11:27 PM

Wolf Sketches




For now, I have decided to take a hiatus on developing the short vignettes to iterate upon character designs. Here's what I have so far:







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10:39 PM

New Direction


After attending John Pettingill's thesis defense last week, I have decided to pursue 2D animation for my animated short. 

The hour long presentation emphasized the large amount of patience, organization, and time needed to create a successful 3D animated short (which, I discovered quickly, I do not possess).

It appears that my idea for my animated short is not directly related to my current artist statement. Dr. Parke suggested that I revaluate what it is I would like to portray in the short. Dogs are a personal matter to me for obvious reasons. I decided to record them as such:


  • mutual appreciation of company (between man and dog)
  • desire attention
  • provide company
  • playful
  • protective
  • entertaining
  • unconditional love
  • exercise companion
  • excited by one's presence
  • empathetic
  • social aspect (dog parks, conversation amongst friends)
  • human characteristics often depicted by dog
  • considered a family member
  • caring
  • attachment more than other domesticated animals
  • special bond and connection
  • early established relationship between man and dog
  • intelligent
  • wise
  • motivation to assist
  • service dogs
  • humorous

More reasons why I love man's best friend:




















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4:08 PM

Updated Boards

Updated Boards 

Title card: "Fetch"
preferred transitions: fades or cross dissolves




My original intention for the short was to remain at surface level. It may comment on the developing relationship between man and dog, but is primarily for the sake of comedy.

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7:13 PM

Montage organization and preliminary boards




Fetch Montage

1)Man throws stick, but dog has no interest
2)Dog goes wrong direction and does not see stick thrown
3)Dog does not drop stick for man, man grabs stick but wolf does not let go (hangs in the air)
4)Dog drops stick, but immediately grabs it right back when the man tries to pick it up (growls)
5)Man throws stick but it bounces off a wall and hits man (dog retrieves item and drops on unconscious man)

* black circle on board indicates cut





Guard Montage

1)Dog goes to sleep in man's home
2)Dog sleeps (dreams of chasing) as saber-toothed tiger invades man's home or food
3)Dog finally alerts when he hears something (rodent or bird)
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8:21 PM

Prometheus and Bob

Lately I have struggled with creating decent stories for my shorts. I conversed with several peers of mine, and one suggested that I watch Prometheus and Bob, a stop motion animation featured on Nickelodeon's KaBlam!. It has been years since I have seen the show, but luckily, this was the perfect reference for me. 

"900,000 years ago, an alien video taped his attempts to educate a cave man; The Prometheus and Bob tapes."







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7:41 AM

Preliminary Story Ideas

Failed attempts at training a Wolf-dog

Purpose: hunting, hauling, tracking, guarding, companionship







Fetch Ideas:
(potential items: stick, stone)
- dog goes wrong direction and does not see item thrown
- dog does not drop item for man
- dog drops item, but immediately grabs it right when the human tries to pick it up
- dog growls and tugs when man tries to take item away 
- dog can't get large stick out of entry way
- man throws item but it bounces off a wall and hits man (dog retrieves item and drops on unconscious man)
- dog plays fetch with himself
- dog has no interest in item thrown


Guard Ideas:
- dog alerts when there is a rodent or bird
- dog sleeps (runs in sleep) as saber-toothed tiger invades man's home or food
- dog goes to sleep in man's home


Hunting Ideas:
- dog cannot find fallen animal
- squirrel climbs tree, dog cannot access it
- dog eats collected food (fish, nuts, berries)







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4:17 PM

Comedic Animation References
I find the short gags featured in these animations quite appealing. The simplicity of the shorts (minimal layout, set, duration) makes them incredibly successful.


 









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8:54 PM

The Beginning
This is the first post of my untitled dog animated short(s)! This blog will contain the process I take to create an animated short about the domestication of the dog. Here are various visual styles that I am considering for the animation. As you can probably tell, I thoroughly enjoy the work of Meg Park:











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