Sad hipsters

Today I passed by a hipster type couple that were sitting down in a public open space in the city. They were looking really sad. Her face was really sad, the mouth turned down as far as it could go. He was next to her with his arm around her, looking comical with his thick rimmed spectacles, and neatly trimmed beard. Their rather sad state made me wonder what on Earth these two people could be sad about. My mind started ticking over and I thought it could be an idea for a very short animation. The first idea that came to mind was that in the big dramatic dialogue full of sadness, we eventually discover that the cause of their sadness is that a thread has come loose on the guys funky scarf.

French Roast - animated short

Continuing on with the theme of animated shorts with little or no dialogue, below is an animated short called 'French Roast'.
It is in french and has only minimum dialogue. I was able to follow the dialogue quite easily even though it is in French. This is another example of a film being done very well visually, so that little or no dialogue is required to move the story along.
I did think that the ending was a little predictable, which is a shame.
I found the character and set design very appealing. The use of only one location is a good way to economically produce a short, and that worked quite well here.
My only criticism was the reasonably predictable ending.

French Roast from Piokaz on Vimeo.

Guerilla warfare

I had a dream last night that I was on a train home, and word had spread that a guerilla group was going to kill all white people on the streets that night. White people on the train were working out strategies on what to do once they alighted from the train. All other races and species of humanoids were not concerned at all as they weren't affected. The world was populated with many types of living creatures, not just humans.
Some people were going to go to the cinema as they thought it would be a cool place to hide out. I had a handgun, so thought the cinema idea was stupid, and I was going to make a run for it from the train station to my house.
I woke up just after I alighted from the train, so my subconscious has left the climax to the story for my conscious mind to figure out.

The outsider

This is a story I had an idea about a few weeks ago, but sat on it as I didn't have an idea for its expansion.
Here's the original idea.

An outsider wears a costume to fit in with a crowd (an example would be a boy wearing a robot costume) who then gets attention from a robot. He needs to try to live the lie and pretend he is a robot.

At this stage it's a pretty basic idea, and I was struggling to come up with a story to attached the idea to.

Aliens amongst us 2

I posted an idea for a story about aliens amongst us yesterday and have refined it a little.
For a short story I would start with the Chief Executive Officers of a couple of large fossil fuel companies ie a coal company and an oil company separately do press conferences announcing government backed increase in mining / oil drilling. These CEOs would then go backstage and into their chambers where their human skin would be removed and their true form revealed.
It would cut to them in conference with an alien fleet of spaceships on their way to Earth.
They would talk about another colleague working on causing a meltdown at a nuclear power plant.
The massive destruction of the Earth's natural resources will change the atmosphere and in turn, make it suitable for this alien race to make their home after their own planet was destroyed in a galactic war.
There's still a lot to work on to make this work, but I think it's something I can develop further.

Aliens amongst us.

In this story, all the Oil, Coal and other fossil fuel companies are ruled by aliens, as well as nuclear technology. These aliens own the companies and pay off the governments. Their goal is to rid the earth of all its fossil fuels, and to cause nuclear meltdowns which will put radiation into the atmosphere.
The aliens are working at turning the earth into the kind of planet that they require to populate the earth with their people.
A small number of these aliens arrived on Earth a number of years ago scouting ahead of their fleet, and found Earth a good candidate to populate, and using alien skills infiltrated these companies.
They can live here now but can only be exposed to our atmosphere in short bursts, and have secret chambers where they spend most of their days.
The alien fleet is on its way to Earth after a galactic war destroyed their home planet. The alien plan is to have Earth inhabitable by the time the fleet arrives.
This is a pretty rough first idea. It needs a lot more thought, but it is something I think could be expanded upon

Alma - cute little short

I really enjoyed this short. The design and lighting was very well done, and an interesting little story. I liked how the whole story is set in just the one location, well, outside, then inside the shop. The doll on the trike was done really well, and rather creepy. The story did unfold the way I kind of thought it would, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

I am finding a lot of inspiration in these little shorts I have been watching.

Replay - short film

I really like a lot of post apocalyptic films, so i found this one quite interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-cFHeoXAw8&feature=player_embedded

It starts out with a flurry of action to hook you in, and you're immediately given a sense of the environment the woman and the boy live in. Some people have commented that the boy was stupid, or an idiot. My feeling is that the boy was lonely. You can feel his hallucination of the children playing was real to him. A sad story, but I think it was well done, and a good commentary on what our future could look like.

Timely short. Easter bunny and santa

I stumbled across this short film today. It's a story about the Easter Bunny and Santa.
I really like the character and set design of the film. It has a very nice look. I'm not so sure on the rhyming narrative though. I always spend more time trying to predict the final word in each sentence when it is rhyming. Anyway, check it out!

or full link here Preferably Blue from Yukfoo on Vimeo.

The Showdown

I have an idea for a story ending. Ironically, this is a good place to start.
Two characters are having a showdown over a disagreement.
My story idea starts with the two characters deciding that they will have a showdown. A fight to the death.
They taunt each other and agree to fight at sunset at an agreed place.
Sunset comes around and the two characters are in their own dressing room (or some private area) preparing for the showdown. Not sure if it will be guns, swords or a fist fight yet.
They then stand at either end of the arena. We see close ups of each guy trying to look more mean than the other.
The first one says to another person that is unseen 'ok, let's do this.' An obscure song is then played as the character emerges from the shadows. The second guy looks surprised.
the second guy says 'ok, hang on. That's my song. How did you know that's my song? What's the big idea?'
The first guy says 'no, this is my song. What Are We Fighting For? by The Incendiary Combustibles. Released on 7" green vinyl by Skinny Re-cords in 1976.
'Whoa' says the first guy. You have the original green vinyl pressing? Where did you find that? I've been looking for a copy of that for 10 years.'
And they continue on talking about records by some obscure underground band.
The scene fades out and fades in again to them drinking beer and listening to all the records by the band.
I haven't thought of the conflict between them that starts the story, but I like the theme that two very different people can bond over music, or some other common interest. The theme of them being ready to kill each other until they find that common ground is a little unusual and something I think I can work on.

