Sift the Rabble

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2007

Sift the Rabble

Stephanie Benvenuto

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Sift the Rabble

by

Stephanie Benvenuto

MFA Imaging Arts/ Computer Animation

SCHOOL OF FIM AND ANIMATION

ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Rochester, NY

May 2007

Skip Battaglia

Skip Battaglia, Chair

Professor

Rochester Institute of Technology

Kristin Callahan

Kristin Callahan

Adjunct Faculty

Rochester Institute of Technology

Johannes Bockwoldt

Assistant Professor

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A

boy

walks alone acrossabarrenspace.He_occasionallycomes across pilesofjunkand

exploresthem. Hepulls abrokencrossformtherubble andhasaduel againstaninvisible

opponent. Hepulls out abookand_quicklypocketsthe treasure. Hetakesa_napona

flag

and

plays checkers with pocketchange. Itisalookattheworldthrough theeyesofa_{young boy. This}

isthefilmIproposedin

May

of2005.

Itisnotthefilm Iscreened inMarch2007.

Thedevelopmentofthisfilm'spremise was_veryorganic. Withall of_mywork, I startout with a

basic ideathat_{I really}don'texpecttoresemblethe endresult.Iusethatas a

jumping

offpointto

gettowork onthereal story.I continue_workingonthe _story allthe_waythroughproduction.

My

storyboards containsegmentsofthe

film,

butwith certainholes inthem. SometimesI don'tsettle

onhowan actual shot will_playout untilthesequencesbeforeand afterthatshotare completed.

This_wayIcan_reallysee whatwill workthere. Sotheworkflow looks_scattered,but allowsfora

naturaldevelopmentofthe_storyand cinematography.

Thisfilm'soriginal ideawas a product ofitstiming. Ihadjustfinished_very stressfulwork ona

twoquarterfilm. Themultiple charactersand complexbackgroundswere

frustrating

and

tedious.Ittooksomuchtime toanimateseven characters. Ifelttheneedto_{do something}

simpler. So I wrote a scriptforonecharacter. The _settingwas also_goingtobe simpler.The

backgroundwouldexist_onlywhendeemed_necessary forthe action.Therewas no real_story

reasonforthis. Ijust didn'twanttdotheextra work. The

drawing

oftheanimation would

Sowhilethe technicalaspectsoftheproposalwere solidin_theory,thecontent side ofthingswas

still _veryshaky. Therewas nodiscernible plot,_onlysymbolic gestures_strungtogether

haphazardly. Andwhat obvious symbols_they were.Acrossusedas a sword. Is ita symbol of

religion

inciting

violence?Ibelievethepart about_sleepingon a

flag

wasto showthe _absurdityof

nationalism. Andwhattomake ofthe

boy

_tossingasideallthemetallic objects while

keeping

withhim (ofall_things)apotato?Thiswas apathetic(nottomention

disgusting)

attempttoshow thevirtuesof naturalthingsover man madeconstructs. Thiswastobeironicgiventhatthe last

line of_myproposal says I wantto taketimewith_{my story} "becauseIwantto avoid obvious

stereotypes andthingsdoneahundredtimesbefore".

Astheweeks passed itwas cleartheplot waslacking. Therewas_nothing

holding

theselittle

scenestogether. I couldn't see a pointto_{why anything}was happening. Therewereholesall over

theplace. I spent a

long

time _goingoverthe script again and again. But nothing_reallymoved me.

Thecontent problems made_gettingstarted onthestoryboardsdifficultas Icould_onlyenvision a

coupleofdisconnectedscenes: a swordfight

here,

some

drumming

_{there, nothing}concrete.

Deciding

tofocus_onlyonthevisualcomponents. I drewsome ofthe shots asIsaw_them,paying

noattentionto the _{story surrounding}them. ThisiswhereI startedtohone inonthedesign forthe

boy. Isoonfound he neededtobe_veryexpressiveand gestural,sincetherewouldbenodialog.

Thecharacter neededtobeold enoughtobe_{naturallythinking}ofcomplexthingslikesubterfuge

and girls.Buthealsoneededtobe_youngenoughfor_playingmake-believeinthe firstplace.Ten

limbs. His height would givehimmore ofa presencethana younger_child, his limbswouldmake

himabitawkward andhiswide openface would

keep

hisyouthintact.

My

one major concern

withthisdesignwasthenumberof actionshe hadtoaccomplish. _{Running, jumping,}

fighting,

tumbling,allthese thingsare easiertodrawwith a_rounder, shorter character.Notjusteasierbut

lesstimeconsuming. Atone pointIconsideredlower hisagetoallow a smaller character. But

storywon out overtechnicalconcerns. Thisone

boy

hadto_carryallthecontentsince hewas

almost alwaysthe_onlycharacter onthescreen. Asluckwouldhaveit,thisdecisionwouldlater

workin_my favor.

Atthis timeIalsoplannedfor howthejunkyard_settingshouldwork. Collagewithfoundpictures

was one idea. Anotherwasmuchlike_myoriginal proposal withalmostnodelineationexcept

where_absolutelynecessary. Oneofthe _earlydrawingswas of a shotthatis inthefinal cut ofthe

film. Itshowsthe

boy

insilhouette_trampingacrossthe_top of ajunk

heap

asthesunsetsbehind

him.

