From Script to Screen: Character Design Workshop - Lesson 4

In our final Character design workshop session, we were focusing on story boards. We were given a character type, I was given "Pirates", and an action or event that would happen in the scene, I got a "fight". Those two components wouldn't seem out of place in films, and make sense, so I was quite lucky in that regard. Firstly though, we had to design some characters. I wasn't having one of my best days, in truth, and so it took me a while to get my drawings done, as every design I tried went wrong. Because of that I drew a Pirate tattoo, which allowed me to get back on track, somewhat. I did continue to struggle with designing the characters though, so drew two incredibly small pirates, a Captain and a lower member of the crew. I also drew another pirate cartoon, for some reason. Anyway, my idea for the scene was the pirate confronts his Captain as there is a mutiny and so challenges him to a fight. The scene begins with an exterior shot of the ship, which is sat near an Island. The camera then zooms into the ship. We then see the crew circled round the pirate and the captain. The camera moves round the circle The camera then switches between shots over the Captain's shoulder and the pirate's shoulder as they stare and argue. My storyboard below is obviously not in the same level of detail as the like for like ones I did, but they do have the more original story board feel to them, which is a good thing.

Pirate Tattoo Design

Character Design Page

Storyboard

From Script to Screen: Character Design Workshop - Lesson 3

In our third Character design workshop session, we switched our focus onto environments. After learning about environment design, we were asked to design an environment. We were giving an example, I was given "Santa's Workshop", and we had to re-design it that relate to the genre that we were given , I got "Sci-fi". At first, I imagined robots and how the elves were replaced by robots. My first idea was too cliched and too original. It didn't have enough sci-fi elements to it. As you can see from the first imagine, it is a classic perception of what Santa's workshop would look like, so because of this, it wasn't Sci-fi enough, and didn't live in a different world. 

I decided to try again, and so I made it show the exterior of the workshop. It is a lot more industrial, but some of the buildings are shaped like presents. The idea was that due to the ever increasing population the methods of making and sending presents had to evolve, and so it was brought into the industrial world. The workshop is still in a snowy environment, that is guarded by a large Robot Santa statue. This is a better attempt at combining my two components as it shows what the future of Santa's workshop may become.

1st Attempt

2nd Attempt

From Script to Screen: Idea development

After talking to Phil, I have now changed my story, somewhat. The new story will be a bit more comedic and less serious, than my previous ideas.

Scene 1: The scene begins with a montage of newspapers. The first reads "The Vegetable Man- Simon Frost wins his fifth consecutive win at the latest National Vegetable Society Competition." with the paper showing a photo of him with his vegetable in a wheelbarrow and the one of the judges. Another newspaper, flies onto the screen and reads "What is his Secret?", which has a similar photo but from a different event. The camera then shows a lamp post, which has a "Man- Missing" poster on it, that is by a small allotment. A police man comes onto screen, looks at the lamp post, and decides to ask a man, who is carrying vegetables round with his wheelbarrow around. The man with the wheelbarrow seems concerned and invites the police man into his small shack, for some tea, which he accepts. The scene ends with the door closing on the camera.

Scene 2: The scene begins by showing a small, old woman walking along the path. She stops and looks at the allotment and notices the lack of people around. She goes to the shack, knocks on the door and the man opens the door, and invites her in. We then see the woman looking at the host of trophies on the mantel piece. The man then asks if she'd like to look at his photo album. She does. He then asks if she'd like some tea. He goes into the kitchen and makes tea, as she is looking through his photo album. She flicks through a host of newspaper snips, and some of his own photos of him and his vegetables. We see a shot of the woman's face as it goes from happy and curious, to worried and suspicious. The camera then focuses on a newspaper snip and then switches to a photo. She looks at another newspaper snip and then another photo, and becomes worried by certain similarities by the judge that the man is with and his next vegetable. The camera then focuses on the man in the kitchen, and it appear that he's putting something in her tea. She continues to look round the room, and sees a collection of books that are related to vegetable growing, and using blood and bone meal for growing vegetables. She then looks back at the photos, as the man walks in. She closes the album, and smiles at the man. The man then realises that he forgot to bring in the sugar. The woman then switches the cups. The man comes in, and we see a shot over the man's shoulder as he drinks his tea and the woman smiles, worryingly.

