To catch the sun

Rochester Institute of Technology

RIT Scholar Works

Theses Thesis/Dissertation Collections

2005

To catch the sun

Virginia M. Orzel

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Recommended Citation

To Catch The Sun

by

Virginia M. Orzel

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Imaging Arts/Computer Animation School of Film and Animation

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, New York

Thesis Committee:

Malcolm Spaull

Malcolm Spaull, Chair

Professor, School of Film and Animation

Cathleen Ashworth

Cathleen Ashworth

Professor, School of Film and Animation

Stephanie Maxwell

Stephanie Maxwell

Table of Contents:

Title page i

Table of Contents ii

Permission page iii

Acknowledgements iv

Thesis Report

Introduction 1

Story

Concept 1

Character Design 4

Backgrounds 7

Animation 10

Editing

1 1

Sound 12

Screening

14

Conclusion 14

Appendix A

Original Proposal

Appendix B

Storyboard B

Appendix C

Production Stills C

Appendix D

Script D

Appendix E

Thesis

Author Permission Statement

Title of the Thesis: To Catch the Sun

Name if the Author: Virginia M. Orzel Degree: Master of Fine Arts

Program: Film and Animation College: Imaging Arts and Sciences

III

I understand that I must submit a print copy of my thesis to the RIT Archives, per current RIT guidelines for the completion of my degree. I hereby grant to the Rochester Institute of Technology and its agents the non-exclusive

license to archive and make accessible my thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media perpetuity. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis. I also retain the right to use in the future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis.

Print Reproduction Permission Granted:

I, Virginia M. Orzel, hereby grant permission to the Rochester Institute of Technology to reproduce my print thesis in whole or in part. Any reproduction will not be for commercial use or profit.

Signature of Author:

Vi

rg i n ia Orzel

Date: ')

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/

/

2

3A~-

. ./

Inclusion in the RIT Digital Media Library Electronic Thesis Archive

I, Virginia M. Orzel, additionally grant to the Rochester Institute of Technology Digital Media Library the non-exclusive license to archive and provide

IV

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge and _{dedicate my} thesis to a _very

special _person, Adrianna White. She is my

daily

motivation and

my main source of inspiration for writing and _{creating my} thesis.

Introduction

As _many other graduate _students, I wanted _mythesis to be _my best

work ever. I

truly

believe it was. I am _very proud of _my film and _very

pleased how itturned out. _{Before coming back to school, my} career

has led me down a path where I was _working on children

programming. I tried to avoid it when I started graduate school. I just

thought that children's _programming or _anything related to children

filmmaking

wasn't held to as high of a caliber as other

filmmaking

styles or genres. But after

having

a conversation with Professor

Naomi

Orwin,

I realized that if I have a niche in children's

filmmaking

I should follow it. So I did and here I am with a thesis that I geared

towards children and families.

Story

Concept

I used to

try

and make films and write stories based on how others

would make the film or writethe story. I did this because I believed that for me to be successful I had to follow other established writers

and filmmakers. The problem with that concept was there was

something missing in my writing and _{my films.} I have since learned

that _{every film} must come from within the artist, from their heart, and

then the film will be successful.

A couple of years ago I spentthe summer _visiting friends on the West Coast. I began _my

journey

in Montana. It was the first time I saw _my

aunt in three years. I was shocked

by

what I saw. She was a _very

frail woman who had lost over 70 pounds.

Only

a few months prior she was a _strong boisterous woman who would put anyone in their

place. It was a _very painful and

frightening

sight. AT that moment I

knew I would never see her again. She didn'twantto die but a

horrible disease had her

by

its claws and wouldn't let go. She would

end _up

dying

three months later.

I tell this _{story because the}

deep

love I have for her and the great

I am one ofthe youngest members of_my family.

My

dad is the youngest of seven brothers and sisters.

Over the last ten years I have watched several aunts and uncles die. There is a moment in everybody's life when you realize you are beaten

by

the circumstances in life. Some are ok with

dying

some are not.

There is a look on _{the face} in the eyes of a person neardeath that say it's over.

My

aunt in Montana wasn't _ready to die. I never saw

her _cry until she told me _{the disease raging in her}

body

was

taking

over and she was _going to die.

The little girl in _{my film, Julianna,} is every aunt and uncle in my life

that were beaten

by

their circumstances. Julianna represents the

momentthat

they

knew

they

had no control over death. The rain symbolizes the diseases and other circumstancesthat we can't

control.

Timmy

is _me, an observer who wants to make the other person feel

better. He wants to comfort _them, and to make them

happy

again.

The other characters in the

film,

the flowers symbolize the selfish people in this world who can't get beyond themselves and their own selfish needs to

help

others. Ms. Oak _tree, who is consumed

by

self indulgence, can'tsee beyond herself to even realize that there is

someone who needs her help. Mr.

Yew,

the dead _{tree, is willing} to help, but is not _strong enough _physically or_emotionally to endure the bulldozers ofthe world. The clouds are all the evil elements in life that add more challenges and road _{blocks that} prevent us from

moving forward.

