Two shots from version 2.0 of "The Rescue".
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Saturday, 30 August 2008
It has to go out there...it has to.
Wow. So, having even more distance between me and version 1.0 of “The Rescue” with my rest period (I had to stop everything and try hard to relax and rest, even though I had started to work very hard on The Pilot, it was time to stop completely) I’m at that point of being...well, very frustrated at what happened to me. What did happen to me?...well, the film couldn’t go on to have it's own little life in the real world as a DVD that could be sent to say The BCC Film Network, or to be sold on Amazon. This to me was very frustrating, disillusioning and sad.
But two things happened...
1) I watched Robert Rodriguez’s 10 Minute Film School...and it may sound corny or something here, but it’s a bit of a wake up call to watch that. His message (or at least what I take away from it) is that you must march on and persist regardless of what happens...and you must channel all of your creativity energy into using all the skills that you have, and force yourself to learn new skills. It all sounds remarkably common sense, and it is...but, I tend to go about creating films in a way that is very costly, and I need to get out of that...because there simply isn’t the money there to do it like this.
Rodriguez is basically saying that your options are limited, that you have to accept that your options are limited...and that really, you must have a LOT of positive energy, and march on with it. And, I think I would even say here, that he feels you just get on with making it and then get straight onto the next thing...a kind of don’t look back attitude. I can fully understand that attitude and I think it’s a good one.
The thing is though, that this means, there has to be compromise on your vision, and that it has to be a mighty big one...and I find that extremely hard to do, I love classical music far too much to want to stop using it...where this leaves me I'm not quite sure.
I'm sure Rodriguez would tell me to go round another route that would lead me to the same piece of music being used, and I do believe that other routes are entirely possible.
2) Speaking to a very good friend of mine that I went to college with. He opened my eyes somewhat when I had a conversation with him recently. We talked a lot about how I feel, when you make a film, the first version of that film you've made seems to always be the best version...but that it’s perhaps only because it’s the first one for you to see...you create a second version and if somebody sees that second version for the first time to them, then it’s highly possible that THAT will be they’re favourite.
Multiple versions of films is a hard area for me to get my brain round, yes I have been doing it for years now...but I’m going to have to do it on The Rescue which is something I wasn’t keen on but am now thinking that its important. It's absolutely vital that things move things forward and I get out of this rut of saying to myself "Well that’s that...I have to abandon this and go onto something else"...and work towards opening up a position that’s not hidden.
So what’s going to have to happen is, I’m going to have to go back to working on the original soundtrack I was making for “The Rescue” . This will be sound effects and synthesiser stuff. A onslaught of sound recording of anything I can get my hands on, theres a lot of things round the house that make a good sound so I'm hopeful about it.
The next version of The Rescue will also be in colour, I've done some tests which i'll post up next.
But two things happened...
1) I watched Robert Rodriguez’s 10 Minute Film School...and it may sound corny or something here, but it’s a bit of a wake up call to watch that. His message (or at least what I take away from it) is that you must march on and persist regardless of what happens...and you must channel all of your creativity energy into using all the skills that you have, and force yourself to learn new skills. It all sounds remarkably common sense, and it is...but, I tend to go about creating films in a way that is very costly, and I need to get out of that...because there simply isn’t the money there to do it like this.
Rodriguez is basically saying that your options are limited, that you have to accept that your options are limited...and that really, you must have a LOT of positive energy, and march on with it. And, I think I would even say here, that he feels you just get on with making it and then get straight onto the next thing...a kind of don’t look back attitude. I can fully understand that attitude and I think it’s a good one.
The thing is though, that this means, there has to be compromise on your vision, and that it has to be a mighty big one...and I find that extremely hard to do, I love classical music far too much to want to stop using it...where this leaves me I'm not quite sure.
I'm sure Rodriguez would tell me to go round another route that would lead me to the same piece of music being used, and I do believe that other routes are entirely possible.
2) Speaking to a very good friend of mine that I went to college with. He opened my eyes somewhat when I had a conversation with him recently. We talked a lot about how I feel, when you make a film, the first version of that film you've made seems to always be the best version...but that it’s perhaps only because it’s the first one for you to see...you create a second version and if somebody sees that second version for the first time to them, then it’s highly possible that THAT will be they’re favourite.
