Blue Lemon Animation

Monkey Design

2007-02-28T03:44:00.000-05:00

Hey guys.. Sub needed my help posting these and I guess you guys needed it...

Blogger needed me to update your blog with a google account so I had to use mine in order to post - I'll fix this soon - sorry guys!

Sub will post the cleanup and turnaround later.

feb 23 2007 DQ meeting notes

2007-02-23T19:04:00.000-05:00

Almost near reading week..

2007-02-12T13:25:00.000-05:00

I dunno how many of you still check this blog, but it seems our group process has fallen off the radar of things to do for a few of us. From here on we are supposed to be heading into production, but we're a little behind on things.

Starting this week (week 6) we need to work extra hard and catch up so we can head into production.

Vlad, Cliff, and Gord : continue to refine the reel, you have until the end of this week to picture lock at least HALF the reel so the rest of us can go into production.

Toby, Jen, Katie, Sub, Bon : responsible for putting together the final workbook for the end of this week. Please check the design list on the wall and sign up for your design choice. I'd like to be able to color a few things if we have time.

Basically, by the end of WEEK 6 we should be ready to head into production. Please do your best to get our group back on track. As you guys know reading week is the week after next, and it's probably in our best interest to keep production going, regardless of where we may be. (I'm talking layout, coloring...etc things we can do with a bit of spare time during our break.)

Suggested meeting times:

Tuesday @ 4pm for both teams to check up on each other, comment on anything that has been done.

Thursday @ 6pm Leica team should be getting ready to picture lock some things. Design team should have all designs cleaned up and ready to be put into workbook.

Each team should meet together regularly throughout the week to make sure all work has been accounted for and completed on time.

Good Luck!

-bon

Dec 1 2006 Synthesized Boards

2006-12-01T18:57:00.000-05:00

what follows:

pic 1 = sequence 1 (intro, crash, panic)
pic 2 = sequences 2+3 (discovery of monkey, firework goes off in hand)
pic 3 = sequence 4 (attempt 2 --> strapped onto firework)
pic 4 = sequence 5 (giant xmas shuttle, monkey has no matches left)
pic 5 = sequence 6 (star loses glow, gets enraged, ignites)
pic 6 = sequence 7 (chases the wick/shuttle)
pic 7 = sequence 8 (star gets home, moon comes down)

Story Thumbs

2006-11-24T21:07:00.000-05:00

Hey folks, First pass of boards have been completed (not just by me, but mine are the only ones I have here), so now we can begin a performance pass. DQ suggests that the story is there, and it will come out of the boards we make focusing on character and that character's performance. The goal for the weekend is to board as many scenes and as many possibilities as you can see for the character to behave and act in the scenes: make it funny.

Here's the boards to refer to, sorry about the messed up read-order. Oh, and we changed the end so that you're left to wonder for a second if he made it to the rocket in time. Also that he lights the wick with it in his hand, then realizes he's glowing - at the moment he should really be realizing the wick is burning.

Notes from the meeting:
-Panic is central theme of story, needs to be established strong in beginning, and continue right up until he loses his glow... then silence. Picks up again when he's running to catch rocket.
-When he's yelling at the monkey after losing his glow, his monologue needs to embellish what the problem is, and why it's so bad
-Seeing his silhouette in the flames of the rocket taking him home can be funny
-The island is scorched from the big rocket, leaving one palm tree standing (to be knocked over at the end by the moon)
-The rocket breaks apart in space, as he's hanging on for dear life, and trying to pull his way up to the top (to build tension), then rocket can split into two directions (big one goes left towards moon, little one takes him back to where he came from on the right)
-At the beginning he may be faint, so at the end when he's the brightest star it is significant, if we want to work that idea in.

~Gord

The Story - THE FINAL VERSION (on DQ's authority)

2006-11-24T10:37:00.000-05:00

Okay, so now we have a new model of how the old story can work. No volcano, and the characters stay together... in fact they are trapped together on a little tiny island.
No explanations, the story picks up with fireworks coming from an island, and a star falls down (seemingly alone at first) and panics.

Here is the Arc of the story (click to enlarge)

- A possible running gag for the story is having the star with a prominent posterior, which is constantly being burned by matches, fireworks, and what have you

- The star makes the connection that the fireworks got him up there, while yelling at the monkey "Listen you stupid primate! This went up there and... it went up there! Quick! Light it!" at which point he can stick out his butt and the firework tucked under his arm, and the monkey lights his butt

- The mega rocket can be handled easily as a 3D component, using a MEL script in Maya

- The losing glow can be handled as a penis joke, if it's a close cut and he looks down and says "Oh NO! I'm losing my twinkle!"

