Kettle Animatic

I took the scans of the storyboard for the opening scene where she is making tea and digitised them in order to eventually create an animatic. By digitising the images it also helps to show details that I want to include in the film which are too intricate for simple storyboards and gives a clearer idea of shape and shot positioning.

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I think that this animatic does an okay job of setting the scene, however, I think that there needs to be more detail within the house itself and more scenes of different rooms. I want it to have a really nice cosy morning feel, with lingering shots and nice lighting. After speaking with Alan, I don't think I want to include the house in the opening scene at all as I think it gives the game away that this isn't an ordinary morning. The last shot of her levitating is supposed to be the big reveal of her magical powers and I want it to be a very wide shot full of plants and details of the inside of her house with her gently levitating in the centre. I also want to add sound to the improved animatic - I don't want any music in this opening shot, just sound design of someone making a cup of tea. I'll probably use freesound.org for these sounds, they will act as a preliminary template for a proper sound designer to use as it will give them a sense of what I'm trying to achieve.

Ticking Clock

I want to include a clip of a clock ticking. As I want my film's timeline to be over a day, I think that I might include this clock throughout the film to signify the time of day and to move the story forward. I think as well that there is something very comforting about the sound of a clock ticking away, so this will be a good addition for the relaxed morning scene I'm trying to create.

Cat Sleeping

I want to use symmetry and shape within my film as a running theme, and I'd like the house to have interesting shapes to show that it's not exactly ordinary. I want to include this shot as a way to give a little bit more away as to the interior of her home. There is nothing unusual about a cat sleeping on a bed with morning light coming through the window but not everyone lives in a triangular house.

Plant room

I think that this is one of the most important shots in the film as it foreshadows her skill and magic with plants. She is a botanical plant witch and so she would definitely have a room like this in her house. I want it to be very illustrative with complementary colours, and dust particles floating in rays of light.

I really like this new animatic and I think that the additional shots really improve the look and feel of the scene and help to portray what mood I'm trying to convey. The added frames also help to flesh out the animation and overall timing of the scene. The sound is very primitive, but I think that it's helpful for a sound designer to show what I'm trying to go for. I want it to be very minimal, just the sounds of making tea/coffee in the morning. I also would like to add birds singing but I wasn't able to find any suitable ones on the website but this is something I definitely want to add as she lives in the middle of the forest and the film is about being in touch with nature. The next thing I want to do is explore and experiment with colour palettes before I animate the opening scene properly. I also want to get a better sense of what her house looks like so that I can map out the interiors of where everything is.