The objective
DE_dust2 was by far, my biggest and most ambitious animation project I have ever done. The utlimate goal was to create my best 2D animated short in Flash, emphasising on "high budget" animation production, as well developing memorable characters that people can relate to. Ideally this animation is targetted at CS players, or in general FPS (First person shooter) gamers. Nonetheless, I steered the direction of the storytelling in a more general sense; I wanted audiences who have never heard or played the game before to understand what was going on.
Comparison
Those who are familiar with my other CS animations would notice a big change in style and direction. DE_dust2 isn't as fast paced and action-packed as the rest; but incorporates a larger emphasis on character animation and development. They may also notice that it has less CS elements packed in it; like the FPS views, the removal of the spray logos and quotes, and cheesy hand to hand combat (which isn't in CS in the first place!).
Production rants - My blood, sweat and tears
Its alot harder than it looks. The hardest part is usually the start. With so many people anticipating the release of DE_dust2 ever since my release of DE_aztec, the pressure was tremendous. With high hopes, I announced the DE_dust2 project to start in 2005. Not long after, the idea was abandoned. The pressure was too much for me to handle, I had to come up with a good way to develop each character before they were killed in battle. I didn't know where to start, there were consequences for every action. There were endless possibilites and ideas. Where and how should I begin?
2 Years past (2005-2007), with no motivation to get me back into animation... Sad times.
Then I went to study Computer Animation at University.
I wouldn't say that the university taught me that much at all; but the major factor here was motivation. There was a reason for me to animate again and it was at uni that I found the principles of animation. Something I have been deprived off all these years. Then I just went crazy, I couldn't believe these animation principles even existed, it was like discovering treasure in my very own back garden.
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I bought the book, The Animators Survival Kit, by Richard Williams in 2007 and the reading material in there is PRICELESS to any animator. The core principles are explained and taught with many examples, I read the book time and time again, more impressed with the content each time.
With my so-called "New found understanding of animation", I had to show it off and prove to myself that I understood what I learnt! This is where DE_dust2 came back in the picture, pre-production began in January 2008 where I brainstormed and storyboarded my ideas. All was going well, ideas were flowing in and out and I was so excited. |
Then it hit me.
A big fat wall of "Animation block"
. After about a month of production; I lost alot of motivation, filled with despair. Production was incredibly slow and the work load was so tedious. I began asking questions...
Isn't a
6 minute animation is abit too long..? Will I even be able to finish this? Will people like the new direction I'm taking? Then I gave up, again. But this time, I had an excuse, I had alot of uni work piling in and I wanted to do well.
At the end of May, with all of my uni work handed in, relieved and a little hesitant to get back to DE_dust2, I resumed animation. Not long after, it hit me again! Motivation was at an all time low, I began asking alot of questions, mostly, "Can I actually finsih this?". The frustration was beyond me; the workload seemed to be overwhelming especially when I've got so much to animate and had only done so little.
This wasn't the first time I spent more than 5 months animating a Flash movie, DE_dust took me approximately 6 months, and DE_aztec, 5 months. So what was the big deal? I had a time limit, I had to get it done by 1st October 2008, so I can submit my animation to Animex Festival in 2009. Furthermore, the animation quality was a big jump from my previous animations. Not only is it twice the fps than DE_dust, I also made sure I animated with all the animation principles in mind, timing, weight, squash, stretch, etc. The backgrounds, weapons and effects were all a notch up as well, everything had to be better.
Final thoughts
Above all, I am proud that I was able to pull myself together to finish this "one hell of a movie", like I said before, it was my biggest and most ambitious project to date. I had alot of ups and downs (mostly downs) during the making of this and I am so relieved to see it finally done. So thank you for reading this review, and watching DE_dust2.
I've done my part, you should too!
I would love to hear from you, be it feedback on DE_dust2 or suggestions on improving this article! Thanks again for reading.
