Working on the fourth film was very satisfactory, and now that all is done, I am quite pleased with the results. Of course, this wouldn’t have been possible if it hadn’t been for the work of the entire class, really. 

Let’s begin:

The biggest challenge of the fourth piece was to tie together the first three films. Its main purpose was to provide a closing idea for all the previous events. This wouldn’t have been so big of a challenge if the first three films had actually been tied through imagery, style, narrative, or a theme. The films were vaguely related to each other through a theme that I, personally, don’t believe was correctly chosen, or interpreted. Loking back, I now wish we had settled on a more literal narrative or theme that could’ve been artistically interpreted by every group. One of my biggest goals at the beginning of this project was to stay away from the NOVA project. We ended up doing something very similar: following a few characters through four different scenarios. I find this very problematic, and believe that a better solution in the future would be to stick to a very literal theme, idea, or narrative, to allow more time to experiment.

The general concept of the Coda was discussed during class with all who were present. Laura had a very firm idea from the beginning, and we stuck to it because it felt like the right direction. This was not easy, as the difference in ideas was so large, and the interpretations were so broad. After discussing several options and realizing there was no way to please everyone, we decided to simply stick to Laura’s idea. Most people in the class agreed that this concept of characters going back home after the parade using the Canada Line was an excellent ending that tied all pieces together. In the end, many people expressed their happiness and agreement. I believe sticking to the original idea for the coda was the right decision. 

Emilie, Laura, and I worked on a quick animatic to show the class what the fourth film would be looking like:

It took a long time for us to start working on the final product, because we needed to have all characters ready. Once the characters were ready, the final piece was composited together in less than two days. Cody, Jennifer, and Tor helped with the animation, and produced excellent sequences such as the bird that flies in, the gremlin with his legs crossed, and the rotoscoped Devin.

These are some tests I rendered during the day, as we were producing this film. The final piece was a crowd pleaser, and beautifully brings the artistic influences of the entire class into one piece. Challenges and all, I believe this project was very successful.