An Update on my upcoming junior film "The Rainbow in your Jail Cell" (title pending)

    Well iv been thinking a lot about what to do with the characters themselves. How do I want them to move, act, what noises should they make. Could they even talk briefly? Iv really been experimenting with their movements. I do tests over and over of the apple walking across the screen. Iv been getting into the fight scenes animation. I think its going really well, its very fun for me to animate. I dont think my animation is there yet though, Im gonna have to do many more tests before Im ready to shoot the final scenes. The story is coming along well, I want to put more emphasis on the princess and her relationship with her father the king. Iv been working on some traditionally animated facial expressions for the princess, I want her to look very sad and defeated at one point when her father packs her in a game of basketball. Im thinking of having her join in on the fight rather than just watching sadly, maybe she can be the one to give the final knockout punch. I really want this to be about the characters. I have to work a lot more on little facial expressions and eye movements, body language, interaction on screen. I really want to go into depth with the castle and whats inside of it. I have a lot of props drawn out so far, but I still need to make them all paper cut out props. Im having a lot of fun animating, I have 2 minutes of rough animation so far. Its not what it can be yet, and Im only using the normal cameras so far, so I think this is gonna turn out pretty cool. I really want the fight scene to be explosive and intense. I have to work on animating some explosions and work really hard on closeups and action shots mixed with long beautiful scenery shots and facial expressions. I still have a lot of cutting and drawing to do, but im having a good time doing it so this should be a fun and educational experience.

Squash Wars Little questions with Big answers

Little Questions with Big Answers

 Squash Wars Protagonist & Antagonist

Squash - Protagonist

Holiday:

            Squash has always been very fond of Halloween. He likes to get dressed up and pretend he’s someone else. His village is always one of the first to get into the spirit, so the entire month of October is full of scary stories, eerie sights, and just an overall departure from everyday society. He enjoys the night of Halloween because of all the crazy costumes and decorations. He likes to run around town with his friends and feel as if the world were so far away. He loves to explore the village during cold fall nights. He feels a sense of excitement when confronted by scary places such as the Dark Wood In the west end of Squash Village. He always carries along his trusty rock just incase he runs into an enemy. He wants to explore outside of his village badly, but because of the rising political tensions, borders have been heavily fortified. It’s during Halloween one year that Squash eventually builds up the courage to go on his first quest at the age of 15, bringing only his rock and food. He made the 5 mile journey through the Dark Wood and onto the mysterious shore, a small piece of land behind the Dark Wood only accessible either by ship or traveling through the wood. It is only 1 mile long by 1/2 a mile wide. The Squash Village has a spooky feel during this time of year. People put candles in the windows and hang paper lanterns from the trees. Strips of paper are hung in the wind to represent their fallen ancestors.

Day of the Week:

            His favorite day is Friday. He likes to spend the day in contemplation. He thinks of the week that has gone by, and he thinks of the weekend to come. He likes to wake up really early and listen to music for hours and hours before the day begins. He leaves the house ahead of schedule and gets breakfast from down the street. He always gets a carry out of mashed potatoes for lunch that day at school. His mind wanders all day while waiting for school to get out. He thinks of all the wonders in the world and how it relates back to him. Once leaving school he normally stops home and gets a bite to eat, blasts music while dancing and singing, puts on something nice, and heads downtown.

Color:

            He would be the color purple if he had a choice. He feels the color purple represents him the best because of its bright and cheerful insides yet dark and mysterious outsides. Purple can be used to represent a variety of things. During medieval times the color purple was so hard to produce that only kings would wear it. The color became a symbol of power and generosity. In modern times the color has been used to describe the night, the paranormal, or the generally mysterious aspects of life. Purple is a strong color, it represents masculinity and femininity, it is a color that does not discriminate. It is a good color for the Squash to relate back to during times of trouble.

Apple King -  Antagonist

Holiday:

            His favorite holiday is St. Patrick’s Day. He gets very excited when the time finally comes and he gets all decked out in green. His emerald rings flash in the sunlight. His glimmering forest green tunic sways in the wind while his lime green boots click on the marble floors of his castle. He puts on his stovetop hat with a buckle wrapped around the bottom. His green tights cling to his agile legs as he prances about the castle asking all the maids how he looks and how their day is going. His advisors all arrange a special leprechaun hunt for the King once noon hits. He sits down, has some green beer and corned beef with baked potatoes and sour cream. His hunt nearly always lasts until sun down. He can't control himself at the thought of finding the elusive leprechaun and his magical pot of gold. He will follow the rainbow to the ends of the Earth and often his advisors must chase him down and convince him to resume his duties as King.

                                            

Day of the Week:

            Apple King would be a Monday. He likes the weekend, but come Monday he’s always glad to be back at work. He rises early and immediately checks and double checks his calendar. He writes new dates and jots notes for himself for later on in the week. He always makes himself a cappuccino and sometimes just can't contain himself. He runs around the castle singing at the top of his lungs and waltz-walks through the finely lit corridors of his ancient estate. He makes his way towards the hall of the ancestors, past all the kings and great men who are represented through relics, portraits, and statues. He pays his respects by lighting the sacred incense and smoking cannabis to get closer to the spiritual realm. He sits here and meditates for 1 hour while listening to Queen. The rest of his day is determined by his advisors and he really doesn’t appreciate it, but he has a great amount of respect for the system so he follows orders and leaves his personal life for the night. Come 10pm the King is relieved of his duties and is advised to stay in and get some much earned sleep, but he always gets restless and has been known to sneak out through the window, past the guards, and over the wall, only to return hours later glowing red faced and panting.

