Halfway done with my first pass at the animatic...

Make a hole

For those who care, Benny is a midget.

Another screenshot from the animatic. Rough drawings. Don't judge me.

Fire!

I swear to you that this is a comedy.

Chicken scratchy

Coffee & Sketches

L to R: Lenny, Denny & Benny

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I'm not into architecture.

I've modeled crude sets in Maya before (most recently for Pinhead, which took place in an office).

This time, there are going to be four locations, all of which will be challenging. However this is the most fun part of making a short film for me, because I can place multiple cameras around and explore. As a teacher at college imparted to me, (one of the cool teachers, not the douchebag teachers) "geography and clarity are the most important parts of storytelling."

Below is a rough overview of the engineer's apartment.

Interesting read.

How to train an animator, by Walt Disney.

Animatic Shot 004

The Shortcut, Animatic shot 004 from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.

For those who are curious..."The Shortcut" is a dark comedy about three dysfunctional engineers that search for the American dream in the wrong way.

I think that's vague enough...

I want "The Shortcut" be as funny and as my last film "Pinhead", but also have it go to some darker places. If you've seen the end of "Pinhead", you'll know that the ending was a little dark, which is what I was always concerned about while writing/animating/directing it, but the audience really went for it. So I want to see if I can push things a little further this time out...

Animatic, shot 002.

The Shortcut, Animatic, shot 002 from Matt D. Lee on Vimeo.