Introduction

Hi there and welcome to my first play-by-play submission for the Rookies contest! My name is Mitch Doyle and I'm an aspiring animator currently based out of Vancouver, Canada.

In addition to animation I'm interested in XR developments and mixed media art combining the use of AR into the environments in which we live, work and play. As an avenue to learn more about this emerging field I have enrolled at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in the 3D Modeling, Art, and Animation program. Here, I've been able to hone my skills and learn more about the ever evolving content creation game, with an expected graduation date quickly approaching in April.

I'm excited to work on this contest as a way of practicing what I have learned over the past few months and to be able to network with like minded individuals in an effort to create great work. Follow along as my journey unfolds from rookie to pro! 

I had several different ideas for this prompt:

1) A big ol' Robot inspecting a delicate flower to learn more about life.

2) The Robot fighting an ever changing aspect ratio, pushing against the corners of the frames as they slowly close in... maybe a bit too meta. 

Then I started inspecting the rig a bit more and found that it might be a futuristic fire fighter with water jets on all sides and left arm, sirens on its shoulders and even a fire fighters axe strapped to its leg. Naturally I thought about doing a fire scene but figured I best leave that to the FX squad. 

With an 8 second window I wanted to create something that left a lasting impression on the observer and left them wanting more... left them wanting to replay it. Ultimately leaving a larger conversation behind than what could be shown in 8 seconds or less. 

So what's the largest conversation right now? 

Artificial Intelligence -Ai

Alas, I found my muse! 

My 8 second journey follows the robot "Pic-Ai-sso" as he leans upon the countless references in the deepest recesses of his Artificial mind to create a painting. All is fun and games until he attempts to sign the bottom right corner of "his" new masterpiece, and BAM... hit with a human captcha authenticator. Unable to complete this request the robot drops his paintbrush in dismay.  

To help illustrate my story I've attached an image row above highlighting some key poses and have included an incredibly rough draft of my current blocking below.

Enjoy!   

TLDR: Robot makes Ai art, but can't sign the bottom corner because of ownership/robot issues: A commentary on the dilemma we find ourselves in as we delve deeper into the world of Artificial Intelligence.