Questions about SFN

So I've received a number of questions about the teaser, and I'd like to take a few moments and answer some of those:

• What is this project?
• Is the starfish a military experiment?
• Is this a campy love story in disguise?
• Where does this project go from here?  What's next?

What is this project?

Starfish Ninja is a story I've been developing off and on since the spring of 2004 about a young starfish who is sent on a quest to save the world.  In parallel to writing the story, I boarded and began working on a teaser trailer--one that would reveal little about the storylines, but would serve to inspire the story and help define the tone and energy of SFN.

By late 2008 I had created the main characters, and bits of sets, and had even animated half a dozen or so of the 45 shots in the teaser.  In early 2009 I took a job teaching in the Animation and Visual Effects program at Ex'pression College in Emeryville.  Along with freelance side projects I continued to develop the idea in my spare time, but progress was much slower than I had hoped.  Ex'pression has a group project class where a director is brought in for a 5-week term to create their original short film or music video, and in late fall of 2011 I was invited to bring my teaser project to the school for the students to work on as part of this class.  In the end, more than 20 students were involved with the teaser project in various capacities as well as half a dozen professionals who donated their time. 

If the teaser left you wanting more...thanks!  I hope to give you much more as soon as possible.  I have a couple short animated scenes in progress now which are more about acting than action, and will post them online as soon as they are ready, so stay tuned!

Is the starfish a military experiment?

No.  Our hero does run into a certain military figure and his crew from time to time, but he was not created by them and is not affiliated with them at all.  The rules of the world of SFN are similar to Finding Nemo, with a little more fantasy and  a lot more action.

Is this just a front for a cheezy love story?  Will it turn out to be a campy family flic?  Animation is for kids, afterall.

Grrr. 

What is next?

Well, the next step for me is to roll out some more behind the scenes posts and artwork as I put together a Kickstarter to raise funds so I can begin pitching the idea.  I've put it online to get people excited, so if you like it, pass it on!

Hopefully this answers a few of your questions.  If you have more, leave a comment and I will try to respond promptly.

Cheers,

Joe