Mighty Midge - short film

Hi guys I’ve posted this in the animation section, but this is a finished work… so here it is… again.


Mighty Mighty is a 6 min short film which I’ve been making for…ever… I came up the basic premise (a fly opening a can of fizzy juice) as a way to learn Blender. But as time went on the story evolved a little and so it became a full project. I’ve learned tons of stuff making this film (even written 2 sequels). Everything was modelled and animated in Blender, then rendered as individual PNG files and then put back together in the Blender Video Editor.

I recorded the sounds/foley on a Zoom H1 recorder, then edited them in Audacity. My textures and backgrounds were painted in GIMP.

The music was made by my brother-in-law, using Reason (I think), but apart from that everything was made on Open Source stuff. Anyway, I really hope you guys enjoy the film, and I’d really love some feedback to help with getting things better for my next project.

Congratulations. I really like it. I’m sure it took forever to do it all by yourself. I will be waiting for the next one :slight_smile:

Good job. What renderer did you use?

Thanks guys. Yeah it took ages because I was learning Blender as I was making it. I was also learning animation, using Richard Williams book “The Animators Survival Kit”. I rendered with the internal renderer, although I did do a few experiments with Cycles, but my PC wasn’t really up to the challenge.Something I really want to pass on to other blender film makers is “learn to use GROUPS and linking”. Im pretty sure my production time would have drastically reduced had I known about groups and linking etc.

Hello Steve,
Splendid work you have here, and certainly was a joy to come across.
I don’t see many cool animations like this; animations which contains the unproven idea, that this is the lives of bugs. An Idea that’s say that are basically invincible. I remember one person saying, it is like bugs find a way to shrink their selves, then enter you home, car, or RV, Then become large all over again. With this power in their hand, it would certainly be horrifying. But hey, still unproven, hehe!
The idea is something that sits with a person and you brought it to life!

You’re intro is beautiful! and to be honest, I am looking forward to more of this bug!
Similar to what amprod said, an audience looks for characterization, so in a way the graphics could be off the hook, but if there is no character or personality, we (the audience) can’t relate.
This is where you did well in expressing personality and realism,
When the bug first notices the soda, he begins to bash against the window in a constant manner, looking for an entrance, something we know bugs well for doing. This certainly showed you have taken your experience and research in life and brought it to your work, well done!

It has a brilliant and simple story line, and I can’t wait to see more from you! Keep it up! Your training is paying very well! :slight_smile:

Thank you for the very encouraging comments FAWS. I do have another 2 episodes written, and I even tried kickstarter to raise some money to get episode 2 made, but I didn’t reach my goal. Anyway, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask. Cheers.

Hi sir, really a fantastic job, I enjoy a lot this, the animation captured me from the beginning, and I enjoyment to the end, this is really admirable that you made alone all 3d part, the sound is very helpfull (for example the part when the fly drink the refreshment, looks pretty believable, I even woke up wanting to take refreshment;)), the parts more funny for me is when this guy are very flat and him crashing the tin (I think the material on guy in this part looks much better).

about feedback I think the materials need looks more believable, for example the grass I feel looks pretty flat, the material of character dont have much impact I search some references look similar to yours characters, maybe can inspire you in the sense of materials:

http://www.the3dstudio.com/product_details.aspx?id_product=362387

http://smokingdesigners.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Amazing-Pictures-of-3D-Cartoon-Characters-21.jpg

(I think you guy with this type of material could be looks great)
http://smokingdesigners.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Amazing-Pictures-of-3D-Cartoon-Characters-15.jpg

(and this too)
http://digital-art-gallery.com/picture/big/7034

sir congrats for this work, and thanks for sharing!

Steve, this came out wonderful! I can appreciate (as I’m sure your wife can:) ) the incredible amount of work that went into making this. I thought the character you created is instantly likeable ( love the floating eyebrows) and I think you really pulled off bringing him to life with his facial expressions.

Often, just fun little storylines like this are the best. I really want to complement you on the music and sound effects because they certainly added a lot to the production.

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Thanks Jose, I wish I’d been a little more experienced with materials and textures when I first made the character, those links you posted were quite inspirational.

Harley, I think there was times when my wife wished I would just give up. In fact there were nights when I would fall asleep on the key board cos I had just done a whole day at my job and then try and cram in some work at night. Its amazing (and scary) to think of how much time you can spend making a film (whatever the length).

You are super welcome Steve, I have searched your video on Kickstarter and I would certainly recommend trying again, you already got 15 backers and a great amount of money, as far as the pledge goes.
However as a tip for your video, maybe try showing clips from episode one, with sound. So when you show a clip, they fade the original music out, then when you are finished showing that clip, fade it back in.
Also though the needed amount is 25,000 Pounds, try lowering the funding amount, because since you are only discussing episode two, being that it is only one episode, people may be skeptical about funding completely, also if you can’t afford to take the funding down, show plans for more episodes, then render some previews for them. so they will get the right idea, that you will be hard at work on these episodes.
Also as a recommendation, take the part of having four children out, not because you don’t love them of course, because I know you do, but it will save you having to explain how you are going to make it while homeschooling. which may throw people off a little.

Also another tip, did you advertise your kickstarter in other places?
Certainly continue to market yourself Steve, you certainly have something here, I think with the right marketing, you will succeed at reaching your goal! KEEP IT UP!

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Great stuff. Full of good ideas and entertaining to the end. Given this is your first short, you show a lot of promise. I’ll be keeping my eye out for the next one.

For your next short, I would suggest working to tighten up the story a bit more. Sometimes this one doesn’t flow as well as it could, some things are a little over-explained while others are understated. When you edit up an animatic, try to remove as much needless stuff as you can and get to the gag sooner. “Get there faster, stay there longer” as they say.

Nice work!

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