This shot strucka

deep

cordwith me. I

immediately

sawtheactionshe took,_wanderinghis _way

acrossthemound.I begantowork outhow hewouldgetinandout ofthisscene.I reallyloved

the _endingthatledto him

finding

arustedout old car.The

boy

entersitand proceedstoimagine

alatenightdrivethroughthe _citystreets. This_seeminglyinnocentpleasure cruiseleads intoa car

racewith anothersports car owner.Itends withhim

driving

oftheoverpassastherusted carin

Coming

upwiththis scenewaspivotalinthe creative_process, evenifthecar wasnotusedinthe

final film. . Itprovedthatsimpleundefinedbackgroundswere notgoingtocarrytheaction asI

originallywanted. Itwas also thefirst indicationthat the_settingwould change asthe

boy

thinks

upnewadventures. The_drivingimportancebehindtheseadventures would notbesymbolism,

but justwhathe findstobe fun. Here is wherethescript_reallybegantoresemblethefinished

work. A

boy

wandersthrougha_scrapheap,

finding interesting

objects or spaces. Whenever

somethinggrabshis attention,hismindtakeshimtoanotherplace. Andtheseplaces would

changestyles as heentered. Thisiswhere_mycharacterdesign decisionsearlierintheprocess

paid off.

Ifthe

boy

had been_anyyounger (and_{therefore smaller),}hewouldhaveneeded a severe redesign

foreach scenarioto

bring

him_{up to}par withhis surroundings.Afterallhe imagines himselfa

believablespy/cowboy/X-games star. Ifhe had beena_three-foot, seven year_{old, the}changes

between realityand make-believe wouldhave been dramatic. Butwith afourand ahalf foot

eleven year olditwasmore likea slight alteration. He justneededtobecomeabittallerand

slightlymore muscular. The biggestdifference is in_{the spy}section wherehis shoulders are much

broader. Theother nice

thing

isthatwith costume_changes, Icouldhidethe designalterationsso

theywouldn't_{really be}perceptibletothe audience.

Thetimehe spendsin_realitywouldmost_closelyresemble_myusual

drawing

style. This_way, no

matterhow differentthe style forthedaydreamsgot, everythingwouldalways lead backtowhat

wasmore natural.Itwas a goodplacetogo backtobecause itwasjustmorenaturalformeto

drawing

awholefilm intothecomputer.

Getting

usedtothetablet took_{time, but it}was

necessary. The amountoftimesaved wasastronomical and it bypassedseveralpossibletechnical

problems.

My

one major concern wasthefilm

looking

toodigital. Ididn'twant_everything

looking

likeaflat Flashanimation. So Idevelopeda_waytoaddtextures and_shadingtothe

characterin

Photoshop

(seeappendix).

Interms ofthe

background,

Iwentintheoppositedirectionof character animation. Insteadof

detailedcollageforthe_scrapheaps, Idecidedto

keep

thepiles ofjunkambiguous untilthe

boy

reads_something intothem. Otherwiseviewersmight spendalotoftime_guessingwhat_they can

seeinthepileordistracted

by

the _overwhelmingdetail.Withthis_{setup I}coulddirecttheireyes

exactlywhereIwantedthem. In a space ofbland_{shapes, they'll}focusontheoneplace Iwant

them too. Italsolent itselftosome subtlesymbolism. As_"adults",we seemeaninglesspiles of

junk. Butthe

boy

sees potentialandadventure. Itmakes sensethatthere wouldbe_{nothing really}

thereuntilthe

boy

conceivesofit. SoIworkedout some general_paintingstyles wheretheshapes

were generalbutnotboring. Also inconsiderationwasthe speed and easeinwhichthese

backgroundscouldbeproduced. Iknew_mypropensity forrapid cuts and multiple angles. Ihad

anticipated around50 orso shots withinthejunkyard(finalshotcount wasalmost60 forthe

junkyardandinexcessof130forthefilmas a whole).Acouple oftestpaintings laterandthe

general look forthejunkyard wasborn.

This time spentontechnicalmeritsmanagedtoplace more spacebetweenme andtheeventsthat

ledto theoriginal proposal. Thismeanttherewas lessofanemotional attachmentto the themes

adventures soonfollowed. Talesof_espionage,bar fightsand space battlesentered intothemix.

Thesegmentfora spacebattle didnot make it far beyond_{the planning} stages. Inordertoachieve

theproperlookand

feel,

thescene wouldrequire3DorCGIassist. Ididnothavethe timeor

know howto dothismyself orthe_moneytohiresomeone else. Itwas_probablyforthebetter. As

Iwouldlater find_{out, there}wasadifficultbalancetostrike with_makingeach scene unique while

having

all scenesbepart ofthesame film.

Someoftheideas for diversionsstarted smaller and endedthatway. Othersgrewinto_long,full

lengthstories oftheirown. Oneofthe shortstoriestoremainwastheswordfight fromthe

original proposal.Thoughitno longer involvedsociological overtones.Buta straightforward

swordfightwould notdoeither.I decidedtousethissceneto showhowthingswere_goingback

andforth between_realityandtheboy's imagination. This juxtapositionwould showtheaudience

just how innovative hewas. SoIintercutquick shots ofthesword action with

long

shots of what

was_goingoninreality. Toenhancethis_interplay,the

boy

getsbeat intheswordfight because

his_play swordintherealworldbreaks.