My

story is about a little girl, Julianna who is distraught because it

Timmy

asks the flowers and Ms. Oak tree for

help

but

they

don't

help

him. Mr. Yewvolunteers to

help Timmy

but can't

help

him either. It's

only when

Timmy

looks within himself that the answers come to him and he has the _ability to seek Mr. Sun.

Ofcourse when

Timmy

finally

finds the sun and starts his

journey

towards the sun, the evil clouds _{step in} and

try

to _{stop him.}

It's when

Timmy

is at his lowest point _clinging to the side ofthe

mountain, that Mr. Sun comes and rescues him from the clouds.

My

thesis, To Catch The _{Sun, is really} about _my

journey

in life and how I act and reactto others in my life. God is always atthe core of

who I am and all the decisions I make in my life. I don't know why _my life has taken me in the direction of _making children's _films, but it has.

As I wrote this film I visualized myself _speaking to _{my friend's}

daughter, Adrianna White. Adrianna was 5 when I first started _writing the story.

The _story began as a children's bookwhich I lateradapted into _my

thesis film. As I wrote the _film, I wanted to

keep

it simple and fun. I

tried to think like a child

by

_adding randomness to the story. For

instance, there is a _line, "I knew I need _help, I need Mr. Sun. He stop the rain and

bring

back the fun. I first made a sandwich fluffer nutter

on _rye, packed it all _up and said _my goodbyes."

In an adult _{story the}

journey

would begin right _away, but in a child's

mind

they

must get _{everything in} order_that is logical to theirown

minds. I tried to _convey the child's random mind throughout the

script. I believe I was successful in _{accomplishing} the child's thought

process.

Again I exaggerated the end such as how a child exaggerates an

When you heara nine year old say, "When I was a child or when I

was much younger at the age of

six."

It cracks us _up as adults because three years is not a

long

period of

time within our own perception. But to a _young child a month is an

eternity. So I end the _film, "Years have come and gone since that day.. .", and yetthe children don't get any older. I did this on purpose

to emphasize_{that the story}

being

told through the child has a

differentperception of me then we as adults do.

In addition, as the camera pulls out from the house, the house is

glowing from the inside even though it's still _raining outside. The

reason I did this was to show that true happiness comes from within

ourselves, no matter what _{is going} on around us.

It's not life or other people or uncontrollable circumstances that make

us who we _are, or dictate howwe feel, but it is ourselves that have the choice to be happy. Ifwe make the choice to be

happy

_nothing

else matters and no one can make us miserable but ourselves.

The greatest challenge for writing the script to _my film was _getting

everything to rhyme. This is where Professor Naomi Orwin became a

big

assetto _{my film.} I bought a _rhyming

dictionary

and soon

discovered that there are _many words in the English language that

don't rhyme. I now have a new found respectfor Dr. Suess who

created several _rhyming stories. I now understand _{why he had} so

many made _up words in his story.

Character Design

Designing

the characters was rather _easy for me.

My

main goal for

designing

my characters was to create them so _they would appeal to

children. I even wanted the evil clouds to be likeable. _Plus, I didn't

want anyone to be frightened or have _any morbid thoughts

by

the

dead tree. I want each character to have their own _{personality but}

I _really enjoyed the process. I started with the children first. Julianna

was a bit_challenging because she always ended _up

looking

older

than Timmy. Ofcourse this was a problem because she needed to

be the younger sister.

Atfirst I didn't have a set age foreither

Timmy

or Julianna. So the

first

thing

I did was determine that

Timmy

would be 8 years old and

Julianna would be five years old.

I observed _many of _my friend's kids to get ideas on characterdesign.

One ofthe elements I loved most was when _{my friends} tried to put

hair scrunchies in their daughter's hair when

they

didn't have enough

hair. Whatwould happen is the hairwould stick _up straight. I thought

it was the most adorable _thing I ever saw. I actually designed

Julianna with her hair pointing up. After I textured her, she looked

like a little devil. Notquite the look I was _{going for.} So I ended _up

turning

her pigtails down. I believe if I was _working with more realistic

hair _qualities, I could have gotten _away with

having

the hairturn _up

because itwould not have looked like horns. The hair would have

had a more organic lookto it and would have flopped around as the

girl moved.

All the other charactersjust came to me and I sketched them out. I

wanted the sun to have 1 1 rays, which laterwould become a hassle

during

rigging.

For the clouds I studied several pictures of clouds that I _took, as well

as, pictures on line of clouds that I found. _{I actually} took a

combination of a couple ofdifferent cloud types to create the clouds

in _my film.

I wanted the clouds to be _evil, but not evil in a _scaryway. I wanted

the clouds to be fun and enjoyable to children.

The biggest challenge was

taking

_{my drawings} and

trying

to recreate

I thought this would be the easiest characterto create. It was one of

the _{hardest along} with the clouds. The

body

ofthe sun was _easy; the

hard part was _connecting the rays.

Making

the rays was easy. Itwas _trying to get the rays and the

body

to connectwithout it

looking

like _theywere connected. I wanted them

to look like one whole or complete piece.

