Developing Division: A Computer animation thesis report

Rochester Institute of Technology

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9-1-1997

Developing Division: A Computer animation

thesis report

George M. Nadeau

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Recommended Citation

Developing Division:

A Computer Animation Thesis Report

by

George M. Nadeau

Submitted in Partial FulfJllment of the

Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Fine Arts

MFA Photography Program, School of Photographic Arts and Sciences

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester, New York

September 1, 1997

Erik Timmerman, Chairperson

Associate Professor

School of Photographic Arts and Sciences

Marla Schweppe

Associate Professor

School of Photographic Arts and Sciences

Stephen Kurtz

Associate Professor

I,

George

Nadeau,

hereby

grant permissionto theWallace Memorial

Library

at RTTtoreproduce_mythesisinwhole orinpart.

Any

reproductionwill notbe for commercial useorprofit.

Contents

Introduction 1

Section I: Developmentofthe

Story

1

SectionII: DevelopmentoftheCharacters' Personalities/Functions 3

Section III: Visual DesignoftheCharacters 4

Section IV: Visual DesignoftheEnvironment 7

Section V: DevelopmentoftheAnimation 8

Section VI: DevelopmentoftheScore 9

Conclusion 10

References 11

AppendixOne: Thesis Proposal 12

AppendixTwo: Original Storyboard 17

Appendix Three: Final

Story

board 25

Introduction

Thispaper offers a review oftheproduction of_mythesisanimationDivision.In it Iwill

describethechallengesI facedandtheapproachesIusedtoresolvethem.Theprocess was

organic and allthedevelopment decisionswere_repeatedlystudiedandquestioned.

Consequently,

thispaperdoesnot attempttobeachronological record.

Rather,

thesections areintended only

toorganizetheprocessintosix mainareasofdevelopment. The firstsection willfocusonthe

developmentofthestory,

including

thedefinitionofthemood and setting.Thesecondsection will

focusonthedevelopmentofthecharacters'

personalities andfunctions.

Next,

the thirdsection

willfocusonthevisualdesignofthecharacters.The fourthsection willfocusonthevisualdesign

oftheenvironment.

Furthermore,

thissection willdescribeconsiderationsofthe

characters'

movementsintheirenvironment.The fifthsection willfocusonthedevelopmentoftheanimation.

Finally,

thesixth section will reviewtheaural componentofDivision.

Section I: Developmentofthe

Story

After

determining

tocreateatragic_storyabout_envy,I_{began my}research.Soon Istumbled

uponAesop'sfable AvariciousandEnvious inwhichtwoneighbors appealto thegodJupiterto

granttheirwishes.Jupiteragrees undertheconditionthatwhateverhegrantsforone neighborhe

willgranttwiceas muchfortheother.Avaricewishesforandisgranteda roomfullof gold.

Accordingly,

Jupiterpresentstworoomsfullof goldtoEnvious.

Envious,

whodoesnotliketo

see_{Avarice have anypleasure,}wishestobe blinded inone eyeinorderthathisneighborwillbe

blindedin both.

Iwas

immediately

attractedtothisstory.

However,

forpurposesof_{my thesis, I believed}that

the_storywouldbemore effectiveifthecharacters wishedfor

beauty,

not_wealth;after_all,even

thoughAvaricewas

blinded,

theroomfulofgold remainedin hispossession.I decidedthat the

charactersshould wishfor something purelyvisual.Ofcourse,rainbows cametomind.Unfortu

nately,while

they

satisfiedthe requirement,I quicklyrealizedthat

they

presentedtheproblem of

describepossession andthe

doubling

effect would renderthe_storyunclear.

Next,

Iconsideredflowers.

Initially

Iwasreluctantto_{employ flowers because Norman}

McLarenpresents a similarthemewithasimilardevicein his Neighbors.Afterfurtherthought,

however,

Iconcludedthat_myanimationwouldbe sufficiently different.

Suddenly,

_{my story}

developed.

My

somber_{story (with}

fleeting

momentsof

delight)

wouldbetold_{using flowers}asthe

principaldevice. Onecharacter,

Schroeder,

would garden whilethe other,hisneighbor

Dylan,

sunbathedin hisownyard.Theappearance ofeach ofSchroeder'sflowerswouldbefollowed

by

thegrowth oftwiceas_{many in Dylan's}yard.

