New method of working

I decided on a slightly different method of animating to try and increase the production rates... I am going to block the animation on paper, and then scan in and animate the details digitally.... hopefully this will help everything go faster, especially because i am beginning to run out of time. I am also animating the girl and dog in groups, so I don't have to go from animating a girl to a dog all the time, which will hopefully make things easier....

Scene 10:Test 4

Scene 10 with inbetweens and timing....it's not perfect, butI really need it to be done, so i'mhoping it'lllookbetter once the details have been animated....

Scene 10: Test 3

My third try at scene 10.... it's not perfect,but it looks a lot better.... I am going to try and inbetween it to see if it goes better....

Scene 10: Test 2

The second test for scene 10. Once again I am not happy with this... I don't understand why it is not working when it appears to be so simple... I am going to retry everything one last time before leaving it for a while....

Scene 10: Test 1

First test for scene 10! I'mnothappy with this at all, so I am going to redo it all....

Scene 12:Test 1

This is probably the first scene i've animated where I haven't had to do a second test! I'm really happy with this scene, and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be!

Scene 37: Test 2

Here is the scene inbetweened and timed! I think it went pretty well! I think that she could go forward a little when she pushes the dog away, but i'll try to fix that digitally!

Scene 37: Test 1

Here is the blocked animation for scene 37! It seems to be going pretty well., so i'll inbetween it and time it properly!

Scene 9: Test 4

After coming back to this, I decided to take a slightly different route! I scaned the cycle into the computer and then animated digitally. It went a lot quicker and I have managed to get the run to work better! I still need to make her stop at the dog, but it's a start!

Scene 9: Test 3

Here is the scene inbetweened.... i'm still not happy with it at all, but I have spent so long on it that I need to move onto something else for a while.....

Scene 9: Test 2

The second linetest, this time running all the way up to the dog. It's not an amazing run, but i'll inbetween it to see how it goes....

Scene 9: Test 1

I forgot to put these up! After finishing the run cycle, I had to make it move! Here was my first attempt to see if the moving would actually work! It doesn't seem to be too bad....

Scene 23: Test 2

Scene 23 inbetweened and timed! I'm actually really happy with how it turned out!

Scene 23: Test 1

I'm pretty happy with this linetest! It is the part where the dogs close in on the girl. It needs to be inbetweened and timed properly before I know it works properly!

Continuation of scene 9 running tests

There is definite improvement with the running cycle, but I am still not happy with it. I know that the right arm is off, and I plan to fix that asap. After showing the scene to some friends, they pointed out that the reason the run seems a little off is because the curve on the leg is a little off, so I am going to do my best to fix that tomorrow, and hopefully it will work and I can move onto the next stage! I am getting a little concerned about the time frame I have to complete this film, but I am still confident I can do it if I work hard!

Scene 9 running tests

When I came to starts blocking scene 9, I knew it was going to be difficult. The angle is really awkward and it's really hard to get reference of that angle too. I decided that the best way to get the run right was to do a cycle and then trace the frames when I want them to move. I ended up redoing the frames a lot, some in more thumbnailed versions to try and get the running motion correct. The following videos show my attempts at getting the run cycle to work:

Tumbnailed run test

In the next scene I am animating, I need to do a run. I was finding thumbnailing this really difficult, so I decided to quickly thumbnail a side view run to get an idea of how it might go

Scene 39: Test 5

At this point I had decided I was ready to begin inbetweening it to make it smoother! After completing it, I was pretty happy with the end result, though a few inbetweens when she is looking up and around might be good to smooth it out!

Scene 39: Test 4

Notes on test 4:

-It works ok, but the shoulder could still use some work. (It will be hidden by the scarf, however)

Scene 39: Test 3

Here are my notes on the third test for scene 39:

-The inner arm line on frame 8 needs to come out more
-In frame 7 the arm still needs to move more gradually (fixing this might save frame 8)

Scene 39: Test 2

After making the adjustments on the previous test, I returned to linetest. Here are my notes on the second linetest:

-Make the turn in the shoulder more gradual for the first frame.
-Maybe bring the shoulders a little wider in frame 10
-Maybe don't bring the right shoulder up as much
-In frame 12 bring the shoulders up more

Scene 39: Test 1

Here is the first test for scene 39, the first scene I am animating. I am going to start all animation out like this, so I know I have the movement correct before adding any detail.