Itwas _{very challenging} to even _rig the sun character. I tried a broken

rig but ran into problems because ofthe number of rays and the length ofthe rays. I tried _using soft bodies. This worked for the first

few rays but 1 1 rays wasjust too much forthe system to handle. I

tried lattices but again it failed.

My

last ditch effort was _using non-deformers. I tried all but one and

they

all failed.

Logically

the sine non-deformerjust didn't make sense

to use. But out of desperation I gave it a _go, and it worked.

The next challenge was

texturing

the sun. I love the look of color

pencil and crayons. I wanted to do all _my textures _using those tools.

At_first, I used the crayons on regular animation paper but I didn't like

the look. Professor Stephanie Maxwell suggested I use a _variety of

textured

drawing

or water color paper. So I did. I purchased several

textured papers and started _coloring swatches in them.

I quickly learned that you paint with crayons and colored pencils

differently

then you would with paint. First you start with the lightest

color, and then move to the darkestcolor. It took me about two

months to perfect the _coloring with crayons and colored pencils.

I really love how the textures and colors came out. I wanted _very saturated colors like a child's _{coloring book.}

The clouds posed the next greatest challenge for _modeling in Maya.

In _fact, I ended _up not _{modeling them in Maya.} I modeled them in

It allows you to combine spheres and you can adjust the _viscosity and

density

ofthe balls.

By

_using meatballs, I was able to create the lumpiness ofthe clouds. The challenge came to

importing

the file into Maya.

During

importing, the geometry for the clouds became very ugly. I

spent months _cleaning them up. I did create all the faces in Maya so

I could use Maya blend shapes.

The clouds were _{very challenging} to rig; I ended _{up using} a broken _rig

forthem.

All the other _{characters, Ms. Oak,} Mr. _Yew, the _flowers, and the

children were _{relativelyeasy to} model in the 3D world. The flowers

were _challenging to rig. I ended _{up using} a simple spine forthem and

creating set driven keys to animate them.

I had some _crazy hairfor

Timmy

in my original drawings but I had to

eliminate the hair in the 3D world. I did model the hair and ended _up

with over 200 cone polygons for his hair. It looked great. It was

exactly how I wanted _it, but the character was so

heavy

and large I knew I was _going to have problems when I got to _texturing and

rigging. I figured when I started _{animating him,} I would crash the

software. _Hence, the change in hair style for Timmy.

Backgrounds

Theodor Geisel's Dr. Suess books inspired me for _my entire _film, from

the script to the character designs and even the sets. I wanted a

different look to _my 3D film. I didn'twant it to look like 3D. I wanted

my film to have a unique look. I love the look of colored pencils and crayons. I tried to capture that in the 3D world. I didn't get _exactly

what I was _{originally going} for, but I enjoyed what I did come _up with

The house and porch were the first elements I modeled and designed in 3D. I next modeled Mr. Yew and Ms. Oak Tree. I wanted _mytrees

and environment to be more like Dr. Suess, but the mistake I _made,

was _making Ms. Oak Tree too much like a tree. Because when I first

designed my environment it didn'twork with her. She looked like an outcast.

I was _really torn as to which direction to go _in, change Ms. Oak to fit

in the Dr. Suess world or change _{my filler} trees to fit in Ms. Oak's

world. I _really loved Ms. Oak and worked so hard on her I just didn't

have the heart to throw her on _{the cutting} room floor. So I decided to

keep

her and _{scrap my} trees.

My

original filler trees _{looked like candy} and lollypops.

My

nextfiller

tree designs appeared more like palm trees you would see in Florida

or Southern California. The last round oftrees were too boring. I

wanted to have more fun with them. I ended _up

taking

a lattice to

them and _{creating crazy} bends in the trunk ofthe trees and the main

branches. I _really liked them.

They

were a cross _{between reality} and

Dr. Suess. So I kept them.

Keep

in mind that _my original trees were

3D. I'll get to how _they became 2D in a moment.

I wanted _my environments to be simple. I wanted them to _{only have}

enough information forthe audience to get an idea of where

they

were, but not so much information that it became a real world.

I created the ground to _only have mountains on one side with a river

at its base. The land _{going up to the} mountains is very flat. This is a

very typical look outWest. I lived in Montana for three years and I was amazed at how flat the land could be with these enormous

mountains as the backdrop. There was always a riverat the base of

the mountains. This was the look I wanted for _myfilm.

The crazy thing about _my outdoor environment is that it's a world I have always wanted. I love Montana and the mountains; there is no

I also love the green hills and trees of New York State. For years I've

been _saying I wish _the trees of New York could meet the mountains

of Montana.

They finally

_{have in my film.}

I went on to model the indoorenvironments, the

living

room and the

kitchen. Again I was torn between how exaggerated to make _my indoorenvironments while

keeping

them simple. I wanted the

environments to be as simple as a five year old child.

My

goal was to

only have what I needed and to

keep

_everything simple.

I used textures to add details to the floor and walls. I kept all furniture

to a minimum. I was _very

happy

with the outcome.

