Barge

Which grew from a barge that floats on the sea.

Where am I?

Concept art - Characters 100%, Environment 100%
Story/Script - 90%
Modeling Characters - Mr Scrim 100%, Ms. Scrim 100%, Flying Critter 100%
Modeling Environment - 100%
Rigging - 50%
Texturing Char - 100%
Texturing Env - 80%
Lighting - 75%
Animation - 0%
Compositing - 0%

Status Update

Ok, so im really happy with how things have been going. I'm also proud of myself for going back and reworking things. Its a very hard thing to do, especially if your developing something on your own. Just the redesign of the Mrs. Scrim character took me 2-3 weeks. Thats a lot of time investing in something that was already finished. But the new design makes it all worth it. Ive also been going back and reworking the story. I Have a very satisfying ending, which makes me happy. I was a little worried there for a while. I'm a big believer in an ending that makes an impact.
Hopefully this new habit of mine (take your time and make it right) will carry over to the animation. My first film, which im still very proud of, took 3 months total to finish. Thats super fast, and the final product shows that. A lot could have been tweaked, but it was my first film and I learned a lot. like, take your time =)
With that said, Im aiming to have this thing done by March 1st. That way I can submit it to Siggraph 09 (big animation/vfx conference).
All modeling/texturing/lighting/rigging will be done by the end of the year. That gives me 3 months to animate, render, composite, and edit. we'll see =)

Redesigned Mrs. Scrim!

The End of the ending

So, im excited to say that I finally have a satisfying ending for this story. Something that will suprise and charm, at least, I hope =)
So, the story is now 100% done. The dialog/script is about 75% done. As I said before, its going to be narrated, much like my last film. But, less poetic and preachy.

I also went ahead and completely redesigned the Ms. Scrim character. The big gripe I had with the last version was not its quality, I had liked her looked, the big gripe was that she didnt really match this world. She didn't look like the same species as Mr. Scrim.
The new one is looking great, the model is done, and painting is about 75% done. I will put a pic up soon. other then that, things are still moving along well.

Mr. Scrim Character Sheet

Heres the final design of Mr. Scrim. I decided to completly redesign Mrs. Scrim, and I will post some new pics of her soon.

Ext House Texturing

update

Been spending most of my time lately finishing up the script. I really do enjoy the writing process. Just wish I had more of a talent for it. Its like singing. Everyone loves singing, but very few have the talent to really do it. Anyway, Im studying and studying, hopefully some day I'll be able to call myself a writer. Or, at least a written. Huh? =)

The project is still on track. The characters are all modeled and textured. And im in the process of rigging them all. Then I'll go back and finish up the environments and move on to animation!
I'll get some new pics up asap.

Peace,
Eric

Ms Scrim

work in progress shot

Cinematographist

I got some great advise from a buddy of mine (I believe it was Andrew), who, after checking out my first film, recommend I check out some books on shot setup/cinematography. The book I went with is "Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know". The title may sound a little hacky, but my god what an amazing book. Basically is gives all kinds of techniques and then shows how they are used in some of the greatest films of all time.
Anyway, hopefully my study of cinematography shows in my next film =)

Been working on Mr. Scrims wife a lot lately. I'll have some pics up soon.


Peace

Living Room work in progress

Couple New Environment shots

Slow down and speed up

Ahh, yes, happy halloween everyone! For someone who enjoys creepy things as much as myself, Im really not a halloween person. Actually, to be fair, Ide say Im a halloween person (the atmosphere, the candy, the people watching) but im not a dressing up person. I dont know what it is, I just dont like putting on a goofy costume.
Anyway, to the film =) So far, things have gone very smooth. Ive tackled a couple things that had me worried from the start. Grass being one. Which is looking great! Most of the modeling is done. A lot of the texturing is under way.
I've decided to take things much slower than my last film. This film is a lot more personal for me. I feel like all the practice, all the studying, all the dreaming should go into this film, as the story and subject really has become dear to my heart.
With this said, I have bumped the projected finish date to February 09. Just one month. But im not going to kill myself getting it down before then.
I'll have some pictures up soon.

Status......
Concept art - Characters 100%, Environment 100%
Story/Script - 70%
Modeling Characters - Mr Scrim 100%, Ms. Scrim 30%, Flying Critter 100%
Modeling Environment - 90%
Rigging - 25%
Texturing Char - 70%
Texturing Env - 10%
Lighting - 15%
Animation - 0%
Compositing - 0%

Story Shmory

Im pushing right along with the film. I find myself spending much more time on the story for this film then my last. Were the narration in my last film kinda laid the story out for you, I want the narration in this film to sorta help the viewer along the way and let the animation tell a lot of the story. This is a scary thing because of the fact that my animation is pretty weak, but I think it will make for a much more engaging film.
I began texturing my first environment, which is exciting. Im lighting the scene with a candle, which is new for me. Its makes for a nice atmospheric look.
I'm starting to think that this film will go much longer then 6 minutes. I'm thinking 10+ minutes. The big worry is can I keep the viewer interested for that long? Heres to hoping =) Im also worried about the render times. It took me months to render just 4 minutes last time. I may add another computer, or even use a rendering service. We'll see.
I'll get some new pics up soon.

