The Roll Call Collab

[scartheatre]

Welcome to the first thread of The Roll Call Collab! This collab entails a common theme totally thrown off by random elements that its animators will devise. I will animate a segment where a professor walks to a podium on a stage, looks up, and sees an innumerable number of people in a crowd. He will then begin to take roll for his class, looking up after he has called each name to confirm their presence. Each collaborator will have animated a short, approximately three second clip of a person or thing which will respond to the professor, and so on and so on. One of the main features of this collab also entails that segments will be on shuffle, similar to how the attack/defense sequences in Spash Attack play out.

Due to the shuffling of the participants, I'd like to make this collab run from 15 to 20 minutes. If this is made possible, people who revisit the collab will get a new experience every time, ensuring the creation of a really interesting Flash. I'll encourage anyone who's interested to take one to three segments, and the character you choose to animate is up to you (although we can't have any doubles)!

---Rules---

*You must show a sample of your work before being considered
*No pornography
*No sprites
*No music, unless it very much helps to identify your character
*Voice acting, unless it does not support your character, is a must
*Each submission should be reasonably close to three seconds long, unless otherwise specified
*You may claim a maximum of three segments

---Specs---

-550x400 Pixels
-White Background
-24 FPS
-AS3/cs3 file
-Include character name in your .fla filename

---Other Shite---

-To get your submission to me, use dumping grounds
-Collab credits will be decided at a later date
-Feel free to ask any questions via PM or in this thread - I will respond within 24 hours easily
-My b/a is over 3.5 despite the fact that it shows up as n/a via the site search
-Your username will appear in a link when your submission plays (unless you don't want it to)

---What I'm actually looking for---

Your character can be any of the below entities! I will be limiting how many of each category are taken up, though, and will post an upkept list of what is still available frequently! I'm claiming Tommy Wiseau and Group X out of the IRL Popular Figures section, the Scary Womanizing Pigmask out of the Videogame Characters section, and an Easter Egg, by the way.

Generic Humans (0/5)
Monsters (0/14)
Robots (0/8)
Animals (0/7)
Inanimate Objects (0/5)
Not Here/Empty Chairs (0/6)
Historical Figures (0/19)
IRL Popular Figures (2/30)
Videogame Characters (1/20)
Comic Book Characters (0/9)
Cartoon Characters (0/15)
NG Staff Members or Characters (0/12)

Easter Eggs will be clickable, but take the viewer nowhere. They will exist for the purpose of medals. Include any of these in your segment to give your piece an Easter Egg!
Fish (0/3)
Screw (0/3)
Left Arrow Sign (1/3)

---Suggestions---

-Remember, people don't just say "here!" when having their name called! I've heard "present," "yeah," "oi," "sup!?," and "...indeterminable noise..."
-Make the backgrounds of your submissions unique! Keep it semi-classroom, but spice it up with how your character would want it to look!
-I am open to suggestions if people want to include a very short character interaction in their submission (like if Venom were to sit next to Spiderman, for example).
-Make sure there are other students sitting next to your character! He/she won't be sitting alone waiting for class to start; there're 11,150,358 students in the classroom with them!
-In keeping with randomness/mixing it up, I'd like to see lots of women characters!

We start now! I hope to have everyone's submissions in by the end of next month, but we'll have to play that by ear for now!

[RicePirate]

I've been waiting for one of these :)

I'd love to hop on and take:

Inanimate object : Cake
Monster : Cookie monster
Video game character : Steven (from Time Fcuk)

[JonSock]

i will maybe do this, 1/5 chance i will
here is an example of my work http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1279066415
but i dont know if i want to do this collab unless i see some good parts in this

[RicePirate]

At 7/13/10 11:25 PM, RicePirate wrote: I've been waiting for one of these :)

I'd love to hop on and take:

Inanimate object : Cake
Monster : Cookie monster
Video game character : Steven (from Time Fcuk)

Wow... I can't "edit" my posts... weird ... here's a link to some of my stuff

[scartheatre]

