First Music & Sound bits

Hi, been working on finishing some details for the backgrounds and been animating some inbetweens and secondery actions.
I'm in the final 2 shots, so finishing before weekend and then basically ready to scan it all and start to put it all together.

From the minute I finish scanning and organize it all , I really should be able to finish the project in a week or 2, cause AE running comp already exists (the only problem is the timing that i already did and now i have to re do again because now these are the final drawing and also some of the shots have more frames UNLESS jack, you told me u know a way to use what i've got as a reference and i think it's possible).

Anyway, here's what Nick (my sound guy did):

He worked on 2 parts: the airport section and the beginning.
I really like the beginning, cause it's a playful scene and it's not suppose to be dramaic. It's fun and matching the images which is great!

The Airport section is wonderful, cause i love Jazz music and it suit it perfectly.
I just can't believe how much sound and music contribute...
Anyway, i told him i love it. If any of u see this, feel free to give me feedback!

See u next week !!

New Title and Backgrounds done!

Hi, quick update...

Finished Backgrounds. Now i'm tracing the lines with a darker pencil, adding some details.
Will finish it over the weekend.

Next week, i'm going back to the animation and filling some inbetweens and secondary actions (more frames in some shots).

After that everything will basically be ready for composition in AE.

The drawings and backgrounds will be imported into photoshop to match aspect ratio.
The drawings will have to be lined up (peg).

From there i bring it into the AE file and start placing the process.

And Jack - i'm going with your title, so thanks for thinking about it.

Don't have anything to add....

Hi there, to anyone out there (probably no one :) - don't have much to update..
I've been working on my backgrounds for the past 2 weeks.
LAST background to go and i'm ready to go over them with pencils and fill them with grey tones.

I'm working on the interior house and the outside when Minnie starts running.....i haven't decided if it's a neighborhood or a lonely house on a hill...like a country side or just a quiet area??

Scanning some of the rough planning sketches tomorrow!

Other then that - have a new sound guy (very nice and talented person, his name is Nico and he got the files from me. Will start running some experiments soon)

That's it i think.... upload some stuff to show tomorrow!!

Backgrounds!

I finished with most of the Animation. I will get back to it after I'll finalize my backgrounds.
I still have 20-30% animation to complete (mostly secondery actions and inbetweens here and there for the sake of fluid animation, but the shots are done as far as i concern.
The only thing is that once i'll finish with the rest of it, i'll do a revision and make sure the design sticks all the way through, check details and lines.

I started to work on my backgrounds in the middle of last week. Got 6 done + prop design that i already finished from concept art stage.

Over the weekend i've completed 2 rough layouts - the interior house design and the Zoom on the shelf from the dog's view.

It takes a little bit' of time cause' i trace the lines with a light box after each time i finish a background to have a clean look.

My goal is to try and finish a few backgrounds every week.
Will probably upload some soon.

That's it for now...

Running Edit and DVD Cover

O.k. Here is a running edit timed (Not Final).

Still lots of work, BUT not much as i already done.

Now i just noticed that i didn't scale the animation up (silly me), so sorry about it...will export it again, but hope you'll still be able to see and understand.

Another thing is the end which isn't clear right now, because i still need to finish off 2 shots i added and also finish off the animation and timing. Then it will make much more sense and we will understand the ticket is there and so is the guy realize how far his dog went.

I'm happy it's shorter now - under 3 minutes - what i really wanted in the beginning and i will try to keep it short when i time the final piece. In the animatic it's 4 + minutes....

Please please please feel free to criticize and comment (Jack - i will add the ticket under the ball and she will take the ball with the ticket all the way!!! - and think about a new title!!! :)

I thought about "all the way" , "Rolling", "Best friends" ......i don't know....I'm lost, help me! :)

Other then that, let me know what do u think overall !!!

I already wrote that i will add the 20% animation left in the next stage (milestones 2), but majority of the animation is done.

