Portfolio Version 2-Images

So I am finally updating my portfolio for 2010. First I wanted to post images from my past 3d work- I created an auditorium last summer in Maya, and here's some of the images from it.

Dealer's Choice- Rehearsal Notes and Pre-Production Package

One thing that I noticed in the rehearsal was the time really changed the shots, as it gets dark a lot earlier now, and the film was originally going to be shot at dusk, but with the limited time of that, night shots would work just as well for the plot. I also wonder how the lighting will work in the final production compared to the filming now which just used the camera.

The rehearsal itself brought in some interesting challenges with the close up shots of the bread, as the use of the tripod sometimes could work and other times didn't.

One major issue I ran into is that one of the tripod's legs is loose even with the lock, and I needed a few high angle shots, especially in the toaster area where I couldn't get too close. I wasn't sure if it's the lock wasn't working or if the leg is just loose.

My talent worked well with the shots, and I've been questioning the panning movements, and if they're creating the atmosphere I want of the bread being harmed while still retaining the man's "regular and everyday" type of shots.

The sound, despite not having the mic, sounded about right, all except for the sound of the heat coming from the toaster, which I couldn't get. I might just have to find an already made sound, since its a sound that doesn't need to match the movement of the shot as much. I really did enjoy the shot I got of the toast being scraped, as a lot of the bread crumbs are noticably falling off in the camera and the sound is loud and painful.

One thing that I noticed is that it would be helpful to buy an extra loaf of bread, as using the same toast wasn't working for some of the destruction shots, since after scraping it a bit, it was very broken and barely toast anymore. I do think making the toasts' viewpoint shots to be very exagerrated will add more character to their death scenes, and not having the same continuity exactly from the man's shots would also add more humor.

Overall the rehearsal went well; I do wonder how the sounds will work, as I have another actor who will make the screaming noise at the end.

Here is the Pre-Production package; some parts are from older posts that may or may not have been edited, but I wanted to collect it all in 1 post.

1. Script
Act 1
-The sliced bread is first viewed in the kitchen in its wrapper; it's freshly baked and the bread appears cozy in its place among other objects in the center of the kitchen.
-The man, "Roger," is introduced through a short shot of him yawning, taking off his coat, and walking into the kitchen.
-His introductory scene merges with the bread's, as he is seen walking into the kitchen from the bread's viewpoint. He walks around and walks offscreen for a moment. His hand suddenly reaches in the bag, as the camera is the bread for a moment.

Act 2
-A shot of him is seen as he quietly takes two slices over to the toaster.
-The bread's viewpoint returns, as he slowly moves them toward their torture chamber. They're placed in, and he is viewed to be waiting somewhat impatiently. The bread's viewpoint is at the same view, and heat can be seen radiating on their bodies in the toaster.
-A panning shot is seen of the man walking to the fridge, and he somewhat quickly pulls out ham, cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise and walks back to the toaster in another pan to pick the toast up.
-Seen from the bread, it falls on a cold plate, a knife moves in the background, there's a moment of silence, until the knife comes down scraping the bread. The scrape is loud and painful. A quick cut is seen of the man calmly applying the mayo, and then it returns back to the cut of the bread's crumb skin slowly falling off.
-Another view is seen of the man as he applies the sandwich ingredients to the breads. A quick shot is seen of the breads all being smashed on the cold plate; they break a bit.
-The man is seen cleaning the mayo knife a little. The bread is seen silently sitting on the plate. It is only temporary, as the knife comes down and stabs the end. The knife cuts through the sandwich in half diagonals, and as it runs up towards the camera, the mayo spills.

Act 3
-The man is seen fiddling with something below (the sandwich) for a moment, until he picks up half the sandwich and pulls it toward his face.
-A close up is seen of his mouth biting the sandwich; it begins making a scream, and the scene returns to the cut of the man, hearing a faint scream. He pauses and looks up. He chews a bit more slowly, and he hears strange loud crunching with a small wimper. He raises his eyebrow at the sandwich, but then decides to assume it's due to his tiredness and continues eating and walks offscreen.
-The same shot is seen of the bread wrapper from the beginning, only the bread is slowly inching offscreen away from the deadly kitchen.

