That was 18 to 26 November 2016 – a slow week. There was a family emergency from the previous Saturday to recover from. The weather turned properly summery (37C today) which means taking it nice and easy. The characters are somewhat in flux and Pointy is still having his identity crisis. But let’s ignore that little blue ham for a second.
There’s a few shots in the old reel where Gronky is digging with his hands. Placeholder dirt is being thrown into the air behind him. During the review sessions at Blender Conference 2016, more than one person asked “What’s he doing? Is he casting a spell or something?” – what do you think?
It hit me this week that I’m not using props to communicate intent very much. If Gronky goes to dig then surely he should pull out a shovel – that way people instantly know what he’s doing. And if he pulls a shovel out of malletspace, all the better to say what kind of character he is and what kind of universe the movie takes place in.
There’s effort involved in making a prop like a folding shovel, but if it means a less confused audience, it’s worth it. It’s also a welcome respite from the more open-ended task of rewriting.
And I thought, well, if Gronky’s going to carry a shovel around with him, I want him to have The Best Shovel Ever. If you haven’t heard of the Chinese Military Shovel, multifunction tool of Internet legend, you’re in for a treat. 🙂
I’ve even got an actual Chinese Military Shovel here to reference for modelling. Spiders have laid eggs in the spade bit but other than that it’s fine.
See you again next week!