Asthe

boy

fleesfrom hisenemy,heends_{up sliding down}alarge trashheap. Thisseemedlike

theperfect_opportunitytochangethescene. Sonowhe's _slidingdownaskislope. Thisallowed

the sceneto_{stay veryactive,}withthings changing upallthe time. It keepsthe audienceontheir

toes.Italsoletsthe

boy

gotomultiple places withoutthe _{film getting}too

long

ortheworktime

intensive becausetheseoutingsare so short.AlsoI didn'tallowthe styletochangetoomuch

Thatallimportantcarchase scenewas alsodropped before itwenttoanimation. I clungto that

idea fora

long

timebecauseIloved howthe

boy

gotintoand out ofthescene.

Getting

into this

scenehe seemedso slick and cool (orsohethought). Heflipped_uphiscollar,puton sunglasses

(at_night), revvedheengine andthenfloored it. The styleofthe_citywouldbe_very

flashy

and

almostabstract withlotsofbrightcolors and _streakinglights. Theoutwas_especiallyfantastic.

Thecardrivesoff anoverpass. We hearacrash. Thenthere'sa close_upofthe

boy

_wearingan

expressionoffearand nervousness.. Thecamera turns90torevealthe

boy

is_actually vertical

becausethecarhas fallen from itsperch onthe_scrapheap. Anice contrast_{to the smug,}pompous

lookonhis facewhenheenteredhiscoolnewride. Buttherewas never_anything

interesting

for

thebulkofthemiddle. Howcanthis scene _staycool andfunthroughout? HowcanI payhomage

toagenre while_{tryingsomething}new withit?

Then I realizedIcouldn't makethisscene _any goodbecause Inever watched car chases or

anythingcloseto that. I hated NASCARand paid no attentiontotheFastandtheFurious

movies.I'd even yawnatcar chase scenes within moviesthatI _{liked. So clearly I}neededto stick with elementsI knewand loved. Thatwasthebest_waytoguarantee segmentsthatwere

entertainingandinnovative. This ledtothe three majordiversionsthatmadethe cut: Spy/Espionage, Cartoon Westernand

Artsy

Music.

The_{opening spy} segment seemstopullfromthe James Bondfranchise. It'sgot action.It's got

gunfights. It'sgotexplosions. Butitwas alsothestyle oftheactionthatwas importanttome. In

that vein,Iwasinfluencedmore

by

GhostintheShellTVseries. Theplotline forthatseries was

energeticway.

Soto setthe_{mood, the}sceneopens with some

long

shots ofthecity. Thenafigureappears inthe

shadows. Someinformation(who is_he,whatis he

doing,

whatdoes heevenlook

like)

is leftout

togivetheaudience a sense of anticipation.The_cuttingatthe

beginning

ifslowanddeliberateto

theviewercantakeinthesetting. Thiswasimportantsotheactioninthesecondhalfmade_sense,

sinceitwouldbeso rapid. Ialso wanted acontrastto thequickaction attheend. Oncethe second

half_{hits, everything} ismoving.

Flashing

bulletsandtruckshots

keep

theaction up. Thecamera

is _veryactive andevenchangesthespeed ofthe"film"acoupletimes.All oftheseshottypesare

found inthegreat action movies.

Eachshothas_many layersofbackgroundsandanimationtogivethe senseofacomplex space.

That_complexityrequired a lotmorethanIhad_originallyplanned. This segment inits first

incarnationwas ratherlacking.Inthe_planningstage, Ihadunderestimatedhowmuchdetailand

finessewas needed. The_openingshothadtobe_entirelyreworkedinpost. Itookwhatwas

originallyone layerofbuildings and splitandduplicateduntiltherewere severallayerstogive a

sense ofdepthtotheshot.

Only

then didIhavea shot_worthy of_openingathesisfilm.

Mostofthe camera shotsweredone inpost_usingAfter Effects. This gave methe_abilityto

changethepace ofthingsafter_everythingwasdrawnwithout_goingbackand_redoinganimation.

One shotinparticularturnedoutkindofboring: atruck shot ofthe

boy

_runningacross a

gangway. So Iput allthe separatelayers atdifferentspeedsbasedontheirdistance fromthe

"camera"

Thesebackgrounds aretheotheraspectofthe styleI focusedon.In cyberpunkworksthe

backgroundsare_{usually very detailed}andtextured. Therewas_obviouslynotsix monthsand a

teamof artistsdedicatedto the taskof_creating

thirty

_complex,realisticbackgrounds.IdidwhatI

couldwiththe time thatIhad. Buteven with some extraline_{work, the}backgroundswere still

simplelooking. Sotomake_upforthis simplicity,Igavethebackgrounds richtextures. But_they

weren't painted on. First Ipainted some general water colortexture swatches. Theswatches

ranged frompaint_{drips,to splatters,} smearsetc.With _everythinginthe computer,I could

compositethetextureontothebackgrounds.Nowthe walls were stained andthe woodcrateshad

knots_{running through}them. This allowedfortheillusionofpaintedtextureswithoutso much

time spent(seeappendixfor moredetails). Alsobecausethesame set oftextureswereusedon all

the _backgrounds, ithelpedgivethesectionacohesivelookandfeel.

