Luke Randall:
When we started the short film term at Animation Mentor I needed three ideas to pitch, so I started by scouring my old sketchbooks and paintings for ideas. I came across a doodle of a little robot with a power cable that was too short and thought that the concept could probably be developed into an animated short film. The addition of the bird character didn't actually come until way into production. I was reading Story by Robert McKee and with some of the stuff I was learning from the book I decided I could make the film stronger, so I went back and reworked it and ended up with an extra character and a bunch of extra shots.

Luke Randall:
I learned a lot about the crafts outside character animation that go into making an animated short, such as cameras, art direction, compositing, rigging, lighting and sound. It gave me an appreciation for how good some people are at these things and how much they can add or detract from a film. With that in mind, I tried to keep those areas very simple, rather than try to do something too ambitious and end up falling short. A good example is my robot's character design – I initially played with a bunch of more complex designs but I wasn't really able to execute them to the level I wanted, so instead I went for a super simple design composed entirely of spheres and cylinders and concentrated on keeping it as appealing as I could.

Also, I definitely learned not to be too protective of my work. Showing work early and getting feedback often saves you so much energy going down roads that are not going to work. You don't have to take every piece of advice you get, but when you hit a wall or feel like something isn't working, it's amazing how quickly you can get back on track and move forward with some fresh eyes.

Luke Randall:
It's hard to single anything out because there were a lot of people who helped me. I got heaps of guidance and feedback from my mentors, other students, and friends. Also, there were a few things that stuck with me…I got one comment about some of the acting being too stagey or disingenuous, I wasn't able to rework the animation too much at that stage but it was a really good note and something I try to keep in mind a lot more whenever I'm animating.

Luke Randall:
I stuck very close to the process set out for us in the Animation Mentor curriculum, starting by developing a few short film ideas in written form, then video pitching those ideas to my mentor and classmates. From there I picked the best idea and refined it, first by putting it through the storyboarding process, and then creating the animatic.

All the way through I would be acting shots out, creating video reference for different shots or new drawings for the animatic. It was a pretty fun and organic process with a lot of back and forth because a drawing or video reference often inspired a new idea. I was constantly adding new shots, re-arranging shot orders, shot lengths and changing compositions of shots, right through to end of production.

Luke Randall:

So here is my animatic, please feel free to scoff at my crude drawing skills. During the process of putting together this animatic, I found a lot of holes and inconsistencies in my storyboards came to the surface, but it was actually a lot of fun reworking things at this stage because the feedback is so immediate, if you need a new shot you just do a couple of drawings. You can almost see how your whole film will play out, but that said there are some major differences between my animatic and the final film, the biggest being that the final film turned out to be about three times longer!

Rough Pass:

Luke Randall:
One of the most difficult things for me when making the film was the technical aspects like rendering, lighting and rigging. I am not very technically minded or skilled so it was like man vs. machine. I knew exactly what I wanted the film to look like, but the gap between what I was getting visually and what I wanted was huge, and additionally I had a lot of technical problems with rigging the robot and his cable.

To get the visual look of the film right I really just had to keep tweaking the lighting, texturing and shaders, it definitely took a long time for the renders to come together. I used mental ray for rendering and I was lucky enough to have already picked up the basics; I learned the rest as I went through trial and error, tutorials and help from a couple of friends who were kind enough to answer my constant questions. Being able to download free auto-rigging tools and scripts for Maya was also vital, without them I wouldn't have been able to create and animate my own character.

Luke Randall:
Animation Mentor gave me the tools and the confidence to make my short film. The curriculum builds you up slowly with the skills you need and by the time it's your turn to make a film, you have already watched the five classes ahead of you go through the process. You really get to learn a lot from their successes and mistakes before you step up to do your own.

Finishing an animated short by yourself is really difficult, but doing it through Animation Mentor puts you at a great advantage to succeed. You are supported throughout the process with a curriculum that outlines how to plan and execute your ideas. In addition you get a ton of guidance from your mentors and other students that really helps you stay on course.

Luke Randall:
Everyone says it because it's so true: keep it simple. Aside from that, you might not have another chance to make an animated short, so grab the opportunity by the horns and make the film you want to make. Remember, it's also a great way to promote yourself! A short is more fun to watch than a reel and really gives people a full picture of what you can do as an artist, so just give it all you've got.