Texturing

and

lighting

enhanced the look of_my environments.

Itwas rather

interesting

on the

lighting

because the first round of

lighting

I used harsher lightwith _strong shadows. The film looked like stop motion _especiallywith _my textures. The sky and sun looked like it was carved out offoam.

I wasn't _{going for} a _stop motion look so I softened _{my lighting.}

During

the time I was

designing

_my

lighting

it was _{raining for} several days if

not weeks here. I observed that the light was so diffused even when itwasn't _{raining that} the trees and other objects outside did not cast a

shadow at all.

I decided to use _very soft diffused light with a bluish hue to them.

The majority ofthe lights I used were point lights. One ofthe greatest challenges I had with

lighting

was that I had to light each piece of

geometry separately which was _very time consuming. But I was _very

happy

with the outcome. The most _challenging

lighting

was the final indoorscene, the 180 degree camera _wrap around the characters. It

literally

took me 24 hours straightto get the

lighting

to work. I'm still not 100 percent satisfied with it, but I don'tthink anyone notices the

10

I spent a good portion of _my time _painting textures, _revising textures

and _positioning planes to force perspectives. The amount oftextures

I had to create for _my film grew to a few hundred.

Many

times I would

have to create different shades, lighter or darker or blurred versions of a texture I _already created, to give the environment more depth.

When I was satisfied with all _my environments, it was time to add the lastelement before _{animating, the opening} clouds.

My

plan was to

use either paint effects orfluids for _my clouds. I was all excited, this

was the moment I had been waiting for; however, as soon as I added

the clouds to _my outdoor _{scene, my} scene took on a new flavor.

My

film no longer had a child like

feeling

to it. I didn't like. It was too

reality based. I don't know where the idea came from, but I decided

to draw 2D clouds and project the texture onto a plane in Maya. I

loved my clouds. I loved how _they looked in _my 3D world. But _my

clouds clashed with _{my 3D filler}trees. I spent months _getting those

treesjust right and now

they

no longer fit.

Again I was at a

turning

point; I _really couldn't go back to the paint effects clouds. So I did the _only

thing

I could, I threw away my 3D

clouds and _{drew my filler}trees. I projected the new textures on planes and _{absolutely fell in love}with the look. _{This is exactly} what I wanted.

In the end _{my texturing} methods,

lighting

and color scheme unified all

my sets together and gave _my film the look I imagined.

Animation

Before animating, the most important elementto get right is the

rigging. If you have a good _rig the animation process will go

smoother. I actually love to rig.

Many

people hate it because there

are so _many things that can go wrong. Due to this, there is a good share of trouble shooting. I always liketo better myself_therefore; I

tried new methods to _rigging and tried broken rigs that I learned from

11

It took me eight months _{to rig my fourteen} characters. I was

concerned about_spending so much time rigging. I thought it might be a waste of _time, but it was worth the time because _animating went

much _{faster based} on _my rigs.

Most thesis films have 40-50 shots for a sixto seven minute film. I

was a bit over ambitious and had 100 shots in six minutes of

animation. One plus to all these shots is that animation went faster because the shots were shorter. _However,

having

100 shots took a

very

long

time to complete.

I studied _my friends' kids and acted out _my shots and blocked out the

timing

of each shot. Most people _usually animate a rough pass then go through a few more passes to get a final look. I like to spend all

my time on one shot and perfect that shot before moving on to the next. I several shots I went through three or four passes before I was

satisfied with _my animation. I would always add the _secondary

motion on the final two passes.

My

goal was to have better animation than in _my last film. I think for the most part I was able to achieve this goal. I was _{actually very}

terrified to animate _{my film.} I didn't want to ruin it. But I really can't

wait to animate again. I have plans for anotherfilm.

Editing

Editing

was more _challenging than I thought it would be. I spent all this time _creating a dope _sheet,

figuring

out how

long

each shot

should be. I even factored in reaction shots and holds in the action

so the audience would understand what was _going on in the film.

Yet, when I placed each ofthe shots in the timeline

they

_{didn't line up} like I thought or planned them to. I therefore needed to revise _my

shots.

The first half ofthe _film, I animated one shot at a _time, placed it in the

timeline, made _necessary revisions _{to the clip,} then revised the next

12

Itwas a _very

long

process but I was _very satisfied with the

timing

and

the pace for each shot.

In the second half ofthe _film, I had multiple shots per_scene, so I

animated all the shots forthat scene then moved onto the next. I

didn't place them in the timeline until all shots were animated. I didn't

like working this _{way because} the _timing was off more and _{the pacing} was off as well.

If time permits I would

definitely

recommend _{animating the} first way.

Coming

from a live action background the _editing process was much easier for me than _{for many} others. One

thing

I do is work in

transition time for all _my shots. I allow one to one and a half second

of_{slop for} the front and tail of _every clip. This way I can add

dissolves or _any other effect that I want.

This also comes in

handy

if you need to slow a shot down so the

audience can see or comprehend the action that _{is going} on in the

film. I was amazed and surprised that other students don't do this. I

strongly recommend thateveryone plans forextra footage on the tail and head of_every clip.

