Danielle Prieto - Character Animator: 2013

Poster Design for my Film

WISP

Story by Danielle Prieto

CONCEPT:

A fairy tale story made from digital cutouts in After Effects.

THEME:

Sometimes it can be hard to find inspiration for you work, but inspiration is always there. You just have to reach for it and hope it doesn't slip through your fingers.

CHARACTERS:

Vasco - Main character, a writer looking for inspiration in a library.

Wisp - The source of Vasco's inspiration.

SYNOPSIS:

Vasco is seated in a library trying to find some sort of inspiration for his work. He gives up for a moment and walks away from his seat. As he leaves, a wisp-like creature reveals itself from a book on the shelf and dashes to one of the books on Vasco’s table. He hears the shuffling of pages and immediately rushes back to his place in the library. Vasco sees the wisps tail enter the pages and he grabs for the book. He is then forced into what seemed like a dark corridor. It is at first empty, but fills with the light of the wisp. He sees and follows the wisp further into the darkness. The wisp morphs into a white beast and floats just above Vasco. As he goes to reach for it, he hesitates. More wisps join the first, dancing above him. The wisps then move up into the sky far above Vasco and turn into stars. He is looking out the library window up at the stars as they look down on him. He turns back to his table and walks toward it, filled with thoughts and inspiration. He sits and begins to write.

Original Ideas:

ANIMATION TESTS

TEST #1 - Hand Test

A quick Test using digital cutouts in After Effects. Here, I was trying to turn my characters hand in space, using 2D objects. I could follow through with the fingers a bit longer, but other than that I was overall happy with the test.

TEST #2 - Walk Test

This test was to find a good walk cycle for my character. In my film he will be doing a few strides across the screen, so this test was very important. I still need to give more weight in this test, and add laterality to the arms.

SHOT BREAKDOWN:

- Vasco is at his table in the library, flipping through pages of a book.
- He sets the book down and walks away from his workplace.
- Wisp reveals itself from a book on the shelf.
- Wisp shuffles books around on the table and seeps into the pages of one of Vasco’s books.
- Vasco hears the shuffling of pages and rushes back to his workspace.
- He sees the tail of the wisp and picks up the book, becoming transported to a dark corridor.
- Vasco finds himself enveloped in darkness but sees the light of the wisp.
- He follows the wisp into another corridor.
- Wisp grows brighter and morphs into a white beast.
- Wisp looms over Vasco as other wisps appear.
- Wisps fly into the air and become stars.
- Vasco is looking out a window, gazing at stars.
- He turns to his workplace and starts writing.

SCENE 1 - WISP

My first scene starts with a close-up shot of my character hand skimming over the page of a book. Nothing too complicated for the moment, but I'm excited to move forward with my film.

SCENE 6 - WISP

The One

In a world so different yet so similar to that of a distant earth, live relatives to the human race. From generation to generation a history is passed down from word of mouth. In the beginning it was said a “ship” powered by flame and metal fell to the surface of this world leaving a scar on its land. People emerged and claimed the world as their own, praying to their gods for aid. Legend has it that one survivor carried an infant in her womb. She proclaimed he would be the first to be born into this world with fresh eyes and that he pass down from generation to generation special artifacts from their now distant home-world. Eventually a descendant will be born and bare the mark of the shepherd. He who is marked will lead the people to salvation and bring them home. The scarred land would become sacred and a pilgrimage for the brave and dedicated.

A direct descendant of the original survivors, Evart bares the mark of the shepherd. Much knowledge passed down from word of mouth has been lost to the people including the prophecy of the Shepherd. Although he has no knowledge of the marks true meanings he is forced into an unprecedented situation that will eventually lead him to the answers he may or may not want.

Merely a boy tiptoeing into adulthood, Evart has yet to prove himself worthy of being a shepherd for mankind. He lives with his grandmother, a 6th generation survivor, and his twin sister, Atreya, making them 8th generations. Evart and Atreya are rare twins to the race of humans on this world. Not one pare have been born since the landing of the survivors. 400 years and they are the first.

As newborns, Evart and Atreya were orphaned. Word spread quickly of the birth of twins and people from great distances came to see such a miracle. Unfortunately the time for joy ended too quickly. A prophet emerged from a small village proclaiming the twins would bring about the end of their race. Soon hunters would gather and march upon the home. The parents tried desperately to protect the newborn children, but paid with their lives. When the last hunter raised his axe upon the children, he came to realization about the crime he had been about to commit. He took the children and sought out their closest relative, their grandparents. Wanting to live another day, the hunter took praise for having saved the twins from their home leaving out the part where he almost brought down his axe. Not wanting to face his sin, the hunter rode into the mountains never to be heard from again.

