All alone sheep

Animatic

Here's a story board I worked on for Master Kavinda.
Lets hope he remembers the few hours I threw in.

Critique of Shane Acker's 9

Critique 9:

9; the short computer animated student film, directed by Shane Acker (2005) evokes a visually amazing and intricate world, opening up revenues for curiosity within the audience. Though Tim Burton turned the short film into a feature and expanded on the universe of 9, Acker successfully paved the way for the creation of the world and story, utilising a terrifying obstacle, a quest for the hero to overcome, and a resolution to the film using ingenious story structure; all within the short duration of 11 minutes, as well as a lack of dialogue or narration to deliver such a feat.
Though arguably the short story is a feast for the eyes, with a beautifully told story, it is far more then a visual display of computer generated graphics. Acker successfully creates a high stakes plot, as well as developing deeper themes of which the audience can relate to.
The contention of this essay will argue that Acker’s 9 is a demonstration of successful use of story structure, as well as meeting criteria for successful film making, covering and expanding on facets such as character, obstacles, environments, themes and lighting.
This essay will critique both the visual aspects of Acker’s 9, as well as it’s use of story arc and structure, character development and design, lighting and environment.

After being introduced to the protagonists 5 and 9, the first element of the story that the audience is shown, is the world and environment the characters exist in. The world compared to our miniature hero’s is dark and post apocalyptic, riddled with discarded gems of debris and treasure, which the two characters cultivate for an unknown and intriguing purpose. The striking backdrops of the film, being shattered ruins of civilisation, are reminiscent of “Old photos from Chernobyl and bombed-out European cities during World War II.” When watching 9, the viewer can get a “sense of a fully developed world that’s just begging to be explored and fleshed out”

By making the props that the character collect enormous in size, dwarfing our hero’s, an audience is affected by these visuals in a simple sense, they can deduce two things: that the world is big and our heroes are small and vulnerable. Through the use of props, straight away the characters are given a vulnerability which adds to the tension of the films progression.

The lighting, being dim and eerie is also complimentary to this tension building aspect of the short film where in the green light coming forth from 5’s talisman, which warns the two of danger. Usually, red is commonly used as a symbol of immediate danger, micking the colour of blood and fire. Acker uses sophisticated facial expression and character acting to tell the audience that green is in fact representing a threat. This play on colour adds a new dimension to the film, as it is both unique in it’s delivery and also helps give a green monstrous glow to the scenery and characters, helping to show the audience that something ghastly, sickly green and monstrous is approaching. The green talisman become central to the plot shortly after, and begins to play symbolically by representing two things; both the character’s ‘soul’ and ‘danger’ given the different circumstances of the plots development. Using a symbol that comes to represent two things is tricky to pull off and commendable in this case, as if it were poorly executed the result would be confusing. “Containing powerful, thought-provoking science fiction themes.”

After gathering visual hints towards the theme of the film, the speculation that the audience is teased with opens up great avenues for questioning, and expanding on these themes. “The film is set during a near future in which humanity has been wiped out, a victim of destruction at the hands of the machines man himself created. “All that’s left of humanity resides within 9 tiny creations, man-made creatures that each carries with them a different piece of the human spirit.”


After 5 is killed, Acker uses the design of his monster, being entwined and draped in the slain characters clothing, to reveal two things to the audience, that the monster is killing the heroes of the story, that this threat has been around for quite some time, and that 9 the protagonist is directly in danger of being hunted down next. This adds a threatening, imminence to 9’s situation, ingeniously creating an obstacle for the character to overcome as well as building more tension, all through the use of visual design. “The monster seems almost perfect for the environment they come from, and the characters are very well emotionally presented considering their darned faces.” Again adding to the post apocalyptic nature of the short film, we can critique the 9’s design. “These 8-inch tall creatures, which Acker describes as "stitchpunk" beings, are pieced together from scraps of material, reflecting the desperation of the time.”