Ultimately

thegardener would attempttoblind

hispassive neighbor.Inadditionto_portrayingthegardener'sself-destructivebehaviorasirratio

nal,I believed portraying his desiretoblindanoncompetitive,innocent bystander further demon

stratedhismadness.

Since envy dividespeopleIarrived atthe titleDivision.Italso refersto thebasicmath

ematical_{relationship between}the twocharacters.

Furthermore,

one candeconstruct

"division"

intothecomponents "di,"

meaning twofold,and"vision."Bothcomponents aredescriptiveofplot

elements.

When my storywas presentedtoothersfor

feedback,

itwasmet witha_varietyof_reactions,

fromappreciation and_{understanding}toutterconfusion.Iencounteredthesame range ofreac

tionswhenI laterpresentedtherough cut oftheanimation.On bothoccasionsIreexaminedthe

construction ofDivision. Iquestioned whetheritwastooambiguous and vague.

Certainly

I

receivedseveralsuggestions ofwaysIcould(evenshould)delineatethe

characters'

motivations

and_clarifytheconclusion._{The minority}ofresponsesthatwere positiveindicatedthatI had

presentedadequate pieces ofthepuzzleforsomeviewerstocomprehendthestory.

However,

filledwithself-doubt,Iwrestled withtheissueof

"broadening

the

audience."

This isthemost

difficultproblemto resolve,notjustwithDivision butwithall_mywork.

Presently,

Iamfortified

by

theattitude ofDavid Cronenberg. In

describing

hiswork andhis

relationshipwiththe audience,

Cronenberg

once_said,"I'm assuminga certainlevelofinvolve

goforthelowestcommon

denominator,

a so-called

'mass-audience,'

becauseassoonasyoudo

that,you've_{automatically}diminishedyour

film."

Indeed,

my primarygoalisnottoproduce a

universallyappreciated work._{I respectfully discount}thecommentsfrom frustratedviewers about

theabrupt and unforeseen_conclusion;I believemineistheidealcombinationoftheunpredictable

yetinevitableconclusion.Ialsodiscountthecriticisms_regardingthe

characters'

lackof expres

siveness;_{I believe my}characters_effectivelycommunicatetheirattitudes_{through their simple,}

uninflected actions.

Furthermore,

sinceI donot requiretheviewerto_graspthe_meaningof_my

film

immediately,

I donotregarditasa_shortcomingwhenhe iscompelledtocontemplate_{my film}

afteritsscreening.Aftermuchdeliberation I havecometoacceptthat thereisalimitedaudience

for Division.

Section II: DevelopmentoftheCharacters'Personalities/Functions

To_reiterate,characterdevelopmentwasnot performed separatefromorsubsequentto the

developmentofthe_{story but is}treated_{separately in}theinterestoforganization.

Thegoal_{for my}thesisanimationwasto tella_storyaboutaman whois destroyed

by

his

envy.

Therefore,

I determinedthat_{I only}needed onedevelopedcharacter and anincidental

characterfor himtoenvy.Schroederwas well-defined as a gardener whoproducesandappreci

atesbeautiful flowers.

Gradually

hispossessivenessand_{envy is}revealed.

Finally

he isexposed as

maliciousand self-destructive.Ontheother

hand,

Dylanhadnoidentity.

Surely

itwas notneces

sarytoattemptto

justify

theinnocent bystander'srighttohisvision. In

fact,

earlysuggestionsto

develop

the_sunbathingneighborweredisregarded because I feared hisdevelopmentwould

distractfrom Schroeder'sstory.Dylanwas_{intended merely}tobeavictim.

Eventually

Irealizedthat thesecond character presented an_opportunitytoadd_complexity

to thestory.Toexploitthe_{opportunity Dylan}presented,Iadoptedtheideaof_{making him}more

activeas apainter.

Thus,

_symmetrywasintroducedto the_previouslyone-sided story.Asa

Schroederproduces real

flowers,

Dylanproducesrepresentations of them.Dylan'stalentpro

vides another substantial reasonfor Schroedertofeelcompetitivewithhim. Theaudience,

therefore,isencouragedtounderstandthedestructivebehavior Schroeder directstowardhis

adversary.

