Here is a summary of the areas of our film that we will explore and how we've used them in our film. Accompanying them are the rough animations of those scenes to convey the intent easier.
Cinematography
Scene 1
We wanted the camera to constantly make the audience aware of the size difference better the characters to reinforce the theme, our first shot of the film, shows the dog monsters shadow erupting from the ground in a barrel of smoke, the boy is shown from a lower angle, cowering in fear.
Scene 2
In scene two the dog monster appears in full form, which we see from an over the shoulder shot on the boy. Considering the do monster is farther away from the camera hear, and by extension, smaller than the boy in the frame, we compensated by having the monster slowly emerge out of the smoke clouds, intimidatingly smiling at the boy, and dominating the scene with its presence.
Scene 3
Scene 3 three shows a side view shot of the dog monster, closing in on the boy and looming evilly over him. This shot shows the monster at full height, and the boy looks smaller and more afraid than ever as a result.
Scene 4
This shot is the only shot in our film that will consist only of 2D animation. This shot is a close up of the dog monster, from the boys POV. The scene starts with the dog looking the audience dead in the eye before pulling back and roaring into the camera.
Scenes 5 to 11
For the Last scenes where the man is snapped back into reality, the camera mirrors the nightmare scenes. The man is shown from a higher angle, not to show his as a dominating presence, but to show he has security and safety now.
These shots have not been completed yet, however they will appear in our animatic at the bottom of this post.
Mise en Scene
We wanted to make several references to the man’s past throughout the film. This is shown through a brief moment when the dog monster first erupts from the cloud of smoke. Two flashes of white like will flash through the scene, highlighting bunkers and double beds in the seemingly empty black room. This moment is supposed to be intentionally a blink and you’ll miss it scene, the other major hints toward his backstory are the cameo trousers he wears, the veterans dog chain necklace the man wears, and the most direct hint, the dogs PTSD Support vest.
Sound
We wanted the first part of our film to be devoid of music, to help set the tone. We felt this would emphasise the dark and dramatic atmosphere we wanted.
To further establish the connection between he Monster and its relationship with war, the sounds of gunfire, shouting and explosions will be heard echoing in the distance, gaining volume the closer it gets to the boy.
Then when the man is snapped back into reality, tone shifts and upon reconciling with the dog, the scene becomes ambient. Ending the short film on a more quiet yet uplifting moment, as he finds peace of mind now that he knows his do was there to comfort him.
Editing
To incorporate the 2D shots into our films, we will simply green screen them in, Aaron created the 3D environments in Maya and sent me screenshots of the final camera angles, form there I went ahead and animated the 2D segments on top of them.
When the Dog monster roars into the camera in scene 4, A flash of white light envelops the frame and the film cuts to daytime.
Lighting
Follow German Expressionist film making and Film Noir to a certain extent, we wanted our nightmare scene have chiaroscuro effect, harsh black shadows will dominate the scene, with the only light directing the audience’s attention to the boy and dog monster. This lighting will be an intense yellow.
Towards the end of the film, the scene becomes brightly lit with warm oranges and yellows, so its not totally unlike the nightmare scene, but has a definite calmer and more peaceful feeling.
Animatic
Taking all this into account we made our animatic to best see how the film flows.
Our feedback for the animatic was positive and we weren't asked to make much changes. We definitely need to work more on sound in order to convey the sense of panic and tension present in the scene. But otherwise our pacing and narrative will remain the same. Yuan asked us to put more emphasis on the scale of the dog monster to really hit home how daunting and big a threat it is.
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