Updated Boards and Animatic:
In my last presentation I showed an animatic and storyboards in 4:3 exclusively. Since then I applied Alec’s feedback and took the time to expand/re-draw the shots in the present in a wider aspect ratio. I chose 2.35:1 as I felt it had more cinematic potential and would make for a starker or more obvious contrast between the present and the past.
The most significant change here beyond the aspect ratio is the library shot, which I reworked completely.
Alec had suggested early on the idea of an enchanted quill frantically writing its masters memoirs as he lay in his deathbed. In the 4:3 composition I had that at the far end of the room, but I moved it to the mid ground to make it the feature of the shot. I’ve also added an orb surrounded by seemingly infinite bookshelves to try and emphasise the presence of magic, and make sure that the house comes across as belonging to a world beyond our own.
It’s also worth noting that the two shots containing the butterfly will be put together as a horizontal pan, again at Alec’s suggestion, which I agree will flow better.
Link to the Animatic:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SXwg8osxpzGEkEFz-VkIJMVEVSbhh1bj/view?usp=sharing
An addition I’m excited about is my opening titles. They are influenced by films of the 30s and 40s, but I want to present them as though they’re being shown by an old projector that’s struggling to start and dies suddenly. This will set a tone of nostalgia and death from the outset, and will provide precedent within the film for the transition to 4:3.
I thought of using live action footage of a calendar’s pages turning to show the credits, similar to the titles of ‘Love Affair’ (1939), but decided that would be too much work that I wouldn’t have time for. Instead, in looking for reference I was reminded of the film Laura (1944), which uses a portrait of the title character in its credits. Naturally this put me in mind of the two portraits in my own film, so I tried an idea along those lines. The final result then is a kind of combination of the titles from Laura, Love Affair and Gaslight (1944).
Above are the opening credits of Love Affair. On looking into the film I found it entered the public domain in the 1960s, so I was able to use a section of the score under my own titles to add some automatic authenticity.
Backgrounds:
I have given myself around 35 backgrounds to complete for my film. This is obviously no small feat, but I have planned to work as efficiently as possible, by using some of my board panels as layouts and lining directly on top of them, and in further layouts planning out the lighting so I know where I’ll be able to be looser and draw less detail where it’ll be darker. Also because I repeat the backgrounds of the house grounds at the start in reverse order in the memory, I will reuse the line work from the wider compositions, which will be a big help.
I did a lot of research towards the design of the character’s neoclassical palace. Chatsworth House in Derbyshire served as good inspiration both for the exterior and interior, but I wanted something that felt grander and more fantastical. In my research I came across Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire which is much more excessive and closer to what I had imagined. From there I tested a few designs and, after feedback, landed on one I was happy with.
Wentworth Woodhouse:
Above is an alternative design. I thought this was dynamic and imposing, but found it difficult to apply it to the shots I planned.
Of these I chose number 4. Another time saving measure I’ve employed is using this base drawing as a sketch on top of my layouts- I only had to line it once or twice so I could re-use it for other backgrounds.
For certain backgrounds, namely in the bedroom I have had to design certain elements so I can draw them consistently.
After some sketches I landed on the bed design below. Here I had added extra blankets in a greenish hue to compliment the pink, because I figured he’s old and dying in a house with no central heating and would be cold, but in practice I found the blankets too hard to keep consistent in different angles, so I left them out of the final backgrounds.
Below are some Photoshop brush tests. I decided on two of Kyle Webster’s brushes, his Ballpoint brush, and his ‘Ultimate Watercolor’ brushes that have the right properties for what I want to achieve.
My concepts for the backgrounds in the memory used Kyle’s 4H pencil brush, but because I want to reuse line art from the start of the film I will have to use the ballpoint brush throughout. As a plus this will add a layer of consistency, and by reducing the amount of black shadows and mark making, I can still lighten the tone enough in the memory. What’s more, I will change the style of colouring from something harder and angular to something washier and lighter, keeping in mind The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
Below is a sequence of progress shots using some of the time-saving measures I mentioned. Using these I was able to complete this background within around 4 hours, which makes me optimistic that I can get everything I want to done.
Beyond 101 Dalmatians I had in my head The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari- a German Expressionist film from 1920. This movie used tinted film to denote different tones or locations (see below). On that note, I plan to use 3 main colours in my film- blue, pink and green- with a similar purpose:
Blue I will use at the start as we tour the icy grounds and the rooms of the house to represent the presence of death. Pink will be the colour of candlelight in the wizard’s bedroom. Since it is warmer than blue, but not quite hot like the usual colours of flame, it will represent life in the present. Green, a compliment to pink, will take over the memory to represent Spring and life in the past. When the character dies and the candles are extinguished his bedroom is blue and sombre, but as dawn rises through the window and as the goose’s wing appears, the room floods with pink sunlight. Then in the last shot, the house is shrouded in warm sunlight, and green grass grows through snow in the foreground.
My intention here is to further the story and the abstract, poetic concepts behind it through colour. By using both pink and green in the final shot I want to represent life as a cyclical force, even in death, and the preservation of life through memory.
After the presentation I got feedback on the backgrounds I had shown, which were all from the start of the film, suggesting the monochromatic approach was too static. I will apply this feedback on the interior backgrounds more than the exterior, since the snow particle effects added in AE will make for a lot of movement outside.
Below are the rest of my layouts, for shots I needed to figure out and plan more fully.
Here is a colour test for the memory using the lines from the folly background at the start of the film as a starting point.This lacked refinement, so after feedback from Henry I tried again using Leana’s paintover as reference. I was much happier with the result and it served as a stylistic starting point for the rest of the memory.
Record Label Designs:
The record that plays It Had To Be You will be a reusable asset. Since it’ll be spinning, legibility isn’t as much of a concern to me as authenticity- it needs to effectively evoke aesthetics of the past. I chose the name Persephone for the record company because it sounded real enough, and because she’s the goddess of spring and rebirth in Greek myth, which holds relevance to the plot. As I kept iterating I ended up incorporating a pomegranate as a design element, a symbol associated with Persephone.
I chose number 6 from the last two images because it has enough contrast to read well, and to me it felt distinctly antique. These were designed in Procreate, but the final asset will be made in Photoshop, in line with the rest of the backgrounds.
More designs for animation:
