Deleted Storyboards

    I apologize for the schedule being so inconsistent. I'm trying to figure out the best day to pick to post something/have a due date for progress every other week. Right now my work schedule's been so whacky and I'm in the process of trying to secure work at a studio again so that is only adding to my inconsistency right now. I'm thinking of just picking Saturday or Sunday as a post day only because I know I'll eventually be booked up all week and will have more free time on weekends.

    But I digress...

    While I was going through my production folder and just sorting things out, I came across a scene I had thumbnailed this past summer that had long since been excluded from the film so far. However, I still thought it was a cute scene and wanted to share it anyway:

    I had talked about this scene in one of my previous posts and why it was taken out. My intention was the show Oliver's human side and how while he can hunt, he also lives in a cabin and relies on human resources as much as he tries to live as a wild, solitary animal. However, because his hunting skills aren't up to par, he is hardly able to catch his food and being a kid living alone in the wilderness, I can't imagine he'd have any money to pay for much human food. To add insult to injury, a little mouse comes along and robs him of both sources of food basically. 

    The reason I ended up scrapping this scene was it added unnecessary time and it made the point of who he was kind of redundant. I've already established he's not good at hunting and dealing with confrontation in the beginning and that he's basically alone. Still, I was pretty happy with how it was all staged out anyway and it's good to kind of look back on it from time to time because while it's small, it is a quaint little home. Also, was really proud of those hands...hands are never my strong point. His cabin still does show up later in the story, in fact, I am using the same establishing shot later (*cough* Act III), however, I don't think I'll need to show the inside of it...at least not for this film. 

A Look Back

    I changed my mind and decided to post on Mondays instead of Saturdays. Maybe. I'm not sure if that's a smarter idea, but for me, it's easier to keep track of things and I know at this time I'm most likely to be less busy on Mondays than Saturdays.

    Anywho, progress is still slow going, but I'm almost done with boarding out Act I of Shift (aside from going back and making some adjustments.) If all goes well, I may even provide a little sneak peak animatic of Act I by my next post! Act II is pretty much all thumbed out and ready to go, Act III on the other hand is still a bit shaky but I have a general idea of where it's headed. It's just ironing out some details, maybe tweaking some designs.

    I don't have a whole lot of new stuff to show at the moment, but I realized I haven't shown my "Beat Boards" for the film yet so....

    These were from earlier this year, around April I believe, so some scenes have since been removed or changed. The opening chase scene is generally the same, but I changed the staging of some scenes and what prompts the wolf to chase Oliver has changed. The mouse scene though, as cute as that mouse was, was taken out as it didn't add much to the story. 

    Originally, I wanted to take a look at Oliver's "human side" and show him living in an old cabin..as humans do...and further emphasize how he's just..starving, the poor thing. No food, little resources..and to top it off a mouse has helped itself to whatever scraps Oliver had left. Angry and hungry, Oliver tries to catch the mouse but fails again, as he did trying to catch the hare earlier. It would've then transitioned into the next scene, Act II. 

    As pointed out by friends, it was already established that Oliver was not the best hunter after the run-in with the wolves, so struggling with that mouse felt redundant and added more time than was necessary. His cabin will stay in the film, but I don't know if you'll see as much of it. 

    On another note, I thought I'd share the original "attempt" at making this film too before continuing on with more progress and development:

    Mmmm-mmmm, look at that 720 x 480. I did this 4 years ago, wayyyy back when I was a wee little sophomore. I definitely took on more than I could handle but I gave it my best. I look back on it from time to time though to reflect on where I was and where I am now and it really boosts my confidence. If I can give one piece of advice to any new and even more seasoned animators and artists, it would be this: You can only move forward. You will only get better. Don't give up! It's simple and it doesn't sound like much, but it really does sink in, trust me.

    As much as I still struggle to believe in my own abilities I am much better at picking myself up now than I was only a few years ago. I am determined and at least confident enough now to work hard and keep my promise I made at the end of my sophomore year to revamp and complete this film.