Up the tree

Rochester Institute of Technology

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5-1-1999

Up the tree

Glenn Ehlers

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"UP THE TREE" by

Glenn Ehlers

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

MASTER OF FINE ARTS

MFA Imaging Arts / Computer Animation SCHOOL OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS AND SCIENCES

ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROCHESTER, NY

May, 1999

Skip Battaglia Professor

Film / Video / Animation Department

Cat Ashworth Assistant Professor

Film / Video / Animation Department

Luvon Sheppard Professor

TITLE OF THESIS: Up the Tree

I, Glenn Ehlers, hereby grant permission to the Wallace Memorial Library of RIT to reproduce my thesis in whole or in part. Any reproduction will not be for commercial use or profit.

Signature

___

~~~1~9

_

THE CONCEPT

Up the Tree is a four and a half minute animated movie about courage, self -empowerment, the exaggeration of _{fears, making} dreams reality, and the hero

within. Most of the _story is inside the protagonist's mind, a small _boywhose

conflict is resolved in a dream.

The concept for the movie came from two other stories: one a film, one

a folktale. I saw the movie Kundun, the _storyof the Dali Lama and his exile

from_{Tibet, during} the weeks our class had to _develop a thesis idea. I was

struck_by the plight ofthe people in_Tibet; a peaceful, spiritual _community

forced under Chinese _{rule, their} own leader banished. I thought _{very heavily}

for a few days about freedom; not just forced control, but emotional _freedom,

the internal as well as _external, empowerment _by ourselves, not others. Freedom needs to come from within, which is _{very hard for} some. It's very

easy for some to feel controlled _byothers out offear or lack of self_{worth; they}

may even lose themselves in fear and give _{that power, making}the fear bigger thanit _really is.

One night _during this same period I had a dream of_being in the

Catskill mountains with a book. Iwoke _{up wondering} what the bookwas,

and it wasn't _longbefore I thought aboutthe folk talesof New York State and

remembering Rip Van Winkle. I soon went to the library to refamiliarize myself with the story: a man who falls asleep in the Catskills, dreams about

meeting little dwarf-like men who give him some ale (or was it a dream?

different, _resulting in a change of attitude_{by realizing}how muchhis friend

and _{family had meant to him.}

The idea of _{dreams have always fascinated me; I once taught} a dream

workshop, _{meeting weekly} to share and _studydreams. I always learn from them, whether _they are_pointing out a _fear, a _strength, or anidea. Ibecame intrigued _byRip's tale and the _ambiguity of_{his dream, awakening} to changes

externally and the eventual internal change...and quite suddenly, I knew whatI wanted to do for _my last R.I.T. movie production: to take _my character,

puthim in a dream _situation, maybe blur the _reality a _bit, have him gain strength from _it, and feel free from a dilemma. Within an_hour, I had a _story, bounced it off a couplefriends on _{the phone,}and_bythe next day, itwastyped

up in treatment form.

I _{already had} the character: a small_boy named Elmo (though unnamed

in _{the movies),} I had used him in _{my first} two movies and loved working

with _him; there was no question in _my mind whether I should use him again

or not (Istruggled with the issue of _repeating a developed character while

trying to come _up with _mysecond _movie; Ibelieve Ihave made the right

choice_{by continuing}with him). Each movie has explored a different aspect ofhim: The _Boy and the _Candy dealtwith a _sneaky, devilish _side, with humorous results; A _{Spring Day} dealt with a gentler _side, a naiveyet _strong

aspect that was even _slightly romantic. This _time, I wanted an internal

conflict, and where best to lookthan into _myown inner psyche: am I a good animator? Am I a good artist? Can I draw or paint well? CanIbe successful

at it? These are questions that we all ask ourselves from time to _time,

fear to blossom and grow to the point that we lose sight of _{ourself,hindering}

us from

accomplishing what we want to achieve?

OnceI decidedto makehim a would - be

artist,whatwouldhe do?

Drawing was_{my first thought, but}what do kids draw? _Myseven year old

nephew draws monsters and super _heroes, so right _awayIput _mycharacter in