-Eric

Creature Texturing

Heres my flying creature, with its first pass of texturing. Its getting there!

Mr. Scrim - texturing (first pass)

State of the Project Address: oct 23

Things are moving right along. The script is getting there. The story is complete except for the ending. I've taken to the Miyazaki way of doing things. Miyazaki always starts work on a film without knowing the ending, and then the ending just kind of comes to him. I'm no master filmmaker like Miyazaki, but im confident the ending will "come to me". =) I never want to make a film that doesn't have a meaningful ending.
Anyway, as you can see from the work in progress shots, I've begun some of the texturing. Not everything is modeled yet, but I felt like some texturing would be a nice change of pace.

Status......
Concept art - Characters 100%, Environment 100%
Story/Script - 70%
Modeling Characters - Mr Scrim 100%, Ms. Scrim 10%, Flying Critter 90%
Modeling Environment - 70%
Rigging - 20%
Texturing - 10%
Lighting - 10%
Animation - 0%
Compositing - 0%

Some wip shots of some props

Creature - First Look

New look at our Mr Lonely

Moving right along. This is a new shot of Mr Scrim. Just starting the texturing and displacement modeling. Im almost done modeling my second character as well. The critter; i'll post some shots of him soon.
Most of my time is still being put into modeling. I have all the environments started. I estimate this movie is going to be about twice as big as my last. Thats a LOT of models.

Enjoy!

Updated Status

Status......
Concept art - Characters 100%, Environment 90%
Modeling Characters - Mr Scrim 90%, Ms. Scrim 0%, Critter 70%
Modeling Environment - 55%
Rigging - 0%
Texturing - 5%
Story/Script - 40%

So whats this thing about? Summary

We know the film is about a lonely guy named Mr. Scrim, but lets here some details, right? =)
The story really is a simple one. The complexity lies in the characters.
Our main character is lonely (Mr. Scrim). He lives all alone in a very secluded home with his dead wife, who he sort of pretends is alive ( a la "Lars and the Real girl"). Deep down he knows this isn't healthy and he unconsciously yearns for a companion. In comes our yet to be named flying creature. Mr. Scrim is a bird fisherman, and he catches a very odd creature one day. Deciding that this thing is to unique to eat, he lets it go. But go it does not. The creatures befriends Mr Scrim. They play video games together, they garden together, they even gaze at the stars together. Of course, our story doesn't end here. That to easy. One day, mr. scrim (with his new outlook on life) wakes up and can't find his new creature friend.
How will this end? That I will leave out. Im a sucker for happy endings, but there will definitely be a twist =)

-Eric

Concepts

Here are a bunch of the concept sketch I've done so far. Not extremely detailed, but they do usually lead me in the right direction.
Enjoy!

-Eric

A couple concept shots of the flying critter

First Look!

Whats the deal here?

Ok, this is a short film I'm developing both for myself, and for pitching. What I mean is, this is an idea that I would like to pitch to a studio, and since the likely hood that it will be picked up is slim to none, I would like to make the film myself. As I did with my last film http://ericprovan.blogspot.com/ , This will be a place that is mostly meant for myself. I'll continuously post updates, status reports, work in prgress shots, summaries, etc. I'll start by posting some stats.

Working title is "The Lonely Mr. Scrim".
Production Schedule - 4 months from today (Jan. 07 2009)
I have been developing this idea for about 3 weeks now.
3 Characters - Mr. Scrim, Ms. Scrim, and a critter.
Narrated story - Much like my last film, but less preachy. Focusing more on dark comedy.
Audience - Everyone. This film is going to be much more edgy then my last. But I don't want to exclude kids. I hate when filmmakers dumb down stuff thinking kids are stupid.
Format - HD720
Goal - Don't care if I don't make a dime. I just want to tell a good story and hope people like it.

Status......
Concept art - Characters 100%, Environment 80%
Modeling Characters - Mr Scrim 80%, Ms. Scrim 0%, Critter 0%
Modeling Environment - 50%
Texturing - 0%
Story/Script - 35%


So there ya go. Feel free to ask questions

So whats this all about?

This is the story of the lonely Mr. Scrim. Who has a house on a tree. Which grew from a barge. That floats on the sea.
He fishes for birds, lives with his dead wife, and hates reality TV.