Post #2

I'm sitting in bed and don't want to actually get up and get ready, so I figured I'd update this thing instead. See? Procrastination isn't just for school.

I've decided that my film has become some kind of monster that I don't even recognize anymore. I'm not excited about it at all, and the plot is so far away from what I originally intended (way before even my first animatic) that I don't think I could bring myself to start animating it even if I tried.

The solution to this issue is to scrap it all and start over. I'm keeping the characters and the zombie western stuff, but that's about it. I don't know what I'm going to do yet, because I'm currently being really critical of all my ideas so I don't end up wanting to switch plots again later on; I know how much trouble that causes.

So basically, it's back to the drawing board. My goal is to have the new story fleshed out by the end of this month so I can bust out a quickie animatic early June and then receive some feedback before I start animating. Sounds like a plan to me.

First Post

Okay I started a new blog for my thesis because I felt like my main one was kind of cluttered and out of control...at least for what is supposed to be a research blog, anyway. I think it'll just turn into a general blog about animation, or something. I'm not really sure. Anyway, it's not about my thesis, so, let's put all of that behind us; new beginnings.

We just had our pre-thesis class class not too long ago, and Sheila told me to shorten my animatic, which I guess I'll put up here soon, and start animating. Both of those thoughts have been hanging over my head since summer started, so I guess I'm on the right track.

I've already put some thought into how I'm going to streamline my animatic. First and foremost, the flashback is no longer a flashback. It'll just be at the beginning, and I'll insert some shots that show that time has passed between the train crash and the bar scene. Thanks, faculty, for that one.

Also, the cowboy is just going to deal with one set of zombies the entire time. I feel like he is the one making the action sequences a little scattered and aimless, and I need to find a way to integrate him more or at least give him a purpose. The bartender/dancer/damsel/whatever character only deals with one group of zombies, and I think that really helps out.

I also don't think the scale of the zombie invasion is really being shown in my animatic. Maybe that's just an issue of inserting background zombies. We'll see. I'm thinking maybe I want to change the ending from an unfortunate accident destroying the town to a more planned finale. For example - maybe they put the gun powder barrels all over town, blow one up, and it sets off a chain reaction of explosions that destroys everything. Just a thought. Maybe that wouldn't work.

I've typed for too long. Catch you later, blogosphere.