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.