Timbo Animation Test

It's the end of the year and I'm running on fumes. I haven't gotten sufficient sleep in 2 weeks (the opportunities I had were ruined by Kerri's dumb untrained dog, who, thankfully, is gone tonight), and work's been so busy, I haven't been able to take breaks like I'm used to. I haven't seen the NASA gym since last week Tuesday, and it had been a while before that, too.

To add to my plate, Stephen Strosin suddenly reached out again on Monday and asked if we could catch up for 30 minutes to go over the Animation Test script I wrote, as well as the edits to the first episode. Since it was only for 30 minutes, I assumed that meant he had seen everything and it was fine; but that was definitely not the case. 

I apparently missed every mark on the Animation Test, and he was incredibly disappointed. I wrote it like an animation test should be, but he wanted a trailer that included a lot of dialogue, singing, interaction, etc. He was already on the fence if trying to merge the animation test with the trailer was a good idea, and I told him I felt they were too different. He said to make it a trailer/teaser then, but try to get as much overlap with an animation test as possible and include a (very large) number of actions/expressions, but weave them into a cohesive storyline and also introduce Timbo's world. 

It was a lot to ask for in one 90 minute sequence, and I really struggled. I struggled because that's just not what a trailer is. And it's not what an animation test is, either. He was trying to make some sort of hybrid that didn't properly serve either. 

So I wrote guidelines for both an animation test and trailer and did some research about children's TV show trailers for benchmarking. They were nothing like what he wanted -- but they were exactly like how trailers should be. 

So I wrote it like a trailer. I didn't ignore Stephen's animation requests, but I deprioritized them over the key points that needed to be hit as a trailer. And I was pretty proud of it, all things considered, especially because I added a montage that acted like a real trailer despite us not having any episode footage yet while also acting like a mini animation test. (And Virginie really liked it.)

I was really nervous sharing this process and information with them because I thought they would disagree and just completely disregard my opinion (and thus, devalue my expertise); but to my (proud) surprise, Stephen said he needed some time to sit on this because he didn't previously see what I had brought up, and they're good points. He now saw that the trailer and animation test needed to be separate. 

I told him that if he tried to blend the two together, he would just end up having to redo the trailer later because it serves a different purpose than an animation test and that purpose would get compromised; thus, decreasing its effectiveness. We also lack the material needed to make an effective trailer. This, I explained, would cost him double the money and time and the end of the day; and he agreed. He said he appreciated me doing this work to show him. 

This made me feel confident again because after Monday's conversation, I felt like everything I wrote was garbage and that I lacked the ability to follow directions clearly. I honestly thought he might let me go because I wasn't up to snuff. 

But this gave me confidence in my innate understanding of the process, if nothing else, which is even more impressive to me because I've never done this before. I have absolutely no idea how this is supposed to go. But I'm learning so much in the process. And... I get the feeling Stephen doesn't know, either. Which makes me hope that he actually produces this.

One more thing: this whole process especially annoyed me because when he first reached out to me 2 1/2 weeks ago about the animation test, he NEEDED a 24 hour turnaround (so he could get it out to the animators). Then he went MIA for 2 weeks.

Then he appeared suddenly on Monday, asked if I was available two hours later -- I agreed -- and then got mad at me when I said I couldn't finish it until Wednesday evening (two days later) because he wanted it back in 24 hours again for the same reason. I'm still mad at myself for compromising and saying I could have it done by Wednesday afternoon because I'm a contractor and he appeared out of nowhere. My schedule is my schedule, and it's not reasonable for anyone to just pop up and expect a contractor to be free immediately. I'm not responsible for your emergencies. 

And then for him to turn around and say he needs a few days to sit and think on this after telling me he needed it immediately... I laugh. This is why you don't take on other people's emergencies.