The trailer itself went through several versions and generations with the passing of time and series of unfortunate events (mostly in the form of procrastination). It was originally going to be used with real actors with three dimensional and two dimensional animations. Time passed, and all my actors disappeared... So I replaced what I can of the actors with drawings...over 50 separate pictures, to be precise.
Filming portion consisted only about 15%, and one person (me).
Drawing took up around 40%, from sketching, to coloring, to fine tuning.
Sound related details took around 45%, including voice acting and music composition.
Putting together the trailer took around 10 hours only...
The story itself started off as a dedication to the first ever film class of Shanghai American School. Some of the characters are blatant reflections of the inspiration themselves, while others had their name severely mutilated into an unrecognizable form. I will not reveal who they are (character and inspiration alike), but for those who are curious, you may head over to my Deviantart (creatorsoul) and decipher the names as you like.
When I first suggested the idea to Brian, my close friend and imagination outbreak partner-in-crime, the concept was simple beyond imaginable. It was exactly as the title said, a story about a gene which gave those with it the power of foresight. There were clear protagonists and antagonists, good and evil. As Brian would like to have described it, "She [meaning me] simply took Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children, Kingdom Hearts, people from our class and mashed them together in a egg scrambler." (Just to add, he got me addicted to the first three named in that list.) That was what the story was, nothing more.
After winning the Best Computer Animation award, however, I did not want to stop. I begin to question what is it that attracted me to this story line, and is it really as simple as the title implies it to be. If so, Brian can continue calling me a grand rip off (he has the right to, but then again, so do I sometimes, but let us leave that for another day...).
I wanted the story to be realistic; a reflection of our world in a different system. The same problems that arise from the conflict and troubles that I analyzed through out my high school career. Two of the most important questions that pushed the story onward was "Who did what, and what consequences followed?" and "Did that have to occur this way? What other possibilities could have taken place?"
The story has now evolved into what I would call a reflection of my own struggles regarding ethics, morality, humanity, fate, karma, love, and life... and I wish to share it.
Here are the three sections that are currently posted:
Have fun reading! Leave comments if you can!