After linetesting this, I encountered the following problems:

 -Take out frame 13 as it makes the animation jump too much

-The shoulders/torso do not work. Re-enacting in live action showed me that the shoulders/torso might be best if they do not move much. Maybe stretch them back a little
-The Jaw on the last frame comes out too much and it looks sharp. Bring it in a little and make it softer.
- Consider bringing in some of the other jaws too

Scene 39: Rough thumbnails

Before I animate the scene I sketched out some really quick thumbnails to get an idea of the movement

Rough order of shots

After organizing my shots in order of difficulty, I began working out when each shot would be animated. I didn't want to jump right into the most difficult shots, because I think I need some time to get back into animating, so I began with a few medium shots and worked my way up, mixing them up so I won't be stuck on difficult shots all the time. Most of the easy shots stay last because I know I can animated them quickly and easily!

ORDER OF SHOTS:

Shot 39: The girl spots the flower

Shot 9: Girl runs to dog

Shot 23: The other dogs move in on the girl

Shot 37: The dog steals the hat

Shot 12: Close up of clinging girl

Shot 10: Girl meets the dog

Shot 33: The girl crawls in

Shot 27: The girl runs to hug the dog

Shot 20: The girl hits the ground

Shot 32: The girl walks to the tree

Shot 42: The girl reaches for the flower

Shot 43: The picture in the graveyard

Shot 16: The girl looks around the forest

Shot 20: The girl falls from the dog

Shot 13: Leap across the river

Shot 11: The girl gets on the dogs back

Shot 3: Playing with and loosing flower

Shot 31: The girl walks forward

Shot 15: The walk through the forest

Shot 26: The girl picks herself up

Shot 14: Look back to the graveyard

Shot 41: The girl chases the flower

Shot 19: The other dogs join the chase

Shot 21: The girl reaches for her dog

Shot 28: The girl and dog hug

Shot 8: Girl gets up

Shot 17: The dog begins to run again

Shot 38: The girl stands in the field

Shot 34: The girl crawls forward

Shot 6: Girl looks up at dog

Shot 24: The dog has returned

Shot 40: The dog watches on

Shot 35: The end of the tunnel

Shot 44: The empty graveyard

Shot 1: Opening scene (Only in this section because of the moving shadows)

Shot 18: Running paws close up

Shot 29: The girl looks ahead

Shot 2: Staring at grave

Shot 36: The field of flowers

Shot 7: The dog looks down

Shot 25: Close up of the dog

Shot 30: The tree with a hole

Shot 4: Flower blows through graveyard

Shot 5: Flower lands at dogs feet

Shots in order of difficulty

I have roughly arranged my shots in order of difficulty to animate. I did this because I want to tackle the hardest shots first to get them out of the way! Especially because time is beginning to run out so I can afford to spend time on them right at the end of the project!

Shots in order of difficulty

Most difficult shots:

Shot 13: Leap across the river

Shot 19: The other dogs join the chase

Shot 37: The dog steals the hat

Shot 20: The girl hits the ground

Shot 11: The girl gets on the dogs back

Shot 27: The girl runs to hug the dog

Difficult shots:

Shot 23: The other dogs move in on the girl

Shot 15: The walk through the forest

Shot 32: The girl walks to the tree

Shot 20: The girl falls from the dog

Shot 28: The girl and dog hug

Shot 33: The girl crawls in

Shot 9: Girl runs to dog

Shot 26: The girl picks herself up

Shot 8: Girl gets up

Medium shots:

Shot 17: The dog begins to run again

Shot 3: Playing with and loosing flower

Shot 41: The girl chases the flower

Shot 31: The girl walks forward

Shot 16: The girl looks around the forest

Shot 34: The girl crawls forward

Shot 10: Girl meets the dog

Shot 12: Close up of clinging girl

Shot 39: The girl spots the flower

Shot 21: The girl reaches for her dog

Shot 42: The girl reaches for the flower

Easy shots:

