The End'ish

Its been a while since I updated. Ive been stuck in editing hell. Its amazing how much passion and excitement I lose towards the end of a project. I went through the same thing with my last film "Iz". I don't know what it is. Maybe its because I know the marketing/promotion part is coming up, or maybe its because I'm afraid to end a project, like a father sending his kid off to college, or maybe its that I'm scared to let the world judge this baby that Ive created. I don't know, but whatever it is, it is.
With that said, the film is basically complete. There are a few musical notes to address, but beyond that, I have a finished 9 minute film that I am very proud of.
I've said this from the very beginning of doing these short films. My main goal is to get better. I don't expect these things to win academy awards, Ive never been someone who is the best at something, but i'm proud to say that i'm almost always the person who works the hardest at something. That's what this is, me working hard so that someday I can direct a feature film. "The Lonely Mr. Scrim" is a giant step in the right direction. The writing is better, the cinematography is a million times better then my last film, the timing is better, the transitions feel natural, the characters are interesting. This is a film that I am proud of. Whether it does well on the festival circuit is not the point, hell, I doubt I'll even find the money to send it to festivals, the point is that it was another step in the right direction. Ok, i'm done with the self targeted pep talk. I'll post again soon with some conclusions and festival news.

Thanks for reading! That means you Holly, Mom, and Dad and maybe that weird guy I met at the store who asked me what I do. =)

-Eric

Editing Done

I finishing the editing last night.
Sound effects are done as well.
So, all thats left now is music and voiceover. Neither of which I can currently afford =) Soon I hope though.

Compositing Done!

Thats the cool thing about doing a project by your self, theres lots of milestones, hehe. So, as of last night I am completely done compositing. I really took my time with the compositing, and I think it shows in the final film. I never realized how much I loved color until I took a look at the final clips. Its like looking at a giant bowl of fruit.
Finishing up the editing in the next few days.

-Eric

trailer feedback

Ive been getting some wonderful feedback from the trailer. It makes me all the more excited about the final film.
The biggest negatives concerning the trailer seem to be music and the subtitles. Which were both added at the very last second and will not be in the final film. So, thats cool right? =)
Everyone seems to love the visuals and the story.
Im about 95% done compositing. Leaving just a few scenes left. I'm 75% done with the editing. Ive been doing quarter chunks to makes things easier on me and on the software. Im starting to look for a voiceover actor this evening (I wanted to be able to present them with the film so that they would get a feel for what im looking for and also know that this is a project that wont dissapear before being finished). Hopefully I can find someone that fits the film and can work for my budget, which is pretty much zero. Good luck huh? =)
-Eric

Trailer is done!

Be sure to click the HD option.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dRnDZNTes8

Let me know what ya think!
-Eric

More final shots

First "Final" shots!

Compositing

Compositing. Ive spent the last week or so compositing. For those that arnt to familiar with the process, basically compositing is just taking all the different layers youve rendered (diffuse, occlusion, background, clouds, etc), combining them, tweaking lighting, added small effects like fog, and then rendering out the final product. Almost like what you would do in photoshop but over numerous pictures (frames) instead of just one.
The process is taking me quite a bit time. This is because of the amount of scenes I have to composite and the amount of polish im going for. Im not naive, I know this thing isn't gonna look like a pixar (or Sony Animation! =) film, but I want it to look as nice as it possibly can. So far im very happy with the resuls.
I'll post my first completely finished scene soon. Possibly tonight if I remember.
Im also pieceing together the trailer. Which should be done soon.
-Eric

Vacation from vacation

Im sitting here in Florida, about 3000 miles from my home, my cats, my wife, and my short film. I miss my wife the most, but the short is a close second =)
I feel nice and recharged though. The film is basically done rendering. I just did some music recordings today with my pop, and I think I have enough. So, when I get back home it'll be all about compositing this thing, throwing down some sound effects, finding a voice, and putting it all together. Woohoo! So close.
Stay tuned for a trailer!

-Eric

Films Website is up!

I got the films website up and running. Most of it is still under construction, but feel free to check out whats up so far.
http://www.ericprovan.com/TheLonelyMrScrim/index.html

Animation complete!!

