Limitations

Hey guys,

I realized something unfortunate yesterday. I had a really clear and funny idea for my senior project at SCAD. It essentially was about a vain handler and her champion show dog. The dog dies during the final best in show judging and the handler is forced to try to convince the judge it's still alive as he makes his final rounds. Everyone I told the story to has enjoyed it and I really want to do it for my project. Unfortunately I realized I can't draw old characters and I can't draw adults. It's very aggravating since I know what I want the characters to look like but for some reason I can't put them down on paper.

My friend (who finished her senior project last term) advised that I do something else. She stressed the importance of really liking your character(s) since you'll be working with them for a long time. Senior project is not the place to learn how to draw people and an old dog. She said I'd struggle with the drawings and end up hating my film. As much as I like my concept I have to agree with her completely. I know I'd have more fun animating something with strictly animal or creature characters in it since that's what I enjoy to draw. I think that enjoyment will be reflected in my work.

Now the problem is coming up with a new non cliche idea. I want to keep it as simple as possible, with one character and an object. The trouble is, all the concepts I've come up with that fit that description have been boring. Fortunately, my concept development teacher said something that sparked an idea. She was talking about phobias and mentioned the fear of germs. That got me thinking, "what if there was a character who was terrified of germs/getting dirty and was forced to get really messy to reach his goal?". I'm brainstorming possibilities for this concept now and I like where things are going. The idea is simple and will allow me to do some pretty nice cartoony animation for when the character freaks out about getting dirty.

I'll see my friend in Gary's class in an hour and will talk to her about my new concept. Hopefully we'll be able to come up with an entertaining story between the two of us.