This is my second draft of my animated trailer. My show is supposed to be a dramedy, therefore, it needs to be funny to some extent. One of my STL mentors, Tyree said, its best to perform all the characters to not only see if it's funny, but to accentuate all proposed humour. You never really know if its going to be funny unless you see it and test it on audiences. So I got to work and played all my characters. This isn't just to see if people will laugh, but it's also reference for the animation process. I want all movement and mannerisms to be believable.

Edward is pitching for investment here, so think "Silicon Valley" in terms of the tone I'm goin for.

I'm making myself super vulnerable here, as I'm not an actor, have zero experience at comedy and am still getting to know my main protagonist, so I am quite surprised when getting such positive feedback. I have since, shot a 3rd performance based video this week, at my office space, with a professional actor and videographer, which is a step up from this clip in terms of story, humour, acting and environment reference. I've even since improved the blockchain scenes. In this version I've posted, the blockchain scenes are a little bland and don't serve the story well... but hey, prototyping is about SPEED. I'm actually quite surprised how much effort I've placed into the preproduction process. I feel both the Show Family Britannia and my trailer will benefit greatly from this.

OTHER REASONS REAL LIFE PERFORMANCE IS USEFUL:

My other STL mentor, Kevin has been so helpful in helping me understand how to utilise technology, such as Adobe Character Animator, Unreal Engine and other applications that I could literally run these performances through and use to generate A.I based simulated animations of my movements. It can and will save me a heck of a lot of time during the animation process. Kevins technological insights and consultancy will transform an animation company like Aniboxx. My mind RACES when Kevin shows me whats possible. His mentorship is invaluable to say the very least!

Even when I studied 3D animation at University, our lecturers provided us with actors who we could book in and we could film for reference. These performance videos I've done lately have helped me return to this place and remember the importance of physical reference. Something I haven't really utlised a lot over the last 10 years of my animation career. I'm so happy I did this.

Here is a link to the full video of just me, performing without the illustrated animatic: https://tinyurl.com/2p99w3yf

Watching recordings of myself in my bedroom is quite jarring, but let me know what you think of the animatic. Hopefully, I can implement any relevant feedback before we get into the thick of the production.

LOL. I laugh, looking at myself, thinking this may be how I spend the rest of my life.... and I LOVE IT!!