I was talking with Jack on Thursday and i showed him pictures of trees that i took around my area. I gave him a copy of them and we spoke about how the tree would look and went through the movie "Hugo" and how things were designed. Over the holiday Jack has siad that he would like to do work on the tree, I SUPER appreciate the help from him and i have asked him to record what he does as i want to watch and learn how he creates the different objects.

Last class i had with Darren we were talking about how my character should look. We had both decided that we can picture him to look like John Cusack in the latest movie that he is in "The Raven". Without even asking Darren, he had kindly drawn some concept art of my character. AND it looks amazing! I REALLY appreciate him doing it and now i feel a bit more confindent in trying to draw my character over the holidays. :)

This is the drawing that Darren did.

Over the holidays i will continue working on my pre-production work and hope to get heaps of it done.

Hope everyone has a great holiday.

Starting Scene.

I have been working on my script breakdown and figuring out what shots i want and many other extra information such as where the camera is located.
I have one problem and that is the very beginning of my animation. Originally i had it that on the walls newspaper articles are seen and its a panning close up of all them so you can read each one and get an i dea of what is going on.
I really want to change it to a montage type scene, so that you can see a newspaper and other science type matirals that he has in his study room. Also things like a blueprint of his first design of the seed and other hints of work that he has been doing.
I have been trying to figure it out and also where things in his room are located but im still not having much luck. I have been searching on the web for different looks of study rooms and lab rooms. Hopefully i will get the look of it done.

I also have been trying to find montages in movies but cant find anything!!!
IF ANYONE KNOWS A MONTAGE TYPE SCENE IN A MOVIE PLEASE TELL ME!!!

Im mostly stuck on this and im trying to work around it but I find it hard as i really want to figure it out right now and not push it to the side and forget about it.
I feel that its a really important scene because im quickly telling the back story of what happened. Then i want to go into him working on the seed.

SO IF ANYONE HAS IDEAS PLEASE HELP A BROTHER OUT!!!!

:)

Thumbnails&Video Block

Today in Jack's class i finished filming my video block and im happy with the shots i was having problems with.
So now on Thursday i will capture the footage and watch it over and put it into After Effects.
Next in both Darren and Neales class i finished off my thumbnail testing. I did them in my drawing book as i wanted to check a few of my shots out, just so i could make sure they made sense. While doing these tests i figured out a few new shots and hopefully they will make the story flow a little better.

Now that my thumbnail tests are done i can then do my "good copy" thumbnails on the actual template sheets.

Thumbnail Testing.

Right now i have been working on my thumbnail testing. I broke my script into a script breakdown and have put in information on what i want in my shots, such as putting in what type of shot framing i want and where the camera is placed.

This has helped me out a lot as I have been drawing up my thumbnail tests from the information i have wrote down.
I'm still working on them and I am still trying to picture how everything should look.
Last Tuesday when we were doing Video Blocks in class, i realised that a lot of my shots that i thought of doing didnt look to great and now that i have gone over them i'm hoping that these new shots will be even better. So tomorrow i want to grab a camera and start filming so i can see how its going to look.

There are a few shots that i am still stuck on and i am thinking about them all the time just so i can continue thumbnailing. I especially what to film some shots first so i can see how there going to turn out then i can thumbnail that same shot.

So that is what i have been working on. i'm hoping to finish my last three pages of referencing and finish off my thumbnail tests. Then after that i want to start on my next lot of thumbnailing so the teachers can see them and then work on my shot list and that wont take me long to do as i pretty much have already done it in my script breakdown.

Week 5 is Now Gone.

It is already end of week 5... time has gone way to fast.

I have been working on my thunbnail tests just to see how it looks and if i don't like it then i'll change it.

Not to long ago i found some magazines and cut out pictures that i thought would help me with referencing for my animation. I have also made template logo sheets that says the title of my animation. So when i do character design and stick pictures that i have found on these template sheets.

I have been working on making the template sheets look old and give them a sepia tone to them.

I put warm water in a tray with a few teabags.

I then scrunched up the paper a bit and placed it in the tray. then took it our to dry.

