Minor/Major Project: Tutorial Feedback

In today's tutorial with Alan, we talked about the character designs and the clip ideas that I had come up with. With the character designs, we agreed that the tall and thin character design works well, where as the other two characters need a bit more work. It was clear that the tall and thin character had a bit more thought put behind it and had a clear choice of influences - John Cleese being the main example. The other two characters are a bit more random in that regard and so they need to be designed based on a certain personality/character.

Short & Fat Character

This character will be quite shy and nervous, and so will be very awkward when he's on screen. This will also mean that he's a bit clueless and is easily confused. Kent "Flounder" Dorfman from National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) and Fatbot from Futurama are too existing examples of characters who suit the design idea and the personality described. Both have a child-like innocence to them as well and so they would often say the obvious.

Average Character 

Where as the tall and thin character is quite stern and proud of himself, the average character is a bit of a push over. Although, he is more confident than the short and fat character, he still struggles to take control in certain situations. This character, however, does like to have fun and so does try to play the Joker in the group. Lee Evans and Michael Palin are too examples who suit the design, and are both capable of bringing the laughs.

In the tutorial we also discussed what my aim for the interim crit is, and that is to:

• Get the Character designs completed.
• Finalise the story/clip ideas.
• Create an animatic for one of those clips.

With the progress that I am making, I am confident that all of this is achievable and so the interim crit should go to plan. I have looked at the feedback on the clip ideas and so will try to sort those out as soon as possible, while getting the two character designs better suited to their influences and personalities.

Minor/Major Project: Clip Ideas Re-post + Character Heights

I have drawn this to show the difference in height between the characters - the tall character's height wasn't right/realistic at first, so it needed a bit of tweaking. I have also put them into some new clothes and have added colour for this picture. Below is my previous clip ideas post, with a few more ideas that I have come up with since.

Clip #1

 "And there are people who say that you're involved.

That you might be responsible. That you're a very dangerous man"

Story Ideas

• Interrogation Scene, with a toy being the thing that's being interrogated.
• Similar to the previous idea, but having a zoo-keeper talking to an animal at a Zoo.
• A trashman who likes to talk to the rubbish that he picks up off the floor.
•  In the bath.

Clip #2

 "Wait a minute, you're wearing black! That's my colour. I'm the Bad Guy!"

"But you're not wearing black, that's dark blue."

"It is not!"

"It is so. It's navy"

Story Ideas

• A married couple getting dressed
• Getting ready for a stage performance that leads to a fight.
• With the dialogue being slightly different, it's two decorators arguing over the colour of the paint, and they get other people's opinions involved.
• Political debate.

Clip #3

"He said he was going to do it, and he's doing it now.

The most stupendous, the most incredible crime of the Century."

Story Idea

A man is saying the quote from the clip to another character, who has just asked him about his worried expression on his face - the camera slowly zooms in on his face, while he is saying the quote. Once he has said it, it cuts to someone doing the something very minor and not at all illegal, like walking on the grass, where there is a keep off the grass sign. (This is just an example of a minor crime, and will be thought about more).

Clip #4

 "What do you want from me?"

"What do I want? I want to play a game?"

Story Idea

A man and a woman are in bed, and the man starts trying to wake up her, like a child on Christmas day. The woman annoyingly wakes up and asks what he wants. The man replies saying he wants to play a game. The woman is confused. The man then pulls a Spider-Man mask over his face and then grabs two cans of web spray cans from under the duvet.

Clip #5

"I had a friend. I was with him yesterday, but we got seperated.

Have you seen him?"

"Marshal, you have no friends."

Story Idea

• A man talking to his therapist.
• A boy/girl talking to their teacher.
• In the Jungle

Minor/Major Project: All 3 Characters

I have taken each character concept and have drawn them in this image, with the tall and short characters both having different heads. I will change the average character's head once I have come up with a better design, as this one looks a little too young - a teenager, rather than an adult.

When drawing this there were a few little problems with these designs: Firstly, the short character's arms are too long. It was quite difficult to get the arms right in the pose that he is in, and so I had to settle with the best that I could do. Secondly, when drawing the hand on the tall character's shoulder, it sisn't look right a few times due to the number of fingers. They original had 4 fingers and one thumb, but I had to chop off a finger as it looked better, and more cartoony, with just 3.

I'm going to draw another picture with these characters, which will give a better idea of their height difference, as well as trying to fix some of the problems that I mentioned.

Minor/Major Project: Short & Fat Character Concept

I have now finished my initial concept of the short and fat character, and like the previous posts I have drawn some alternate heads as well, so that I can see which would work best. I think the shortness in height isn't entirely clear, and he should be a bit fatter, so those are two things that I'll need to fix in the next drawing of this character.

Out of the heads, number 4 works the best, I think, as it looks like a miserable adult and that is something that would work with this character. The others are just a bit too simple, where as number 4 is a bit more unique, especially in the shape of the head itself.

