Finally the script for episode 2 is in the can! Completely rewritten 4 (four) times, the story is now simple, compact and moves forward in a direct continuation of episode 1. On top of that, I’ve already recorded the narration for episode 2, and most of my concept artwork for the new locations and backgrounds in this episode done, too. Which means I can soon start rigging two new characters that appear in the episode, and then I can start animating!

Having said that, I just got super busy at work, so most of that part of the production will have to wait until early April. Damn. But I’m planning to take a holiday around that time, so I can get more stuff done in a shorter time.

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The Road Ahead

Episode 2 has been a long time coming and I had to tie up some loose ends, so – spoiler alert! – the episode itself comes with few surprises. However, I have been working on a larger story arc regarding Phungus background story – where his past kinda trips over his future aspirations – and it’s coming together now. I might even put a real twist in the whole story line regarding Mowld’s background, but I’m not entirely decided yet (I’m not sure whether I want to keep him as a good grunt, or turn him into a more cunning shady character). As you can see, I have only rough background stories in my head for the main characters and the direction(s) they are going, and a sketchy story arc across several episodes for those characters that I’m planning to build or better explore. None of it is written in stone, because I want to stay flexible to develop the story into any direction necessary, or stay able to come up with new arcs if they seem more exciting (look at me, I start to sound like ALIS!).

I already have two quite thorough outlines/drafts for episode three and four, so the script for those two episodes should be completed in a much shorter time frame than this one. The aforementioned story arc for the whole season one (10 planned episodes) is roughly drafted, but I’m not entirely sure yet how to unfold all of it, and there probably will be “filler” episodes that have nothing to do with the season’s big story arc. I also still want to make sure people can watch every episode separately without needing to know most or any of the previous ones and still enjoy them.

FORSAKEN VLOG?

No, no, no, nope, nein, nix da, njet, いええ! I haven’t forgotten about my vlog, and yes, it’s overdue. But I think I want to get to the point where the only work left do to for episode two is the animation of the characters, then I feel like I can “afford” to spend the extra time producing another vlog entry. The next vlog will be about: designing for animation, so this is bound to be a bit more involved than the previous vlogs, and so I don’t want to feel guilty taking lots of time for that, when could move the production of the next episode forward instead. So stay tuned, good things will come to those who wait.

One more thing…

I’m not getting tired of winning, folks – the Phungus & Mowld pilot “Dead Angle” just received yet another award! This time it’s the Diamond Award for Best Animation Short at the Pinnacle Film Awards 2021.

The pilot episode has also entered three more festivals, which haven’t posted any final winners yet. Keep fingers crossed. Because of COVID-19 many festivals had to be postponed, in order to reorganize as a fully online experience, so I’ve lost track of the festivals that are overdue, but have been postponed or rescheduled or whatever. As long as they keep them suhweet laurels coming, I won’t complain. Well, ok I will complain a little. I really want a trophy. You know something to put on my shelf behind me, a humblebrag when I shoot the next vlog. You gotta give me that little vanity folks. Well until next month then. Piece over and out.