Flash Project: Probably Too Ambitious

So, I think I'm going to start working on a Flash thing, I figure I should organize my thoughts here and see if I can get any feedback. (Note: I probably won't start working on this in earnest for a few weeks, I don't have my own copy of Flash yet, but if I don't get one for Christmas I'll just buy one)

This all comes from when I was really little, I used to get into MS Paint and spend hours drawing massive space/fantasy battles, always wishing I could make them move. That's why I initially started taking classes in which I could learn how to use Flash, it's really been my driving goal in all of the computer art I've ever done. And now I think I might be able to pull it off.

On the other hand, it may be too ambitious to work with Flash. If that's the case, I'll probably just write it in book form anyway. But I'm really hoping it will work out.

Anyway, it would be a Space Opera, hopefully like what I said in the "What do you want to see?" thread. There would probably be aliens of some kind, but the main characters would be human fighter pilots, and it would ideally be a character-driven plot. It would be totally soft, with lasers going "pew pew!" and space being an ocean. I have a pretty long story I'll be trying to pull off, so I'll probably release them as 10-20 five or ten minute episodes on You Tube or something, if it all works out.

But anyway, the thing that hopefully will make me unique is this concept: While all the factions are having their petty squabbles, there are 10 (working number, could change) Reality-Warping ships floating around, acting like Eldritch Abominations. They'll be called Aspects, and they each represent one concept/emotion, and will be completely devoted to making that concept happen everywhere. Each Aspect has a pilot, and there is only one way to become an Aspect pilot: By destroying an Aspect. Once you do so (dying in the process, no exceptions), you are reborn, with a new ship. Your new concept/emotion you represent is the one that you most believed in/felt as a human. The Aspects that are around in the beginning will mostly have unexplained origins, but every one that's born during the show's timeline will be on-screen. For example, at one point an Aspect attacks an entire fleet, and is totally laying waste to everything. One fighter pilot decides to save his friends, and flies his little fighter straight into the cockpit of the Aspect, killing the pilot and destroying the whole ship, preferably in a really cool explosion. The ship is reborn during the suicide run, and emerges on the other side as the Aspect of Daring or something, with a sweet new paint job. That character would probably be one of the main set, and the cast's dealings with that Aspect would be one of the recurring themes in the show, maybe giving them a Deus Ex Machina every now and again, who knows.

However, considering that Flash is not only a visual medium, I would need to have some preferably original music (the playing of the music is not so much of a problem, though, I think I could wrangle up a string quartet or something. It's writing it that will be hard), and would either need to have voices (which would be really hard) or have none (which might detract from the show's appeal).

Does anyone have any thoughts/suggestions/would you watch it?

The music is even more simple if you use classical music, and if it's obscure enough, it will sound original by virtue of no one having heard it before.

Also, don't worry about the voices for now. Since it's a visual medium, you can easily show characters' personalities and interactions without dialogue. If you can't hold auditions for voice actors at the moment, look at silent films or vintage cartoons. And you can, of course, add in dialogue later.

edited 11th Dec '11 12:06:52 PM by Leradny

re: the classical thing: Well, that's feasible, but Classical music tends to sound, well, Classical. I was thinking more Modern Minimalist, to be honest.

How would you go about finding a composer and musicians to create and perform original work, then compensate them for their time?

There are plenty of PD sound clips, if you're willing to look for them.

I have a certain amount of experience writing music, so I could do that bit. When it comes down to it, honestly, I'll probably just use one of those Music programming languages, though.

First off, keep following your vision; not everyone happens to get the skills and circumstances needed to be able to follow through with an idea they've had from childhood...

If I were you, I wouldn't worry about music. Spend your time looking for that perfect theme AFTER you've gotten all the scenes animated...

As for voice actors, if you're ambitious enough to follow through and get this done, when people see it they'll be falling over each other to get to lend their voices to you. To begin with just have scrolling text and expressions do it for you. In fact, this might work better than actual voice acting, as people imagine the voices for themselves.

Yeah, imagination is nice, but text really limits you.

Actually, on the other hand, text might actually help, because I was wondering how I could differentiate between similar ships in the same scene. Different colors/fonts for different characters could help with that.

Unless that's too cliche?

I still say you should just write scenes without dialogue in the vein of vintage cartoons—or Fantasia, or Brackenwood—and rewrite them for dialogue once you have an actual cast.

If you have some sort of plan for this, say it's a short film, a series of short films, or an outright movie, it would help us give more coherent feedback.

Probably short little 5 minute episodes, as mentioned before.

Unless you were trying to ask something completely different?

I lost it in the wall of text, sorry. Anyway, you can't fit in a lot of anything into the length of a song, I stand by what I said before. Especially since this doesn't seem too complicated. Also, there are plenty of modern animated shorts longer than five minutes which don't have a word of dialogue—usually by students in the animation field. So, if you have a response to "keep dialogue on the backburner until you can make longer episodes and get a bigger crew"?

No, that sounds like a plan.

I'd like to help you out, if you need it.

We'll see. I'd really not like to get anyone else involved until I actually have some concrete work to show. I don't want to get ten minutes in to it, decide it will be too much work, and tell everyone they're fired.

So if I get a few episodes actually made, then I'll remember you and see if you can help.

Deal?

Okay, I don't know how this holds up to Flash, and haven't used it, but Synfig is free. It's also built for huge projects like this, so it might be worth looking into.

Thank you, I downloaded it. I'll see if I can pull something off with it tomorrow (probably just a walk cycle). I'm not very hopeful, I doubt it has any kind of comparable quality, but I'll take a look.

Deal. I like the sound of that.

Update: Got Flash for Christmas, am in the process of convincing Adobe that, yes, I exist.

Going to make a Proof-of-Concept episode, but I won't be able to show it to you guys, even if I'm successful, because SPOILERS. Sorry. It's the only one I have storyboarded so far.

As it happens, Flash is hard. I think I'm in over my head. At this point, I'm trying to decide whether I should just accept that it will take a very long time to make even short episodes, or if I should instead do smaller projects until I have the experience necessary to do this. I'm leaning towards the first one, just doing one scene at a time and learning how to do all the things I'm going to want to do through experience, but I don't know if it will work out.