"Spokesanimal."

[THROBBS]

Beautiful!

In my own world, he's only normal squirrel size. He is, however, capable of throwing a truck.

He's a subtle guy.

...

That IS a normal sized squirrel! An UNDERsized bicycle. How big do you think I am?

...

...
I hope that someone in movie land finds this as much fun as I do, because I'm having a blast writing it. I can just see the poor, pinned little spokesfox now - "Not the face! Not the face!"

Do you imagine Flat cell animation?
CG animation?
Are the characters anthropomorphized beyond just speaking? ~standing on hind legs? wearing jackets and no pants (donald duck, porky pig, peter rabbit), wearing full sets of miniature people clothes?

 

[BlackShanglan]

Do you imagine Flat cell animation?
CG animation?
Are the characters anthropomorphized beyond just speaking? ~standing on hind legs? wearing jackets and no pants (donald duck, porky pig, peter rabbit), wearing full sets of miniature people clothes?

You think like an artist! This is a really neat set of questions for a writer to ponder.

I think I'm imagining CG animation. But flat cell could aso work. I think that the nature of the story (a near-future science fiction sort of setting) seems to sync with a CG approach and a sleeker, shinier feel to it.

The characters are not anthropomorphized physically. Mentally, they have a lot in common with humans, but physically they look pretty much like ordinary animals. One of them is much larger than the species normally runs, but otherwise they look like normal animals.

That's one of the things I really enjoyed about the movie of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." I didn't really want to see animals with human-shaped bodies standing there in little sets of clothes, but I realized from my awed surprise and delight at the animation in the movie that I had somehow still been expecting the little-sets-of-clothes approach. Thank goodness for their decision to make the animals look like animals.

 

[THROBBS]

gotcha.

So a BIT more like what one might have seen in Lion and witch et al or Babe..or Charlotte's Web?
On all fours (exceptin' the birds and fish...and snakes...and some primates well and insects they'd be on sixes 8's and up...)

talking in english not telepathy or something like that.

They might have "props"?
Do they live in holes, burrows, dens...or homes?

(just curious... you might be able to just gloss over some of this?)

 

[BlackShanglan]

gotcha.

So a BIT more like what one might have seen in Lion and witch et al or Babe..or Charlotte's Web?
On all fours (exceptin' the birds and fish...and snakes...and some primates well and insects they'd be on sixes 8's and up...)

Yes, although I think that live-action mix might not be the best choice, simply because the animals are the center of attention for so much of it. Possibly more of an all-CGI (if I'm right in guessing that that is what that is!) like "Over the Hedge." Please forgive me if I'm completely wrong in guessing that that's what the movie's animation style is.

talking in english not telepathy or something like that.

Tricky one. Right now, at least one of the central group of characters speaks English. I'm trying to decide about the others. There's a plot point that seems to work best if it's just the one who speaks English, but they all need to speak to each other ... might need to tweak the plot point and just go with "everyone can speak." It seems to make more sense that way.

They might have "props"?
Do they live in holes, burrows, dens...or homes?

(just curious... you might be able to just gloss over some of this?)

They have the intelligence to use props; none of them has any personal possessions, but one of them is familiar with some types of human technology and regularly uses them.

They live, at least at the beginning, in a laboratory; they're prototypes and display samples for the budding business. Where they would normally live depends on their designed purpose. Some are military applications, some are designed for domestic work, and others are covert ops products. One of the scenes I'm quite enjoying at the moment is one in which they manage to gain access to their own files and find out what they were made for. Surprises all 'round.

 

[THROBBS]

Sounds great!

CGI covers LOT of techniques...
can be with our with live actors.
even cell (flat) animation has been used along with live actors (mary poppins, roger rabbit).

Over the hedge is a 3d cartoon... space, volume and atmosphere.
Babe... utilized CG and puppetry (ADVANCED)
Lion Witch... CG and live sometimes scenes are shot with live stand-ins semi costumed so the actor shad something to react to. Then CG animated characters are added.

The technology is available to do it whatever way you like.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Sounds great!

CGI covers LOT of techniques...
can be with our with live actors.
even cell (flat) animation has been used along with live actors (mary poppins, roger rabbit).

Over the hedge is a 3d cartoon... space, volume and atmosphere.
Babe... utilized CG and puppetry (ADVANCED)
Lion Witch... CG and live sometimes scenes are shot with live stand-ins semi costumed so the actor shad something to react to. Then CG animated characters are added.

The technology is available to do it whatever way you like.

So ... is "Over the Hedge" a CGI 3d cartoon? *confuddles*

I was thinking that CGI = computer generated images, and the style there had that sleek, polished, not-drawn look to it. Or am I confusing two different things with each other?

 

[THROBBS]

So ... is "Over the Hedge" a CGI 3d cartoon? *confuddles*

I was thinking that CGI = computer generated images, and the style there had that sleek, polished, not-drawn look to it. Or am I confusing two different things with each other?

Computer generated images are as slick as the program and operator can make 'em.

yep..Over the Hedge IS CGI "3d" (not the kind you view with bi colored glasses) and a "cartoon" (in that the characters are not "realistically" rendered).

But the LOOK can be MUCH more "real"...as in Lion and witch...

and combined with real footage.

Lord of the Rings has combo stuff.

Gollum is an interesting hybrid... a live actor... with a special suit on and image capture and meshed with CGI charcater "attached" to his movements.

I wouldn't worry about the details of HOW it done. Just how you'd like it to LOOK.

 

[BlackShanglan]

I would worry about the details of HOW it done. Just how you'd like it to LOOK.

Well, the blessing and curse of my role is that I won't actually get the say in it. It's something like the injunction against describing character hair or eye color. The director gets to make those calls. I just get to do characters, voice, dialogue, general setting, and structure.

Still, it's fun imagining it.

 

[THROBBS]

whuups! I had intended to type wouldn't.

Ineedy, it is fun!
I barely know what you are doing and I am having vicarious fun imagining.

Animation is amazing stuff.
The audience is usually oblivious to just how much acting is done by the animators. An animator has to be skilled in facial and body expression as well as the technology to make it happen (which is generally a whole slew of animators for CGI, especially.