We held the first round of auditions Friday night! By we, I mean myself, my composer, and Tom, who was immensely helpfully setting up/crowd managing/critiquing auditions. There wasn't a lot of crowd managing to do, since only 5 of our 14 invited performers showed up, so we are holding another audition tonight. (Hopefully the actors will find Monday night auditions more appealing than Friday night.)
I am crossing my fingers that we will find a great performer for all 5 speaking roles tonight. So far, we've found a Princess who we really like and a Dragon who is fantastic. We are still waiting on the other roles, and there is a possibility I will perform the Singing Sword myself if we can't find someone we like better.
After auditions tonight, I will record the composer's piano sketches to bring into class tomorrow.
This week I will lay out a story sequence for each song. (So far the tap-dance number is the only fleshed-out story sequence.) By story sequence, I mean story sketches. Right now we just need to lock timing; composition will come later. We hope to lock the timing of the songs next Monday, so that we can start voice recording.
Also this week I'll revise the script.
In other news, last week I met with Matt Galuppo, that famous jack-of-all-trades, to discuss set design in Ladies Knight. He gave me great ideas to work with, like playing up the relationship between each set and the character who lives there, and using "exploded feature" designs (which apparently I already use to an extent). We also brainstormed some great gags for the Dragon's castle during "Kissin' Spree."
And of course, what is a blog post without a picture? A blog post with no viewers. Here's a model of Doofus. This model was surprisingly difficult to get right, in spite of Doofus being mostly hidden under a shapeless frock. Like most of the characters, Doofus looks best in the three-quarters angle ("quarter-angle" in the drawing).
Congratulations on your auditions! I hope you can nail the remaining characters this evening.
ReplyDeleteCan you start animating on the story sequence which has been fleshed out?
It sounds like you are getting some wonderful input. Great work!
Great update, Joe! The character designs look fantastic and the story is on track. I love the design on Doofus. He looks like one of those crazy stage puppets! You can emphasize his puppet-like design even more by having his legs move fast while his body stays in place. Can't wait to see the backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteThe only real hurdle you have is getting the soundtrack down. After that, animation should be a breeze for you. So far, everything looks great!
Looks good! He's funny.
ReplyDeleteHow are you going to animate his walks? Most animals with hooves walk like they're on their tippy toes, since their ankle is technically up in the air, and therefore never touches the ground. I notice you have the high ankles in the pose, like a real life horse. Also, their hind knees bend backwards, which means their front legs move differently from the back legs.
Because the design's so cartoony, and because he has that blanket thingy on him, you could probably just treat his legs like an elephant or a bear, with forward-bending knees, and a foot that has both a heel and a toe, just like a person. That could save you some time, since then you could just copy/paste the legs.
Maybe the point's a nonissue, but I just felt like being science-y.
Also, if you do end up doing the voice of the singing sword yourself, save your recording session for last. That way, if one of your other actors has to cancel their session at the last minute, you can just use that one for yourself.
Glad to be of service. Sorry I couldn't join you for tonight's auditions. Hope they went well! And I could definitely see you doing a voice.
ReplyDeleteEverything looks great. Just try not to bite off more than you can chew for the horse's tapdancing sequence. Try and list your shots in order of importance, so you know what bits you may cut out if you have to.
Looks like you're trotting right along Joe!
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