MoTR Production Update: Week 26
Another 2 weeks down! Time to reflect.
Green grass finally starting to grow back in and the standard grey, overcast British skies are back. Siiiigh... Feels like home. :)
Current Status:
General:
Feeling a bit better from the burnout I was feeling two weeks ago. I think taking a break from my Sunday comics has done wonders. Plus realising that my ADHD meds seem to not be as effective when I take them the same time as my hormones. Lessons learned.
So, in terms of MoTR I've spent the last 2 weeks working on the Scribble Short and continuing the boarding process in Blender. Happy to say after crawling along for a bit my pace has finally begun to speed up. Woo!
Let's get into the weeds.
Scribble Shorts:
Yeppers! Another Scribble Short down. I'm really enjoying making these and in terms of raw numbers, they certainly do a lot better than my comics ever did. Plus it gives the VAs time to stretch their vocal talents and provide some visual accompaniment for their reels.
So let's take a look at it.
This was our first short that used completely original audio. I had initially intended to use some audio from another short for the first half but as I was requesting the VAs to do a few lines, I realised we didn't need it.
Personally I think Shogako and Lance did a great job and I had a lot of fun bringing the characters to life using their work. :) The next Scribble Short audio has already been organised and features our favourite Perogi singing as Potas. I might also add a voice-over explaining WHAT exactly MoTR is. As we do seem to be pulling in new eyes with these shorts.
Storyboards:
So happy to say progress is being made on the new storyboards for Episode 1 and my pace has increased as my low energy mood seems to be lifting a tad (thank god).
So, we're complete through the new boards with additional shots for ACT 1 of Episode 1. With that said I certainly want to go back and clean up some of the boards I did early on as I was getting used to the boarding tools in Blender. BUT, as Natka likes to remind me, focus on getting through what's on the plate right now, and go back to be a perfectionist later. :P
So how about we take some time to compare and contrast the old shots with the new shots?
Forgive me, I'm a teacher at heart.
Old vs New Boards:
I think a great example of displaying the old boards vs the new boards can be found in comparing the first couple of shots of ACT 2 of Episode 1 of Member of The Revelry.
The Point of Storyboarding:
It's worth defining the point of Storyboarding. The point is creating a storyboard sequence is NOT to necessarily have the most beautiful defined artwork on every board. In fact, spending huge amounts of time to perfect the art of a single board is generally a massive waste of time. Generally, the audience does not see the storyboards, they see animation/film developed FROM the storyboards.
The point of storyboarding is to essentially plan the sequences they depict. What angle works best? Where are the characters in relation of the camera? Do the sequence of events being depicted flow from one shot to another? What are the characters doing within these shots? When should an event of change happen? etc etc
We define those in the boarding stage, to give direction to the stages that come later.
ACT2 shot comparison:
With that in mind, let's start with the old boards:
As you can see, the art style at this point in time is still very rough (I did do these boards over a year ago now), the lighting isn't great and the 3D model of the ship itself is FAR less detailed.
However, the shots are clear and the sequence of events do flow from one to another albeit somewhat roughly in retrospect.
Here's the new boards of the same sequence.
Obviously the art style is far more defined (though rough), the lighting is better and the 3D model of the ship itself is far more detailed and there's a sky box. This is simply as a result of the art style itself simply becoming more defined after a year of drawing these characters, Katherine's hard work on the Grand Vagabond model itself, Melotea's lovely artwork placed onto a Sphere UV Mesh and the better rendering systems found in Blender in comparison to StoryBoard Pro.
But the point of real comparison is where I've changed the composition of the shots entirely. Primarily through the changing of where the camera and characters are located and the movement of the camera itself.
In the 4th shot, where the speakers on the mast are revealed, we can see that I originally simply cut to the speakers and eased the transition by having the camera pan upwards and ease out at the end. It works generally as we see in the previous shot that Hawkins is looking upwards. It hints that the camera in the following shot is almost following Hawkins POV as they notice the speakers.
An old animatic shot of Hawkins looking upwards.
