I gave you my all

Today is a big day. We are putting the finishing touches to our interim submission for Pocket Shorts for our scheduled hand-in this afternoon. This includes finalised scripts, storyboards, character designs, props and backgrounds. So, very soon, we will be starting on the next stage - animating and bringing these movies to life. I'm quite excited about that! Above is one of the poses from our "making plasticine bod emote" exercise.

strength and honour

To our great surprise, the first storyboard panel for the Culross Abbey short – like that for the Drummond Hill short – features a bird. This time it’s a robin. It’s a cameo appearance, though; the robin isn’t even a minor character.


So, here’s a later panel showing some action and our hero, Princess Thenew, in serious trouble.


The storyboards for both shorts are complete: here they are pinned up in the studio. A bit blurry? Good – you’ll have to wait until the films are finished to find out the stories!

let's get digital

We've had our heads down for a while and are making some good progress in the refinement department. Today sees the transition of our main About Here character from clay space to virtual space. Making the mesh for the critter was considerably easier than expected and we've animated a few seconds of action as a test too, which is quite a milestone to reach.

on the rocks

While Adam’s been going to life class, I’ve been struggling with watercolour painting. The struggle isn’t down to the tutor, who’s great, but is because I find it so hard to get what’s in my head onto paper via a paintbrush. Watercolour is a curiously imprecise medium – at least, it is the way I use it! – and I find that difficult. I also don’t have a great deal of patience so waiting for one area to dry before I add to it is an ordeal.


This is my first effort: some rocks! It’s taken me four lessons to get this finished. (If it is finished. It’s hard to stop sometimes.) I like the colours. Not sure about the forms and the overall composition.

I’ll stick to the day job, but if I manage to finish anything else at art class I’ll let you know.

sound design

We’ve got a fantastic sound designer on board for About Here. We’re really pleased: not only is Stephen Gilmour creative and a real pro, but he’s also lovely. We’re looking forward to working with him.

k-i-s-s-i-n-g

Here’s a sneak preview of the first storyboard panel for the Drummond Hill short – two Capercaillie sitting in a tree. The full sequence is pinned up for discussion at the moment, which means we keep going over the story, the action, the timings, and the script to make sure everything is working. We’ve revised the storyboards several times and they’re looking pretty promising.

story boarding pass

No pickies with this one. Story boarding has started in earnest. This is one of the most challenging things for me about the whole process. The drawing practice is helping but it's still really really hard to communicate everything you want to do in a just few stills. Once it's done, though, we can get onto the fun stuff! Sorry, the even more fun stuff!!

designing engaging mobile experiences

Some inspiring words from the folk at Adobe. I'd better keep working to make sure those hungry consumers are satisfied...

As consumers, we are hungy for the next great experience - for new experiences that are fun, popular and memorable. Our phones keep us connected to our community and we are eager to have experiences that we can share with friends and family.

Read the white paper: Designing Engaging Mobile Experiences.

scripting language

I spent yesterday working on the scripts for About Here. Telling a story in thirty seconds is surprisingly difficult, especially as there are visual limitations when working with a small screen and high compression. The first drafts were too long; the second and third have tightened up the timing and cut out everything extraneous. I've cheated a little and decided to use a narrator rather than dialogue. This brings its own problems, of course, but helps to keep things moving quickly. We're ready to start storyboarding - the scripts will be refined further during the story development process.

sunshine on fife

No, really! Look at that blue sky at Culross Abbey, at about 13:40 this afternoon.


We've been out and about all day testing network coverage and mobile video download times at various places across the central belt and Fife. I'll post more details next week.