I've completed some rough storyboards (Some of them more like thumbnails) and created a rough animatic using them. Although it doesn't look like much, this animatic has helped me immensley with the story in my head, as it is now 'out there' and alongside the music, ready to refine. There are a few issues with the animatic (Mainly with the music, which Im still tweaking) but I think it portrays the pace and mood of the animation. The animation itself is not shown in much detail, I plan to do in-depth animation sheets for each shot, so I know exactly what Im animating, this should save time and make it all 'cleaner'.
Over the last few days I've been completing some storyboards, so I can compile them into an animatic this week. To do this I've had to really think the story and action through. Below is the breakdown of the three acts, the action is quite hard to show in the storyboard/ animatic so I've decided to keep them simple and just put across the story rather than the movements.
Act 1
The opening theme is very grande western, with lots of adventure and speed.
1 .Steam Train hurtling down train-tracks towards the camera
2. Two suitcases together being pulled along on a trolley of luggage
3. Camera jumps back to the train, closer to the camera
4. Back to the luggage, being pulled along the platform
5. Train arrives at the station
6. The trolley, still being pulled, jolts and the male suitcase falls off the back and bounces under a bench
7. Luggage comes to life, jumps up, shakes itself off and something catches it's attention
8. The other luggage has been loaded into a train carriage, incluidng the female companion suitcase
Act 2
1. The suitcase steps out from underneath the bench, a pair of legs walk by and he darts back under to avoid being seen
2. He looks towards the carriage again, the door slams shut
3. The rail signal is shown changing and a whistle blows, as the train moves off.
The music begins to build again, gaining speed and a trumpet starts, sounding adventure
4. The suitcase panics, composes himself, stretches
5. He runs from underneath the bench along the platform, trying to keep pace with the train
6. He encounters another bench, jumps and runs along it
7. The next bench he slides underneath, still trying to keep pace
8. The end of the platform is close, up ahead he sees crates blocking the path
9. He clambers up them, sliding down a plank of wood propped up on the other side, slowing him
10. He reaches the end of the platform and stares towards the carriage down the track
11. The female companion is leaning out of a window, looking back towards him
12. He opens up, and a Tied-tie comes out and begins to spin like a lasso
13. He hooks onto a telegraph pole at the side of the track, diving off the end of the platform and swinging
14. He drops the rope and lands on a small building roof adacent to the track, the building is shown as a small rail-shed
15. The roof is negelected and is consisted of timber planks, which he begins to tip-toe across (The train is shown as getting further away)
16. The planks run out and he has to jump across to the next part of the roof, he makes the jump.
17. Suddenly the plank he is on splits and he falls through the roof, into the building.
18. The companion climbs down from the window back into the carriage, looking hopeless and sad.
19. The rail-shed is shown, it has an exit onto the track, but the inside is shadowed in darkness.
20. A shape begins to move out of the darkness with a squeaking sound
21. The suitcase is shown on a hand car, jumping up, grabbing the lever and pulling it down
22. The handcar begins to pick up pace along the track, gaining on the train
Act 3
23. The handcar reaches the back of the train,
24. The suitcase dives off, onto the back of the carriage
25. The female companion is shown again, sitting down, resigned
26. Cuts back to the suitcase on the carriage roof, running along the train
27. He jumps down into the carriage, spotting his companion
28. They are reunited
29. The train goes into the sunset
As a list, it seems incredibly long, but as a storyboard it is more manageable. There is a lot of character animation throughout, but this is where the main focus will be. Im sure this will change as the project progresses, I will probably find shortcuts and camera shots which save time, but for now, this is the current story.
Act 1
The opening theme is very grande western, with lots of adventure and speed.
