The production blog for the animated short film.
You are currently browsing the archive for the Uncategorized category.
Hi everyone!
Sorry about the lack of postings lately. We’ve all been enjoying the holiday season!
We are going to be storyboarding soon, and we’ll post some art shortly.
Meanwhile, if you’re in a holiday mood, you can visit the Christmas Animation Festival. Its a free online festival showing some great holiday animation. Visit Larry Lauria’s blog at http://lanimate.animationblogspot.com.
Hello everyone!
I thought it was about time to check in with a progress report, and I’m gonna do it wearing my multiple hats like I did with the first post.
Producer
I think we’ve got a great foundation to move forward. We’ve recently set up a Huddle account for online meetings and communications about the film’s production (because our schedules keep us too busy to meet at the same time) and we’ve got a solid membership of our test audience on Facebook. I think that these tools are going to be very useful moving forward. We’re also moving forward in our fundraising efforts. We’re chugging along and we’ll keep you informed on how things go.
Director / Writer
We’re in the process of hammering out the treatment. Once everyone thinks that its working as a film, we’ll run it by our test audience, and yes, the test audience will contribute to the film’s production from beginning to end… which is kinda cool. Based on their input and suggestions, we will make any necessary revisions and then move forward with a script and storyboards. We won’t reveal much of that on this blog, but we will share snippets with everyone as we go forward.
Animator
We’ve gotten some mixed reactions from the teaser trailer. Some has been really good, and some has been really bad… but that’s okay, because in the book “The Art of the Start”, he says that we need to “catalyze passion” and apparently we are. Maybe it would help if we explained what you’re looking at…
That trailer was designed and animated with Macromedia Flash MX and edited with Windows Movie Maker on my little Sony Vaio laptop, with no Wacom products at all. It’s actual production (not including creating the animatic) lasted two weeks because we had to hit the deadline of Day in the Park (and the trailer was finished the night before the event). We didn’t have the full 2 weeks because of our day jobs, an emergency trip to the hospital and a birthday party. You’re looking at roughly 14-16 hours of work, from beginning creating the character rigs through to editing the thing together.
Now, imagine if we had a computer that could actually run Flash efficiently, a Cintiq, After Effects, Pro Tools and ample production time… and hopefully soon, you won’t have to. -L
Hello everyone! Just checking in with a quick update. We have launched a page for the film on Facebook here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=30209801589
We’re slowly and surely growing a test audience for the film. We’re looking for input from folks to see how our story is working, if the character design has the right appeal, etc. Feel free to join up!
Speaking of story, we’re starting our story meetings. Check back for some clips from the revised treatment and soon, the script!
Here it is… the first version of the film’s teaser trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC5q2E15C0k
This is the version that played at our promotional booth at Day in the Park in Lynchburg. Also, the secret is now out. Tony Rodgers, the acclaimed trailer voice artist that voiced the trailers for Shrek, Bee Movie, Madagascar 2 and Igor has voiced our trailer. Yeah, that’s really him.
As I am very proud of my first YouTube trailer, it doesn’t look quite as intended. The production value isn’t quite what I wanted, but when you’re animating in your free time from your day job and you have a few life events happen (including Mike’s grandmother having a diabetic adventure at the hospital and my grandpa’s 80th birthday) it kinda takes away from your production time. Still, this isn’t the final version and I wanted you guys to see what the kids saw at Day in the Park.
We will keep you updated!!!
What a complete SUCCESS! Our film’s promotional booth at Lynchburg’s Day in the Park was a SMASH HIT! I had NO IDEA how popular we would be. I’m so sorry everyone, but we didn’t have TIME to take pictures! I managed to snap one pic while we were setting up… there’s Mike behind the tent there. On the HUMONGOUS 42 inch flat screen we had (man, it was awesome) we showed the teaser trailer for the film and a bunch of cards on screen (yeah yeah, like I did in the ol’ CAS days) showing our web addresses and promotional stuff for the film, like educational “Fast Facts” and “Did you know?” stuff for the kids and parents to read as they were waiting in line. We trimmed it up a lot from what you see here, but when we were done, it looked very professional and very slick and got a TON of attention.
 |
The theme for Day in the Park this year was “It’s a Jungle out here”. Our booth was for “Jungle Face Paint”. I was handling the face paints… Mike also had some jungle animal stamps… kinda like fake tattoos for the ones scared of getting painted and impatient parents (he really helped me out by being the “Express Lane”). It was kinda slow in the beginning of the day… but once those kids started walking around showing off their faces… the line came.