2. Breakdown the Script -- Determine the following
a. The number and types of actors required
3 Actors- 1 is the man wanting food, the other is the slices of toast.
-There will also be an actor for the screaming noises; The man is played by Roger Gibson and the noises will be done by Luke Gibson.

b. How many scenes each actor will be in and the total length of their performances.
The man and the sandwich will both be in 1 scene with multiple cuts; the cuts are usually split between the two, with the sandwiches' doubling often to expose more of a slow pain. The voice actor will only be heard for a few seconds of the final cut.

c. The requirements, number, and types of locations.
1 Location: the kitchen at the talent's home with a bit of a shot of the entrance and hall leading into the kitchen

d. The number and types of stunts and special effects.
There will be 4 separate recordings for some of the scenes: 1 of the heat from the toaster, 1 of bread being scraped off, 1 of a loud crunching noise, and 1 recording of the screaming of the toast

e. What special costumes and makeup will be required?
None

f. What props are required?
-The toaster
-Butter knife
-Mayo, lettuce, ham, cheese, tomato

3. Location Scout




4. Confirm Locations


5. Block each scene by creating a series of thumbnails for each scene.


6.Determine the number of days you will shoot
2 Days

7. Create a spreadsheet schedule

Artist Lecture- Bill Plympton

The animator from Portland, Oregon, Bill Plympton visited MCA this past Tuesday for a lecture. As a major in Illustration with a mixed emphasis on Animation, it was really an interesting lecture learning more about his process and seeing some of his work.

Bill Plympton grew up loving Disney and Warner Brothers animations, and he also began his work as an illustrator first before becoming an animator. Being an illustrator brought out the style he wanted to focus on in his future animations. The first animation created independently was Your Face, which was also what brought success in his career when he submitted it into an art festival. It was interesting how he pointed out the importance of entering work into film festivals first, as it really will help expand more into the animation career.

He showed a few of his animations, with the first being called Hot Dog, which featured a dog character he frequently uses in his work. The animation was very funny, and he also demonstrated afterward how the dog was drawn. He mentioned character evolution, and it stood out to me that he also mentioned that doing the animations can eventually bring out more of the character's identity.

Other animations that he showed were The Fan and the Flower, The Cow who Wanted to be a Hamburger, Horn Dog, Cheatin', and Santa the Fascist Years. They all retained his style and it was interesting to learn he focuses more on traditional methods of animation. He mentioned he often got his ideas from the New York streets, and how he keeps a notebook to write story ideas.

His lecture overall was inspiring and useful as an animator, as learning more about his methods of creation and his career brought out some ideas for myself for my future animations as well as seeing where my career path goes.

Dealer's Choice- Synopsis, Materials, and Visuals

Genre: Comedy

Logline: Innocent slices of bread learn about the deadly cost of a man's hunger.

Synopsis: Slices of bread are going about their daily lives in their wrapper, as they are suddenly attacked by a hungry man. In his own world, the man is simply tired from work and wishes to relax with a meal. Little does he know the meal will be a torturous murder to the innocent slices.

Materials: Kitchen, bread slices, toaster, refrigerator, sandwich ingredients, work outfit and jacket

Visuals: Bread Slices:

Toaster Shots:

Kitchen shots:




Bread Slice Torture shot:


Lighting:

Thumbnails:

Dealer's Choice- The Structure

I feel I can work with the 3 Act Structure in my piece:
Act 1
-The sliced bread is first viewed in the kitchen in its wrapper; it's freshly baked and the bread appears cozy in its place among other objects in the center of the kitchen.
-The man, "Roger," is introduced through a short shot of him yawning, taking off his coat, and walking into the kitchen.
-His introductory scene merges with the bread's, as he is seen walking into the kitchen from the bread's viewpoint. He walks around and walks offscreen for a moment. His face is then suddenly right behind the bread wrapper. His hand fumbles around in it.

