Character Design Workshop 'Chameleonaire' Villain Concept for Danger Mouse (2015)

Chameleonaire is the eccentric billionaire CEO of Gate House Recording Studios, a music production company that also acts as a headquarters for criminal activity. He has no teeth due to a sugar addiction, and so wears a gold and diamond studded grill on his mouth, this hasn't stopped him eating copious amounts of sweets, however.

Party on! Kaiju || Props, Character Finalization and Bad guy

Progress for Gen's Character design, as she is too plain and not memorable enough; the objective was to work more around the idea of a female turtle to increase appeal.

Following feedback, Gen was further worked upon to make her seem more feminine by changing her features and stature. Now her look contrasts well with Bu.

For the Bad guy, I had a few ideas from the outset. Initially i wanted to create a European dragon to represent the spread of empire across the sea, but the results looked too generic, so instead I started to look at some pictures of dinosaurs. It is interesting to think that pterodactyls and the pterosaurs were not really a dinosaur, but their own species entirely, the confusion stemming from the suffix -saur.

Forming the basis of this idea and the themes of 'party', and 'big roar', it was possible to develop this figure even more into 'the conductor' an anthropomorphic pterosaur wizard from an alternate universe that controls electricity and summons thunderstorms. Using this ability, the Conductor turns the city of Tokyo into a flashing light spectacle from atop Tokyo Tower.

While considering the nature of these characters appearing in this context, I watched a lot of godzilla movies, and came to the conclusion of figures appearing in the same lieu as wrestlers or gladiators in a ring. Names are clearly identifiable or relatable to design, for example, 'The Undertaker'(1990), also known as Paul Bearer, is a gothic styled spokesman from WWE, and Biollante refers to a massive reptilian rose bush in Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989). The Conductor serves to replicate this fashion.

Character Design Workshop || 'The Shining' Storyboard Exercise

Storyboards are cinematography. Today we studied cinematography by drawing storyboards.

Shaky Cam is an indication of unease, similar to tilted camera angles.
Stanley Kubrick utilises strange shots, almost as if we are disconnected from the situation.

'Shorthand where you can!' in order to give flow to action, attempt to compile into a single frame.
aspect ratio matter to compositions, so remember to draw them shapes correctly.

Character Design Workshop || Environment and Setting

To create this scene, based on the phrase 'It's alive!', I utilized a low angle shot with a tilted camera. The idea behind this kind of framing is to indicate an uneasy atmosphere involving playing with a lot of power, in this case lightning. 

By drawing in this fashion I learnt something about cameras in general; they are there to conjour a kind of presence within the story, and so therefore they should act in rhythm to the human eye, so when a camera tilts to either side, the head follows the eyes. If something is off the right hand side of the screen, the camera should tilt towards the subject.

It is also important not to mix up shots with each other, in my drawings, I had an extreme close up and a long shot in the same scene. It could result in a sort of sensory overload on part of the audience, so it is important to keep things focused on one thing at a time.

Party on! Kaiju || Character Development, Environment and Story

Expressions were applied to my character in a measured response to what I would assume would appear according to a story and the individual personalities, whilst also attempting to avoid the more common emotions that most people think of first. Exercising the face will also help me understand the geometry to a greater extent, or diagnose issues with design.

Judging from the current progress on my characters it would be advisable to work more on Gen's design, which needs to be more identifiable next to her counterpart. I was thinking of giving her a bigger head, as if to contrast her actual intelligence as a tortoise, a symbol of wisdom, with her real knowledge which is quite small on account of being a feral creature. It could also help balance the two in terms of cooperation since Bu (snake) is a deceiving creature that appears in the bible. 

In terms of story, I thought about themes, how these character make up for each others shortcomings, despite differences, they are soulmates. There is definity a sense of hidden potential with these two as well, since they are legendary creatures with an affinity with humanity, there are callbacks to Kaiju like Mothra, who, with her larvae, protected japan from Godzilla. I also thought about the nature of duos in media, Banjo and Kazooie come to mind, since they are quite plain it is easy to superimpose the game player onto them.

Recently I was thinking more about the environments of Tokyo and similar cities; a closed in, sprawling concrete jungle. The districts can be discerned from landmarks, akihabara, the giant crossing, Tokyo Tower. These are things I should be utilising in my thumbnails at some point, because its been mostly generic dead space typical of any city, so in the next attempt there will be more landmarks, Japanese tropes and neon signs.

Character Design Workshop || Props and Pirates

First exercises involved identifiable props that can be quickly associated with a character, so much so, that the object would look wrong in the hands of another character. Working from the image of Wreck It Ralph from the iconic movie Wreck It Ralph (2012), I developed several rudimentary, construction themed weapons that best suited his hillbilly like character.

The second exercise revolved around the idea of sidekicks in a pirate context, specifically those of the 17th century. I had the idea of fish pirates, marine life that has risen up from the depths to pillage the land. Although this idea was received, it was advisable to look more at the clothes pirates wore in order to make individuals more convincingly rugged.

