Story & Concept Art - Part Two, For True!

So we've previously established that our zombie-duck pal is a bit of a leech and a moocher, and has coerced the hunter into letting him stay for the night...

After an offer of one night turns into several weeks of scrounging, the hunter's patience wears thin. But this duck isn't going anywhere. You can't tell in this sketch because of the position of the wing, but would it be too disgusting and unpleasant to have the pizza he's just eaten be visible in his stomach wound? He is a zombie and I want him to be a little bit gross in a cute way, but I don't really want to make people throw up.

Personalities clash and the duck slowly starts to destroy the hunter's quality of life, through alienating his friends, constantly eating his food and, in this scene, stealing away his prospective lay. Bit of a smooth-talkin', Rico Suave mo'fo, this guy. For the hunter, it's the last straw.

Having had enough, the hunter chases the duck through the house, cornering him in the trophy room. Will he finish what he started all those months ago and kill the duck proper, or will our seemingly-doomed zombie friend smooth-talk his way out of it?

There is a final sketch for this first batch of concept art, which I won't include as it gives away my current ending. The reception these sketches have received so far have been positive on the whole, but my concern is whether I have the ability to maintain this style for a whole film's worth (by that I mean, like, 10-15 minutes). I don't doubt that a lack of fundamental artistic knowledge is evident with these drawings - the backgrounds are especially shaky and scribbled, while the characters don't really maintain much of a strict model. My plan over the next few weeks is to carry out some tests for what means of animation will best suit the visual look of the film. Whether or not traditional, 2D animation can carry it, or perhaps 3D CGI remains to be seen. Having seen its effectiveness on shows like Futurama, I'm quite interested in the idea of perhaps even marrying the two. One means can quite possibly cut corners of the other (for example, 3D CGI backgrounds with 2D character animation over the top, or perhaps the other way around) without jeopardising the film's aesthetic.

Story & Concept Art - Part One, Baby!

Okay, let's get this shindig started.
As a fair bit of pre-production work has already been done for this project, I've been um-ing and ah-ing about what element to post first. I guess it kind of makes sense to start with the storyline, right?
Without going into too much detail (for by God that'll come later, and how), the film tells the story of a duck who, having been shot by a hunter, is brought back to life as a duck zombie.

Bear with me.

The story begins proper when the duck tracks the hunter down and, instead of exacting a traditional revenge, manages to guilt-trip his way into a permanent, rent-free scenario where he leeches off the hunter's conscience and goodwill. What ensues is a (hopefully amusing) sequence of events whereby the two personalities clash more and more over a period of several months, until the hunter snaps and sets out to finish what he started. The actual ending I won't go into just yet, as I don't want to spoil it and I'm not even sure I'm gonna go with what I have. So whether or not the hunter succesfully dispatches with the duck - well, I'll have to leave you on tenterhooks.
Given that meagre precis of the film I doubt I'm leaving anyone in agonising suspense. So here's some scratchy, ragged concept art to help sell it. Click each drawing to make them bigger:

A duck getting his ass shot. Note my complete lack of firearms knowledge as a double-barrelled shotgun is seen here firing a single bullet. For every other instance of these retarded little discrepancies, let's just refer to it as 'artistic license'...

A scene that may or may not survive further drafts of my script, in which the duck's corpse is stitched together by an introverted whippersnapper, then struck by lightning through an open window which brings it back to life. Given that the script is overlong at the moment, I may scrap the sequence and opt for a more succinct zombification explanation. Or not explain it at all.

The duck decides to mess with the hunter's head a bit before revealing he's just fucking around. What a dick, eh?

Over coffee and civil conversation the duck manages to verbally weasel his way into getting some free room and board. To shape the hunter's personality I aim to make his surroundings as dated and depressing as possible. That yellow wall is too vibrant, I'm thinking some drab blue tiles would work a treat instead...

MORE A-COMIN'!

That's what the world needs! Another overweight male writing a blog!

Man alive, what would you like to hear first? Some introspective poetry? Some not-quite-anecdotes about 'RL' as though it were some kind of background inconvenience? Maybe some rants about celebrities who rub me the wrong way? Theories about the points at which various television programs 'jumped the shark'?

All these hot topics and many more of similar ilk are, from what I have witnessed, covered extensively in, well, about 45 billion other weblogs. I have to concede that I don't have anything to add in that arena. The main purpose of this one is to keep a production journal for a film I'm working on that has just been given the go-ahead as part of a postgrad animation MA.

Here are some little introductory things about me which I'll make chiefly out of politeness - I don't plan on making this a blog about all the nuances of my life, chiefly as 90% of the entries would be along the lines of 'drank cup-a-soup, drank coffee, reluctantly ate some fruit, wept out of hunger'. Anyway:

My name is Ben Mitchell, I'm an indie musician (hey, it's the internet, we all are) and filmmaker currently trying to get me an MA in animation (studying at UWE in Bristol) and actually start a career a little more rewarding than some previous jobs. Not to say that being a doorman at a shitty club or a switchboard operator for a teen-angst hotline weren't without their rewards - for example, they both ended. As well as documenting the progress of my film 'House Guest', I hope to use this blog to keep a record of my research work through case studies. That sounds bloody interminable written down but they'll mainly be about cartoons, and who doesn't like cartoons? Apart from, y'know, grownups? As it's the internet and I can say whatever the gosh-darn-heck I please, I may even do an additional blog about some indie records I have been helping a lot of incredibly talented musicians produce - and of course my own cackhanded stabs at music-making, there'll be no avoiding that.

So why should you care? Well, to be honest, I'm a little shocked you read this far. Because you all lead highly-charged lives of sexual and sporting prowess (or at the very least like watching porn and football on TV) I'm sure you have better things to do with your time. But when you're taking a break from the nonstop shagging, fresh-air and exercise, feel free to get in touch with feedback about these projects, especially the film. It's early days and the concept is far from flawless so any thoughts are welcome. As this is the internet and you have the option of anonymity, I'm sure all responses will be cogent, articulate and, more than anything, constructive. That's usually the way it goes, right?

Okay that's enough for now. The cup-a-soup is calling...