Jumping Flour Sac

second assignment for my Classical Animation class

Art & Creativity Final

Final project for this term's Art & Creativity class. A post-modern sculpture/painting with Dada and Surrealism influences. One of my favorite art projects that I've done at VFS so far. (the red box it's on is not part of the project...I just didn't want it on my floor while the paint was drying :p)

Action Sequence

Assignment for my Writing 2 class; a 5 minute action sequence that could be used as the opening sequence of a movie.

Usually I don't post anything I write and I hardly ever show my writing to anyone, but this was a lot of fun for me to write, in fact it's the most fun I've ever had writing and when I have time I want to finish it and make it into a full-length screenplay, so I figured I should share it.

"CAPTAIN TEN"

EXT. DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN - NIGHT
Towering skyscrapers close in on the streets of downtown Manhattan. The nightlife scene is in full swing; contemporary rap and pop music can be heard blaring from the many clubs and bars that line the streets, women stumble across the sidewalks in their stilettos being held up by men who look like they could have their own Abercrombie and Fitch campaign.
A woman screams. The people on the street look up towards the roof of the nearest skyscraper in shock and then horror. X LEON is a tall man dressed entirely in black spandex, his grey eyes covered by a black mask. A deep, violent scar runs down the entire left side of his face. His long, thin fingers are wrapped tightly around the throat of MOLLY, a 20 year old beautiful, innocent looking brunette.
X LEON
People of New York! Long time no see! What has it been...ten years? Oh, you don’t remember do you? Well let me take you on a little trip down memory lane.
Molly whimpers and struggles in X Leon’s grasp so he tightens his hold on her. A crowd begins to form at the base of the building.
X LEON
For fifteen years I served your city; fighting crime, stopping derailed trains, rescuing children from fires, ; making sure that all of you could sleep safe and soundly at night.
X Leon takes a step closer to the edge of the skyscraper pushing Molly with him.
X LEON
And guess what? You all loved me! Yeah, I was your “hero.” Every week, I was on the front page of the New York Times, I was given a key to the city, children begged for my autograph, at Halloween, mine was always the first damn costume to sell out!
The crowd below continues to grow; several news crews have arrived and are now filming the scene.
From the shadows of the roof, the silhouette of a tall, muscular man is seen. He approaches X Leon and Molly, ducking behind air vents and walls.
X LEON
And I make one tiny, miniscule, insignificant mistake and you all turn your backs on me. They take me, and torture me, and throw me in jail and everyone forgets about me just like that. Well guess what, I’m back now. And I think this city has gone long enough living without fear.
CAPTAIN TEN slips out slowly from the shadows behind X Leon and Molly. He wears blue spandex and a red cape, his electric blue eyes covered by a red mask. He has dark hair and a square jaw; his shoulders are broad and relaxed.
X LEON
Ah, Captain Ten...
X Leon slowly turns his head towards Captain Ten with an evil smirk.
X LEON
Took you long enough.
CAPTAIN TEN
Let the girl go, X.
X LEON
Now why would I do that? There are all these news crews down there with their cameras pointing at me, hundreds of people have come out to watch the show. It’d be rude to leave without even getting to the climax of this little plot.
X Leon jerks Molly roughly as he speaks. She looks at Captain Ten terrified, silently pleading for help.
X LEON
Oh that’s right. Let her go so you can take her in your arms and be a hero, and everyone will rejoice and thank you for protecting them from that “evil, evil man in black.” Get over yourself Ten. You’re not a hero, you’re a novelty; and when they get bored of you, you’ll be nothing.
X Leon moves right to the edge of the building and forces Molly to stand on the edge, her toes barely gripping onto the edge.
CAPTAIN TEN
I’m warning you now X, let her go or you’ll regret it.
X LEON
You know what, I don’t think I will. You know why?
X Leon releases Molly and she falls from the building with a blood-curdling scream. Captain Ten is a blur as he runs with inhuman speed across the roof and vaults himself into the night sky.
The crowd below gasps in alarm as they see the figure of Molly plunging toward the ground.
Captain Ten swoops in beneath Molly and catches her in his arms. They land on the ground in front of the crowd; Captain Ten sets Molly on her feet and takes flight. Molly and the crowd continue to look up in awe.
Captain Ten lands on the roof of the skyscraper. He whips his head back and forth searching for X Leon who is no where to be seen. Suddenly a whip is wrapped around Captain Ten’s left ankle and yanks him from the roof. He is dragged through the air and crashes against the glass window of a neighboring skyscraper. Ten looks up and X Leon is leaning over the edge of the building holding the whip in his hands.
X LEON
See Ten, that’s why you always lose. Your desire to kill me can’t compare to that, what do they call it, hero complex of yours. Personally I think you just have a big ego...
Captain Ten suddenly jerks his body which causes X Leon to lose his grasp on the whip and shout out in surprise. Captain Ten is a blur as he flies by X Leon; x Leon himself flies after Captain Ten. Captain Ten and X Leon are a blur as they fly through the buildings of downtown Manhattan.