In retrospect I think I missed an opportunity to reveal more of the layout of the ship. Thus I elected to change it by pulling the camera back, assuring we can acknowledge where Hawkins is located, and then panning upwards to reveal the location of the speakers. In that pan we reveal to the audience how small Hawkins is aboard this ship and reveal more general aspects to their environment, which at this point is as new and mysterious to the audience as it is Hawkins.
I also think the angle of Hawkins look upwards fits better with the layout of the ship as there actually is a balcony blocking their view of the speakers from where they are standing out them leaning over.
A new animatic shot of Hawkins looking upwards.
Another point of comparison can be found in the shot of The Powder Monkeys running into the main body of the ship itself, with Carbo pausing to comically threaten Hawkins by indicting they're keeping an eye on Hawkins.
In the original boards, the shot is actually quite close to the door itself. I'm not fully sure why I chose this shot a year ago but I suspect it was because I wanted to make the animation of the character's easier by having the camera itself placed in such a way that they were cut off.
It's also odd because it's clearly NOT accurate to where Hawkins is standing in the previous shot, which might be why I kept the camera relatively close to the characters in the shots previous, to hide the layout of the ship.
The beats to hit are present, but both Sulfu and Potas have basically no moment of characterisation.
When I came back to do this shot again I decided to embrace the challenge of difficulties in future animation in favourite of a shot that allows for characterisation and proper placement of characters.
Hawkins still takes up a position in the foreground of the shot and the Powder Monkeys still ultimately all run inside the ship through the double doors that Carbo slams closed. BUT with a shot like this, all the Powder Monkeys at small moment of characterisation (not just Carbo).
Sulfu is now excitedly staring at Hawkins from the doorway with Potas rolling their eyes and then shoving Sulfu inside. I wanted to depict Sulfu's scientific excitement at meeting a new creature and Potas' big brother personally, choosing to focus on the task at hand and physically moving their sister to getting back on task.
I also decided to have Carbo close the hatch in this shot, and not the previous one. In the original boards, Carbo closing the hatch was really quick and honestly could be easily missed. To me now, it seemed like a missed opportunity for some characterisation for Carbo. Now we see Carbo pushing the hatch close, smiling at the completion of their immediate task before turning to glare at Hawkins and then comically threatening them as they walk towards the doors. Going inside, Carbo slams the door closed.
I'll admit, this shot will be harder to animate in comparison to the previous one. But I think if I'm truly throwing myself into this project fully, I should embrace the fact that difficult shots are a part of the process. If a shot looks better but would be trickier to animate fully, I'll embrace the challenge.
Personally I think a lot of my thinking for these changes is based around my growing confidence in the art style and my story telling abilities. I mentioned it before but the original boards for ACT 2 are over a year old at this point. When I began storyboarding, I began with this ACT first. Thus the art style is VERY rough and the shots chosen were done so to reduce potential future workload.
But now We know how we're making this series. We've done tests and I have been drawing this characters everyday for over a year now.
Anyway hope this long ramble was interesting. Can't wait to read back on this in like 5 years and cringe my soul out of body. :D
Future work:
Okay so clearly, we're picking up speed again! The storyboarding process is going quicker and quicker as I'm more and more energised and confident in my ability as an artist.
So for the next two weeks that'll be my focus during my work hours. I do know that there is a significant chase sequence coming up that will have to be completely redone in the boards.
I also have a list of props I need to design and create model-sheets for if I get bored of storyboarding. Also another, VERY SIMPLE, character I should really get around to making a sheet for.
Also also, I'm intending to be aside my Sundays to focus on doing artwork unrelated to MoTR. A palette cleanser if you will. Had a character design stuck in my head for weeks that I just NEED to get out.
Lastly, I can also share that Katherine has returned to working on the 3D models whilst doing her classes and survival job and we're apparently getting very close to the UV mapping stage which will be followed by the texturing stage. I'm looking forward to our discord calls and learning Blender from watching Katherine work.
ANYWAY, I think that just about covers everything for this update. Hope it was an interesting read! :D
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