First day Blues

Well..the first day of uni kicked off. Walked there and back..9.4 miles overall ;) not bad. no idea why im mentioning this BUT!

the unveiling of the story as promised is today.im gona shove some sketches with this to. Just need to get a feel fora style today

ANYWAY..as always when i begin a project.....and seeing as this is the last major project, things tend to change...so bare with me.

Now project Claw does not stand for anything in particular, mainly a possible clue to the title of the Animation.

Clawing to Fame seems to fit the bill at the moment..But like i said....change.

Story in a sentence....an Underestimated young man in a family of winners is fed up and tries to follow in their footsteps, but a rare talent is discovered that makes him Unique.

I did have this elaborate entrance in to...im going to scan in the Thumbnails i ve done and set up a leica reel within the week. But first i really want to focus on the concept art. Get all the loose ends tied up so i can get cracking.

The story in Detail
Set in Rome during the Gladiator days an Animal trainer named Finius comes from a long line of famous gladiators.. His Dad...his Granddad....his Great granddad and so on. Feeling somewhat worthless, Finius keeps asking the Arena master (Augustus) if he can join in a fight. Augustus being a proud entertainer dismisses him calling him Puny and not worth his time. Finius returns to his old job...in his little dungeon area where he looks after the Famous lion (im playing around with the name FURIOUS or FURIES) now Furious is the only Lion in the history of the Arena to never loose a fight, Furious loves this, He loves the attention he gets...the crowd chant his name when in the arena. But sometimes Furious can get a little bit big headed seeing every opportunity to scare someone or knock someone down...or even worse... as a win.

so much so that furious has a wall in his cell thats got a sort of Tally marks upon the wall (think of the marks that fighter pilots put on the side of their planes in the wars to show how many enemies they have gunned down.

well on this particular day Furious returns from a good fight..proudly walks in...marks his wall...and is about to have a nap when Finius bursts into the room yelling about how Augustus wont let him compete in the games. Gesturing to the pictures upon the wall of his Fathers before him........sobbing a little upon the table while Furious just tries to sleep. Finius jumps up "Dad wouldnt take this" he psyches him self up... "Dad would march straight in there with a spear and shield and show this city what hes made of" Furious sensing another win sticks his foot out through the gaps in his cell and trips Finius as he passes making him land into a pile of Armour or something (dirty togas?) Finius looks up wondering what happened...seeing Furious mark his wall with another notch. Finius gets up angry and flustered "great! now your taking a pop at me! just cos i dont have big muscles and broad shoulders doesnt mean im not brave like those gladiators out there! Im Brave!!!!" Furious watches a spider dangling down from the ceiling..bored....until it comes level with his face and blows the spider onto Finius..

a small pause as Finius looks down upon his chest and yells scared....stumbles backwards again into the toga bin or something else... Furious again his marking his wall with another Notch..

Finius looks out of the bin angry.. "Right then! Bath Time!"

Furious....not liking baths....quickly turns away hiding in the corner of the room or scratcing at the walls for a way out.

As finius walks up to the cell...turning the key in the lock a loud knock can be heard behind him at the door....
"Finius open up!!"
Finius opens the door from the other side of the room
"oh augustus what do you want"
"Look m'boy ive had it ive simply had it! That cat of yours has got to go!" Furious overhearing this looks at the key still in the lock......and secretly gets out...."What why? hes doing good isnt he?"
"Yes he is! Too good. Nobody wants to fight him anymore because he always wins!"
"oh i see..well ...Augustus..what exactly do you mean by *got to go*"
Furious comes to the side of the oblivious Finius..so he can stare up at Augustus.
"Well im sory to say that he may have to be put daa daa daa...dadaaadaa"
Augustus spotting furious about to leap at him.
"DOWN!" Yells Finius as he hits the Lion atop his head. Turning back towards Augustus who thought the Down was for him is under the table.
"Look Augustus im a lil busy at the moment can you come back later?" as Finius Grabs the dazed Lion by the tail begins to pull him into the direction of a door marked Baths.
Augustus slowly stands confused that this puny man just man handled a fully grown lion walks slowly to the baths door. Hearing splashes with roaring and the occasional " oh come on you big baby its only water!! Augustus slowly looks through the door amazed at what he is seeing.......
some cogs flicker in his head and he says "Finius! your going to be the most famous man in Rome!" Shocked and stunned..Finius stops what hes doing..as does Furious... The classic pose of a lion tamer with a chair and a lion on his hind legs....This then turns into a poster....and followed by The End...

Clawing For Fame Copyright Christopher James Rees 2007


Some sketches to be posted tomorrow as now i am Tired and its getting a wee bit late.

Anyway thats the story. Please lemme know what you think..how i could skim..or add etc.. Cheers for reading though :) i know its a big post but yeah:) thanks