Scene 3: Scene 3 begins at a vegetable growing event, and we see a man handing over the winning trophy to the woman from scene 3. The judge congratulates her and asks how she grew the vegetable to be so big and she replies by saying " Oh, that's my secret". The camera then pans down to the wheelbarrow and shows a vegetable that looks suspiciously like the man, as the vegetable has a similar scar on it that the man had above his eye.

This is a very unique idea and is very silly, which is something that I like. It will be a very individual idea, and I intend to add a bit more humor, but still have a touch of horror to it.

Life Drawing - 28/01/2015

In Wednesday's life drawing session, we were working with the same model we had a couple of weeks ago, which was then I began to see more of a development in my work/style.

We started with 5x 3/4 minute poses. They were rather complex poses and some were fairly challenging, especially the one where the model was bending over. It isn't the best photo as I took it in the session and it wasn't able to see if I got all the picture in, which as you can see I didn't. I will try to get the another photo posted, but my life drawings from that day are at my nan's, at the moment. Anyway, I am quite happy with these as they are accurate and don't have any glaring issues with them.

We then did 2x 20 minute poses, and were asked to include colour. I started by using the same drawing style that I have come used to, and then I tried to experiment with felt tip pens. They weren't the best pens, in truth, and I didn't quite get the effect I wanted. I want to use two different colours that would represent light and dark. I'm not too happy about these, as they almost look like they were coloured in by 5 year old children. Despite that, I do think the one on the right uses the dark tones well.

We then finished with a 40 minute pose. I used my same style, but tried to use the extended time to add more detail. I am very happy with this as it is accurate, and has a the "clean" look that I have come to use. Perhaps in the next session, I could see what more I could do with that style.

40x minute pose

 2x 20 minute poses

5x 3/4 minute poses

CG Artist's Toolkit - Flash Animation

Today in our Artist's toolkit session with Meg, we began by doing a random animation based on anything. I did a dancing man, who got hit by a car. His blood pours onto the road and then a man runs up to his body, and points and laughs. Considering it was only done within 20 minutes, or so, I quite like this, as it is very consistent and everything stays the same size, except for when the body is on the floor. 

We were then asked to an animation of a line that has a character. I chose a brush that would create a strip of silk look, and I made it have a very curious character. I showed the curiosity by having it whiz around the screen and by having it stop and look round a couple of times. I didn't add much of an entrance, but apart from that I think the character appears very curious.

Quick Flash Animation

"Line" Animation

From Script to Screen - Like for like Story Board #2

Alien - Like for like story board

Fig. 1 Alien (1979) Movie Poster

As my first story board was showing a conversation, it was more like an illustration of the scene, that you would find in a book, rather than a story board. In some cases, this new one is similar as it is still very detailed and accurate. However, for my own reasons I wanted to spend a lot of time on something, and then be proud of it, instead of doing something quickly and not really liking it. I am very happy with this, as it has taken me a very long time to complete. I tried to add more arrows and lines of movement, that demonstrate the scene and I think I've done that reasonably well. The scene is incredibly famous and uses a lot of close up shots of characters' faces. Interestingly, there is only ever one camera position/type of shot that is used when showing Kane on the table and when he is main center of attention, where as there are different camera angles when showing the crew try to help him. So, overall, I am very happy with this. I have tried to use as a source of motivation for this project.

Illustration List:

Fig. 1 Alien (1979) Movie Poster - http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140824145545/moviepedia/de/images/a/a7/Alien_poster_1979_01.jpg - (Accessed 29/01/2015)

Pre-Viz 1: Camera Part 7 - Distance Shots Tutorial

These are my attempts at the three camera shots in the "Distance shots" tutorial. They were all relatively easy to follow, so I had no real issue when following them.

From Script to Screen: Idea development - Including the Photo-booth

As I mentioned in my previous post, the photo booth is looking to be the biggest challenge with my "vegetable growing, serial killer" story. I have therefore thought of how to incorporate it into the story. So below, is an idea of how it can be used:

The first scene shows a young boy and his father walking together, laughing and smiling to each other. They are holding and swinging their hands. We see close shots of the boy smiling and looking at his father. The scene ends showing a shot of them, walking into a photo booth.

Then in scene 3, we would be 25 years in the future, and we are now looking at the young boy, who has obviously grown up. I haven't quite figured out what scene 2 would be like, or the rest of scene 3, but in this scene, we would finally see the photos that were about to be taken at the end of scene 1. These photos would show 4 images, the first being a simple photo of the two smiling. The second showing the dad looking suspicious at the curtain, while the boy continues to smile. The third showing a man bursting through the curtains and attacking the dad, as the young boy is screaming. The fourth shows the father with a large cut to his neck, while the boy is crying.

