Tower Run
A young runner is prodded out of bed and into the hills for a long-distance workout. Based on vivid memories of high school cross country team practice, including several particularly notorious summertime training runs.
Inspiration
A jog down memory lane
Cross country running has a unique vibe compared to other team sports, or at least it did when I joined the team in high school.
Practice became a special time of the day, where I could test my physical and mental limits with the support of patient, unfazed coaches and mostly serious teammates, many of whom became lifelong friends.
It was important to reflect this in my film and to take special care to investigate and reverse-engineer tropes endemic to athletic storytelling.
Visual Themes
The natural world is front and center in cross country running. Backcountry roads, farm field paths, and wooded trails are the primary thoroughfares.
Not to mention the very sky itself. The horizon is a constant companion as well as the goal we run towards. Summer runs can start early, after sunrise. Autumn runs can roll right into the afternoon golden hour.
I was eventually able to settle on a painted, impressionistic style to render the backgrounds for the film, with a bit of extra "oomph" provided by Adobe After Effects.
Production Highlight: Compositing
Compositing in After Effects allowed for much needed experimentation with lighting and atmospheric depth. Time consuming, but well worth the additional learning curve in consideration of the final product.
Try out the sliders below to see the difference:
Rewrites, Revisions, & Cuts
The story went through many iterations. The title even changed, albeit briefly.
A fast and loose, ever evolving animatic proved indispensable to the revision process as I experimented with how to best depict the three characters, give them contrast, and even cut some of my favorite scenes.
Watch the animatics below to see how the story changed:
Pre-production
Here are thumbnails representing some of the earliest development work on the film.
Exploratory and fun to sprint through quickly.
Essential story beats in an alternate style:
Below you'll find style frames assembled for the final pitch proposal, simplified and optimized for “a one-man show” production with an unforgiving schedule.
Closing in on the finished look of the film.
They didn't reach the finish line
The characters who got "lost" along the way
The cast was originally much larger. There were coaches, team captains, animal onlookers, interlopers, and an extended roster of teammates.
All of them were ultimately dropped as deadlines loomed, to save resources and reduce production time, the consolation being improved story clarity and focus.
There are many more cross country stories I could tell, so they aren’t out of the race just yet.
Thanks
This film offered a unique opportunity to breathe life into stories I've been contemplating for quite some time.
It's been an amazing experience bringing it all together for my first animated short.
Thank you for taking a look.
Bye!
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