Shot 40: The dog watches on

Shot 18: Running paws close up

Shot 43: The picture in the graveyard

Shot 6: Girl looks up at dog

Shot 14: Look back to the graveyard

Shot 35: The end of the tunnel

Shot 44: The empty graveyard

Shot 1: Opening scene (Only in this section because of the moving shadows)

Shot 38: The girl stands in the field

Shot 24: The dog has returned

Most easy shots:

Shot 4: Flower blows through graveyard

Shot 5: Flower lands at dogs feet

Shot 36: The field of flowers

Shot 2: Staring at grave

Shot 7: The dog looks down

Shot 25: Close up of the dog

Shot 29: The girl looks ahead

Shot 30: The tree with a hole

Shot breakdowns

Here are the notes I took to breakdown each scene in my film. I did this so I would know exactly what I need to animate and so I would have an idea of how difficult each shot would be to animate!

Shot 1: Opening scene.

Description:

The opening scene introduces us to the graveyard. The scene pans to the right following a blast of wind. Around the graveyard dark shadows move around every so often and it is snowing heavily.

Movement: Pan from left to right of the grave yard

Character animation: N/A

Background/foreground animation: Trees swaying gently in the wind

Other animation: 1) Swirl of stylized wind and snow sweeps across the screen 2)Various shadows move about the graveyard, similar to the blast of wind.

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 2: Staring at grave

Description: Over the shoulder shot of the girl staring at the grave. Wind is blowing and snow is falling heavily.

Movement: N/A

Character animation: Hair and clothing blowing in the wind

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 3: Playing with and loosing flower

Description: Shot of the girl holding the flower in her hands. She moves it gently from side to side before bringing it up slightly as she sighs. After the sigh she returns to staring at the flower until a gust of wind blows across the screen, catching the flower and pulling it from her grasp. In surprise she turns and her eyes follow the flower.

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1) Hair, clothes and petals blow in the wind throughout 2) Girl plays with the flower, moving it from side to side 3) Girl brings flower up as she gives a big dramatic sigh 4) The flower is pulled from her grasp 5) She looks up in shock and turns to follow the flower with her eyes

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: Stylized wind and snow blows across the screen and pulls the flower from the girls grasp

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 4: Flower blows through the graveyard

Description: The flower blows through the graveyard. It blows up and around one gravestone before continuing to blow up and out of shot

Movement: N/A

Character animation: N/A

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: 1) Flower blows through the graveyard and circles around one gravestone. It moves in a diagonal pattern from the bottom left hand corner to the top right. 2)A stylized wind blows with the flower

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 5: Flower lands at dogs feet

Description: The flower blows across the screen and lands at the dogs feet

Movement: N/A

Character animation: The dogs feet. They stand still unless I have extra time to animate a bit of fur blowing in the wind.

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: 1) The flower blows from the bottom left hand corner to rest at the dogs feet. It moves slightly upwards before floating gently to the ground. 2)The stylized wind follows the flower before dissolving into snow at the dogs feet

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 6: Girl looks up at dog

Description: The girl looks up at the dog in awe. Seen from a high angle, or the dogs point of view. Her hair and clothes blow in the wind.

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1) Girl looks up in surprise. Eyes widen and mouth opens 2) Hair and clothes blow in the breeze

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 7: The dog looks down

Description: The dog stares down at the girl imperiously. Seen from a low angle, or the girls point of view

Movement: N/A

Character animation: The dogs ears and tail move slightly in the wind

Background/foreground animation: Some branches move gently in the wind

Other animation: N/A

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 8: Girl gets up

Description: Girl smiles happily at the dog and gets up from where she is sitting. She moves towards the dog, as her scarf blows in the wind, bringing the new scene with it.

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1) The girl perks up upon seeing the dog, smiles and lifts herself a little 2) Girl gets up from sitting to standing. Her face is off screen once stood up 3) Girl walks off screen to the right 4) Hair and clothes blow in the wind 5) At the end of the shot the scarf blows across the screen to bring the new scene

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: 1) Snowing heavily 2) Flawless movement into the next scene. Must be done carefully

Shot 9: Girl runs to dog

Description: After the previous scene has gone, the girl runs up from the bottom left hand corner towards the dog. The scene finishes just as she reaches him.