Andwhat aboutthatlook? Cantherebe adistinct lookand feeltoallthevarious sections and

still havea_eveiythingworktogetheras a whole movie?Thisiswherethelimits of_technology

worked outfavorably. Alltheanimationforthefilmwasdone inFlash usinga_drawingtablet.

Flashas a programhasgreat

functionality

withits timeline, but it is_verylimitedwithits brush

options.Assuchevenif differentsectionshad dynamic holds (the

junkyard)

orstaticholds

(western, spy),theline_qualitywasalways_verysimilar.Alsoinall_{the sections, the}lineworkis

vectorbasedwhilethe backgroundsare

bitmap

images. Sonomatterhowmuchthe

cinematographyormusic changedbetweensections, therewas alwaysavisual element

holding

Thisalmost wasn'tthe case.

Originally

thewestern sectionwas tobe drawnon paper.Ihand

paintedthebackgroundsand evenfinishedabout25% oftheanimation. Butwhenitcametime to

putthings_{together,nothing}worked.

Artistically

and_technically,thepiece wasterrible.The

scanners inthelabdidhorriblethings to_{my drawings. Scans lines}were everywhere whichin

turncausedthealpha channelstobea mess. Thecolors which lookedsowonderful on paper

turned

dirty

anddull. Alsosincethedrawingsweredone in_layers,but_everything scannedin so

awfully,nothingwas

lining

up. Theamountof timeneededtofixtheseproblems and clean

everythingup

digitally

was greaterthan the timeittooktoanimatetheshotsinthe firstplace.

Artistically

the drawnon paperlookstoodouttoomuchfromtherestofthefilm.Theintentwas

for_reallyrichtexturesandcolor. Theactual resultwas

badly

strewntogethershots_clearlydrawn

on wrinkled paper withno_vibrancyor real motion andthatseemed_{stylistically}to

belong

to

anotherfilm.

Amajor changehadtobemade andfast. Thedecisiontogo digitalatthattimewas_mostlybased

ontechnicalissues.

Going

digital meant

bypassing

theproblems withthescannerandcolor

changes. But_ostensivelyitwasforartistic reasons.Thissection stoodout likeasorethumb. But

whatlookshouldbeusedhere? Therewasnofeasible_wayto gettexturesonthecharactersthe

sameaswiththejunkyardsections. Atleastnot without_putting dynamic holdsoninsteadof

staticholds.Andthatwouldaddmorework atatimewheretherehad beenenough setbacks.

Thisparticular segment also needed staticholds forallthe

long

dramaticpausesthatwere

planned.Thosedonotwork well withdynamic holdssincethe_{line is moving in}the frame.

Aroundthistime I hadstartedtowatchthroughthePink Pantheranimated seriesboxset.

Inspirationhit. I wasstruck

by

theniinimaliststyle ofthe cartoons. If_theyneeded a_door, that

meantjustthedoor. Noneedforawall orin many caseseven adoorjam. The storypoints all

still came across.Nowwhile I didn'twant_my worktolook likePink_Panther,it did remind me

thatminimalist settings couldwork even withno

dialog

and comedicscenes. Itwas ok notto

specifyeverything. Insteadof

having

a

busy

framewithtextureandline_everywhere, Iwould

pare _{everything down}tobare essentials. The_only lineswouldbeoutlines forthe shapes. The

backgrounds wouldbekeptsimple.Andiftherewerebackground_characters, some could consist

of_onlyafew linesand asplash of color.

So Igottowork_redoingthesegment.I usedthepartsthathad been_previouslyscannedinfor_my

composition and pulledthecolorsfromthemtodrawwith. Itworked. Whenput_together,the

shots nowformeda cohesive whole.Andthe individualshotslooked bettertoo. The action was

muchsmoother. Thecolors whichhad seemed _emptynowfilledthe frameand were_vibrant,even

though_theywere _relativelymuted. Italsohelpedthat thismethodsavedtimewith no_scanningor

computer_processingrequired.Iwas abletomake _upmost ofthe timelostonthe firstattempt.

Most_importantly,thissectionnowblendedwell withthejunkyard segmentsbeforeandafterit.

Thissection stillhasuniqueaspectsto itthough. Thereareexaggerationstoall parts ofthisfilm

(slowed downcameras, longerpauses, over reactions). Thatis _simplyinthe nature ofanimation.

Butthewesternsectionisthe_only section wherethecharactersdonot_necessarilyretaintheir

shape. Thereason itworks_onlyinthis sectionisthedifferenceintechnicalaspects.Thesimple

backgroundsandlackoftextureor_shading allowedformore

flexibility

withthecharacters. The

reasontodo itwasthe_pacingoftheaction.Thefirstparthad_plentyof

funny

pauses and stare

downs,

buttherewaslittle inthe_wayof action untilthelastthird. Thishadthepotentialtomake

fora

boring

orslow segment offilm. Squashandstretchto speed_up otherwise normal action was

one_waytoadd punchto thebeginning.Thisalsomadethissection abitmore _cartoony, so itwas

lessaspaghettiwestern and more likea

Looney

Tunes short.Therewas also_originallyalonger

bar fightscene_planned,complete withbad

jump

_cuts,slow_stagingandterriblesound effects.

