updates

Hi Class, I've added all your email addresses to the SyncSketch project for this term.  Let me know if you have not received any notification from SyncSketch.  You can upload your work between classes there if you like, and you can also upload your work on Wednesdays so it will be ready when you arrive.

Also: here are the notes for my lecture on Thinking.

Have a great weekend!
-v

Ken - futher shot development thinking

Victor, and everyone,

Thanks for your notes about further research, I will definitely get into a car and shoot some reference, and look for more acting inspiration. In the meantime I've been thinking about the story further. It seems a little odd to me that this guy would be so aggressively berating his taxi driver, so I'm thinking of modifying it a bit -- here's the story I'm thinking (and a quick layout mockup):

Derek Turnbull is a celebrity - the lead singer of a very popular band that was once a worldwide sensation. That time has passed, and the band has since parted ways - some on to solo careers, some into rehab, and others into public service. His career has passed it's peak, but he is still committed to the idea that he is a very important person. He is touring around the country doing appearances on daytime TV talk shows to promote his most recent solo album "Reflections." His agency, meanwhile, has shifted their priorities towards some fresher, hotter talent, and have therefore been cutting back on the budgets for his tour, much to his anger. He feels that this new album is going to be a smash hit, and is going propel him back into the limelight, it just needs to be properly promoted. He wants the public to view him as the star that he knows he is. He is set to make a live appearance on The View this morning to promote his new album, but the car that is supposed to pick him up at his hotel was over 30 minutes late, and to top it off -- it is nothing more than a yellow taxi cab, not the luxury black limousine that he is used to. They have gone too far this time. In a fit of anger he makes a phone call to the agency to tear someone a new one.... The cab driver listens in, mildly amused by it all.

A bit about the driver -- Joe S has been driving cabs in New York for over 30 years. He's seen it all. He lives in the Bronx, just off the Pelham Parkway, grew up not far from there. He lives a simple life, and has an optimistic outlook. He is generally friendly with his all his clients, always willing to participate in a bit of casual exchange, "nice day, huh, usually not so warm this time of year" but he also knows how to read a person, and can tell when they would rather not chat. He's taken a lot of crap from people over the years, and has developed a thick skin, it's hard to get him upset.

Would love some feedback!

Hi everyone,

Please take a look at my layout and first frame pose.
Thank you!

Fleshing out ideas

Hi all,

So I've been trying to flesh out my shot idea a little more.

I settled on doing the shot where the character will sit down grabbing the chair but have been trying to figure out ways to make it a bit more interesting.

One idea I had was maybe adding some dialogue from someone off screen that he can react/respond to. Below are the dialogue ideas...

1:
Wife off screen: "Listen honey we need to talk..."
Hushand sits down as she says this doesn't look in her direction and responds with:
"*Sigh* fine, what do you wanna talk about?" he responds as if the last thing he wants to do is talk to her, he doesn't look at her until the end of the sentence as he finishes saying about.

This is one i'd have to record, I have a friend with some decent audio equipment i can enlist for this, and in the mean time could record some temp audio.

2:
Wife off screen: "Where have you been?" she asks casually seeming interested but not in a accusing way.
Husband similar to above, sits down as she asks and responds with:
"Just doing stuff, you know" seeming a little vague and defensive, and doesn't look up as he says this,
Wife responds:"No..."
He now looks up in her direction for the first time, like he wasn't expecting her to ask and has a guilty look on on his face. His eyes dart as he tries to think of something to say, scene will end with him stil searching for an answer.

Audio for 2


The framing for the second one might be slightly different, i'm thinking you would see the wife in the foreground, very close, like part of the upper body, shoulder and arm, so you can see that she's their but clearing looking away doing something else and just asking out of curiosity not facing him directly and accusing him of something.

I like both these idea's as they feel like they add more depth to the scene, but I think i'm leaning more towards the second, as I like the idea of trying to get him to look guilty and search for something to say, and feels like I could have a clear change of emotion on his face.. I also have audio for this one, length is about 3-4 seconds, which gives me a bit of time at the end for his reaction and to play with the timing of the pauses in the audio a little.

I had a few other ideas but the audio was a bit too long.

Any thoughts or comments would be awesome.

Ken - Luxury Cars - Layout and Video Reference

Hi everybody,

I shot some video reference of the main character in my scene, and also did some rough layout work.
Anybody have feedback on this?

Thank you,

Ken
Click here to see the video reference

Ken's update -- looking for advice

Hi everybody,

I think I've honed in on 3 clips that I'm trying to decide between. This list is ordered in terms of my preference. I would love some advice.

1.) Look like you like me:

A man and woman are standing on the altar at their wedding, he is in the process of placing the ring onto her finger. He is delivering this line "just look like you like me" to her, just before they turn to face the crowd. It's meant to be ironic that they've just gotten married and he is still feeling incredibly insecure about it all. Ideally I would also have a priest/officiant standing there making a confused face, I would keep the animation very simple on him. I like this idea because in spite of how ridiculous it is, I still think there is something genuine in there about how insecure this guy is, which I could work into the acting choices.

2.) Don't do your best, do it right:

This one I'm imagining a father and son. They are at one of those arcade claw machines, or maybe they are at a batting cage. The father is feeding more money into the machine and reprimanding the boy in a ridiculous way. The boy would be sad, but not defeated, as though he is used to dealing with his father's quirky impatient attitude without getting down on himself about it. He is trying to slip in a rebuttal, but his father won't give him the chance. This one has something funny/ridiculous about it, but there is also some honest truth that could come across in the kid's expression, because a lot of people deal with parents who are just slightly insane.

3.) Luxury cars: 

I'm thinking of having this character in a non-luxury car that he has just crashed in some ridiculous way (manure truck?) and an officer is standing at the window seemingly writing him a ticket, and he is delivering this line as his excuse for why he crashed this non-luxury car.

Anybody have any opinions on these? I would enjoy animating to any of these, but wondering if they are lacking in depth and sincerity? Are they too ridiculous?

Thanks!

Ken

Notes from last night

Hi Class, here are the notes about Subtext & Phrasing.  Also, you should have received an invite email for the SyncSketch project I started.  I think you can even upload new work directly to this project.  Let me know if you didn't get the invite!