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Searching for music video animation...

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:48 am
by EcHo2K
Hi everyone, i'm a bit pessimist but i'm going to ask anyway... :)

I'm an indie electronic musician that ha s just finished his first work (i also have another band with a record released so i'm not a total newbie...) and since it's a "concept album" (well it's an ep since they are just 6 tracks) i would have thought to create music video on each track explaining the story behind the album.
This album is called "A day in my life" and it features a character called "EcHo2K" (that's not me, it's just a name for my character) that guite us through a tipical day in his life, it starts with wakeup and ends with goodnight.

This is the raw explanation, i'm working on a plot right now so i don't have much information to give to you at the moment except the fact that the total animation should be around 30 minutes long and that i cannot afford to pay such animation :) so i can pay a small advance and than split any revenue that may come from this project.

If nobody is willing to to that (i understan you...) i'm also searching for a character designer to design my main characters, then at least i can try to animate the whole thing by myself, it will only took longer because i have to learn how to do it... :)

Thank you for your time

Saverio

ps
oh BTW if you want to listen to the music you can find it for the moment only on last.fm, seach for EcHo2K! :D

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:57 pm
by Genete
I wish you the best with your music project.
Only one advice. The artist who make your animation or stills should have some visual references of the style of the main character and his/her aparience. That's something that should match with you or your band style, look and feel.

So it would be great that you provide photographs, videos, drawings or any other related stuff to inspire the artis animator to create its animation. Create a promotional webpage would help.

I think only linstening the music or the lirycs could be very difficult to be inspired.

Good luck.
-G

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 1:32 pm
by EcHo2K
i understand your point, the fact is that nothing exists since everything should be connected, i'm not going to go with my face on the "EcHo2K" project, so i need to create the EcHo2K character, i have some ideas but i will discuss them in private if somebody is willing to kae on the project.

EcHo2K by itself will be a toon, it's the same concept behind Gorillaz. So every other aspect of the project image is bound to the art feeling and colors that come out of this video project...

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 1:37 pm
by jahnocli
30 minutes of animation that you're not paying for? Sheesh....

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 1:43 pm
by marcotronic
jahnocli wrote:30 minutes of animation that you're not paying for? Sheesh....
:D I think he has not the slightest idea what an effort one minute of animation means (espacially character animation)... Let´s forgive him :)

Marco

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 1:44 pm
by EcHo2K
1st : i've said idon't have money to pay for the whole project, so the rest is going to come from split revenues (yeh i said i don't think anyone would have followed me on that :D)

2nd : i just asked, maybe some fool is still around :P

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 1:58 pm
by jahnocli
Well, here's some information for you: Disney's "Snow White" was the first full-length feature animation -- running time about 80 minutes. That took a huge team of animators two years to create. Many of these animators pre-booked themselves into hospital for the end of the movie because they knew they would be exhausted.

Divide this by three. Subtract some time for the increased efficiency of computer-based animation. You are still left with a huge gap between what you want to do and reality. A studio would not take this on. That leaves a small team of amateurs, one or more people. To make it look even half-decent you will need a project manager/animation director (to check whether all characters are "on model", commission voice talent, etc.), and he or she will not do that for nothing...You need background artists as well as animators...and so on.

As Marcotronic has pointed out, you really do not understand what a big commitment 30 minutes of animation is. Maybe "...some fool is still around...", but there is a saying in English about peanuts and monkeys -- can you guess what it is?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 2:16 pm
by cribble
Yeah, 30 mins is hardcore. And calling us "fools" just makes us more distant from actually thinking about the project.

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 2:21 pm
by EcHo2K
ok i know it's a big job and it's clear you are not interested, but maybe someone is, i don't know, so please if you are not interested stop responding or ignore or do whatever you want...why waste your time telling me i's impossible? i already know that, i've also asked quotes to some intependent studios, they are out of my budget so i just asked on this forum that seems a good place to ask, if you don't think it is or if i sayed something that cannot be sayed here, delete the thread or do whatever you want but please stop being so negative about aproject that in some way will be completed even if it would take 2 years to finish :)

Saverio

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 2:33 pm
by EcHo2K
cribble wrote:Yeah, 30 mins is hardcore. And calling us "fools" just makes us more distant from actually thinking about the project.
uh? sorry i thought it was a "nice" quote :) english is my not primary language, i think it's clear by now :) i apologize if someone has been offended

Saverio

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:06 am
by madis
Maybe you should consider on animating just one track (your future hit) :wink:

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:36 pm
by slowtiger
It would help if you'd be a bit more realistic about your chances. Basically you're asking people to work several months for you without payment. Forget about "future revenues", a project like this never pays off.

Now think further. Nobody here around knows you, nobody owes you a favour, so why should anybody get involved? What is so positive about you that it might change anyone's mind?

Best advice I can give you is, do some research in your neighborhood. There must be animators in your part of the world, their must be animation schools and students. Get to know them, and if you are a nice guy, maybe some of them would like to co-operate with you.

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:06 pm
by funksmaname
i think the very first step in trying to get people interested in helping you is letting them hear the music... someone might love it so much they feel inspired and compelled to help you...

without that, you're just another guy with his own idea... personally if i was going to waste my time as an animator, i'd rather it was wasted on my OWN idea :D

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:21 pm
by slowtiger
I listened to 4 pieces of him (it's on last.fm), but found it not really inspired dance stuff.

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:25 pm
by heyvern
There was a fairly big popular group some years ago. The lead guy loved computer animation and did some animation for one of their videos using of all things.. Animation:Master. I think it was probably 7 or 8 years ago. It was in an article featured on the Apple site as I recall. The idea being pushed was that you don't need a huge budget or expensive equipment and software to do this type of thing. He did the animation while on tour with his laptop.

So, you could buy a copy of Anime Studio and try it yourself. Start small. Do something with image puppets using your own image.

-vern