Final character tryouts

I took it upon myself to do the expressions and poses of some of the characters. We only have the front and side views right now so this was quite the challenge. The boss was really tricky to nail, the face shape was strange for me as i never really do human faces as it is. Never mind exaggerated ones! It took me a few tries and strange looking jaws but i think i managed to capture what Jake was trying to do with the design.

Bill was very easy, round and simple. His round body should be fun to animate. Maybe I can give him some bounce.

the demon faces were only drawn from front ways on so there were also quite tricky to get right from the side, but never the less, fun to draw. Their form is going to be constantly changing like smoke. Which will be a huge challenge with lots of freedom and expression in there too!

hallway thumbnails and layout ideas

We didnt have a good hallway layout so I did some thumbnails and ideas for it. I thought we could use some harsh forced perspective which would be from low down to show the kids point of view.

The warm colours in this scene are going to be tricky to get right in this blocky style. We may have to make things more detailed here to make it look cosy and inviting. Or maybe I would work my lighting magic to make things pretty.

bathroom shots and ideas

Most of these are mearly perspective tests and layout ideas. But I added some scene ideas in as well, just in case they turn into something. This one was a try out of some harsh lighting from above and reflection play. How you see his expression and the demon coming from behind him, I really enjoyed doing that.

This scene really appeals to me. I like the layout and perspective and the fact there is a strong contrast between light and dark. I worked on the strong lighting on his face, both strong light and shadows. Its shows his emotions. Fear, suppressed, ashamed and a little bit of his dark side too.

I'm not sure what it is what appeals to me so much in this shot, it just works really well to me. Again i made the lighting hard above, so that it casts a hard shadow on his features. It makes him seem sadder, and darker.

Just a lighting and perspective test again. not too keen on this one but i tried.

I referenced this perspective and then used the warp tool to create a distorted, almost fish eye effect. I realised that I forgot to put his reflection in the mirror too! I might have to fix that on a later date as its going to bug me. But I love this perspective. It feels confined and stifling almost. Like its too small.

Office shots and researching styles

A little animatic to try to the timing and new shots

I made an animatic for the team to see how things were looking timing wise and to try out some new shot ideas. we changed the story around a lot after this. Note how short it is, yet it doesnt feel like its rushed. We needed a larger build up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxFQP78h3xU

I drew the werewolf in because im so used to drawing them, i can put in the transformation better and the emotion behind it. It was alot quicker to do this and because its so exaggerated, its easier to convey the action and emotions.

I personally want to work on the faces of the characters in the film. One of my strong points is emotion. This is why I have included close up shots in this film quite a bit. I really want to show how its tearing the kid and bill apart. Which sounds awful, but you gotta have good acting!

research into offices and demons

So the team are wanting to stick with the black demon look. I can understand, I want wanted something a little more beastly and exaggerated. But I can see why they want to keep it simple. It may make the audience confused as to why there are these beasts walking about and transforming everywhere.

Ah well. The closest thing we are probably going to base them around, is this picture at the top of this post. Hexxus. He is made of smoke. I recon we should have a similar effect in the animation. where the characters are shifting and evaporating parts like smoke or slow motion fire.

The other images are pictures that were also inspiration in the talks.

Non of the pictures in this post belong to me. All characters and photos to their respectful owners.

Becoming is chosen to go ahead

So the story idea Marcio put forward is going ahead. I'm very much looking forward to working on this with the team. I hope I can get my beasty creature in there somewhere. Not a werewolf, but something very demon like, something i can have fun with. Not keen on the idea of them just being solid black shadows with circle eyes and a smile. Seems very stereotypical and unoriginal. I'll see what I can sway in the way of that department.

I'm going to work on the lighting and colour scheme too. I'm sure I can make this place look really bleak and uninviting. Which is what you want from a boring bullied life of a man named Bill. It does sound awful doesn't it. I recon lighting is becoming one of my main strengths which is good to know as I do enjoy doing it. I struggle with colour but apparently I do a good job. Sometimes I think I am a little bit colour blind as i seem to have trouble matching and nailing colours that I want. But with dull colours I think i'll do ok!

Onwards to the concept work!

More work on my idea

Doing some imp concepts and brainstorming. I know it sounds bad but im focusing more on other peoples work. My idea has been pointed out to be very technologically difficult. Its a relatively new concept and not something the university has explored. And my team mates know next to nothing about it. I do know that my idea will not be picked and I have come to peace with this. Its not the strongest story from the group either. But i'm having fun doing some imp heads!