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1) The girl runs carefully towards the dog 2) The dog is mainly still but his ears and tail blow in the wind

Background/foreground animation: Branches move slightly in the wind

Other animation: N/A

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 10: Girl meets the dog

Description: The girl has now reached the dog as she looks at him hesitantly. The dog suddenly moves and she moves back slightly in surprise and a little fear. The dog, however, moves so he is facing the other way, and once he has finished moving he moves to nudge her and maybe lick her comfortingly. She smiles at the dog and then looks at his back, placing her hands gently on his back.

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1) Girl looks at dog cautiously, smiling nervously 2) Dog turns towards her and turns around so he is facing the other direction 3)Girl moves back quickly when the dog moves, but comes forward again once he has turned 4) The dog nudges her and licks her comfortingly, moving her slightly with the force 5) The girl smiles at the dog before moving her attention to his back, placing her hands on it gently

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 11: The girl gets on the dogs back

Description: The girl climbs onto the dogs back, with the dog dipping down so that she can get on his back easily. Once she is on the dog rises again, letting her get comfortable for a second before suddenly dashing off, the girl clinging to him in surprise as he does so.

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1)The girl clambers onto the dogs back with little effort 2) The dog dips down slightly to allow the girl to climb on easily, rising again once she is on his back 3) The girl gets comfortable, finally settling on his back 4) The dog tenses and dashes of without warning 5) The girl clings to his neck in surprise as he runs quickly

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 12: Close up of clinging girl

Description: Close up of the girl clinging to the dogs back in surprise. She clings tighter and closes her eyes tight.

Movement: A loop on the spot

Character animation: 1) The girl is moving up and down, hair and clothes blowing in the wind 2) The girl clings tighter to the dog and shuts her eyes tight 3)The dog is running

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 13: Leap across the river

Description: In three giant leaps, the dog bounds effortlessly across a river, the girl clinging tightly to his neck.

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1) The dog takes giant leaps across the screen. One leap takes him to the river, the next across it, leaving the screen from the bottom right hand corner. 2)The girl clings to the dog tightly as the dog leaps, hair and clothes blowing in the wind

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: The river moves quickly, almost violently, and chunks of ice flow past

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 14: Look back to the graveyard

Description: The girl sits back up as the dog sniffs the ground and looks back towards the graveyard briefly before turning to look onwards again.

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1)The girl sits up and turns back, hair and clothes blowing in the breeze. She eventually turns back to look forward 2) The dog sniffs at the ground

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 15: The walk through the forest

Description: The dog moves through the forest confidently. The girl looks around cautiously, and as they journey through shadowy dogs appear in the trees watching them and disappearing.

Movement: The background and foreground pan from right to left

Character animation: 1) The dog walks slowly through the forest 2) The girl looks around the forest cautiously 3) A shadow dog looks up at the pair in the foreground before moving off screen quickly 4) A dog watches them in the background before fading away 5) A shadow dog runs across the forground

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: The shadow dogs need to appear wraith like

Effects: The snow begins to slow before finally stopping

Shot 16: The girl looks around the forest

Description: The girl looks around the forest worriedly as the dog walks on. In the background a dog appears from behind a tree to watch her before disappearing . The dog suddenly stops and she turns back to look at him in confusion

Movement: Background pans from right to left

Character animation: 1)The dog continues to move forward until he stops suddenly 2) The girl turns around to look around her warily 3) A shadow dog appears in the background watching the pair before disappearing

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: The shadow dogs need to appear wraith like

Effects: N/A

Shot 17: The dog begins to run again

Description: The dog sniffs at the air, looking up while the girl watches him. Suddenly he moves again, dashing off through the forest leaving the girl to cling tightly.