Character Design Workshop || Facial Expressions (Week 5)

in this class the task was to experiment with different facial expressions, and how they can overlap in form when presented in unique situations. we also did a task where we applied these expressions to a pre-existing character 'Fender' from the movie Robots (2005), who was voiceacted by Robin Williams.

Judging for initial observation, Fender is a comedy sidekick whose only purpose is to be louder than the others, this is why he has a big mouth. To directly engage with the viewer on an emotional level, unlike some of the more minor characters, he has expressionate eyebrows; these are the part of the face we normally notice more on human being when we look for expression. 

By using a chart with mapped out emotions, such as fear, joy, or sadness, we acted out situations using just our faces. we are fearful, but also ecstatic when we get on board a rollercoaster, and when we hear a joke that is so stupid or politically incorrect we just have to laugh at it, we have a mixed expression of laughter and sadness. 

Showing emotion  is important when we are interacting with society, which is why its important that our creations also have this trait, since their sole purpose is as a medium of expression on screen.

Character Design Workshop || 'Party on! Kaiju' (Week 4) and Simple line Poses

Drawings this week are based around further development of the kaiju monster, with the objective to infuse a cute and friendly nature in a giant creature potentially capable of massive damage.

Alongside this giant turtle we have an anaconda snake, this is because of the chosen inspiration of 'Genbu', or black tortoise that protects the former Japanese capital of Kyoto from the north. In China similar mythology can be found which describes the beast as the stomach and intestines of Xuanwu, a Taoist, later god, that purged his body of humanity. 

The Kaiju is designed after the shape of an egg, featuring smooth sides to illustrate a cuddly, pudgy exterior. It's eyes point either direction, and a snake wrapped itself around the torso like a sash. 

If we focus on the part of the story that describes the stomach and intestines as part of humanity, we could assume that this character is inherently animal to the core. Much like the former Godzilla and other monsters which have a similar disposition towards primal humanity, it cannot be described as a beast of burden that must save the city at any cost. rather it is to its own self preservation that concerns the creature the most.

So broadly, the creature doesn't have any inclination towards staying in the city unless it absolutely has to. This brings up the question of the snake wrapped around its torso; symbolically it is a trickster, so perhaps it could have an ego that involves the symbiotic nature with the tortoise, except that his pride is counterbalanced by the innocence of the animal. 

Also during this class we were asked to pose so we could study body language of a chosen topic. These pictures are below;

Character Design Workshop || Environment and Context (Week 3)

This week we were tasked with combining several story elements together to create a contextual landscape that reflected this. My selected elements were the Renaissance in Venice (1450-1600), Mine, and eerie/strange.

I was initially taken by the idea of a classic gondola traversing a flooded mine, since dramatic structures that are found in real life that are often flaunted as tourist spots much the same way as the floating city is, in combination with the grandeur of Venice however, it still felt too western or rudimentary to suit purpose. 

So to exaggerate this idea I had presented, it was suggested that I could include numerous romantic sculptures like grotesques to the interior of the mine, which state of operation had been decided as exhausted as to fit with the idea of a secret underground society. This decision exaggerated the context to the point of strangeness which was missing in first iterations.

I feel as if this exercise has helped me understand the importance of reading into a picture beyond the ties of composition or skill, it is applicable to the sense that attempts to locate a relationship to the viewer in the same vein as a compelling force. 

Character Design Workshop || 'Party on! Kaiju' Monster (Week 1-2)

Week 1
My task was based around several requisites; Kaiju (Friendly and Chibi), modern day Tokyo, and the context was a 'big roar' 'Party On! Kaiju'. To begin this worskhop, I organised folders for images from the internet for reference, and drawings, plus some for foreseeable concepts in the future.

Next, I drew monsters, randomly at first but then more focused as I used my previously mentioned research pool to my advantage. The main focus was a massive, but cute dinosaur, it was decided.

Week 2
The next week, I was more focused on the design of the monster so it fit more with the chibi/cartoon theme, in example big eyes or flat nontextured surfaces. To do this I researched the four guardians of a city named Kyoto, which was the former capital of Japan.

I like the idea of a giant turtle as a Kaiju because the animal could be considered cute in real life when it falls on its back and can't get back up by itself. In Japanese, and chinese mythology there is a beast called the 'black tortoise', or 'black warrior' that is the defender of Kyoto in the north. It is depicted as a turtle entwined with a snake, representing the stomach and intestine of Xuanwu, a deity in Taoism. 

In popular culture, 'Genbu' is a saturated product based off the same legend. For this reason I think it is a recognisable design that could be well utilised in a project like this; in the future I want to create a full, complete design for this creature.

Character Design Workshop || JJ

Character Design Workshop || Camera Angles In Storyboarding

Original Attempt

Quick Sketch Outline

Plan?

Hot dog Seller Quick conceptual

Character Design Workshop || Environment

Character Design Workshop || Joker Magnifying Glass and Cleaning Cupboard Cast

Character Design Workshop: shapes and Proportions

 

Character Design Workshop 1

Re-Design me!