The Pedlar of Swaffham. Update.

I had a surreal trip back up to Bournemouth and the University on Friday to meet the animators (BACVA) and talk about the script.

And the good news is it's happening and the script will be made, which is great and I'm really pleased!

The animated short will be thirty seconds long and in what was descibed by the course leader as quality over quantity. This has got me intrigued to how it will turn out and most especially the view of Old London Bridge with its mish-mash of structures.



The final script deadline is in two weeks and will be discussed and finalised with the four animators. The group will then spend the year creating the animation, which I assume will be completed in the summer term around June/July next year.

It's incredible being back in a collaboration as there's nothing like it. I'm really looking forward to getting the script finalised and then on seeing the progress and offering any character/story advice and details I can.

It's nice to be on the road to having a sole written animation produced and has been one of my ambitions for awhile.

Just awesome.

The Unsuckessful Vampire. - [Reflection/Update]

Strangely this is the first post on this collaboration which was completed over six months ago. But it was such an incredible experience that I am going to offer a brief insight and reflection on the project.

The Unsuccessful Vampire is a three minute stop-motion animation produced across the road from Bournemouth University at The Arts Institute Bournemouth. I didn't write the animation's story but did co-write the narration to it and had a blast.

Initially being chosen for the project was a mix of terror and excitement. I had no experience in the area and wanted to achieve the best I could because I didn't want to let anyone down and wanted to do justice to the story/visuals.

So I was given an animatic (rough version) of the short and had to come up with a suitable narration to accompany it. There was 30 seconds of an original attempt from the start, which helped to guide me and in the end most of it remained because it worked so well. At first it was very difficult because I had no story or character notes to work from, just the animatic/part narration and the fact that this vampire was rather unsuccessful in his line of work, well in his nature. But once I got started and involved it all started to flow and was great fun.

I think I did three rewrites on the narration which spanned over six months and received some great notes on them. I had time on this which was the best thing because it took awhile to get into the mind of the story and the world of animation. But it was such an incredible and rewarding challenge, and fun thing to do that I really miss the process. There were a few problem areas for awhile, where it just seemed impossible that anything suitable would fit there. But in the end, suitable words came from nowhere and seemed to fit and work.

It was such a great story and animatic and relaxed collaboration that it was a pleasure to work on and I learnt so much that it was also a blessing.

Currently, the short is being shown around film festivals and I should be able to get a copy within a month or so, as I haven't seen the finished version yet.

I do hope that it will be uploaded online at some point as it would be great to be able to proudly post the link.

The Pedlar of Swaffham.

I've recently completed an unexpected short animation script entitled 'The Pedlar of Swaffham,' which I'm really proud of.

I had initial doubts in achieving the script as by nature it was different to my other animation shorts and was my first adapted piece.

The Pedlar of Swaffham is an english short story that derives from the legend and myth of said Pedlar who came into a fortune due to a dream.

The project came about through Bournemouth University and the new wave of first year animators there. Five short stories were available for adaptation and the best ones will be created into animations by a team over the next year.

This was an opportunity I thought was too good to be true and there was no way i was going to pass on it. I love animations and writing them and have been trying to get 'Book' and 'Vampire' made for awhile. And, here was the chance to potentially get a written credit on a short animation! Too good to be true, and yet it is. :)

So I got reading the short stories, found mine and got to work, and with a one-week deadline. It may have only been six or seven pages long but the story's essence had to be compressed to a mere 2-3 pages of screen time, which was rather difficult as there was a major section of dialogue at a crucial point, had a lot of beats in the story and was historical. And I had picked the easiest one to adapt!

But the more I cut certain beats out on the fly and under pressure, I realised that the audience could deduce for itself what was missing and I soon found out the story could work with its bare bones. It's fascinating now, how quick I am to cut my favourite things as from experience they're often the weakest link, and with this I went straight to them and with only a slight hesitation. The characters and story always comes first, not me.

One of the most fascinating parts of it was the research, and finding out about the Old London Bridge (which the Pedlar visits) and that there used to be shop buildings on there, which people also lived in. The pictures and info I found were incredible and took me off on a tangent for awhile. It was a really great discovery as I love finding out about these kinds of historical gems.