- We can have a NASA joke where the final mega rocket has components that detach, and also it takes a long time to gather momentum

- The moon could fall with the rocket stuck in his eye WITH the end frizzled and curled (like a gag cigar)

So that's basically it. I think it works, we just need to board it out and figure out the particulars, as well as decide a thing or two. If we can think of a creative alternative to the fireworks for getting the star up there, then we can add more of a twist. But personally, I don't see an option on such a tiny vacant island. This is why I like the idea that he has to catch the rocket, to add tension back to that moment. But we'll discuss it.

Peace

~Gord

2 Ways to Sing the Blues

2006-11-22T19:35:00.000-05:00

Okay guys, we're now down to the final boarding. Version 1 and version 2 need to be boarded out, making the performance and general flow of the story clear enough to make a final decision. I will now post a basic analysis of both premises. Remember that problems will turn up, so new ideas can be introduced to make stories work as long as the subject stays the same - but beware of getting lost in explanations.

Version 1: The Monkey Doesn't Know He Did It

1. A monkey on an island playing with fireworks knocks down a star.
2. He doesn’t see the star fall and upon meeting thinks it is a starfish (gags)
3. He shows it a firework “man you should see this, it’s soooo neat”, but the star isn’t interested, he is panicked and just wants to get home.
4. He runs up the volcano in panic (asks for help from his brothers = joke)
5. He decides that if he can’t get home, he doesn’t want to live, so he tries to kill himself by jumping into volcano.
6. It doesn’t work, and the volcano boils over, sending him down a lavaflow to the beach among the other starfish who squirm away from this 'scary intruder'.
7. He accepts his fate until he hears the fireworks exploding.
8. He runs over to the monkey who exclaims “see? I told you these were gnarly, man!”
9. The star freaks out and causes a massive detonation which sends him back home
10. The monkey carries on and knocks down the moon, which he shows a firework, but the moon isn’t interested…

Version 2: The Monkey Does Know He Did It

1. A mischievous yet cautious monkey (who knows he is up to no good –> character conflict: wants to, but knows he shouldn’t) playing with fireworks on an island knocks down a star
2. Monkey watches as star falls down right in front of him on the beach
3. Star is panicked and is looking to find a way back home, monkey feels guilty and tries to hide fireworks crate from curious star, but crate bursts open
4. Star gasps, realizing he can use the fireworks to get home… but he doesn’t actually know what they really are or how they work and he tries to construct them together to get back up – (Builds Space Shuttle “I saw this on the moon once.”)
5. He gives up and becomes depressed as he goes on saying things to increase monkey’s guilt (i.e. “somebody sure was being irresponsible” “who do you think could have done a thing like that?” “Etc.”)
6. Monkey feels extremely guilty (performance of expression) and finally blurts out a confession (verbal or pantomime)
7. Star gets really angry and climbs on top of the fireworks pile from collapsed construction and detonates them all from the flames of his anger (star=sun=fire=boom), creating a huge explosion that turns him into a shooting star
8. Explosion leaves one last firework, and the monkey can’t help but send it off, knocking down the moon.

Please remember that our group hasn't 'split', but rather we are all doubling our efforts in a genuine attempt to make both of these stories "work". Generate as many ideas as you can for both, and draw them out in as much detail as you can (detail = particulars, not line quality). Tuesday we choose!

We can do this!

~Gord

Monkeys

2006-11-20T10:34:00.000-05:00

heres some rough monkey concept designs. If theres any designs or drawings you like tell me, ill push em further.

-jen

DQ's monkey design

2006-11-19T17:51:00.000-05:00

the monkey doesn't need a pot anymore, other then that you can be very flexible when you draw this monkey

DQ's thumnails

2006-11-18T02:30:00.000-05:00

well there are some confusing parts there but you can read typed in version down there

Star character arc

2006-11-18T02:20:00.000-05:00

OK now our story is more like...most entertainment comes from the monkey but star's

character arc is what moves the story forward, so...