Now as for the Milestones:

1 - i have a running comp (+ timing)

2 - rough soundtrack is on the way (Probably be ready this weekend or next week from the sound guy)

3 - Animation: 2 last shots to finish inbetweens for and I'm done (but can't finish it by this weekend just because of the god@#@@$n essay....
I will probably looking at next weekend.

Then I'll decide if to finish off Animation completely, or finish backgrounds first and then continue with the 20% left.



In the meanwhile, this is my cover. Very very simple...few days ago i had a better idea to improve it, but i was working the entire weekend and now it's too late....but maybe after the film would be ready I'll put myself into it more..want to color it and add more details...
That's it for now.

New Synopsis and more progress

So this week i basically took a little break from animation (I'm going back to animate my last shots over the weekend).

I started to time my shots in AE.

I'm starting to see how's the animation coming together now shot by shot and it's g-r-e-a-t to see how far away I'm into production...

It was a great idea to start a running comp early because of that.

My personal goal is to try and push and finish Animation by the end of next week (even over the weekend).
That's because now when i time it all, i realise i have to sharpen the timing and add some secondary movement to Minnie's ears and fix a few frames, adding details etc...

So basically I'm starting to look at the other 20% of my animation which i reckon isn't hard anymore, because it's like "filling" the missing frames for more movement (wagging tail, ears moving around more, ease in & out, details and refinements).

Every shot that i finish inbetweens for is already checked, so being aware of these details like the ears and other small things - i just write on a piece of paper i call animation notes, and when the time comes to finish it off (which is the 20% animation remaining) i refer back to that page and fix what needed to be fixed.

Other then that i sent the Animatic to the sound guy (also after a meeting which i gave him the moodscape of the soundtrack for the film).
He should have a very rough version by next week.

That's it for now!

Visual development and design

O.k, so i just realized i didn't upload any images or stuff that inspired me, and decided it's better late then never :)
This is the finals from very very long visual development process of finding the designs that i wanted.
The pictures are from my house in Jerusalem, of Minnie from the last visit.
The props are stuff i have in my room. I thought it's cool and makes it even more personal.

I promise i will start posting some pencil tests real soon on my other blog. I hope in the next two weeks!.

I just finished organizing the composites in folders, so the structure is set.
The structure is: Scene...1 - Folders of the shots (Shot...1, 2, 3...) and inside of them the animation clips i've done so far and the layout is ready to be there once i'll have some...

Now i have to time it roughly so i can send it quickly to the sound guy for rough sound!
I also have to finish my last few shots (see the ticket, pick up the dog...) and i'm kind of ready for backgrounds !!!!

Goals For Week 5

1 - I expect to have 80% of my Animation Done. By that i aim to finish Keys and inbetweens, so when i start timing it in AE and the time comes and i see that i have to add a frame or two, it's not much drawings anymore, but several to polish the timing.

*For that i write down special notes on paper for the specific shots i've finished and i assume that needs extra drawing here and there.

2 - Have some kind of running Comp' - with Animatic as referance and some rough sound.

*Met the sound guy on Monday morning - wrote him a moodscape and my expectations.

Inbetweens!!!!

O.k, if not for the beginning of the semester, i probably wouldn't see sunlight for at least a few more weeks :(
Just joking...i need to pay rent, eat, and do other stuff to live...

O.k, o.k, i finished ALL the Keys and it's crazy, i didn't realize how many drawings...it's like the entire animation of last year or even more (just the keys!!!).

It's all set now for the technical part - the inbetweens.
It's basically takes a lot of time and patient cause' some of them can't be done "on Automatic"...because there are details that need careful attention - ears, tail, blinks...
On top of it pencil tests takes time as well - to see that it's working.
Sometimes i add extra frames (i prefer to have more frames then i need so when i get to time the animation in AE, i can always play with the timing of the action)

BUT i'm happy i got to that part - every week i'll try to finish a shot or two (almost finished 2 shots already, so that's great!).

and i really really hope that between mid' to the end of August i'll be able to finish all the animation and start my backgrounds.

I'm excited i can actually think about starting the backgrounds - a thought that was ssooooo far away 2-3 months ago....

Drawing, drawing, drawing...