Withthestyle_movingtowardsa cartoon short and further_awayfrom_{say, the} western_"Shane", a

longerscene now seemed unnecessary. Therewas alsothematteroftimelost duetotechnical

difficultiessothe scene wasdropped.

Mostthe other_story segment forthewestern stayed_prettymuchthe samethroughoutproduction.

Amysterious stranger enters asaloon,falls forthepretty barwench and starts abar fightto

protecther. Chairs_fly, bottlesarethrownand of course someone ends_{up tossed}across atable.

Butthe_endingwas adifferentmatter. _Originally,the scriptcalledforthe

boy

toreunite withhis

damsel behindthebar. Theirgazes would cross andthey'dlean inforthekiss. This iswhereI

hadwritten myselfintoa corner. Asone_may notice,most ofthisboy's adventures endin

catastrophe. Butthiswasa

happy

_endinginthemaking. So_theycouldn'tkiss. Itried to thinkof

waysto scarehimout ofthetunnel. Maybe he's _slipandfall inwater. Orashe leans

in,

_reality

strikes intheformof a rat or some other creature.But all ofthesefeltoverdone and cliche. There

justseemedtobeno_wayout ofthisexceptthroughakiss (which I reallydidn'twant). Then I

realizedthelengthofthis section wasdoublesome oftheothers, sothechance encounter was

droppedall together.

Withthere nolonger

being

a romantic moment afterthe

fight,

the_pacing ofthefilmwasnow off

kilter. While I like_myfilmstobe_snappy and_exciting, I alsolikethemtohavepausesand a

chancetobreathe. _So,afterthebar

fight,

the

boy

would needtotakeabreathaswell. Andwhat

better_waytodo sothanwith a rest atthebeach?I lovedtheideaofhim

drifting

offtojustthe

sounds oftheocean.Noneedto show_{the area,} when we can feel itwithhim justthroughthe

sounds. Andas usual I wantedhis _stayinthis

fantasy

toendjustas_abruptlyastherest. I

certainlycan'tthinkofthelasttimeI madeitthroughathoughtwithout

being

interrupted. Now

being

atRITforthepreviousthreeyearsmeansthatIknowalotof guys. Andifthere isone

thingthatwillalwaysget a guy's _attention,itsa girl. Justthethoughtofagirl and_they

hop

_to,

likely

toignore_{anything that's going}on aroundthem. Soof coursethe

boy

wouldknock his

head intothe _overhangjusttochance a glimpse at some_young girls. Itwasthe_only natural

course of action.

Thiswouldlead into_my importantsunset shot.Nowthepreviousbeach scenetakesplace inthe

lateafternoon.Butthedrumcircledoesn't start untiltheevening. Ineededto advancethe timeof

day

withinjustafewshots.One suggestion givento me atthe timewasatimelapseshot. But I

hatethat style of shot. Itseemskinda_cheapand

lazy

whenthingsjust_skipandfadeto get

through the action.But I was stuckina corner with_timingin_my film. SoI createdafauxtime

lapseshot. Theboy'sanimationgoes on uninterrupted acrossthemound. _Meanwhile,the _sky

changesthroughvarious hoursofthe

day

to setthesun.Nowthe "time" inthefilmadvances

properlywithoutthe_cheesy fadeeffectsI hateand without_{adding any}extraneous scenes.Now

thatit isevening, the

boy

canfind his"drum".

This lastofthe threemajordiversions isthemostdifferentstylistically. The drumcircle section

is_very

loosely

drawn. Iwantedthere tobe _{verygestural,} free drawing. There isalso no

backgroundto lettheaudiencedecideon whatthe space is. Theplanfromthe start wasto shoot

footage of people_{playinginstruments,clapping}

hands,

_tappingtheirfeet and maybe even

dancing

andthenrotoscopethatina styleIhad developedearlierthatyear.Nowwhenthe time

cameto_actually shootfootage Iwasthe_onlyactor. Butthis turnedouttobeanecessity. The

animationhadtosync withthemusic. So Ishotfootageof myself whileI performedthevarious

partsforthesoundtrack. Thiswouldmake _syncingtheanimationtothesound much easier. Ijust

alteredthe color andthe shape ofthehandstomake itseems as iftherewere people ofdifferent

shapes and sizes _{playing the}variousinstruments.Asthe_rotoscopingwasloose_anyways,thisfit

inwell.

Thelead into thesegment was_{originally very}different. Inearlier_drafts,thebreakdownofthe junkyard intothe _slightlyordered chaos ofthe drumcircle was much more gradual. Muchlike

thesword_playearlier inthe_film,the shots wouldalternatebetween realityandimaginationfora

bit before

diving fully

intothe

drurnming

segment. Butas with most parts ofthe filmthus _far,the

timing ofthe script was_verydifferent fromthe executed animation.Iworkon_my films

sequentially

(roughly)

from

beginning

toend.SoatthispointIhadmorethanseven minutes of

animation_precedingthissection. And Iknew fromexperiencethat thisparticularstyle of

rotoscoped animation can growtired quickly. Sothe intrawasshortenedtojustthreebeats and

theoveralllength wasdroppedtojustone stanza of music. The

boy

had_alreadybeen inand out

ofhalfadozenadventures. Theaudience would_surelyunderstandwhat was

happening by

now.