a _{costume, suddenly bringing} another element into the story.

There are countless tales about _heroes, and countless tales aboutheroes

from within. But isn't thatwhat makes a good story? In a _society that has

become desensitized _{to violence,} I felt there can never be enough stories

about the inner hero.

I thought about Kundun again, _being controlled_{by others,} and _giving

our own self empowerment to another person. _Coming from a child's mind,

it wouldhave to be an _{authority figure,} and a parentwas the obvious choice.

Children tend to blow things out of_proportion, soI felt that his mom or dad

could do something which he misconstrues as _beingworse than it _{really is,}

like _being a little angry at him for _something non-related to his art...a messy

room perhaps. What can beworse to a child than not_having a parent_pay

attention to what he/she is doing?

Ihad Elmoand his parent (it hadtobe _dad, a "father _/

son"

conflict)...did I need another character? Rip Van Winkle had little men in his

dream; should Elmo have someone else in his _dream, to _help resolve his

artistic conflict? I thought of animals; kids love animals, butI didn'twant a

dog or cat too common. Butwhat?

Again Iwent to another source, a dreamtool I use: medicine cards.

According to Native American _mythology and _{spirituality,} animals are

be taught much _by the power ofthe animal, _depending on the situation and

the _{quality a particular animal represents.}

Pulling out the referencebook that

accompanies the _cards, I flipped it opento the page on owls _{(intuitively?)} and

wasn't surprised to discoverthat not _{only does} the owl represent wisdombut

is also a guide to the dream _{world, representing} the seer oftruth and

deception, pointing out what one often cannot see; that became the final

character in _my story.

I toyed withthe idea ofthe owl _appearing again at theend of_{the story,}

outside the actual _dream, to _bring some _ambiguity to it. I also considered that

itmight be a _{cheap way} to end_{the story,} soI put itoff...until afriend of mine

heard the _storyand said hewanted the dreamtobereal becauseit's a child's

world... "have the owl come in again at the end or

something," he said. That

was the pushI needed.

Elmo sits in his _tree, his comfort spot, _drawing and _becoming frustrated

with his work. He eventually thinks it isn't _very good, and throws it to the

ground. _Putting his head in his lap, he falls asleep. Incomes _{the owl,} who

guideshim down thetree to Elmo's bedroom, and his conflict. Dad _appears,

and whenElmo tries to show him his drawing, Dad takes the _{drawing, barely}

acknowledges it and points to the _messy room. Elmois saddened that dad

won't acknowledge the art, but blows the situation out of proportion by

thinkinghis dad is really angry, to the point where he becomes a monster.

The owl guides him to feel his own power...shows him the super hero comic

that he was _drawing from, _prompting Elmo to regain his power by takinghis

drawingback. Once he does this, dad reverts tojust "dad," which is allhewas

inthe first place. Once the dream is over, Elmo puts the capeback _on,comes

Another suggestion I had was to have him _fly or _leap outof the tree

superhero-like; this worked out better thanI thought. Iwas hesitant because

a kid doesn't do _{that... then again, most ofthis takesplace inhis head.}

Someone told me _{they felt it} was similar to the Calvin and Hobbes comic

strip; the first threepanels of the _strip has Calvin_interacting with a _tiger, but

inthe final panel his parents are in the scene and we see the tiger is _really a

stuffed animal. Response to the _"twirling out of the tree scene" was _really

positive..it was _mergingthe dream with reality. _{This, along} with the owl's

reappearance at_{the end,} does _exactly whatIwanted itto do.

TECHNIQUE

Ilove drawing. _Myfirst year atR.I.T. I learned thatIdon'twant tobe a 3D

animator; I like what_they do, but I don'twant to do it. _Sittingin front of a

computer all _{day sculpting} a character _{mathematically}is _frustratingto me. I

enjoy the free

-flowing pencil orbrush. _Drawing on the computer isn'tquite

the same either; _{pressing down hard} on the Wacom tabletto get strokes or

lines is stifling. _Besides, I much _{enjoy trying} to draw movement than

compose it on a computer.

Thatsaid, I do enjoy animating on a computer and _seeing how the