I LOVE the middle top face and the others that look a bit like it on the right hand side. Its mischievous and cute! I really like the 2nd in on the bottom which matches the 3rd and 4th in on the middle row. I like the humanoid face structure with the slit eyes and the jagged mouth. Devil like yet friendly. And I enjoy the 2nd in on the middle too. A more gargoyle, animalistic like imp would be cool. Looks like a pretty good balance of character and tradition.

Some different lighting tests...

Mid day bright sunshine.

Night time.

Sunset.

My contributions to other peoples work

For jakes story I started to work on the boar demon. I started by doing some boar head sketches and studies. I always work better with a skull reference. I then did a monstrous beast and human hybrid to make it all the more strange and creepy. Perhaps the man blames himself in the story for the death of his wife and the boar can be how he see's himself.

Apart from all that I tried out some misty lighting. Not sure when this is taking place, in the day, dusk or night time. I went for a dark misty, winter day scene. The trees make it darker towards the bottom. 

Tried out some colour schemes. towards the bottom I was trying 4 tone schemes instead of 3 tones and I like them so much better. they just work so well with the hint of a different shade in the shadow. It mimics the shiny iridescent  scales of fish.

I tried out this tribal, blocky and minimal style for the story that jeng wrote. I like the round eyes that have little dark triangles either side. there is just somthing about this style I really like.

For Marcio's story I made some demon designs and a concept for lighting. I really like the harsh light that will contrast with the dark room.

Week 2

This week I actually came up with a solid idea. I would tell the story of how the lincoln imp came to be. Below are some sketches of the ideas, layouts and character sketches.



Jeng - Nail the style
Jake - Demon designs and lighting
wilde - layouts and lighting
marcio - Style design and transformation

1st week

For my final year project, I would like to create a short film with my team and project said film, onto a building. I hope to use 3D mapping, which is a relatively new concept. The film will be sized and animated around the structure of the building. This will allow me to create a film that reacts to the building, I can animate the windows opening, or the lights coming on. I could animated something smashing through the wall, or the building changing in some way.

I have done lots of research on previous 3D mapping projects, most are timed to music or have sound accompanying them. I plan to do the same. Originally I was planning on doing it to Electronic music as a spectacular visual treat for the audience to create the wow factor. But I know now we must tell a story, so maybe some theatrical music and sounds would be better suited to tell a story.

I did some research all over Lincoln. There are some walls within the university which would be alright to project onto but I found delight in the very old buildings. Here are a few I found which would be great to use.

This one is my favorite, because it’s part of the cathedral, not too big, very interesting in design and has a great location. See all the green area picture below, that’s right in front of it. Plenty of room for a tower, or two for the high power projectors and plenty of room for a crowd of people. The only problem with these places, is the permissions I would need to get to do such a thing. I would first need permissions for the projection itself and then the sound permissions. I can imagine it being very difficult around the cathedral and the middle of town. But If my idea is chosen for the project I will try my best. I know people in the events industry, people who have done festivals, events in town and club events. I have the equipment and contacts, just need to council on my side!


As for stories, I’m afraid I don’t have them nailed. I have concepts and rough ideas but I have been forced to change my idea I had over summer because if the change of the course.  I have taken into account some of the locations I am wanting to project onto, and tailored some of the stories around them.

Old vs new technology – I could create a film focusing on the transformation of tech over the years. I could make the door open to show the machine parts changing over years, and the home tech changing. Warfare changes, maybe destroy and rebuild the structure with different tech. I could have a character like the Lincoln imp change throughout the film into a high tech character.  I could have the tech fight each other and then harmonise as it all comes together.

Religion and Lincoln – I thought if I create a film projected onto the cathedral, I could create a film about how religion build the cathedral and helped Lincoln protect itself and develop. I like the idea of having the Lincoln imp being a guide throughout the film. The people sought refuge and comfort in the cathedral. I would also turn things a bit super natural too. Angels, demons, devils, creatures of myths all coming together.

Music – If I could get a suitable mashup together I could explore the history of music. As the music develops, maybe I could also go throughout the history of animation and various histories. Again, the evolution of the arts.

I did some research on some 3D projections and created a rather attractive mood board.