Summer is fast approaching, and it is time for everyone to be thinking about what they are going to do with the increased amount of free time it usually brings. As some of you already may know, I am trying to finalize a trip to California to attend some summer sessions at USC. I am also on an active hunt for an internship in the animation industry, which has not resulted in a whole lot of response so far. Amusingly, I got a stronger show of interest during the fall and spring semesters. In a way, I suppose that makes sense. Competition is very high during a time when almost everyone has a break from class. I’m not giving up, though.
That said, I have thought about other possibilities for use of my time. There’s the obvious summer job, which is fine. It will help pay the rent and may make it easier to get steady work later on. But I have also thought about bringing out an animated short project I actually conceived and started a little while ago. I went through some of the pre-production for it, but then I hit a wall when it came to dividing my labor between it, my schoolwork and the full-time job I had at the time. Now, however, things have changed. I have a better sense of time management, even more motivation and… well, let’s be honest… I was let go from that job, like many other people. But since it was in retail, it was taking time and energy away from my career/creative pursuits more than anything else. So now I can work towards getting things finished, which I intend to.
The way I conceived it, this was to be a short CG film, with no/VERY limited dialogue. The working title is “Grandpa”. I don’t want to give too much away just yet, as I want to share bits of development as they come about, but basically it involves two characters: a young boy and his elderly grandfather in a single, mysterious location. It may sound very simple and/or limited, but I will most likely be working on the majority of it myself. Regardless, those who are familiar with the full story think it is a strong concept, and I’m not one of those folks who think a film needs to have an overly complicated situation or set of events to really get a point across. 😉
That’s what I have floating around in my head right now. Look for me to post in-progress tidbits from “Grandpa” very soon, as I revise what I had done previously and continue the work. If my summer happens to indeed get extremely busy, it will probably slow me down somewhat. But this short has been scratching around in my brain, and it’s time to set it free.
Here’s to a productive year!
Creations, Thoughts and Musings 