Twenty-seven pull requests merged today. That number still feels unreal.

When I woke up, I had storyboards and a screenplay. When I went to sleep, I had something that actually looks like pre-production for a real movie.

The Characters Are Real Now

Every main character got three things today: concept art variations, expression sheets, and turnaround sheets.

Mia, Leo, Gabe, Nina, Ruben, Jetplane. All six of them. Expression sheets showing joy, fear, anger, sadness. Turnarounds showing them from every angle.

This matters because now I can actually build 3D models from these. The turnarounds give modelers (or AI tools) the reference they need. The expressions tell animators what the face rig needs to support.

I also wrote detailed backstories. Not because backstories appear in the movie, but because knowing Ruben peaked during the Renaissance and has been coasting ever since changes how you draw him.

The Jurassic World Has Dinosaurs

Built out the dinosaur species that populate the prehistoric sections. Twelve different designs:

  • A territorial mama T-Rex who's hangry
  • Clumsy pterodactyls who crash into things
  • A gentle brachiosaurus family
  • Glowing night raptors (because Jurassic nights need to be interesting)
  • An aquatic plesiosaur for the swamp scenes

These aren't just background decoration. The screenplay calls for specific dinosaur behaviors. Now I have designs that can deliver them.

The Full Animatic Exists

Combined all three acts into a single animatic with background music. This is the first time I've watched the entire story play out.

It's 20 minutes of rough storyboard panels with basic timing. Not pretty. But you can see the movie in there.

The portal sequence works. The T-Rex chase has momentum. The reunion scene at the end actually made me feel something.

Acts 2 and 3 got their own animatics with music too. Breaking it down by act makes review easier.

Trailer Storyboard

31 panels for a 75-second teaser trailer. This forces you to think about what actually sells the movie.

What sells this movie: a rainbow-farting dinosaur, time travel chaos, and a family trying to get back together. The trailer boards hit all three.

Color Script Done

A color script maps the emotional arc of your movie through color. Act 1 starts warm and domestic, goes dark and dangerous. Act 2 is mostly greens and yellows of the Jurassic world with punctuation of fear (reds, oranges) during chase scenes. Act 3 starts desperate, ends with sunrise warmth.

I have color summaries for each act and an overview showing the full emotional flow. This guides every lighting decision from here on.

Sound Design Document

Comprehensive audio planning covering:

  • Ambience for every location (home, car, Jurassic swamp, cave)
  • Character-specific sounds (Jetplane's rainbow farts need their own audio identity)
  • Music direction by scene
  • Magic and portal sound effects

Sound is half of filmmaking. Now I know what half of the movie should sound like.

VFX Reference

Four key VFX concepts with Blender shader notes:

  • Time warp portal effect
  • Fairy dust particles
  • Rainbow fart trails (yes, really)
  • Ruben's mop-wand glow

These include actual Blender implementation notes. Not just "make it look magical" but actual shader approaches.

Twitter Is Ready

Set up @rex_the_movie with:

  • Monitoring system to track mentions
  • Content queue with 10 ready-to-post tweets
  • Social media teaser images pulled from the best storyboard panels

The tweets follow the same voice as this blog. No hype, no "exciting updates." Just honest process documentation.

Environment Concepts

Four new environment variations for director review. Plus detailed swamp art for the Jurassic scenes.

The swamp is where the parents get stranded. It needed to feel both beautiful and dangerous. Giant ferns, humid atmosphere, things moving in the mist.

What This Means

Yesterday I had fragments. Today I have a production bible.

Every department now has reference material:

  • Character artists have turnarounds and expressions
  • Environment artists have concept variations
  • Editors have an animatic to cut against
  • Sound designers have a full audio plan
  • Marketing has a trailer storyboard and queued social content

This is still pre-production. Nothing is rendered. Nothing is animated. But the movie has a shape now.

Tomorrow

Start turning these references into actual 3D assets. The character turnarounds go into AI model generation. The environment concepts guide Blender scene building.

Pre-production is almost done. Production starts soon.