Significantly,

the

irrationality

ofSchroeder'sultimate actisnot undermined

by

the

viewer'sinitialidentificationwithhismotivation.

Providing

Dylanwithan

identity

_{vasdy improved}

thestory.

Oncethecharacters'

identitiesweredefined Iconcentrated ontheirphysicalfunctions. It is

essentialto

identify

the tasks

they

performbefore

designing

theirphysicalstructure.Inbothcases,

actionsarefewandrepetitive.

Dylanpaints

flowers,

leansto_studytheflowers in hisyard,andturnshis headtolookathis

neighbor.

During

theentiremovieDylanstandsinplace.

Consequently,

therewerenosignificant

obstaclestoconsider whendesigningnisstructure.

Structural designconsiderationswere greaterforthemore activeSchroeder. He_walks,

kneelsandrakes.Heusestoolsand setsthemdown. Schroeder'sinteractionwiththeearth and

his gardeningmaterialspresented a substantial challenge.

Furthermore,

therangeofmovementin

his

joints,

_{specifically his}shoulders,hipsandthumbs,requiredskillful_modelingtomaintain

smoothness.

Section III: Visual DesignoftheCharacters

Having

definedthe_{story in}whichthecharactersactandthemannerinwhichthe_story

wouldbe told, I began

designing

DylanandSchroeder. Themost significanttrait

they

shareis

creativity.Iconnected_creativitywith

fertility

anddecidedtorelate_mymodelsto thefigurinesof

mother goddessesthatwere worshippedinprehistorictimes.Ireferred_specificallyto thebest

knownofthese

figurines,

theVenusofWillendorf._{While remaining}male,thecharacters were

endowed with someofthesensualandvoluptuousqualities ofthe

fertility

goddesses.Iempha

sizedeach character'sbuttocksandstomach andtexturedeachwith a stone-like skin.Ialso

Iunderstood_{the challenges}created

by

_pursuinga model ofamplecurvesandflesh. To

retainsmoothness,largejointsrequire morepolygons.In turn, more opportunitiesfor intersection

problems are created.

However,

Ipursuedthischaracterdesign

believing

thatIcouldavoidthe

problems.

Ittook_onlya shorttime tomodelSchroeder.

Unfortunately,

themodel'sinadequate

integrity

was revealed whenever motions were appliedtoit. Istruggledforweekstoresolvetheproblem

areas aroundtheshoulders andhips. I increasedthepolygon counttodiminishtheproblembut

theawkward shadows remained.Theawkward polygonsweresmallerbutstillvisible.Sincethe

problem oftheunsmoothjointswasdescribed mostly

by

shadows,makingthematerialcloserto

thevalue oftheshadows_{effectively de-emphasized}theproblem polygons.

Gradually,

theskinof

themodelbecamesodarkthat thefigurenolongerappeared volumetric.The blackenedmodel

appearedtobea

flat,

opaqueshadow._{The only}resemblanceto theoriginalcharacterdesignwas

in itscontour.What I had intendedtoachievewithavoluptuouscharacterdesignwas

drastically

underminedwiththissolution.

Irevertedto theoriginalgrey,stone-likeappearance.Irealizedthatifpolygon problems

arisewhenthecharacter_moves,it'sthemovementthatshouldbealtered.Topreventthecreation

of_{unsighdy jointproblems,}Iconsidered

limiting

the_{already limited}charactermovement.Re

markably,ittookafew days formetorecognizethefoolishnessofthisproposedsolution.

Sacrificing

movementtosave aninferiormodel wouldbepurestupidity.

Firmly

attachedto_my

firstcharacter

design,

Iwas_unwillingtoabandonit foranother.The daysoffrustrationturnedinto

weeks.I didnotknow howtoproceed.

Then Iwas reintroducedto theworkofPhil Mulloy. In Possessionand_{The Sound of}

Musichecommunicates powerful messages withhissimpleanddirect

drawing

style.I learned

thattopreventhisworkfrom

becoming

tooslickhewouldsometimes closehiseyeswhen

drawing

toinvitemistakestohappen.Heprefershisworktoappear_{veryrough,very direct}and

fresh. Hisapproachinspiredme.

andjoints.ForthefirsttimeI begantoquestion_whysmooth surfaces areimportantto_mystory.

My

immediateresponse wasthatsmoothnessis irrelevant. Iadopteda new approach.