O.k, i haven't been updating for a while now...
BUT i managed to do a lot.
I'm still working on my key-frames (but i also completed some important breakdowns and inbetweens for important parts).

I almost finished all of the shots - now it's just 3 major shots i have to do keys for:

1 - The guy sitting down in the airport sad and frustrated when he suddenly sees Minnie.
2 - Thinks what to do once realize she brought him the ticket.
3 - Picks her up and hugs her (2 shots).

For the last week I've been doing revision of all the shots and the keys i completed. I ended up fixing and improving the design, proportions and the details.

This is maybe the 3rd or the 4th time i went over the animation i've done and i noticed how important it is to do it every time i finish a shot or two (like back-up process), mainly because sometimes you don't stick to the design (the position of the ear or the length of the leg changes a little bit).

And it's also amazing how the drawings becoming more and more solid and appealing with time - since the 2 weeks term break when i started to work on the keys, only now after 3-4 drawings of the same pose for every frame, I'm almost satisfied.

You become more familiar with the design. think about the acting more..

Anyway...hopefully will start to upload some pencil tests soon.

Progress Summary

O.k, so far so good. According to my schedule i managed to handle all the goals i wanted to finish by now (and even more):

All Pre-production artwork and administrative issues were finished before the time i set for myself. I also improved the design and the model sheets as well as the concept art.

With my Animation Production timetable, I'm actually taking a different approach then i planned (From Jack), in the beginning.
(If you look in my production plan page, you'll see that i planned to work my animation in a specific way: shot by shot so that each week I'm taking each shot from thumbnails stage to final pencil test).

The new method: At first i create all the rough Key Frames (detailed) for the entire Animation. Then i add the breakdowns and Inbetweens. I test the movements all the time as i go. Once it's all working in terms of motion i continue adding the details and fill in important gaps.
My aim is to try and finish the Animation During the break (towards middle-end of July), so then the only thing i would have to worry about would be backgrounds, some inbetweens and refinements (details). The next stage would be Post-Production.

Even though I'm not following the timetable i posted on my blog - i still managed to cover all the shots i described there.

Update - week 10-11

So far i have been working on my Key frames for the entire animation and also some important in-betweens.
I started to work on these when we had the 2 weeks break, but i keep improving the poses and replacing them again and again.
I'm never happy with stuff i do - and too objective sometimes with my own work (which is good because it's pushing myself more and more, but sometimes it's too much and too extreme and i actually need to take it easy...but i know i can't :(

Anyway, I'm trying to do something almost every day so when the time comes after the semester break, the only thing i would have to do is to refine details and add in-betweens to some shots. I'm aiming to get as much animation done as i can (finish if i will be able to handle my job and the time for the animation at the same time) - at least keys and some in-betweens.

the shot we have to submit to Jack in Week 12 kept me busy too. I draw thumbnails to work out the keys and the timing, then tested again and again and then in the 3rd attempt it worked and i just completed all the details and the inbetweens. Now it's only several frames i have to add before testing the shot for the last time.

I'm kind of happy with the result - not completely and i don't know why....again(Too hard on myself).
Anyway - i will start posting some fun stuff that i did and didn't have the chance to show - character design and concept art. also some pencil tests...

That's it for now..

500 Words Review

Pre Production Process:

For me Pre Production started earlier than expected - During the 2nd semester of the 2nd year i started to develop the script which was based on my dog.
I started with a completely different idea, and continued developing it, because some elements were good and the potential was there.

After my dog died, it pushed me to think harder about what i really wanted to say and so the idea for the progressed script started to evolve and became what it is today.

It was hard for me to bring something so personal to the screen (especially a 4 legged character which isn't easy to animate - but because it's hard, that's something i'll be happy to do in animation).
I'm happy with the message and because it's personal, it's really important for me to do my best and push forward.

The Final draft is much more directed towards my moral, but I'm still not 100% sure it's the best i could come up with. I might play with the final edit in the end.

I enjoy every second of the process - especially the character designs and the artwork.
My dog was a female western highland terrier, so i looked at a lot of photos of her and tried to think about a good structure.

