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I was asked if I was choosing a specific culture or setting for my film.  I answered that my characters will look more Asian because of the way I draw.  The backgrounds will look like the woods in Beauty and the Beast [if it weren't for the dialogue, I wouldn't know it was set in France].  The following is my research on different parts of the world I liked.  I don't want my work to look culturally set in Asia because this film is not directed at that demographic only.  Healing of Snow has a universal theme with layers of different characteristics found in us as humans, the choices that parents make for their children, the desires of freedom from children, and relationships with nature.

I was looking at German forests for the mood:

I don't like how thin branches are in Canada and China, so I'm looking at European forests.  Here's Russia:

And finally, France [their winter is kind of dull, but they do have the Alps]:

Canada has this though, Aurora Borealis:

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NOVEMBER:  Story, character design, storyboards

11.19 - 11.21    Nice Storyboards
11.23 - 11.28    Color bars / chart / script

DECEMBER:  Styling, more color concepts, visual development


12.3 - 12.5        Location Viz Dev
12.19 - 12.22    Style frame combos  [hand-watercolor, digital texture, outlined]
12.29 - 12.31    Viz Dev other possibilities  [Africa, Inuit]

JANUARY:     Finalize characters, testing styles and snow effects, and get faculty together for PRELIM
**APPROXIMATION:  Subject to change due to class schedule**


o1.o4 - o1.o8    Final renders and sketch compilations [expressions and anatomy] of characters
o1.1o - o1.13    Visual test of spinning and / or scene of style chosen
o1.17 - o1.21    Ask digital teacher's opinion
o1.21 - o1.23    Make changes to tests if needed
o1.28 - o1.3o    Prepare for Thesis Preliminary Presentation [get faculty together, too]

FEBRUARY:  Catch up on tests, start animating, constantly get feedback, think about sound


MARCH:         Keep animating and getting feedback, make rough sound to animated scenes


APRIL:            Present to thesis class again, keeping animating and cut together scenes


MAY:               Continue process, school ends


**Work progress during the summer if no internship**


**FALL 2O11:  PRODUCTION:  COLORING**
**SPRING 2O12:  SOUND AND FINAL TWEAKING**


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ESTIMATED BUDGET  [subject to change when necessary]!

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I wrote this as a requirement, but I figure I should post it as a more concise way of telling the story and why I'm doing it.  :]

pitch  This animated film is about a little girl who tries to understand nature through an outing with her overprotective father, ends up experiencing it in her own way, but has that experience taken away from her through a violent end. 

Details  Separation through the breaching of trust is the main focus of my film.  It is about NATURE vs. NUTURE; an innocence in exploration of the world around a child, but having a guide that doesn’t practice what he preaches.  The protectiveness of the father figure seems natural, but his scolding character muddles him trying to instill nature into his daughter while hunting at the same time.  The daughter recognizes this protectiveness as a control net, and leaves to go explore nature for herself.  A snowstorm separates them, and 

we meet some of nature’s creations, the wild versions of “man’s best and loyal friend,” wolves.   

The daughter, at first frightened of the alpha dog, soon develops a relationship with him on her own.  They spend the night discovering things about one another, and try to stay warm.  The next morning, the girl wakes and excited that the storm has passed, she runs out to enjoy the white blanket that covers the grounds.  The wolf comes out and starts to play with the little girl, meanwhile the father is out looking for his daughter. He hears laughter from a distance and cautiously scouts the area while approaching the openness of the two playing.  He raises his hunting gun and is taken aback with what he sees.  The gun raises again and a shot is heard; only one of the two lives…   

concept   This film reflects the estrangement I have with my parents since I have met my significant other.  My parents taught me that having an open mind to everything was the best way to walk through life, but rejecting the person I want to spend my life with at the same time.  They don’t acknowledge that I am my own person, and fear that they can’t protect me if I don’t carve the same path in life.  This film results in a tragedy since my own situation is not resolved, and will not be solved in a positive way. 

Technique  Joanna Lurie from France was awarded for her film “The Silence Beneath the Bark.”  This style interests me because of the innocence that is conveyed in a child-like graphic quality.  The trees were photographs filtered so that it became an imprint as backgrounds.  The characters were done in 3-D but flattened to resemble 2-D with textured bodies.  I will not be using these techniques.  I am still experimenting with materials such as scrapbook paper, but the final animation is going to be digital in the 2D aspect.  Lastly, music and dialogue will be absent from the film so that viewers can be fully immersed in the ambience of nature and action. 

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Real references to finesse the little girl's character, LUMI.

Using this blog post--all work is NOT MINE, but pooled form deviantart.com  [links are from each artist respectively].

CL4551C P0R7R4175:  Keeping the little girl aspect, but some are more with nature.  I like the reddish tints.  The theme will be in Autumn, to the First Frost of Winter.  First one depicts the mood just right, a little harsh in lighting, but I will fix that in the animation!  Also, scale is opposite.  The wolf is bigger than Lumi.  This is Snow Walk:

Snow Walk
Moment
Yes, My Lord
Something Beatutiful
Eyes Full of Autumn Sky
Last of the Mohiacans
Inside A Dream
Model Julia
Angel Kathleen
Muzyka
My Tears...My Pain...
Eternal
Red Secrecy
With Your Wild
In Memory of Innocence
Iga and Felicjan

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These are important!  Well, humans tend to name EVERYTHING...I agree~

The names were actually in the sketches in two posts prior, but I'll write them again with links to my research:

The Little Girl  [Protagonist]

LUMI:  Means "snow" in Finnish.  It also means "light" in Latin.

KO:  Originally I wanted it to be YUKIKO, which is Japanese for yuki "snow / happiness / joy / valuable / reason" and ko "child."  However, I didn't want it to be a "Japanese girl."  Love the culture and the language, since it was a perfect name, but I decided to take the "ko" part and use it as their last name.  I prefer mixing cultures and race up!  That's what people get when there is a mixed child...hehe.

The Father [Antagonist]:

EDMUND:  English, German, and Polish usage.  Old English for "rich protector," ead "rich / blessed," and mund "protector."  It's supposed to be ironic, because the ending [his actions] is against this name's meaning...dundundun.


The Wolf  [Change Character]:
LYALL:  English [rar usage].  Scottish surname derived from Old Norse given name Liulfr [derived from ulfr "wolf"].

Technically, two of the characters change, but the Father instigates the whole story [so it works like like a triangular circle].  Edmund overprotects Lumi, but it's unclear if he's doing it for her own good or if he enjoys telling her what to do.  Lumi gets upset because she is trying to explore nature, and does so [but gets lost].  Lyall saves Lumi at first trying to eat her, but realizes she trusts him in her half-frozen state.  The two finally form a bond, but Edmund steps in and kills it.  Then we go, "Why??"  "WHY???"

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The Process was just about to begin...  Nature stuff, and snowscapes seem like a popular thing...  Why?  Why is it every time I have an idea, everyone has it at the same time, too??  Here goes...

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These are real....rusty isn't even a good word.  It's been a while since I've done real character sketches.  Oh well.  Practice makes nicer.  First pass.  :]