I'm going to start by only releasing the boards for the first scene as I don't want to ruin the film for those that haven't seen it. Also, we're not sure if people are interested in commentary on the whole thing. If you are, drop me a line and let me know and we'll see what we can do. This is meant to be a learning tool for other student film makers to learn from our mistakes and laugh at us if you want as well.
Scene 1 Shot 1
Overview:
David Bokser animated the shot up to the surprise, then life got in the way and David had to go make some money. Scott Englert went on to finish the shot.
David:
Well, this was my only shot in the film cause Josh kept changing that darn "surprise" gesture and especially the walk away. "Make him more timid!" Josh would shout at me as he whipped me with a switch. I would scream as I woke up with cold sweat beading down my forehead "Make him more timid!" *shiver*
Scott E:
The hardest part was to get the right type of surprise and curiosity to match the flash from the Potter.
Jon:
01_01 was an easier shot to complete; however.... the shot did have a lot of importance in that it set up the pixi dust pipeline for the last shots of the film.
Josh:
Dave, don't make me get the switch again...;)
This shot was one of the first to start and one of the last to finish. I spent a lot of time on the lighting as well. I was going for a morning feel so had to decide first of all which way was east for the rest of the film. I liked the wedge of light that was created going this direction in that it sort of "held" Perok, so I went with that.
It took us a bit to figure out how exactly to do the flash in a way that would give us the most control. We ended up rendering it as a completely separate pass with the geometry as matte objects.
Originally, I had a track in on Perok when the flash happened. The 3d animatic however quickly established that being a bad idea and I kept the camera out.
Scene 1 Shot 2
Scott E:
Playing the eyes to the camera was the most important part because if you saw the scene the eyes for both character never really pointed exactly where they should, but you have to play a lot of those movements to the camera and then it appears to be looking at the right spot.
Josh:
This was the first of many shots where less obvious animated communication sufficed. I was especially pleased with the lighting in the shot, it's almost a reverse of what happens in the last shot with Perok being in shadow here and changing places with the Potter at the end.
Scene 1 Shot 3
Josh:
This was a shot where what I thought could be told in 15 seconds took just a wee bit longer. Get out your stop watch, man!
Dang, this shot was a bugger. I spend a day or two on it then left it for half the production period before coming back to it. Trying to get the Potter up believably was unbelievably difficult. I then had to go on to do it a few more times in the piece, how'd that happen when I'm assigning the shots!?
