Mouse - Concept Visuals

Every now and again you meet a magician. Somebody who can turn your everyday ideas into pure wonder, somebody who can brings those ideas to life. 

Well our little magician goes by the name of Paul Burrows. He's a concept artist and has put together 3 very special concept visuals for Mouse. They are available as crowdfunding rewards from the £50 level upwards and will be signed/framed and VERY limited edition. 

Since you're all so intrigued by Mouse I thought you might like a little peep inside the production of these visuals along with a look at the three finished pieces. 

Here is the original, seriously rough, storyboard image. This image and a bunch of chats between myself and Paul helped to shape the work he has since done.


His first step was to map out the composition and get a feel for who 'Anderson' is, a tough thing to do before we have cast anybody! We talked about tone, lighting in the scene and shared ideas around the colours present in Mouse.


Now take a look at the final stunning image below, setting the tone for the opening scene in Mouse perfectly as Anderson peers through the oversized mouse hole, plotting his escape!  

Paul has done a stunning job on the visuals but even at this stage he kept on tweaking, adding a little 'hair light' to the Mouse to pick it out from the background. 

 Here are the final 3 images, Mousehole, Clones and Rooftop 

Paul has given a much needed tangibility to the films premise. You can really get a sense of what it feels like to inhabit this self contained universe that Mouse has been set within. 

We are now 90% funded with just under 3 weeks to go until our crowdfunding campaign ends and we NEED your support. Not just to hit our target but to beat it comfortably and make Mouse a stunning short film and a little piece of crowdfunding history. 

Take a look at more of Paul's work at www.scifiartist.co.uk and visit the crowdfunding page to donate to Mouse and get your hands on some of the wonderful concept art at www.sponsume.com/project/mouse

Stunning Scifi Short

Visions of the (Hyper) Future

Here at 'Mouse' we like to think that, from time to time, speculation and storytelling can lead us to some really cool scientific speculation or help us form visions of what the future might be like. Sometimes these ideas are realistic, sometimes just playful parodies. 

Have a look at this;

Augmented (Hyper) Reality

Don't stop for Sandwiches

When I was about 12 years old I joined the scouts.

We were not an especially driven scout troop, or at least we rarely had the chance to go on camping trips together. But, we were tremendously tight as a group of people. 

One year we entered a regional hiking competition. This was the first time we had done anything like this and certainly did not have the opportunity to practise. The older members were put in charge of map reading (we had to orienteer, too. Fancy!) whilst the rest of us just had to make sure we kept up. 

Other teams had hiked before. Not only hiked but won before. We were newcomers and nobody, not even ourselves, thought we would win. But we wanted it. We wanted it so badly. 

As we made our way around the course (18 miles) we got lost a few times, we struggled regularly and there were moments I was not sure I could keep going at the pace of everybody around me. But we helped each other out and just kept saying, it will be worth it to know that we didn't stop.

Every half an hour or so we would pass a team sat down, having sandwiches and a leisurely break. We had sandwiches too but decided to eat them as we walked. 

When we got to the end, nobody was around. We were naturally worried that we were the last to finish. 

Imagine our surprise to discover that we had won, and had won by about 45 minutes!

We were not necessarily the best hikers around. We were certainly not the most experienced and if there is a talent for hiking I couldn't say we had that either. 

But when it came to it, when the going got tough... we didn't stop for sandwiches. We just kept on going, knowing that each and every step was going to take us to the best damn hike we could have done.

Now I am not for a second endorsing starvation as a means for success ;-) Nor that resting and taking breaks to re-charge and reflect are not a vital part of keeping strong. Think of this as a metaphorical tale.

There are lots of people who ‘want it’, lots of people who are good at it but not everybody makes it. 

Sometimes we are taught that talent is a given for success. But not all talented people are successful. What sets people apart are a great many things but I doubt there is any greater factor in success than drive, obsession and determination.

It's the difference between making it a ‘must’ or a ‘should’. There are lots of things we should do but we only take charge and make them happen when we decide that we MUST.

In fact the word ‘decision’ originally meant ‘to cut off from’ – as in to cut yourself off from all other choices. Deciding is a permanent thing rather than a consideration. 

Nobody owes us a favour and independent filmmaking is a fiercely competitive industry. You probably will not get it right first time, there will be ups and downs but the key is to keep moving in the right direction and to ensure you do not, metaphorically speaking, stop.

When we lose momentum, we lose the thread. 

The key to making 'Mouse' happen is that through all of the great moments when it seems like it will all work out beautifully, and all of the tougher times when I worry I might not be successful, I ensure that I keep putting one foot in front of another and keep pushing towards the goal.

As Winston Churchill said;

‘Success is about going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm’.

Make something AWESOME - Crowdfunding 101

Since we began researching our campaign, one name has popped up time and time again.

Victoria Westcott. 

She raised the funds for her feature 'Locked in a Garageband' through crowdfunding and speaks very eloquently and in such a positive manner about the opportunities for filmmakers to find their audience, sell directly to them, make something wonderful and take charge of their future. 

But don't just take our word for it, take a look at Victoria in action at TED X VICTORIA... (how much would we like to speak at TED one day! Not to mention have one named after us ;-) )

You should really follow Victoria on twitter, we do! http://twitter.com/vwestcott