Evart and Atreya had been lucky to have lived to the age of 7. Every day they are out in the fields, picking crops, feeding livestock, and exploring obscure terrain. They lived with just their grandmother. Up to this point they had been grateful for the life they’d lived and enjoyed every moment of it.

But that time of contentment came to an end when everything seemed to fall apart.
A catastrophe had taken place. Mountains shook, the ground quaked beneath their feet. It seemed like the world was truly coming to an end, but then everything was still. Even the wind seemed to stand still for just a second. The calm of the storm was only the beginning. From the seas came the serpent people. Old-world legends proclaimed them as Naga. They ravaged the land, steeling people from their homes, dragging them into the seas, and keeping them prisoner. Anyone who escaped from the ocean only lived long enough to tell their story and pass on. A few years went by where constant raids upon the villages left the human race scattered across the map and families fragmented.
The home of Evart and Atreya had yet to see the scale of a Naga. They lived so far inland it had been almost impossible for them to travel far from the ocean, except for the factor of a few delta streams running through the nearby forest.

Tragedy struck when Atreya, now of the age of 17, found herself being dragged away from her home and into the ocean. Evart had left for a mere 15 minutes to retrieve his bag of things from the barn. In those 15 minutes he lost his twin sister and found his wounded grandmother on the floor of their home. His grandmother went into a state of comatose after that day. She never woke up and eventually passed on in her sleep. Evart as you can believe was devastated and left scarred by these events. Not only did he lose his parents as a newborn, he now has lost his grandmother and twin sister to the Naga.

Desperate to understand why such events have happened to him, he wanders into the forest with merely a pack filled with a few essential things to live. Evart is determined to find his sister alive and bring her home. The question is, will he succeed and is he the true shepherd for mankind?

Evart – Shepherd of the Human Race

Merely a boy tiptoeing into adulthood, Evart has yet to prove himself worthy of being a shepherd for mankind. He lives with his grandmother and twin sister, Atreya, on a farm far inland from the ocean. Evart, unknowingly, bares the mark of the Shepherd and will pay for it dearly. He who is to be the harbinger must not have any ties in this world. He who is will lead his people with no favoritism towards any and save all. Evart loses his only remaining family after Atreya is kidnapped by Naga and his grandmother left injured and in a state of comatose. Desperate to understand why such events have happened to him, Evart leaves in search of his sister and to bring her home alive.

Gender: Male
Age: 17
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Brown
Height: 5’5’’

After losing his only remaining family, Evart remains in a state of fear and despair. He often catches himself freezing in dire situation almost as if trying to give up subconsciously. He fears for the loss of his only sibling and being alone in this world with no one to understand him. When he is in a good mood and full of hope and eager to keep moving, Evart tends to loosen up and even crack a few jokes in conversation. After the meeting of Edda, Evart finds himself more focused towards retrieving his sister and less on his deep urge to throw himself off a cliff. Occasionally Edda will still find him sulking when he should be resting and tossing and turning when he does manage to fall asleep.

Likes: apples, companionship, family
Dislikes: large bodies of water, abandonment, being alone

Edda – Naga Hatchling

In his travels to seek out his twin sister, Evart stumbled across an abandoned Naga nest. Egg shells had been scattered almost entirely around the nest. Only one egg remained intact. Curious as to what a Naga Hatchling looked like, Evart approached the unbroken egg. With his closing steps the egg formed a crack in its shell. Evart peered inside and held the egg in his hands. As soon as grasped it, the shell split and in his hand remained a baby Naga. She was small and delicate and full of innocence. Evart decided upon keeping her with him, seeing if he could raise her to become an alley to his people. Edda travels with Evart in his pack and has grown accustomed to his language. She appears to age quickly and her knowledge expands daily.

Gender: Female
Age: Hatchling
Main Scale Color: Olive
Underbelly Color: Gray-Blue/Green
Markings: Yellow Stripes down the Spine
Tongue Color: Blue
Length: 4’2’’ (stands at 1’6’’)

As she is still quite young, Edda is playfully and an over excited ball of energy. She is constantly annoying Evart and asking curious questions about the world. Even with her annoyance, she has kept Evart sane and alive. When she gets hungry Edda gets slightly moody. Evart will refuse to pay her any attention but she will become quite bossy and demand it of him. As she grows, other feature will emerge such as fins and the changing of scale patterns might occur.

Likes: Litchi fruit, small insects, sleeping
Dislikes: raccoons, other Naga, being woken up