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1) The dog looks upwards and sniffs at the air 2) The girl leans down to look at him curiously 3) The dog suddenly begins running quickly and runs off screen 4) The girl clings tightly to the dog again

Background/foreground animation: Maybe have some branches move if there is time

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 18: Running paws close up

Description: A close up of the dogs paws running. The dogs paws are slowly joined by more dogs paws

Movement: Blurred fast pan on the ground moving from right to left on loop

Character animation: 1)The dogs paws running on a loop 2) A dogs paws run up in the background, looping just ahead of the main dog 3) A dog moves in the foreground, looping just after the main dog

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 19: The other dogs join the chase

Description: The girl looks back in fear as dogs run with them, all looking intimidating and snapping at her. Her dog puts on a fresh burst of speed and she returns to clinging to him as the dogs follow.

Movement: Fast pan from right to left for the background

Character animation: 1) The dog runs at his typical pace before speeding up towards the end 2) The girl looks back at the other dogs in fear, turning to cling to her dog as he runs faster 3) One dog runs in the background 4) One dog runs directly behind, snapping at the little girls scarf 5) Two dogs run in the foreground

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 20: The girl falls from the dog

Description: Close up of the girl who is clinging to the dog. Suddenly something yanks on her scarf and she is pulled backwards, falling off the dog. A shadowy dog can be seen at the side of her helping to push her off

Movement: Blurry fast pan of the background from right to left

Character animation: 1)The girl moves up and down as she rides the dog, looking back in fear, hair and clothes blowing in the wind 2) The girls scarf is yanked back and it unbalances her, pulling her off the dog and causing her to fall off screen 3) The dog is running on a loop 4) A shadowy dog in the background runs and helps to push the girl off the dog

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 21: The girl hits the ground

Description: The girl hits the ground and the other dogs instantly group around her. She moves back from them, eyes wide with terror as they move in closer, menacingly.

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1)The girl hits the ground and instantly moves back to try and get away from the dogs 2)Three dogs move in towards her slowly and menacingly

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation:N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 22: The girls reaches for her dog

Description: The girl reaches for her dog as he runs off and the other dogs close in on her. In the distance, her dog skids to a stop and looks back

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1) The little girl reaches out for her dog 2) The three dogs close in on her slowly and menacingly 3) The dog continues to run before skidding to a stop and turning back

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 23: The other dogs move in on the girl

Description: The dogs move in closer to the girl and she shuts her eyes tightly and hides her head in her hands in fear as they get closer. As she hides her head in her hands the dogs look up suddenly, and begin to slink off, fading into shadow. The girl looks up in surprise once the dogs have left and turns around to look in the direction her dog went

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1) The little girl watches the dogs in fear before moving to hide her head in er hands 2) The two dogs in shot move closer towards the girl, growling menacingly 3) The girl jerks up in surprise and turns to look to the left

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 24: The dog has returned

Description: Over the shoulder shot with the little girl looking at the dog who has returned and is wagging his tail happily at her

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1) The dog moves forward slightly, wagging his tail 2) The girl moves forward a little, bringing her hand to her mouth in surprise

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 25: Close up of the dog

Description: Close up of the dog looking at the girl.

Movement: N/A

Character animation: The dog looks at the girl happily, maybe perks his ears a little and pants happily

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 26: The girl picks herself up

Description: The girl smiles and wipes a stray tear away and picks herself up off the floor, standing up with her head going off screen

Movement: N/A

Character animation: The girl smiles and wipes away a tear, before pulling herself up and her body beginning to go off screen

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 27: The girl runs to hug the dog

Description: The girl and the dog watch each other, before taking a hesitant step forward. The girl begins to run and throws herself into the dog, hugging him tightly

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1) The girl watches the dog as the wind blows, taking a hesitant step forward, before breaking into a run and throwing herself at the dog, hugging him tightly and swinging her legs around slightly 2)The dog watched the girl, taking a hesitant step forward, wagging his tail, and taking a few more step forward as the girl runs to hug him, wrapping a paw around her when she hugs him

Background/foreground animation:N/A

Other animation:N/A

Effects:N/A

Shot 28: The girl and dog hug

Description: The girl tightens the hug, smiling happily, before they pull away from each other, the girl smiling at the dog, who nudges her and looks towards the left. The girl follows his gaze

