Christmas in Indiana and Ohio
An animated film by Michael Vance
Monte Muff read me
3D Production in Progress! Here are sample renders of 3D sets and props in progress. Feedback welcome.
Christmas in Indiana and Ohio is to be an animated film version of the story written by my uncle, Harper Hale Muff, while serving in Korea. The seven page narrative chronicles the activities and traditions of Christmas in the Muff family during the late depression era 1930's. A child's growing sense of joy and wonderment at the meaning and importance of Christmas and family in small town Indiana and Ohio is humorously and movingly told in a folksy and nostalgic voice.

The people and places that Christmas in Indiana and Ohio chronicles will be recreated and brought to the screen using state of the art computer 3D technology similar to that used in blockbuster 3D movies such as Toy Story, Stuart Little, Shrek and Ice Age. Historic and current photos and blueprints will be used as reference to rebuild the two houses which are the setting for the story, one in Richmond, Indiana, and the other in Somerville, Ohio. Parts of these neighborhoods will also be recreated along with vintage cars, vintage furniture, clothes, decorations and Christmas ornamentation.

If you would like to see some of the places, people and artifacts that will be animated for this story, please feel free to have a look through the reference galleries. As work progresses I will also post screen shots of some of the scenes in progress. I will rely on the help of Monte Muff, Hale's brother and family historian, to ensure as closely as possible the accuracy and authenticity of the reenactments.
The story: Here is a glimpse of the story opening. You can quickly get a sense of the narrative style from just this little bit.
Muff family photos from the 1930's: I found these negatives at my Uncle Monte's house. They appeared to be in good condition but it was hard to tell just how good. After I scanned them into my computer and inverted the colors, I was elated to find that, despite some scratching, they still possessed very high resolution detail and hadn't faded with time. All in all a great find.
More Muff photos from later years: These include pictures of the house, Elta Muff, Monte and Hale.
More valuable reference photos: Found a whole bunch of new photos that my cousin Tom had. I'll try to get around to labeling them later.
Original blueprints to Richmond house: These blueprints were also found in my uncle's archives. Needless to say they will be a big help to modeling. The might also help the current owners who are in the process of restoring the house.