The titles, they are a-changing

'Tall Tale', despite being a title I'm quite fond of, is not as relevant a title to the storyline as it once was.

Whereas the man's tallness was initially a key aspect of the story, it serves as much less of a catalyst now. Instead, the most prominent narrative thread running through the film is the continuous appearance of the bird - who is now a magpie.

Therefore, I am proud to announce that the new title, until further notice (it's pending approval from the rest of my team), is 'The Magpie'.

All posts regarding the film will be tagged 'Magpie', including previous posts, so that it will still be easy to find them amongst the rest of the blog.

Storyboard V1

The quality of the images is a little low - I hope to remedy this when I find my good camera. I'll update this post accordingly.

Colour schemes for Tall Tale

As the storyboard is nearing completion, I felt compelled to rough up some colour schemes.
I intend to go for a slightly washed-out, autumnal palette, with plenty of browns, reds and yellows. In order to stand out, the characters will be more vivid in hue than the textures of their surroundings. The boy will wear slightly brighter colours than the man. Nevertheless, the entire colour scheme will be muted and browned to some extent.

Tweaking Tall Tale

Tall Tale is a story that is very much in a state of flux at the moment - aspects are being added and chopped off all over the place.

The story, as of the date of this post, is as follows:

A little boy buys a book about birdwatching. Eagerly clutching his camera, he dashes off to search for birds to photograph. He sees a bird on the shoulder of a very tall man, but it flies off before he has a chance to photograph it. The boy walks off screen, determined to find it again.
The tall man is momentarily pleased by the sight of a bird perched on his shoulder, but once he realises that the bird's gone to the toilet down the back of his coat, his mood darkens. We follow him for a little while, as a series of small mishaps, mostly regarding his tallness, make him more and more frustrated (this need only go on for as long as it takes for people to realise he's unlucky).
Defeated by the terrible day he's been having, the tall man sits on a park bench. He doesn't notice the boy run past, chasing the bird until he sees it perched on the branch of a tall tree. The boy determinedly climbs the tree and gets onto the branch, but loses his footing.
The tall man hears a cry for help, and looks up to see the boy hanging for dear life. He jumps up and dashes to his rescue, catching the boy just as he falls. The boy is very grateful and hugs the man, who feels better about his tallness.
The boy displays sadness about not managing to get a photo. The man picks the boy up, and uses his height to provide the boy with a safe means of photographing the bird. Once the photo's been taken, they admire the photo on the camera - including the bird, who flaps down onto the tall man's shoulder to look at it. Everybody's happy, until the man realises that the bird's pooped on him again.

Presenting Tall Tale

'Tall Tale' is a concept for a short animated film.

The story is about two people: a very tall, clumsy man and a very little boy. The tall man keeps trying to keep a job, and the boy keeps trying to photograph a beautiful bird, but both keep failing.

All the boy sees are boring pigeons, until a colourful bird (accidentally released from the pet shop by the tall man) catches his eye. After a little establishment of the tall man and his clumsiness, the film follows the little boy as he tries harder and harder to take a photo of the bird. Eventually, he sees it settle on a branch of a very tall tree...

Meanwhile, the tall man has exhausted all of his employment options. Dejected, he sits on a park bench. Suddenly, he hears a cry, and looks up to see the boy hanging for dear life from the tree. Just as he loses grip, the tall man reaches up and saves him from falling. The town, including all his former employers, see the tall man perform this act, and their opinion of him improves. 

As a final act of kindness, the tall man lifts up the boy so he can photograph the bird safely. 

The credits consist of little images of the tall man using his height to help people around the town, and his ongoing camaraderie with the little boy.

The film will be animated in Flash, with backgrounds rendered in Maya. Certain performances may be animated in 3D first, to ensure a seamless marriage with the 3D environment, and then animated over in Flash. Compositing will be done in After Effects.