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1)The girl tightens the hug, smiling happily 2)The dog nuzzles her, wagging his tail 3)The girl pulls away from the dog and looks up at him smiling 4)The dog looks down at the girl, and then nudges the girl before looking towards the left 5) The girl is pushed by the nudge, before following the dogs gaze to the left and looking on in surprise

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 29: The girl looks ahead

Description: The girl looks towards the left curiously

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1)The girl looks to the left, her hair and clothes blow in the wind 2)The dog looks on, probably doesn't move

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 30: The tree with a hole

Description: Shot of the tree with a hole

Movement: Maybe zoom in slightly

Character animation: N/A

Background/foreground animation: Maybe some branches move, but it isn't important

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 31: The girl walks forward

Description: The girl stares ahead and the dog nudges her forward encouragingly. She looks back at him briefly before walking forward, the dog following her

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1)The girl stares ahead with the wind blowing her a little 2)The dog nudges the girl gently 3)The girl is nudged, moving forward a little before catching herself and turning to look at the dog briefly 4)The girl walks forward 5)The dog follows the girl

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 32: The girl walks to the tree

Description: The girl walks into shot from the bottom right hand corner and walks to the tree, followed by the dog. She then crouches down to look inside the hole

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1)The girl walks into shot from the bottom right hand corner 2)The dog follows the girl closely 3)The girl reaches the tree and crouches down to look into the hole, sticking an arm out to the tree for balance

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 33: The girl crawls in

Description: The girl stares into the tunnel before being nudged by the dog again and finally crawling into the tunnel and off frame. The dog follows after her.

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1)The girl stares into the tunnel 2)The dog nudges her encouragingly 3)The girl crawls into the tunnel and off screen 4)The dog follows the girl into the tunnel

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: After the dog has disappeared the scene changes to rock as a scene change. It might pan around to the right instead so it is facing the tunnel wall

Shot 34: The girl crawls forward

Description: The girl crawls onto screen and then loops crawling just before the middle. A drop of water drips onto her nose, and she stops to rub the water off her nose. The dog comes up next to her, and she smiles at him before coming distracted and looking forward again. The dog also looks forward. The girl looks surprised and a bright white light shines into the tunnel and engulfs them

Movement: Background pan from right to left

Character animation: 1)Girl crawls onto screen from the right and loops the crawling just off centre. 2) A drop of water drips onto her nose and she stops surprised, rubbing the water from her nose and turning to smile at the dog 2)The dog comes up behind her and looks at her 3)The little girl looks forward in surprise 4)The dog looks forward

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: A drop of water falls onto the girls nose

Effects: A bright white light appears at the end on the left hand side and engulf them

Shot 35: The end of the tunnel

Description: The pair exit the tunnel into a field of flowers, they stand at the exit staring

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1)The girl stands at the exit and watches the field, hair and clothes blowing in the breeze 2) The dog comes up behind the girl and watches the field, ears and tail blowing in the breeze

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 36: The field of flowers

Description: The girl and the dog look on at the field of flowers

Movement: The background pans around in a circle from left to right

Character animation: 1) The girl looks on, hair and clothes blowing in the wind 2)The dog ooks on, ears blowing in the wind

Background/foreground animation: Background pan from left to right

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 37: The dog steals the hat

Description: The girl looks on with the dog, and then then dog looks at her before reaching off and tugging her hat from her head before running off with it. The girl smiles watching after him

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1)The girl watches on, hair and clothes blowing in the wind 2)The dog watches the girl before jumping up excitedly and tugging her hat off her head. He prances around before running off scree 3)The girl moves to grab the hat before watching the dog run off with a grin

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 38: The girl stands in the field

Description: The girl stands alone in the field as the wind blows gently. Behind her the tree fades away

Movement: N/A

Character animation: The girl watches the field with a smile, hair and clothes blowing in the wind

Background/foreground animation: The tree behind the girl fades away

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 39: The girl spots the flower

Description: The girl closes her eyes peacefully and he wind blows through her hair. A flower dances past and she spots it, following it with her eyes with a smile on her face

Movement: N/A

Character animation: The girl closes her eyes and smiles peacefully, before opening them and spotting a flower. With a smile her eyes follow it