Next I made some more tea opened up some old teabags and got rid of the inside so i was only left with the skin of the bag.(top of the tray.) I also had a little plastic container which i put the ring of it in the tea and pressed it down on the paper.(on the right of the tray)

I then added the skin of the teabags to the page and i also put some tape too! I used my paint brush and went over the paper again with thw tea to give it a darker effect.

This is what they look like. Just so you know, they are a lot darker when you see them. I had a lot of light in my room.

The next step i did was to get a lighter and burn the corners and make holes in the paper. I had a pot lid to stop the burning and a glass of water just in case.

Then once i finished burning the paper i went back over them in tea, as you can see some of the edges on the paper are still white.

I stuck the pictures to the paper and then I grabbed my ink bottle and nib and wrote about each picture.

I also did some ink splatters over the pictures and paper.

And now they are finished!! I completed four and i still have three more to do. I will do them another time. I really enjoyed making them and it helps me out a lot for referencing in my animation. A lot of the items and background will have a dirty sepia tone to them.

The Updating and Working.

so i have put the 4th draft of my script which is also my final script in the "script." page.
Yesterday i worked on my shot list and organised how i want my shots to look, like i said before i was having problems seeing the flow in my shots but today in class i sat down and orgeniased them and replayed the in my head.
Jack then read over it and said the the shots were good and he pictured them working well together. So im happy that i got that worked out.

I'm still working on test thumbnails of my shots . Im also trying to figure out the starting of my animation. I don't know if i want to newspapers to be shown in the room or its a collage that we see at the start to show back story and then go into the bin with his designs on the floor.

I have also been looking at peoples hands on the internet and saving pictures. i was thinking of taking pictures of Jacks, Darrens and Neale's hands :) (if its okay with them) because i think it will help with my referencing. :) PLEASE!!!!!!!! :)

And so now i need to:

1. write shot list out in my own shot list formate
2. figure out starting of animation
3. work on thumbnails!

So this is what i'll be working on :)

4th Draft Equals Final Script.

My script is done! Finished!!!
I printed out my final script yesterday and i'm happy with it. Everything seems to flow and the story works well.

I have been trying to work on my shot list but im not having much luck. I have been reading over my script and acting out what happens and i also took pictures of my shots that i created in my room. It helps because i can figure out placement.

I can only picture a few shots in my head and they work well, but there are some shots that don't flow to the next shot. Such as the shot size and if there is a panning shot next but the shot size is different from the last size.

I have been doing thumbnail tests with the shots i'm sure of, however i'm still a bit stuck.

To Think About.

I need to think about the mans age!
If we don't see his face then how old is he in hand age.
Do we see dirt and are they old looking?

all these things i just havent thought about.

Update of Script Page

Okay so I have put Draft 3 of my script up in the 'Script' page.
I'm going to work on the next script and try and fix the shot list.

Video Blocks and Finishing Script

In Jack's class today I showed him my script and he read through it. He said that it was fine however there are two sections of my script that i should work on.
Ones being where the man notices the hourglass there has to be some sort of reaction shot, so that the audience can realise as well that he has found something new.
The second thing is when the seed is placed on the floor and opens. I need to explain more about how the seed opens and the view you see of the tress growing.

I have been working on my shot list and trying to figure out what shots i need. I see it in my head how it looks but today when we got some cameras out and i went to film how it should look. it just seemed not right! and i wasnt really happy with it at all.
I think i need to go through my script again and also my shotlist.
ACTUALLY!! i think my problem is that i havent done my thumbnails! and when i was filming today i just found that my shots were really odd. I dont know, i just can't seem to get the views i want and the things i want to show in the shots i have.

I'm having a really 'I don't think this is working' moment with the work i have done so far!

3rd Draft Script Done.

On Thursday i got Jack to read over my 2nd draft script and write his feedback.
I now have all three teachers feedback. I have gone over there feedback and have put in and taken out things that each teacher has suggested.

I have now gotten Neale to read my new script and will get Darren to read over it now. Hopefully on Tuesday i will get Jack to read over it too.
I am now going to do my shot list and hopefully get my thumbnails done.
YAY!!!!

