Rough Script

FADE IN:

INT. SMALL STUFFY ROOM - MIDNIGHT

(slow camera pan on wall, Long Shot)
Lou is in a room vigorously playing violin as the camera pans through a wall of plaques and photos of the Atwater Mob’s menacing of the city. The camera then slowly pans through newspaper articles that notate Lou, and his violin Rita, winning several Atwater Classical festivals. The camera then finally settles on the intense passion of Lou’s face as he plucks away at Rita. Drifting away from Lou playing, the title screen is shown.

CUT - (Close-up):
Lou abruptly stops at the sound of a door slamming shut and the booming voices of those in the next room.

CUT - (Medium Shot):
Lou slowly sets down his violin next to his case and quickly heads over to the wall to place his ear upon.

CUT - (Close up, XCO)
Lou over hears his brother, Big Boss exclaiming that an old man nosing around the harbor saw something he shouldn’t have.

BIG BOSS (OS)

Some Old Man just saw something he shouldn't have!

LANKY (OS)

That was just Ester, a local violin teacher and he ain't nothing to worry about boss.

BIG BOSS (OS)

Well, tonight, Ester will be swimming with the fishes! Wasn’t that old man Lou’s violin teacher? Have Lou dispose of him. Lou has the connections to get the job done.


CUT - Medium Shot:
(Lou hears footsteps coming nearer and scrambles into the chair as the door opens. Lanky appears in the doorway as a silhouette)

LANKY (OS)

Lou, did you hear that? You know what you have to do

CUT - (Close-up)
(Lou nods as the door shuts behind Lanky. Lou is left beside himself.)

CUT - (XCO)
(Painful flashbacks flush before Lou’s eyes on his relationship with Ester.)

CUT - Long Shot
(Pushing the feelings aside, Lou slowly gets up and walks to a table that holds Rita (his violin), a violin case, and a Tommy gun.)

CUT - Close-up
Lou slowly reaches for the Tommy gun.

CUT - Medium Shot
He stops abruptly and begins to put the Tommy gun back in its place after some hesitation.

FADE CUT - Long Shot facing door
(Lou’s figure silhouetted on the floor in front of an open doorway with case in hand)

He enters the hallway and the camera pans to where the case once sat. On top of the Tommy gun is a police report signed by Ester and Lou with a photo attached of Big Boss smuggling drugs within the harbor. With a few seconds hesitation for the audience to read the police report, the paper is lit with the red and blue of the police car that resides outside. The police finally caught him.

FADE OUT:
(The animation fades as Lou is heard playing his violin upon the street below with a conversing different sounding violin assumed to be Ester. Credits begin to roll.)

Graphic Novel

I've been working on compiling a graphic novel since late August. My buddy, Peter Barlow wrote the story, but has yet to be revised. Currently, I am illustrating a few paragraphs at a time with one double page spread image. Each image takes anywhere from 6 hours to sometimes 10 hours. I have 8 right now. I plan on having 15 done and actually printing the book before the semester ends (Dec). So, anyway, this is what I have so far:

Lots of new things for the animation

So, I've been working a lot lately on getting things up and going. Currently, Lou is only in a blocked in state. I have a lot more of work to do with him. Just wanted to show some of the process through my modeling stages. The topology and edgeflow is completely wrong, which is why I am not showing a wireframe. I am hoping to use ZBrush's topology tools to redo the geometry when I am finised modeling. I hope this doesn't kick me in the ass later. Besides modeling, I did a lot of work on the story and I feel a little more confident on the direction it is heading. So, hopefully from now on it will only be small revisions. So, below is what I have been thinking lately:

Expanded Premise

"Lou" is a short, animated film for teens and young adults, about an awkward mobster that is asked to carry out a hit on his childhood violin teacher.

Upon the harbor, Big Boss and his henchmen have menaced the city of Atwater for quite sometime. International drug mules have permeated the city walls. The city has lost all control. Lou is looking for a way to pursue his passion of playing violin without being chastised, or worse, killed by his fellow mobsters. Lou is left with a decision between good and bad, passion and family, and ultimately a choice to de-crown the mob and their utter dominance.

Computer Animated, wonderfully modeled, and intelligently textured, the production of "Lou" captivates an audience in pure suspense and is beautifully accompanied with a score from a true violinist.