For my firstexperimentIcreated anewfencetoreplacethe existing,geometricallyperfect,

stereotypical,white picketfence.InlessthenaminuteI drewseveralhorizontalandverticallines

with a"rake"paintbrushin Fractal Design Painterandcreated a newfence. Itwasnotshaped

likea picket

fence,

soIabandonedtheideathatitneededtobewhite.

Instead,

itwas

black,

imperfect,

andbeautiful. Whereas I hadtoiledforanhourtoproducetheidealwhitepicketfence

with precise_{spacing between}alltheslats,Iwasabletocreate amore_visually

interesting

oneina

fractionofthe time.Thiswas avaluablelesson.

Thenature oftheblack fence imagealsoprovoked anotherthought.The fencecouldbe

textured-mappedon aplaneinthreedimensional_space,butitwouldremain_essentiallytwo

dimensional. Ineededtoreexamine one of_myoriginal choices.Ichose3Dsoftwaretoproduce

mythesisbecause Iamnot confidentabout_{my 2D}animationskills.And3D Studio MAXwas

developedtoproduce3D imagery. FromthestartofproductionIworkedundertheunchallenged

assumptionthatDivisionwould appeartobethreedimensional.

Suddenly

IrealizedI had

allowedthesoftware(and_my

facility

withthe_software)todictatethevisualdesignof_myanima

tion.WiththisnewconsciousnessIwasbetterpositionedtoexploit_mytools.

Without hesitation Ireturnedto_myproblematic,voluptuousmodel ofSchroeder. Ialtered

itsmaterialtomakeit black. Then Iused an

"optimize"

filteronthemeshto_{substantially}reduce

thepolygoncount.Nolongerconcernedwith_achievingasmoothappearance,Ireducedthe

polygonsoftheoriginal mesh untilthereweresofew remainingthat_{nearly every}vertex was

visible.Ratherthanwrestlewiththepolygonal nature ofthecharacter_mesh,I beganto_{enjoy it.}

Theproductofthesealterations wasanangular silhouetteoftheoriginal model.Iadded stark

whitefacial featurestocompletethe transformation.(SeveralweekslaterwhenIrendered a shot

inwhichSchroeder's headwastilted tooneside,Irealizedthathiseyes and noseformthe

mathematical symbolfor

division.)

In justafewminutesIcreated acharacterdesignthatcould

Ifelt liberated.

Accepting

imperfectionintheformof visible_vertices,perhaps even celebrat

ing

it,

enabled metoanimatefreely. Ireasonedthatifavieweris easily distracted

by

thesevere

body

linesthen the trueproblem mustbethe_{uninteresting}story.

SectionIV: VisualDesignoftheEnvironment

Assoon asDylanwasidentifiedas a_painter,I hada clear vision oftheworldinwhichthe

actiontakesplace.Iwas reminded ofananecdotein Oliver Sacks An AnthropologistonMars.

Sacksdescribesa_painter,Mr.

I,

whoexperiencedcerebralachromatopsiabecauseofa car

accident.Unabletosee_color,Mr. Iwasdistressedwhenhecould_{only distinguish flowers}

by

theirshape and smell.Hecould nolongerseethecloudsinthesky.Not_{surprisingly,}Mr. Ioften

dreamedthathewouldwaketoaworld ofcolor.Withthisinmind,I decided Divisionwould

beginas anachromatic world.Theviewerwouldthenbeasdelighted

by

theappearance of

brilliantly

coloredflowersasMr. Isuggestedhewouldbe.

Mostof_mypreviousworkismarked

by

barrensettings.I haveemployed wastelandsto

describe lonelinessandisolation.

My

choiceof settings could_{merely be}anindicationof_my

interest inminimalism.

My

consciousaimistobean economical

filmmaker,

_eliminatingallele

mentsthatare_unnecessaryto thestory.Of_course,apracticalbenefitofthisapproachis faster

rendertimes.Althoughconsiderationofthepolygon countisnotthemost criticalfactor in design

ing

theenvironment,it isontheshortlist.

Thereasonthegardenerandpainterdesiretocreate

beauty

is because

they

see nonein

theirenvironment.