Captain Ten lands on the top of a bus. X Leon lands on the opposite end of the same bus seconds after; he and Captain Ten eye each other and the bus speeds through the streets.
X LEON
It’s all over Ten; just stop running already.
CAPTAIN TEN
I can’t do that x; I can’t let you hurt innocent people, not like last time.
X LEON
How many times do I have to tell you people? That was an accident!
CAPTAIN TEN
I know it was. But what you did tonight to that girl, that was no accident.
Captain Ten dives for X Leon, but X Leon jumps and dodges him. Captain Ten slides across the roof of the bus. Before he falls he grabs onto the ledge of the bus and flings himself back on the bus. As soon as he does this, X Leon appears suddenly and kicks Captain Ten square in the jaw then disappears. Captain Ten lifts his head and sees X Leon standing on the roof of a following bus.
Captain Ten gets up and jumps across the gap between the two buses. As soon as he lands X Leon jumps from the bus and onto the street. Captain Ten does the same and the two of them run through the heavy traffic. They run into a New York City Subway station.
INT. NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY STATION - NIGHT
Captain Ten chases X Leon down the stairs, dodging people left right and center. When he gets to the platform he looks for X Leon but he has lost him in the crowd.
BOY
Mommy! Mommy! Look! It’s Captain Ten!
A six year old BOY with curly brown hair, huge brown eyes, and wearing a Captain Ten T-shirt breaks free from the grasp of his mother’s hand, runs to Captain Ten, and looks up at him in awe.
BOY
Are you really Captain Ten?
Captain Ten looks down at the boy, think for a second, then runs around him in a circle so fast it looks like he barely moved. The boy looks stunned and amazed.
BOY
Wow!
Captain Ten smiles and ruffles the boys hair.
CAPTAIN TEN
You better get going kid, your mother is waiting.
The boy runs to his mother and Captain Ten continues searching for X Leon.
BOY (O.S.)
It was really him!
As Captain Ten searches, a screeching sound suddenly echoes through the station. People begin to panic. Captain races down the platform and sees that a train has stalled in the tracks. One of the train doors slides open enough just for X Leon to lean out and make eye contact with Captain Ten just as the subway intercom voice sounds through the platform.
INTERCOM VOICE
The next inbound train will be arriving in one minute.
Captain Ten looks up at the digital overhead sign that announces incoming trains, then looks back at the train, panicked. He races to the train and bangs his fist as hard as he can against the door, shouting so as to be heard through the sealed plastic.
CAPTAIN TEN
X! All of these people are going to die!
X LEON
That’s the point!
CAPTAIN TEN
You can be better than this!
X Leon pauses in thought momentarily, then disappears into the crowd of passengers. Captain Ten hangs his head in defeat. Suddenly the train roars to life and speeds down the track; the sudden force of the moving train makes Captain Ten stumble backwards into the concrete wall of the platform. He takes a deep breath then looks to his left where the stairs of the subway station are.
At the top of the long staircase stands X Leon, his black cape flapping gently behind him. His cold, grey eyes peer at Captain Ten behind his mask, but now there is something different about them; they hold defeat and shame. X Leon turns and walks away; Captain gives a huge sigh of relief.
EXT. DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN - NIGHT
Captain Ten emerges from the subway station and the crowd that had been watching previously swarms him. News reporters thrust microphones into his face asking questions all at once; cameramen get up in his face with large cameras trying to get a good shot of New York’s hero.
NEWS REPORTER
Captain Ten, what’s your next move when it comes to defeating notorious villain X Leon?
CAPTAIN TEN
I’m going to continue to do what I always have; do whatever it takes to protect the people of New York.
The crowd erupts in cheers and applause. Molly stands further back from the crowd looking up at the building; her body is tense and she wraps her arms around herself as she stares up at the place where she nearly lost her life just minutes earlier.
Captain emerges from the dissipating crowd and walks over to Molly, who has yet to notice him.
CAPTAIN TEN
Are you okay?
Molly snaps her head in Captain Ten’s direction, her features soften as she realizes it’s not the villain who tried to kill her, but the man who saved her life.
MOLLY
Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you, for...everything.
CAPTAIN TEN
It’s what I do. By the way, I’m -
MOLLY
I know who you are.
CAPTAIN TEN
Right.
Captain Ten chuckles softly; he and Molly look at each other and share a smile.
CAPTAIN TEN
I guess I’ll see you around then.
MOLLY
See you. And thanks.
Molly resumes looking up at the skyscraper. Captain Ten walks down the sidewalk and stops; he turns to look at Molly one last time and smiles before taking off and flying into the night.
CUT TO: BLACK

Inspiration Posters

Term 2 Visual Communications final assignment; make a poster for three things that inspire you.

"How to Land a Man"

Final assignment for my Term 2 Media Production 01 class; assignment was to make an instruction manual using  Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign and original graphics. This is my satirical, 1950's inspired manual on "How to Land a Man."