No kidding… We had a line of kids from, say 10:30am STRAIGHT to 3pm. No slow down, no break. In the end, I had to cut it off and tell folks we were closed. One little girl cried and we hooked her up with a stamp tattoo. I’m thinking that everyone had they’re eye on the line and as it got short, they jumped in. We even had a few that tried to break in line and a few ghetto mamas that started yelling. It was ROCKIN. I kinda threw time constraints out the door (even though I thought it was pretty fast) and painted entire faces instead of just cheeks. I really think that’s what made them stand and wait in line, combined with having the TV to watch to pass the time.
Those kids requested a variety of animals to be. The most popular were tigers and jaguars. There were a few monkeys and butterflies. A couple little guys got war paint and some little football players got their team colors painted on them. I even had a few kids who wanted the Heath Ledger Joker face and one little guy who wanted to be Iron Man. I really wish I had taken some pictures… I was really proud of a few of those.
But the goal was to promote the film, and WE DID! We now have the beginnings of an email fan base from our signup sheets, we handed out a lot of brochures and scored some potential donors (we weren’t allowed to actively fundraise in the public park). I think everyone is liking the call for a TEST AUDIENCE. There were a lot of parents who liked the idea of their kids participating in making a cartoon. We were even approached by ANOTHER local museum that wanted to work out programming based on our film!! It was an AVALANCE of success for us. THANK YOU SO MUCH to EVERYONE who stopped by our promotional booth. I apologize for any wait and the hot weather, but I think everyone had a lot of fun.
We are DEFINATELY going to try and find another local event to promote the film. Maybe we can find a haunted house where we can face paint again. Oh, sounds like an idea!
We have launched the prospectus for our film.
What’s a prospectus?
It’s an overview of our project for any potential investors or supporters to review our project.
At first, we wanted to post it on the film’s dotcom, but based on the response we got, we decided that was a bad idea. We will soon post instructions on how to obtain a copy of our prospectus.
We are rolling along on creating the fundraising teaser trailer for the film. I finished up the animatic for the trailer and passed it off to Mike last week for music. I’m almost done keying out the characters (arcs are our friends) and I’ll be doing the breakdowns (yay timing!) and inbetweening this weekend.
Hello Again!
We are rolling along with our film! I have been thinking about the art direction for the film, and I finally decided on a locale. I chose Colonial Jamestown. Here’s why:
1. It’s “Little Songs of Long Ago”, so it had to be a long time ago!
2. I considered Old England, Old France and other places you would think of for something happening “long ago”, but that’s been done to death.
3. We’re working with Amazement Square, so I figured they would appreciate it if we made a film that would benefit their educational department and had a tie to Virginia.
4. It helps the message of the story ring true better, and our story can plausibly happen in that time period.
So, now I’m researching the art direction, what they wore, what Jamestown looked like and all that. I’ve been watching the movie “The New World” with Colin Farrell. It’s given me a few useful ideas. I’m also always amazed at the usefulness of Google. At some point, I’m probably gonna jet down there with a sketchpad and a camera. I’ll probably start up a thread in the Animation World Network forums with character designs.
We’re also gearing up for our booth at Day in the Park. I’m thinking that we’re just gonna do face painting, but we’ll see how it goes. We’ll have a big flat screen tv there showing our logo, fundraising trailer and other stuff.
We’ve also got secret stuff that we’re working on that we’ll reveal at the right time, so check back often!
Welcome friends! This is the production blog of the Little Songs of Long Ago film project! Check back often for updates, sneak peeks and dates for special events! I’m Lamont and I feel kind of like a Dr. Seuss character with all the hats I’m wearing for this thing. I’m directing, producing, writing and animating. Thankfully I’m not alone. Jazz musician and good friend Michael Mavilia is co-producing and directing the music (he’ll also post here with updates). We’ve also formed a studio around this little film, Studio Luke 15. Once this film is done, be sure to look for more in the future.
This is truly one of those projects that started when a couple of friends sat around and said “You know… we really should do that one day”. Thanks to a little faith and determination, not only has it begun, but we’ve got enough traction to comfortably start fundraising. Here’s what we’ve got so far… and I’ll tell you from the perspective of my hats.
I knew that I would gain a wealth of knowledge from this experience, but I had no idea how much. Here’s a bit of wisdom: Gaining permission rights is HARD! Wow… At first, we wanted to create a short film based on In The Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak… kind of riding the wave of the Where the Wild Things Are movie, you know? We were contacted by Mr. Sendak’s personal assistant and unfortunately, he couldn’t help us, and our prayers are with him. We sought other properties until I threw my hands up and looked to the public domain. That’s when I found Little Songs of Long Ago. It is a songbook from 1914 by Alfred Moffat. A good part of Mike’s work was done with this choice… it’s a songbook! The basic melodies for him to work with are already there. However, it would mean a lot of work for me, as there is no “story”… just a collection of little songs about various characters and events. That would mean a completely original screenplay from me. I’m really excited about it, and I’ll talk a little about it under the Writer hat.