Sound

I had no idea what I wanted forsound. I didn't know what I wanted

forthe music orthe sound effects.

My

first _composer, I spent months

with _getting the music right. However in

February

this year, he ended

up getting a rare

lung

bacteria and wasn't ableto continue _working on

my music score. I wasn't too worried about _my film because I was still consumed

by

all the animation I had tofinish.

Luckily

I was able

to find another _composer, Mark Hijleh, who completed the score in

less then a week.

I really enjoyed what Mark created forme. I _{feel he really} captured the essence of _my film. There were a couple moments in the second

half ofthe film where the music becomes a bit over _dramatic, but I

13

But after

listening

to it a zillion _times, the music grew on me and I actually really liked it.

The sound effects were the least favorite part of _{my film because}

normally I really enjoy this part. I don't know ifexhaustion and fearof

finishing

just got the better of me. SOFA graduate students Moonsik

Chung

and Kum-Taek

Kung

stepped _up to the plate about a week and a half before _my film was due.

They

spent two nights

helping

me

create the _necessary sounds I needed.

I recorded a total of an hour and halfof sound effects. In _addition, a friend ofmine works at a local radio _station; Joe Lomonico, did all the

voice effects in my film. He was fantastic. I wish I had more time to

spend with him. I would have liked to work on the laughs for the

clouds a little more. Other than _that, I think Joe did a greatjob.

My

film had 1 0 tracks of video and 14 tracks of audio. I don't think

Premiere can handle an audio mix down of this magnitude. I had a

difficulttime _trying to get _{my DVD} output to equal what was in my

timeline. This is where I really wished I had edited with Final Cut Pro

where I could have used the Final Cut Pro audio mixdown tool.

My

greatest concern was

trying

to find the right voice for my narrator.

I wanted someone who would tell the _story as if he was

telling

a child

or a _group of children. I wanted the narrator to be the voice of all the

characters, so this person needed to be able to change his voice accordingly.

For a

long

while I spoke to people and had them do reads for me but

no one had the right sound. I was

beginning

to think I was

being

too

picky when I

finally

heard the voice. It was Pastor Dave Parker.

I was _{sitting in} church one

Sunday

_morning when Dave Parkergot _up

to make announcements. As soon as I heard the voice I knew he

14

The greatest challenge _{I had for my} sound effects would have to be

the girl _crying and the mud sound.

For the girl _{crying, I} used a woman _crying off a sound track CD. It

was _{very difficult}to make it sound like a girl but I believe I

finally

achieved the correct sound. One ofthe biggest problems was

having

it not sound like a doll.

The mud _squishy sound was also _equally challenging. I wish I had a

yard where I could have

dug

_up some dirt. Someone suggested

using flour and water. It made sense to me.

But then again I was _{very sleep deprived} at the time. The problem

with flourand water is that _{it becomes very sticky} and the flour

absorbs the water _very quickly. Ittook 50 takes but we _eventually got a sound that worked. We soaked out hands in _{water, took} a chunk of

flour _mixture, dunked it in the water than slid the flour mixture in our

hands.

Screening

I do not _{enjoy getting up in front} of a _group of people after I screen

my film but I strongly believe this is an _important process. It allows

the filmmaker to see and hearthe first impressions ofthe audience.

It also allows the filmmaker to letthe audience know some ofthe

background to their film or explain some ofthe choices made. In

addition you have an _{opportunity to let the} audience know _any

hardships that you have over come.

Thesis

defending

is a _{very important} process. I would just like to

suggestthat the screenings be changed so that the _{only filmmakers}

that respond to theirfilms are the undergraduate thesis students and

15

Conclusion

It has been a

long journey

to finish this _film, but it has been a great

journey. I _{have learned} so much and enjoyed the entire process. I

am _very proud ofthis film and can't wait to begin the next one.

I am one ofthose people who could spend a life time

trying

to perfect

one

tiny

element in _my film that most people wouldn't notice. I have

learned through _making several films that you need to let things go

and move on.

I believe the best way to _{learn anything is to} get your hands on it and

actually do it.

It is a wonderful experience to be able to create a world from my

imagination. It is so _thrilling to see a character come to life. I _really

could feel the emotions of _my characters as each one breathed life

by

me.

I would like to finish this paper

by thanking

all the people who helped

me _physically getthis film _done, Moonsik _Chung, Kum-Taek _Kung,

Aharon _Charnov, Ander _Bergstrum, Bob _Fleck, Mark _Hijleh,

Stephanie Maxwell, Cat Ashworth and Malcolm Spaull. A quick

thanks to _my

family

and friendswho _emotionally supported me as I

gave _up so much in my personal life to make this film possible.