Why feel any discontent for your passion? "Lou" exemplifies the power of choice. Without a solid continuation of passion, the world is left empty in the hands of the irrational. "Lou" carries the audience through a vivid showcase and the simple truth; the persistence of a passion.

A Character Description: Lou

Lou is the mobster brother of the Big Boss and is unwillingly in the family business. Being tall, skinny and unsocial, Lou has become very socially awkward and speaks very little. Lou is decked out in an expensive suit that he wears with the sleeves rolled up with a sly fedora resting upon his crown. He has but one love in his life; playing his violin named Rita. He was given Rita as an heirloom of the Great William Jenkins from his childhood violin teacher, Ester. Unfortunately, he unwillingly participates in the family endeavors to stay alive. If he would neglect his duties, he would no longer be able to play Rita. So, he does so in fear of parting from Rita.

A Character Description: Ester

Ester is a charismatic violin teacher that has an absolute love for spreading his passion. With such a love for music, he obtained a Rita, a violin from the great William Jenkins, an elite composer from years before. Feeling that his end is near he lives his dreams through a talented young musician, Lou. He gives Rita to him in hopes that it’ll take him further than where he has been. Now that Lou is grown up, Ester spends his days visualizing what could have been and hopes Lou will accomplish what he did not.

A Character Description: Big Boss
Big Boss is the older brother of Lou and is the head of the mob. He is an absolute dictator and will stop at nothing. He is power hungry and will do anything to stay on top. He admitted Lou into the mob because it has become a family tradition. Even though he feels Lou is one concrete block away from drowning a man, Big Boss keeps him around to tie up his loose ends.

Story in Paragraph form

Lou is in a room vigorously playing violin as the camera pans through a wall of plaques and photos of the Atwater Mob’s menacing of the city. The camera then slowly pans through newspaper articles that notate Lou, and his violin Rita, winning several Atwater Classical festivals. The camera then finally settles on the intense passion of Lou’s face as he plucks away at Rita. Drifting away from Lou playing the title screen is shown.

Lou abruptly stops at the sound of a door slamming shut and the booming voices of those in the next room. Lou slowly sets down his violin next to his case and quickly heads over to the wall to place his ear upon. Lou over hears his brother, Big Boss exclaiming that an old man nosing around the harbor saw something he shouldn’t have. Another mobster, Lanky, exclaims that was just Ester, a local violin teacher and that he shouldn’t be anything to worry about. Big Boss insists that Ester must be taken care of in order to preserve the status that the Atwater mob has obtained. Big Boss notes, "Wasn’t that old man Lou’s violin teacher? Have Lou dispose of him. Lou has the connections to get the job done". Lou hears footsteps coming nearer and scrambles into the chair as the door opens.

Lanky exclaims, "Lou, did you hear that? You know what you have to do." Lou nods as the door shuts behind Lanky. Lou is left beside himself. Painful flashbacks flush before Lou’s eyes on his relationship with Ester. Pushing the feelings aside, Lou slowly gets up and walks to a table that holds Rita (his violin), a violin case, and a Tommy gun. Lou slowly reaches for the Tommy gun as a tear rolls down his cheek. He stops abruptly and begins to put the Tommy gun back in its place after some hesitation.

The next scene is Lou’s figure silhouetted on the floor in front of an open doorway with case in hand. He enters the hallway and the camera pans to where the case once sat. On top of the Tommy gun is a police report signed by Ester and Lou with a photo attached of Big Boss smuggling drugs within the harbor. With a few seconds hesitation for the audience to read the police report, the paper is lit with the red and blue of the police car that resides outside. The police finally caught him. The animation fades as Lou is heard playing his violin upon the street below with a conversing different sounding violin (assumed to be Ester). Credits begin to roll.

Lou - The Face Block in

Just a quick block in of Lou's face. I haven't really done anything with edge flow, but that is my next step. I'll redo the topology in ZBrush (hopefully, if not then in maya) and begin to sculpt Lou further. At least he looks like the concept drawing, lol. Also, I have changed my story again...I still haven't found something that works, but once i do it'll be on here.

Another Animation Test

This is another animation test. This one was a jump test. Its not too bad, I think at a later time that I will go in and refine it. But its done for now. For those viewing this on facebook, the video only shows up on blogger. To see the video go to http://silasi.blogspot.com.