'A Boy and his Shadow' Minor || