Some new stills finally!:)

Sorry it has been quite some time since I posted anything. Here's an update:

I've been working on the sound with Matt Baldwinson, checking out sound libraries and mixing and matching sounds to see what works. He is working on some synth sounds too. He has tweaked the sound we recorded back in February, enhancing it and making it stereo.

I have been experimenting with some weird fisheye effects, using shape tweens and 3D elements, like the paper floating in 'Painting' and a pan up from the ground to the top of the fridge in 'Special Glue'. A lot of the work has been integrating these elements seamlessly into the style of my animation, including matching up the 'limited' style (staggering frames etc). I think it's working really well, so although it has taken me a long time, it has been worth it. I have learnt a lot in the process. I have been attempting shots that are a lot more ambitious than I have in the past, but keeping in mind the style I am working in is very simple. Scenes from animé, particularly Cowboy Bebop (with the fisheyes) and DragonBall Z (dramatic zooms, speed lines and flash frames) have been very influential in these new shots.

Anyway, enough writing, here are the new screen shots. Click on them to enlarge. I am hoping to finish by the end of August.

More animation

Above you can see some stills from my 'Special Glue and Other Stories'. I have spent quite a bit of time completely re drawing/re timing/re animating various scenes in the last week or two. Some scenes are looking more polished than others, but I feel it is all coming together slowly. I have sent a very rough cut to Sylvie to get her opinion. I'll post more soon.

Edited sound, started work on animation

I have spent the last few days going through all the takes we recorded on the 10th and choosing the ones I like and editing those together. I have spliced a couple of takes together for 'Stupid Table', where the ending of one take is a bit better than the other I have used.
Now, I am starting work really fleshing out the animation. It makes a lot of difference having the sound as a reference and it already feels like it is coming together more. I am going to work on the animation with the sound as it is, but I am also sending it to Matt, who is going to master it (sorting out the levels and putting any filters on it that he thinks will make it sound better). I'll reimport this once he has done that. Once I get more animation done we can get to work on sticking in some foleys/ambience/ any other non narrative sound. We recorded some foleys on the 10th, which we will need to play about with.

More soon.

Recorded sound

Today I recorded the narration for 'Special Glue', 'Stupid Table' and 'Painting' with the help of Matt using a really nice mic. We have about 1 hour to be condensed down to about 4 mins, so I will get to work editing it asap. I decided that it was best to use my own voice in the end, but it was certainly useful listening to other people's readings.

Auditions, or not today

I have received quite a few auditions as mp3s, after advertising on Shooting People. I have been really pleased with the response. It seems mp3 is the preferred way of doing things now and I can understand why, as it saves time and gives the actor more chance to read over the script and record it than an audition would.

There were a couple of actors who lived locally, who wanted to do an in-person audition, so I arranged one at Screen Yorkshire here in Leeds for today. Unfortunately, they both pulled out at the last minute (this morning) and left me with a room booked for the entire day and no one to audition. Still, I have had a number of really interesting mp3 auditions, which will help me figure out how the film is going to sound.

Hello,
I have decided to start a blog for the production of my new film 'Special Glue and Other Stories', so anyone who is interested can follow it's progess.

The story so far...
I have secured some funding from Screen Yorkshire's Low Budget Award scheme to help make the film. They have supplied me with a mentor, Sylvie Bringas, who I have met up with and had a super useful chat with about improving my film making.

I have aquired the talents of sound genius Matt Baldwinson of Leeds bands Tangaroa and A.S.A., surprisingly enough to record and produce the sound for the film. I have found a place to record it and will begin to do so when I have finished auditioning actors for the narrator role. I am doing this largely to improve my own performance, but I am keeping an open mind.

Over the past few days I have been re storyboading the three shorts that make up the film, 'Special Glue', 'Stupid Table' and 'Painting' based on my discussions with Sylvie. I have come up with some cool new visuals that I think will make the films a lot richer.

The script has also had a bit of an edit - filtering out some of the superfluous bits and changing some of the language. I am trying to do more visually this time, that isn't directly described in the audio. I am hoping this will provide more humour, if Lee and Herring's golden rule of comedy is true - I hope to 'confound people's expectations and from thence the humour will arise':)

More soon.

Andy.