Color Script

A color script is essentially a storyboard with color. I'm working on the color script for Buckwheat and through this process I've discovered a lot about the mechanics of my story. Some things that work on paper, don't translate as well into picture. It's proved helpful in strengthening the narrative and tightening things. As I progress through the script it's my intention that every panel of the color script should "read" so that the viewer understands what is happening without any dialogue, which is very hard to do. Below is the color script for the opening scene. The panels read left to right, just like a book (or screenplay).

Fun With Gouache

Having recently become obsessed with Pixar artist Lou Romano's production designs for "The Incredibles" and "Up" I started dabbling in Gouache. I love the textures it creates. I've been painting the entire Buckwheat color script with it, but here are some recent dabblings in the medium.

Buckwheat Production Art

"Buckwheat" is the title of my animated feature and it's about a guy who breaks his dog out of the pound with the help of some international pet smugglers. I spent the summer writing and revising the screenplay and have since begun some rough character sketches and storyboarding. I will post more of these as things progress.

The tone is a Walt Disney film (talking animals and so forth) with a generous dose of gangster iconography. There is a strong influence of the French gangster movies of the 60's and 70's directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. I want to produce something that is accessible to audiences of all ages while also retaining the slightest bit of an edge. Below are some initial character and scene sketches.

Ratat-at-at

And another. I guess you can call this just messing around. I would post the very rough cut of the Batman short idea but I'm too embarrassed.

Chicago Typewriters

Here is some fun with rotoscope. A few months ago I was inspired by the internet rumor of an Orson Welles directed Batman movie that never happened. I started messing around with a short Batman idea set in the Gotham City of the 1930's with Tommy Guns and Public Enemy iconography. I loved that the press referred to the Tommy Gun as the "Chicago Typewriter". I also looked at a lot of Weegee's work for inspiration. For whatever reason I never got around to finishing it. I shot this with another iPhone stop motion app that had a "noir" option that would shoot a grainy black and white.

"COATTAILS" MUSIC VIDEO

Here of course is the final product. It was produced over a 3 week period and shot using my iPhone. For this piece I combined stop motion cut outs with hand-drawn animation, often in the same shot. This required a good deal of forethought and planning so the timing would work out. Of course, looking back there are always things I wish I could re-do or had more time and money to tinker with. But every filmmaker will tell you this!

Storyboards

Storyboards are the most fun, I think. It's the first chance to really visualize where you are going with a story. To me this is "direction" when it comes to animating anything. These are some of the storyboards for the "Coattails" video and I apologize for the low quality of the images, but this is the blue print.