Withoutthem I would have called this quits

long

_{ago, way back in}

December 2004, when _my whole project decided to crash on me. But

they

helped me _{stay focused} and not to lose hope. Aftertwo months

Appendix A:

Treatmentof"To Catch the Sun"

Working Title: "To Catch the Sun" Start Date: June _23, 2003

Producer: Virginia M. Orzel End Date: _{May 12,} 2004

Budget: _{$2,864,416 Running} Time: 5 minutes

Actual Budget: $2,650 Release Print: _{DV, DVD, VHS,}

BETA SP

Story:

"To Catch the Sun"

is a _story about a boy's love for afriend. He is_{willing to} do anything to make her happy.

Synopsis:

We open with the rain drops _hitting a puddle on the ground. The camera tilts _up to

a wide shot of a house. There aretrees, bushes, and flowers aroundthe house.

We see two shadows in thewindow. The colors are _{very monotone, dull,} browns and blues.

As we get _closer, we see that there aretwo children, a _boy and a girl _looking out

thewindow. _They are _{very unhappy that} it is _raining outside. It is very nasty

outside, the rain is _blowing and thewind is howling. The children have been waiting a _{very long} timeforthe rain to clear. As_they turn towards the inside ofthe

house, wego inside with them. _They slouch on the couch and it is_very obvious

that _theyare bored.

Once inside the _house, wecut to thechildren POV. _{They look up}to the _ceiling and we see it shrink. Than _they lookto the walls and thewalls are _moving in on them.

The room becomes smaller, smaller, and _smaller, until the room is theexact size of

thechildren. The children are_{very uncomfortable,} claustrophobic. Marilyn begins

tocry. Wesee a close _up ofhertears _hitting the floor. Wecutto Timmy's POVof

the room _filling with water like the ocean. Marilyn has no knowledge that this is

happening. _{She is very} consumed in herself. All the objects and furniture begin to

float. Thechildren remain on thecouch as it floatsto the ceiling. _Timmydraws in

the skya paddle and uses it to maneuverthecouch inthewater. We see the

wateris full of_floating objects like _{lamps, toys, fish,} a _shark, etc.

The house startsto bowas the wateris seeping out of its seams. Before we know

it, the house explodes from the pressure. The screen goeswhite. We see a flow

ofwater _{rushing by}filledwith furniture and household items. The children enterthe

screen from the left as _Timmy is _paddling the couch down the river, but he is

exhausted. He decides that he needs a sail and asks Marilyn to _help him draw

one. She refuses. He draws one _anywaywith a duckon it. The duck is a _happy

The wateris rough at _{first from the initial burst but}than calms down a bit. It is still

raining and the colors oftheworld are muted. The river carries them til _they run

into a land mass _{protruding from the} riverbank. Therewe see a tree and a _group

of_{flowers enjoying the thedays} rain. _Timmyseesthem and becomes elated.

Their boat/couch bumps intothe sideof the land. _Theyget out and walk overto the flowers. _Timmy bends down to theflowers, smells them and says, "Ifitweren't for the rain we would have no flowers to smell andto

enjoy."

Without hesitation,

sad Marilyn replies, "It always rains too hard and knocksoffall the petals and the

flowers aren't beautiful _any more."

As she speaks the rain becomes harder and we see the petals _falling offtheflowers as _they huddle togetherfor shelter.

The water beginsto riseon the landthat _they are _standing on. We here a rumble

in the distance. _Timmy looks _up and seesa large massof water _rushing to them.

Timmygrabs Marilyn and he jumps ontothe couch. Just as_they landon the

couch, atitlewave hits them and launches them intothe sky. _They land in a_very tall tree.

Timmy is relived to be alive but still shaken _by the _experience, lookoverto Marilyn

and sees that she _{is crying harder} now. He begins to take the pillows and the cushions offthe couch and putthem in the tree. Timmy, "Ifit didn't rain, the trees wouldn't grow _big and _strong so we could climb them and buildforts in them.

Come on its_{fun, bring} that pillow over

here."

Marilyn stops _{crying but is}

whimpering a bit. She is _thinking about this _idea, and maybe this isn't so bad. Timmy draws a windowfor the house and opens thewindow. Marilyn quicklyshuts

it and _{says, "You'll} let allthe rain

inside."

This is when she realizesthat the clouds during a rain storm ruin _{everything by blowing} too much wind. "You'll letthe bad

wind in and itwill blowall _my toys away."

She isthinking, atfirst she likesthe idea butthan she frowns. As she frownswe

see theclouds turn mean and angry. Marilyn says, "Thewind always comes and

blows everything away. _{All my} toys and all the leaves offthe tree."

We seethe

wind pick _upand toys are _flying in the air. _Timmytries to hold but can't. The

cushions, the pillows and thechildren go_flying into _{the sky, along} with other_crazy

objects like a _bbq grill, and the leavesofthe tree. _They are_tumbling in the_sky and eventually land back intothe river. The couch lands first, then the cushions, the pillows and the children. The riveris much higherand rough than itwas before. It looks more like rapids this time. Theirsail has a _{rip it in.} The children looked

weathered.

As _they float down the riverand _Timmy is _tryingto steerthe couch with his paddle, the couch is uncontrollable. HE looks up and sees afarm to his right. _Timmy,

"See rain is good because the farmer needs it for hiscrops. Ifthe corn didn't get

rain than it wouldn't grow and wewould _{have nothing} to eat. Seethe

corn."

