Sorry About That!

Okay, so the project went on a 6-month hiatus in which I debated the implications of putting so much time and effort into an animation series of this calibre. In the end, I put my willpower to the test - I created a quick, functional skeleton animation of a key moment from the series to see A) how long it would take me, start to finish, just to put things in perspective, and B) how good the results were, so I could build upon that effort and create something I can be proud of.

The product was this:


For the record - I have decided that both Tirek and Discord will have human and monster forms which they are able to switch between at will.

So tell me what you think of this animation. It took me about half an hour, including setup and mixing, to record the audio. The total project, start to finish, took roughly 2 hours. I estimate that given 2 and a half hours I could have added a sufficient background, and with four hours I could have animated his hand to clench into a fist and given him an unknotted necktie that would flow in a ribbon-like manner. I probably could have put it into color, too.

However, I'll save that for version 2.

Discord Character Design

It's here.

You might have noticed in the episode summaries that Discord's name came up. This is no mistake. I have made him the mane antagonist for this rebuild, since I am tying G1 and G4 together.

The glorious redesign (sadly, no longer voiced by John DeLancie) can be found after the break.

[Update] Official Episode List! (Part 1) [SPOILER ALERT]

This is your official warning - this post contains MASSIVE spoilers for the series. It's not just the episode list, it's my mental discussion with myself of where I should take the series. If you get anal-retentive about spoilers, DO NOT READ. Heck, if you just in general don't enjoy spoilers, stay away from this post. Only read this post if nothing I say could deter you from watching this series once it is released.

Some of the episodes have summaries, others do not. I will be adding more summaries as time goes on and I get more of the details fleshed out.

All content after the break. You have been warned.

UPDATES, UPDATES, UPDATES!!! Pinkie Pie is happy

Okay, so just a few updates for now, and perhaps none of the updates you were looking for, but I thought I'd share anyway.

First, I just uploaded the latest version of the episode 01 screenplay. No story changes, just fixed some typos.

Second, I am currently working on blocking the first opening theme! In case you're not familiar, blocking is where you create "key frames", a sort of skeleton for the animation. When all the key frames are done, you work on "tweening", which is the creation of all the frames which get you from one key frame to the next. This will be very time consuming, but worth it I hope! I'll let you be the judge! Anyway, I'm not going to upload the opening theme storyboard just yet; I'll save that until I have the full thing ready to show you. Don't want to ruin the surprise!

Anyway, that's all for now. 

Other updates!

Alright, so I figure I'm way overdue for making a checklist...

Episode 01's screenplay has been uploaded as a pdf, albeit I've noticed some typos so I'll have to fix those, but ultimately I'll be making absolutely no story changes to episode 01's screenplay.

Other than that...I now have finished character designs of Tirek and VOID. With that in mind, I'll add a few things to get the number of incomplete items up to 10...

• Upload .pdf file of episode 01's screenplay
• Draft up a character profile for Fizzy
• Upload character profile for Fizzy
• Draft up a character profile for Molly
• Upload character profile for Molly
• Draft up a character profile for Tirek
• Upload character profile for Tirek
• Draft up a storyboard for episode 01
• Draft up a storyboard for the opening theme
• Draft up a character profile for VOID
• Upload character profile for VOID
• Draft up a character profile for Draggle
• Upload character profile for Draggle

Alright, I think that covers everything. I'll try to get the character profiles for Tirek and VOID uploaded ASAP, but my scanner access is limited at the moment, so just sometime this weekend would probably be a best case scenario.

Jaa, mata!

Episode 01 Screenplay PUBLIC

Two big things today! First off, and I think this is the greatest thing: I FINALLY KNOW HOW TO USE PAGE BREAKS! Oh, also the episode 01 screenplay is now public. But seriously, PAGE BREAKS!

Link after the break (GOD I'VE BEEN WAITING TO BE ABLE TO SAY THAT AND MEAN IT!)

Working on storyboarding!

Yes! Storyboards are underway! Granted, it's just the storyboard for the opening theme, but it's something! And storyboarding may start on episode 1 quite soon, since I'm starting to like my screenplay more and more. I just added two new scenes to it, and have worked out quite a bit of the awkward dialogue. If I give the dialogue a tiny bit more tweaking, and maybe add one extra scene to fill in a plot gap, I'll be content to send it back to the pre-readers.

Which reminds me, I still need more pre-readers!

Anyway, I think I'll make a list of the help I need:

1. Pre-readers (need seven more)
2. Background artists who are able and willing to animate their backgrounds a bit.
3. Prop artists
4. Voice talent!

Again, if you wish to help, my email is davidreinold@thedevhome.net.

Anyway...when I finish the storyboard for the opening theme, I'll animate the board frames and give you the skeleton version of the animation.

