Updated Timeline

Below is an updated timeline for the project. You'll notice that the main areas that get attention are the Story, the Character/Set Designs, and the Animation. This will probably change and evolve throughout the year!

The PDF is here

Cicada Reference!

Sketches of all kinds of Cicadas!

Sketches - Boy

Some initial sketches of the boy character, still very early days.





Some reference sketches aswell!

Sketches - Younger brother

Working on the younger brother character. Included are some initial sketches and research/reference. Still needs a lot of work to get to something that really expresses the character

Younger Brother Initial Sketches







Younger Brother Reference

Logline & Treatment

A brother who refuses to talk, a boy who adopts a wounded Cicada, and a Mother caught in the middle. At the time of year when Cicadas come to the surface, what else will be unearthed?

^Is the current log line for my short animation.

I've also completed a rough treatment, and I stress the word rough!

It can be downloaded here.

While the story and script will still be developed from this point, a greater focus on character and set design will now begin to keep on schedule!

Visual Look

Some photos taken around Canterbury and Camberwell of streets and houses. I want to achieve this sort of look in my animation. Tree lined streets, a warm evening sun, it's something that to me is a really beautiful.





Some grabs from the movie "Monster House", further illustrating the type of look I'm interested in.

Sibling Bonds

A very interesting article about the different types of sibling bonds.

"Bank and Kahn in The Sibling Bond describe three kinds of sibling relationship:

1. extreme loyalty
2. rivalry
3. solidarity

Extreme loyalty involves putting a sibling first even above loyalty to spouse and children—and a willingness to make enormous sacrifices. Examples include taking a brother into one’s home indefinitely or acting as a parent to a sister.

Such intense attachments usually develop in childhood when there is a collapse of the family, with the parents physically or psychologically unavailable. In an attempt to create a more stable environment, the children cling to each other. Excessive dependence on brothers or sisters could hinder development of individual identities or relationships with other people in adulthood.

Sibling rivalry begun in childhood may last into adulthood. Where sibling rivalry has been dominant, a person may become obsessed with comparing achievements or failures throughout life with the rivaled brother or sister.

Sibling solidarity, a sense of cohesiveness and emotional closeness with brothers and or sister, increases with age for many people. As older people observe the aging and deaths of their parents and siblings, their sense of belonging may be threatened. They strengthen ties with remaining family members to preserve their sense of belonging to the family system of their childhood, including their brothers and sisters. Persons who maintain the closest relationships with their siblings tend to be those who have never married.

Solidarity may not develop if there were no significant interaction early in life with siblings. Lack of closeness because of significant age differences between children in a family or an unresolved conflict are examples of this.

Sibling bonds that have been distant or negative for years will often further weaken or disintegrate entirely following the death of the last parent. Crisis does bring many siblings closer together. For some, a parent’s illness or family crisis may be the first time one really learns to appreciate a brother or sister."

Source - http://fcs.tamu.edu/families/aging/elder_care/brothers_sisters_aging_parents.php