1 .Steam Train hurtling down train-tracks towards the camera
2. Two suitcases together being pulled along on a trolley of luggage
3. Camera jumps back to the train, closer to the camera
4. Back to the luggage, being pulled along the platform
5. Train arrives at the station
6. The trolley, still being pulled, jolts and the male suitcase falls off the back and bounces under a bench
The music turns more light-hearted here
7. Luggage comes to life, jumps up, shakes itself off and something catches it's attention
8. The other luggage has been loaded into a train carriage, incluidng the female companion suitcase
Act 2
1. The suitcase steps out from underneath the bench, a pair of legs walk by and he darts back under to avoid being seen
2. He looks towards the carriage again, the door slams shut
3. The rail signal is shown changing and a whistle blows, as the train moves off.
The music begins to build again, gaining speed and a trumpet starts, sounding adventure
4. The suitcase panics, composes himself, stretches
5. He runs from underneath the bench along the platform, trying to keep pace with the train
6. He encounters another bench, jumps and runs along it
7. The next bench he slides underneath, still trying to keep pace
8. The end of the platform is close, up ahead he sees crates blocking the path
9. He clambers up them, sliding down a plank of wood propped up on the other side, slowing him
10. He reaches the end of the platform and stares towards the carriage down the track
11. The female companion is leaning out of a window, looking back towards him
12. He opens up, and a Tied-tie comes out and begins to spin like a lasso
13. He hooks onto a telegraph pole at the side of the track, diving off the end of the platform and swinging
14. He drops the rope and lands on a small building roof adacent to the track, the building is shown as a small rail-shed
15. The roof is negelected and is consisted of timber planks, which he begins to tip-toe across (The train is shown as getting further away)
16. The planks run out and he has to jump across to the next part of the roof, he makes the jump.
17. Suddenly the plank he is on splits and he falls through the roof, into the building.
The music drops into quite a sad and slow theme
18. The companion climbs down from the window back into the carriage, looking hopeless and sad.
19. The rail-shed is shown, it has an exit onto the track, but the inside is shadowed in darkness.
20. A shape begins to move out of the darkness with a squeaking sound
The music builds again really quickly, as the suitcase is shown in a heroic way
21. The suitcase is shown on a hand car, jumping up, grabbing the lever and pulling it down
22. The handcar begins to pick up pace along the track, gaining on the train
Act 3
23. The handcar reaches the back of the train,
24. The suitcase dives off, onto the back of the carriage
25. The female companion is shown again, sitting down, resigned
26. Cuts back to the suitcase on the carriage roof, running along the train
27. He jumps down into the carriage, spotting his companion
28. They are reunited
29. The train goes into the sunset
The music ends quickly, with a grande finish
As a list, it seems incredibly long, but as a storyboard it is more manageable. There is a lot of character animation throughout, but this is where the main focus will be. Im sure this will change as the project progresses, I will probably find shortcuts and camera shots which save time, but for now, this is the current story.
I've been working on this second piece of concept of the Steam Train. It is still a draft, I'm hoping to have it done in the next couple of days. It needs more detail added and a lot of engine smoke.
I've spent the day finalising my story idea and playing around with the introduction, but I felt I needed a bit of a break from storyboards so I started work on my first concept piece. After a bit of research into the train stations of Colorado, USA and watching a few early 20th century films featuring railways, I had a clear idea in my head of what I wanted my station to look like. I'd like to add more detail to this piece to make it seem more neglected, but I think the isolation and 'dustiness' is starting to come across. I'll post up a final version soon. I plan to complete a few similar pieces along with thumbnails and final storyboards by the end of the week.
I've been thinking about the aesthetic of my environment. I've produced some rough thumbnails as well as a quick coloured concept draft (Which I'll revisit sometime this week) I'll add more to this post tommorow.
I've found the head modelling on this character far easier after a bit of practice in Narrative, although Low-poly head modelling seems to be an entirely different process, the results still seem to be visually pleasing without being smoothed.
Below are the first week of Dyanamic tasks. I've used the particle effects in Maya before, but not to the quality and depth as these tutorials. Some really impressive results can seem to be generated from some careful settings in the particle controls.