Character design - office guy

I was doodling a design for the character for my story idea of the guy who has trouble getting to work written about here http://seansstorytime.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/just-getting-to-work-is-job.html

I had him kind of tall and skinny, as I would have him squeezing into a small car. I also gave him long arms, weighed down by the burden of the briefcase.

Planetary Hero Story - Part 1

Part 2 to follow.

Cool student short

I stumbled upon this very cool short film which has done very well on the awards circuit. It's pretty impressive that all the design and modelling (and most of the animation I think) was done by one person. I really liked the character designs and the look of the film. Plenty of funny little jokes in there too, and little character traits shown early in the film that become useful during the dramatic climax.

The Jockstrap Raiders from Mark Nelson on Vimeo.

or view on vimeo here http://vimeo.com/59376506

A short making of

Making of "The Jockstrap Raiders" from Mark Nelson on Vimeo.

or on vimeo here http://vimeo.com/24575530

Auto sorting on tram goes bad.

I always seem to find myself about as far from the doors of the tram as possible just when my tram stop is coming up. I'd like to do some sort of film about a tram that you speak your destination to as you board, then the tram will package you up in a soft perspex tube and move you into a line that's sorted according to which stop you are going to exit the tram. We could follow the story of a tourist or non-regular tram rider who isn't sure where he/she wants to get off the tram, and there's confusion and the tubes get mixed up and the tram gets annoyed and starts firing the passengers out like a cannon. There's mayhem and injuries. Maybe death.

That one obnoxious guy at the sporting event

You know how it is. Everyone is there nice and early and setup on the hillside in preparation to watch the live sporting event. Half an hour before it starts, this one group of drunks with their oversized flags push their way through the crowd and find a tiny patch of grass right in the middle of everyone. The ringleader, and the most drunk of the lot refuses to move out of the way of the people that were there hours before. He's drunk and and stands blocking the people's view, and of course gets egged on by some drunk bogans nearby. He gets his comeuppance by the end of the event though. Bird poops on him, struck by lightning, hit in the head by the cricket/foot/ golf ball, and other things I haven't thought of quite yet.

Escalators

On Saturday I was at Southern Cross station and was walking towards the escalators that go down to the Burke Street / Spencer Street intersection. I saw a lady up ahead pause at the top and then place a couple of shopping bags on it and off they went down the escalator, and then she stepped on after them. As I approached the top of the escalator she was almost at the bottom, and as the escalator began to flatten out she attempted to pick up those bags. She fumbled, picked up only one and tripped over the second one, face planting on the ground. I thought it was pretty funny how she attempted to navigate the escalators, and made me think that I could do a short revolving around people's bizarre and unsuccessful attempts at a supposedly simple task as walking down an escalator. Ideas such as people trying to move furniture down them, the aforementioned placing bags / luggage on them before stepping on, getting stuck, and other possibilities I have not thought of yet.

A cool short about parking

I saw this short animation on Vimeo. I really like the eye popping colours used, and the style of the modelling. It's the second viewing that you see the little details they have put in that foreshadow the abrupt ending. It's cool. Definitely the sort of themes and style I like.

Parallel Parking from Yum Yum London on Vimeo.

full link https://vimeo.com/14592941

Just getting to work is a job

A hapless worker just wants to get to his boring, life sucking job. He leaves the house, and is just about to drive off, and out runs his wife with his metro card. He is already late, and has to stop at every traffic light. His frustration increases with each set of lights. He checks his watch. Once, twice... three then four times. Finally our worker arrives at the station, leaps out the car and runs for the platform, but immediately realises his briefcase is in the car still. Quickly fetching the briefcase, he runs to the platform, swipes his card, and just manages to board the train as the doors are closing. He lets out a sigh of relief as the train pulls away from the station. He looks around, but there are no seats remaining, and at that exact moment the train comes to a shuddering halt.
Broken down.

Eddie the driver

I had trouble with this story initially as it kind of sounded a little absurd the first time I read it back to myself, but I think it has potential.
Eddie is a limosine driver for a mob boss. This mob boss is a major arsehole (well, he is the boss), who treats Eddie pretty badly. But what does Eddie expect? He's just a lowly driver from some jerk gangster.. Eddie really wants to find a way out of this life, and live a better life. The final straw for Eddie is when the mob boss kidnaps the Candy Princess. Eddie drives the Princess and two henchmen to the mob's secret lair, an old burger joint. Eddie decides he must rescue the Princess and return her to her castle. Eddie knows that those two henchmen are the only ones guarding the Princess. His best chance, he decides, is to attempt to rescue the Princess that night.
He takes out the henchmen, rescues the princess, takes her back to the castle, and gets a job there as the royal driver for the King

The mundane life of a monkey drummer

I've always been fascinated with the little monkey drummers.

Where did they come from? Do they really enjoy busking on the street?
I'd like to visit the mundane life of the little monkey drummer. Explore what motivates him, what he does after work, and how he deals with the expectations of the people in the street.
Tentatively titled 'After the chaos' the story will explore the life of the monkey from after he finishes work to when he gets back to the job.