Complete Revised Animatic!

Hi folks,

For the first time in months, I've uploaded a complete animatic -- the whole film from start to finish! Check it out at this Vimeo link! (Password: knightly)

It runs an unwieldy 9 minutes including credits. This is about a minute longer  than I had expected. I'll be looking for places to make cuts, especially in places where the story is lagging. (Keep in mind that the intervals between songs may seem a little extra tedious, lacking music or animation.)

A couple of lines are still missing. They will be recorded on Thursday.


Changes to the story include the removal of Elixir at Wixor, as well as an overhauled ending. What do you think of the story changes? Are they working? It's getting close to picture lock, so speak now or forever hold your peace!


The credits are just a start. They may need significant adjustment in both in form and content. If I have time at the end, I'll illustrate the pages of the credits. Let me know if you know of any changes needed in the credits. Also, I am still deciding whether to go by "Joe" or "Joseph."

Thanks for watching, those of you who can endure the entire 9 minutes! I welcome your helpful suggestions!

Schedule Tweaking

Hi folks,

This week, I finished revising the animatic to remove Elixir at Wixor and punch up the ending a bit. Unfortunately, this added about 80 points to my already-packed schedule.

Additionally, my composer made the very reasonable request that I finish at least one underscoring section before Spring Break so that he could work out the underscoring style before crunch time.

I was planning to finish all the songs before Spring Break, but instead, I'll animate the interlude between Song 1 and Song 2. There may also be time to finish animating Song 6 before Spring Break, but I'll work on Song 5 during it. That leaves only about 3 weeks to finish the remaining dialogue portions. It will be a busy 3 weeks.

On the plus side, I finished the backgrounds for Song 6 this weekend.

The good news is that the revised animatic will be ready by class time on Wednesday.

Here are some fun stills from the latest animation and backgrounds...

 

Everything goes red for Knightly's final battle with the Dragon. (This replaces Knightly giving the Princess the Elixir in the original version.)

The Dragon's castle is quite transformed during the Princess' song.

 The poor Dragon's castle is reduced to rubble at the end of the film.

Song 2 & 3 Vimeo Uploads!

Hi folks!

I've uploaded Songs 2 & 3 to Vimeo. Here's a link to Song 2, and here's a link to Song 3. Password: "knightly"

Please let me know your thoughts!

Also, animation is officially 51% complete! It's all downhill from here!

Joe Dreams of Knightly

Hi folks,

By class time on Wednesday, Ladies Knight will be 50% animated, point-wise.

Songs 1 and 3 are finished, and Song 2 is close. At my current pace, I'm on schedule to finish all of the songs by spring break, leaving me about 3 weeks to complete the surrounding dialogue scenes (which are generally less difficult).

I need to be considerate of my composer, who needs time to underscore the dialogue, so I'll probably self-enforce an early picture lock for his sake.

Since Friday, I've been animating 24 points per day instead of my usual 14 in order to catch up from Song 3's undervalued tap-dance shots. In theory, that's 24 hours of work, but in practice, it's maybe half that. The workload is definitely taking its toll -- when I sleep, I tend to dream that I'm working -- but I'm also gaining confidence that I can finish the film on time with few or no more edits.

I'll upload exports of Songs 2 & 3 before class on Wednesday, so stay tuned!

End of an era

Hi folks,

Fantastic news -- Song 3 (not including the surrounding dialogue) is completely animated! Tap-dancing, singing, finale, et al! One minute and forty-five seconds  of uninterrupted, complete animation.

However, I don't present in class until next week, and as I'd like the class' reaction to be fresh, I'll wait to export & upload next week. I hope nobody's terribly disappointed.

By next week, I should have plenty more to show, as well. Tonight I'll start animation on Song 2, and during the week I'll do backgrounds to catch up on points.

Stay tuned for the video upload next week!

Tap Dancing Complete!

Hi folks,

I finished all the tap-dancing shots!! Hooray! Here's a link to the youtube video of the export.

Compared to tap-dance animation, everything should be a cakewalk from here on. (Famous last words...)

Song 5 Backgrounds

Hi folks,

This weekend I took a break from tap-dancing (my legs are tired) and finished many of the backgrounds for Song 5, "Kissin' Spree."

(I did return to tap-dance animation on Sunday, and I should be done with all of the tap-dancing by classtime on Wednesday. I'll upload a video before class.)

Here are the new backgrounds.

Before the song starts, during the dialogue, the castle is gray and yellow.

During the song, the color scheme transitions to bright purples and reds. Why? I have no idea.

This one's an overhead view of Knightly and the Princess dangling from the ledge.

Looking down on the Dragon as he flies upward toward camera during the song's climax.

The reverse shot, looking up at the Dragon.

Since backgrounds don't take me nearly as long as animation, they're a great way to catch up on points after a long tap-dance shot. There may be another batch of backgrounds coming this weekend.

Stay tuned for new animation Wednesday!