Go Team!

I officially have a team now. It is small at the moment but I think it will grow. Scott Macdonald and Aimee Hibbard are modelling props in Maya. Scott made a very nice chair which James Cox from the second year made a very nice texture for. Second years Anna Karlberg and Angelina Mok also offered their help yesterday so hopefully I can get them going with some After-effects/Photoshop/sound work next week. Things are starting to pick up. There is still a massive amount to do but there is a team to help do it now so it feels slightly more achievable again.

In other news my two day workshop has been organised for Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Having never organised or run any workshops before I am a little bit terrified but I think it will be okay.

I think I may also have found a voice artist! Daniel Barker, the drama student from Bristol got back to me yesterday, he had even already recorded two versions of the script himself which was good of him. They weren't quite what I was looking for but I think with the right direction he can hopefully nail it. To aid this I decided to send him some directions for the next recording;

While I am in directing mode I will do a run through of the script from the point of view of 'Character Motivation'

- When the man rings the operator he is not expecting them to have a number for God but thinks he might give it ago just in case.

- When he asks if they can check he is not angry as he knows it is an odd request but he would like to be sure so his question has a tone of 'sorry for the inconvenience' to it.

- When they say they do have a number for God the man is naturally surprised but not too surprised. He was not expecting them to have the number, but more because he didn't think it would be so readily available; the issue of God having a telephone is within the bounds of his understanding of the world so this is not what prompts the surprise.

- With this opportunity to talk to God now, unexpectedly, available the man jumps at the opportunity to be put straight through, a touch of disbelief and uncertainty in his voice.

- Not really thinking about what he is doing as he waits for God to answer the man takes a big bite of his toffee apple, he loves toffee apples.

- When God answers, although excited the man still sounds casual and friendly but forgets his manners and starts talking with his mouth-full. God comments on this and, slightly apologetic, the man tells him he is just eating a toffee apple. God says he likes toffee apples and the man, pleased that this is the case, agrees that they are good.

- Having agreed on the goodness of toffee apples the man quickly tries to finish his mouthful to talk properly. As he does this God asks him if there is anything he wants as he is quite busy. The man realises he hasn't thought about this and quickly thinks of something to say "Um...yes...yes I do have a question. One question..." with an "um" the man tries to think of a question. This is his opportunity, he is on the phone to God, the God, the creator and knower of all things and he has this chance to ask him any question he likes so best make it a good one... and all that he can think of to ask is "Why can't I lick my elbow?".

- The man is almost immediately disappointed in himself but, as it turns out, God's answer is actually really interesting. The man listens to God's description of the very specific and important reason why the man is unable to lick his elbow and receives a marginally deeper understanding of why things are the way they are. Genuinely impressed the man lets out a wistful sigh that essentially means "Oh, now I see!". God finishes with an example of what would happen if, say, the man could lick his elbow; this sentence is the single most sensible thing the man has has ever heard anyone say. Taken aback by the pure logic of it the man can't help but agree with a "Yes...yes I suppose it would..." The man pauses as he thinks about this revelation for the moment and then, remembering himself, thanks God for the answer.

- God asks the man if there is anything else he can help him with, but it needs to be quick. The man quickly tries to think if there is anything. His mind is blank as far as questions go but he does spot the rain and thinks how nice it would be if it was sunny and he could sit outside on a bench somewhere. He suggests the issue of the rain to God, not wanting to be a bother. The rain almost instantaneously comes to a stop. The man can't believe it, he thanks God like this "Thanks...thankyou...God" He adds the word God at the end of the sentence as he now realises that it actually is the God that he is speaking to. It wasn't that he was doubting it before and the answer to his question made a pretty good case for the actuality of it being God but it was not undeniable proof. The rain is however and it's abrupt end on cue has left the man a little bit speechless.

- With the man unsure of what more to say, God wraps up saying that he really needs to go and he advises the man not to call again as it is a nuisance to just have random questions asked of him, that he has better things to do and that it is not a listed number anyway. "Okay...okay I won't" the man says. God makes a quick comment about the mans hygiene issues and perhaps suggests that he call his sister more often before hanging up. The man puts the phone down and thinks about what just took place and about all the better questions he could have asked God. He takes another bite of his toffee apple.

I hope that that is enough for him to work with. Now is the issue of when to record it. He is unavailable this weekend so the only time I can record it is Monday as I want to start animating on Tuesday evening after my workshop. I haven't had a response yet regarding his availability on Monday so as a contingency I have booked the sound studio at the university to record myself on Monday. If Daniel is unavailable I will just have to use my own version and hope it's okay. Casting is always something I struggle with and I am not very good at it. I think I could have been more organised with it and have sorted it sooner but nothing has been lost yet other than a lot of time that I don't have.

Breakdown status; Speculative (spending a lot of time thinking about the possibility)