A dark fantasy thriller set in the wild west,
told from two perspectives;
THE BOY
When a young Angel of Death is sent out to retrieve the soul of a man and take him peacefully to the underworld, he is mistakenly seen, unknowingly preventing the cause of his death.
The Boy, taking on a form familiar to the man, is forced to either come to terms with the brutality of his job, or rebel against Death herself to save The Dead Man.
THE DEAD MAN
A man going about his chores one night discovers that he and his family are being watched by a devilish creature in the forest, and goes out to hunt it down.
When he finally gets a good look at the creature in the night, it turns out to be a young boy not more than eleven years old, who looks eerily familiar.
Plagued by guilt since the death of his little brother when they were children, is this his chance to make things right, and get the closure he desires? Or will this near identical boy prove to be something more.
Over the past year working on this film, I’ve made quite a few different animation tests to figure out the visual style, the pipeline, and mostly just to find out if I am capabale of my ideal look.
Here are some of those succesful (while not 100% complete) tests!
The Dead Man’s wife.
Fortiche has been one of my biggest style inspirations, like with many people, for creating a “painterly” look in 3D animation.
Here’s a test done with The Boy created by reverse-engineering a shot from the Pilot episode of ‘Arcane’.
The Boy in his true form, running spooked during the hunt. This clip was created as a test for the creature’s rig using a shot from the trailer.
The Dead Man’s wife was the first model that I created while working on pipeline tests for this project, so many of my tests include her, whereas The Dead Man himself has been proving to be quite difficult to get right.
This sneak-preview shot from the teaser trailer uses a 3D model that is still very much unfinished, but one that I have been using to test lighting scenarios as well as some animation and FX shortcuts.
MAIN LOCATIONs
Dancing with Mortals takes place in the coastal Pacific Northwest, inspired by the coastlines of Oregon and Washington, with some creative liberty taken in the weather and wildlife.
The town
The town visited in the film is your classic wild west town, but instead of tumbleweeds and open desert, it is wedged between towering glacial peaks and rolling ocean.
Time period
The time period is something I had a lot of fun playing with.
The architecture and technology is set in the late 19th century, mostly. While there are plenty of horse-riding cowboys, kerosene lanterns, and dirt roads, you will also find the occasional 1960s pickup truck, electric lightbulb, and the interior decorating style of the 1970’s.
The farm
The majority of the film takes place at the farm. A cozy log built cabin, prairie barn, and an expansive coastal forest on all sides.
The homestead was built along the shoreline, bringing in not only the strong winds from the ocean, but also the ever-revolving glare from the lighthouse.
The Dead Man’s Wife is outside the interaction between her husband and the strange boy. She often finds herself being protective of both the child and her husband, while questioning the actions of both, and inevitably discovering the truth about the boy.
THE OTHERS
The Brothers’ friendship is the main conflict in the film. Best friends as children, one got the chance to grow up to become a loving husband and father, while the other lost his life early in an accident as a child in the ocean.
The Toddler creates an interesting dynamic between herself and The Boy, as she can see him both as the young child, and in his true form as the wolf.
Death, while this film does not necessarily have a true good or evil, Death acts as the antagonist for much of the film. Her stoic sense of purpose for herself and her ‘children’ in their duties keeps The Boy moving continually forward in his decision, and while, at the beginning, it seems as though she may just be coldhearted, in the end her harsh choices may turn out to be a mercy.
Life, in nearly every way, is in contrast to Death. She is soft, kind, and always forgiving. When Death becomes frustrated and angry at The Boy, her way of coming to a conclusion with the child is peaceful and conclusive. Where she does not contridict Death, is in the matter of The Dead Man.
SO, how far along is the film?
The full film in its entirety is 37 minutes long, and currently fully exists in previs (a roughly animated version of the film, like a 3D storyboard). With the previs complete, it is time to move into production!
The next step is to create a three to four minute teaser trailer, fully animated and rendered in the ideal style of the full film, which I will then use to hopefully get some funding to finish the rest of the film.
The teaser will focus mainly on the catalyst of the story, when The Dead Man and The Boy first meet during the night.
Production on the teaser will ideally be completed by the end of the year if all goes well.
All in all, the film is complete in it’s earliest form, containing all of the blueprints needed to take production into the next phase!
