Dim Progress Check #7 - “Reiginiting a Dying Flame

Before the end of the semester, we assigned ourselves individual goals to make sure we were on track to finish the film by the end of the semester. My task was to block out Rory, probably our most important side character. 

It has been a while since I modeled a character, but thankfully I was able to resort to an older human body mesh I made to use as a reference. The character is not as close to completion as I would like, so going forward I will need to push myself to finish him in the coming weeks. As of now, I have Rory fully blocked out and have begun sculpting finer details in Zbrush.

Current state of the character

Now that classes have begun for the Fall, I have resumed my position as lead editor for our team. As of now, this has not been too challenging, however, I did have to re-draw and re-edit a few sequences to read better. The separation of our team from our film during the summer was not ideal, but it does allow us to have somewhat of a fresh view of it to make minor changes free of bias. 

Gif of a moment between between sequence 2 and 3

Andy, our Team leader, and some of the other members have been referring to me as a secondary leader. The role is flattering, but I am certainly more content with being more of a Vice-Leader role and providing input that perhaps Andy or other members are struggling to come to themselves. In addition to this role, I have also been nudged towards the direction of a lead cinematographer, but as our 3D situation is still unfolding I have yet to claim this title (though I don’t mind it). 

Recently, I had to talk with some of the group members about re-igniting our passion for this film. It is easy to step away from the project for two months and begin to lose interest in it, but it is essential for us to recognize what initially drove us to make Dim in the first place.

Dim represents perseverance, being the light not only for yourselves but for others to rise against the forces that weigh on us with discouragement, contempt, or dissatisfaction. It is ironic to be feeling all of these negative things collectively when our story very clearly provides the solution of how to vanquish these thoughts. I suggested that we, as a full team, collectively explain some of the reasons that we were excited to work on the project in the first place and refuel the flame that our team ignited back in January. Perhaps this needs to be a more frequent occurrence. Regardless, it is essential that as we work towards closing out our film, we don’t let our own light dim.