'A Boy and his Shadow' Minor || Prop Design and Modeling Update Post

To begin, I started modeling some of the props in preparation for a initial test animation. Specificially I needed to scale the objects correctly so they looked natural for the main characters to interact with.

I added a nose! It looks completely different to the design I had before, so I suppose this is a lesson in 3D design and having some foresight into the modeling process. It does look a bit like a doll, but this suits the animation.

I feel like this is the most I'm going to do for this character as I have been working on the model for some four months, which is quite a stretch of time, however, it only took so long because the model kept getting updates to look more natural.

A start on the computer model, just need accessories and wires next. It's going to be immobile so no rigging required.

I've also been working on the logo as during the intro, the title appears on the computer screen before the boy walks in the room, so I wanted a more glitchy looking aesthestic going on to best represent the computer framework.

Going forward, I need to create a couple of matte paintings ahead of time to put outside the window in the first bedroom scene, and also outside for a more expansive landscape. I won't worry as much about the environment especially as I need to start getting into skinning and rigging models at this point in time, but I am assured in knowing that I have sound design ready, as it is a crucial point of understanding for the audience. 

'A Boy and his Shadow' Minor || Some Production Art and Animated Experiments

via GIPHY

I was thinking about animating the characters of my animation to see how they might move in terms of their habits or in the case of the ghost, how to shift and change form. The timeline window in photoshop helped me realise some of these movements when I was animating my production art. If I were to pursue this exercise, the final animations could benefit from the study and look less mechanical.

'A Boy and his Shadow' Minor || The Room and The Blank Space Part 1: Thumbnail Sketches

I fashioned these thumbnails after a theme of escapism. There are a few key props to consider; the computer is the impetus of conflict in the story, being the boy's key form of escaping real life but after the ghost makes contact through it, the red door becomes important as it represents escape for the boy. Both should be treated as key focuses while scene building. 

Also I began to consider the representation of Outside in the story. A green field is often seen as a metaphor for freedom, so this could be a possible alternate ending. I added a tree, just to see what it look like, though I'm not sure if it will stay. 

Please let me know what you think of these ideas in the comments, input is greatly appreciated.

Premise 2018 || 'A Boy and His Shadow' Finalised Storyboards and Drafts

These storyboards are for reference and require improvement that will be applied after the first animatic is finished. Checklist for potential additions:

• Creepy/cute
• An unlikely Friendship
• Introductions
• Repetition Fixes
• Tension
• Monster personality development
• Ending elaboration?

Premise 2018 || 'A Boy and His Shadow' Finalised Designs

Through looking at what is currently in development, I have decided to go back to basics and redesign some elements according to the initial idea of a creepy/cute interaction. The boy now is much cuter in both depiction and behaviour, and through interaction with the ghost is capable of interesting chemistry that defines their relationship, a reference to the idea of 'an unlikely friendship'. It was described as the story of a young boy who has a friend on the internet, but as it progresses, it turns out that the friend is actually some kind of superintelligent AI that is able to manipulate computers.

As usual, I have created some spare images that were originally for a portion where the boy goes inside the computer and inhabits a virtual space. Here, his clothes change and he gains an unusual companion who follows him wherever he goes, providing a sparing but powerful protection when necessary to protect the child. Eventually this arc would have led to him finding his room again within the virtual space.

In terms of environments, the space is basic and completely assumes the contents of a childs aged 8 - 12 room. A few minor details to note would be the unusual pictures placed about, and an old CRT desktop computer in the corner. 

The Ghost

In terms of development, the original design was considered too visceral and scary for the style choices of my animation, so to act upon this I have made a couple of minor changes to the pallette to make it more 'oily'. The eyes too have had a slight change in structure, with a square pupil like a pixel. 

Further experimentation was made to the form of the monster in this sketch, where I hypothesise different forms behind the mass, and how it uses these forms to its advantage. Fear of the unknown generates the creepiness of this ghost, so in order to preserve that, there is never really any whole to what is seen.

In terms of orthographs, I decided the best way to attempt this would be to create several shapes of eyes and noses onto a large mass. These pictures demonstrate versions of this idea by the study of facial features.

Premise || Interim Critique

Premise 2018 || 'A Boy and His Shadow' Script Revision 2

My premise is 'an unlikely friendship' because I want to make a film with a creepy/cute contrast. The title is 'A boy and his Shadow' to show how children often make believe to better suit their interests to play and be happy, but the real story is a much darker one involving the unknown entities that lurk in the further reaches of cyberspace. 

Unlike E.T (1982), ALF (1986-1990), or similar films involving making friends with the unknown like Small Soldiers (1998), the plot is more focused on the creature itself, and why it is actually there; or at least provides a platform of discussion on why it is there. I have made the creature more convoluted in both its form and ambition to show that it is purely metaphysical, and it is up to the viewer to decide what its intention is. 

Premise 2018 || Week 1 Initial Ideas and Inspirations

This story will be about a young boy who spends a lot of time in his room by himself with an old computer, even when the internet router is off. Every night a hideous poltergeist visits through the screen to play games with him and have fun. It could be an analogy about online friends.

It might be the case that i will need to simplify my idea down to keep it appealing to audiences,  in this case the story will be about a boy who is friends with a ghost that appears to him when he is alone. It could be narrated over by a voiceactor if the friendship is mute, or if it is purely visual, in which case it could be important to focus more on the visual state to keep up quality in terms of sound. This leads me to think of the elements in balance, how I can match the voiceactors talent with my content. It is also important to note that I should be taking advantage of CG animation rather than attempting to imitate something which could be done better in real life.

The story in particular will focus on the monster, a concept from keyword 'online friends'. The many eyes, nose-like structures,and smoke-like, corpulent form represent the unified, intangible nature of the anonymous online. He emerges from the computer at night as a thick black smoke, enveloping the boys room, and socialising using toys. The motive or existence of this creature are unclear.

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.

Life Drawing || Silhouettes and Posing

Coloured pencils are useful for providing a mild study of figures, but it is difficult to produce anything feasibly good without simple hardship of labour, therefore it was important to apply artistic licenses where necessary in the sketches underneath. By sampling this in the early stages it helped to focus my mind on more important issues regarding style. 

Neon Sharpies (scented) really helped these models pop, in study of silhouettes and the avoidance of parallels in the body, the final result highlights a need for identifiable characteristics in animation. 

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;