Act 2
-A shot of him is seen as he quietly takes two slices over to the toaster.
-The bread's viewpoint returns, as he slowly moves them toward their torture chamber. They're placed in, and he is viewed to be waiting somewhat impatiently. The bread's viewpoint is at the same view, and heat can be seen radiating on their bodies in the toaster.
-A panning shot is seen of the man walking to the fridge, and he somewhat quickly pulls out ham, cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise and walks back to the toaster in another pan to pick the toast up.
-Seen from the bread, it falls on a cold plate, a knife moves in the background, there's a moment of silence, until the knife comes down scraping the bread. The scrape is loud and painful. A quick cut is seen of the man calmly applying the mayo, and then it returns back to the cut of the bread's crumb skin slowly falling off.
-Another view is seen of the man as he applies the sandwich ingredients to the breads. A quick shot is seen of the breads all being smashed on the cold plate; they break a bit.
-The man is seen cleaning the mayo knife a little. The bread is seen silently sitting on the plate. It is only temporary, as the knife comes down and stabs the end. The knife cuts through the sandwich in half diagonals, and as it runs up towards the camera, the mayo spills.

Act 3
-The man is seen fiddling with something below (the sandwich) for a moment, until he picks up half the sandwich and pulls it toward his face.
-A close up is seen of his mouth biting the sandwich; it begins making a scream, and the scene returns to the cut of the man, hearing a faint scream. He pauses and looks up. He chews a bit more slowly, and he hears strange loud crunching with a small wimper. He raises his eyebrow at the sandwich, but then decides to assume it's due to his tiredness and continues eating and walks offscreen.
-The same shot is seen of the bread wrapper from the beginning, only the bread seems slightly more shriveled up from its fear.


I am also working with titles, trying to figure out if something like "The Crime Scene" might give away too much, but it would emphasize the humor. The text of the title and possibly something at the end could emphasize the "political" aspect, but I want to see if the visuals do that alone.
I do want the shots of the bread to vary slightly from the shots of the man, as I want them to appear more gruesome as the viewpoint of the man as a suburban man and the man as a murderer varies.

Dealer's Choice- Characters

Characters- The Twin Slices: "First" and "Second"
1. How does your character think?
The slices both think as identical twins, and they both want simple lives, to merely live in their home and examine those passing by.
2. How does your character think he/she thinks?
Both slices have dreamt of one day seeing the world, but they accept that reality constricts them.
3. What does your character want?
They both want to take an afternoon nap in their home.
4. What does your character think he/she wants?
They both wonder if the wrapper sometimes just contains them.
5. What does your character believe?
They have simple beliefs, and prefer not to think too much about the heavy details in life.
6. What does your character think he/she believes?
They do sometimes each question if their life really has meaning.
7. What is your character’s truth? Mythology?
The slices firmly think they are meant to watch over their siblings and the outside world as well.
8. What is your character’s real truth? Real Mythology?
They somewhat know from their past mother's death that humans aren't as trustworthy.
9. What does your character need?
They both need to understand what humans feel their purpose is.
10. What does your character think he/she needs?
They both think they only need watch humans.
11. What actions does your character undertake?
The first slice is the only one who is alive enough towards the end to utter a yell that transcends physics and reality.
12. Why does your character think he/she does what he/she does?
The first slice is in pain, and it feels that it can only attempt to warn the others as well as attempt at a typical human expression of pain.

What the audience needs:
• Understanding: What events past, present and future push your
character into action
The two slices in the past were born in a bakery, as their mother sacrificed herself to create their birth slices. They feel somewhat more protective of their siblings in the present, and their future deaths are meant to be a warning to the other slices.
• Emotion: How your character feels
The slices feel at peace at first, but once they are harmed, they feel pain and fear.
• Urgency: How important this is for your character
They strongly want to live their lives and protect their siblings.
• Sympathy: Why your character does what he/she does
The first slice yells to warn the others, and both slices have always watched over their siblings due to a sense of responsibility for their mother's sacrifice.
• Specificity: Detail making your character’s motivation clear
They stay in their wrapper, never attempting to leave, because they value the protection and bond with their siblings.
• Originality: Something we’ve either not seen before or have seen
before but is being presented in a different way.
The bread slices are characters on their own, and they are also the main characters.
• Mystery: Building the puzzle about what your character will learn
about him/herself one piece at a time
The second slice realizes he can't survive for his family, but the first slice realizes with enough willpower he can transcend physics, and they both learn that humans can't be trusted.
• Flaw: A problem to help humanize your character in our eyes.
They both give up on living throughout most of their torture scenes.