At 7/13/10 11:25 PM, RicePirate wrote: I've been waiting for one of these :)

I'd love to hop on and take:

Inanimate object : Cake
Monster : Cookie monster
Video game character : Steven (from Time Fcuk)

You got it dawg! I love your SotN short :D

And I'm going to say right now that Wario and King Koopa, Elvis, the king from Homestar Runner, the king from Zelda CD-I, and King Henry VIII will also be reserved under my name, although I won't count these numbers off from the character types list. And I promise that it's very unlikely that I will take any more :P

[RedHarvest]

i will join and make sumthing...but i have a few suggestions and questions.

Questions:

-will every person draw their own professor?...if so see bottom suggestion

- do u think 15- 20 minutes of roll call with get a bit long?

-the amount characters ur looking for seems a bit high 14 monsters, 30 irl famous ppl, 20 video game chars..ect ect
Suggestions

- THIS ONES BIG, i think you should draw up quick sketch of the class room (Walls floors desks) that way when it shows the person saying "here" or whatever the fuck they will say - i will be the SAME color and look in every persons part CONSITANCY will be key to the success of this

- if u werent already planning to do this - u should animate all of the professor call outs and use the SAME voice actor to call out all the names. that way its the same guys voice and look in each time. (may i recommend GiantJuicyKickballsfor the voice? <he's epic )

______
so ya! count me in and REALLY REALLY consider those suggestions to build some continuity and add some awesome humor!

[xHeavyMetalx]

I'm taking Hitler! :D

[scartheatre]

At 7/14/10 05:56 PM, RedHarvest wrote: i will join and make sumthing...but i have a few suggestions and questions.

Questions:

-will every person draw their own professor?...if so see bottom suggestion

- do u think 15- 20 minutes of roll call with get a bit long?

-the amount characters ur looking for seems a bit high 14 monsters, 30 irl famous ppl, 20 video game chars..ect ect
Suggestions

- THIS ONES BIG, i think you should draw up quick sketch of the class room (Walls floors desks) that way when it shows the person saying "here" or whatever the fuck they will say - i will be the SAME color and look in every persons part CONSITANCY will be key to the success of this

- if u werent already planning to do this - u should animate all of the professor call outs and use the SAME voice actor to call out all the names. that way its the same guys voice and look in each time. (may i recommend GiantJuicyKickballsfor the voice? <he's epic )

There will only be one professor, and I will be animating him/perhaps voicing him. If people would like to modify the professor's script to fit whatever they have in mind for their character, they should feel free to talk to me about it (to all you people out there).

The 15-20 minutes has good intent, but I agree with you that I didn't completely think that one through at first :P Although entirely unorthodox, I'm interested in encouraging viewers to watch the collab on multiple occasions if they hadn't watched the entire thing to begin with, which wouldn't be entirely out of the question due to the fact that the names will be called in a different, random order every time the Flash plays. As an alternative, perhaps the collab could contain 15-20 minutes worth of content and end after having played around 5 minutes of that content - viewers could watch it again at a later time and see new faces every time, or could go to a menu on the title screen to select the character/artist's segment they'd like to see if a segment they're interested in seeing didn't happen to appear in their shuffle's playthrough (and especially out of fairness for the artists). Part of this idea comes from the game WarioWare, which - every time I play it - slaps me with a minigame I've never seen before, and I'm appreciative of the "new content" it provides me even after I've played the game 23,522 times :P

In regards to the class room, I've asked an artist to make an image that shows a stadium full of people with indeterminable faces, including different climates/environments/sections within the stadium's seating area to provide for this wide variety of characters and character backgrounds. It'll be an establishing shot of the crowd when the professor walks in, and will be the only angle facing the crowd besides each shot of each student (which'll technically all be medium shots).

If you'd like me to elaborate on any of that or have any suggestions to add to that, hit me with the troof!

[RicePirate]

I'm not a huge fan of giving suggestions to other organizers, but I think RedHarvest hada good point, about the consistancy of the classroom. Not just for the audience, not just for the audience, but for the artists too ;)

I always assumed there was only one professor, and that the voice would be a single person, but that each of the characters being called would be voiced by the creators.

