Semester Two - Aesop's Fable Animation

Finally. A chance to get into what I've wanted to do for a long time!
This semester we're tasked with animating an Aesop's Fable. These are very old fables which hold a moral message.

I'm going to use 3DS Max to create all the models, stages, lights and cameras to make my animation and then use editing software to add sound, editing, credits and possibly effects.

We're meant to choose three fables we like and then from this short-list make a selection of the fable that we are going to animate. Truth be told I have, with absolute certainty, already chosen what fable I am going to animate. However, to adhere to the will of my lecturer I will briefly describe the three options.

The Young Thief and His Mother Fable:

This fable tells the story of a young thief on the eve of his execution being visited by his mother. On her arrival he bites her on the face and curses her for not disciplined as a child.
The moral of the story being if you train a child at a young age, the child will not depart from that path.

This fable would be interesting to animate. It would invole a lot of close up face work. The faces would need to be gritty and would prove to be a good task for skinning. The lighting would play a big part in the fable because the thief is in a dungeon. You could extend the scene to show the thief being executed which would be a good end on a sudden blackout when the gallows drop or the axe hits.

The Old Man and Death

In this fable you hear of an old man working in the forest sick of his toil. Upon calling out for death to take him Death appears asking for why he was summoned. Hastily the old man asks for aid with his work.
The moral of this story is many of us would not like our wishes to be granted.

The fable like the previous will invlove a lot of close up face animation. Again, the face of the old man would be gritty for he is a peasant. The appearance of Death would allow me to add in some great lighting and atmospheric effects which would really add to the scene.

The Horse, Hunter, and Stag

This fable, and in my humble opinion the best (care to guess which fable I have chosen?), invloves the horse who has had a quarrle with the stag asking for the hunters help. The hunterclaims in order to help he will need to saddle and bridle the horse. After the hunter kills the stag he will not let the horse free, prefering the horse as it is at present.
The moral of the story being that if we use others they may also use us.

This fable offers a rich environment that will need to be modelled, three organic living characters and many four which the characters will interact with. There will be a small of close face work for the hunter and some mouth work with the horse. Some parts of the anmiation will be quite complex and I have a few ideas for some good shots. Because the fable is in a forest can use lighting shining through the trees set the mood of each scene.