Characters- The Hungry Man: "Roger"
1. How does your character think?
The man usually thinks about his family and work often, but at this moment, food is consuming his thoughts on this Sunday afternoon.
2. How does your character think he/she thinks?
Even so, at the back of his mind he worries about how his job isn't going as well.
3. What does your character want?
He wants to make a sandwich for lunch.
4. What does your character think he/she wants?
He actually is worried about work, and he feels like the food will calm him down.
5. What does your character believe?
He believes in family values, and he is traditional in many senses.
6. What does your character think he/she believes?
He sometimes thinks about escaping from the typical suburban life, but he knows there are simple ways of dealing with issues.
7. What is your character’s truth? Mythology?
He knows that relaxing and eating lunch will help him get through the rest of the Sunday and prepare for Monday.
8. What is your character’s real truth? Real Mythology?
He also knows that lunch can't cure everything, and he will still stew about some of the issues at work.
9. What does your character need?
He needs to take a moment to realize that food isn't everything.
10. What does your character think he/she needs?
He thinks right now all he needs is the perfect sandwich.
11. What actions does your character undertake?
He slowly takes bread slices and ingredients out, he toasts the bread, spreads mayo on it, adds the ingredients, slices it, and he eventually eats the sandwich. He is also murdering the twin slices in the process.
12. Why does your character think he/she does what he/she does?
He is doing it to create a perfect sandwich in hopes of relaxing.

What the audience needs:
• Understanding: What events past, present and future push your
character into action
The man was assigned a job a while back he assumed he would enjoy, but it feels mediocre to him presently. This leads to his events of slowly making a sandwich to relax.
• Emotion: How your character feels
He feels hungry and stressed until he makes his sandwich.
• Urgency: How important this is for your character
He feels making the sandwich will really help him relax, and the urgency to make it perfect is high.
• Sympathy: Why your character does what he/she does
He murders the bread simply because he is unaware his relaxation technique is killing what seems to him to be a lifeless object.
• Specificity: Detail making your character’s motivation clear
He wants to make a perfect sandwich because he knows the taste will relax him and help his thoughts of worry drift away.
• Originality: Something we’ve either not seen before or have seen
before but is being presented in a different way.
He is strangely very determined at the sandwich being perfect, and he is also completely unaware he's committing a murder.
• Mystery: Building the puzzle about what your character will learn
about him/herself one piece at a time
He learns for a moment that maybe making the sandwich wasn't good when he hears a yell, but he changes his mind feeling that maybe his hunger and stress made him imagine it.
• Flaw: A problem to help humanize your character in our eyes.
He is drowning his worries through food.

Dealer's Choice- Plot

The plot involves the narrative of the bread made for the sandwich. The man simply is making lunch, while the bread is brutally taken away from its home and murdered. Both worlds are seen, and they eventually combine at the end.

The bread in the kitchen had been there a few days untouched. A man comes home stressed from work. Slices of bread sit peacefully among their brother and sister slices, and they all nest in the wrapper in a warm environment. The moment suddenly changes as a man comes in the kitchen for lunch. His day has been average, and he can't wait to just make a simple sandwich to satisfy his hunger. He pulls the two brother slices from their home. He walks over to the toaster. His hand slowly moves them into it, and he is seen waiting. The slices feel the heat and burning pain from the toaster. The man pulls ham, cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise from the fridge to add to his recipe. He picks the toast up, and scrapes the mayo on, and the toast's skin drops bits of itself. The man moves over, and places the ingredients of the sandwich on the two toasts, and they are all crushed slowly. The man pulls an item from the utensil drawer. From the toasts' viewpoints, it appears to be a knife, as it stabs the bread, slowly cutting down the center and its own applied mayo guts spill everywhere. The man is silent a moment, then picks up half the sandwich. The bread feels the bite from his teeth, and in its last moment, it utters a faint cry. The moment clashes with the man's world, as he looks up, raises his eyebrow, pauses, and then continues to chew. The bread wrapper is seen zooming slowly away, as the other slices fear their fate.