So, as soon as we found the fun property that we could legally use, it became time to start “making it rain” and getting this film made. Here’s some quick mentionables of what we’ve got so far:
· We talked with Mary Kathryn Severin of The Virginia Film Commission and got some valuable insight. With their help, we’ll be more equipped to launch the film locally and gain some “grass roots” support. Thanks Ms. Severin!
· We’re a member of the Washington D.C. chapter of the Animation Co-op. With their help, we were able to contact Frank Lunn and get some great legal advice. Thanks again Mr. Kevin Geiger, Mr. Frank Lunn, and Ms. Sharvonique Fortune!
· This is a low budget film, but as every film producer knows, you’ve got to fund the budget you have. Thank God for my background in sales. Without giving away all our strategies, here’s some of highlights of what we’ve got going on as far as funding:
o One thing I really didn’t want to do is approach investors and talk about possible gain and possible risk. We want investors to feel comfortable with helping us. So, instead of offering empty promises, we’re offering investors something tangible… a tax break. We are applying for fiscal sponsorship with Fractured Atlas, which means that any donations to the project will be tax deductable. Isn’t that nifty?
o We are working with the Amazement Square children’s museum. Not only will the film premiere at the museum, but we will work with their educational department to develop workshops on art, music and animation based on the film. With Amazement Square and fiscal sponsorship, we qualify for certain grants, plus we’ll get an awesome premiere for the film, some great exposure and give something unique and educational to the community. Thanks Melissa!
o We need to get the word out to potential donors about our opportunity. So, we need a fundraising trailer to post all over the web. The details of it are a secret right now, but let’s just say that we’ve got a surprise that will turn every animator green with envy. Thanks again Heidi! You SO earned that producer credit!
· Every year, Lynchburg, Virginia (where we are!) hosts a large cultural event called Kaleidoscope that lasts an entire month. The largest part of that event is Day In The Park, which is held in Miller Park in September. The larger industries and organizations in the region will have booths with free stuff and games for kids. Special thanks to Jennie Jacobs. Thanks to her, Little Songs of Long Ago will have a promotional booth at this huge local event. I’ve got a lot of ideas, thanks to my experience with SCAD’s Sidewalk Arts Festival. Check back for pictures!
· We’re also members of the Young Professionals of Central Virginia. We are honored to be part of an organization with the best and brightest in the region.
· Yeah, yeah… we need to register as members of ASIFA-East. It’s on my list.
Right now, the film is intended for film festivals and the Internet. Other than locally and the festivals, we have no plans for distribution, but we’re open if anyone wants to sit and talk with us. If you are interested in donating to the project, we will soon post a link for you to do so.
We don’t want to reveal too much yet, as we’re just in pre-production… only that the film is going to be about friendship and acceptance. We’ve got the first draft of the treatment of the film completed as well as the design of the main characters completed. It will be animated with Flash and Toonboom. We’ll use 3D animation as the story needs it. Mike is handling the music, and he will provide posts about that.
I’ve been blessed with a fantastic team. Thanks to Carl “Bam” Blackmon for lending a hand with animation and our program with Amazement Square and thanks to my old college buddy Brian Oakley for offering help as well, as well as my old high school friend and comic book legend Val Staples.
Like I mentioned earlier, this project would require a completely original story from me. I haven’t done anything like this since I won those “Awards for Achievement” in the National Written and Illustrated By… Awards Contest for Students in high school. That was a long time ago, so I’m really psyched to write again. Here’s a sneak peak from the treatment:
Joan hides behind a corner, heaving her breath from running. She leans against the wall and slides to her knees crying. She feels that coming to the fair was a mistake, and it seemed hopeless that she would ever find a friend. All around her, yellow eyes appear and watch her cry from the shadows. When Joan looks up, the eyes disappear, but a little cat is sitting right in front of her. The cat stares and seems to look right through her. At first, Joan thinks that the cat wouldn’t want to be her friend either. It soon becomes obvious that the cat isn’t leaving. The yellow eyes return as Joan accepts that the cat is her friend and picks it up. She heads back to the fair, confident that she’s found a new friend.
As we approach production, we’ll post some character design and some more story sneak peeks, and Mike should offer up some posts on his approach to the music.
Thanks for stopping by. We’ll keep you informed as we go along!