What does 'horologium arborium' mean?

So many people ask me what does the title of your animation mean and how did you come up with the words.
First, my boyfriend does environmental science at uni and he has studied a lot about trees. He helped me with the name and the meaning of many odd words that i have never heard before.

Horology means study of time. Or Horo on its own means Time.
Arborial means tree.

horologium arborium means Time of Many Trees. however i just cut it down to 'time of trees'

horologium arborium is just the scientific name for time and tree.
And you all just learnt something!!!!

Pulled apart Watch.

I pulled apart watches that I don't use anymore and found some tiny pretty cool stuff!












I have also been looking at pictures of trees and trying to design my steampunk one. It's hard! I also did some research on the meaning of trees. I have come up with a few.

Pictures for Inspiration.

These are pictures of scientist and actors that i think will help me design my character.

Robin Williams

Albert Einstein

Dimitri Ivanoski

Dimitri Mendeleev

Wilhelm Roentgen

John Cusack

Problems with Character Design.

I just can't see my character.
I've looked up pictures and tried drawing and i still can't seem to find a character that i like.

I looked up famous scientist and even pictures of Robin Williams with a beard and i still cant seem to get a design in my head.

When i fisrt thought of this idea i didnt picture the character with a head. But even when i try to think of what the body will look like i still cant picture it.

HELP!!!

Feed Back on Script.

I printed out my 'up to date script' and gave it to Neale and Darren to read over and write comments and feedback on what they thought about my script. I still have Jack to read it over so i can get some more feedback.

I have been given a few new ideas and also some ideas that maybe shouldnt be there or i should change. It helps out alot so i can develop my final script.

I still need to write up my shot list and script breakdown but i can't start it until i have locked down my final script. Hopefully by Tuesday I will have Jack read my script and get his feedback.

Production Proof.

In class, Jack helped me decide how my animation is going to look and what will be in the man's study room.

I will be doing both 2D and 3D for horologium arborium.
- 3D Study room/items (background)
- 2D Outside (background)
-3D Blocked character with 2D over
- 3D Seed and Tree
-2D/Photoshop Textures.

By organising how my animation is going to look, i feel more confident on the work i have to produce. Jack has also said that he would like to help me with animating the Tree. I'm very greatful for his help. I need to do concept art for the Seed and Tree to give to Jack and also get feed back and communicate different ideas.

I have also gotten help with how textures should look, like having heaps of noise, decay, water damage and rust in the items. Also using dark dull colours and using sedia tones.

Update on Script Page.

I have put the 2nd Draft up into the 'Script Page'.

I will then get Neale to read over it so i can get some advice and maybe change some things around. Then i will have my 3rd draft done and hopefully i can write my final script then i would like to do my shot list.

writing new script.

I have completed my first draft of my script and have made a few changes to to starting and the ending of my animation. so i will need to make a second draft.

Darren has given me a few ending ideas for my animation and i have put them into consideration.
His idea was that after the mechanical tree finished being built, the tree absorbs energy from the ground and makes it flow to a mechanical flower and a real seed grows from it.

Its an idea and i do like it, but im still thinking of having it be a mehanical seed.
OR i might not have a new seed at all.

I'm still thinking about it all and i think when i finish writing my new draft of my script it will come to me on what i want to do.

Updated Page.

I just put the 'script' page up with my first draft of my script.
I will also be doing my shot list and doing more drafts of my script until i am happy with it.

i just hope its not to long!! the time of my animation that is...

Changing the Starting.

Okay so! On Tuesday in Jack's class we did some acting with one of our shots in our animation.
I found it hard to sit and act like a guy.. haha
But it helpped a little to decide expression and body language for my character.
Also it helps with our video blocks as well.

I've had a bit to think about for my animation, mostly the starting of it. At the start i had that you see the world and there are no trees, but i don't really like it and I'm thinking of changing it to newspaper clippings showing the time over the trees being gone.

I would have the newspapers on the wall and maybe have a degree or something certificate saying that my character studied trees or something like that. Also having a picture of my character when he was younger with a tree in the background.
So i have a bit to think about.
Hopefully i can get it all together.
FUN!