Background/foreground animation: A flower blows across the screen

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 40: The dog watches on

Description: The dog watches the girl from underneath a tree, ears and tail blowing slightly in the wind. The dog yawns

Movement: N/A

Character animation: The dog watches the girl before yawning widely, ears and tail blowing in the wind

Background/foreground animation: N/A

Other animation: Possibly have the hat blow in the wind, but it isn't essential

Effects: N/A

Shot 41: The girl chases the flower

Description: The dog watches on as the girl runs across the screen chasing after the flower. She stops as the flower does, turning in a full circle

Movement: N/A

Character animation: 1)The dog watches on peacefully, ears blowing in the wind before he ducks down out of site 2)The girl runs across the screen with her arms out, trying to catch the flower, she turns a half circle as she tries to catch it, and then jumps up a little

Background/foreground animation: The flower blows across the screen before blowing upwards

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 42: The girl reaches for the flower

Description: A high angle showing the girl reaching for the flower with a smile on her face. Flowers blow across the screen

Movement: N/A

Character animation: The girl reaches up for the flower, with her arm sweeping across the screen as it comes up to reach for the flower. She is smiling and the wind blows across her face

Background/foreground animation: The flower floats about the screen, and is joined by many more flowers

Other animation: N/A

Effects: N/A

Shot 43: The picture in the graveyard

Description: The flowers in the previous scene morph into flowers except for one, which floats across the screen before settling on a gravestone next to a picture of the little girl

Movement: The camera zooms out slowly

Character animation: N/A

Background/foreground animation: 1)The flowers all morph into snow 2)One flower floats across the screen and settles on a gravestone next to a picture

Other animation: N/A

Effects: Snowing heavily

Shot 44: The empty graveyard

Description: After the shot has finished zooming out, shadows dance across the screen, morphing into dog shapes. A shadowy dog runs across the foreground

Movement: N/A

Character animation: A shadowy dog runs across the screen in the foreground

Background/foreground animation: Branches move in the wind

Other animation: Shadows dance across the screen, morphing into shapes that resemble dogs

Effects: Snowing heavily

Final animatic

The final animatic for my film. The timing isn't perfect, but I now have a rough idea of how long it will be, and it can be sent off to a composer so they can make a start on the music

Final storyboard feedback

I was lucky to catch Leonie on Friday when I went in to scan my storyboard, and she looked over them!

The storyboards have now been approved with a few minor changes to be made in production. The main change comes in at frame 69, where it was suggested that I change the direction she is moving in to keep it moving forward, as the little girl had been moving in one direction since the beginning.

Another suggestion was for frames 55-57, where she runs to hug the dog, be zoomed in slightly, and to make the pair closer, as in another frame it had been implied that they were closer.

Leonie also suggested that in the opening graveyard scene, to include some dark moving shadows that imply the little girl is not alone, which can be referred to at the end of the film when I return to the graveyard, and more shadows/ dogs can run across the screen.

It was also noted that frames 40-42 aren't completed clear, and to maybe have a shadow of a dog push her off the other dog to show why she is falling. In addition to this, Leonie didn't think that the dog would continue to run once she had fallen from his back, and suggested showing him stop and turn back in frame 45.

The final suggestion that was made was that the dog should encourage her more towards the end, when she enters the tree hole, and do more to get her attention to the tree itself, such as nudging her towards it. All of these suggestions have been noted, and I plan to change the storyboards accordingly in the production stage!

All I really need to do now is get on with things! As time begins to run out I have around 69 days before the hand in!

Final storyboards

This is the final storyboard draft for my final film! I am going to take it into uni to hopefully be approved by my tutor and then begin on production!

Final storyboard rough draft

A very rough draft for the final storyboard!

Quick warm up sketch

Very quick warm up sketch of the girl hugging the dog

Dog on the hill concept

Concept of the dog on the hill from the little girls point of view. It is the first full shot of the dog, and the challenge is to get him to look proud and tall and a little intimidating. Once again the problem of him blending in with the background crops up, highlighting the need to fix this.

Warm up sketches

A few quick warm up sketches of the little girl and the dog

Girl looking up at dog concept

Concept/ storyboard frame of the girl looking up at the dog in surprise as the wind blows around her.