Updates on pre production

During the storyboard process we needed to sketch out particular poses for the various characters in terms of working out the story. I created the character designs for the cockerel our chicken turns into in the story. Also drawing the veteran chicken who has laid so many eggs in the years, seen by our hen during the early part of the story. Original Sketches by myself with Reywel Hyland texturing and colouring the veteran chicken .

Updates on pre production

This is a drawing of our main character once he becomes a cockerel. When he realises he is a cockerel his whole persona will change his chest will expand, wattle and coxs comb will increase in size. He will become a cockerel equivalent of Hugh Hefner.




























These drawings are of our chicken when he is making a last few attempts to lay an egg. These will quick cuts leading up to his last attempt to lay an egg. The final strain will reveal he is actually a cockerel.
The first drawing is him trying to use a hoover to suck an egg out.

These drawings are of her trying to use a broom and some laxative to lay an egg.

In the bottom left corner is a drawing of her checking her temperature and using a calender to check when she is due. This cuts will last longer than the others and will be a nice change of pace from the other quick cuts of her trying to lay an egg

Tasks

This is a concept piece for the machinery at the end of the barn. The conveyor belt takes the eggs to this machine for processing into egg boxes

As the pre- production intensifies we have split the tasks between the group. Samir, Gary and I are doing the storyboard layouts with Ian and Reywell working on concepts designs. We have decided we are not just constrained to these tasks and we will be able to cross over if one feels they have a contribution to make other tasks. I have begin with doing some concept work for inside the hutch.

StoryTimeLine and Breakdown

After going over the story repeatedly we have decided we want to completely focus on the struggle of the chicken trying to lay an egg. So we have completely scraped the beginning of the story of the chciekn being taken in the truck to the farm. We felt this was irrelvant to the story and ate into the 2mins of story time we have. We now feel we have more time for the build up of our characters emotions whe the time gets closer to when he has to lay an egg.

Story TimeLine/Breakdown

0-6 sec. Establishing shot outside of Farmhouse.
6-24sec. We are then introduced to our chicken character. He looks around the farmhouse seeing other chickens laying eggs. We have shots of the various farmhouse machinery taking eggs away emphasizing the fact other chickens are laying eggs.
24-34sec. Our chicken’s 1st attempt at laying an egg. He will;
-Stretches muscles (limbers up)
-Strains (to lay egg) No success!
-Becomes a little anxious now.
39sec. He looks up at a veteran chicken who points to a sign that reads. Chicken - eggs = roast dinner
39-48sec. Our chicken becomes more worried and nervous.
-show him thinking about what he’s gonna do.
Maybe rubbing his chin, eyes darting left & right.
48- 120sec. He then thinks of an elaborate plan. He sees a vulnerable egg, with a halo of light over it.
-Goes behind the haystack and jumps back out wearing
Splintercell -type gear.
-Steals egg but looses it on the way back
-Jumps around in frustration (10 secs).

120- 132sec.Goes into quick cuts of him trying different things in an attempt
to lay an egg.
1. Pushing a broom down his throat
2. Taking laxative.
3. Use a machine to suck the egg out.
132- 150sec. Final Stage -Becomes more and more desperate.
-Begins straining really hard.
-Goes into a series of close up cuts on the chicken, muscles
bulging, eyes watering, vies on his neck etc….
-Finally his wattle and cox’s comb pops up and he realises then
hes’s actually cockerel.
-Other chickens give him a surprised look, and then start eyeing
him up seductively.
-Our character now a cockerel turns his head to the camera and
raises his eyebrows and smiles.
Fades to credits, showing pictures of the chicken with the other hens enjoying himself (being pampered)

This is a quick concept piece for the inside of the hutch. I quickly built the set in Alias Maya then took it into Photoshop to add some textures. It was a quick way to get an idea of scale inside the chicken coup.

The images here are some reference material for the inside of the hutch. we want a blend of natural wood with mechanical equipment.

Early Assets designs of Barn and Truck

Whilst we have been talking about the story we have been doing some sketches to help visualize our story. I produced the original sketch of this barn and Reywel Hyland textured it.