Because terriers got lots of hair, it's hard to see their shape, so when i designed Minnie, i thought that for me, it would be easier if i simplify her shape (remove most of the hair, but still leave a little bit: like the top of her head).
I really wanted to make an appealing design because she was so cute.
her facial details were something i worked on since the break, so i can get used to her features (small muzzle, long ears..).

With the guy, i looked at old singers because i love the old fashion look (Sinatra).
The guy wasn't easy but wasn't hard for me to think of in terms of design. I started to think about his design last year and came up with several characters and i looked at some cartoons and caricatures for references. Eventually i came up with what i have (upload soon) now, and it took me a few months.

The poses and the expressions are the best part. Makes me think again and again about structure and facial aspects. I keep improving these sheets all the time until the last minute. Even now when i'm doing key poses, i keep changing details sometimes and get to know the shapes better.

What i didn't enjoy so much was the Administrative issues.
I understand the importance of all the aspects involved in a production and i did everything i had to do to plan it carefully, but most of the time this term was spent on that instead of the art of making our film - which is crucial because it's all about the skills we need to bring this vision to life on the screen.

There were no particular classes that assessed us on colour, character designs, life drawing, poses and performance - by that i mean that we aren't dealing with art in school, but just with technical stuff (pushing buttons, software and Digital tools).

For me this is the most important thing in animation because our ideas would eventually have to be visual - and through these visuals we communicate (people have to understand what they see).
I think much could have been spent on the actual artistic development and skills (what makes good character design??, drawing and sketching, colour and mood techniques - experiment with different mediums, sculpture, principles of animation, structure, posing etc...)

Half of what we submit is artwork (Mood Board, Model Sheets, Concept Art...) and we're just supposed to hand it in, but there's not even attention to teach these in class, so i don't really understand how an Animation degree works without any teaching of art foundations ???

The assumption that we already know is wrong. There are ways to study these things: how to plan perspective, how to paint, to structure a character, life drawing for understanding of posing for animation (Thank you Jack for doing that stuff this year).
I don't know about others, but at least for 2d animation which is what I'm focusing on, that's what we should be dealing with when we study and that's critical for the success of the film.

Overall Pre Production was enjoyable and important for the next step. The storyboards were detailed and i found that it was good for the planning of the shots and the final compositions. Scriptwriting process is great and the story and character development as well.

Man's Best Friend Animatic

Not the most amazing quality, but good enough.
A few things:
Timing is not perfect - the overall piece is 4:20 but can easily be 2:20 or less. I just need to cut the time of the camera moves and when Minnie is in the house alone before she sees the ticket.
So it's going to be shorter.
Towards the end When we see the guy's face - there's a moment of realization that he decides to stay for the dog and leave the ball and the ticket behind after he understands that Minnie came all the way with the ticket- it's just an extra shot after he sees Minnie.
That's really important.

Talking to Jack about the story, he mentioned something really really really important i didn't 100% realise before i did my Animatic. In the story, the dog suddenly sees the ticket and thinking how to bring it to his master, so it looks towards the door and thinks how to get out of the house. That's where the big change comes in - insted of making a really smart classic hero dog, the entire idea is to create a situation where Minnie sees the ball and happy to see (not even noticing that the ticket stuck to it behind) it as she would like to play again, From being sad, she all of a sudden happy and picks up the ball (not looking at the door lock) and goes to the yard to try and jump...from here it's the same story line until she gets to the airport and when she has the ball - her master don't notice that the ticket is stuck behind. He ignores as she's the last thing on his mind because he's about to miss his flight....but then he sees the ball and realize it's because of her that he can make it to his flight on time, but decides eventually that she's his best friend, so he stays.

I'm thinking which direction i want to take it. It's another suggestion for development. One thing i didn't think of when i looked again at my story was when Minnie looks at the door but it's locked - this shot is going to be cut off because the door can't be locked from the inside if the master left.

