NEXT-GEN Nescot - Overview of the Synoptic Project.

For my Synoptic Project I decided to design a short animation.

My idea consists of a Western dual set at high noon that uses comedic elements.

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In my animation it shows two cowboys bickering and dueling each other with one of them ultimately dying, however the short animation is also intended for comedic purposes.

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Series of events – (not fully considered/completed yet)

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S1 – Cowboy-1 walks into frame with a close-up of their shoes.

S2 – Close up of cowboy-2’s face as cowboy-2 says the cliche dialog “this town ain’t big enough for the two of us”.

S3 – Cowboy-1’s reaction to this and says “you don’t say” as a response.

S4 – A wide-shot (master shot) of the scene showing an incredibly small town (the same size of a model town) in the middle of both cowboys 1 and 2 (possibly with a tumbleweed if there is time to create it afterwards).

S5 – Close-up of cowboy-1’s face appearing angry/ frustrated as an anticipation for the up coming duel (possibly spitting out a piece of wheat in their mouth depending on the final character design).

S6 – Close-up of cowboy-2’s face appearing angry/ frustrated as an anticipation for the up coming duel.

S7 - Cowboy-1 getting ready to draw their gun with a close-up of their hand above their holster.

S8 - Cowboy-2 getting ready to draw their gun (shot type undecided)

S9 – A wide-shot (master shot) that shows cowboy-1 and 2 drawing their guns, cowboy-1 kills cowboy-2 winning the duel.

S10 – Cowboy-1 holsters their gun (shot type undecided)

S11 – Cowboy-1 tips their hat (shot type undecided)

S12 – Title-card with the word “showdown” (I also had the idea of a gunshot going off and creating a hole in one of the O(s).

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Storyboard – (draft for representation of each frame)

Mood Board can also be seen below.

Possible animation shortcuts.

•Once creating the character with the bandanna, their model could be repeated and their colour pallet changed.

•Only using bandannas over the character’ mouths to avoid animating their mouth and instead slightly moving the bandanna to simulate talking.

•Creating the character with facial features and copying it with a bandanna over their face to make them appear as different characters.