Only in London folks:



It was such an incredible project and exercise and went so fast that I really miss it. I hope it gets picked so I can return to it and improve on it and hopefully see it for real.

It has also proved once again and only in the words of George Mcfly:

'If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.'

A Little Certain 'Vampire' and 'Book'.

I was going to start by quoting the first line from the song Gravity by Embrace but I've changed my mind. I'll just listen to it instead. However it still applies without the opening word 'honey' of course.

'Vampire' and 'Book' are two short animation scripts that were begun on Dec 2007 and June 2007 respectively, and yesterday were extremely close to being once and for all, finished. The first, I think is as good as it's ever going to be, and the second extremely close and depends on further feedback and time.

What's interesting is that both scripts on every revision and rewrite over the last year were considered final. At the start they both were initially eight pages, which I soon found out was far too long for an animated short. But with some more time away, time to review and feedback from others, another rewrite always came about; improvements were made, precious page time was reduced and the story was tighter. They are both now four pages long, which still may be too long for some shorts but I think is the right length for these stories.

The final polish was unplanned and was a spur of the moment thing while I was about to email them to someone. As I read the attachment labels, I thought 'I'll give them a read to see how they're doing' and then found after one improvement, others came and the email was held up for awhile.

With 'Vampire' it was the vampire himself who's character and development was improved and ultimately, nailed. I never realised before that his actions and reactions weren't in character, they were just typical generic reactions. But now they follow a process of development, which for an animated character may sound strange, but is needed and it works so much better. Before, his first reaction in the script was a big one. And then they were smaller and returned to being big. There was no gradual development into the big reaction and change in the character. So it was nice after all this time to realise that I had been playing some of his reactions the wrong way. They were all there but just not in the right order. The weird thing is it stood out like a sore thumb whereas before it seemed perfect. The vampire feels like a real person now and feels like the icing on the cake.

Anyway..

'Book' had the most dramatic change to it and had almost a page wiped out from it. This was a large portion of the opening; that I knew beforehand and an animator had said to me, was a weak area and if it didn't contribute to the overall story, then it should go. But i just couldn't bare to lose it as I loved it too much. It did add to the story as it added to the persona of the mysterious owner of the house/estate, but it was more small jokes/set ups, that really didn't advance things to much, they just made the reveal more fancy and developed. But it survived intact without those. And so I killed that little gem opening page and reworked the essential scene from all that, that leads into the predicament of the story.

It's strange that a four page animation, admittedly casually, has taken a year to get to a comfortable point of completion. The last rewrites six months ago, for me were complete and done, and i was happy. But this time 'Vampire' in particular feels like it has reached its peak destination and I couldn't be happier.

I noted in an earlier post, that a lecturer, Jan Weddup suggested before that I should offer to write for the BU animators. He gave me the nudge to start thinking in terms of short animations for possible producing. It took six months for it to work its way to action, but ended up kicking off an exciting and unexplored territory, that at first, I didn't think existed in my capacity and I wasn't worthy to tread.

The main thing I've learnt on writing animations; is the importance of screen time and detail, and the extreme compression of the two in order to deliver a satisfying pace and enriched story. That has certainly informed my writing in general as well as that learnt on character and other areas.

It's something I recommend that everyone should try because, if nothing else, it's great fun and a great way to escape.

Cheers Jan for the nudge.

Writing Short Animations. Pt3.

It's strange looking back to before starting on these because at the time my attitude was 'it's never gonna happen' and 'I'm never gonna think of any good ideas lets alone write them.' But I feel like the creative door is most definitely open and I'm constantly thinking and seeing things in terms of animations and possibilities in everything. It's surreal because it feels natural and like its always been that way.

George Mcfly said it right: 'If you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything.'

Where I'm at now is in rewrites of Book, Salesman, Vampire and Deadline. The two with the most potential and are in the best shape at the moment are Book and Vampire. Book's potential is with a company like Ardman who are a little leftfield and would appreciate the story's twisted irony. Vampire has big potential within a short or feature animation with a company who produce Pixar/Blue Sky-esque animations.

An animation lecturer at the university read Vampire and recommended it as a good and achievable short for the first year animators. I was surprised with his response and will definitely follow it up. That would be the internal monologue version as I think characters talking/lip syncing would be too advanced at that stage. Plus I've yet to replace the internal monologue with real time dialogue. So that's something to aim and look forward to.