Multiple versions of films is a hard area for me to get my brain round, yes I have been doing it for years now...but I’m going to have to do it on The Rescue which is something I wasn’t keen on but am now thinking that its important. It's absolutely vital that things move things forward and I get out of this rut of saying to myself "Well that’s that...I have to abandon this and go onto something else"...and work towards opening up a position that’s not hidden.
So what’s going to have to happen is, I’m going to have to go back to working on the original soundtrack I was making for “The Rescue” . This will be sound effects and synthesiser stuff. A onslaught of sound recording of anything I can get my hands on, theres a lot of things round the house that make a good sound so I'm hopeful about it.
The next version of The Rescue will also be in colour, I've done some tests which i'll post up next.
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Reflection
I tell you its damned, damned weird thing being a independent animator...I felt so extremely low when The Rescue was coming to a end. I’m not even entirely sure if I can tell you what it was exactly...I maybe just looked at all the faults and could see no good things in it at all.
The thing is that your so extremely tired with exhaustion that perhaps your brain isn’t quite working properly?...and suddenly the project is in a viewable state, a starting to end viewable state, that has taken such a long time to get to that point...if your very stubborn like me, you glance across at it and you kind of feel in a way that you are looking at something that’s just no where near finished or how you want it...this for the sleep deprived stubborn man is too much.
NOTE: Your deadline got you here though, deadlines are both great and not so great...great because they get you to work like a crazy man, and results certainly do start to happen...you get a lot done with the shear “oh sh*t, I’m approaching the deadline!!” thoughts running through your head.
NOTE: Not so great, because things end up being rushed, this for me was always the character animation which is really terrible because character animation is the very soul of a animation.
It seems that you need to distance yourself from the animation and when that eventually happens...as time goes on, time fixes problems...I started to get more positive about it...Much, much more positive about it. At the time though it was just hellish. I felt like giving up altogether. But with time...you finally see how much you’ve learned...you make a film, you learn something, you make another film, you learn something else. That applies to life as well.
And I started to get really happy. All the things that went wrong are now knowledge...raw knowledge that is vital stuff, you have to work at it for years to get at this stuff. It goes into the next project and things WILL get better.
The thing is that your so extremely tired with exhaustion that perhaps your brain isn’t quite working properly?...and suddenly the project is in a viewable state, a starting to end viewable state, that has taken such a long time to get to that point...if your very stubborn like me, you glance across at it and you kind of feel in a way that you are looking at something that’s just no where near finished or how you want it...this for the sleep deprived stubborn man is too much.
NOTE: Your deadline got you here though, deadlines are both great and not so great...great because they get you to work like a crazy man, and results certainly do start to happen...you get a lot done with the shear “oh sh*t, I’m approaching the deadline!!” thoughts running through your head.
NOTE: Not so great, because things end up being rushed, this for me was always the character animation which is really terrible because character animation is the very soul of a animation.
It seems that you need to distance yourself from the animation and when that eventually happens...as time goes on, time fixes problems...I started to get more positive about it...Much, much more positive about it. At the time though it was just hellish. I felt like giving up altogether. But with time...you finally see how much you’ve learned...you make a film, you learn something, you make another film, you learn something else. That applies to life as well.
And I started to get really happy. All the things that went wrong are now knowledge...raw knowledge that is vital stuff, you have to work at it for years to get at this stuff. It goes into the next project and things WILL get better.
Monday, 21 July 2008
The Rescue: Part 3 of 3
Here we go, one day before the deadline I set myself...It now excists as somthing!
I’m not gonna beat about the bush here though, I'm very, very frustrated with my animation...and the way I think I see it...is...that it’s at the top of the bad pile and the bottom of the good pile, it’s a failure to me, because it's not a technical marvel, It also feels like a animatic at times, a rushed job.
I’m not gonna beat about the bush here though, I'm very, very frustrated with my animation...and the way I think I see it...is...that it’s at the top of the bad pile and the bottom of the good pile, it’s a failure to me, because it's not a technical marvel, It also feels like a animatic at times, a rushed job.