Sorry if I butchered this post, I'm writing on my iPhone.

Cheers!

[RicePirate]

Ignore my last post! MY TEXTING IS TOO SLOW!!

[RedHarvest]

It'll be an establishing shot of the crowd when the professor walks in, and will be the only angle facing the crowd besides each shot of each student (which'll technically all be medium shots).

ok mate....dont say i didnt warn u!

[scartheatre]

ok mate....dont say i didnt warn u!

Further establishing shots would probably help, but would you actually suggest anything..?

[RedHarvest]

haha yeah - i was suggesting u provide a swf file of a "medium shot " of the seats/ and class room.
people can download the file and use the EXACT colors you used -thus, a more unified class room. it will look liek they are all in the same place

other wise people will decide for them selves what color the seat is or the arm rest ect...

then one person has green chairs, one has red, and it doesnt look very professional...

i'll still participate if u choose not to take my advice, im just saying i predict it will help this collaboration do better in voting.

[Makeshift]

I reall think it would be nicer if everyone used the same background, like Red's been talking about. It would look a lot better. So anyway, I'm going to join. I'll probably do an inanimate object, video game character, and a robot.

[RicePirate]

I think we're talking something similar to this maybe?

NOTE: THIS IS NOT THE ROOM REFERENCE FILE IT IS A JUST FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES!

[scartheatre]

At 7/14/10 09:55 PM, RicePirate wrote: I think we're talking something similar to this maybe?

NOTE: THIS IS NOT THE ROOM REFERENCE FILE IT IS A JUST FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES!

Haha Yes, very good. I came up with this (color/spacing template for the classroom background's appearance). Just a sketch, but I really like the colors, I feel that built-in desk adds a classroom feel/room for a character to put their arms, and the spacing allows for the character to have room to be big or to have stuff with them. So, if everyone could use this color scheme and a close representation of the spacing/desk style in their segments' backgrounds, that'd be great :D (thanks for the suggestion, RedHarvest).

[RedHarvest]

both are good! but one must be the OFFICIAL!

[RicePirate]

At 7/15/10 03:37 AM, RedHarvest wrote: both are good! but one must be the OFFICIAL!

I believe the second one, posted by the organizer is the one :)

I'd just posted a quick reference sketch for discussion purposes!

Alright! Let's go! Gotta make room for Sunday, too ;)

[Makeshift]

Wait, why do we have to animate our character but also draw other people? It should be a close up view of just one desk where our character is the only thing people will be looking at.

[RicePirate]

I think that would depend on what the organizer is looking for.

I, personally think it would be more fun to have multiple characters in the bg. Maybe some shots are "medium" and some are "close".

At 7/15/10 12:11 PM, Makeshift wrote: Wait, why do we have to animate our character but also draw other people? It should be a close up view of just one desk where our character is the only thing people will be looking at.

[CrabPeterson]

With you wanting up to 20 minutes, and each person making a 3 second segment with up to 3 submissions, if everyone makes 3 segments, you're going to need 133 people working on your project.

[Makeshift]

At 7/15/10 01:05 PM, CrabPeterson wrote: With you wanting up to 20 minutes, and each person making a 3 second segment with up to 3 submissions, if everyone makes 3 segments, you're going to need 133 people working on your project.

This person went to a Math class.

[scartheatre]

RicePirate - Let's use mine (AKA this one [the official color/spacing template for the classroom background's appearance]).

Makeshift - In attempting to visualize the space created in between the seats, you could very easily do a close enough shot of a character to not reveal other characters around the called-on character, but RicePirate is right - it'd be fun to throw in little cameos if your shot was "zoomed out" enough. And, if you have an idea in which two (or more) characters interact (which would probably take up more than three seconds, which is why I say approximately three seconds), a semi-close quarters classroom would be ideal. If you really don't want to draw other characters without "zooming in," you could also cheat and have them sit on the large staircase or something - cheating's ('cheating' :P) fine with me as long as it's not out of control.