Pre-Viz 1: Camera Part 6 - Crane Shot Tutorial

This is my attempt at the crane shot tutorial. As this was the first pre-viz tutorial that we had to do without following Simon, it was good to see how easy I found it to follow this tutorial. It was easy to follow and I had no issues when completing it.

Pre-Viz 1: Camera Part 5 - Dolly Shot Tutorial

We also did the dolly shot tutorial with Simon, and like the others, it was very easy to follow. There weren't any issues when following the instructions. It's just taken a while to be uploaded because I hadn't put it into the animation, like some of the previous tutorials.

Pre-Viz 1: Camera Part 4 - Pitch Shot Tutorial

Had a few issues with this when we were following Simon's steps. For some reason, it didn't show everything, so Superman would go off screen then come back. However, when I restarted it at home, there was no such problem.

From Script to Screen: "Freshly grown" Idea

I have been considering the idea that Phil mentioned on my previous "Idea" post and have considered how it can have a different feel to my initial idea.

Our main character is a strange, little man who is obsessed with vegetable growing. He enters a host of competitions for growing the largest vegetables, and he always wins. He lives for these competitions, and that is clear from the series of medals he has, that are always attached to his blazer. He makes no attempt to hide his passion and would gloat in front of others, by showing pictures of him and his vegetables. He would take his treasures with him as if they were dates. He'd take pictures with them, go shopping with them....He is crazy about them. Another competition is set to be held in his home village, but is up against some fierce competition. How far would he go to ensure victory?

I think the biggest challenge with this is the photo booth, so that is something I'll need to consider.

Pre-Viz 1: Camera Part 3 - Roll Shot Tutorial

Like the Pan Shot, we did this with Simon. It was also very simple to follow, and we manged to experiment with it, and see how it looks with different amounts of rotation.

180 degree roll

360 degree roll

720 degree roll

Pre-Viz 1: Camera Part 2 - Pan Shot Tutorial

Has been a delayed upload as I haven't put them the pre-viz tutorials, that I've done, into an animation, until now.

As we went through this with Simon, it was very simple to follow. Perhaps confusing at first, but soon realised it's easier than what it first seemed.

From Script to Screen: New Idea

As my first idea, that I continued to work on, wasn't working very well and had several issues, with regards to the back story, use of the 3 components and the relationships between the characters, I understand that the best option is to move onto a new idea. 

I have been thinking about a different approach and have come up with another idea. (I haven't thought about it too much, just about what one of the scenes may be)

Idea 1: In a gardening shop, there is one last wheelbarrow. A woman is looking at it and considering buying it, a man comes over, politely talks to her, helps her pick it up and move it to the check out. We then see the woman pushing the wheelbarrow outside, and then suddenly someone grabs her and pulls her into a photo-booth. The camera focuses on the booths curtains shaking, then they stop. A man then walks out and then the camera moves to the floor and we see blood pouring out of the booth and underneath the wheelbarrow. 

Hopefully, I can think of more ideas, that have a much easier to understand story behind them.

Autodesk Sketchbook Session

Today, we were introduced to Autodesk Sketchbook. I really enjoyed using it as it was easy to use and is very simple in it's design, and so I found it a lot easy to know how to use it compared to Photoshop.

At first, I didn't have a tablet so I drew two people using the mouse. I really like these, despite them having poor proportions. They have a caricature-like style, and I have always liked drawing caricatures. I added colour and a bit of tone, which has produced an interesting style. 

We were then told about how to draw symmetric figures and shapes. At first, I created a few robot type figures, and then went a bit more crazy with the ideas. I then finished with a joker style face. I like how simple it was to use, and is definitely a tool I'll use again in the future.

1st Drawing using a mouse

2nd Drawing using a mouse

Symmetric Drawings

@Phil - Revised OGR - 22/01/2015

REVISED - OGR 22nd January 2015

As the first OGR wasn't overly clear about the story/plot and it's characters, I have revised it to make it a little clearer. I want the story to be quite confusing and mysterious, which I think it is slightly, but I have done my best to include every thought/idea I have about the story and it's characters. I have tweaked a few things, but it's not too different to the original, in all honesty.

I don't think it's necessary to include my first like for like story board, and hopefully the second one will be done by tomorrow.

