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NOMINEE FOR BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM!
(and now the 2012 OSCAR WINNER!)
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| 3D-Animation Storyboard selection from The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore, based upon the children's book by William Joyce. |
BIGGER UPDATE: 'Morris Lessmore' WON THE OSCAR FOR BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM!
Here is the finished short film, directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg:
You can see many more of my Morris Lessmore storyboards HERE.
As I told you in
this post, I got to do orthographic turnaround designs based upon
William Joyce's Dinosaur Bob character for a 3D-modeling test. It really was inspiring to work on, and it charged my batteries quite a bit.
But that was
nothing compared to being asked to storyboard an animated short film for William Joyce!
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a story of people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favor. It's a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story.
Brandon Oldenburg came to me with one of the most incredible jobs I've ever gotten to work on:
Morris Lessmore, its working title at the time. Before that it was titled something else which I can't say, as I don't want to reveal something that Mr. Joyce may use for something else in the future.
I was assigned to work on the very first draft of storyboards for William Joyce's animated short film. It was the biggest rush, the most amazing feeling, and it made me suddenly incredibly nervous that I was going to take on this daunting task to rise up to Mr. Joyce's standards.
Brandon told me he saw this short as being about seven minutes in length. Armed with only a one-page written treatment and several concept illustrations by William Joyce, I was instructed to just "see where" I could go with the project. I was given several weeks to come up with a set of storyboard roughs to present to Mr. Joyce. When the time came, I walked William Joyce through the visual story I was telling.
You know, I'm a nervous enough guy as it is, always trying to please people, especially people who are literally my idol, such as William Joyce. I was worried he would be unhappy that I had somehow misinterpreted his story. Anyone would, I think, trying to do something worthy of Mr. Joyce's standards. However, he only had several corrections for me. He told me he really overall liked what I had done.
Here's the incredibly frustrating part: I couldn't show anyone these storyboards for FIVE YEARS. To get other storyboarding work, it's a good thing to point to your resume to say "I worked on this very cool project". However I couldn't, because the project really didn't have an established name. All I could say is that I worked on a William Joyce project, but I couldn't show anyone my work on it, unless I was showing it to them in person. That alone made people think I was crazy, as if I was making up a fantastic story about working on a fantastic story for this incredibly fantastically admired man in the animation industry.
No one believed me, really. Non-disclosure documents are sometimes terribly aggravating.
Since I live in Dallas Texas, I could not mail copies or publish my storyboards online because that would have breached the confidentiality clause I was bound to. Nor could I walk into a Los Angeles studio in person to show the boards I had done, which is an acceptable way to get around publishing non-disclosure work, when looking for new work.
FRUSTRATING!
It is just so nice to be able to finally show everyone.
To be clear; I storyboarded the first draft of the Morris Lessmore animated short. After that, I had nothing to do with the further development of this film. However, I was so very fortunate to be a part of this amazing project. This is something I am so very proud of having particpated in, even in the smallest way. What a privilege.
Brandon Oldenburg partnered up with William Joyce to be a founding, managing partner in
Moonbot Studios in Shreveport, LA. He and Mr. Joyce reworked and refined the storyboards and concepts, developing it into a 13-minute short film. Employing a very novel approach to the animation, they built miniature sets for the environments, and added the 3D-animated characters within.
The results are quite beautiful. Wonderfully done.
Moonbot Studios has taken The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore a big technological step forward, by adapting the animated short film into an iPad app! The award-winning short film is now an interactive narrative experience, blurring the line between picture books and animated film.
Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, "Morris Lessmore" is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/ illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a new narrative experience that harkens back to silent films and M-G-M Technicolor musicals. “Morris Lessmore” is old fashioned and cutting edge, all at the same time.
Here's a preview of the app:
Even though I like what I did on these storyboards, and I have received nothing but incredibly positive feedback on them, I still look back on my first draft of storyboards and I wish I had time to do more to them. I always have that feeling about my work. I always churn things around in my memories, searching for the things I could improve upon for the next job.
It makes me really want to work for these gentlemen again, so I can do even more of a better job the next time!
Odd fact about my place in the credits: I was told by Brandon Oldenburg that my name was in the credits. Only when I viewed the film, did I find out that my name was in the 'special thanks' category, and not in the 'story artist/development' section.
Some places have different standards for crediting people. I have a close friend who did storyboards for the Ice Age movie, which were ultimately not used. However, his name made the credits, as he did contribute to the storyboarding and development of the project. Why I wasn't included (even at the bottom of the credits of the 'story artist/development' section) is a mystery to me.
But that's okay. Everyone who worked on that short film deserves the spotlight they're in, and I'm blitheringly happy for the few morsels of my work that made it into the final product. I feel I can still show my work proudly, and be confident that it can get me future work in the process. Not for what didn't make it into the final product, but for the good work I did to help start the project up in the first place.
Everything is a stepping stone to something better, yes?