After break Update

During the break i started to work on my key frames for the entire animation. Some of the poses were also inbetweens, as i had to figure out the entire movement for specific shots. I'm half way through rough poses and expressions. I also added few movements that i think would contribute to the feeling.
Still lots of work needs to be done, but i'm solving these poses now (which is great, cause it gives me time in the future to improve everything as well). Once i have the keys, i'll start add the other keys and then inbetweens.

While doing that, i finished a piece of concept art (Which is also part of my layout design). I'm doing the second piece these days.

I improved my character design as well.

Animatic is ready as well.

Ready to work only on animation now, so that's good. It's about time..

Update week 8

Finished this week:

- Pipeline proof

- Bear project

- Camera moves + started my Animatic

- Really important key pose for the final scene (part of the artwork).

Goals for the holidays:

- Start working on the key poses for the entire animation - shot by shot.

- As i already started to work on the layout design - i need to really start working on final layout (i find it hard, cause' it's hard for me to choose the design i want. (at least i finished my important props).

- My animatic is in Final stages, so i believe i'll finish it today or the next few days.. So, basically for the holidays i'm planning to do only artwork and animation.

PipeLine Proof

So this is a very very very rough example of how i'm going to approach my post production stage. These are NOT the colours i'll use (if i'll have the time of course) and after i exported it, i saw it's very slow as well. That's not important, but the way i've done it was to create different layers - midground, background and forground with Alpha C' (Actually Jack did and recorded himself showing me). Then i saw i'll have to measure my drawings so i won't lose information when i adjust the settings to HD (16:9). The other thing was to make sure that the background line drawings are closed and clean. With the Animation - i inked one frame and created an Alpha C'. Then i created the movement of the clouds moving and Minnie running across.

That's basically how my elements are going to be layed out.

Update Week 7

I managed to finish some of my goals this week:

1 - Finished the few props i wanted from last week.

2 - Went over the lines and cleaned up some of it for the Pipeline Proof.

3 - The 2-3 backgrounds i wanted to finish are PARTLY ready - the first stage was to construct the layout - to get the perspective right. Now i just need to add the details and the texture.

4 - I cropped the images from the storyboard and numbered them for the Animatic. I have the SFX ready. All i have to do now is to make the camera moves in AE and export them as QuickTime Clips and import it into Final-Cut. From there i just have to work out the timing and to match the SFX.

The only reason i haven't started the Animatic yet, is because of the pipeline proof and the Bear project. The pipeline proof is nearly ready and the same with the bear for VFX Class - i have to finish both next week (Due on week 8).
Once i'll get them both out of my way, i'll have the time to work on my Animatic (Even during the break) so when i get back, i could start animating.

So, my goals for next week are:

- Finish the bear project for VFX and hand it in (Finish with the wire removal tool, created the explosion and now i just need to work on the details and hand it in).

- Finish the pipeline proof and upload it to my blog (just have to ink one of my frames, create an Alpha Channel and import it into AE - position the frame as if it's a run cycle behind the tree to interact with the background, export and i finished.

- Create the camera moves i need for my specific frames and export as quick times. Save the SFX i found on Soundtrack pro in folder, so i can use it in my Animatic.

Update week 6

Busy week!, I managed to finish my goals this week:

SFX (Rough) - ready for the Animatic (Found even more SFX in Soundtrack Pro which i'm probably going to use in the final piece). With the soundtrack i'm going to use bits and pieces from famous themes just to have a proper reference for the music i'm aiming to get.
After i have the Animatic running as a file, i'll have an example of what kind of music i want for the sound design people.

StoryBoard - Done (ready to be scanned) - the storyboard is long just because i worked out my movement (rough key frames of the entire animation).

Character Design (poses and expressions) - Done
(Also finished the illustrations (photos) of Minnie and the guy together - to show their relationship).

Prop Design - Done.

Pipeline Proof - Done (The layout is pretty much what i wanted - i might change the elements, but overall it's ready). I finished rough Animation of Minnie, an 8 frames run cycle.