Life Drawing - 21/01/2015

In today's life drawing session, we were drawing another model, and we were back to drawing men. after being happy with my previous drawings where we were drawing a women, I was eager to see how/if my skills have changed when drawing men.. 

We started with 3x 10 minute poses. I drew them all in pencil quite lightly, at first, before going over the rough outline/detail with a softer pencil. For the first one, I finished it reasonably quickly and so added a little bit of tone. Unfortunately, we had to move on before I was fully able to add all the tone I wanted. However, I am very happy with this drawing as it is well proportioned. Maybe if I'm really harsh on myself, the legs are a little longer than they should be, but I don't think that's a major problem. I did manage to complete the second pose with some time to spare, but I instead chose to try and fix the left leg, which I wasn't able to do. The left foot should be higher than the right, but I wasn't able to do it without making the leg look too short. Despite that, I am quite pleased with it as it is quite accurate, and the legs aren't too long. The third pose came out a little strange as the edges are a bit too straight, as they needed to be a little more curved. 

We then did a 30 minute pose, which as I have previously said, I enjoy doing. I used the technique that I have become comfortable with, which is drawing everything roughly in pencil, before going over everything in a lot more detail with pen. I am very happy with the style that I have adopted. I have always liked doing line drawings with pen, so I'm glad that I can incorporate that into life drawing. I am very happy with this drawing, as all the proportions are corrected and it shows where the body is applying pressure. I like how I don't add much detail and that I leave it to look quite simple/clean.

The model then moved into a more challenging pose. We had to really focus on the fore-shortening and change in proportions. It took me a while to get going, as I couldn't get the foot and the legs correctly in relation to the body. I perhaps didn't see as much of the torso, that I have shown in the drawing, but that was the only way I could get it to work. As you can see it is in the same line drawing style, and I am very pleased with this, also. It was a challenging pose, and I am pleased with the result.

We then ended the day with a sitting down pose. I can't quite remember how long the drawing was meant to be, but I managed to complete mine, in 15 minutes. There isn't much detail, as most of the time was spent getting the legs accurate, which I think are done well. 

3x 10 minute poses

30 minute pose

20 minute pose

15 minute pose

From Script to Screen: OGR - 21st January 2015

From Script to Screen: OGR - 20th January 2015

I am still working on my second like for like story board. Hopefully, it will be finished by the end of the week. My first like for like story board is shown below:

Shaun of the Dead - "Like for Like" Story Board by dreason23

Soundscape - Initial Ideas

I know this is quite a late post, but these are my initial thoughts about the pictures and what sounds I imagine:

 This picture is very blocky and organised, so a constant drum-type beat would make sense. The picture does have a section that looks like it's collapsing, so the beat could get faster and the overall sound may sound more and more tense as it progresses. The pitch would remain constant, and with the lack of light, would be quite low and dark.

 The very sharp, splinter like objects create the impression of high pitched short noises, almost like ticking, but very short sounds. The picture is very messy, so the sounds would be very confusing and abstract. The bright colours, however, do make the "splinters" seem quite joyful and vibrant, so maybe, although, the sounds maybe abstract, they could also be quite fun and enjoyable.

This picture looks like bacteria, but it has a soft, almost cuddly look, that may make very gentle and easy on the ear sounds. The sounds of the worm like objects creeping over the green sphere, would sound like rubbing furry objects together. As the "worms" continue to cover the sphere, we'd see less and less of it, so maybe the sounds could get faster and create a feeling of tension, as it progresses.

From Script to Screen - Idea development

Following on from my initial idea, I have thought of how to make the story make more sense and how to demonstrate that the story is based around a serial killer, and not just about one set of murders, as well trying to include the wheelbarrow, in the story. Below, I have described the three scenes, in detail, that I will put together:

Scene 1:
The story begins showing a family, a Mother, a Father and a Son, walking through an empty area of the town centre. They decide to go into a green photo booth, as they pass it, and choose to take funny pictures. They come out of the photobooth and take their pictures out of the machine. The family then turn around and see a silhouetted figure holding a gun to them. The camera then shots the figure on the right and the family on the left. The father tries to reason with the figure, before the mysterious person shoots the mother, then the father and leaves the son to stand over his parents bodies as their red blood pours across the floor. The scene then ends with a shot of the reflection of the bodies in the son's eyes.