To deal with the threat, the items 9 collects in the start of the film, begin to be utilised again for the purpose of crafting a trap, tying up the loose ends neatly by explaining why in the beginning the two were harvesting junk, also satisfying the audiences curiosity in a timely and well executed manner. Further more, this also reveals to the audience 9’s central character traits, which helps paint the characters personality and development. Already we can deduce that he is cautious, patient, and very clever.

When the monster or antagonist falls for the bait, and is destroyed in the process, 9 collects his fallen comrades clothing and prepares them for ceremonial burning. After collecting the talisman, 9 watches in awe as the spirits of the fallen walk off to rest in peace, after receiving a nod of approval from 5. The concept of rest, and moving on to the after life, as well as being avenged allows the resolution of the story structure to come to a close, leaving 9 and the environment alive with a dabble of intrigue, which was obviously enough to spark the interest and creative of Tim Burton.

The rag doll design, with an interwoven wool texture has been mimicked and used within popular culture and games after 9’s release. Little big planet used a similar design, creating doll like creatures that had a similar texture attached to them and even had a zip similar to Acker’s characters. The woollen rag doll texture has also popped up in numerous animations and designs over the years, reinforcing the fact that 9 was innovative and contagious in its delivery and design.

To conclude, the visual aspects of 9 were original, dark, and refreshingly creepy. The characters’ design contributed both to their development as creatures within a believable world, and helped to deliver story elements visually. Colour and lighting was ingeniously used to symbolise multiple facets, allowing the audience to soak up different themes. Visually one could conclude that 9 was flawlessly beautiful, which is odd considering the world itself was post apocalyptic in design. Shattered buildings were complimented by soft lighting, mixing two contrasts together in a seamless and artistic fashion, “resented through faction fantasy pretty much existing as never-before-seen.”

“Despite its technical and artistic innovation’ however ‘perhaps Acker's emphasis on story will be what “9” is ultimately remembered for.” Often concerning the animated film world, it seems rare to find a balance between visual aesthetics and story, where in directors place emphasis on one or the other, rarely both. 9’s success I feel is largely due to the mastery of both these fields.
Wasting no time, the audience is hit with one tension packed plot point after the other, propelling our hero forwards against perilous odds. Acker has no need for lengthy shots that show off the modelling and texturing of his world, but rather wastes no time in feeding the audience a masterful build of tension and release. Each shot is filled with information, always contributing the stories development, and never overly glorifying, or rubbing the visuals into the audience’s faces.
Without dialogue, or narration Acker takes no easy path in telling his tale; portraying a “simple yet profound story telling without words, transcending past language barriers producing a universal story for all.”

“its clear why Tim Burton produced a feature film version since the film is full of possibilities.” One feat that can be attributed to 9, is that although it is fairly short in duration, the story found within each scene creates so much intrigue, with monsters, creatures and their origins so tempting to explore. Some of the best writers master the art of showing, not telling, and usually the greatest part of a story is not the part that is stated, but of all the thousands of possibilities and interpretation that a clever director can hatch within the viewers mind. “Acker also leaves much to our imagination, such as how the universe in 9 came to what it is now, a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The meaning of the ending, and the meaning or moral of the film itself, is also open to interpretation.”

To conclude Acker’s 9 is a demonstration of a beautifully and difficultly told story, matching Pixar’s high end standard of lighting, character movement and acting, as well as story arc. Creating multiple themes and symbols that come to represent so many different things simultaneously. By meeting criteria for successful film making, covering and expanding on facets such as character, obstacles, environments, themes and lighting, the greatest must redeeming quality of 9 is its originality and the intrigue it sparked in the viewers mind, who begs for more, and eventually got it.












Bibliography:

Lee, Rose Gypsy, Imdb Biography, " http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443424/", n.d, http://imdb.com, (12 August 2010)

Avila, Michael (September 8, 2009). Film '9' May Set New Animation Standard. Newsarama. “http://www.newsarama.com/film/090908-9-director.html.” Retrieved (January 15, 2010)

Churchill, Steven. "Shane Acker discusses his award winning film '9'". AnimationTrip.com. http://www.animationtrip.com/item.php?id=742. Retrieved (January 15, 2010)

Amidi, Amid (February 9, 2007). "Shane Acker's 9". Cartoon Brew. http://www.cartoonbrew.com/cgi/shane-ackers-9. Retrieved (January 15, 2010.)