The_meaningbehindthis section changeddrastically,evenifwhat was

happening

remained

constantthroughoutproduction.

During

theearlierdraftsthere werestillremnants ofthatawful

man-made vs. natural struggle. Thatthemedidnot so muchdisappearas morphinto anothertype

ofbalance. The

boy

_isalways_{getting beatup}orkickedoutofhispreviousdiversions. This

wasn'tjustout of a sick senseofhumor from_me,itbeganasthe ideathat theseadventures were

hollow andthe

boy

shouldfind_somethingmore meaningful.Thismusical segment wastobethe

more meaningful portion. Theideawasthat thismusicis acollaborative_effort,

bringing

people

together,no mattertheirbackground.

By

the timeI gotaroundto_animatingthis_section, Ihad

donework on alltherest ofthefilmand enjoyedit. I_{really had funworking}on allthe previous

diversions. Andmostofthe _{sentimentality}that thereshouldbea message or a moraltothe _story

had beendropped. Soitseemedthere neededtobeabettertransitionoutfromthisscene. Itcame

withthewind

(sounding

like aflutea

first) interrupting

the

boy

just liketheend of_everyother

imagining. Italso was a great_waytoshowthatit was_gettinglateandthat_everythingwas

windingdown.

Withthat thefilmwas atitsend. But howtoexit?Withan exit of course. The

boy

decidesto

leavethejunkyardatthe end ofhisadventurousday. Hewalkshis_way out ofthe

junkyard,

but

he hasn'tforgotten hisexcursions. Heacts pieces ofthemout ashe leaves. Thisshotmarks a

coupleoffirsts forthefilm. It isthe firsttimewe seethatthere couldbe anythingoutsidethe

junkyard. It isalsothefirsttimeweheartheboy's voice.This timewhentakeshis little

adventures,we _stayoutside ofhis head and witnesshisreal worldactions. AndbecauseIwanted

toend on an_excitingand energetic _{note, the}

boy

takes a

jump

as hepretendsto_playthedrums

again. The cameracutsout whilehe's still mid-air andjumpsright into theend credits complete

with

"drum-circle"

music(with bassadded).

The music wasoneofthe hardestpartsto_creatingthisfilm. I didn'twanttohavea composer

comein fortwo reasons.The first isthatIdidn't havethebudgettohire one. The secondisI have

very specifictastesandideas forwhat_my music shouldbe. Mostcomposers whodowork on

studentfilms seemtojustphoneingeneric stuff pounded out on akeyboard. Ido have some

experience with music performance soIdecidedtodothe music myself.

For thejunkyardsettings,I

immediately

knewwhatI wanted.

Very

low

key

simplemusic,with

lightpercussion andakalimba._{Unfortunately,} thekalimba didnot record_well, soIswitchedtoa

flute. IalsofoundIneeded somelower_sounds,so I loopeda_verysparsebasstrack. Theended

up

driving

the scenes along. Italmostbecamethethemeforthejunkyard. Wheneveryouhear _it, youknow_realityhas hit. The drumcircle section was also_veryconcrete_early on. Ihave_many

percussioninstrumentsof_myown, soI knewwhat soundsI hadtowork with. Ididn'twritethis

musicintheconventional_waythough. Ijustsatdown in frontofthemicrophone and started

playingwhatIwanted out of eachinstrument. I thenpieced_everythingtogetherinAudition. For

the western_{section, things}were alittlemore difficult. Thecontent and style kept_changing, soI

never_reallydid findmusic I was

happy

with.Allthatremainsisa short piano

loop

I madefor

ambiance. Thisone aspectIwillfix beforethe filmgoes outtofestivals. Forthe _spysection, I

wanted electronicinstruments forthemusic. But I didn'thaveaccesstothatsort ofequipment. So

Ihada

friend,

Zach_Giles, comein. Hecame_upwithtwopiecesthatare_{perfect, exactly}whatI

was

looking

for. I didn't havetoarticulate much at all. I just handed him my footageandhe

worked magic. Iarrangedthe separatetracks sothat thelevelsmatchedtheaction

happening

on

screen.

Thesoundeffects forthisfilmweredoneaftertheanimationwas completed.The _spyand

western sectionshave _verydescriptivesound.

Especially

the _spysection, there is

foley

everywhereto

keep

thepace_upand add to theatmosphere.Ashootoutis justnotthesame

without gunfireandricochets. Thewestern sectionis alittle less dense. But likethe music with

thatsectionI am_unhappywithit. It feels_{very empty}toward themiddleofthe scene. Ineedto

fleshthatoutabitmore.

The othersectionshave_verysparse sound.Forthebeachscene,thiswastheintent fromthe

beginning. Lightwaves_breaking, a softbreeze_every nowandthenand almost no seagullsto

keep

the scenefrom

being

toooverwhelming.Thejunkyard itselfwas_{originally going}tohave

foley

forallthesteps, slides crashes andbangs. ButwhenIputthemusic andtheanimation

together, it_reallyfeltcomplete exceptforafewspecific cuehits.

