Friday, May 29, 2009

first Draft Story Boards 13

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First Draft Story Boards 2

First Draft Story Boards1

DVD Cover

Production Stills 2

Production Stills 1

The Basic Shapes

The Trinity United

The Trinity Divided

Character Design: The Soul

Character Design: The Mind

Character Design: The Body

Character Development 2

Character Development 1

Art Direction: Iconography

Art Direction: Nirvana

Art Direction: The Mental Construct

Art Direction: The Jungle

Art Direction: The Character



Art Direction



Story Beats

Story Beats

1) In a dark jungle a black tiger with white stripes sits under a large tree by a pond.


2) He has visions of suffering and global problems. and Having seen enough, he closes his eyes.


3) He recreates his self out of a yin yang in his mind.


4)  The head of this figure slowly explodes and colorful geometry springs out like the "big bang". 


5) The geometric shapes start to form the jungle he was just in as well as an abstracted mental version of his self. 


6) The new mental tiger turns and looks at the world that he has made for his self.


7) He realizes that he is able to manipulate the physical structure of this world at will, and plays with this ability for a while.


8)  A flash of light from above the clouds demands his attention, and he looks ups to find a majestic winged figure looking down at him.


9)  He transforms the abstract jungle into one huge tree like structure.


10) He proceeds to free run up the growing tree.


11) He finds that the winged stranger is a illuminated version of him self.


12) He ask how did he transmute the body into the spirit.


13)  The figure replies with words from his hands, "Don't think about being, just be".


14) Words from the spirit go into the mental tiger and his inner geometry changes to the golden galactic light of the winged spirit.


15) The mental tiger turns and raises his arms causing the physical tiger to rise.


16) The physical tiger floats up and unites with the mental one. 


17) The united mind an body float up and unite with the spirit, thus unifying the trinity. 


18) The real tiger opens his eyes revealing the same galactic light inside of them.


19) He looks back out into the dark jungle.


20) The sun rises revealing a world that is new yet completely the same. 

Story

INVICTUS

In the blinding darkness of a untamed jungle a black tiger with white stripes sits under a tree by a pond. Resting calmly in the lotus position, he looks out into the darkness of the world in which he finds himself helplessly submerged and reflects on the darker aspects of civilization. Deep within his solemn contemplation, he has lucid visions of death, sadness, sickness and corruption superimposed over the pond as reflections in the ripples and is overwhelmed by the

seemingly unconditional hopelessness of it all. Having seen enough, he closes his eyes, hoping to find some sort of peace and light with in his self. He imagines a blank black space in his mine. Then artistically fabricates a cognitive copy of his meditating body out of yin yang symbol. Once fully constructed, his head opens up revealing a rotating ba gua symbol, which gives rise to a abstract neural cluster like version of the jungle his real body sits in. After the psychological stage is created, a smaller abstract version of his body rises up from his exploding mind. This one is a simplified version with colorful geometry moving through his simplified tattoos. He observes his self apparently fascinated by his new identity. Then turns and looks at the world that he has made for his self. He realizes that he is able to manipulate the physical structure of this world at will, and plays with this ability for a while. Suddenly, a flash of light from above the clouds demands his attention, and he looks ups to find a majestic winged figure looking down at him from above the limits of the sky. Driven by curiosity and admiration, he transforms the abstract jungle into one huge tree like structure, and proceeds to free run up the growing tree. After overcoming the self constructed psychological obstacle course he comes face to face with the floating figure. Astonishingly, he finds that the winged stranger is in fact an illuminated version of him self. And he ask using images manifested form his hand how did he transmute the original  lead of the body into this golden spiritual being. To which the glowing figure replies with words from his hands, "Don't think about being, just be". The words then move into the center of the "mind's head"  and is inner geometry changes to the golden galactic light of the winged spirit. Enlightened, he turns around and looks down at the representation of the body that he arose from. He opens his arms receptively and the body starts to slowly rise. They then float up to the winged spirit and unite with it simultaneously existing as the unified one and the subdivided all. Suddenly the real tiger opens his eyes revealing the same galactic light inside of them. He looks back out into the dark jungle, and behind him the sun rises revealing a world that is fresh new and beautiful, yet completely the same.  