Focus Features (March 21, 2007). "Animated Epic 9 Sets All-Star Voice Cast". Press release. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=19457. Retrieved (January 15, 2010)

Playing around with colours is dangerous

Must stick to the colour scheme, but surely it couldn't hurt to mix up the colours just a tad? just a bit?

Riplle effect on the Shep

Promotional Art

I have always dug black and white images over colored for some reason.
On character sheets, I prefer it when the design his half way there, where you can see the artists scribbles and shapes and construction lines. Everyone in the industry likes polished art though it seems.

Occlusion sheep

Visuals comeing together

Early digital concept art

Here's an early version of the monster. He was somewhat mechanical, having a wind mill embedded into his head. He was rotting, and creepy, and suited the role of an evil antagonist, over a sympathetic monster. So he was scratched.

Filtered layout

A fan base that cannot change

Even when producing a short story, I always felt the greatest writing technique was to allow the audience to speculate and imagine, to create a story and allow the watcher to fill in the gaps themselves.
One of my favourite teachers professed that his two favourite characters of all time were Darth Vader, and God. He was a Theological scholar, and had spent a great part of his life studying the literary side of both the Torah (the Jewish scripture) and the Bible.
The word bible, can be translated to mean “Many books” I further elaborate on this title, and perhaps controversially so, and state that the stories found in biblical scriptures are not so much dogma to follow blindly, but are merely interpretive, allowing the human mind to view the moral behind the story as they see fit, or applicable within their culture, society, or state of mind.
The bible simply put, deals with every facet of human existence. Eccelasties, rumoured to be King Solomon, wrote a lengthy chapter on depression. Wherein he claims that asking philosophical questions like “What happens after death?” and “What is my purpose” is the equivalent of “Chasing the wind.” Meaning you’re chasing something you cannot ever catch. He concludes by coining the phrase “Eat, Drink and be Merry” and the advice he game humanity, was to ‘Rejoice in youth.”
Another Chapter in the bible; “The song of songs” is a poetic song which celebrates two 16 year old lovers sneaking off to have sex. Pretty shocking, but none the less, it is apart of life which most can relate to, and though frowned upon in today’s modern day and age, one could interpret the act of love, and the innocence of the characters, as being intrinsically good.
The book of Job addresses the question “Why does it rain shit on good people?” And that always seems to be the case. I myself have had the pleasure of meeting some of the most corrupt, despicably evil and manipulative people in Melbourne, and at every turn they seem to be rewarded for their stealthy lack of regard for human growth. In the story, God eventually answers Job’s hopeless situation, by claiming that he is merely human, and his knowledge is limited. He simply can never know, nor understand the chaotic nature of the world.
The writers behind the bible were undoubtedly the greatest to ever have existed. Today we see lame bands that adopt a style of dress, sing about key lyrics, all in a bid to attract a demographic. The trouble with this is, for example, if an Emo band starts a fan base strictly full of an Emo subculture, and the media ends up hounding that stereotype (solely because it sells papers, I doubt they have any regard towards the key and crucial identity development of adolescents, one which they all had to face themselves ) The point being, the Emo bands demographic disappeared, evolved into another fast moving sub culture. The Alpha males and Females that were pulling the crowds got up and left, and all the lackeys followed them.
The writers behind the bible were far more advanced, as they backed a demographic that simply could not change. All humans have a sole biological purpose to breed, it is ingrained in our nature. We need to procreate, we need to love, we need to raise and nurture our children. This will never change so long as humans exist. Within the bible, almost every biblical hero wishes or asks God for many, many children . There are countless chapters which list the descents and bloodlines of significant characters. King David is succeeded by his son Solomon, and thousands of years down the track, the writers tell us that Jesus was of the same bloodline. Now here is the really clever part. Obviously when you breed, a portion of your genes and dna is passed on to your offspring. In a way, you are reincarnating yourself through your children. Though your consciousness dies with your body, your bloodline carries an element, or traits that were once you. In a way, you escape death.
