Ok, so I just had a more fantastic Idea

I was sitting musing on how to storyboard my mountain idea... when I was reading on wikipedia about greyhounds (you know what kind of strange places the internet takes you to!). Then it hit me. A cheetah and greyhound race... :v

Let me explain a little bit.  When I was a kid, from the ages of about 7-13, I had many obssessions. Some usual for kids, yknow: Pokemon Cards, Spyro the Dragon, SMTV: Live, skateboarding... and some not so. I've always loved animals, and I still do, but when I was that age I was particularly passionate about big cats. I think it was the program 'Big Cat Diary's' fault, but I was obsessed with cheetahs- I thought they were the coolest cats around! I used to get a lot of stick for it, always drawing them and boring people with random facts about them, draw spots on my hands, I even had really sciency books about the species. I pretty much wanted to be one. I know I know, what a furry.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, that is how I got into animation (besides the lion king and looney tunes ofc). I used to doodle runcycles in the corners of my textbooks, make flipbooks out of pads of sticky notes. I got pretty good at them too, and it remains one of my strengths today. I understand quadruped walk and runcycles better than I do human ones, if that makes sense. I always wanted to do a proper animation involving a cheetah some day, whether just animating a hunt or doing something more story oriented. Which brings me back to the subject of this brief!

My idea is inspired by an article I came to after a bit of research. In the 1930's, several races took place involving dogs and 2 cheetahs. The cheetahs won, of course :D I thought despite the obvious issues with animal rights (don't get me started!), that must have been something else to watch.
But then I thought, cats being the independant bastards that they are, those cats must have taken some bribing. Imagine if one had turned on the handler instead of chasing the hare!
There lies my story. An arrogant, boastful owner has somehow acquired a cheetah and disguises it poorly as a dog, parading it past the other dog handlers and even the poor-sighted judge, who probably cannot see his hand infront of his own face.
However, the cat he has is very grumpy, and after reluctantly getting into the trap, the bell goes and the dogs race round. The cat flies ahead but instead wheels around and goes after the handler, comically chasing him out of the stadium as a dog wins the race.
It'll make more sense when I storyboard it out, but this would be so fun to make XD

Colour Swatch Ideas

I'm trying to come up with a feel for the setting of my film... I like the idea of unusual and surreal colours for the sky and rock, such as gold and green like in numbers 1 and 6. But I also really really like number 4, its inspired by a picture of the Matterhorn I found at sunset, and is quite mystical and cold. I'm also toying with the idea of having a  monochrome background, with pure white characters. Any thoughts? :<

3rd Year Brief

So, our brief for 3rd year is 'world of the story', I think. You'd think I'd have a cracking idea considering I've had an extra year to come up with something, and until just this morning you'd be very wrong indeed. I had absolutely zilch.

Then it came to me, as I was blow-drying my hair in the mirror. What if I just did something incredibly simple? I've always been so obsessed with trying to think of something that nobody else has done... which I now know is near impossible.

Thus came my idea. A lonely mountain climber and his equally lonely, but far more territorial, rival. I won't give away the whole thing yet because its not pitch time! But lets just say I have something. It actually has a beginning, middle and an end; two characters; a shared goal; a really simple, but hopefully beautiful and surreal setting; and a nice story. It's probably been done to death, but I hope I can put my own spin on it.

I'll be saving my furry space opera for some other time :3