With ten days to go until the end of the crowdfunding campaign (ends 30th October 2011) I thought I should make a new video that describes more about the project. The animatic is beautiful but maybe not enough to show it as a whole. If you could possibly spread the word about it through social media that would be a huge help! Remember every contribution gets a reward like the DVD, t-shirt, limited edition screen-print and credits on the film!
Besides the crowdfunding campaign, my good friend, the producer Amy Tuckwell, organised a Comedy Fundraiser with live stand up comedy and a DJ. It will take place this Friday from 8pm in Notting Hill at the Blag Club. If you like comedy and would like to help independent filmmaking please do come along! £5 at the door.
Phew. Being an independent filmmaker can be challenging, but ever so rewarding!
I have been so lucky as to have met and worked alongside the super-talented and super-sweet Marie Jørgensenon my travels to Denmark. I quickly fell in love with Marie's background designs. You can see some of her work for the Danish short film "Hund I Himlen" currently in production on their production blog.
Marie has kindly agreed to make some concept designs for the backgrounds for "Final Call" and to be my art director/ background designer once we secure the financing. I am ecstatic with the team that is already on board and really happy with Marie's take on the project.
Dearest bloggers, it turns out the image I uploaded earlier of the line-up is teeny weeny. And that's not fun. So here they are again. Bigger and better!
In the meantime I have to thank all the amazing people that have contributed to the crowdfunding campaignfor the making of this film. The response has been incredible and most encouraging. My target is indeed very ambitious but it's also what I would need to secure match funding from other sources and achieve the production values I am aiming for, as well as being able to pay all the creative team fairly. Thank you! And keep it coming! Woohoo!
Hello! Hello! First, my deep apologies for the long radio silence. I've been extremely busy with lots of different projects. I am determined, however, to update this blog regularly so followers and crowdfunders (past and future) can keep up to date. This short film is one of my priorities and I shall treat it as such.
Just for fun I thought I'd leave you with some very early development sketches and doodles. I have more (rougher ones!) and I'll make sure I scan them and post them here. Again a reminder that the character designs were a four hand piece by the amazing Magnus Møller (who also has recently updated his blog) and myself.
I have some excellent news about yet more amazing talent coming on board (no pun intended) but I'll have to reveal it later...! Thank you dear bloggers for reading.
I have taken the plunge into the crowdfunding world and have set up a project for 'Final Call'. If you are new to crowdfunding it's an online platform to fund films and other artistic projects. The author puts up his project and there are contributors or patrons who give small (or larger) amounts in exchange for memorabilia, DVD's, film credits or other rewards and perks the artist can afford to give. Please do take a peek at the RocketHub project for 'Final Call'. I would be very grateful for each and any donation! If you could also spread the word that would be magic too. I really want to make this film and I have such a talented team already attached, I can't wait to be able to do it! Thank you!!!!! :-)
In order to apply for production funding one of the best ways to show your vision is to have a pilot animatic. An animatic is a sequence of storyboarded images edited with the timing of the film. The Open Workshopfunding and support allowed me to bring an extremely experienced storyboarder on board the project. Mads Juul makes some of the most beautiful and spot-on storyboards and animatics I have ever come across and I am honoured to also have him on board. Mads also agreed to do the remainder of the storyboards and animatic when (not if!) I manage to secure the production funding. The film itself will be 8 minutes long. We have condensed three separate scenes in this 2 minute animatic to convey the feel and look of the film. If you'd rather not know anything about the story - look away now! :-)
I was so lucky as to have the extremely talented Henrik Sønniksen also wanting to be involved in the project. One of the many strengths and talents Henrik has is an incredible eye for colour. So after Magnus and I created the line-up of the
characters, Henrik could do his magic. I love the way they work as a whole. It will make me have to re-think the background designs however - but that's all part of the (fun) process. I must add that the design of the turtle was very much Mads Juul's creation - he developed it during the storyboarding process and made him more funny than I could ever imagine.
My stay in Denmark is now over. And what an extremely productive stay! Thank you so much Open Workshop! I wrote the script both in Portuguese and English, developed the character designs and line-up with Magnus Møller's help, and Henrik Sønninksen's help regarding the colours; Mads Juul completed an excerpt of the storyboard and animatic, and I also prepared other production documents such as technical description, director's statement, macro and micro budget, development context, the letter regarding Ricardo Cabral's participation as the background designer, amongst other documents. Bible complete! Now for the production funding! On a celebratory note I leave you here a sneak peek of the first draft of the character line-up.
One of the reasons I really wanted to return to Viborg was to work with the very talented tumbleheaders: Magnus Møllerand Peter Smith. I will be writing the treatment for their next short film intitled "The SetUp", and Magnus has helped me a lot with the character development for 'Final Call'. We had such fun brainstorming sessions on the Open Workshop Kitchen table - accompanied by salad and Manchego. This is Tumblehead´sreel - a fun, varied, and strong selection of their works.
Here are some more of the early development studies made over the Open Workshop kitchen table. I had a hard time finding the design for Diogo but then the lovely Magnus Møller came up with the solution of blending two designs in one (we merged the two dogs on the right hand side of this page). And it worked! I will be uploading the first line-up soon so you can have a feel for the character development process. The character design process was very much a four-hand piece. Magnus is very talented and taught me a lot during our brainstorm and design sessions.
Within The Animation Workshopsetting there are several animation studios that were created by the alumni - some are yet start-ups and others are already more established such as Nørlum. I´ve had the honour of having Nørlum´s Creative Director - Jeanette Nørgaardas my Development Consultant for Final Call. Jeanette has advised me and guided me not only in regards to storytelling but also character design and other production choices. This is Nørlum´s reel:
One of the very first people to get on board this project was Ricardo Cabral, a very prolific, talented and internationally renowned illustrator from Portugal. When in Lisbon, Ricardo and I share the workspace of The Lisbon Studio with other artists, where we all develop our personal works as well as commissions and spontaneous collaborations. Ricardo will be making the backgrounds for Final Call with his very unique, dreamy touch and lopsided perspectives.
For the early character studies and character development I had the help of the very skilled and very lovely Magnus Møllerfrom Tumblehead Animation Studios. These are some of the work-in-progress character studies Magnus and I went through before finding a more finalized look. The development process is so much fun, especially with the guidance and help of such a talented friend. I learnt a lot about shape, character and proportion.
Final Call is a love story about Catarina (who´s a cat) who bumps into her old flame and 'might-have-been' lover Diogo (who´s a dog) at airport security. During a very awkward conversation (with heavy underlying subtext), and constantly interrupted by airport security staff and procedures, Catarina and Diogo realise they could have been together and that they made a big mistake due to a misunderstanding.
Final Call is the title of my new short film that is currently in development. As some friends suggested I have created this production blog where you can catch up with the process from early development to pre-production. And hopefully later into the production and post-production stages.
I am currently working on my project bible in Denmark, within the setting of the Open Workshop at The Animation Workshop in Viborg. The guidance, support and creative atmosphere and exchange have been incredibly invaluable and I think the project will be all the more stronger for it.