Star falls down

Dazed in the water looking up the sky

realization(that he fell down on earth)

panic

super panic

hyper panic

Dazed in the lava looking up the sky( curious about the fireworks happening above)

realization(that monkey took him down)

anger

super anger

blasts up

2006-11-18T02:17:00.000-05:00

The sequences of Refined Story

There are some changes
We took out the low phobia part and starfish joke part
The reasons for low phobia part,
one thing is the story is now more about monkey as apposed to the star (sorry but it happened to be that way it actually works better than ever) so not enough time to explain all that about the star. Story flows well only with the motivation of returning home anyway, so why not trim down excess fat.
Moreover, DQ came up with this beautiful image when the star gets on the top of the volcano, falls into and floating on the lava looking up the sky thru volcano frame (so he is floating on the top inside the volcano) and wake up by fireworks ( shot up by the monkey) exploding in that view (so he sees the fire work already there then before drifted down the lave stream). This ties in really well with the scene at the beginning when the star falls into the water and floats there looking up the stars in the sky while ‘also’ dazed and wakes up by the ‘monkey’ again.
So, these two scene become like the major points that everything ties into
The reason for star fish part is, since we strongly agreed on that the monkey shouldn’t talk, we didn’t want to go thru all that troubles to visualize it without saying ‘star…. Fish’ part.
Also, it is the only part left that doesn’t tie in with any other parts and gets on the way of those two tied in scenes( in order for the first floating on the water scene to match better and clearly with the floating on the lava, we’d better not have the starfish around)
So, the story goes….

l establishing moon stars volcano island
l box arrival
l establishing monkey roasting bananas as if he roasts weenies with the flam from lava
l monkey sees the box as box of bananas( instead red stripe fire crackers, yellow plain fire crackers maybe)
l monkey struggles opening the box and busts the box open different sizes of fire crackers are sprung out scattered all over the place
l monkey roasts one of the firework crackers the fire cracker gets shot up in the sky monkey finds it very exciting
l monkey tries to roast bunch of crackers at once crazy fire work happening
l monkey tries to hide under a tree that turns out to be a huge fire cracker
l monkey hugs put it on the lava and shoots it up
l crash the star out of sky
l monkey’s tail(or ass depending on which character design we will choose) on fire from that huge firework blasting
l star falls down into and extinguished in the water
l monkey puts his ass in the water
l star on monkey’s ass
l monkey throw star back
l star floating on the water dazed looking up the stars in the sky
l drown star( wakes up star)
l star gets on monkeys head and says ( who what where???)
l star panics quickly jumps on the rock-tree-up the volcano
l star does panic hop on the top of the volcano and fall into volcano
l star floating on the lava dazed looking up the stars in the sky
l star sees fireworks explosion
l star investigates who is doing it
l star stream down the lave to where monkey is shooting the fireworks
l star finds out that monkey did it and gets angry
l star jumps on the box and confronts monkey
l star ignites the fireworks inside the box
l monkey drawn back away
l monkey plugs his ears with his fingers getting ready for the bang sound
l star says listen to me you!! And stuff
l monkey close the lid of the box
l star launches
l monkey very happy watching it
l star back
l monkey tumbles over a giant firecracker
l monkey launches it
l big bang
l monkey reaction to falling moon
l crash
l moon tucked into the volcano
l rumbling
l monkey plugs ears for the disaster
l end

Ohh, and this one

2006-11-16T16:01:00.000-05:00

Something magical about a tree at the top of a volcano..isnt it?

concepts

2006-11-16T15:46:00.000-05:00

cool volcanic island..
underwater pov

-Vlad

Acrophobia

2006-11-14T18:49:00.000-05:00

from wikipedia.org:

"Acrophobia (from Greek ἄκρος, meaning "summit") is an extreme or irrational fear of heights. It is a particular case of specific phobias, which share both causes (differing in the source of the phobia) and options for treatment.

Acrophobia can be dangerous, as sufferers can experience a panic attack in a high place and become too agitated to get themselves down safely. Some acrophobics also suffer from urges to throw themselves off high places, despite not being suicidal.

This extreme fear can be counter-productive in normal everyday life though, with some sufferers being afraid to go up a flight of stairs or a ladder, or to stand on a chair, table, (etc.)."

-cliff

Pitch Package

2006-11-01T00:54:00.001-05:00

Sorry guys I know some of you wanted this earlier today...I am putting up a zip file of our pack for now...pages will be posted later...

Pitch Pack

~Bon

Layout 3

2006-10-30T03:04:00.000-05:00

A more medium shot layout to allow character performance.

