Since establishing my idea for task one and getting it approved I've been doing some pose drawings to represent fear and also done some thumbnails of possible scenes to get an idea of how I want the piece to look.
These are the my thumbnails showing a few variations of the 'stairs' scene.
I picked the one I liked best took it into Photoshop and turned it into a colour key thumbnail by painting on it. I already had an idea in my head of how I wanted to stage the piece in terms of lighting and colour so I applied this to the drawing and this is how it turned out:
I like it. I think the colours work well together but I figured they would being contrasting. It should create a nice moody look for the scene.
Using this design I then started to build the scene in 3D and put in a few lights to experiment. It's not finished yet, but I think for the time being all the important elements are there. Here's how it looks so far:
The stairs rails need more work, some additional items could be added to make areas less empty and some areas need more detailing so I'll probably work on that some more before the weekends over so most of it is established before I start the actual animation. I'll probably experiment a bit more with the lighting as well.
I've decided to use Andreas' 'Woody' rig, which I used previously for my lift animation. I made a few adjustments to it, after talking to Andreas, so I'd be able to do more with the characters eyes as the rig has no other animatable facial elements to it. I set up two controllers so I'll now be able to increase the size of the eyes to become very large (widen) and also shut which I think will help express the character's feelings along with it's body language without relying too much on facial expressions.
I also did some filming yesterday using my stairs at home. I made multiple attempts and tried a few different things for various to get some reference footage ready start on blocking. I'm considering making a storyboard first though or maybe assemble the bits of my reference that I like so I can establish an idea for the timing and general outline of the animation before I start.
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I read an interesting article the other day on best and worst animated characters, which you can read here:
It features an interview with character designer, Shannon Tindle (who's work I really like) and focuses mainly on Gnomeo and Juliet, a 3D animated movie which recently hit the cinemas.
I also watched a pretty creepy but enjoyable short yesterday while drinking my afternoon cup of tea, which I must share here!
Be warned it may make you think twice about visiting an ice cream van and if you have children yourselves you may be inclined to tell them to avoid ice cream vans at all costs! hehe!
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