Myth/Origin
Myth
'Myth' was the working title for an animated short film concept that myself and a number of colleagues from Brown Bag Films tried to develop around 2008. The project was meant to act as a tech demo for a 3D animation pipeline that focused on realistic styles with an eye on developing content for older age groups rather than the pre-school content many of us worked on at the time, such as 'Octonauts'.
At this early phase of development there was no real story other than the basic premise of a Celtic (Mythological) warrior roaming a barren landscape and encountering some form of villian or evil force. My initial visual contributions are below showcasing various proposals for styles, character designs and settings.
While the 'Myth' concept never developed further than the visual development below, a variation of the project was developed by Mathew Darragh and James Stacey a number of years later titled 'Origin'. I was asked to produce the storyboards for the 'Origin' short film which can be seen at the bottom of this page.
Character Design concepts for the 'Myth' project ranging from a Peter O'Toole inspired Warrior design (far left) to a traditional Disney Heroic Male type design (middle) to a more painterly textural approach on the far right.
Further development for the 'Myth' concept dealing with setting,costume and visual FX ideas for the purposes of showcasing the technical pipeline side of the concept.
Origin - Master Story Keys
As I mentioned earlier, some of the staff in Brown Bag Films continued to develop a project born out of the initial meetings around the 'Myth' concept and eventually sourced funding for the short film 'Origin'. The film was eventually directed by Brown Bag Films Technical Director, James Stacey and was nominated for an IFTA (Irish Film and Television Awards) in 2012.
I produced the storyboards for the film which focuses on the theme of emigration, which was topically around the time of the films production following the global economic crash in 2008. The film focuses on a young man who is on the brink of emigration, but as he races through the streets of Dublin he comes to realise the spirit he's leaving behind.
The first step in the process of producing the storyboards for the short was to read the script and pick out key moments or Story Keys that told the essence of the story. These Master Story Keys may or may not have ended up in the final short but were shown to the director for approval and feedback. Once approved, I had the framework of the story along with a grasp of the shot types, compositions and visual storytelling that the director wanted for the production.
Origin - Storyboarding
Once the Master Story Keys were completed, I began the boards properly. Storyboarding is all about speed and efficiency, so the final boards where not as detailed as the Master Story Keys. The focus was on sequential storytelling with an emphasis on dynamic movement as the film is based around a 'race against time' structure.
Many of the drawings in the boards are very loose, emphasizing gesture, composition, staging and drama over detail. I've put together a 'highlights' collage of storyboarded sequences from the short that showcase movement, composition, shot design and sequential storytelling without the aid of dialogue to tell the story.
Origin - Final Short Film