Ray's Senior Thesis Production Blog

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One of the first scenes I animated with Silence in full view

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Haven’t made any updates here since the semester started but expect a LOT of stuff coming soon - for now have one of my scenes ready for color.

There was a style shift part way through production if you compare this to my old test animation.

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Concept art VS Rendered 3D environment

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Fully rendered character animation from test animation!

Still have to figure out how I want to go about the lighting and such, but I will be playing around with that in the upcoming months.

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Second WIP of my colored test animation

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WIP 1 of the colored version of my test animation. I really like how the different stages of the coloring process looks because of the style I’ve chosen.

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Playblast test for one of the camera-heavy scenes

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3D environment test render + the concept art

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WIP Animation Test. Going to redo/fix up some frames, the one smear is a little funky.

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Color Studies featuring both Red and Silence

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Colored fullbody expression sheet for Red

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Updated Silence turnaround with altered colors and colored expression sheet

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Story Spline 4

Once upon a time: There was an anthropomorphic rabbit that lived alone

And everyday: They would check their messages from one friend in particular and talk with them online all day

Until one day: The messages stopped coming

And because of that: The rabbit messages them and waits for a response, worried

And because of that: The rabbit started to panic when they continue to not respond

And because of that: The rabbit rushes out of her house to find another way to contact their friend

And because of that: The rabbit finds herself in an unfamiliar world, the door not leading out to the front yard/street like it was supposed to

And because of that: The rabbit starts to wander the unnatural landscape alone, looking for anyone she could find and still trying to text her friend

And because of that: She finally hears/sees hints of another life form

And because of that: She begins to chase after the life form

And because of that: She travels farther and farther across the unnatural world

And because of that: The life form continues to evade her

And because of that: The rabbit becomes more and more fearful of being completely alone

Until finally: The rabbit finally comes face to face with the life form, realizing that it isn’t the friend that she was desperately trying to contact, and her safety in its presence is unclear.

And since that day: The rabbit realizes in her desperate reliance on one friend, she only fell deeper into isolation when they suddenly disappeared from her life.

And the moral of the story is: Emotional dependency on a single person is damaging to both participants in the relationship, and can make a once healthy relationship toxic and harmful. Even so, the fear of abandonment and isolation can make us desperate for these connections, even if they are potentially harmful.

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Story Spline 3

Once upon a time: There was an anthropomorphic rabbit that lived alone

And everyday: They would check their messages from friends and family, and while they rarely actually saw anyone in person, they felt comfortable whenever the messages rolled in

Until one day: The messages stopped coming

And because of that: The rabbit waited and messaged some of them, worried

And because of that: The rabbit started to panic when no one would respond

And because of that: The rabbit got ready to leave the house for the first time in a while and rushed out the door

And because of that: The rabbit finds herself in an unfamiliar world, the door not leading out to the front yard/street like it was supposed to

And because of that: The rabbit starts to wander the unnatural landscape alone, looking for anyone she could find and still trying to text her friends and family

And because of that: She finally hears/sees hints of another life form

And because of that: She begins to chase after the life form

And because of that: She travels farther and farther across the unnatural world

And because of that: The life form continues to evade her

And because of that: The rabbit becomes more and more fearful of being completely alone

Until finally: The rabbit finally comes face to face with the life form, realizing that it isn’t any of the friends or family that she was desperately trying to contact, and her safety in its presence is unclear.

And since that day: The rabbit realizes in her desperate reliance on social contact, she only fell deeper into isolation.

And the moral of the story is: Fear of abandonment and isolation can make us desperate for connections, even if they are potentially harmful.

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Story Spline 2

Once upon a time: There was an anthropomorphic rabbit that lived with a single roommate who they’ve known for a long time

And everyday: They would spend as much time as they could with the roommate, as they were their only friend

Until one day: The roommate decides to go on a trip with some other friends

And because of that: The rabbit doesn’t want the roommate to go because they don’t want to be alone

And because of that: The roommate is intent on going, but says that they can come with if they really wanted

And because of that: The roommate leaves, and the rabbit hesitates

And because of that: The rabbit runs out of the house after the roommate

And because of that: The rabbit finds themself in an unfamiliar world, the door not leading out to the front yard/street like it was supposed to

And because of that: The rabbit starts to wander the unnatural landscape alone, looking for their friend

And because of that: They hear/see hints of another life form, thinking its their roommate

And because of that: They begin to chase after the life form in order to not be alone anymore

And because of that: They travel farther and farther across the unnatural world

And because of that: The life form continues to evade them

And because of that: The rabbit becomes more and more fearful of their roommate leaving them behind

Until finally: The rabbit finally comes face to face with the life form, which is NOT their roommate, and their safety in its presence unclear.

And since that day: The rabbit realizes in their desperate attempt to not be left behind, they only fell deeper into isolation.

And the moral of the story is: Fear of abandonment and isolation can make us desperate for connections, even if they are potentially harmful for us and the others involved

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Story Spline 1

Once upon a time: There was an anthropomorphic rabbit that lived in a world not made for them

And everyday: They would wander the unnatural landscape alone

Until one day: They hear/see hints of another life form

And because of that: They begin to chase after the creature in order to not be alone anymore

And because of that: They travel farther and farther across the unnatural world

And because of that: The creature continues to evade them

And because of that: The rabbit isn’t sure whether the creature actually exists or if it’s a figment of their imagination

And because of that: It becomes unclear whether the creature is chasing the rabbit or if the rabbit is chasing the creature

Until finally: The rabbit finally comes face to face with the creature, their safety in its presence unclear

And since that day: The fate of the rabbit and the creature are unknown, lost to the void of the unnatural world

And the moral of the story is: Fear of abandonment and isolation can make us desperate for connections, even if they are potentially harmful

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The LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS episode “Good Hunting” is only available on Netflix, so it was difficult finding a good video to share here for it.  Nonetheless, the editing and shot composition used throughout this short really speak to me and what I’d like to achieve in my thesis film.

The main thing for me was the different types of shots they switched between. There are many character focused shots, including many fullbody shots. The characters feel immersed in the environment, and whenever a shot isn’t focusing totally on characters, it’s showing casing the environment.  It lingers on the characters, and just barely long enough on environments before going back to its character focus.  This back and forth between close, character-focused shots and wide, environment shots that demonstrate the scale of the space is something I’d love to achieve in my film, with the characters being the driving force between each, even when showing larger environment shots.