Color:

            He would be the color pink. He likes to think of himself as very cute and cuddly. He thinks that pink really suites him, since his natural color is already red. Pink can be considered a violent color since its just hiding behind white. This fits his personality well, since he is very outgoing, frantic even, and does have a tendency to loose his temper. He will suddenly throw kicks and punches into the air, shoot energy beams into the distance, and even throw terrible insults towards his advisors, which he later apologizes for. He sees pink as a very romantic color, but he is so preoccupied with how people see him, that he fails to see how he is acting towards them. He is scaring people. Nobody thinks that he’s cute besides him and his mom and maybe the old tomato at the bar. Pink represents him because it’s a color that tries a little too hard. It’s a color with a bright outside, but a dark and brooding inside.

                             

Character Descriptions for my advanced story concepts class

Character Descriptions – Protagonist, Antagonist

Protagonist: Squash

Stakes

His family is at stake along with his own safety. He learns to put himself in others shoes by witnessing war and understanding the positions it forces us into. His village is destroyed and his whole way of life is at stake, he desperately clings to his past and never wants to forget where he comes from. He has a keepsake from his mother that he holds onto dearly; whenever he feels lost he looks into it and feels safe. His life is at stake almost constantly. His feelings are at stake, he is an outcast in the pumpkin tribe. His courage is at stake; he may loose hope and give in to fear at any time.

Personality Trait

            He is originally meek and anxious. He is afraid of conflict and doesn’t understand violence or arguing in general. When his village is torn apart and his family becomes split up he begins to see the horrors of the real world. No longer able to just sit by and ideally judge, he begins to change his view on life and the actions he must take to gain peace with himself and the world.  He becomes strong and heroic. He outwits even master tacticians of the pumpkin tribe and also proves to be a very energetic and powerful fighter. His strong character is immediately noticed by the leader of the tribe, and they become fast friends. He eventually gains the trust and friendship of all the tribe and leaves to test his courage against the evil armies who threaten his way of life.

Motivation

            He was forced into this life and is just trying to survive in the beginning. As he becomes more aware of his surroundings he begins to want to affect the outcome. He realizes the thin layer of crust the world is supported by can be easily disrupted and changed.  He sees fear everywhere around him. When he was growing up in the squash village people were very friendly to him. Everybody seemed to help each other, people hardly argued. The squash village had become confident in itself and let their culture develop. When his is dragged into war, and the world of the pumpkin mercenary tribe, he realized there is a lot of bad shit in the world, and people are legitimately scared. Good people are forced to rat on their neighbors, negative gossip spreads, lies seep into the peoples minds and all are warped by fear. People in the tribe are dominated by negativity, deceit, and suspicion. The squash wants to change their attitude. He also feels the negativity creeping into him. It’s very contagious, so he struggles with himself as well as those around him. He feels that if the community doesn’t get better, he cant either.

Touches

            It’s going to be very surreal. I will put in strange little details that shouldn’t stand out too much, but they will be out of place and in weird combinations. Its gonna be pretty dark, the colors are going to be pretty pale and there will be heavy contrast & shading techniques used. I will try my damndest to make all of the characters likeable and unique. Their differences will be subtle, and I might use simple objects or patterns and colors to represent their personalities, but nothing too in your face. Like a mole, or a bandana, eye patch, boots, runny nose, pink shoelaces, big eyelashes, big teeth, always eating. There has to be some sort of fat character. Well I guess the pumpkins are all fat, so that’s good. The leader should be the fattest of all, but also the fastest runner and strangely the most flexible.

Antagonist: Apple King

Stakes

            The Apple King has just been crowned emperor of the Fruit Kingdom. Assassination plots have become rampant in the kingdom, so the King immediately demonstrates his power and ruthlessly puts down a rebellion. The rebellion had been caused by his first declaration as King, to expand the mighty fruit empire and bring civilization to the savage continent of vegetables. His reputation is at stake if he fails at his task, although nobody but him really cares. With his ruthless tactics, he makes many enemies both at home and abroad. The banana tribe even succeeded from the union and joined the vegetables in their struggle. The King is in dire straights and his enemies are closing in, he just wants to solidify his place in history the only way he knows how. His entire life is at stake, his livelihood is at stake, his reputation is at stake, and his place in history is at stake.

Personality Trait

            He is a ruthless tyrant who feels very insecure in his new position as King. He has a skewed way of looking at the world, and he comes off naïve. He does horrific things and always explains it away as if he had just saved the world. He tends to talk all the time and never listens. He gets angry and throws mini tantrums that look more like a choreographed dance. He moves in funny ways, he has a feminine way of moving and talking. He has the ability to charm when need be. He is actually a very strong fighter and has mastered the illusive energy wave technique. He also writes novels in his spare time.

Motivation

            He has a lot of pride. He has grown up in a rough part of town and has worked his way up the political totem pole to become voted in as King. He loves himself almost too much; he has statues of himself all around town and 3 or 4 portraits within his castle. He thinks that the entire world would benefit a great deal from his hard earned knowledge. His heart is in the right place, but his mind is skewed. He believes he is helping the world when really he is destroying it. He constantly makes excuses when he gets bad reports from the battlefield. He remains blissful even under dire times. He never gives up.

Touches

            He will move in a very distinct way. I want it to be sort of elegant and feminine but clumsy and strong at the same time. He will have conflicting personalities. Like he will be having a tea party surrounded by stuffed animals while conducting battlefield operations. He will have very interesting things to say, his personality is strong and he convinces others to follow him by playing with their needs and fears. He is very smart and charming, but he is leading everybody off the edge of a cliff.