Upcoming goals for next week:

1 - finish cropping my storyboard - start editing and timing it in Final Cut (hoping to finish it) . 2 - I would also like to finish 2-3 of my backgrounds (the Airport, the profile fence and maybe an interior of the house or some other layout).

3 - Clean up and add details to my animation for the pipeline proof.

4 - Just add 3-4 props i thought would be useful.

Update Week 5

Alright - this week was CRAZY!
I nearly finished my character design: Pose and Expression Sheets for my characters - nearly means that i just have to refine them.

Finished Rough SFX for my Animatic (again - SFX, NOT music, because i'll be able to do it only after i have the animatic ready).

Started to work on my Storyboard (using some images from my Thumbnails).

Finished my schedule (detailed schedule for Pre-Pro', Production and Post).

This weekend i have a few goals:
Completely finish my Storyboard - having it ready for the Animatic stage, so next week i could scan all the images.

Completely finish the character Model Sheets (piece of cake : ).

Finish Props design (Not a big deal too as i have my references from my house overseas).

Finish at least 1-2 backgrounds - (front, middle and back elements) for the pipeline proof.
Well, with the animation - i don't know, we'll see how it goes....too many things to finish, so maybe i'll drop an image on top and move it or use something i already have.



I don't think i'll have too many problems to finish the storyboard, model sheets and the backgrounds. I started and almost finished some of them.

End of week 4

This week i finished my Final script, (i handed in the synopsis, premises and treatment over week 2). I finished Thumbnails as well and probably going to use some of the images for the storyboard (i broke down movements just to help myself understand better complicated motions).
I started to work on the model sheets - pose sheet and expression sheet for each of the characters. I used the thumbnails for key storytelling poses and expressions.

My goal for next week is to continue work on the guy's pose sheet.
Start work on layout and props design (All the items I'm using in the film are from my house back in Jerusalem - so the stuff the guy owns are actually items that would be based on my own stuff.).
Work out SFX (which now i know more clearly which ones i need).
The week after (week 6) is going to be dedicated to storyboards and from there to Animatic.

Important Update!

So today in class i got lots of suggestions for improvements on the script from Jack. I think it made me realise the potential of story development. So many different ideas came out from Jack, so i just started to re-edit my script. Now it's the 4th draft.

Basically the changes are:

The entire establishment scene was cut off - mainly because it's not essential to the story and doesn't help progress it. It would be awesome if i'll finish the animation and i'll have extra time to do it, but MAYBE. In the meantime i'm cutting it (Neale, Jack and Darren said the same).

Instead of having the guy wakes up hysterically and rushes to the wardrobe, we see Minnie wakes up to a rushing footsteps.

Instead of having the guy waving a finger angrily, she'll roll the ball towards him and he will trip over - what makes her reaction funny - the camera would shake and the sound fx would be added as well.

The ball as a symbolic thing - that would go with her all the way to the airport - the ticket would stick to it, as well as the leafs from the bushes after she will be passing the fence.

To increase and hold on the moment where Minnie is left behind (strong noises in the background to make it dramatic).

At the airport add a long line of people standing behind Nir waiting angrily.

I think These changes make me focus more on the dog and that's what i wanted from the first place. My mission for the weekend is to finish Thumbnails + script.

I would love to start Storyboarding and create the animatic as soon as possible because i know i have much more complex visuals to deal with - especially the animation and the layout.

But i have a much better feeling now with the new version.

Design

Was working on these during the break. The dog at the first one have a different design which i'm not going to use. The second one i've done recently and i'm happy with the designs. With Minnie i'm probably going to stick, but with the guy i'm not sure, still working on him.

Once i'll finish with the script edit and the thumbnails, i'll dedicate time for character design.

Improvements

This week i finished my script and handed it in.

I still got lots of good feedback regarding the animation in the story and how can i tell it better with less animation that isn't necceserry anyway.

Hunni gave me green light, Jack suggested to use the Agoraphobia as a fear that Minnie needs to overcome - and by just add that to the script, it makes a huge difference and makes the story more dramatic and i like it, because like Jack said - it's great to explore it in animation. I won't have to animate those images that Minnie sees. she could just imagine scary things closing up on her, like the door lock or the trees in the backyard.