Minor/Major Project: Average Character Concept

Carrying on with the character designs, I have finished the first design/concept of the average character, as well as some more heads. This one was a little more of a challenge than the tall and thin character as it was a struggle to make it look like an adult, rather than a teenager - which is a problem that this design has.

It was, also, reasonably difficult for the head/face designs, as they are all a bit basic and no one stands out. The majority of them have basic haircuts, with basic faces, and although the designs need to be a bit basic, they still need to stand out and suit the age of each character. I will continue working on this design as well as doing the first concept for the short and fat character.

Minor/Major Project: Tall & Thin Character Concept

For the animation, I want 3 different characters, who are all different in terms of shape and size, as well as personality. I have started by designing this tall and thin character and some additional heads that I came up with for this character.

My thought progress behind this character's personality is that due to his height and being skinny, is that he is somewhat out of control with the way his body moves, and so his arms and legs can be quite elastic, and would fling around all over the place. I have watched many Monty Python sketches recently, for this project of course, and have based this character on John Cleese. One such sketch that sticks out features "the Ministry of Silly walks." In this sketch, John Cleese's legs are so flimsy and elastic in their movement, and this is something that can look very funny in an animation.

I'm quite happy with the body shape, although the pose isn't quite how it should be. Out of the 7 faces, my favourites are 2,3 and 6. I think that's possibly due to the fact that they have a bit more character, where as the others are a bit more generic.

For the other two characters, I am trying to design a short and fat character (the opposite to the tall and thin character) and a basic mid-height/mid-build character.

Minor/Major Project: Clip Ideas

Following on from the feedback that I got from Alan in the last tutorial, which cleared up some confusion, I have come up with a few more ideas. Some of the ideas are for the clips that I picked in the last post, and some are from the clip ideas that I came up with a couple of weeks ago. As you can see, some of them have one detailed idea, which I have thought about thoroughly and have a good idea of what the animation would be, and the others have a few quick possible ideas of what I have come up with. I think the issue with some of these ideas is that they are too close to what the audience would expect from the clip and are not obscure enough in where they are set/how they are played out.

Also in the last tutorial with Alan, we discussed the possibility of having 3 main characters, who can easily be other characters - even going so far as to having a male character play a Woman - similarly to Monty Python, where the main actors can play several characters in one film. This idea is something that I have considered when coming up with these ideas.

Clip #1

 "And there are people who say that you're involved.

That you might be responsible. That you're a very dangerous man"

Story Ideas

• Interrogation Scene, with a toy being the thing that's being interrogated.
• Similar to the previous idea, but having a zoo-keeper talking to an animal at a Zoo.
• A trashman who likes to talk to the rubbish that he picks up off the floor.

Clip #2

 "Wait a minute, you're wearing black! That's my colour. I'm the Bad Guy!"

"But you're not wearing black, that's dark blue."

"It is not!"

"It is so. It's navy"

Story Ideas

• A married couple getting dressed
• Getting ready for a stage performance that leads to a fight.
• With the dialogue being slightly different, it's two decorators arguing over the colour of the paint, and they get other people's opinions involved.

Clip #3

"He said he was going to do it, and he's doing it now.

The most stupendous, the most incredible crime of the Century."

Story Idea

A man is saying the quote from the clip to another character, who has just asked him about his worried expression on his face - the camera slowly zooms in on his face, while he is saying the quote. Once he has said it, it cuts to someone doing the something very minor and not at all illegal, like walking on the grass, where there is a keep off the grass sign. (This is just an example of a minor crime, and will be thought about more).

Clip #4

 "What do you want from me?"

"What do I want? I want to play a game?"

Story Idea

A man and a woman are in bed, and the man starts trying to wake up her, like a child on Christmas day. The woman annoyingly wakes up and asks what he wants. The man replies saying he wants to play a game. The woman is confused. The man then pulls a Spider-Man mask over his face and then grabs two cans of web spray cans from under the duvet.

Clip #5

"I had a friend. I was with him yesterday, but we got seperated.

Have you seen him?"

"Marshal, you have no friends."

Story Idea

• A man talking to his therapist.
• A boy/girl talking to their teacher.

Minor/Major Project: New Sound Clip Ideas

Now that I have gone back and have listened to all the sound clips again, I have picked out some of the best clips, and have thought about what genres they could be. I have tried to think about what genre the film actually is, and what genres the film definitely is, but it still makes sense:

Clip #1

 "And there are people who say that you're involved.

That you might be responsible. That you're a very dangerous man"

Possible Genres

Horror - Action - Sci-fi - Thriller

Clip #2

 "Wait a minute, you're wearing black! That's my colour. I'm the Bad Guy!"

"But you're not wearing black, that's dark blue."

"It is not!"