I designed and textured this truck

I have gone for a old looking truck/vehicle which is carrying(exporting) the chicken in this story. I have hopefully achieved this with a mixture of metal and wood texture for an element of contrast

Early Character Designs and concept

Character Sheet


I created this rough sketch for the main chicken in the story. Fellow group member Reywell Hyland textured and coloured it. In the story our chicken actually happens to be a cockerel so we need him to look slightly different from the rest chickens. This texture will help us experiment with the right colour for our main character









Character Expression Sheet

I done some quick drawings to gauge the expressions the chicken will go through during the story. i have drawn the expression of the chicken leaning out of the truck. This is one of the first scenes in the story as my first draft but iam not sure if it will be used as we are still working on the scenes in the story as a group.

Re working of story

On the Tuesday 9th October. We had a group meeting with Mike Hirsch to run through our story. He told us to pick away at the story and find out what drives our story. What is the meaning and theme of the story?What is the motivation for the chicken? Why is he trying to lay an egg?
How are we going to make the audience care about this particular chicken?
What are the most interesting aspects of our story to tell?

All these points should help us in making a story that the audience will relate to and not just rely on the visuals of the animation to woo the audience.

After hearing Mike Hirschs the group discussed whats elements of our story we should change to tell an affective story

These images are from an animation called Theme Planet by Michael Sorman. I like the textured look and hope to incorporate it into our work

Reference work

Week 1- Inital story pitch to class

This is the breakdown of the story i pitched to the class. I still havent thought of a decent title for it so ignore it at the moment.

Chicken Story

Set up 0-30seconds
We see a chicken looking out of a moving vehicle (her head is poked through a gap in the side, her cheeks and eye lids being pulled back in the wind (cartoony style) she looks content enjoying watching the countryside go by. All of a sudden the van she’s travelling in pulls (screeches up) throwing the chicken across in the back of the van. Camera pulls out from the van to unveil it’s actually a battery chicken exporter for Bernard Matthews arriving at a farm.
Led out of the van in military style the chicken soon realises she is not in a happy place.


Catalyst 25-30seconds
She is now dropped into a chicken coup. She looks nervously around seeing other chickens laying eggs at will, watching as their eggs fall onto a conveyor belt style contraption and lead away to a room. (the chickens will be doing this in a very laid back manner e.g. doing their nails, chatting etc)
When the chicken glances at one of the other chickens she looks very mean and immediately points to a sign which shows an equation chicken minus egg equals cooked chicken. It now dawns on her that she has to lay an egg. Something she has never done before.


First Turning Point 55-60seconds
The chicken now begins to strain trying to lay an egg jumping around doing what it takes to lay an egg but no luck. After a couple attempts she starts to think she won’t be able to lay an egg. A thought bubble now appears beside her with the KFC logo inside it the colonel laughing away. She turns to it squatting it away. The panic is really setting in now. Maybe have her trying to steal an egg from another chicken.


Final Confrontation 70-80seconds
In the process of a last final strain his cocks comb and wattle bursts out. Unveiling to everyone that she is actually a cockerel. This lights the eyes of the other chickens who now all become very smitten.



Resolution 70- 80 seconds
Relieved that he is actually a male. The farmer walks in saying ‘what’s he doing here’ yanks him by the neck out of the coup taking him through a set of doors. When the farmer goes through the door it slams shut with a sign on the door saying ‘Bernard Matthews Chicken Pie’.

The group and I decided that the best thing to do over the weekend was to think about the story and indidvdually decide if there is anything we would like to change or add. Also we decided that some early cocnepts might be a good way top get us moving on the look of the animation

Enter the first week of production on our third year films. Last Monday we presented our short film ideas to the class and tutors. On the Friday we found out whos ideas were picked to be made into a short. My short is about a naive chicken that travels on a road of self discovery, finally realising that theres a reason he cant lay eggs and that hes a cockerel, not chicken. To my delight my film was one of the chosen ones. I was pleased with the level of response i had from my peers. I had alot of enthused people wanting to join my team. After an ackward period of telling some people i didnt want them in my group. I had an assembled group with a variety of skill each one bringing something different to the group. Samir Ansari who is a keen animator and technician, Reywell Hyland good texture artist and modeller, Ian Lang good modeller, Gary Butler good animator and myself overlooking the project plus offering modelling and texturing. With the group i felt i had a good blend of skill and expertise to achieve my short film.