-Vlad

Layout #2

2006-10-30T01:54:00.000-05:00

Haven't painted in a while..this is fun. :)

-Vlad

Twinkle

2006-10-30T00:11:00.000-05:00

So i thought of this little star as an innocent character that doesnt take stress well. In one pose you can see he's wearing a monocle....why ... well i was thinking not only is he a little too smart for his own good but when his rage builds i see him flushing with color and with a few eye twitches his rage clearly to the point of no return, his little monacle cracking. there is a lot of facial expressions i have yet to play around with, could be a fun character.

-jen

Layout #1 for pitch

2006-10-29T23:15:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! my first post here. Well, finished one so far..continuing to work on another...

Vlad

Blue monkey concept

2006-10-28T21:48:00.000-04:00

To set mood i was thinking the monkey could be blue considering the story takes place at night. I also see his character as a very chill and relaxed, the color blue brings that attitude out.

Star characters

2006-10-27T20:57:00.000-04:00

The Story as it Stands (aka A Monkey with Fireworks)

2006-10-24T19:38:00.000-04:00

Here's the basic idea of the story, as conceived in the meeting. There are plenty of opportunities for gags, but the key is that now we have:
1)a solid motive to get to the stars in the sky - wants to get home, and 2)a beginning - monkey knocks star down to island with firework,
middle - mistakes star for starfish and star gets frustrated,
climax - star discovers monkey is responsible for his fall, and
end - star gets back up to space on a firework, but knocks down the moon.

So here we go:

[Unseen exposition]{A monkey on an island discovers a crate of fireworks that have washed ashore. He begins to play with them and figures out how they work. He shoots them off over and over until... }

A star is knocked out of the sky by a blinding flash of sparkling light. We see him soaring down to the ocean, skipping across it, bouncing across the island beach, and coming to a full-tilt face plant. The monkey comes in "are you okay little starfish?" The star is understandably dazed.
The star makes every attempt to convince the monkey that he is not a starfish, (opportunities for very many gags here) and that he needs to get back to the sky, which seems practically impossible. The monkey, suspending his disbelief, tries everything he can think of to help the star get back up (gags of foiled and very stupid attempts). Finally, he suggests that if anything could work to get him up there, it would be 'these'... he takes the star to the fireworks crate and shoots one off to show him. Upon seeing the sparkly explosion, the star realizes the monkey is responsible for his fall, and freaks out. After calming down, the star realizes that the monkey is right, he can probably use the fireworks to get home. After one or two inevitably foiled attempts (i.e. hanging on by the wick, or using cracklers without realizing the difference, or not hanging on tight enough, etc.) the star is finally launched back into space in a sparkly explosion, propelling him back to where he came from.

then...

the monkey looks in the crate to see one firework left, and just can't help but send it off, and we see him trying to run for cover as everything glows brighter and brighter around him. Until finally the moon falls down with a thud on the island. "What the hell was that!" he declares, sitting/rolling up to reveal the firework lodged in his eye (gag - parody of Le Voyage Dans La Lune [France 1902] http://www.greatestfilms.org/voya.html)

That's the story as best I can re-iterate from the brainstorming giggle-fest with DQ. I did patch some points on my own, just to make it all work so we have a quilt with no missing patches to start from... But let the ideas pour, I'd like to hear them. It's all pretty flexible, but I think this story stands very well as it is. Lots of visual animation, with glowing, fireworks, nightscenes, etc. and great opportunity for character development, with a twist - full circle ending. All easily done in 2 minutes.

Let the brain juices flow! cheers!

~Gord

Fun Pack

2006-10-23T19:44:00.000-04:00

I will be posting the pages of our fun pack as I finish compiling them. Check back every hour to see new pages. Any comments/changes you have direct them to me on msn.

-Bon

Some Ideas...

2006-10-15T17:10:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd throw this out there before Monday so you guys can brew on it.

I decided to change the setting in my version to a boy's room where he has glow in the dark stars plastered all over his ceiling. The starfish believes this is the sky and it is where the starfish gets the motivation to become a "real" star (sticking with the original premise, but it's a comical twist). He builds a contraption using stuff in the boy's room (similar to vlad's story) and launches himself into the ceiling, plastering himself over a glowing star. Soon he dries up and dies because he's been out of water for too long. The boy comes back home/wakes up (depends when you want this to occur -day/night) and finds his room a total mess and his pet starfish gone.

I know you guys think we've been changing the story far too many times already, but I'm just changing the location, since it would make a little more sense vs. starfish in a kitchen waiting to be eaten (already there is a bit of believability lost because the concept of eating starfish isnt widespread).

