After a discussion tutorial with Phil yesterday, I was advised to find and watch some early silent comedy films to find inspiration for my story. In my head (and storyboarded) I currently have an idea for the opening of the animation, and after going over it, I think it works quite well. The real challenge is in the next two acts, where the story and character movements become more exaggerated and ridiculous as he tries to board the train.


Harold Lloyd was a suggested name, I found a nice selection of his short films which were re-released on DVD by New Line Cinema in 2005 ( from countless other releases before). I recognised Lloyd's name but assumed I hadn't seen any of his films, yet I still recognised many famous scenes as he is such a iconic comedian. I've spent the entire morning watching his comedy, which is leaving a huge impression on my story and character design.


Harold Lloyd became a household name from 1915 after starring as the glasses-wearing 'buffoon' usually named 'The Boy' in many silent short-length comedy films. Lloyd formed a partnership with Hal Roach who directed the majority of films that he starred in. In each film he has a love interest who he stars opposite, in the films I've watched so far, it has been a mix of Bebe Daniels and Mildred Davis (In his later shorts) Even though the earliest of his films are almost a hundred years old, they still are incredibly funny and I would say that they are arguably as funny as anything created since. After watching Billy Blazes Esq (1937) and An Eastern Westerner (1920), which are both set in a western frontier town I saw  a lot of opportunities for gags and actions in my own animation. Also after watching some of his others, such as Bumping into Broadway (1919) and Ask Father (1919) I realised how important comic timing and exaggeration of movement is when your film has no dialogue.

I'm going to watch many more of these to try and find more gags and I'm considering using certain scenes to animate my suitcase from, I'd love to attempt to give him Harold Lloyd character's personality, as a 'brave' fool. This afternoon I'm going to watch some of Buster Keaton's work, which I think will be just as beneficial.