Saturday, 19 July 2008
July 19th 2008 Report
Very difficult to write this report, but here we go anyway.
The news is in that it might cost over two thousand pounds to use the Shostakovich music. And when you add the Bruckner to this, it comes to about two thousand five hundred...there’s some negotiations to get this figure down but I cant see it being reduced by much...I don’t know. The worst part of all this is that I don’t think I can spend that amount of money on this animation...because, I simply don't feel it's worth it. I feel terrible that the thing might not be set off on merry way into the world, to go off and visit the folks at the TCM short competition, I really do.
I didn’t realise that Mr Shostakovich was not past the eighty year copyright. The thing is though, his music is incredible, can't begin to tell you how big a fan I am of his stuff.
The news is in that it might cost over two thousand pounds to use the Shostakovich music. And when you add the Bruckner to this, it comes to about two thousand five hundred...there’s some negotiations to get this figure down but I cant see it being reduced by much...I don’t know. The worst part of all this is that I don’t think I can spend that amount of money on this animation...because, I simply don't feel it's worth it. I feel terrible that the thing might not be set off on merry way into the world, to go off and visit the folks at the TCM short competition, I really do.
I didn’t realise that Mr Shostakovich was not past the eighty year copyright. The thing is though, his music is incredible, can't begin to tell you how big a fan I am of his stuff.
Dowswell on Dowswell part 2 of 2
It also (over the years) has become very apparent to me that I have this sort of impatience and worry, that too much time is going past...that I wont get to where I want to be quick enough. I want a animation done and I want it done fast...this is really shooting yourself in the foot, because to get something of a real high quality (that runs for nine minutes) takes or should take a lot longer than seven months...you really, really cant and shouldn’t rush these things. (this is a recurring thing I keep saying)
I do however want to march on with my next short and will be making a conscious effort to get it detailed and far shorter.
I do however want to march on with my next short and will be making a conscious effort to get it detailed and far shorter.
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Dowswell on Dowswell Part 1 of 2
I’ve never found lighting or composition hard at all, I find that stuff remarkably easy and fast to do...but the actual animating part I do struggle with a lot. I would make a horrendous technical director and I think you can see its very apparent in my work...because, I *am* the technical director for this as well as all the other things. It brings me back round to how a solo project really displays your strengths and weaknesses...your passions and your laziness.
I wish though that I could just get on with making the film that I want..that the technical side didn;t crush the creative side. Part three of The Rescue has got very far removed from what I intially wanted. And i hate to say this...I really do...but, it's almost like its a animatic...but even worse...a first draft of the script to boot.
There's a lot here that I wanted to put in to highten the action, that I've had to leave out...and I'm really not happy about it at all. You just want to do your directors thing and say..."Right!...right I want the truck to go over a bump and respond perfectly TECHNICALLY to going over that bump in the road" or be able to say..."Hey right, get this!...I want the baddie robot to shoot out the glass on the jeep and have the glass fragments all go all over the place and sit perfectly TECHNICALLY with PHYSICS and all on the back end of the jeep"
I wish though that I could just get on with making the film that I want..that the technical side didn;t crush the creative side. Part three of The Rescue has got very far removed from what I intially wanted. And i hate to say this...I really do...but, it's almost like its a animatic...but even worse...a first draft of the script to boot.
There's a lot here that I wanted to put in to highten the action, that I've had to leave out...and I'm really not happy about it at all. You just want to do your directors thing and say..."Right!...right I want the truck to go over a bump and respond perfectly TECHNICALLY to going over that bump in the road" or be able to say..."Hey right, get this!...I want the baddie robot to shoot out the glass on the jeep and have the glass fragments all go all over the place and sit perfectly TECHNICALLY with PHYSICS and all on the back end of the jeep"
Monday, 14 July 2008
July 15th 2008 Report
It’s really getting there now...the edit is filling up...I reckon 30% or 35% to go here! Still nothing to report on the music situation, somebody in London is proving very hard to get hold of.
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
The Director Likes Shostakovich's Music
So my emergency producer has been phoning up the licence people to see how much it's going to cost to use these three classical bits of music. The Bruckner is gonna cost £150...and we don’t have the price on the Shostakovich just yet. But we’ve been told that its going to be more than £150.