movement and _timing work as you are _doing it. As with _my other _movies,

thetechnique was _basically set. However the decision had to bemade

whether I should use the same software I'dbeen using, or_try some ofthe

newer programs that came into the school this year. The one major lesson I

learned throughout this whole process was "do what you know;" it's _easy to

always _easy tolearn a new software and useit _quickly andefficiently. Two

attemptswere made to do this (on_top of _teachinga class and _{having my} arm

in a castfor four _months); I felt frustrated and stuck at times... _thirty weeks

was _{flying by}like a_{breeze. I}wentbackto the tried and true formula I had

been _using all _along, safe inthe knowledge that itwill work and Ihave lots of

time in the years ahead to learn better _compositing or _coloring methods.

The color pallete was the first attempt at _{trying something} new; I

wanted a _slightly different look than_my other _{work; my} firstmovie had an

airbrush _look, not a lot of_color, with white backgrounds, and the second had

the standard paint bucket filled characters. This time I thought about brush

strokes, but if I got too _painterly itwouldn't _work; Elmo is _{verycartoony,} and

blendingwith a_{painterly background may}work against each other. I didn't

wantto get too detailed of abackground_either,where it wouldtake _away

from the character. Itried _finding abalance and itwas _verydifficult; once I

even tried an almost black and white _look, or light _colors, none of which felt

right.

Fractal Painterwas the tool Iwas _tryingto learn to do allthis in; I loved

the colors, the brushes and tools to createwith...but to _actually color

animation was _very confusing. There is a tool in the program that allows

youto see previous frames,but countless attempts to figure out how to use it

grew tiresome; itwas far from user-friendly. Finally, after a friend inthe

business said that everyone colors in Adobe Photoshop and no one had ever

heard ofFractal Painter

-and those thathad didn't care for using it- I

scrapped it and wentback to _myold ways. I colored _myother movies in

Photoshop and was able touse layers very easily and _quickly; color one frame

on a _layer, then transfer it to the nextframe, then the next, and so on. Once

the shotis _done,I go back and merge the layerwithdrawing. _Coloring on a

layer allows you to see through the layer and letthe pencil lines come

through _{(my drawings have} a lot of open _lines,

especially Elmo's hair,

making paint_{bucket fills very difficult).}

Once I was backin _{Photoshop, I found the} pallete almost immediately.

I colored _my character with_{brushes, leaving} a white edge inside him so it's

not quite a complete _fill; the colors are _soft, like pastels. The backgrounds are

almost water _colorish, yet _{very light}and washed out. The feedbackI received

on itwas "it looks like a child's

world"

and _"very

dreamlike."

Perfect.

I designed the color scheme of _my movie to combat the _{anti-aliasing}

effect thathappens with _director; when _{importing files,} there is almost always

a whitehalo around the object that is_basically a glitch with the program.

There is no _easy solution _{to the problem,} and _my second attempt at a new

software occurred in hopes to find an_{easy way} to dealwithit. Adobe After

Effects arrived in our lab _{this year,} on two computers _only, and _currently is on

a learn ityourselfbasis. There are a few who know it and have been_helping

others, and I was able tosit inon a tutorial. This package_supposedly takes

care of_{any halos very easily}by keyingout _{the color;being} anAdobe_product,

it _obviouslyworks well with_Photoshop and accepts thefiles easily. Ithas

many of the same functions that Photoshop has, including filters. It has

become a staple in the business and from what Iunderstand is almost a

necessityto learn. As I attempted to import my files, and key out thehalo, I

had a problem: Elmohas weird hair, and it's coloredwith a softbrush,

leaving more of a halo around his head thanthe rest ofhis body. I'd _key out

the halo around his body, but therewould still be a lot left around his _head;I

getting bogged down again. So Iletgo ofAfter _{Effects, knowing}thiswasn't the right time.

The _onlywaysI knew to get rid ofthe halo was toerase itframe_by

frame...or the

way I did last time on "A_Spring Day:"

