Hello all,
Apologies for lagging behind in updates. In late February, I started to fall behind on my work, and when I start to fall behind, I often have trouble making a post saying "I am behind right now".
I really wanted to have Scene C finished by this update. I thought that all the hard scenes were finished and that I'd be able to breeze through the simple, conversational dialogue scenes. But as it turns out, I am very particular about how I want the dialogue acting conveyed. Careful refinement of the movement makes the difference between simple up-and-down head bobs and characters giving a believable emotional performance that portrays thoughts and feelings. At this point, I have completed 2 out of the 3 characters in Scene C up to frame 5104 out of the 5795 frames in that scene. I really wish I was a little further ahead, as I need to be moving into Scene F post-haste.
I currently have one animator doing refinement and corrections on several action shots throughout the episode, and he should be able to turn in to me before next week. I have another animator that is slated to start on his character later this month. His character is 100% in Scene F, so I'd really like to be laser-focused on that scene while I'm working with him.
In terms of music, the opening score, for the first five minutes is expected to turn in the final draft on the next pass. We've been working on the opening score since December, and it's finally coming together. It sounds beautiful. Similarly, another composer is about to turn in the final draft of the climax scene. Other than those two, there are five sections of music remaining total.
At this point, I really want to scout someone to work on improving the background assets but I'm really trying really hard to finish "C" in a timely manner and would rather not split my focus even further.
These last two weeks have proven to me that I can't underestimate the workload of dialogue-heavy scenes. I seem to have found animators that can assist me in action scenes, but have yet to find an animator that can do dialogue and acting the way I want it. I am hoping that I can find someone before next episode, as right now, I am doing pretty much all of it and it's heavier than I expected. Until then, I'm going to continue working on Scene C until it is at a place of my liking. Putting in the extra effort to get the acting looking not just passable, but emotional, seems worth it to me. I feel bad that my constant nitpicking is causing further delay, but I really don't think the series would be the same without it.
I really appreciate all of your support and will continue to strive for weekly updates. Here are the current "Very Best" Patrons:
DarkHenrik
Gonzalo Malaga Cardoza
Benny Yau
Earoist
Charles Hoskins
Ryan Fleck
Royce Aguila
Dreux Ferrano Jr.
David Keyworth
Syrus Coy