Otherwise, the future is in getting those current four scripts written to their best and developing the new batch. Not to mention thinking more in terms of smaller and simpler situations for future ideas.

Writing Short Animations.

Jan Weddup, (scriptwriting lecturer) has often said that I should offer to write for the animators in the third-year -- because it’s a good way to get your name attached to a high-quality animated piece and make a contact.

I’ve always been interested in animation and writing for it. But when it comes to animated shorts (ha ha) I didn’t have a clue on how to write one and always thought that its something that a) I don’t have the comic-ability for and 2) the skill to write such a piece. The thought and prospect laid at the back of my mind for a good five months and then one day I began thinking about ideas.

BU animation-wise I knew what could be done by what I’ve seen and I knew what I liked story and character-wise. But when it came down to it I didn’t know where to start. So I started looking at a few animated feature ideas I have (which I know will only ever be dreams) and taking their concepts and seeing if I could condense their essence into an animated short. But that was just the beginning.

As I began to think in terms of animation it was only time until new ideas started coming. And i didn't have to wait long. An idea came out of nowhere and I ended up finishing a first draft pretty quickly. It’s four minutes and I see it as being animated in a pretty basic way. Basic is probably an insult but it doesn’t need to be photo realistic or anything.

Its the story of a mischievous fox who gets his last lesson in the ‘Book of Life‘. It can work on a basic animated level or in fine detail. Its features are; trees/garden scenery, inside two rooms of a house, two animal and one human character and object interaction.

It’s in typical animation comedy form - although subtle; I don’t like to consciously think about writing comedy because in my opinion (and perfectionist/mildly paranoid mind state) it ends up ruining it. It almost did for this although its more irony than actual purposeful laugh out loud jokes.

Although one stupid joke (that isn’t funny) still makes me laugh. But it needs to be there because what its based around is a link to the persona of the mysterious villain-hunter character. It’s the first joke (attempt) in the script and I think of it as what Dewy in Scream 2 refers to as ‘lowering peoples expectations to effectively manoeuvre within any given situation’. I’m a geek I know. It works visually that’s why I still laugh when I think about it. It’s the only stupid joke though.

The rest all felt natural to do so i didn't have to over think them. The main thing with writing it is obviously what I find funny but also bearing in mind other peoples expectations. But Book of Life is something that I would want to see and would enjoy. And that’s why we write.

After the Book of Life my short animated receptors (ha ha) were pretty much turned off but more ideas started flowing. At the closure of what I thought was a freak accident of a good idea wasn‘t so. I’ve now got four solid ideas that I will complete before the summer is up and more in the works. Its seems that a once closed door has now been opened as I can’t stop seeing short animations in everything. All the ideas are completely different in terms of high/low concept and content and I’m not really sure if any are good or appropriate. But I’ll be happy if at least one is liked.

I was worried about not fitting enough in to make the reveals and end sting in the tale work and I knew I only had a few minutes of screen time. This is where time apart really helped. Coming back with a fresh mind helped to add certain details and takeout what wasn’t advancing the story and only dragged it down. And that’s the main thing with writing just go with your instincts and your learn by your mistakes. I actually took some of my favourite things out but I’m always prepared to do that because in the end; its about writing the most effective story for the audience. Not for you. Another thing that I’ve learnt with writing animation is that its good fun. So I think everyone should try it and your probably surprise yourself. I did.

Tips I’ve learnt. (I know I’m no expert. But they might help.)

-Initially, keep it small and simple. That way you have room to manoeuvre and add depth and detail to make it appear more bigger than it is.

-The best comedic shorts are based around a situation, moment or moral tale.

-Keep in mind audience (and your own) expectations at every turn and try to beat/raise them.

-Character expressions. It’s what animators want when reading a script and its what the story’s all about. So make the main character stand-out and likeable. (At first I didn‘t have any reaction or personality with the fox in Book of Life- he was just a mischievous fox in his first appearance. But now his thick black eyebrows are his trademark. I should think of some more.)

-The character(s) is everything. At the heart of the story is the oddball main character/hero. So think about how vulnerable/likable and original he can be.

-Watch short animations to get a feel for what you can do and where you can go.