Concept documentation

For my self-directed brief I have decided that I will be making an animated short film, 4-10 minutes in length. This film may act as a pilot for a series of animations I may choose to do in the future. It will be animated using mostly digital 2D processes and occasional use of 3D when constructing environments and complex props or characters.

In Only A Dream (tentative title), the audience is taken into the dreams of a particularly troubled young adult male. These dreams have been specially transcribed into data and then into video from unseen technology that is hinted at throughout the film (through video/data artefact and camera information display). Through this technology, multiple “cameras” have been established by tapping into both the conscious and unconscious minds of the main character. With this narrative device, viewpoints from both first and third person perspectives are possible throughout the film.

Technicalities aside, the film is predominately a character piece in perhaps the most extreme sense (for there is only one “real” character). Other characters will be depicted through the dreams, but they will be shown how the main character perceives them to be.

It is through these dreams that we learn about the life, desires, fears and quirks of this main character. This will compose a tale of personal development and degradation on a far more personal magnitude. The film will consist of four or more dreams of the main character over a period of years, with each dream sharing common elements and characters.

I want to make it clear that the commonalities between each dream are only due to them being singled out of many, many others and sequenced together. It is almost as if there is someone or a number of people who have obtained this “footage” and edited it to form a cohesive narrative.