map the character in Photoshop to the color of the background he'll be against in _{the scene,} and

import him with that color. But_first, I finished _designing the color scheme: I

knew thatif I kept the background light_{enough, the} halo wouldn'tbe _seen,

and ifI left some white in the character, then the halo wouldn't be so obvious. _Many shots wound _up with Elmo against a _{very light blue sky} or

white wall. But therewere shots where he's up againstthe _tree, still colored lightly but a dark enough brown where the halo is seen. _Pasting Elmo to the tree color in_Photoshop, I'd_bring him into _Director; once in the cast with his

brown_background, I'd turn it white again with the paint bucket. The result is

he'd have a brownhalo instead of white...put him in the shot against the _tree,

and no halo is seen.

Again, there is no _{easy way} to take care of_{this problem,} and Ican see

why Director is not used so much in animation, unless it's for multimedia. Other _compositing tools are more efficient, and from what I _hear, are _coming

to R.I.T. in the near future.

I wound _up somewhat dissatisfied with the _way the color scheme looks

on some monitors; aware of NTSC colors on _video, I _purposely checked results on a monitor in the lab and it looked fine; it looked great on the Avid,

too which is supposed to take care ofthe NTSC problem but when I looked at it on the _big monitor in the lab, the colors were darker and bleeding.

Thankfully, other monitors I checked, _including my home television, the

won't look right.

All ofthis helps make a gentle character and _{story stay} gentle: simple

drawings with smooth _lines, soft _colors, light backgrounds (white and blue

sky)...

The sound portion ofthis movie has been the easiest and the _hardest; I

always felt it wasthe weakest part of_myother _movies, always _keepingthe

sound_verybasic. In_{the past,} Ichose classical music with good results. This

timeI wanted to use a _{composer; this movie was harder to draw} and took

longer than _{my others;} I didn't have the _energy to choose music. I found

someone in the fall quarter who had left flyers around R.I.T. _looking to work

on student _films; he had graduated Eastman and was _staying in Rochester for

awhile. We met a couple times and discussed the themes of _{the story;}I

wanted a classical piece that would change with the moods. Vicente's goal is

to write _soundtracks, so Iwas hopeful. The firsttime I heardwhat he had

created, itwas infragments and Iwas amazed. Iwas _slightly concerned that it

might be too strong; _{my film} is gentle and maybe some of the instruments he

had, like trumpets, weretoo _strongand forceful. But _intuitively Isuggested

he _stay with it.

The nexttime I heard it Iwas speechless. I thought itstill mightbe a bit

strong, butit also fit each segment of the movie: a gentle _{mozart-sounding}

beginning as Elmo climbs the _tree, trumpet fanfares _every time the hero

image appears, soft and light during the dream, aggressive and _frightening

during the father's "anger," and an incredible _sounding cello combinedwith a

wood-block_tapping as Elmo draws; I couldn'tchange a thing. I thoughtlater

about the concern of_having too _strong a piece of_music, and it dissipated the

exaggerated, so _why shouldn'tthe musicbe?

Vicente added sound effects inhis music, and I figured Ineeded _only a

few more,except _every time Iadded _them, I took them outbecause _they

seemed tobe an _obstruction, not _blending well with the flow ofthe music.

After several of_my peers stated thatIdidn't need _anymore, I stopped_trying

to add anything.

One ofthe _very lastdecisions was the _title; I_{kept changing it} and_they

all seemed so...serious:

"Power," "Power-Play," "Hero,"

"DrawingLesson..." I

even tried to come _up with _something that had "dream"

in the title. Finally,

I realized that it seemed that with _any one ofthose titles I'm_trying to hit the

audience over the head with _{the message; also, any} one of those would take

away from the other themes...ifI call it

"Power,"

then what about the dream

aspect, orthe hero angle? _My composer said he liked the title "A _Spring Day"

on _my last movie because it has so much else in it and it's such a _light, casual

title. _"Why not _'Up the Tree' or

something?" he said.

Despite _familiarity with the techniques, which helps _during stressful

periods, there are still always times of_overwork, over _{tiredness, rushing} to