Interview with Peter Jackson

I'm going to take a break from posting about my discovery project and go back to posting about the thing that brought me to film school, filmmaking.

Here's a great interview I found with Peter Jackson, who is actually the person who first inspired me to go into filmmaking.



I have a huge amount of respect for Peter Jackson and who he is as a filmmaker; for him, making movies is not about gaining fame or earning a huge paycheck, he does it simply because he is a fan of film.

The "Lord if the Rings" films are some of my favorite movies of all time, and it is evident how much passion and commitment Jackson had for the project. He also has a certain amount of fearlessness to take on LOTR, a huge risk of a project that could have easily destroyed his career.

I really admire directors who care enough about their movies to not only direct but produce and have total control over the movie and how it is marketed and advertised. Filmmakers always have the fear that the studio will limit too much director control and the film will become misrepresented, and directors who take on the extra responsibility and stress for the sake of the film is an incredible thing.

First Attempt at Classical Animation

This is the first assignment I did for my Classical Animation class at VFS, and even though it seems to be a really simple and basic piece of animation, it actually took a lot of planning and patience, more so than I had anticipated. It doesn't seem like much, but it actually took a couple of hours to draw and film, and consists of nearly 25 drawings.

After doing this assignment, I realized how much work actually goes into 2D animation, and I have gained so much more respect for classical animators. I had very little understanding of the animation process, and after doing it myself I have more appreciation for movies that are created using classical animation because the amount of work that goes into them is truly impressive.

While doing this project, I was surprised to find myself actually enjoying the process of classical animation. Drawing has never been something that I was really interested in and for me it takes a lot of time and practice to be able to draw well, so I figured that something that involved so much drawing would be something I would hate, but I didn't. Even though my passion and career choice is still film, I'm glad that I chose to dedicate my discovery project to classical animation because it gives me the opportunity to explore a different aspect of entertainment arts, and maybe one day I'll explore classical animation professionally.

Classical Animations

Some examples of classical animations done by VFS students that I've been watching to get ideas and inspiration  for my discovery project.

A great example of a basic line-drawing animation (no color added) along with well-designed and animated opening and closing titles and credits. This is one of the pieces that I'm modeling my own classical animation after. 

Other classical animations that I found and love because of the character design, narrative and concept, animation, sound design and/or opening/closing titles.

Title Sequences

Here are some links to various title sequences for movies that I found when doing research for my discovery project. Unique and creative title sequences are something that I always notice and appreciate in movies and it is an aspect of editing that I definitely want to apply to both my discovery and final project.

One of my favorite title sequences created by title sequence designer Kyle Cooper; mind-blowing and genius use of font, motion graphics, SFX, music, and integration of movie shots and stills.




Title sequence for the 2007 independent Scottish film "Hallam Foe" designed by animator David Shrigley and one of the inspirations behind my discovery project. A really great example of what I want to do for both of my project, but particularly my discovery project because it is a classical animation and motion graphics composition.





Opening sequence for the film "Juno;" incredible hand-drawn animations and a great font design; this was another inspiration behind both my discovery and final projects.

Career Plans and Discovery Project

When I first found out that one of our assignments for Art & Creativity, I wasn't exactly thrilled. Blogging is not something that I have much experience in, and having my personal life visible on the internet was not something I was totally comfortable with; but then I realized that this would be a great opportunity to get my name out there in the industry and have an outlet to showcase some of  my work.

I came to VFS with the dream of becoming a film director and producer, and while that is still my ultimate goal, I have pretty much decided that I want to begin my career as an editor. Before VFS I had some experience in editing through film courses in high school and I was comfortable with the Adobe Premiere software, but my Editing class in Term 2 is what really peaked my interest. It's a tedious process that requires a lot of patience and many of the instructors here have said that if you are OCD or a perfectionist, which describes me exactly, than editing is the perfect field to work in. So while the dream of becoming a successful director/producer is still the thing that drives me, my short term plan is to do editing for feature films and movie trailers as a foray into the film industry. 

My plan is to use this blog as way to keep track of different projects that I'm working on for school, starting with my discovery project. My first idea for this project was to write the script for my final short-film that would be screened at gradution because I wanted to get as much of a head start on my final as I could so that I wouldn't be pressed for time in Terms 4, 5, and 6. But trying to lock down a storyline for such an important project in a matter of a week was easier said than done, so I decided to go in a completely different direction and do a combination 2D animation and motion graphics piece using Illustrator, After Effects, and Flash. I don't have any experience in animation but it is something that interests me and I wanted to do something completely unrelated to live action filmmaking.

I wanted to work with motion graphics because since day one at VFS I've had the idea of creating my own font and animating it to use for the opening and closing credits of my final short-film, which is mostly inspired from a lot of independent movies that I've seen where this is used, and I wanted to use this project to learn how to do it. I'm still in the early stages of my project; right now I'm working on the character design and storyboard, which I'll post upon completion.