Environment concepts

We had discussed the different elements we would need for the environment, and had settled on a rocky/muddy nest as opposed to a branch/twig nest. The reason was mainly due to the limitations we have/had technically, and that for layout purposes, it is better if we had a flat-like surface on the nest to see the action, particularly the moment when the claw of the bird pops out.

Modelling begins

We created the orthographic views for modelling first, and then jumped right in after some tweaking to modelling the baby T-Rex:

Character Concepts

Based on the storyboards, we then moved on to character design

First is the baby T-Rex and the other is the Rahonavis:

Storyboards

The story was changed slightly from the pitch as we needed a better punch line at the end, so we did some brainstorming and after hours of going back and forth on different ideas we ended up with the following. Setting is in prehistoric times, and our main characters are now a baby T-Rex, and a baby Rahonavis (dinosaur bird from the late cretaceous) :

The story should be clear here, but just in case, the idea was to have these two random eggs on a nest. The first egg hatches and a birds head pops out and makes noises looking for its mommy. The second egg hatches and its a baby T-Rex. He smiles at the bird, frightening it with its large teeth. The bird hides back in its egg, and the T-Rex continues his little game of smiling at the poor little bird. The first egg (the bird) breaks, and the bird lands on its feet. The second egg breaks and the T-Rex falls on its bum. Then the claw (the velociraptor like finger) on the bird pops open, exposing its length, which they both notice. The bird then turns slowly towards the T-Rex smiling mischievously. The T-Rex smiles back in fear/apology.

total running time is around 28-30 seconds.

Team Gathering

After everybody pitched, we started to run around looking for teams to join, or for people to join our team. For us things worked out pretty quickly, and within a day or two our team was put together, and the functions of every member outlined roughly.

Bader: character/concept art, storyboards, animation, and group leader
Brian: Technical Director, lighting, pipeline
Lee: Character Modelling, Environmental Modelling
Pablo: Texturing, Environmental modelling, Compositing

The idea was that we would all help each other in areas where things get a little hectic, but overall these were our areas of focus.

A schedule was put together quickly to make use of the extra time we had in the semester, and to try and get some pre-production work finished.

Original Concept

The original idea was pitched by Brian in the group projects presentations session. The idea was to have a lizard and a bird both hatch out of eggs, and the lizard smiles displaying his teeth, scaring the bird.