Scene 2:
25 years later from scene 1, the camera focuses on an old, deteriorating farm house. The scene then goes to a shot of an alarm clock, which wakes a man up. He is wearing only pyjamma bottoms. He is a slim individual, but is well kept and tidy, with regards to hair. He sits up on his bed, wipes his eyes and heads for the bathroom. It then goes to a shot of the man getting dressed into an old, wrinkly suit and putting black leather gloves on. The camera then follows the man into a dark room. He turns the one dangling light on, and it shows a man tied to a chair, with a large cut to his head. We then discover that the man tied up is a detective, who is investigating missing people in the area. The man starts asking the detective questions. He is well spoken and very polite, and elegant as he paces round the small room. The two continue to exchange words. The man proceeds to the detective and pulls a knife to his throat, and slowly creates a deep wound, as the blood pours out and the detective screams in agony. The camera continues to focus on the detective's body, as the man leaves the room whistling. Shortly after he brings a wheelbarrow into the room, and starts to un-tie the body and he then pulls the man into the wheelbarrow. The camera then follows the man, pushing the wheelbarrow into the garden. He then hears a knock at the door. The camera then goes to a shot of the door as the man opens the door. The camera then shows a man asking about screams he thought he heard. The man acts surprised and invites him in to confirm nothing is wrong. The door then closes in the camera's face, to end the scene.

Scene 3:
The scene begins showing an interrogation room at a police station. There is a table, and chair either side, one of which is occupied by the man from scene 2. We see the man remain perfectly still as he looks straight in front of him. A detective walks in, the man welcomes him and invites him to sit down, which he does after a big sigh. The detective confirms our suspicions that the man is the son from scene 1. The camera continues to show the same view. Detective on the left, table in the middle and the man on the right. The man is smiling. The detective begins by asking him if he knew what happened to his co-worker (who died in scene 2). He then begins to ask him about his parents death, the man's smile remains constant. The man confirms what we believe to have happened. The detective then tells the man that they found the photos from the night of their murder. It shows that the man was not part of the photos, and that the photos show a mother, father and daughter.The camera then goes to a shot of the man looking at the floor. We then begin to hear the man chuckle. He claims "They never cared of me after her". The detective looks suspicious. The detective then says "You've been running all your life". We then find out the detective found the photos in the wheelbarrow, as the dead detective had taken them and had slipped out of his pocket. We also discover the man had buried the detective in the garden, and had abandoned the farm house. The man then explains his hatred for his parents, as his sister's birth made them forget about him and no longer treat him, and would prefer to spend time with their daughter. We then learn that as the father was a former soldier he still had a hand gun secured in his room, that the son had found and used to kill his parents and take his sister. The detective asks what happened to his sister. The man chuckles once more. The man says "As I stood of their bloody corpse', I felt so free. It was a revolution. I loved it. The moment was perfection. And do you know what? It felt so much better when it was her blood that was I was holding in my hands". The scene ends with a close up shot of the man's increasing smile.


I'm quite pleased with this idea, although I think the wheelbarrow needs to be included a little more. It appears that I seem to be going with my initial idea, once again, and not fully experimenting. So, I think I need to look at a few more ideas, before fully committing to this one.

From Script to Screen: Character Design Workshop - Lesson 2

In today's lesson, we all got our own type of character, and I got a mad scientist. We were asked to redesign them, or to put them in another era or world. I firstly drew what the original mad scientist looks like. Long white coat, large hair, glasses, moustache...basically a crazy Albert Einstein. The first design I did wasn't thought through. I draw a man pouring chemicals into a beaker. I added a few things to his appearance to make him look like a scientist, through a tie and glasses, mainly. I then threw a load of random objects on. At first, I intended him to make him look like a king with a crown and cape, but I then went onto add more things that made it look like someone had drawing over it to make it look as silly as possible. I then began another design, I still included some of a mad scientist's trademarks, but it was a weird, funny alien. I drew it very cartoony, through smooth lines and lack of tone, in order to make it look like a scientist from a children's sci-fi animation. I think this looks quite well, as it looks like a scientist from another world. However, I don't think it's clear that it's a mad scientist, rather than just a scientist. 