Just remember: if I'm not updating the blog, that means I'm busy working on the project! :)

Sorry About the Wait

Yeah, I've been slacking off on updating the blog lately. While waiting for pre-readers, I've been practicing vectoring and animation. It's been going pretty well, but it's been time consuming. I've also been going through the script and trying to envision the scenes by running through the visual in my mind while saying the dialogue out loud. I think most of the reason I've been mildly dissatisfied with my script is that I only had vision for half of it. So now I need to envision it so I can write it right. Any time I add something that I haven't properly envisioned, I find that there's a bit of a lull in the quality and believability. There are certain scenes I had a crystal clear picture of in my mind before I even started writing, but then there are others that I've already written, but still haven't envisioned.

Anyway, so I'm still searching for pre-readers (SUPPORT IS GREATLY APPRECIATED, I've only had three people read it so far, and I want to get at least ten reviews before I post it!). To those of you who have already read it, I may be sending you a more revised version. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I'm not going to make the screenplay public until it's absolutely perfect. Once all the pre-readers have approved it, and I can't find anything else wrong with it, I'll call it good. But not before then.

Also, GIMP artists wanted! Specifically, people who are skilled with making dynamic backgrounds! Many of the structures like buildings and hills will be simple CGI models, but there are other things like distance scenery shots and indoor takes that I probably can't handle very well on my own.

If you would like to volunteer to help, again my email is davidreinold@thedevhome.net.

Sorry, no other updates today. In fact, this is just a heads up warning you that there may not be many updates for a while.

EPISODE 1 SCREENPLAY IS COMING REALLY SOON!

Well, I think the title explains it all. No regular news today, so I'll skip to the project.

GENERAL PROJECT NEWS
I finished writing episode one! I revised it several times, and now that I'm content with the version I have, I'm scouting for pre-readers to critique it. If you would like to be a pre-reader, please send me an email. davidreinold@thedevhome.net. I could really use the help. It's hard to find pre-readers who know how to read a screenplay. Anyway, once I get enough pre-readers to give me feedback on episode one, and they've all given their ideas and thoughts and I've revised it, I'll post the finished version.

CHECKLIST

    •    Finish writing episode 01

    •    Upload .pdf file of episode 01's screenplay.
    •    Draft up a character profile for Fizzy
    •    Upload character profile for Fizzy
    •    Draft up a character profile for Molly
    •    Upload character profile for Molly
    •    Draft up a character profile for Tirek
    •    Upload character profile for Tirek
    •    Draft up a storyboard for episode 01
    •    Draft up a storyboard for the opening theme

No content after the break. I've spent the last several hours poring over my screenplay and searching for it's faults...I think I'm going to sleep for the next sixteen hours...Martha, wake me when I get an email. <vague reference to Dr. Who>.

I Return!

Hello! I'm trying out a new format for the updates so bear with me! Cooperstown was awesome by the way, thank you for asking. I was originally just going there to see Bert get inducted, but it was pretty cool seeing Robbie and Jim, too. Anyway, ENOUGH OF THIS.

GENERAL PROJECT NEWS
On my four days off I took a lot of time to think about where I'd take the story, and now that I've had time to ponder it, the idea has really started to come together in my head. I've started connecting concepts and pulling together story elements so that there are no threads left loose by the end. Now that most of the large-scale details are pulled together, I can get back to work on pulling together the little moments. Meaning you'll have the screenplay for episode 1 soon enough. :)

CHECKLIST
    •    Finish writing episode 01.
    •    Upload .pdf file of episode 01's screenplay.

    •    Draft up a character profile for Spike

    •    Upload character profile for Spike

    •    Draft up a character profile for Fizzy
    •    Upload character profile for Fizzy
    •    Draft up a character profile for Molly
    •    Upload character profile for Molly
    •    Draft up a character profile for Tirek
    •    Upload character profile for Tirek

INFO ON THE UPDATES
So on the one hand, I only checked off two items from the checklist. On the other hand, I completed four objectives that WEREN'T on the checklist. Yes, aside from providing you all with a character profile for Spike, I also completed and uploaded character profiles for Danny Wells (Megan's brother), and Tirra Craig, (Megan's lawyer). Now, Tirra Craig is the first character I've added so far who didn't appear in the original G1 canon. Trust me, he won't be the last original character to appear in this rebuild. I'm trying to make the human world just as important as the pony world, and that means I need to expand the collective existence of the human world. In the original G1 series, we never see anything aside from Megan's farmhouse in the human world. I want to change that. Considering she was the protagonist, Megan's character and history were lacking to say the least.


OTHER STUFF
After a post I saw on EqDaily, I thought I'd put in a little word. Kim Dykas, a well-known member of the brony community, lost his father in the terrorist attacks in Norway. I'm ashamed to say I didn't actually know Kim prior to hearing this, but as a devoted member of the brony community I feel I should say that my thoughts are with Kim and his family, and I ask that he remain strong in these dark times. Life is difficult enough without death and misery writing bitterness into our hearts. The loss of a loved one may bring a feeling of emptiness, but emptiness is not so awful if you have someone to share it with. Pick up and carry on, Kim, and know that even if we're thousands of miles away, we're all there with you.

Now...it feels a bit wrong to get back to business so quickly after that, but there is work to be done. Content after the break.

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Danny Character Design
Spike Character Design
Tirra Craig Character Design