Here's a relevant picture from KH visual collection: Sora's Room

~Bon

Notes from Dreamworks Presentation

2006-10-11T19:35:00.000-04:00

Story
- the story is driven by a unique and interesting character, and the plot is a result of that character's motivation and behaviour
- flawed characters are more interesting, because the audience can identify with their struggle
- pace yourself, it takes time and you need to maintain energy to stick it through
- don't be afraid to take chances
- explore who the character is, and the subtext of their actions
- don't second guess yourself, other people can do that for you

"Be prepared to kill your babies" - things will change by the end, embrace change and don't cling to your present ideas.

"The first draft is shit" - you may have to re-write the story 50 times or more. The initial thoughts and ideas you have will always be stereotypes. You have to dig down to the new and fresh ideas by re-writing and simplifying over and over and over and over... it never ends, until you decide to settle. You know you've hit it when the audience finds more relevance in your story than you do.

"Keep it simple" - don't worry about design, just ideas.

"Commit to the idea" - once you've decided the subject, stay with it until all the details are ironed out. Don't (as we've learned) change your subject in hopes of finding a better story.

"Be prepared to generate" - you only get out what you put in. The more you have, the more you have to choose from.

Inspiration
-improvise
-sketch
-read books
-watch movies + commentaries, sketch thumbnails
-watch silent movies for clear staging tips - Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd
-Observe life

Helpful Resources:
http://sevencamels.blogspot.com
Books; Ray Bradbury - Zen in the Art of Writing, Stephen King on Writing, Disney's Illusion of Life

Some other helpful links:
http://theartofglenkeane.blogspot.com/
check out "writing tips" at http://jameshudnall.com/toc.htm

props

2006-10-10T21:29:00.000-04:00

cliff

The Story of Twinkle

2006-10-06T16:10:00.000-04:00

Outline, First Draft

Twinkle the star is shining up in the night sky. Suddenly he comes loose out of ‘the fabric of space’ and falls down to the Earth where he [comes into collision with a satellite, a plane, and a seagull?] falls into the ocean against a rock knocking him out cold.

After he regains consciousness, a fish asks him what he is. He doesn’t know. She makes some suggestions of sea life, but none of them sound familiar. She suddenly realizes what he could be, and takes him to see the starfish.

They look him over from head to toe, and determine he isn’t one of them and tell him and the fish to leave. After some crying and despair, the fish comforts twinkle and promises to figure out what he is. Just then a large octopus climbs over the top of the cliff’s edge they have been resting on. It gives chase to the two as the fish scoops up twinkle and makes a dash for the surface of the water where the octopus can’t swim.

But not quick enough, as the octopus swipes the two back down, the fish falling into a rock and passing out, and twinkle falling into a deep crevice. Twinkle seems helpless having fallen so far from his friend, who is now in danger of being eaten by the octopus. He calls after it to leave her alone, and it does, however it is now coming down after him. He doesn’t know what to do, so he covers himself in fear. This causes him to glow so intensely the octopus is blinded and flees.

The fish, having regained consciousness from twinkle’s yelling, had seen the whole thing and now knows what he is. She takes him to the surface where she shows him the ‘diamonds in the sky above the world so high’, and he realizes he is indeed one of them. He says goodbye to his friend reluctantly, receiving a kiss, and heads back to outer space where he places himself back into the ‘fabric of space’ a little more firmly this time.

There's my version of the story, see what you can come up with!

~Gord

Story - potential elements 2 + template

2006-10-05T15:24:00.000-04:00

oct 5 meeting:

-unaware of gravity
- gets shine back when he learns to be compassionate
-incomplete constellation

climax: star must choose between the (final?) opportunity to get home (now or never) OR save his friend (starfish or blowfish, whatever)

template:

1. star loses glow
2. lost+trapped in the ocean
3. attempts to get back (montage?)
4. sacrifices his goal to save his friend (climax)
5. as a result, gets glow back, and achieves goal

cliff

Story - potential elements 1

2006-10-04T16:02:00.000-04:00

list of potential story elements from oct 4 meeting:

-octopus zombie
-hunting stars
-zodiac signs messed up
-star getting dimmer in ocean
-star as template in factory
-star vs. ocean civilization
-blowfish becoming something else (moon)
-architect
-lantern
-suicidal star
-fat stars/starfishes
-(moon) goddess
-montage sequences
-unaware that he has to learn something to reach his goal
-mean star (character development) to kind star

cliff

First Post!

2006-10-03T17:33:00.000-04:00

hey everyone :)

we have picked the starfish premise, and are currently in the process of story treatment!

cliff