Busy Week

What a week! I did some rigging and concepting. But, unfortunately, a decent chunk of my time this past week was spent moving, so the film underwent less progress than usual.

Playing with tones and brush strokes.

The biggest challenge I'm facing right now is how I'm going to animate the characters. The visual direction is highly dependent on what character animations I can pull off. The vision is clear, but the execution is still a bit fuzzy. Nevertheless, I have a feeling I'll crack this puzzle by next Friday.

Until then!

Bailey

Painting Trees

This was a week of painting trees. And mountains. And more trees. And while I'm not "ready" to show people anything yet, I've got to show something! If I held off showing art until I was ready, I would just put it straight in the film because it would be done. The direction will change, grow, and be better.

A simple layout of a scene from Act I.

When I wasn't taking care of other projects and the business, I was collecting reference, exploring approaches to painting, and teaching myself basic character animation. I also started creating block-outs of the gas station and the cliff. Mostly just playing with where the camera should be and begging for some happy accidents. That said, I'm planning on most things being 2D.

If you're an artist out there who would like to learn more about this animated film, message me: info@formapictures.com. I'm looking for concept artists (character and environment) at the moment, but the project will eventually need 2D/3D animators and maybe a technical artist. I really believe in this project and I'm working hard to make it something genuinely good.

The composer is already creating the score, and now it's time to get some excellent artists on board!

Bailey

New Storyboard

This was a week of visual development and storyboarding. I had boarded the film previously, but it needed a whole new set of images based on significant changes to the story. I also needed to give Isaac, the composer, something more concrete to work from.

I still need to stage this film, but I'm waiting until after the music gets a first pass. Isaac and I had a great first meeting this week, and I'm very excited to start getting music into this thing!

And as far as visual development goes, I began concepting a scene from the film. However, there's no way I'm ready to show any of that yet! But rest assured, I'll show look development progress in due time. For now, I'll leave you with a few simple boards from the updated story.

Bailey

The Great Search for Music

Happy Friday everybody. Time for an update.

This week mostly had to do with finding music. If you know me, you know that my projects revolve around music. It’s why I’ve been searching for weeks. In total, I listened to a couple thousand songs (I counted the first thousand, then gave up), talked with musicians, agents, and put up ads for composers. I’m happy to say that I’ve found somebody to write an original score! Check him out here. Welcome to the project, Isaac! He’s a great musician and I’m confident he’ll pull off something awesome.

As promised, here’s a summary of the script so far:

Hunted is a dramatic short film. Set in the mountains, we follow the protagonist, Chloe. In the aftermath of losing her family, she must make the difficult decision between survival and vengeance. Her path is one of conviction and what it means to seek resolution in a chaotic world.

Fun fact: I spent some of my youth in the mountains you see in the image above (photo taken by me last week). So, the setting for this film is no accident.

Bailey

The Beginning

I’ve been working as an artist for many years. And through the years, my love for the craft has only grown stronger. These days I’m working on stories and motion graphics for trailers, short films, and more. I’m a visual guy with a love for music, so film is my favorite medium by a long shot.

This past summer I started Forma Pictures--a company I could call my own. I work as a freelancer, and I’m also slowly developing what will be Forma Picture’s first, original short film.

I was talking with a good friend and he suggested I post updates as I go. Sounded like a good idea to me, so here I am! It’s going to be a long project, but my hope is to shed light on the process with weekly updates.

Right now I’m developing the story. Here’s a peek at some of the first storyboard thumbnails:

Updates will come every Friday. I want to talk about the film and my weekly experiences as a filmmaker and entrepreneur. Each update will be short, and I’ll post pictures of work in progress stuff along the way.

I’ll tell you more about the story next week. The tone is somewhat dark...and sad!

Bailey