Therefore,

thisstory,too, demandsabarrenenvironment.It is importantthat

thepainter remain uninspired untiltheappearance oftheflowers. Ifpresentedwith a_grazing

sheep inthe

distance,

or a_rollingtumble weed,orawheatfieldor slow_{movingclouds,}the

painter would_{undoubtedly be inspired. I}soughttopresent_onlythe_necessaryelements:the

canvas, thefencewhichdefinesownership,andthegroundfromwhichtheflowersgrow.

Originally,

whenI developedtheworldaroundtheVenusof Willendorf-_{inspiredcharacters,}

canvas.Alltheoriginal objects were replacedwhenthecharacterswere updated.Theeasel was

paintedtomatchthe

fence,

andthecanvas wasdefined

by

a_{quickly drawn black}rectangular

outline.

Updating

theground provedtobethemostdifficult.Itoften occupies agreat percentage of

thescreen,soits depictionwas a majordesignconsideration.Ipainted severalorganic,achro

matictexturesand mappedthemonthegroundplane.

Consistently,

the texturesobscuredthe

characters.

Among

theblack

fence,

theblackfiguresandthetexturedground,therewasnot

enough contrast.Thesolutionbecameapparent whenI decidedtopursuetheinherentparallelism

ofthecharacters.Thegroundisthegardener's canvas.I describedthepainter's canvaswithan

imperfectly

drawn blackoutline,sotheground should_{only be defined}

by

an

imperfectly

drawn

horizon line. Itwas an_obvious,simple solutiontoa problemthatvexedmefor days.

The final design decisions involvedtheflowers.

Originally

Ithought theappearance of

differently

coloredflowerswould

help

theviewer recognizethecorrespondencebetween

Schroeder'sandDylan's flowers.AfterfurtherthoughtI decidedthatsuch color_codingwas

unnecessaryand_possiblycondescending.

Ultimately,

I decidedtheflowersshould_{be uniformly}

depictedwiththecolor of passion.

Section V: DevelopmentoftheAnimation

As previouslystated, theanimation process was simplified

by

thedevelopmentof a more

forgiving

characterdesign.The lowpolygonmodel,withallits discerniblevertices,hadan unlim

itedrangeof motioninalljoints. Amore complex model needstobe displayed

during

theanima

tion process, thusslowing it down. Inthis case,Iwas abletohidethecharactermeshand ani

matetheskeletonsecureintheknowledgethatwhenthemovementwas appliedto themodel

therewouldbenosignificant problems.In

fact,

Ineverhadtoperform renderstocheck whether

aposeormovementcaused a violationofthemodel'sintegrity.

Furthermore,

whenitwas neces

sarytomakeflipbookstoevaluatethe animation,renderingtimesaveraged undertenseconds a

The_onlyproblemIencountered_{in animating}the

black,

two

dimensional-appearing

figures

was superimposition.For

instance,

inafrontalviewwhenSchroederplaceshis black hand in

frontofhis blackchesthis hand becomes indistinct. Iresolvedsuch problemswithfourtech

niques.Oneofthemethods wastomovethecamerapositiontopresentamoredescriptive

silhouette.Ifthiswas notpossible,Imight alterthecharacter's pose.

My

thirdsolutionwasto

createnewwhite_geometrytorun_alongthesuperimposedlimbtodefine itsposition.Ifallelse

proved

inappropriate,

Iused a_{rendering filter}called

"outline."

With it Icoulddefinewhich

appendages shouldbeoutlinedwithanaliased whiteline. Iavoidedthis techniqueasmuch as

possiblebecause I dislikethe_{line quality it}produces.

ThevisualdesignofDivisioncreatestheimpressionthatitwas produced withtwodimen

sional animationtechniques.Thethree_{dimensional quality becomes}apparent_onlywhenthereis

movement.Forthis reason,Ianimatedthecamera withtheappearanceof_everynewflower. I

intendtheselectivedescriptionofthree

dimensionality

throughtheuseof an animatedcamerato

emphasizetheenrichmentofthelandscape

by

theflowers.

Section VI: DevelopmentoftheScore

Althoughproductionofthescoredidnotbeginuntilthevisuals werecompleted,itreceived

considerablethought throughout theearlier stagesoftheprocess.

Initially

Iplannedtosend a

videotapeoftheanimationtoadistantcomposer with whomIhadcollaboratedinthepast.