As of last night, animation is officially complete. Yay! =) I feel like I did a pretty good job animating this thing. I'm not an animator, but the best way to get better at something is to practice, and I had my fair share of practice with this short =) One scene has 5 characters doing different things! In the end, the animation isn't too amazing, no, but its very watchable and shouldn't distract the viewer from the story. Hopefully it enhances the story.
So, the next few weeks I will be tightening up the story/narration, and rendering, rendering, rendering. Rendering has piled up over the last week, mostly due to a choice to re-render 4 or 5 scenes. But the hassle should pay off with some much better looking scenes.
I thought this would be kinda funny. Here are some of the things that have changed over the course of the production.

I started the film thinking there would be 3 characters total, I ended up creating 12 distinct characters, granted, most of them show up in stills. One added character has fur and is fully animated!
The estimated run time was 4 to 6 minutes, It now looks to be over 9 minutes.
The original narration was being done by a narrator, but that changed about half way through when I realized Mr. Scrim should actually be doing the narration. In his words. This was a big change in the story, but helped tremendously.
Estimated 4 environments total. In the end, I created 8. The additions include and office building/room, a bathroom, and a dock.
Estimated illustrations that would be used in the film in picture form was 4, I ended having 9. These include family pictures, DVD/video game covers, Book covers, etc.
Many more things were added. Most due to having access to a renderfarm (renderrocket.com).

So there ya go. I should have a trailer up within 2 to 3 weeks. Stay tuned =)

-Eric

Rough Draft of film - thoughts

So, The other day I edited together the first rough draft of the film. How exciting right? The first shocking thing was how long this film is. I was predicting on the high end when I said that it could run from 6 to 7 minutes. It turns out that this thing could possibly run longer then 8 minutes! As it stands right now, its over 7 minutes without an opening and credits. Now, this isn't exactly a good thing. But, im hopeful that the film will keep people interest thoughout.
The biggest thing I learned from the rough draft is that some of my scenes clash when transitioning from one to the other. Its most because of the camera movements being to drasic. So, im having to go back and re-render 2 or 3 scenes so that they transition better.
And the final thing I learned was that the story jumps to quick in a few spots. So, after doing some brainstorming with my wife, I, or should I say we came up with a few scenes that will help the flow greatly. Now, this adds 2 more scenes to animate (simple anyway) and render, but I feel that they are very much needed.
So, there ya have it. After seeing the film cut together, I can say that im extremely proud of how this thing is turning out. Hopefully the audience will enjoy it =)

Thanks,
Eric

So close, yet so far away

Ive been spending most of the past few weeks tying up loose ends and re-rendering older scenes that had errors.
As it stands, I'm down to one final scene that has animation, which is almost done. Im currently working on my first rough cut of the film so I can start focusing on the voice over timing and sound effects work. That's going very well. Im really suprised how long the movie is turning out to be (6-7mins). Hopefully there's enough in there to keep people attention. If not, I wont hesitate to cut it down. Directors cut =)
I'm looking to have the trailer out by june 15, so stay tuned.

-Eric

The End is Near

So, here we are at the 7 month mark. Its really insane to think that its been that long. It flew by. 7 months of production on this thing, 4 to 10 hours a day. That's a lot of work, and with this thing nearing its end, I feel like its paid off. Im extremely proud of this little baby of mine, and I really think that the public will enjoy it. I hate to sound like a broken record here, but I would be no where near where I am without the renderrocket.com service. Their support basically turned this project into a no limitations type of project. Which is unheard of for a guy doing something like this by himself. Its aloud me to make the quality of film that stands against some professional studios work. Its aloud me to add 2 to 4 minutes of film. Its aloud me to do all this work in a quarter of the time it would have taken. Its aloud me to rethink and even remake parts of the film that I would have regularly had to deal with. So, I can't thank them enough.
I estimate that I will be done animating within the next 2 weeks. I have just 2 scenes left to animate. I have changed the structure of the narration a bit, which has added another cool aspect to the film. Basically, instead of a narrator, Mr. Scrim will actually be telling the story through a letter he is writing. This aloud me to do more realistic dialog, and I think it helps people connect with Mr Scrim a little quicker. Ive also added to the ending. This is the third addition ive made to the ending. Which has added weeks of extra work, but hopefully will pay off. I say addition, because the end hasnt changed, its just gotten a little more complex, and surprising.
So, with the film wrapping up soon. I hope to have a website set up for it. As well as a gallery of images from the film.
Anyway, stay tuned =)

Thanks,
Eric

Yet another test shot

Another Test Scene - sad from eric provan on Vimeo.

