This past week I have been working on the next scene, which builds on the test shot I posted previously. It is taking longer than I would like- isn't that always the case! But I am hopeful that I can get it done by tomorrow evening.
On the side of that I have also altered the animatic again. Considering feedback from both Allan and Sharon as well as some of my classmates it seems that changing the imagery from moon to tree branch tightens it up much better. I feel quite good about that change personally as well. But I still wanted to include some of the movement and the wider city shot from above, which is why I edited the animatic again. I further changed the leaf-drop-to-eye scene; Sharon rightly picked up on the fact that the transition from water drop to eyes was a bit random and she said it should make sense because even a fantastical world has rules and I agree. I also included a shot of the moon in the final city scenes, because 1) it makes it visually clearer that the main character remembers the 'dream' and that is why she then takes her shoes off and 2) because the moon is the one element that nature and the city in my film have in common (and it connects to the importance the moon holds for me: the fact that no matter where you are the moon is always the same).
I have also contacted Enya Liao, a music student who I have collaborated with for last year's 10x10 challenge and asked her if she would be up creating some music for my animation. I really like her work that I encountered last year and I know that she works very fast. She was happy to and so I set up a zoom meeting and we discussed ideas last Friday. Only a day later she sent me a first draft to know if she was heading in the right direction.
I think the track is really nice, but not quite right for the film yet. It is too upbeat, happy, fast and busy (as in too many instruments at once) which doesn't quite capture the atmosphere I want to convey. But it is a good start as it is getting me thinking more in depth about what I would like it to sound like and it's always helpful to know what maybe doesn't work as well. For example it made me realise that I don't think I actually want music for the entire duration of the film, as it makes me lose attention a little bit. I believe that it needs more variety and that would also serve the story much better. In the beginning (until the ~1 minute mark) I would like to have a whirlwind of just sounds (not musical but rather busy, chaotic, experimental and uncomfortable) building up and culminating in the 'claustrophobia' shot. I might be able to pull that together myself or ask another sound effect/foley artist to help me with it. Then in the bus I would like to have natural sounds of the bus driving and some chatter in the background (as this is the most 'objective and realistic scene - not tainted by her feelings). Only when she arrives in nature the music will slowly start (but much slower and hopefully a little more mysterious than as it stands for now). Back on the bus only natural sounds, then city sounds resembling the chaos in the beginning, and then when she looks at the moon the music comes again into the mix. I think something along those lines would be a good mix of things to capture what I want to express.
Sharon suggested that I should play around with the soundtrack a bit in Premiere to get a better idea of what I might want. I also need to look into some more examples of music as a guide for me and Enya.
It is a little bit anxiety-producing telling another artist, who is kind enough to help me out, that I would like what she did changed quite a bit, but I also know it's inevitable and I guess its good practice.
Here is the updated animatic plus the sound, after I remixed it a little.