Previs/Animatics

As we move into production over at The Wolves Within, we made some more tweaks and refinements to the animatic with the addition of previs. After an initial previs, we found the timing and pacing were better in the original animatic, and thus combined the two.

Animatic/Previs (Latest version)


Previs v.1


Elements are still subject to tweaking, but for now we'll push on with production. Where Jolanta is focusing on characters with the two wolves, I will be taking care of the environments with the shrine as well as the good and evil parts of the environment. Wish us luck!

The Wolves Within - Update #2

Exciting news with The Wolves Within project, as we have received some new voiceovers by Philip Banks and Jack Pernell. Big thanks to these guys!

Preview their narration below (be sure to play in 360p and above for better sound quality):

Philip Banks


Jack Parnell


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With these new voiceovers, we experimented with them on our animatic as well as introducing a new ambient type track.

Philip Banks


Jack Pernell



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Here is our most recent animatic with version #5. The narration is now delivered at the very beginning before joining the race between the two wolves, where now two background soundtracks are included for better pacing purposes; an initial track to set the tone and tension before the race, and a second track providing a build up in a pace and intensity before the final culmination at the end of the race.



Updated storyboard with our most recent changes to help keep track of things.

The Wolves Within - Animatic #03

Version 3 of our animatic over at The Wolves Within. Yes that's my voice for the narration! - necessary to get a sense of timing for the voiceover so I hope you don't mind.



We had a lot of discussion over our previous storyboards and animatics, taking each shot and identifying its significance. Frames that were repetitive or did not justify itself were cut, where we have included a some new frames for better coherency and theatricality, as well as some experimentation.



The current narration has been abbreviated from the original story to better suit our purposes.

Script
A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight between two wolves.

One is evil – he is anger, hate, arrogance and greed

The other is good – he is peace, hope, benevolence and serenity.

Which wolf will win?
The one you feed…

We're still ironing out details, but hopefully this brings us ever closer to our goal.

The Wolves Within - Animatic

Initial animatic for The Wolves Within. Jolanta has also made a version of the animatic (technically version 1) over here, so be sure to check it out.



A number of changes/tweaks come to mind while putting together this initial animatic, so except some further developments. The sound is temporary for the moment, but it serves to capture the sort of tone we're trying to achieve. Its not fully confirmed yet, but we'll most likely need a sound guy to help create the soundtrack for us (students welcome) - so drop a comment or email if you're interested.

KLED Animations Update

Just wanted to give an update over at KLED Animations. We're finishing up on Pre-Production and beginning the Production stages of the pipeline.

The proposed synoposis of our B-movie trailer:

The Day Of The Chainsaw Wielding Baby From The Centre Of The Earth

A top secret government research facility located in the centre of the Earth, becomes the root of a close guarded secret and its escape to the planets surface. The secret, known as ‘Project 6’, is an entirely synthesised baby bred to be the perfect killing machine. However, Project 6 escapes his incubation pod before fully maturing and makes a break for the surface. Alone and confused, Project 6 unleashes terror upon the unsuspecting citizens of suburban America, using his innate ability to transform his arm into a Chainsaw.

The secret government group attempt to find and return their work by any means necessary. Will Project 6 ever be free and have a real life, or will he be forced back into a cage?

Refined storyboard as shown in our Pre-Production pitch.


Our animatic showing the proposal for our trailer.


One of my primary roles on the team is to produce concept art to help visualise our trailer. A key environment included an underground laboratory where I've tried to capture an iconic scene of a baby growing in a tube/pod.



View post.




View post/references.

The elevator becomes the baby's means of escape to the surface. Initially, we thought of a old rustic sort of elevator for further atmosphere under the depths of Earth. Yet in light of the overall aesthetic, perhaps the simpler round elevator would work better particularly when rising to the surface in a comedic manner.





View post/references.

Other environments included a park where the baby will rise to the surface, to a town where the baby will begin his reign of terror. The bright and colourful aesthetic of the surface world helps provide a comedic touch with the very nature of our narrative, as well as give a strong contrast to the foreign world of the laboratory.




View post/references.




View post.

I hope to post more frequent updates here on the progress of KLED Animations, otherwise follow our studio blog directly at http://kled-animations.blogspot.com/.

The Pitch + Animatic Ling Zhi Mushroom Life Cycle

The animatic of my proposed animation - the life cycle of a Ling Zhi Mushroom.



I was pleased with the response of my pitch today. Not only were the responses reassuring, but I feel more inspired than ever to continue the next steps and bring the animation to life. Now begins the process of production where hopefully everything will come together.

Animatic with Sound

Whew, got all the drawings done, scanned them in and now well into the process of putting it altogether. With regards to music, my initial thoughts of a slow paced track was not quite cutting it, so I've settled on a faster paced track which I think works well in driving the tension before the finale.

Here is a second version of my animatic to experiment with sound, it also includes the brief opening frames of my animation as I've still working on it.



With some finer tweaks as well as more sound effects should help round out the sound as a whole. Eager to hear your thoughts.

Animatic - Cantankerous Fridge

Initial animatic of the story



Some areas need a little refining such as the conflict between snowman and fridge, as well as giving much more movement into the refrigerator as he still feels a little static at this moment - though I am confident these can be resolved. Most importantly, the structure and pacing seems intact which will hopefully give the desired effect on an audience.

Animatic + Previs - BGH: On Vacation

The Big Game Hunter takes a vacation from his usual routine to relax on the beach with his loving recreation of a colonial sand castle - if only he could work out how to deploy his deck chair...

Animatic


Previs



I'm pretty pleased with the way they turned out, managing to fit all my intended elements from my final storyboard within the one minute timeframe.

Initially, I did not intend to put as much detail in the animatic (i.e. number of frames), though I'm glad I did with the final result. I found it viable to do so as the majority of the elements were resolved in my final storyboard making it an easier process to crossover the materials into the animatic. Where the previs was a little more tricky to tackle with the technical aspect, I'm satisfied with the outcome delivering the core foundations of the story across, seeking to only improve the general animation and aesthetics makeup.

Enjoy!