get on the Avid to edit...plus the movie wound _up with about _twenty five

more shots than anticipated, making everything take a whole lot longer. _My

thesiswas passed on the condition I focus the _storybetter, whichI tried to do

and made _addingshotsto _clarifywhat Iwantedto _say anecessity. But Ihadso

muchto _say ina short piece.._.manytimes I grewtired ofthe _story and wished

I had done something light and funny, like _my firstmovie. But...I _{already did}

that.

Elmo fits the traditional

"kid-character"

mold _{very well;} people have

told me _my workreminds them of _Peanuts: not just_{the characters,}but the

line drawings as well. _Admittedly, it is a childhood influence. I'm _trying to

step away from that and into _my own_{world; coming up}with different

themes and ways to tell a _story is _my challenge inthe times ahead. Iwould

like my thesis film to find an _audience;

my others have and I hope _Up the

Tree _{does too;} I seem tobe _developing gentle themes in_my stories, which

canbe a_way to connect with an _audience; it would have beenso _easyto have

Elmo change into his super hero costume and fight the"dad/monster," just as

in A _{Spring Day} itwould have been _easyto have the twoboys fight over the

girl, as some wanted meto _do, instead of _resolvingthe conflict peacefully.

There is a need for _something a little different out _there; the current trend of

television animation is dominated with bathroom _{humor, cursing} and

graphic violence. I don't object to _any of_this, butwhen _somethingworks

well, the imitators follow and it can become dominant. Thereneeds to be

more of a balance.

The key, Ibelieve, is in character; I think often of characters from

yesterday...the highest rated shows on the cartoonnetwork are older: Bugs

Bunny and the _Looney Tunes gang, Tom and Jerry...How _many characters in

today's animation willbe around in _twentyyears? South Park is _alreadya

fading trend...current ratings are down from lastyear. The Simpsons may be

an exception; they've already been around for tenyears and still pull in high

ratings, but the themes are sometimes topical. Finding something in a

character an audience can _really relate to _internally is a challenge, and even

more of a challenge is _tellinga _story with humor... but itis, I feel,what makes

a_lastingcharacter.

deep well ofstories to do with _him;I've wanted to come _up with a character

an audience can _identifywith in some _way and I thinkI'm _{progressing along}

thatpath. I _{already have} a comic _strip in_mind, a perfect _wayto _develop his

him further. One of _my own _{heroes, Academy} award _winning

director-animator Chuck Jones of _{Warner Brothers cartoons, discusses how the}

Looney Tunes cartoons ofthe late forties and fifties are the most well known

because that is when the character's personalities became more _defined; he

states in his _{biography film,} Chuck Amok: "George Orwell once said Tnever

met a man worse than I am,'

and I never met _anybody that didn't have some

of_Daffy Duckin them. And ifyou're _goingto be an animated cartoon

director then you have to have the courage to reach down inside yourself and

pull that character_up to thesurface and become that character andbe able to

direct your actors so they'll beable to understand what we're _talking about

here...Bugs_Bunny is an _{aspiration, Daffy} is a realization. You know _Daffy

Duckis within you and ifallowed to get loose you'dbe just likehim. With

Bugs... you'd hope tobe like that."

What a surprise that these characters are

stronger _{than ever,} known world-wide. While Elmo doesn't have the

Looney Tunes slap-stick style of _humor, and more of the Peanuts gentleness,

the character aspect is right on _target;I look forwardto see whatthe next steps

MFA _{Thesis Project Proposal}

"POWER"

(Working Title)

by Glenn Ehlers

MFA _Imaging Arts / Computer Animation

SCHOOL OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS AND SCIENCES

ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

ROCHESTER, NY

April, 1998

CA

Carl Battaglia

Associate _Professor, Chair

Film / Video / Animation Department

Cat Ashworth

Associate Professor

Film / Video / Animation Department

Luvon Sheppard ' /

Professor

Thesis Treatment

Asmall

_boy

is _{walking, carrying}a sketch-padand comic book. He's

wearing a red towel around his _neck, like a cape. _He comes to a tree which

has wooden planks nailed to the _{trunk, like} a _ladder, and hebegins to

