Where Angels Meet

Animation Brief

Where Angels Meet follows the life of a young man named Marcus as he navigates life's challenges. The project will be released as a VR experience for the Oculus Rift. In terms of the style of the piece and the desired animations, we're going for a "photo-realistic" style rooted in emotional movements and animations. All of the characters are human and set in real-world settings. The goal of the project is to tell the story of a young African-American man and provide viewers with a glimpse of what his life was like. Animations should tell the story through subtle movements and expressions.

Assets and files can be shared on the dropbox folder below:

Scene 1 - Estimated 1 minute of animation

Animation of Marcus as he enters the Garden of Light and has his first encounter with an Angel (the viewer). He turns around and gets up to study the Angel/viewer and tries to touch her. He then looks back at the photo in his hand and realizes that the Angel is his mother.

Scene 2 - Estimated 1 minute of animation

Animation of both Marcus and Maralyn in their kitchen as Marcus celebrates a birthday. Maralyn will present a small angel figurine to Marcus which he will take out of a box and look at. He will look at it with a bit of confusion, scratch his head and then place it to the side. Maralyn will then begin coughing violently and hunch over to catch her breath.

Scene 3 - Estimated 1 minute of animation

Animation for older Marcus as he walks into an office lobby and enters an elevator with other people. He is on his way to a job interview and is visibly nervous. He shuffles is hands, slightly looks around and looks at the floor, not making eye contact.

As Marcus rides the elevator, animation will be needed for the other two riders. One lady will pull her purse closer to her body and moves away from Marcus. Another man, standing slightly in front of Marcus, turns to look at Marcus briefly and turns back to facing forward.

Note: Only refer to the first :15 seconds of the elevator video example. Please ignore the dialogue and speaking to camera. For the animation, Marcus is not confident, in fact, he is very nervous and unsure about this interview. He doesn't even notice the other people's reactions to him. 

Scene 4 - Estimated 2 minutes of animation 

Animation for Marcus as he sits in a booth at a small Diner. With a plate of food in front of him, Marcus will reach into his pocket and pull out an object and look fondly at it. The object is the small Angel figurine he received from his Grandmother when he was a kid. He studies it and looks distraught as he reflects back. After a few moments of staring at the figurine, he then gets up and walks out of the diner without paying, causing the waitress to become dismayed. (Ignore the dog in the video reference ;-)

Scene 5 - Estimated 2 minutes of animation

Animation for Marcus as he walks down a street and is confronted by a police officer. After exiting the Diner, Marcus walks down an upscale street with the angel figurine in his hand. His posture and attitude are low. He sadly walks down the street, head down while staring at the sidewalk. He's oblivious to what is going on around him and fails to see the police cruiser and officer at the end of the block.

Animations will be needed for the police officer as he points to Marcus and instructs him to stop. Marcus looks up with the figurine in his hand. The officer will then reach for his gun and draw it. Animation will be needed for Marcus as he raises his hands and ultimately collapses as the officer fires. 

Scene 6 - Interview Estimated 1 minute

Marcus enters the office of a senior level manager for a job interview, however it becomes clear that the manager has no real intention to hire Marcus for the job. Animation includes Marcus walking into the office, shaking hands with the manager and sitting down with his legs crossed. The manager will ask Marcus a few initial questions while reading his resume, but will soon turn his attention to his computer as Marcus sells himself for the job. The manager then stands as Marcus is mid-sentence, to end the interview. Marcus looking shocked and confused, gets up and leaves with a discouraged look on his face.

Note: the scene following this one is the Diner scene and explains why Marcus is in a funk at the Diner.