Marilyn looks upto the rightand sees the corn stalkers _growing and _blooming and the corn _popping out ofits husks. She looks back down at _{the rapids,} and _{says, "if} the river overflows than itwill _destroy all thecorn and we won'thave anything to eat

anyway."

The river becomes more violent and destroysthe crops. The river is

We heara _rumbling noise _getting closer and closer. The children are _going over a

waterfall. _Timmy realizesthis and tries to paddle in the other direction but cant

competewiththe river. Marilyn is terrified. The more she criesthe fasterthe river

flows which brings them closerto the waterfalls.

There is nothing Timmycan do to get them out of_{this, they} go overthe edge ofthe

waterfall. As _theyfall _Timmy drawsa parachute to thecouch and _{they float safely}

to the bottom ofthefalls.

Timmy exhausted and _losing patients with Marilyn surprises himselfwhen he

comes _upwith a creature he invented on his own.

He looks overthe edge ofthe boat and looks back _up to Marilyn, with a smile he

says, "But if itwasn't forthe rain, the blue plataroo would

die."

Marilyn _finally

becomes interested in what_Timmy hasto say, "awhat?"

Timmy, "A blue plataroo."

Marilyn, "What does it look like?"

Timmy beginsto draw it in the _sky as if he is

drawing on an invisible easel. Marilyn begins to _help drawhim. _Marilyn, "Does he haveeyes?"

Timmy, "Yes, he hastwo eyes."

Marilyn, "Does he haveears?"

Timmy, "No earsforthe blue plataroo, but he has a bill and itgoes right

here."

Marilyn, "I bet he doesn't even have any hands or feet. Lets put webfeet in place

of his hands." Timmy, "And lets give him a tail and kangaroo feet."

Marilyn begins to giggle. Overthecreation of_{their creature, the} rain lightens and

stops and the colors oftheirworld become brighterand brighter. Theskies

become blueand the cloudsturn white.

Marilyn, "Where doesthe blue plataroo

live?"

Timmy, "In a

shoe."

We see the

blue plataroo climb out of a shoe and onto her leg. Marilyn giggles, "I betthere are

more than 2?" _{Timmy, "Way} more than two. There are oodles and oodles ofblue plateroos."

The screenfillswith lotsof blue plataroos.

Marilyn begins to laugh as one climbs into her _hand, the more she laughsthe more

colorful herworld becomes. _Marilyn, "I bet the blue plataroo likesthe

sun."

Marilyn

draws the sun in the airfor the blue plataroo and when she does it becomes real

and illuminates theirworld. The blue plataroo smiles at herand she smiles back.

The cam is tighton the 2 ofthem as it dollies back, we see _Timmyand Marilyn

sitting on the _living room floor_coloring the blue plataroo. _They continue to talk

about the blue plataroo as the cam dollies back we seethem laughing. The room

is bright and colorful. Itshines as if the sun _{is shining in} the house. Thecam

continuesto pull back as we go outside, we seethat it is still _raining, butthe house is _glowing on the inside. We see sun beams _seeping through the seams ofthe

house.

We hear Marilyn giggle, than she asks _Timmy, "Does the blue plataroo like the rain

too?"

Approach:

Thisfilm will be done in 3D. I wantto experiment with different plug-ins and tune

shaders to create a 2D look. I _may even usethe tomcat tune shader. The

backgrounds will _{be very} simple. I wantthem to have awatercolorlook to them. In

orderto achieve this I _{may have} to paintthem in painter. The backgrounds will be on a separate layerand composited in aftereffects _during post. The rain will be

created in Maya's paint effectsthan looped and composited later in after effects.

There will be limited _lipsyncing for_Timmy and Marilyn andtheflowers. _{For my}

Virginia Orzel Thesis Timeline

April 2004

Julv 7. 2003 - Mav 17

2004

STORY DEVELOPMENT

Script 1 week _July 14

Storyboard 1 week _July 21

Character Design 1 week _July 28

Total 3 weeks

MODELING

2 Character_Clay Models 2weeks August 1 1

2 Character _{Models, texturing, rigging} 7weeks Sept. 29 !

Environmental _{Modeling, texturing, lighting} 9 weeks Dec01 I

Total 18weeks

ANIMATION

3-D Animation 10.5 weeks Feb. 1 1

RenderSet _Up 3 weeks March 3

Rendering simultaneous

Compositing/Graphics 4 weeks March 31

Editing simultaneous

Total 17.5 weeks

Sound/Transfer

Sound Effects 2 weeks April 14

Final Soundtrack _Editing 4 weeks _May 12

Transfer to Beta SP, DV, DVD, VHS .5 weeks May 14

VI

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VIII

Appendix

D:

"To Catch the Sun"

ByVirginia Orzel

AUDIO:

Julianna and I were _having a _{very bad day,}

Itwas _wayto wetto go out and _play,

It rained and rained and rained some _more,

It rained _way more than everbefore.

For50 days and 50 nights...

There seemed to be no end insight.