Darren and Neale suggested to cut a few parts - the establishing part and then when the guy wakes up. It's not important to see him wakes up and get organized, because the hero is the dog, so that made me think about it as i sketched that part of the story and it does work as different shot, so that's good.

I start thumbnails and it's taking time, BUT i find it a bit' easier to fix my script after i have some sketches down on paper.

I solve those problems as i go with the sketches, so i can go over the script again after i finish thumbnails and then submit it again (because it's due only in week 4).

In the meantime i will try to upload some stuff i did over the break. Still trying to get to the right look and design.

It begins! - long post...

Alright, i'll begin with the first development of my script last year. It all began with an idea about the relationship between a dog to his owner.

The term "Man's best friend" doesn't surprise me at all as i had a beautiful western highland white terrier and she was my best friend through the years.

After my last visit in Israel, i understood that Minnie (that's her name) has a heart problem and i might not see her again as i'm studying here.

I can't really describe the feelings i felt and the thoughts that were going through my brain.

I really loved her and i knew that i sacrificed a lot deciding to come here to Melbourne to study.

Not so long ago she died in the arms of my sister as they were taking her to the vet'.

After a few weeks, my mom called me and told me i must watch "Marly & Me" so i can think about the full dedication, loyalty and love dog can give you and by that change your life.

I saw the film and not only that, my sister sent me the book (it was the best seller in the U.S for a really long time according to the N.Y Times) for inspiration. The book is truly great and simple and the lines at the end made me think about the message i want to say through my film.

These are the lines:

"A DOG HAS NO USE FOR FANCY CARS , BIG HOMES OR DESIGNER CLOTHES. A WATER LOG STICK WILL DO JUST FINE.

A DOG DOESN'T CARE IF YOU'RE RICH OR POOR, CLEVER OR DULL, SMART OR DUMB. GIVE HIM YOUR HEART AND HE'LL GIVE YOU HIS.

HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN YOU SAY THAT ABOUT?

HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL RARE AND PURE AND SPECIAL?

HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL EXTRAORDINARY?…"

I think that the beauty about it is that a dog gives you 100% and would do anything for you (or almost everything) just like the line that says "give him your heart and he'll give you his".

It's as simple as that. Dogs have unconditional love where humans don't , because we can't…that's how god made us.

The idea i had in mind is the same idea i wrote the script about:

It was about a restless dog that doesn't let his owner sleep just a day before he supposed to get promotion at work. Eventually the guy wakes up, but late and as he tries to get dressed the dog follows him around. The guy start to search for the car keys around the house hysterically, but doesn't even notice that the dog has it the entire time and that's because of time pressure, but also because he's pissed off at the dog from last night.

When he gives up, the guy finally see that the dog has the keys, so he grab the keys as the dog follows him to the car.

Once he get to the meeting, the boss is too angry at him and shows him he's late.

The guy doesn't know what to do just when he hears a bark. He notice that the dog with him and see that his boss steering at his dog and slowly changes expression (becomes soft and sensitive), and the guy doesn't understands what's going on.

Just when the boss pulls out his wallet out and shows him he had the same dog for years, he realize that's the reason.

Eventually they shake hands happily when the dog licks the boss.

In that way the dog saves the day twice - he finds the keys and also his owner's promotion BUT the story is too long and the focus is about the guy and the boss instead of the dog - what creates a problem when it comes to the message and the character development. Hunni told me that it might be confusing for the audience and for me as well. She's 100% right. The dog doesn't go through any development and there are no dramatic problems for him. Instead of him the 2 other characters are going through a journey.

So then i thought and i thought hard and wrote notes especially about my own dog and its character.

What made her Minnie - what was so special about that dog that i loved so much…and amongst the things that defined her, suddenly her phobia from being in open places reminded me how i used to force her to come with me to the parks and how she just froze and tried to lead me back home. There was no way to convince her to stay there - she wanted to go home.

In psychology this phobia is called AGORAPHOBIA.

