Extended Practise: Final Film Idea Exploration

 Extended Practise - Final Film
Final Film Idea Exploration

• This week:
• I started exploring ideas for my final film, looking at script ideas and character concepts.
• What went well:
• I started to explore a variety of concepts and ideas, after speaking with Mike about what route I could take with my idea. Initially, I wanted to create a short film which had three different stories, about animals with ironic fears. I decided to extend this idea further, by focusing on one character and fleshing out the story more. I chose to explore the bird being afraid of heights idea, as I think this had the most potential for a short story.
• For my group, I created a Google Slides presentation, to add concepts and ideas, to help in the visual style. We also explored possible story ideas in a Google Hangouts meeting, where we discussed the possibility of the bird being a Robin, a Crow, or a Goose, or a Magpie character. These were further explored in the slides.

• In the slides we also looked at possible music ideas and inspiration for character personality. This was all a part of the idea generation process, which helped Stacey understand the potential for the narrative.
• Mike recommended the artist Matt Sewell, as he has a book of bird illustrations, called "Our Garden Bird". This proved very useful in exploring style and concepts. I particularly like his "Early Bird" illustrations, as I think the style is quite simple and cute.

• I also explored some initial concepts for the bird design, which I believed showed a lot of personality and character:

• What could be improved:
• We need to establish the characters' personality and appearance, which will make concept work much easier. It will also allow us to understand how the narrative will work, if the character is established.
• This leads onto the initial concepts I made - they may not fit the personality or style we decide to go for, therefore I will be exploring more ideas once the story has been written by Stacey. 
• I need to consider the length of the animation, as I still want this to be a minute long, things may need to be adjusted and cut to fit this.
• Next week:
• I will be looking over the script and starting rough thumbnails for the story.