Our last task included us being assigned a room or place, and to draw things that we'd expect to see in that room/setting, as people. I was assigned a bathroom, and drew a toilet, 2 sinks and a towel. I began with the toilet. My initial thought was that it would be a liar because it's full of it.  I used the handle as one of the eyes, but just drew the other eye beside it. I think the look of the character works well because he looks quite moody and arrogant. I then started drawing a sink. It isn't very clear how to get character from a sink, so I made the taps the characters. The cold tap is smiling because it isn't likely to cause harm and is safe, where as the hot tap is angry because it's full of anger and fire. Although, I think that's a good idea, they wouldn't be able to move, so I drew another sink. I used the same taps, but I used the base of the sink as a mouth and added eyes to it's pillar. I don't think that was designed very well, as it has no character and doesn't work with the sink's shape very well. I hen quickly drew a towel. It's not exactly clear it's a towel and the face is drawn on without any though. I added a little joke, but I don't think the towel was well thought out.

Mad Scientist Cliche

Mad Scientist - Unique 1

Mad Scientist - Unique 2

Bathroom components

Life Drawing - 14/01/2015

Today was our first life drawing session where we had to draw a woman, and I found it easier to get the proportions correct, or almost correct, compared to drawing a man. I think the reason for this is because men have a rougher outline and have more wear to their skin, where as women tend to be smoother and more curved, if that's the right word. 

We started off with 4x 10 minute poses, and I think I started off by making the first drawing have long legs, but I manage to make them more accurate in the following 3. The 3 drawing is it a bit too straight on the edges and looks like it was drawn using a ruler. 

We were then asked to do a 30 minute pose. I started off by roughly drawing out the proportions and rough outline, using a pencil, then I used my trusty pen to draw it properly using the rough drawing I did with the pencil. We were asked to incorporate some colour, so I chose blue....because I like blue. I used a light blue and dark blue piece of chalk, the dark blue was used to show tone and the light tone was to build on the dark blue. I then used a white piece of chalk to increase the amount of light being shown on the figure. I then used black chalk to really show the darkest areas. I am really pleased with this as it uses the light well, and the chalk was easy to use and show tone. 

We then ended the day with a 15 minute pose. I did the exact same technique as the 30 minute pose, but as it was a shorter length of time, I didn't add colour. I really like this as it reminds me of colouring books, as all the line are smooth and crisp. The figure is well proportioned and there isn't any glaring issue with it.

I believe there was significant improvement in my life drawing this week, although it seemed like everyone's work has improved.

 4x 10 minute poses

 30 minute pose

 15 minute pose

From Script to Screen - Like for like Story Board #1

Shaun of the Dead - "Like for Like" Story Board

Fig. 1 Shaun of the Dead (2004) Movie Poster

This is my Like for like story board. I based it on a scene in Edgar Wright's "Shaun of the Dead" where Ed (played by Nick Frost) is talking to Shaun (played by Simon Pegg) how his break up isn't the end of the world.

Overall, I'm happy with this because I like each individual image. I spent a longer time on this than most things I do, so it makes it clear how much my feelings about my work can change if I spend more time on things. I think I could have shown light in the images, but I wasn't sure how to do that, unless I change the style.

Illustration:
Fig. 1 Shaun of the Dead (2004) Movie Poster - http://teacherluke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/shaun-of-the-dead-poster.jpg (Accessed 13/01/2015)

From Script to Screen - Character, Prop, Setting & Initial Ideas

On Tuesday, we all randomly got our character, prop and setting for this project. Before I picked out the character, I was hoping to get one that is either quite funny or horrific, as in the past I have preferred to create horror stories or stories that may make you laugh, I was therefore pleased when I got a Serial Killer as my character. As that was the first that got selected I was happy with how it was going, so it was strange when the prop that I have to include is a wheelbarrow. From what I've seen in films or TV murder mystery programmes, a wheelbarrow has never been used as a weapon. My initial thoughts about how a wheelbarrow could be used, in association with a serial killer, is to carry bodies or put bodies under. Serial Killers, although crazy, tend to have small weapons to make it easy to kill their target. I can't imagine them hiding a wheel barrow in their pocket. Then we got our setting. I got a photo booth. Obviously, the inside of a photo booth is very small and compact, but when you're in one and the curtain is pulled, you have no idea who is creeping up on you. That could be an interesting idea. The outside of a photo booth could also be used as a crime scene, perhaps.

However my very first idea was someone inside a photo booth, having their picture taken, while the killer is behind the glass and then the flash stuns the person, and the killer smashes through the glass with the wheel barrow and smashes the person to death. Then the final shot is of the photos coming out of the machine showing the glass being smashed into the person's face. What a lovely scene that would be.