It was a interesting day though, because I had heard my producer talk about me on the phone with my own ears. I'd never heard sombody say or call me a director in spoken word aloud before, so that was a first. Now this may all sound terribly self indulgent...and I spose a blog perhaps is...though, well I like to see these blog things as part of the publicity campaign to build up awareness of your film, but also I like writing things out into a blog to kill time...to distract, to look back on (I don't see any harm in htat?) but...it brings a smile to my face that I’m actually making films...sure, I’m completely unknown and very few people actually seem to (when you think about it) watch short films...but it still makes me happy that I found out what I want to do for the rest of my life and that I’m actually doing it...I also find it hard to believe that I am...but I am.
It was a interesting day though, because I had heard my producer talk about me on the phone with my own ears. I'd never heard sombody say or call me a director in spoken word aloud before, so that was a first. Now this may all sound terribly self indulgent...and I spose a blog perhaps is...though, well I like to see these blog things as part of the publicity campaign to build up awareness of your film, but also I like writing things out into a blog to kill time...to distract, to look back on (I don't see any harm in htat?) but...it brings a smile to my face that I’m actually making films...sure, I’m completely unknown and very few people actually seem to (when you think about it) watch short films...but it still makes me happy that I found out what I want to do for the rest of my life and that I’m actually doing it...I also find it hard to believe that I am...but I am.
Monday, 7 July 2008
July 7th 2008 Report
Ok...phew, I cant believe how much I seem to have got done, it’s crazy. I figured out a short while ago today that I’m at 48% complete on Part 3 of this thing. That’s sill a fair old chunk to do though...but, it's getting there. The big question of course now, is...can the 52% be done in fifteen days?...
Sunday, 6 July 2008
The Rescue: part 2 of 3
Here's the second bit, I'm not sure about the end of this, but it'll have to do for now.
Music by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich
Music by Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich
Friday, 4 July 2008
Splitting It Into Three
Have now decided to make this a three part thing instead of two parts...be prepared for some of those long shots. It’s the only way forward I can see this going. Part two wont be too long, but part three will be quite a length and have the big action scene.
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
The Rescue: part 1 of 3 (with a new ending)
Here we go again, I feel this is much better than before, the giant sphere (three shot sequence) at the end before just was not working, so have done more outside shots...I also have more ideas for how this can go next... I just hope that all this time spent polishing is not going to go towards me not making my deadline...
Music by Anton Bruckner
Music by Anton Bruckner
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
The Rescue: part 1 of 3
Has been up a tiny while on Revver but thought I'd upload here also.
Music by Anton Bruckner
Music by Anton Bruckner
Monday, 30 June 2008
Watching your own animation and going “hmm, you know, thats really not working...”
So I’m now at a stage where I can now view over four minutes of the animation with sound.
But the thing is some of it's really not going with the music, I am however quite amazed at the amount of it that does seem to go to the music. There was no planning involved in that either. Not sure what can be done about the part that’s very out of place though...
...It’s the weirdest thing though...the other day i was very down about this, but seem to be taking it better today, that I’ve gone from really not being a happy camper about it, to really quite liking bits of it a lot. I’m sure I’ll be hot cold with it though, like all my other animations. I’ll be hating it tomorrow and liking it again the day after that.
I cant help but feel here though that Ive not done what i set out to do...you see I wanted a soundtrack that just had sound...and actually had recorded some sound. I'd recorded a brass table sound and did some work on my Korg...and I have to say I liked how that turned out.
I have a great love for films that have done that very thing, like Fred Zinnemann’s 1973 classic The Day of the Jackal which is a great, great film and I recommend that fans of simply using the sound on location in your environment check this out, really wonderful film.
I'm also here reminded very recently of how well it worked on a short bit of animation I watched the work in progress on over at CG Talk, Anthony McGrath did a great job with his sound on his Mechanical Arms advert. It really makes it more atmospheric.
But with the deadline rush I had to make a decision, and I had to make a decision fast and stick by it...that’s definitely one of the things I feel that maybe...well I spose its both good and bad...you shouldn’t really have to rush art, but at the same time you should push forward and just go with something...it can be a good decision and it can be a bad decision, (in retrospect)...but its a decision and the project now exists as something.