Treatment

Treatment


My film is animated because animation is the best medium for executing the surrealistic environments and characters that the story involves. Settings like the inside of an exploding mind made of symbols and motion graphics require a flexible medium that is capable of going beyond reality and realism. Likewise, the][][ dynamic nature of my characters design make it necessary to use nonhuman actors. In one case one my characters has a galaxy spinning and glowing inside of his body, and in another, geometric images flow steadily from the center of his mind. Thus, in the case of this stories graphic aesthetic, animation is the most sensible and cost effective means of production.

The theme of my story is enlightenment. It illustrates how enlightening revelations can change the way you perceive and interact with the world around you. I have designed three different characters and three different settings. Most notably is the character that represents the mind and the world in which he functions. I have constructed the world out of little bits of iconographic information and strung them together using branching lines that grow to resemble a cluster of colorful neurons. Likewise, the fact that the character of the mind has complete control over his environment, and yet still chooses to work unnecessarily hard to reach is destination, reflects my own psychological patterns. Lastly, the character has bits of information flowing through his body from the center of his head reinforcing his identity and illustrating his function.

My story has three characters. Together the represent the mind, the body and the soul. The body is the most solid of the three, and is submerged in a relatively naturalistic setting. He mainly sits motionless through out the film. This is partially because of his complex design and partially because most of the action takes place in the mind. The mind character acts as a link between the body and the soul. He is the one charged with the "hard work" of successfully navigating through the complex jungle of the psyche. Consequently, his design is more streamline to hint at speed and it is less complex so that he can be drawn fast for animation. The last character, the soul, is fairly complex as well. Like the body, he undergoes very limited, if any, motion.

The lighting in the films beginning is used to symbolize the blinding darkness of ignorance. When navigating through the "personally" uncharted terrain of life, it can be easy to stumble and fall if you can't clearly see where your going. This darkness leads to suffering and the solution is as always the light. Inside the mind it starts off completely dark and then the Invictus establishes a light slightly brighter than the gloomy real world. Eventually he comes face to face with his inner light, that shines like a second sun. This sun is charged with the task of illuminating the characters' life, but first they must be fully integrated and united as one. After this is accomplished, the eyes of the real body start to glow, and he sits in the light of the rising sun which bathes the world in precious golden light granting him a new way of perceiving the world.

Sound will play a major roll in the short. It is my intention to sync the motion of the minds free running to some self composed song. The music will dictate the pace of the editing and the timing of the animation. At present it is my desire to have a song that incorporates strong contrast between a very challenging and visceral sound, with a slow, broken, simple one. This will allow me to accentuate fast fluid movement with softer relatively still scenes. An example of a song that does this is "You make me feel" by Archive. Im not really going for the same sound but I am trying to achieve the same effect.

I will be using 2D because, first and far most, illustration is my artistic strong point. there fore I will be utilizing very detailed drawings with very limited motion in some parts of the short. Furthermore, much of the work will be done in Aftereffects, because the film involves a lot of motion graphics created in Photoshop and Illustrator.

Project Summary


Project Summary





Title: INVICTUS


Format: 2D animation

Duration: 7 minutes

Theme: The film is essentially about enlightenment and the unification of the mind, body and the soul.

Objective: It is my intention to portray meditation as a means of mental, physical and spiritual liberation. This will be achieved symbolically illustrating the process of enlightenment. Through the use of iconographic images and an eye catching aesthetic, I hope to stimulate the audience to further investigate the meaning of the symbols and to perhaps initiate a mind opening and informative journey. My main reason for creating this film however, is to illustrate my own personal journey over the past 4 years. In this regard this film is a tribute to the path that has lead me to the present, and challenge to always strive to embody my full potential in the future.

Synopsis: In the blinding darkness of untamed jungle, a tiger sits in stillness mediating on finding his inner light. After overcoming self constructed psychological obstacles, he meets with his "higher self". He is then given a message that triggers the balanced union of his mind, body and soul, as well as a source of light which allows him to see the world from a new perspective.


Producer & Director: Fred D. Andrews IV

Crew: Fred D. Andrews IV

Title Page

INVICTUS

By 

Fred D. Andrews IV 

 

  

 

 

 

Copyright 2009 

 

Fred D. Andrews IV

Cell: 912-484-4153 

Home: 770-949-4380

fredandrewsiv@yahoo.com 

http://invictus-by-fredandrewsiv.blogspot.com/

Title Page

INVICTUS

By 

Fred D. Andrews IV 

 

  

 

 

 

Copyright 2009 

 

Fred D. Andrews IV

Cell: 912-484-4153 

Home: 770-949-4380

fredandrewsiv@yahoo.com 

http://invictus-by-fredandrewsiv.blogspot.com/