Another initial idea, was to have a family (A Mother and Father with their son) having their photos taken, they come out of the booth and look at the photos, and start laughing. They then turn around and see a silhouetted figure holding a gun to them. The figure then shoots the mother, then the father and leaves the son alive, who stands over his parents bodies *Nothing like Batman*. A later scene is of the son, about 20 years later, being interviewed by a detective about the murders, and he tells the son that they found the photos, and he tells him that his story of him having the pictures taken with his parents is wrong because he isn't in the photos. He continues to interview him. Telling him he's lying and asking him what happened. The camera than focuses on him looking at the floor, it goes silent and then you can hear him begin to laugh and then he raises his head to the detective, who sees a slight tear in his eye whilst his laughter continues to elevate....Then that's all I thought of. Getting the wheelbarrow into the story will be the biggest challenge I think, but hopefully I get an idea that will make it easy to include.

From Script to Screen: Character Design Workshop - Lesson 1

Today was our first Character design session, and for preparation for the session we were asked to bring in a picture, or have a picture ready, of our favourite character. I chose the Joker. I have always been a fan of the Batman comics and the Batman films, especially the 1989 "Batman", where the Joker was played by Jack Nicholson and "The Dark Knight", where Heath Ledger played the Joker . The picture I chose was of Heath Ledger's Joker in "The Dark Knight". I wasn't necessarily aiming to get a picture of his Joker when I was looking for one, I just picked the first Joker picture I saw. Our first task was to take our character and draw it in a different style. I based the drawing on the traditional, trademark look of the Joker with his long face, beaming eyes and large smile. I then added all the features that Heath Ledger's Joker has: The scars on his cheeks, the black around his eyes and his long messy hair. I drew it, however, in my own pen style as that is, as I have said before, something I feel comfortable with. I wanted to emphasise the black around the eyes to really make them stand out and I think they have turned out quite well. Overall, I am very happy with this as it is quite dark, like Heath Ledger's Joker, but has the fun appearance that the Joker always has.

Our second task was to draw a cartoon character, that we got at random, and to redraw it using different shapes. In the session, we learned about how shapes are used in characters. Circles represent safe and gentle things. Squares show stability and strength. And Triangles are usually associated with villains, primarily, due to their sharp edges that have an element of danger. The character I got was Scooby-Doo. Scooby-Doo is a friendly dog, but as he is a great dane he needs to have a strong appearance, so, due to them two traits, circles and squares are the shapes that are used in his design. I decided to replace the friendly manner of the circles with the sharp danger of the triangles. This substitution has made Scooby look evil and not like the friendly dog we all know. I added claws, also, to add more danger to the design. I am very happy with this, although, I think maybe the neck is a bit too long.

Life Drawing - 07/01/2015

Today we had our first life drawing session of the year, but with a new model. We pretty much did the same exercises that we did in the previous term. However, I think the poses were a little more complex. With the model being more defined, it made different shapes where he was holding or leaning on a broom.

At first, I started off a little dodgey with a massive head, but I think the body looks fine and the second drawing is ok, just unfinished (2x 10 minute drawings).

We then did some 5 minute and 2 minute drawings, and the compositon of the page looks very organised and looks like something you'd so on an ancient shrine. I really like that page as all the drawings are reasonably well proportioned, especially the three at the top of the page.

We then had to speed up and do 5x 1 minute drawings and these didn't start off too well. From my position, the pose was quite complicated as it was all about perspectives and foreshortening, and that is something I find difficult anyway. The first isn't on the page because it wasn't working well, so I rubbed it out and as soon as I was about to restart we moved onto the next pose, a silly mistake really. The other drawings, though, do have good shapes and are well proportioned. I especially like the one in the bottom left because it is at a good size and accurate.

It was then time to do a long pose, which I prefer. I tried to do the proper measuring technique using the size of the head and the end of the pencil, but it has gone wrong slightly because the body and legs look a bit too long. However, I like this drawing because it is well detailed and shows a lot of tone.

The final exercise was to do 2x 10 minute drawings. I was bored of charcoal, and so decided to use pencil, I quite liked using the pencil because it is easier to do the lines that you want, where as charcoal may crumble into a new position and create a wobbly line when you want to draw a straight one. These two drawings are pretty accurate apart from in the first one I had a few issues with the shoulder, but I think the second one doesn't have any clear problem.

 2x 10 minute poses

5 minute and 2 minute poses

4x 1 minute poses

1x 30 minute pose

 1st 10 minute pose

2nd 10 minute pose