But the thing is some of it's really not going with the music, I am however quite amazed at the amount of it that does seem to go to the music. There was no planning involved in that either. Not sure what can be done about the part that’s very out of place though...
...It’s the weirdest thing though...the other day i was very down about this, but seem to be taking it better today, that I’ve gone from really not being a happy camper about it, to really quite liking bits of it a lot. I’m sure I’ll be hot cold with it though, like all my other animations. I’ll be hating it tomorrow and liking it again the day after that.
I cant help but feel here though that Ive not done what i set out to do...you see I wanted a soundtrack that just had sound...and actually had recorded some sound. I'd recorded a brass table sound and did some work on my Korg...and I have to say I liked how that turned out.
I have a great love for films that have done that very thing, like Fred Zinnemann’s 1973 classic The Day of the Jackal which is a great, great film and I recommend that fans of simply using the sound on location in your environment check this out, really wonderful film.
I'm also here reminded very recently of how well it worked on a short bit of animation I watched the work in progress on over at CG Talk, Anthony McGrath did a great job with his sound on his Mechanical Arms advert. It really makes it more atmospheric.
But with the deadline rush I had to make a decision, and I had to make a decision fast and stick by it...that’s definitely one of the things I feel that maybe...well I spose its both good and bad...you shouldn’t really have to rush art, but at the same time you should push forward and just go with something...it can be a good decision and it can be a bad decision, (in retrospect)...but its a decision and the project now exists as something.
Friday, 27 June 2008
Thursday, 26 June 2008
The Soundtrack
This is really doing my head in at the moment...and with only twenty eight days to go, it’s a tad worrying...I have done a section of the film with sound effect that I feel is nice on some of it...and really not working at all on some other bits.
I also started to put some classical music onto it, and had exactly the same results...some of it great, some of it not so great. It's just one of these things...really, ideally, if you go and grab a classical piece of music...then you should shape your story *to* that music...but if you've gone ahead and made a film with no soundtrack...then you already have a shape...a shape that’s different to the classical piece of music.
So I have to decide and decide fast on what exactly should be done here. The soundtrack is extremely important and classical music is so very good, I really would like to go down that road I think but it means altering this and adding a lot of shots to get it to all fit...add more shots?...my god!!...lol.
Will see how this goes.
I also started to put some classical music onto it, and had exactly the same results...some of it great, some of it not so great. It's just one of these things...really, ideally, if you go and grab a classical piece of music...then you should shape your story *to* that music...but if you've gone ahead and made a film with no soundtrack...then you already have a shape...a shape that’s different to the classical piece of music.
So I have to decide and decide fast on what exactly should be done here. The soundtrack is extremely important and classical music is so very good, I really would like to go down that road I think but it means altering this and adding a lot of shots to get it to all fit...add more shots?...my god!!...lol.
Will see how this goes.
Tunnel clip
Here's two shots from the chase truck / jeep chase sequence. To cut down on time i had to take the crashed space ship wreck from Errans Alba. Its worked really well though.
Introduction
Hello!
I'm independent animator/director Michael J Dowswell and this is the start of a new blog for my latest short animation “The Rescue”.
This project started in mid December 2007 by accident, I was just playing around in Cinema 4D trying to create a really simple character and before long I had a sequence of shots complete.
Its science fiction, and is very much inspired by a lot of different things...Indiana Jones/Wallace and Gromit/Star Wars/Batman/Prisoner of War type stories.
It's also, I hope, what I keep saying "Experimental Cinema" hopefully.
It's maybe a bit late to start a blog on this, but I dont know...better late than never!
I'm independent animator/director Michael J Dowswell and this is the start of a new blog for my latest short animation “The Rescue”.
This project started in mid December 2007 by accident, I was just playing around in Cinema 4D trying to create a really simple character and before long I had a sequence of shots complete.
Its science fiction, and is very much inspired by a lot of different things...Indiana Jones/Wallace and Gromit/Star Wars/Batman/Prisoner of War type stories.
It's also, I hope, what I keep saying "Experimental Cinema" hopefully.
It's maybe a bit late to start a blog on this, but I dont know...better late than never!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)