It became too much for usto _bear,

and _my lil sis sent fora tear...

Asecond and a thirdwould _{quickly fall,}

before I could blink it wasjust like a waterfall.

Bounding from hercheeks as eachtear poundedthe floor.

Itwas like a loud fist _hitting thefront door.

Her Tears filledthe house from bottom to top.

I had tofind a_{way to} make itall stop!

I knew I'd need _help; I'd need Mr. Sun.

He'd stop the rain and _bring back the fun.

I first made a sandwich- fluffer_{nutter on}

rye,

Packed itall _up and said _my goodbyes.

I grabbed _my boots, my raincoat, and _hat,

And went on _myway, quick like a cat.

Butwhere, owhere, would I find Mr. Sun?

Flowers, do you know which _way I should run?

"We are too wetand _{soggy to} think,

Onward I struggled..._trudging on through the muck..

Gettingwetterthan wet... soon _myfoot got stuck...

I looked _upto seethe tallest creature _standing before me...

It's Ms. Oak Tree

I begged herto tell me where thesun could be. But she didn't _know, orjust didn'tcare

wherethe sun _was, orthat Iwas even there.

"Pissst, over here _boy, I havea good view.

I'll give you a boost," said old Mr. Yew.

He lifted me _up, high intothe clouds

Where _lightning boltsflashed and the thunderwas loud.

I yelled to theclouds"What have you

done!" Where areyou _keeping bright Mr. Sun?

They took a _{deep breath,} till _theywere _inflated,

"Get outofour space oryou'll be decollated!"

VIDEO:

(Theclouds take a _{deep breath,} then flick _Timmyout ofold Mr. Yew. Theclouds

laugh as wesee _Timmyfly out ofthe shot. _Timmylands on the ground and

bouncesa couple oftimes before he stops. He is now_{sitting up} rightwith his

head hung. Wewatch him _grieve.)

AUDIO:

What can I do? I cant go home now.

I must rescuethe sun.... Ijust need to know how.

Oh, whoam I kidding, I shouldjust walk away.

Surely the sun will come out some day.

(Mysterious _Voice, One of_Wisdom, It's the_Wind)

Soon the dark air wasfilled with a _voice,

"You can give _up now ifthat is yourchoice.

But gather your strength and you can succeed.

VIDEO:

(Timmy looks around and in the distance he sees one_ray of _{light gently hitting} a distance mountain. He gets _up with glee and runs to it. He climbsthe mountain.

Wecuttothe clouds _having fun _{throwing lighting} bolts down to the earth, as well

as balls of rain. When _Timmy getsto the _topofthe mountain, he pulls thesmall

rayof light apart so the _ray becomes wider. He steps into the _rayand forces the rayto get _wider, first to his _left, then to his right. He uses his entire _bodyto widen

the beam of sunlight. When the light gets wide _enough, we see the sun's_face,

he is sleeping. _Timmy wakes him _upjust asthe clouds notice what _Timmy is

doing. The clouds blow _Timmyoffthe mountain top. _Timmyfalls to the ground.

He reaches out and hangs on to the edgeofthe cliff. The clouds begin to laugh.

Mr. Sun becomes enraged _by theclouds _picking on his friend. When thesun

gets mad, we see several raysof light shootoutfrom Mr. Sun severaldifferent

directions. The clouds whince atthe bright lightand become smaller. The

stronger the sun _becomes, theweakerthe clouds become.)

AUDIO:

With all of _my might I _hung on to the peak

I tried to climb _up, butwas_growing too weak.

Mr. Sun flared bright andjoined in the fray.

Blinding the clouds with his fierce sunrays.

VIDEO:

(Mr. Sun flies down tothe mountain and rescues _Timmyfrom the ledge and

carries him safely to the_ground)

AUDIO:

I waselated to see him _shining so _bright,

Oh, how I'd missed his warm _glowing light.

Nowthat I'd cometo theend of _myquest,

I invited him home as _my special guest.

VIDEO:

Timmyopens his pocketto sothe sun can_jump in and be safe from theclouds.

See theclouds in the diistance_starting to reform and movetowards Mr. Sun.

After Mr. Sun jumps intoTimmy's pocket, Timmywalks straight into_{the camera,}

til thescreen goes black, and as he walks _{away from the camera,} we see he is in

AUDIO:

Juliannawas still _crying when I had returned

till I gave her the presentforwhich she yearned

Sheturned to me with a great _big smile

which warmed _my soul for miles and miles. Years have come and gone since that _day

when Julianna and I could not go out _{to play,}

and from time to time to our_dismay

the clouds come in to chase the sun away.

Butwejust _laugh, forthe secret we hold,

ourlove foroneanother is brighterthan the sun is bold.

VIDEO:

Kids and sun sit down to _play as the camera pulls_out, we see the entire room is glowingwith warm light. The camera continuesto pull out through the house, we

seethewindows are _{glowing from} thewarmth, and thecamera continues to _keep

moving backwards. As it does, we seethat it is still _raining outside but the inside

ofthe house is glowing.

IX

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