climb. He sits down on abranchand leans hisback against the trunk.

Pulling

hisknees up, herests thesketch pad and the comicbookside

_by

side

against them. The comic book has a caped superhero onit. The

_boy

looks

at it andbegins to draw. He stops, looks athis _{drawing, frowns,} and

starts again. This continues with repeated scribbling, cross-outs, and

frustrated looks until he grits his teeth, tears the paper out of the pad,

crumples it_up and throws itto the ground. He pulls thetowel / cape off

and leans forward, _{putting his} head into his arms, _resting against his

knees,

_letting

out ahuge sigh. After a _moment, he turnshis head slightly to

the side; his eyes are closed.

A briefmoment _passes; the windblows, _rustlingthebranches ofthe

tree. He opens his _eyes, looksin front ofhim and sees an owl. The owl is

staring at him, _motioning with its _wing to follow. The owl flies off, and

with a curious look on hisface, the

_boy

climbs down fromthe tree,

following

the owl.

The owlflies into a room andlands ona dresser. The

boy

appears in the

doorway

and looks around the room, recognizingit as hisownbedroom.

He looks over to his deskand sees several drawings and the same super

hero comic book. He walks over and picks _up adrawing.

Hearing

someone enter the room, he turns around and sees his father. He rushes

over tohim, smiling, andhands his

drawing

to him. His father holds itup

for a split second, looks atit, then lowers it and turnshis face away,

looking

around the room. The smiledisappears fromthe boy's face,

replaced

by

a hurtful look, and he lowers his head. He then looks up athis

father, who, from the boy's point of vision, is growing very large,

becoming

ogre-like. The

boy

recoilsfearfully. His father/ogre continues to

grow. The

boy

closes hiseyes and lowers his head. Thenhe opens his eyes,

which are _resting on the superhero comicbook. He

stares atthe super

hero He then looks over to the owl, still perched on the dresser. The owl

spreadshis wings, cape-like, thepulls them aroundin front, sticking its

chest out strongly. The boy's eyeswiden, and he looks downto the super

hero comic book again. His eyebrows crease slightly

and he stands up. He

to shrink; the

_boy

begins to grow. As the

_boy

getsbigger and_bigger, the

father gets smaller and _smaller, until the father disappears.

The boy's face is seen _close-up, still _sitting inthe _tree, eyes closed. His eyes _snap open and he lifts his head up. He looks _around, and his eyes rest

on the superhero comic book. A smile creeps onhis face. He looksat the

blankpaper in front of_him, then _{quickly looks} to the ground at the

crumpled-up drawing. He quickly feels for the towel/cape, realizes he

took it off and sees it _resting nextto him. He snatches it and puts it back on. He stands _{up, posing triumphantly,} hands onhis hips. He leaps out of

the tree, arms outstretched like a _super-hero, and lands on the ground next

to the crumpled drawing. He picks it _up and opensit. Smiling,he sits

Actual

Computer _/ Software $0

Art Supplies (animation _bond,

pencils, etc.) $100

Discs _(zip / Jazz) $400

DvCam Tape $40

Promotional Video Tapes $20

Musician Fee $0

Avid _Editing Time (20 hours at

$75 / hour) so

Labor (750 hours at $20 / _hr.) $0

Budget

"Power"

will be a 2D movie composed of _{hand drawings,} scanned and colored in

Painter _{/ Photoshop,} and edited on _{Avid, approximately four minutes;} I have two

composers in mind for the soundtrack. At this writing, I do not have home equipment and will be relying on school facilities.

Estimated $4000 $100 $400 $40 $20 $500 $1500 $15,000

Total Budget $560 $21,560

Time Line Summer 1 credit

Fall 6 credits

Winter 5 credits

April 10 Proposal April 12

-May 8 Storyboard June - August SummerJob

/ Internship, thesis work part-time _(drawing, tests,

an-mating,etc.)

September - November Complete Animation (2 - 3

shots per _week)

December

-February 1 Soundtrack, Tweaking, Editing, Post Production

February 15 Project completion

MarketingPlan

Movies on a _Shoestring (February)

SMPTE _(June)

Ottawa Animation Festival _(July) John Hopkins Film Festival (January)

ASIFA (March)

Chicago International Children's Film Festival _(May) Student _Academy Awards _(January)

Humanitarian Film Festival (May) Dallas Short Film Festival (February)

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