World Premiere

Picking Up the Pieces received its world premiere over a breakfast on the winter solstice 2007. Not the best thing to see first thing in the morning, but that's what happened.

As posted on YouTube, I took advantage of their processor's tendency to squeeze to bring out the prosthetics's girlish figure.

Original aspect ratio version to follow.

Rough rough cut cut

Here's a rough cut for Picking up the Pieces.

Story Reel01

Here's the first story reel for Picking up the Pieces.

The sound is not yet locked down and subsequent edits will continue this week.

Shot list

Here's the first shot list for Picking up the Pieces.

Costume sample

This is the type of camo we will obtain for the soldier. There are many variations in the uniforming of US soldiers for this effort in Iraq so exact matches are not required. The main coloring and patterning should be desert camo.

An asset for style frame

Animatic01

Here's the first animatic for Picking up the Pieces.

Storyboard revised

Here's a revised storyboard (named Storyboard03 to conform to the script version).

Script—Draft03

Here's the third draft script.

Storyboard

Here's a storyboard of Picking up the Pieces.

Script—Draft02

Here is the second version of the script.

Style Frame

This frame shows how the soldier looks at available prosthetic options.

Script—Draft01

Here is the first version of the script.

How to have hope

Our soldier is waiting for the inverse of the technology Dean Kamen describes below. It's about five and a half minutes (far longer than we have) but have a look...





Our soldier has hope that the body equivalent of the Gen X - Separate Exo Control robot arm will be deliverable. In his lifetime.

Honing in

In selected a concept, we'll go with Picking Up the Pieces.

Here are some images that suggest the scene.

This soldier on the left, perhaps our hero's buddy, has narrowly escaped an insurgent sniper's bullet. He's proud to display the SAPI plate that saved him and shows the sizeof munition he was up against.

This soldier on the right, escaped with only a head wound as he was saved by his Kevlar helmet. This equipment, more expensive than the head gear of the first Bush war, is saving lives.


This image, at left, suggests what equipment the armed services medical division is using to patch up some severely injured soldiers like our hero.

A Project Treatment is available here.

Concepts — Just out there

Theme: Getting caught up in your work
Technique: Animation
A Xerox operator is sucked into the machine and is spit out as a person made up of 8.5 x 11" sections.

Theme: Picking up the pieces
Technique: Green screen
A male soldier returning from active duty has nothing left of his body but head and arms. A female mannequin is all that army medical had left to offer him.

Theme: Art touches the viewer
Technique: compositing
A man viewing paintings in a museum sees himself in every piece he looks at; his face replaces the painting's subject.

Turn the key

Vroom....