This scene went through quite a few changes. The last was adding an orange glow to the center of the crowd and adding a blue tint to rest. This is the one scene that I left as hand painted animation for the flames. I like the look with the many layers of paint. Working this way was just far too time consuming.
I find it odd that the timeline for the movie does not render when there are captions. I might be better off exporting the captions as a separate SRT file. What SRT means, I have no idea. I need to start researching. I rendered the film yesterday and one of the early scenes rendered with a black warning box over several frames. Oddly the warning box was back behind one of the characters. It was resolved when I closed Premiere Pro and reopened it. I need to figure out what that was all about in case it is an ongoing situation.
Maybe I should just consider the film done with all it’s problems and glitches. Pam keeps insisting that the film is just a distraction. I feel like leaving the known problems unresolved will be an even worst distraction.
The problems with the audio need to be resolved. I may need to work with another talented folly sound technician. Having worked on this alone for so long it is hard to give up the reins. I just have to find someone who is a true artist with mixing sound. Right now the soundtrack feels like it was mixed by a bull in a china shop. I do want the film to be a blunt slap in the face, perhaps the sound reflects that aesthetic. Honestly I can only tell what I have once I hear the soundtrack in a huge theater with surround sound. I will know what I have on April 12, 2024 when COVID Dystopia plays in the Cleveland International Film Festival.
I just realized that COVID Dystopia is the only animated film being shown in the after hours shorts programing at the Cleveland International Film Festival. My film appears with films with titles like Slay, and Meat Clever. It sounds like my film was correctly curated. I have resisted submitting the film to festivals that don’t screen many animated films. Perhaps I should reconsider that idea. Every day I look at festivals whose submission deadlines are coming up. The ongoing challenge is figuring out which festivals are bold enough to screen this blunt and harsh critique of the human response to an invisible threat. This is a film festivals love to hate as they rush to “normal.” It takes just one minimizing judge to tilt the scales.