This is my latest animatic based on the newest beat board, there is still some of the story to come but that will follow soon:

We follow the Librarian, an old man who has forgotten the joy of stories. Although he holds the title of librarian he does not treat his books with respect, he is tired of life and tired of his job, what do a few old dusty books matter to him? Whilst you or I may know that the beauty and wonder of a story is not to be overlooked, our librarian has failed to remember this in his despicable mood. The question is will he change his mind on the matter?

I've been transferring shots off of my storyboard in preperation to shoot my animatic...

After presenting my latest beat board to a group of peers and tutor it was suggested that the Librarian is on screen constantly and this is not needed. The key image for the group was the Librarian throwing books over his shoulder (top right below) as this really showed his disdain for them. I could cut the scenes where he is interacting with the books and have instead him fall asleep in his chair and his part is over in the film. The Library then becomes the main focus at the end of the film with the books and stories coming to life, enhancing the irony that the Librarian hates stories and is missing such a spectacle.

Next step: I want to get these ideas into a work in progress animatic as I now feel confident in the first half of my story, but I want to set out timing and get a feel for some foley alongside it. I will then work on the Library scenes at al later stage.

Here it is, my second and improved (hopefully) beat board!

The Librarian is seen selecting books off of a shelf before dropping them carelessly to the floor, then dragging them to his desk whiere he impatiently flicks through them before throwing them over his shoulder. He pauses looking old and tired, then slowly opens up a new book. This one starts to narrate a story to him with the pages morphing into sculptural images, it is beautiful, the Librarian seems entranced. His expression changes and he angrily crushes the story being told. He falls asleep in his chair, only to awake to the library  being covered in alive stories alike to what was in the books. He carefully closes the book he was reading and places it neatly back on the shelf where he found it.

Out with the old and in with the new...

So I realised in taking time out of this production over Christmas and New Year to write my dissertation that when I tried to get back into it I was in a bit of a rut. I think I had got too fixated on the idea of the Librarian losing his father and this was creating too much of a complicated back story, creating unnecessary faff and causing more work for myself.

Therefore I have ditched the back story. The Librarian is now simply a man who has lost his love for stories and books and is tired and grumpy in his old age.

I have been trying to think of ways that would help show his hatred for books visually on screen:

After presenting my beat board and animatic to my peers and tutors the general feedback was that the story idea is liked but it needs definite tweaking, mainly with the ending. If the librarian is depressed at his Fathers death then why not push the boundaries of this and make the ending the end of the characters life too? He could be swallowed by the library, become part of a book or kill himself in his confusion and grief. After having to explain the story I found it difficult to explain the beginning section so will most likely cut this or try something different.

Time for tweaking...

Here's my first (serious) animatic following the latest beat board that I published here recently:

I have been trying to write a narrative that will accompany the images on screen as I feel that my current storyboard needs it for the story to make sense. Currently I imagine the narrator to be someone that is not the Librarian, but someone who the Librarian can hear in his on screen world and perhaps his actions are determined at points by what the narrator is saying, or looks disgruntled if he doesn't quite agree with how his story is being told.