Original Storyboard

Below is my original storyboard, as you can observe it contains a large amount of material which never made the final cut. The entire first half of the animation was taken out, this was an 'intro' to the song, it involved a new scene to establish a feudal china/Steam punk styling.

These scenes involved shots which would have included flashbacks in the form or detailed stills, to further add to the changes in styles the animation was meant to go through. Even this storyboard is an example of another style I was willing to use.

Characters introduced where a clockwork waiter who would have blended with a restaurant scene & it's mechanical environment. The Golden Warrior himself is also seen (but not his final design form), he is seen with his two students (later depicted as the 'Master' & 'Intruder') when they are younger & in training.

Many of the scenes during the main bulk of the animation are later seen in the storyboard, some minor details were changed along the way, but in this form it created a stable blueprint for the animation to work along.

Referencing & Research

Asides from many martial arts images, for the animated choreography one of my main references for this project was an 70's Kung-Fu cult classic 'Born Invincible'. Asides from classic King-Fu fighting scenes using various weapons & fighting styles, character design was definitely inspired by this movie.

Born invincible uses classic, if not typical formulas for it's character choices which involve; 'The aged master', 'The young eager student','The stern master/teacher' 'A daughter of a Martial arts master', 'The dishonored villain', 'An almost superhuman opponent', 'A goofy/weaker character' (Usually closely tied to the protagonist) and more.

Although 'Legend of the Golden Warrior' outlines it's cast quite evenly, as an artist creating the imagery allows much creativity and allows space for new ideas visually, even themes not presented in the original artifact.

Images taken from 'Born Invincible' (1979)

Statistics after upload

Since my animation was created for MF Grimm, when it was finally uploaded, it was posted around quite a few Hip-Hop sites as promotion for his forthcoming album. Since I had to complete it way ahead of my actual deadline, it has been online for quite a while as I clean it up for hand in.

Here's how the statistics looked from my Youtube account.

From these statistics I can tell who my biggest audience and where I can focus more of my attention when promoting later projects in the future. Of course this would all depend on what audience I target.

Although I do want to allow my work to appeal to the "Undergound Hip-Hop" scene, I want to exhibit my diversity to different crowds.

Delivery requirements

Since my project was created for a third party, it had to be delivered under their requirements.

Below are the specifications for my animation to be delivered by FTP:-

The Orchard’s Video Delivery Specifications

format options

1. 8/10‐bit UNCOMPRESSED video file in .MOV (preferred) or .AVI container

• exported from edit timeline or captured directly to this format from the uncompressed master

• audio uncompressed and in stereo or surround sound (PCM 48.000 kHz 16‐bit)

• original/master resolution, frame rate and interlacing cadence

• if shot in 24P, video should arrive in 23.98fps progressive with the telecine cleanly reversed (no loose interlaced frames)

• cannot be up‐converted from compressed media (e.g. H.264, DV, MPG, WMV)

• cannot be captured from DVD’s, miniDV’s or other consumer‐grade masters

• no glitches or audio/video artifacts

• no watermarks, bugs, DVD logos, promo intros, dates, websites

• if music video, no credits, titles and/or chyron

• clearly labeled (e.g. Company_MovieTitle.avi, Label_Artist_Song.mov, Company_Show_Season_Episode.mov)

2. APPLE PRO RES 422 (HQ) video file in .MOV container

• requires Final Cut Pro editing software

• exported from edit timeline or captured directly to this format from the uncompressed master

• audio uncompressed and in stereo or surround sound (PCM 48.000 kHz 16‐bit)

• original/master resolution, frame rate and interlacing cadence

• if shot in 24P, video should arrive in 23.98fps progressive with the telecine cleanly reversed (no loose interlaced frames)

• cannot be up‐converted from compressed media (e.g. H.264, DV, MPG, WMV)

• cannot be captured from DVD’s, miniDV’s or other consumer‐grade masters

• no glitches or audio/video artifacts

• no watermarks, bugs, DVD logos, promo intros, dates, websites

• if music video, no credits, titles and/or chyron

• clearly labeled (e.g. Company_MovieTitle.avi, Label_Artist_Song.mov, Company_Show_Season_Episode.mov)

3. DIGITAL BETA tape

• audio uncompressed and in stereo or surround sound

• original/master resolution, frame rate, tape format (PAL/NTSC) and interlacing cadence

• no glitches or audio/video artifacts

• no watermarks, bugs, DVD logos, promo intros, dates, websites

• if music video, no credits, titles and/or chyron

• Beta SP is acceptable only if it is a master and not a duplicate

• videos available in HD cannot be delivered on Beta tape

COMMON REASONS FOR QUALITY REJECTION

• the video is de‐interlaced [videos cannot be de‐interlaced]

• the video has duplicate frames [videos must have a clean/consistent frame progression without a pattern of repeating frames,

typically caused by de‐interlacing videos with a telecine (24p) cadence or poor PAL/NTSC conversions]

• the video is cropped, less than 720 pixels wide or contains black pillars [videos must be in full, original resolution]

• the video has artifacts or audio clicks, pops or outages [all media must arrive clean]

• the video shows signs of compression, arrives on video DVD or in a compressed format like DV, MP4 or H.264

delivery options

1. PHYSICAL DELIVERY

• delivered to the attention of your Orchard representative (clear delivery with your rep before sending)

• delivery confirmation/tracking

• if digital file delivery, deliver the file on Data DVD (recommended), USB thumb drive or USB/Firewire hard drive

• videos can be zipped to reduce file size if necessary (do not use rar)

• your physical delivery will not be returned unless: (a) you clear the return of your assets with your Orchard rep before sending;

and (b) your return address and instructions are labeled clearly on the video tape, data DVD, hard drive, etc.

2. ONLINE DELIVERY via FTP, SFTP or drop.io

• post the video to your FTP or SFTP and send login credentials to your Orchard representative

• be sure your video file is clearly labeled (e.g. Company_MovieTitle.avi, Label_Artist_Song.mov)

• request a drop.io transfer account from vidops@theorchard.com, then upload the video and notify your Orchard rep when

complete (music video deliveries only)

Hunt for the Gingerbread Man

Back in 2008, I animated a few short pieces, which included 'Hunt for the Gingerbread Man'. These short animations were specifically created within a limited time frame as a personal exercise to see how much interest could be generated from a specific target audience.

This animation and another called 'Manhattan Murder' managed to exceed expectations when the artist themselves came across it and got in direct contact with me....

The other half

During the early stages of development, 'Legend of the Golden Warrior' originally had a 3 minute intro scene. This section was designed to introduce the setting to the viewer while introducing the characters and covering the background of the story described in the full song.

The intro only had background music which included two other characters discussing the 'Golden Warrior himself'. This character would have been shown to the viewers in stills within flashbacks.

Since this scene was never included the 'Golden warrior' himself is never seen in the final animation.

Images of the original storyboard soon to come.

This Project is complete.

Possibly one of the hardest things I've ever worked on. The communication, workload, time, strain...I could go on and on.

I've managed to finish what I can only discribe as painstaking, computers have broken, people have let me down, some have pulled through, but most importantly its done.

More updates will come soon, there is a lot of data lying around which I need to share here soon, information on the entire communication process will also be here soon.