Side shot of the house -test-

Side Shot from eric provan on Vimeo.

Excited

Ahh man, Ive had a great past few weeks. Ive been animating a lot of the scenes that involve the creature. Hes a blast to animate. The closer I get to finishing the animation, the more excited I get. Im dieing to put this thing all together.
The game plan once animation is done is.....
First, lay out a rough film version with rough narration.
Tweak the narration.
Hire talent to do the voice work.
Do some acoustic tracks with my father.
Gather some sound effects.
Finalize the look.
Composite all the scene (using Digital Fusion).
And finally put this thing together.
Then make a final, profession looking website.
And then its off to the festivals.
I'm not sure how im going to fund this thing once its ready for the festivals, but I'm confident I will figure something out. For those that dont know, to enter a film into a festival is anywhere from 20 to 75$, plus shipping. That money adds up quick. If I had my wish, this thing would be submitted to 20-25 festivals. That's like 1250$, ouch!!!!! With that said, I could probably afford a festival a week, and just add them up over time. Bah, I dont like the money side of this stuff =)

I plan on posting some more technical shots very soon (wireframes, light rigs, etc)
Thanks for stopping by!

-Eric

Status Report

Added a new character to the film. He'll be in the film for a total of 10 seconds, so im not spending too much time on him. But it does add a few days of work.
Ive reworked the ending a bit as well.

Concept art - Characters 100%, Environment 100%
Story/Script - 90% (lowered from 100% because of some changes)
Modeling Characters - Mr Scrim 100%, Ms. Scrim 100%, Flying Critter 100%
Modeling Environment - 100%
Rigging - 100%
Texturing Char - 100%
Texturing Env - 100%
Lighting - 95%
Animation - 75% (nearing 4:30 rendered)
Compositing - 25% (still doing some testing for the final look)
Music - 25% (no recording done, but ive written a few simple melodies that I believe will sound nice with the film) Its going to be mostly acoustic guitar in the background with sound effects.

Film run time estimate is at 5-6 minutes.
HD 1080 (1920X720)
Finish date is June 1st.

Another little test clip

No post. Getting there!

What was that? from eric provan on Vimeo.

Staying Motivated

Lack of Motivation is probably the number one killer of these types of projects. Thankfully for me, the motivation for this project is still very much there. More so then even my last film. I feel very connected to this film. Where my last film was more generic and soft, this one is very much "me". Granted, while still a bit amateurish, in the end, this film is very much like the films Id like to make in the future. It has things that are odd/weird, the comedy is dark, the style is very detailed, dark yet colorful (if there is such a thing), and the story is upbeat. So, what happens when the film is released and no one likes it? Well, then I make another one =) Eventually someones bound to like one.
Sometimes I ask myself why i do this stuff. This film combined with my last have taken about 9 months of my life now. Why spend so much time on something that wont gain income, wont land me a job (heck, I already have a job that I love), possibly wont do well at festivals, wont make me famous, wont help save cancer patients?
So why do it?
I love the process. To me, its like being a little kid again and building a fort with you friends and family. The planning, the building, the result. Its all a blast. I really enjoy developing things. While Im not sure "director" will ever be a job title, I am confident that some day i'll be on the development side of a project. Don't get me wrong, modeling is a blast. I mean I just modeled the Cheshire Cat for Tim Burton's new Alice film. How rad is that? But eventually I really want to try my hand at developing something on a big scale.
Anyway, im starting to blab. Thanks for reading about the film. Stayed tuned for more clips! =)

-Eric Provan