FinalM

Unfortunately, when attempting to finish up and put in final touches and to complete the final parts of this project, I started encountering many script errors and  several sound issues that odd and creative solutions were required to get around.  Most of my time was spent fighting with technology in these last few days.

It goes to show you nothing really goes as planned.

Many more hours went into the project for very little difference in the overall design or appearance of the flash “movie”

My Goal was to create a semi-interactive flash movie that loosely told a story.  This was more of a design idea than an animation idea.  The final product ended up being harder to come out with than I had first expected. Technical issues occurred, and in the end I had to make due with the few days I had remaining to track down solutions.  In the end I soldiered through to produce this: Click Here

In the end there were several minutes worth of frames created in several hundred layers.

The events unfold as such.

We see a small vessel flying over a dark and foreboding city.

The interior of the vessel is shown (first introduction to the main character)

The destination of the vessel is revealed (introduction of the corrupting element)

The main character is shown holding an odd object over his head.

(initial corruption) shows the characters first person view.

(Corruption) Shows the corrupted form of the character.

(Title) Fades into the prologue title.

Scripting

I took the time to script this piece, there are two versions, a automated version and an interactive one. I will be able to finish the last panel and do all the polishing I need now that my other final projects have been taken care of. What a week!

Automated

Interactive

When using the interactive model, please look for the area of most interest and click it, if you cannot find the object, the mouse indicator will change if you roll over it.

Post-PageAdded “Light”

Still doing improvements to the previous sets.

The light comes after “research” but research is still in process. This panel shows the main character looking through the “mask” for the first time.

It’s confusing without the the previous panel to lead.

http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1272448125

The timing issue will be resolved soon.  I will start compiling them and add transitions to help lead the viewer. Will likely have a semi interactive version and a “easy” version with a page turner.

The breathing sound was actually just me playing with a few sound settings.

(To be announced)

Something really urgent during the week has popped up leaving me to take care of  a really large mess.  I might be able to post more later, but currently I’m just trying to keep things together on my end right now.

http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1271847327

(something left here to finish later at a better date)

Producer 1

Not much visual change has happened, but the coding has changed quite a bit.  I will now be able to present this like a “moving picture book” “page turners”.  In each page, there is an interactive element that will allow the interfacer to click and move on to the next page. The pages will loop continuously until the page turner is clicked. A voice over may be added if it can be used without interfering with the overall feel of the story.  I want the story to tell itself through images.

http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1271235979

because the main scripting part is done, I should be able to continue on at a faster pace.

(click the ship, click the goggles)

From now On i’ll likely be posting these as longer segments with more pages until it is complete.

Prototype

the other “Pages” are still being worked on.

Imagine this somewhat like a moving picturebook without words.

Still a rough draft.

An introduction “page” inspired by the feeling of depth created by the “city” panel from past projects.

http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1270613088

http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1270617532

Production weeks: (in sections)

each section will have multiple parts.

week 1:  The City – The Calling

week 2: The Scientist – The Research

Week 3:The Design – The Light

Week 4:  The Hero – The Lamp

Week 5: final polishing and compiling

Judge:

I had had asked several friends online their opinion of “Lamp” being a project I am pursuing on different platforms.  The questions I was most interested in asking was:

1. What did they think of the contrast.

2.How much would this benefit from being animated.

3.How Apparent is the theme?

The general response I had received based on theses questions and responses in general weren’t exactly what I expected.  Though it seemed generally they enjoyed the High contrast images, most actually liked the purely white/black images more than the ones with a gray background.  However I felt that using stark white on black would take away more than it would give and would present itself to be a problem when animated, though It would be something to try out.

When asking about animation, some wanted to see this fully animated, some wanted to see this partially animated, and some wanted me to write this into a comic!  All have valid points to a degree, but the mixed review put me more on the lines of wanting to still hit it halfway. To be more or less a hybrid media.  Perhaps someday I can adapt this into a fully animated feature or turn this into a comic, but for now it’ll be assisted by animation, but not fully based on it.  I guess it’ll seem somewhat like a very completed animatic  gone video.

The theme was ambiguous as I assumed it to be.  Not many people even thought there was an underlying meaning to all this. Some actually jokingly thought it was just a story about a lamp rather than a man.  I took it into consideration, and I came to the conclusion that in the end, things should be made more clear. However, perhaps the ambiguity is a bonus, keep everyone guessing until the end, maybe never reveal it.

I don’t really know if my original scope for this project has changed at all, I’m still debating how far I want to push the story for the time I have, despite knowing what the story generally is.

March 31 update.

I was unable to work at home so I produced these images with what time I had.

More developed version of what I want images to look like. The story line is already completely thought out.

The city is seen as a monochromatic place with far more dark than there is light.  In this world darkness shrouds everything, and anything that provides light can be considered a commodity.  The darkness of this world makes life tough for the inhabitants, but luckily for them not a lot of things in this world require light to flourish.

Within the production stage I wish to completely finish the first part of the storyline (though later I hope to write out the rest).  The first part includes the finding of the luminous plant  and applying it to oneself.  What I am trying to portray in a partial animated media is the creation and discovery of the main protagonist who is, ironically, also the antagonist. What I will attempt to finish is the discovery of power and the creation of a hero.

Part2: Uniform

The character (lamp), starts to discover more about the plant like structure. The small orbs can be pulled into a thread like material.  When woven, it can be formed into a light producing fabric.

When wrapped around his neck, it formed a scarf that illuminated the surrounding area.

The fabric was even strong enough to be formed into more applicable gear, like gloves.

Last panel is just a “hero” shot.

Works in progress:

-Working on animated portions and depth detail.

-Working on sequential parts to the first.

-Changed the header.