Welcome to the first big update for Melvin's Big Roller Rink Ruckus! (working title)
First up, the story beats for this film have been pretty much finalized. I'm satisfied with how the story is shaping up, and I think this is a film that's both well-crafted and very funny. To see these story beats, check the pdf attached below. I should note that some of these beats aren't the funniest thing in the world on their own, but I plan to make them funnier through the character acting and staging so please keep that in mind.
I'm still very open to feedback regarding these beats, especially if there's a fundamental flaw with the story. However, I'm at a point where I need to concentrate on getting an animatic together.
Next up, character designs! Right now, I'm about halfway through getting the cast together. Take a look below!
As with everything, these character designs are not final. I'm very open to feedback to make them look as good as possible, and I'll continuously work on them until the proper animation begins.
Now, you might have noticed that I said I'm only halfway done... and I'm already at five characters. You see, with a concept like this it is a necessity for me to have a huge cast. While having to design and animate all of these is a great task, I've come up with many ways mitigate a lot of the workload.
What you see above is how I'm approaching each and every character. With the time I have, it's silly for me to put extensive thought into the most minor of minor characters. This list allows me (and proves to others) that having a large cast can work in my favor if I play my cards right.
To explain how this tier system works, let's go tier by tier. A Tier 1 character is someone who is in the majority of the film, and is someone I want the audience to follow and attach themselves to. In this film, the only character that fits this criteria is Melvin. Hence why he has had the most time spent on his design.
A Tier 2 character has more limited screen time, but their gags require them to have a very distinct design and silhouette. The derby girl and the old lady are obvious examples.
A Tier 3 character has about just as much screen time as a Tier 2, but these characters don't rely on their design for a joke to work. Thus, they still need to be distinct, but I can get away with making their designs a little more generic.
Lastly, Tier 4 consists of characters that are extremely minor, or are slight edits of existing designs. For Pedestrian 1 and 2, these characters are going to be so generically designed that I can essentially copy and paste them throughout the background without it being too noticeable. When I copy and paste a design, I'll be sure to change things like color scheme, skin color, height, hair styles, and minor accessories to make them a bit more distinct. With the time I have, it's silly for me to spend significant time on every minor pedestrian that appears for a fraction of a second.
As for the other two dancers, these characters are just going to be slight variations of the leader. I'll change things like height, hair, shades, and other minor accessories, but they'll all share one fundamental design. They are a dancing trio after all, so it's in the realm of possibility that their outfits might be similar.
Tier 4 may sound complicated, but this really is a necessary evil for this film. With the way the script currently is, I need to have at minimum 11 characters. The Tier 4 philosophy narrows it down to just 7. Seven is still a lot, but it's a lot more manageable for my production pipeline. Plus, tier 4 characters are on screen for such little time that barely anyone would notice the shortcuts.
One last thing, storyboards. I started doing some thumbnails and storyboards for this film, but I realized very quickly these are going to be tough to do without reference. Normally for me doing storyboards without reference footage isn't a problem, but with the way movement plays a role in this film it's near impossible for me to properly visualize scenes without it.
Thankfully, my good friend Saige Kanik and I recorded all of the footage I need this morning. By the time you read this, I probably already have started properly storyboarding. So unfortunately, no thumbnails this week. However, my goal is to have a very rough animatic by next Wednesday.
That's pretty much everything as of now, I'm making steady progress on this film. This film is incredibly ambitious and I'm taking on a lot, but I'm also confident in my ability to deliver. One last thing before I go, I made a first draft of my production schedule and mood board. In all honesty, these are kind of boring so I didn't give them a proper segments, but if you're interested they're attached below.
See you next time,
Devin Grover
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