More modelling, Textures and Lighting

As you might have suspected (from both the old fashioned sink, and also the old fashioned stove), I try to make the kitchen in an american 50s/60s style. Since Deryck told me not to worry about the Disney- effect, I really take this all the way:P I have made the floor checker- and appearing used/old. The green stuff on the sink, also made it look a lot better (older). Also, take a look at the window. I have added snow on it- not sure if I am going to keep it yet.



Setting the style for the kitchen bench.




Introducing a gingerbread man model for the first time, to see how he looks in the scene.Also testing camera settings.




The kitchen benches are finished.



The gingerbread house!



Notice that the light is brightest where the action is going to take place. I like this, it makes the bench appear more as a stage. I think am going to keep it like this.






Testing out different colours on the walls.. I feel like the pink one is the best, it gives good harmony to the scene. Added tiles. Also added a glass-thingy at the bottom of the window.



Yes, I think pink will work fine.




Added a chopping board for the house to stand on.

THE PLACE WHERE IT ALL TAKES PLACE!

Originally my scene looked like this:


However, I felt it was kind of "flat" to look at, the scene did not have the depth that I wished for. The action will be on the kitchen bench, and as you can see, the only thing behind that bench is..well, just a boring wall. So I decided re-arrange the kitchen. Now there are much more life in the scene, and hopefully more interesting to look at!




Here I have made the foundation for the scene. The action will play out on the kitchen bench closest to us.




I`ve added an old- fashioned sink.




I decided to remove the middle kitchen bench, and put an old fashioned stove in there.




Testing of lighting from the stove, and also lighting in general.





The finished model of the stove, with materials.

STORYBOARD

Here is the storyboard I orginally made for the story:

Open publication - Free publishing - More animation

However, as Deryck pointed out- and that I also was conserned about was the length of the story. I needed to shorten it. So I will remove all the walking from the story, and save many seconds there. Deryck also suggested that I can use time-lapse as a method to shorten it. I will upload my previz shortly, to show you how it went!

FILM PROJECT

ANIMATION FILM PROJECT.

For my film-project I decided to go for a story I developed last semester. I call it Pepperkakemannens Jul (gingerbread mans christmas) for now, in lack of a better title at the moment! I had several ideas in mind for this project, so I shared some of them with both my friends, family and my classmates. The response was the same from everyone: Make the gingerbread man-story, it is so sweet!

PITCH: A lonely gingerbread man makes himself a wife.

My concern was that it might be TOO sweet, too Disney.. But I got the response I needed: My tutor Deryck told me I should never be afraid of the Disney- effect. And one of my classmates, Alf said that these sweet stories should also be told. Therefore: The gingerbread man it is.


THE IDEA IS BORN:

I actually saw the base of the story in a dream a long time ago. And when I woke up, I wrote it down in a hurry. I've noticed many times before that I tend to get the best ideas when I sleep, I don't now if this is a good sign or a bad! In my dream I saw a gingerbread man that makes himself a wife. I was entertained by the "sight" of this little guy that struggled to make a wife- with tools that are much too big for him.

So this is the foundation in my story. However I needed to do much work with this idea, in order to make it function as a story. The method I used to get more flesh to the bone is the "question and answer" way. I asked A LOT of questions, and did my best to answer them.

Example:

WHY does he make himself a wife?- Because he is lonely.

If the gingerbread- man is lonely..then why has he not made the wife a long time ago? Why NOW? -Because he has not discovered the recipe before now.. ( I suddenly got the "trigger" in the story- the moment that the gingerbread- man discovers the recipe).

I continued asking and answering questions until I had a lot of solid sentences. With the three-act structure in mind I started to "fill in the blanks" and organize the story in INTRODUCTION, MAIN PART and ENDING. I tried to find good turning points, twists and bring tension to the story. For example, the wife does not come to life when he is finished making her. Oh no..is our hero not going to reach his goal?

Here is my treatment:

Gingerbread mans Christmas

INT. KITCHEN BENCH. NIGHT. It's Christmas, and warm atmosphere in the old kitchen. The GINGERBREAD MAN is sitting alone outside the gingerbread house and sighs. He glances over at the husband and wife decoration-pigs, and looks over at the husband and wife decoration-gnomes. Another heavy sigh. The STAR FLASHES outside the kitchen window and catches his attention.

He gets up, walks curiously towards the window, but stops when the recipe-book in front of him lit up and like MAGIC scrolls a page by itself. He walks towards the book that shows pictures of a gingerbread man and GINGERBREAD WIFE. Turns head to one side when he looks at the gingerbread man. Looks at the gingerbread wife and strokes his hand lovingly over the image. Focuses on texts and other images, that step by step shows how to make gingerbread cookies- and reaches his hand out to touch the pictures as he "reads".

He suddenly "jumps". Stretches his arms curiously, and looks at them. Turns his head and looks at the gingerbread dough behind him. Walks to the dough, sits down and gently squeezes it. Looks at the gingerbread cookie cutters beside the dough, and walks over to them. First he looks at the gingerbread-man cookie cutter, then looks at the other cookie cutters and then back at the gingerbread man cookie cutter again. He steps carefully into the cookie cutter, and lies down in it. Smiles. Then he blinks twice. Rises quickly and walks to where the gingerbread wife cookie cutter lies. Lifts it up quickly and holds it in front of him. Then looks at the book, and back at the wife cookie cutter again. Then he smiles and does a pirouette.

He holds the wife cookie cutter in one hand, and scratches his chin as he looks at the cookie cutter. Squeezes the cookie cutter to make it more female. Holds it in front of him with both hands and nods. Looks down at the dough. Lays the cookie cutter down on it, presses the cutter down and lifts it up again. Drags the rest of the dough away from the gingerbread wife. Lifts her up with a spatula. Carries her to the open OVEN and puts her in there. Closes the oven door with the spatula. Turns on the switch that is next to the door and the oven is lit up inside. Stands with both hands and nose close to the oven door glass. Carries the freshly made gingerbread wife on the spatula. Decorates her with icing.

He sits on his knees beside her, smiles down at her with folded hands. Touches her gently on the shoulder. SMILES. Touches her on the shoulder again. THE SMILE disappears. He gets up slowly, turns around and walks with heavy steps towards the gingerbread house. Turns his head once, turns it back quickly and moves on. Sits outside the gingerbread house and sighs. The star outside the kitchen window FLASHES.

Gingerbread wife is surrounded by a MAGIC light as she comes to life. Then she gets up and looks at gingerbread man. Walks towards him. The gingerbread man sees her and gets up quickly. Gingerbread wife opens her arms when she approaches the gingerbread man. They hug each other. The star outside the kitchen window FLASHES and shines stronger than ever.