Then everything started to work out in terms of story - because that could be a problem she needs to overcome in order to proof her loyalty and love once her friendship with her owner is tested.

I really thought that that's it - it's based on her and it's a true story and i could show great character animation this way - she'll have to go through character development as she confronts her fear.

The only problem was that i saw this beautiful 2d Animation several months ago about a girl and a toucan which had this rain phobia that made the girl lose her guitar and so the girl was so important to him that he decided to confront his fear and in the rain fly out and bring the guitar back.

When i saw that animation again - i realized that despite the fact i have a different story which is based on Minnie, i will still use the same structure and it really frustrated me, so i dropped it.

Today in class and on the bus back home i wrote some notes and pushed myself to think about the script. I thought about minnie again and about me and how i would have loved to just see her again just to say goodbye for the last time, lift her in the air and hug her.

i wrote down things that really described her character and from that list i continued to write things and it developed into many notes on the paper that led to an idea which focused on the dog as the main hero and not the guy - from here everything worked for me and i thought about 3 act structure.

Since i had this final act in my head where the guy just hugs his dog at the airport (Me in other words saying goodbye to my best friend before i leave, as i know i won't see her again) and the 1st act from the original idea (the late night when something important is about to take place), i had to think about the middle - which is the problem that makes the character develop and learn and by that go through a lesson that delivers the message of the story.

Here is what i came up with (i just wrote it down - it's not the edited 1st draft script, but just the idea and what happens:

“Man’s Best Friend” – Major Animation Project.

Night-time in the quiet neighbourhood. Zoom into the window of the house. Beam of light. In the living room we see framed photographs of Minnie and Nir playing in the park, together at the university graduation ceremony when Nir holds her in his arms and she licks him. The last one is when they sitting in the wide open field.

Through the hall-way we see the beam of light in the bedroom.

Inside the bedroom Minnie wants to play holding a tennis ball in her mouth.

She drops it on the floor near the bed as she wags her tail.

She looks at Nir. His eyes are almost shut. After she barks several times, she realise it’s late and Nir wants to sleep.

She gives up but keeps looking at Nir as he falls asleep. Frame fades out.

The following morning we see Nir’s diary opened just besides the clock (flight to…at…is written there). Then the clock buzzes. Nir is asleep. Frame fades out.

The clock buzzes again 30 minutes later.

Nir wakes up hysterically and jumps out of bed. In the meanwhile Minnie wakes up and spots him, rolling the ball towards him, but as an answer, Nir waves his finger at her and then to the clock angrily.

Minnie makes a “sorry face” that doesn’t work on Nir, and then walks slowly to the corner passing by the framed photographs of them together.

She’s sigh. She understand she did something wrong. (her back is in an angle as she folding her head down – the ball is on the floor next to her). We hear the door slams behind.

It’s real quite when she’s looking sadly to the side and all of the sudden notice Nir’s plane ticket on the floor.

She grabs it in her mouth as she looking at the door but notice that it’s locked (Zoom on the upper lock of the door).

She thinks what to do, and then rushing to the backyard.

She is facing a long tall scary fence and tries to jump over it unsuccessfully, she hesitates before gathering courage and in determination jumps over the fence and falls in the bushes on the other side.

Dazed and confused Minnie opens her eyes. She made it and the ticket is with her too!

She starts running fast towards the airport (We could see the background (trees and houses in the neighbourhood) moving fast) as Minnie runs.

Cut back to the check in counter - check in lady stands there blinking (cold expression on her face) while Nir realise he doesn’t have the ticket.

Cut back to Minnie running down the hill passing through some village scenery.

Cut back to Nir sitting under a huge pole at the airport – looks at the clock and sigh. After a minute, we Suddenly see him shifting his eyes and look hypnotized as he sees Minnie looks at him (small panning from him to her), the ticket is in her mouth and she’s just looking at him and wagging her tail.

He’s smiling so happy to see her. He lifts her in the air before he hugs her and she licks him. In the background we could see through the wide airport window an aircraft that just took off.

The End.

Credits.