However,

by

the timeIwaspreparedtoworkonthe score,I decidedthatI hadtoo_{many ideas}

tocommunicateandthat_workingwith alocalcomposerwould_probablyproducebetterresults.

FivetimesImetwithIan

Quinn,

adoctoralcandidatein Music

Theory

attheEastman

SchoolofMusic.

During

our visits whichlasted upto two

hours,

we watched_myanimation

repeatedlyanddiscussedthescore.Though hehadneverproduceda score

before,

Ianwas able

toimplementand even enhance_myseminalideas.

Fundamentally,Iwantthescoretoexpressthesomber mood ofthestory.I believedthis

horns.Ianproduced a score withboththeseelements andincluded bellsoundstostrengthenthe

haunting

andironicnauticaltheme.

Thegreatest requirement wasforthecreation ofsoundsthat_accompanythegrowthofthe

flowers.

They

are neededtoalertSchroederto theunexpectedgrowth offlowers in his

neighbor's yard.Iimaginedeachflowerwouldmakea single notetoannounceits birthandlater

its death. Inthefinalactthegrowthofthehundredsofflowerswould produce a chorus.Ianwas

receptiveto thisidea. And he improved it immeasurably. Ratherthan_{merely marking}thebirthand

deathof eachflowerwithsingle_notes,Iansuggested

describing

thelife-spanofeachflowerwith

asong.Hissolutionisamore effective and accurate_waytodescribethesustainedimpactthe

flowershaveonthelandscapesoIadopteditwithout reservation.

The directcommunication andnumerous meetings with_mycomposeryieldedbetterresults

thanI hadexpectedtoobtain.Thecollaborationwitha_receptive,intuitiveand

deeply

talented

musicianencourages metoengagethecomposer earlierintheproductionprocessinthefuture.

Conclusion

InthispaperI havereviewedthe_manychoicesImade_{in producing my}thesisanimation.

Theproduction_rarelyprogressedasI hadenvisionedit. Thecompletion oftheprojectdepended

upon_mywillingnesstoreexamine_earlyassumptionsanddecisions.Ireevaluatedthestory,the

identity

ofthe characters,andthevisualdesignofthecharacters andtheirenvironment.When

someof_{my design}goals provedtobetoo exacting,itwas_necessaryformetocapitulate.Iwas

challengedtoabandon_myoriginalvisionand

develop

a new one.

My

revisions requiredanima

tionconsiderationsthatwere unforeseen and presented new opportunities.

Lastly,

Ielectedto

collaborate onthescore with aninexperienced filmcomposerinsteadof_workingwith either of

themusicians with whomIhad previouslycollaborated.Whilethefinalproduct_vaguelyresembles

my initialconception,Iamhopefulthatviewers ofDivisionwillbeunawareoftheunavoidable

concessions andrecognize_onlytheartistry.

References

Carels,

Edwin.

"Anarchy

intheU.K."Plateau.

May

1993: 4-6.

Ferrante,

Anthony

C. "Is David

Cronenberg

aSick

Man."

Film Threat.

February

1997:6-12.

Sacks,

Oliver. An AnthropologistonMars. NewYork: Random House. 1995.

Appendix One:

Thesis Proposal

Division

by

George M. Nadeau

Submitted in Partial Fulfillmentofthe

Requirements fortheDegreeof

MasterofFineArts

MFA

Photography

Program,

SchoolofPhotographicArtsandSciences

Rochester Instituteof

Technology

Rochester,

New York April

26,

1996

Erik

Timmerman,

Chairperson Associate Professor

SchoolofPhotographicArtsandSciences

Maria Schweppe

Associate Professor

SchoolofPhotographicArtsandSciences

Steve Kurtz

Associate Professor

SchoolofInformation

Technology

andComputer Science

Treatment

Story

In_{the morning,}Dylanstandsin his backyardwhichis defined

by

apicketfence. Hestands beforean_{easel and applies gessotoa canvas.Acouplehourslater heapplies}

finishing

touchesto

his_paintingofaflowergarden._{The image}comesfrom his imaginationnotfrom hisenvironment.