Having

foley

for_every little

thingwouldhave been

boring

anyways. How many differentways can afoot hitthe same

ground?

The finalpartof soundinmostfilms is dialog. Fromthestart,mine was tohavenone. Therewas

no real pointifthe

boy

was

by

himself fortheentirefilm. Butastheexcursionsbecamemore

elaborate, thetemptationwasthere toadddialog. Butthatwould neverhaveworked. Even ifI

could put

dialog

intheone scene where thereare other people on _screen, Icouldn't putit in

anywhere _else,unlessthe

boy

wasto talk tohimself. _{And I really}wantedthe _meaningtobetold

throughgesture and action.

The finalpartto thisfilmwasthe creditsandtitles.Thetitlecame about aslate inthegame as

possible. I really couldn'tfind_anythingthatseemedmeaningful. Soas usual I hitthe thesaurus

untilIfound a_string ofwordsthathad_meaning and made sensetogether.Butwheretoputthis

title? Howyou enter afilm is_veryimportant. Iwanted an _excitingopening. AndI'ma

big

fanof

surprises and reveals. So_whynot startthe filmwithin one ofhis

imaginary

adventures?The

viewers wouldbe_verysurprisedto seethis_young

boy

_{suddenly pop up}atthe end ofthe _spy

sequence. But Iwouldhavetomakethe_pacingmuch slower after allthataction. That'swhere

the titleofthe filmended up. This waytheaudiencewouldhavea chancetotake inwhatjust

happened. Andjust incase _theywere confusedIgivetheman "explanationshot".

Only

afew

shotsafter

blowing

_upa_building,the

boy

picks_upa piece of_scrapmetal. Forjustand_instance, it

turns intoa computer gizmo rightbeforetheviewer's eyes.

Sothe titles shows_uptwominutes intoaneightminute film. Theendtitlesonthe otherhand

came out_reallyfast. The

boy

jumps_upalmostinto his end credits. Itwas_veryimportant forthe

endingto beveryexciting. Theaudience should feel like_theyjust had fun.

Sonow withthe filmcompleted itwastimetoscreen. It'snot overstatementto_{say I}was _very

upsetwhen_my tapedidn'tworkthefirsttimearound.

My

family

andfriends werethere to

support me. And itmakes me lookunprofessional.Turns outthecamera usedforcaptureto tape

wasfaulty. Anew_setuplaterandthingsworked fine.Afterthe filmran,I actually got more

commentsoutsidethe auditoriumthanwhenIwas _upatthepodium. Tom Gassek'sremarks

about_my style made me realizeIneededtowork onthebalance and

blending

ofstylesbetween

segments.

Hearing

from Charlesthatthisiswhat a graduatethesis shouldlook likewas ofcourse

a greatconfidencebooster. Butthemost

interesting

remark camefrom

Johnny

Robinson. He

remarkedthatitwas

funny

that I (a_woman) shouldbe sointunedwithhow little boys played

andthought.

NowI'mno_raging

feminist,

butthiswas absurd.AsI stated as_screenings,Ihadall the same

adventuresas akid (minusthegirl ogling). So_why can'tthese adventuresbeuniversal. One

couldask_whydidn'tIhavealittlegirlintheleadroleitthisis basedon_mythoughts of

childhood. WellIcouldgo on and on about social or_{story reasons,}butthe truth is becauseI

didn't feel like it.

My

last filmstared agirl, so nowtherewas aboy. It'sjust howI envisioned

things.

Plans forthis film's future includetheusual for anyrecent graduate._First, itmakesthe rounds at

festivals. _Second, itgets chopped_upfor demoreel. Asmuch asIwanttocontinue_{making my}

own_films,Ido haveto_paybills. Ihopetoget _{somethingsteady,} either at a smallstudioor

perhapsteaching. I madethisfilmwiththeintentof

being

abletoshowitoff.

Alltold I'm_pretty

happy

withtheend result.Ihadalotoffun_makingthisrightuntilthe _very

end. I'm alittle_unhappywiththewestern _segment,but it had so_manyproblems_{along the}way. I

will_tryto fix_upthe sound effects and_editingtomake itabittighter.Otherthanafewofthe

usual setbacks and_{stress, this}was_reallya positive experience. Itwas_{really exciting puttingthe}

piecestogetherand_seeingthefinalresult. You knowyou likeyourfilm_when, as youwatcha

finishedsequence,you cheer.

Appendix

A

Thesis Proposal

Stephanie

Benvenuto

Working

Title:

A

Little Exploration

Committee:

Skip

Battaglia

Johannes

Bockwoldt

Kristin

Callahan

Working

Title: A_{Little Exploration} Start Date: June2005 Producer: Stephanie Benvenuto EndDate:

May

2006

Budget: $668

Running

Time: approx4 min

Release Format: _DVD,DV

Story

Alookattheworldthrough theeyes of a_youngboy.

