"IN THE BEGINNING... "
Heyyyy, my first blog!
This one will hopefully serve as a handy production tool, bringing together team members from cities apart to work on a 3D short. So far, the short is only loosley defined. To start, we have just a main character and the intentions of making a comedic short for everyone to enjoy.
This smiley guy is actually a villain, and as villainous as he'll be... in the end it's the audience who will have the last laughs! He could be another Doctor Evil, a pirate, a supervillain... Chances are he'll look much different when the animation phase starts. ;)
The first phase of this production will be a blogstorming session to work out the story and its gags. Team, go ahead and start posting your suggestions in the comments section. I'll start it off...
posted by Glenn @ 2:06 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
I spoke to my cousin Art about this project and we came up with some fun gags surrounding the filming of a mock video ultimatum/threat from our 40's style supervillain (caped, of course!). In it, he could come across very serious and scary at the start, but while delivering his speech he messes up and says the wrong words. "CUT!" What follows is a comedy of mistakes and set blunders mixed with plain old-fashioned outtakes. i.e. our villain bitching at the crew one minute, and doing karaoke and comedic impressions the next. An example of a set blunder might be to have the whole backdrop fall over, maybe a view of the threat itself! "Oh, drat! Can we at least get some decent bagels in here!"
Awesome, Adam! That's the stuff. Keep em coming!
Hahaha,
Great ideas, Tyson! I like them all. I could make a good field of grass for that barn setting! And coming back to Adam's I like the idea that he's in his Mom's basement. Let me throw another short idea out there:
This one I came up with in college and it keeps coming back to me. See if it makes you laugh too...
To start you see this hardened criminal, sitting in the electric chair looking lifeless. He awakens, shocked to see where he is. He starts trying to get free but can't. The executioners hand grabs the lever and now he's freaking out, struggling like when the switch is hit. He screams, writhing as the current lights him up to the sound of heavy metal music. Then SNAP!
Soft music, we cut to the face of a goofy teenager in a G'N'R t-shirt who has just jolted awake. On his head is a salon hair dryer. You hear it shorting out and smoke is rising from under it. A hairdresser comes along and says, "Oh my, you poor thing!" When she lifts the dryer up, a huge mane of frizzy hair puffs out and when he sees himself in the mirror, he's blown away.. "Whoaaa!"
"AWESOME!"
The kid laughs and does his best air guitar. Then I dunno maybe he kisses the hairdresser, and drops a Slash hat on and shades. After the air guitar part I'm not sure of...
So there's another goofy scenario. (Disuss!)
Hi Guys,
I like the premise that he is a guy bent on world domination but is using hollywood production techniques to make his World Ransom Video message. Great ideas so far guys.
I really like the mom and basement idea.
The basement door could open and we see Mom's silhouette in the light from the door.
I also realy like the Boss ragging on his henchmen for screwing up the slate and then making the same mistake.
Having the backdrop canvas fall, revealing a nice sunny scene is also terrific.
You could have him asking for a glass of water. "Coough! Cough! Is it just me or is it DRY in here?"
Maybe he reveals his army of tanks or fighter jets, distant in the background...ready for world domination. Only to discover he is just using toys and forced perspective when a henchman walks in from off camera and picks one up to study it (or play with it).
He could be asking the others on the set if the costume makes him look fat. "How's my makup? Do I look ok?"
He could do some vocal exercises to prepare at the start. "Mee Mee Mee Mee Mee Mo Mo Mo. EEEE-NUN-CEE-ATE-tuh!"
At the end of the short, we could dolly out of a TV screen. The Super Villain is screening the final edit of the tape. The look on his face is stunned.
But then he smiles and says, "Wonderful! A cinematic MASTerpiece! My best work yet!"
He's too close to the work and thinks it's brilliant even with all the mistakes.
Kind of going the other way with the audiences expected reaction.
Or...alternatively, we could have the Boss asking a henchman if he saw the tape that was on his desk. The henchman replies that he mailed it out. The Boss is beside himself. "WHAT!? That was the outtakes! You mailed the WRONG TAPE!! Oh, great. Just great. Now I look like a weiner. I bet John Lasseter never had these problems." (animation injoke?)
One of the henchman could be holding a sign that says "Hi Mom" or "John 3:16" in one take.
Boss villain could finish a take and then profess he can do it better and beg the director for one more chance.
Really high take numbers on the slate. "Take 39" for example. The guy holding the slate could look bored out of his skull.
Wow! Now this is what I love... lots of ideas, great gags, and a story direction! The world domination video is looking like a lock, so let's run with it.
I think Art's 'pan out to a TV set' is a great tool for cueing up the ending. What about this:
At the start, the video camera is rolling and our villain comes across like a serious madman. Right when he's getting to the good part, he flubs. Giggles in the background, "CUT!" clap the slate. It's take 138 (or whatever)...
Our gags build up and soon it's all just silliness. When we hit the level of ridiculous, we pan out of the TV set to see the villain watching dailies. He sees how bad it is and feels completely defeated. His henchmen make some pathetic comments in attempt to cheer him up.
THEN, in comes another henchman with a new tape. "I think I fixed it in post, boss!"
It's about 5 seconds of bad After Effects, and it features the shadow of his mom with a deep, garbled voice. It ends with a robot voice "Send us all you money... or else."
While the audience laughing and thinking "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" the villain (after a stunned pause) is thrilled! "I look AMAZING! I should win Grammy for this!"
"Does this mean we're done filming, boss?"
"WHAT!!? (villain stands) Don't you fools realize what this means!? WRAP PARTAAY!!!"
They dance. Roll credits.
Hey Glenn (and crew),
I' curious. How cliche (if at all) are you willing to go with this?
Will he have a monacle? Scar through one eye? Eye patch?
One other thing about the blooper reel. We'll have to handle it carefully as to avoid too many direct comparisons to Pixar and their famous outtakes.
Not to be a downer, but it could turn people off if it looks like we are trying to rip off something that was popular.
I like to call it the Matrix Effect.
I groan everytime I see a slow-motion/time warp camera rotation.
Overdone.
(shiver)
So, I think we should always keep the focus on the world domination angle as opposed to just a series of outtake gags.
Again, not to be a downer or anything - just something to keep in mind.
Art
Art
Good concerns, and I couldn't agree more. I've seen movies where long scenes only exist to dish out lame gags. They might actually be funny but because the plot stands still for so long you're just bored. SNORE!
About villain clichés, I'm all for it!!! Let's make him dramatic! We need good goon costumes too, so suggest awayyyyyy!
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