Dylanstops_{painting, turns}andwavestoSchroederwhohasenteredhisownbackyardwith

a

tray

of_gardeningtoolsand materials.Fromtheopposite sideofthepicketfence Schroeder

acknowledgesDylanand noticeshis brilliantpainting.Then Schroederturnshis backtoward

Dylan,

sets_{down his tray,combsthe soil,}anddropsaseedinto his flower bed. Schroedersmiles

whena yellowflowerburstsfromtheground.Dylansighs.Schroederturns toseeDylan has

movedfrom behind hiseasel;Dylan liesontheground andexaminestwoyellowflowers in his

ownyard.Schroeder_quicklydepositstwomore seedsbeside hissingle

flower,

andtwomore flowerssproutthrough thesurface,one red andoneorange.AgainSchroeder hearssounds

emanating from hisneighbor'syard.Schroederturns tosee_{Dylan appreciating his}twored and

twoorangeflowersthatappearbeside histwoyellowflowers.

Schroederreachesfor hispacket of seedswhile_glaringatDylan. Schroeder

inadvertently

prickshimselfonhis pruningshears.Bloodappears onhisright index finger. Dylanexclaimsand

Schroederturns toseehim examiningthebloodonhisrightandleft index fingers. Schroeder

raiseshisshearsandsnipsdown hisyellow while_watchinghisneighbor's

flowers;

Dylan'stwo

yellowflowerswilt.

Similarly,

whenSchroedercuts_{his remaining}redand orange

flowers,

Dylan's fouruprightflowerswilt.Dylanobserveshissixflowers wilting inthegroundthenresumeshis

positionathiseasel.

Schroederexamineshis flower bedandthe threeflower

lying

uponit. Schroederretrieves

hispacket of seeds andscattersitsentire contents ontothesoil.Dozensof

brightly

colored

flowersappear.Despitethe

beauty

ofhisnewflowergarden,Schroeder is distracted

by

sounds

from Dylan'syard.

There,

twiceas_{many flowers}surroundDylanathiseasel.Schroederglares

overthefenceatDylanandhis largergarden.Then Schroederlooksathisown garden.

Schroedertrembleswithanger and clencheshis fists. DylanturnsandobservesSchroeder raising

a_shinyobjectin his hand. Schroederthrusts_{his pruning}shearsinto hisownrighteye.Cutto

black.

Aesthetics

Imageswithbestark and simple.Mostobjects andcharacters willbe smoothlymodeledin

white and grays.

Only

the

flowers,

_{blood drops}and_{Dylan's painting}willbe

brilliantly

colored.

Additionally,

SchroederandDylanareidenticalexceptfortheireyes.Schroeder'sareblack

beadswhileDylan'sare colored andbeautiful.

Technique

Iwillproducethis_{story in 3D}animation_{using Electrogig's 3D-GO. I}will renderimagesas

TIFFs,

transfer them toan opticaldisccartridgeand

finally

transferthemtoSVHS forediting.

I intendtocollaborate withatrainedmusiciantoproducethescore.Sue

Doherty,

whohas

anM. A. in Music

Composition,

assistedme with_{my film Boxes}andhasexpressedinterestin

furthercollaboration.Should Sue becomeunavailableIhaveanothermusician,Devin

Kirschner,

interested in assistingme withthisproject.Devinproducedthescore_{for my film Nightlight.}

Budget

Estimate In Kind ActualCost Scriptand storyboard 1500. 1500. 0.

Animation 20000. 20000. 0.

Sound 3000. 3000. 0.

Videotapes 50. 0. 50

Optical Disc Cartridge 200. 0. 200 8mmDataCartridges 80. 0. 80

Total 24830. 24500. 330.

Timeline

Iintendtoproduce_mythesisovertwoquarters andtoscreen_mythesisattheend ofthe

Winterquarter of1996. 1willregisterfor 6creditsintheFalland6creditsintheWinter.

Pre-production April

script

storyboard

proposal

meet with committee

Production

May

storyboard

model

meet withcommittee

June-August

(notenrolledforthesiscredits)

model

animate

September

animate

meet with committee

October

animate

meet withcommittee

November

animate

produce rough cut

soundcomposition

meet with committee

Post-production December

reanimate, re-render where _necessary

titles,credits

editing

sound composition

meetwith committee

January

editing

soundcomposition,editing

design_screeningposter

thesis_screening

thesisreport

meet with committee

Appendix

Two: Original

Storyboard

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Appendix Three:

Final

Storyboard

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Appendix

Four:

Production

Stills