BFA Contract

Of the many types and genres of digital art to use for my BFA piece, I will make a 3D-animated short. I feel that an animation would best show the story I want to tell, as there is much movement between characters and transitions between scenes. Of course, being an animation, there is only one part in the piece.

The story of this animation tells of a man who, looking for refuge from life, visits an enigmatic merchant in the middle of a barren desert. The merchant agrees to give the man such refuge, but only in exchange for the light the man holds, of which is from his heart. But before the exchange is made, the merchant warns the man that once the exchange is made, there "are no refunds." The merchant then shows the man previous events involving people who were in the same situation as the man, and what became of them. The power of choice and the value of life are what will ultimately decide the man's fate.

The animation will be done using 3D software, such as Autodesk Maya. The style, however, will be that of a comic book or graphic novel, such as cross-hatching for shadows, the merchant character's use of panels and borders to show the man past experiences, and possibly cel-shade-like outlines. And as with certain comics, the animation will be in black and white. Narrative-wise, the story will be told in a poetic style. The voice-acting will only be the narrator, as the characters will only "speak" by what the narrator reads in the poem.

The final format of the exhibition will include the animation on DVD and to be played through projector onto the wall. The reason for this being that the projection would be an emulation of the "light" that the man character has from his heart. The projector will be mounted on a table with a black-colored cloth. There will also be an additional, larger table with another black-colored cloth for my production bible, of which will have the face of the merchant on its front cover. This set-up will emulate the scenario as if the people in the audience are visiting the merchant themselves.

MATERIALS NEEDED FOR PRODUCTION:

- Autodesk Maya 2013/14

- Adobe Photoshop CS5/6

- Adobe After Effects CS5/6

- Wacom Tablet

MATERIALS NEEDED FOR POST-PRODUCTION:

- Option for Projector

- Option for Monitor
- DVD for Animation

- 1 Table

- 1 Sheets Black Tablecloth

- Speakers for Audio

MISCELANEOUS:

-Access to MacLab and PC Lab

LAYOUT

And the audience will be seated in the diagonal row of seats.

UPDATE: There will not be a "production bible," nor a table for it.

Happy drawing!

-Aaron Martin

PROGRESS CALENDER