And every human will always fear death.
The demographic was so firm and broad that these ancient texts have been best sellers for fucking thousands of years. Obviously given their success, or the success of their writing structures, other carnations of this scripture began to pop up. I am no historian, I cannot tell you which came first, or which deserves credit for originality if any, considering most of the tales found within holy texts are borrowed from Ancient Greek legends and mythology anyway.
Some writers were interested in the propagation of all living things. They took the elements of life that were constructive, and encouraged them. Some holy texts needed to back there own demographic, so they invested in writing that was interested in propagating a ‘chosen people.’
There were even some holy texts that not only backed a ‘chosen people’ but they also encouraged the death of their competitors. Not a lot has changed in marketing tactics, i’m afraid for every flaw we have in our nature, they’re will be two or three greedy, scheming, heartless bastards that seek to exploit for the sole purpose of making money.
What is interesting is the fact that a certain religion, which I fear naming due to reprisals, seems to be the first in history who don’t twist and turn the literary use of God into money, but rather mass destruction. They accumulate money, only to spend it on explosions. It is undeniably bad, but this break in human behaviour could be a sign of evolution perhaps? I don’t know, I still have alot to study. What I do know is, that overly passionate scripture is responsible for it.
You know the human race has failed somewhat magnificently when our technology completely dwarfs our morality. Anyone with a trigger finger can take a life sadly. Anyone with a tongue can sabotage, rumour monger and spread lies.
So if an age of terrorism, an age of murderous crusades, an age of holocausts and genocide, where greed and a love of money has always been around, and always will be. Where people will always lie. Where people will always wish destruction on any feasible target, wherein the power of their weapons has long since surpassed the power of their reasoning or coping mechanisms, who is to blame?
Has interpretation paved the way for a chaotic lack of regard for each other? Where older generations seek to exploit the young and naive, rather then nurture their talents and traits? Do we simply care more about making money, keeping our demographic stupid so they buy and believe our lie ridden marketing? Do we care about this more then Evolution?
I suppose you can find solace as a human being, that although evil and stupidity will always exist, one demographic, though minuscule in comparison, is the one that wants to see, and encourage the evolution of all species. Any dip shit can lie to someone, anyone with an index finger can destroy, every corporation wants a demographic that’s kept paralysed with fear, insecurity and stupidity. But only a select few Aplha’s can propagate the evolution of the mind.
I wanted to craft a film that mixed genres, that utilised Pixar’s duel audience of both adults and children, and ultimately encourage the viewer to interpret the clip into however they saw fit.
Ever seen Twilight? Ever notice how the female lead doesn’t actually act? She perpetually has a vague look of puzzlement on her face? That’s so every little girl watching her can see her as a blank canvas, and project their own thoughts and feelings into the empty vessel. It works.
You’ll find, if you don’t give people much information on who you are, or the way you think, or what you do, they’ll get dire curious about you. If you rarely talk or say a word, then eventually they’ll start to project themselves onto you, their flaws and failings. Things they hate about themselves, but cannot bare to face. I once had an actor tell me I was two faced, which I found interesting, as I had never had a conversation with him.

Sheep shocked

“The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty.”

Foley

Foley List:
The bad thing about using free sound, is that they absolutely suck. Save for one website I stumbled across, which was dedicated solely to the sound of ‘havin a spew.’ Thousands of sounds, best described as a man heaving, then heavy thick liquid hitting the floor. Was grouse.

I need..
Snare sound effect.
Since the Shepherd has trouble loading the snare, it needs to be rickety. Some kind of springy sound, the sound of metal resisting weight. And finally a nice ‘click’ sound to tell the audience the snare is loaded. Perhaps a gun being cocked or loaded would fit this nicely.