"It is so. It's navy"

Possible Genres

Horror - Superhero - Action - Romance

Clip #3

"He said he was going to do it, and he's doing it now.

The most stupendous, the most incredible crime of the Century."

 

Possible Genres

Mystery - Thriller - Horror

 

Clip #4

 "What do you want from me?"

"What do I want? I want to play a game?"

Possible Genres

Horror - Romance - Sci-Fi - Family

Clip #5

"Was it a Dinosaur?"

 "It wasn't a Dinosaur"

 "So, you didn't see it?"

"I didn't."

 "So, how do you know it wasn't a Dinosaur?"

 "Because Dinosaurs are extinct."

"Oh...yeah."

Possible Genres 

Fantasy - Action - Adventure - Family

Minor/Major Project: Idea Progression

In last Friday's tutorial with Alan, I learned that I somewhat misunderstood the idea of using the sound clips. Instead of having a series of short animations, that are all in different locations with different locations, it is about having the same characters in the same World/environment - like old people at an old people's home. I have gone back and listened to all the sound clips again, so now I am thinking about what genre(s) would suit each clip, and then I'd try to think about how it could take place in an old people's home, for example.

I designed these three characters relatively quickly, and I tried to make them have different personalities, so that when it comes to intergrating the sound clips it can suit a certain character - or be for the wrong character (the grumpy one having a fun, high pitched voice, for instance). Of course, these are just initial designs, so once I have figured out what clips I'll be using, I can design suitable characters.

Minor Project: Clip Ideas

After listening to the sound clips more, as well as looking for some myself, I have got 5 quotes where I have come up with a good idea/ideas. 3 of these were part of the selection that Alan gave me, and the other 2 are ones that I thought about/found myself.

From Alan's Selection:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

"He said he was going to do it, and he's doing it now.

The most stupendous, the most incredible crime of the Century."

Scenario:

A man is talking into the character, with the camera slowly zooming in on his face, while he is saying the quote. 

Once he has said it, it cuts to someone doing the something very minor and not at all illegal, like walking on the grass, where there is a keep off the grass sign.

Airplane! (1980)

"I just want to tell you both:

Good luck, we're all counting on you."

 Scenario:

The camera focuses on the door, while you can hear two people having sex. 

Then a small child walks through the door and says the quote, with absolutely no reaction to what they see. Then the child leaves.

   Shutter Island (2010)

"I had a friend. I was with him yesterday, but we got seperated.

Have you seen him?"

"Marshal, you have no friends."

Scenario:

A young child is talking to his teacher, who tells him the unfortunate truth.

Hearing the Teacher tell him, makes him burst into tears. The teacher then looks at the camera with an "Are you kidding me?" expression on her face.

The Clips I found:

Duck Soup (1933)

"I can see you right now in the Kitchen, bending over a hot stove,

but I can't see the stove."

 Scenario:

A man and a woman are on a date in a restaurant, and the woman asks him about the possibility of living together and how good it would be.

The man responds with the quote.

The woman has an immediate shocked look on her face. She slaps in him in the face and chucks his wine over him. She gets up and leaves.

The camera zooms on the man, as he turns his head to the camera showing a sad expression on his face.

   Seven (1995)

"What's in the box!?"

"Not until you give me the gun."

"What's in the f***ing box!?"

"Give me the gun."

Scenario:

It's Christmas, and a girl receives a present. This sparks a reaction from her brother, while he hold his BB gun and aims it at her. 

The Dad, who gave the girl the present, wants him to give him the gun. 

Rigging 3: Part 1 - Basic Squash, Stretch & Volume Preservation - Tutorial

I managed to complete Part 1 of this set of tutorials today relatively quickly. After doing a couple of the other tutorials, I was able to do this with no problems.

Rigging 3: Part 2 - Conditional Squash & Stretch - Tutorial

In today's class, we continued working on the rigging tutorials, and although I had no sound on my computer, I was able to complete this tutorial correctly with no major issues.

Minor Project: Character Design planning

After my dissertation meeting with Phil yesterday, I asked about my minor project and my new idea. One of the problems that I mentioned was that "as I'll be doing 3, or so, completely different scenes with completely different characters, how will I be able to do this?" A possible way to get round the character problem is by having a character design, that can easily be made into other characters: for example, the lego characters are the same in shape, but each design/paint work is different.

I went back and looked at my info-graphic work and the work of David Shrigley, as that is something that I felt confident doing and was able to create a good, little character. As this is 3D, however, the challenge with having my info-graphic character and Shrigley's work as influences is that they are 2D, and so may not translate quite as well. I've gone through many quick drawings over the past couple of days and have designed these characters.

As you can see, they are all mainly the same - hair style being the main difference. This page shows that it is possible to have one character design, that is then made into several characters. I like these drawings, although as I'm also considering doing the 2D facial rig on a 3D character, I'm not too sure how that'd look.