The treatments for the four scripts are done. The interesting thing about writing within ten minutes: I started and nearly finished the script for episode one right after I finished what kind of flow I was trying to do for the entire series. I have limited real estate to work with. The goal is to get a lot of detail and the viewer to care about the characters and their mission within ten pages. Already I’m hammering at editing the script to kick out extra worthless things and develop an efficient “show it rather than say it” routine. This is where my old days teaching creative writing comes in handy. I’ll have to make the ‘viewer’ a willing participant in what I’m trying to do and get them to come to conclusions.
The series is action-packed but it still needs to have a purpose.
I’ve also updated the schedule a bit on my end (the unseen to-do list on my iPad that kind of mirrors the one on this page. A few minor things like actually hiring a storyboard artist. At one point, I was going to just do it myself. I’m the only one animating this thing so I can make out my own chicken scratch.
Then it occurred to me I eventually need to showcase said chicken scratch as part of the marketing materials so I’d better dress it up a bit. Over the weekend I posted around for someone on Fiverr.com. We’ll see how that turns out.
[Update – 1/20/22] – Retract that. I’m doing it myself, just taking my time. The quality of work being offered up is a notch above crap for the fees some people are asking for. And the really professional work is outside of the budget. This goes the same for me searching for a little help with the rigs themselves. I’m actually getting very far with the skillset I have and paying those outrageous prices for this little project that just amounts to no financial return to me would be insane.
Right now, I’m just plugging away at developing the characters, getting them rigged, and then looking for someone to tighten them up If I can’t. The actual grind of animation starts at the end of February unless I can get started sooner. Notice I placed deadlines at a comfortable distance. No pressure on this project. After all, it ends the 4th quarter of the year. Plenty of time if I don’t waste it BSing on Facebook.
Yeah, I’ve pulled out of chatting on social media to devote time to this project. Amazing how much work you get done.
Oh! Also, I’ve also started animating the next TikTok video. That sort of thing needs to happen regularly. It’s brief. It keeps sharpening skills and acts as a branding method to keep ‘FanC3D’ out there while my head is buried under 4Flights stuff. More importantly, it helps me tinker with animation improvement.
One last thing: I created a logo for the 4Flights series. I don’t like it but I’m also not going to spend money for someone to create it for me. Did that already for ‘FanC3D’…never used it … ended up slapping my own together and that was a waste of money. Since I have time and the logo wasn’t necessarily scheduled, I’ll simmer over it and improve it over time. I’ve got till July for that kind of reveal.