Sheep sound.
I figured I’d try get my Sister’s 2 year old daughter to imitate the sound of a sheep. His character needs to be extremely cute, and using a recorded sound of a sheep ‘Baa’ doesn’t suit a humanized sheep well at all.
Monster. Since he is a sympathetic monster, i needed a deep whimpering to accompany his heavy footsteps, and snarls.

Bell:
The sheep’s bell is a huge story telling device. It clangs and bounces around. Any bell can help carry this effect, but it has to be accompanied by wood and grass. As the bell often bounces off wooden or earthy objects off camera. The bell also comes into contact with the monsters head, so a different sound would help here also.

Old school video Block

Here's an early early video block. The music is by Melbourne band "The Messengers" as was the only part of the project that was well received. I should have edited in the story board to help show the missing shots, but instead I used quick black outs, which in the film world is a big no no. Live and learn.

The feather at the start was a hint towards the Carrion Bird's.

Opening Titles third pass

There is a 6th pass floating around, but for some reason After effects spazs out when I feed it AVI.'s I'll beat it tonight for it's disobedience.

Sunset third pass

Ahh the sunset. Nothing says 'aesthetically pleasing to the eye' quite like a sunset.
The beauty of this being, if I reverse the frames, guess what I've got?
A nice return to the equilibrium is what.
Always having story structure in mind is a handy tool for either a hard working animation student, or a wanker.

Carrion crawling bird

He's some more early concept art I dug up. Originally the carrion bird was to act like an Owl, which is often symbolically used in Film and Literature to show that every action taking place is being carefully observed.
The idea was that the Monster naturally preyed upon these birds, snatching them out of the air with his long slender fingers. When the monster's eyes were taken, and the blame strongly hinted towards the Shepherd as the culprit, the monster is forced to find easier prey. Thus the cycle of Karma returns to the evil Shepherd, as the monster begins stalking his sheep.

I wanted to put further emphasis on the theme of "An unbalanced Ecosystem" As when the monster is defeated, the birds are free to breed into plague proportions. The Shepherd, thinking the equilibrium of his world has been returned through the death of the antagonist, returns home to find the Carrion birds ceaselessly devouring his crops. With little to no choice left, the Shepherd is forced to eat his last precious lamb, and forever tormented by the act.
The story pokes fun at who the real monster is, thus allowing the monster to be both fearsome and sympathetic, and the Shepherd becomes both loving and cruel.

This story was rather dark, and I found the 3d style of the piece was better suited to something light heartened. But after being force fed a number of Disneyeske, kid friendly short films, which seem to dominate the 3d market, I began to think that backing something hideously dark and twisted would be well adapt at making it into film festivals.

The bird in itself however was way too complex for a student, and a limited team to pull off. Usually words like "plague proportions" can be translated into animation terms as accurately as "Fuckloads of endless work" or "Epic unrealistic goals."

Due to his ability to hop about on the ground, as well as fly, the character required an advanced rig, and considering we were already pushing 3 characters (the bird being the 4th) we sadly decided to axe him, as well as the theme of an Unbalanced Eco-System.

Probably the most frustrating thing about animation is having ideas, but not having the man power to pull them off.

The Pre-Production Process

Working hard in the studio, while Greg whips up a storm in the kitchen.

Opening Titles and New font

The O's are reminicient of the stiching in the monsters eyes.

One off the final pass

Looking fragile

Bait

Poster edges

Freaking out

It's that time of year, panic chews away. 8 weeks left to have everything, EVERYTHING done. It's time to pray. Not to God, he will not heed my crys. But perhaps his incarnate son, Jack Parry will be able to sow some mircacles.

Sheep_stage 3 point lighting

Three Point lighting Set up

Sheep animation fourth pass

Still floaty in some parts, but my confidence in the short clip is growing. Need to apply some jiggle deformity on the ears and body to give a bit more 'cuddliness' and believability to the Sheep.

Sunset second pass