CrabPeterson - Divide 133 collaborators in half due to the fact that the professor calling the names of the class participants will have to speak for approximately 3 seconds to request each response.

Also, in response to that, I want to stress that it's approximately three seconds. Come up with clever, unique, and humorous ways for your characters to respond, even if it takes up seven seconds, or even if it takes one and a half seconds. People love pop culture references, and if it takes you just a bit longer to communicate one, go for it!

[RicePirate]

I really wish I could edit/delete posts...

Anyhow ...

Before I go and animate all my scenes ... is this kinda what you're thinking in regards to spacing and using the BG example as a ref?

Rollcall Test BG

[scartheatre]

At 7/15/10 04:11 PM, RicePirate wrote: I really wish I could edit/delete posts...

Anyhow ...

Before I go and animate all my scenes ... is this kinda what you're thinking in regards to spacing and using the BG example as a ref?

Rollcall Test BG

Haha Yeah, depending on how many more conceptual things we talk about on here, I may move a revised collab ruleset to a new topic. But we can be messy messy messy for now :P

But yes, this is a great interpretation of the classroom. Awesome stuff!

Speaking of more rule modification... I'm going to post a list of characters that people have chosen/categories that are gaining submissions soon, but if people want to have an identifiable character in the background (as Darnell is in this example), mention that you want them in the background - other people will be able to claim them, but will have to plan their seating chart appropriately for the sake of consistency (and will need to contact the person who has claimed that the character will be in the background of their segment).

[RicePirate]

At 7/15/10 08:09 PM, scartheatre wrote:

At 7/15/10 04:11 PM, RicePirate wrote: I really wish I could edit/delete posts...

Anyhow ...

Before I go and animate all my scenes ... is this kinda what you're thinking in regards to spacing and using the BG example as a ref?

Rollcall Test BG

Haha Yeah, depending on how many more conceptual things we talk about on here, I may move a revised collab ruleset to a new topic. But we can be messy messy messy for now :P

But yes, this is a great interpretation of the classroom. Awesome stuff!

Speaking of more rule modification... I'm going to post a list of characters that people have chosen/categories that are gaining submissions soon, but if people want to have an identifiable character in the background (as Darnell is in this example), mention that you want them in the background - other people will be able to claim them, but will have to plan their seating chart appropriately for the sake of consistency (and will need to contact the person who has claimed that the character will be in the background of their segment).

I actually included him for this very reason, to see whether or not we can include "recognizable characters" ... if you need me to cut him out, that's fine ... I can swap him out.

This would be a good rule to set now, as with ALL the entries you're anticipating, it would be easy for us to overlap.

...

[scartheatre]

I actually included him for this very reason, to see whether or not we can include "recognizable characters" ... if you need me to cut him out, that's fine ... I can swap him out.

This would be a good rule to set now, as with ALL the entries you're anticipating, it would be easy for us to overlap.

Just follow what I said in my last post: mention that you'll be having the character in the background so that we're aware that he'll/she'll be present :D

[CrabPeterson]

At 7/15/10 02:18 PM, scartheatre wrote:

CrabPeterson - Divide 133 collaborators in half due to the fact that the professor calling the names of the class participants will have to speak for approximately 3 seconds to request each response.

Oh alright that makes the project seem a little less extreme, either way I like how ambitious it is and how original it is! It's quite refreshing from other things going around the board.

This is a sample along with a possible submission if you like it, if there's anything wrong with it let me know, I wasn't sure if you didn't want camera changes or anything like that, I could always redo it to fit anything you may want though.

[BrodWizard]

http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/19e4 bd97a31b95da37fc7f2877f3fb82

I don't know why it's lagging; shit's in perfect sync with the sound.

I did the Grudge, sorry for not asking but even if you don't want to use it It was some exercise.

[RicePirate]

So I've got 2/3 done...

You'll need our FLA.s when we're done right?

Cookie Monster and Cake