Synopsis:

A_young

boy

wanders acrossthelandscape. Heclutches a

bag hung

overhis shoulder andlooks

attheground Hekicksthe_dirt,pokes around and

finally

stumblesacross something.It isaline

sticking out ofthe ground. Hepulls itout_alongtheground andfollows it. It reaches itsend and

nothing isthere. Buthe looksuptosee ahugemassofgarbageheaps aheadofhim. Heacts cautiousat_first,but decidesto

dig

in. He finds a_gun,whichhe

immediately

_{tosses away,}

disinterested. Hecontinuesto find_manythings

lying

aboutinthepiles ofjunk. Hepicksthings up,examinesthemandeithertosses them_awayor plays withthemasheseesfit. Heuses a

designerpurseas a makeshifthelmet. Hetakes a cross andhasaduel againstaninvisible opponent.Hetakesa_napona

flag

and playscheckerswithpocket change. This cycle ofsearch and

discovery

continuesforsometime. But_nothingholdshis interest for_verylong. Hecrouches

tothegroundwithapout onhis face.

He looksat_somethinginthedistance and runstowardsit. Itisanorangerind. Thereare others

furtherahead.

They

leadtoa small pile ofstuff,much smallerthan the_surrounding garbage

heaps. Butthispilelooksdifferent. Theshapes are rounder andthe colors warmer. The

boy

inspects itclosely. On_tophe findsascarfthathe_promptlywraps aroundhis neck. Hepulls out a

Hestrugglestopullitout andknockshalfofthepile overintheprocess. Itisa

long

stick. He

looksitover. Thenhe notices _{something in}the _newlyturnedoverpile. Hedigs for asecond and

pulls out a woodenbowl. After

inspecting

it fora_while,hetries_tapping it. Itmakes an

interesting

sound. So he beginsto_playonitsome more.There aresounds ofthedrum heard

throughoutthejunkyard.The

boy

lookstohisshadowand seesitis very

long

now.Hepacks_up

his

instrument,

picks_uphis_walkingstick andwalksoff, chinheld high.

Approach:

Thiswillbe a2D hand-drawnanimation.

Drawing

and_{painting (with gouache)}willbe doneon

paper andscannedintothe computer. Thestylewillbe_verylooseanddynamic.

Only

relevant

objectsand ground willbe drawnwhenneeded.There isnodialog.

Everything

willbeshownin

gesture.

Thepointofthe_storyistomockthe absurdities oftoday'spolitics andsocial values. ButI want

todo it ina_waythatissubversive and clever. The objectshe findsare all

fairly

commonplace.

We aremeanttowatch asheexplores andinterpretsthese things though new eyes. Theabove

ideasare preliminary. Iwill spendthe summer_{watchingthe news,}people and_anythingelse

aroundfor ideas. Theprocess willtake thismuchtimebecauseIwanttoavoidobvious

Thesis

Budget

Reproduction

$

per # of items total

$

office supplies

$20.00

CD-R 25 pack

$20.00

1 $20.00

Daper

$7.00

1

$7.00

Sharpie marker

$2.00

3 $6.00

DAT tape

$5.00

1

$5.00

Production

Daper

$7.00

10

$70.00

pencils

$1.00

20

$20.00

gouache

$30.00

1

$30.00

DVD R 25 pack

$25.00

1

$25.00

Folders

$5.00

10

$50.00

Post Production

DV

-archival

$20.00

2

$40.00

DV - distribution

$5.00

15

$75.00

Festival Fees

$300.00

CD Q. < CO "o -o CO CO

J

CO Li. c CO o CD Q > o

.V.i:-;^;'*.. fSS-.^/.7'

Thesis Timeline

ALittle Exploration

Pre-Production

June _July

Aug

Sept Oct

Story

Storyboards &Animatic

Sound Design & Capture

Character & _Prop Design

Color Design

Backgrounds

Oct 1: Havecompleted animatic&

nearly finishedsound

Production

Animation

Coloring

Compositing

April 1: Allanimation complete

Post-Production

April _May

Tweaks & redo's

FinalVideo Ec

Sound Tweaks

Proposal foranMFA ThesisProject

A Little Exploration

by

Stephanie

Benvenuto

MFA

Imaging

Arts/ComputerAnimation

SCHOOL OF FILM AND ANIMATION

ROCHESTERINSTITUTEOF TECHNOLOGY

ROCHESTER,NEW YORK

May,2005

Committee:

Skip

Battaglia

Johannes Bockwoldt

Approved forsubmission /

ittaglia- CommitteeCmjr

)i<UUVl VI

M.-MJLMJLM. m.mm.^m. *.

"A L-;tn-e *Pi*- ^-*%T" _0*\J

roposal Title

tudent

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&

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Committee Chair __

*>r^p

ft

a=T-v u

Committee

Member.

CommitteeMember

reatment Budget Timeline

Supporting

Materials

iredits

Marketing

Reel

&U&&*

HscussionNotes: . .

>

T^^^w^^^^^r

'*s *

A-^r

^

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7~7

Lpproved _; DateforResubmission

lot Approved Projecttobe Completed

By

Conditions ofApproval:

Committee

Chair

(or

C

/^

/5?

*"

/

.

leot. Chairt Signature

j

Ljf

^^

'^"^

P*>

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'acceptthat theaboveisan accurate record_oftheconditions_ofapproval_ofmy

Senior Thesis

Project

Appendix B

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Appendix C