Requiem

After a long hiatus, I have finally returned to continue to document the early stages of formation for Delirium Studios.  So, to catch everyone up, here is what has been going on;

• Got a chance to do an informational interview (by request of my Career Management class) with one of the owners of Amalgamated Dynamics, and a cinematographer from Pixar.  I strongly suggest anyone that wants to get into the industry do this, from time to time.  Not only does it help clear up some issues, it gives you a chance to pick the brains of those already in the industry, and helps get your name out there.

• Met with some members of SCORE.  SCORE is an organization that falls under the classification of the SBA (Small Business Administration) and is comprised of a bunch of retired CEO's, owners, lawyers, specialists, etc geared to help prospective entrepreneurs.  Needless to say, the first meeting went well, and I'm looking forward to the next one in May.

• An appointment has been made for June to attend a grant writing workshop, sponsored by the NC Arts Council.  From this workshop, I will then apply for their RAPG.  This is a small grant, along the lines of $1,000 to $1,500, but will fund the next item I am going to tell you about.

• Finally decided on a direction to go, with very specific goals and mile markers.  During this last year of school, I am going to be developing a short animation to take around to film festivals.  Based on how that animation is received, I will then begin seeking investors and other avenues of funding to produce a full-length feature.  If all of this goes according to plan, I will then begin research and development on HIDM.

• It was a lengthy and heartbreaking selection process, but I have narrowed the field down to the one story I am going to be pouring my efforts in to over the next year, Desolation.

But, to pick up, in a manner, of where I left off before I shut the blog down over three months ago, I am going to detail the process of taking an idea and turning it into a reality.  The pipeline...  the pipeline is a necessary evil, it is a bittersweet means to an end.  Everyone has one, and every one of them are faulty...  even mine.  With that being said, somehow it all comes together in the end.  There are typically three stages to every pipeline; pre-production, production, and post-production.  And yes, they have to go in the order.  The reason for this "pipeline" is to help ensure that everything goes to plan.  As you can imagine, the better you prepare early on, the better your chances are for success, especially if there are millions of dollars tied up in a project.

In the weeks to come, I am going to break down the pipeline I have clung to for the past few years and detail, in tandem, the production of Desolation.  But to add one last word of wisdom, learn to embrace the pipeline and understand that it is going to evolve over time.  Be limber, because eventually you are going to have to adapt yourself and your thoughts to what is going to work best and produce the best results.  Below is an outline of the topics I'm going to cover in the future. 

Pre-Production

• Idea
• Story/Scenes
• Script
• Concept Art/Reference Images/Pre-Viz
• Cinematography Studies
• Storyboards
• Recording Audio

Production

• Modeling Characters/Environments/Assets
• Rigging
• Keyframes
• Timing
• Texturing
• Lighting

Post-Production

• Comp
• Clean-up
• Post-Mortem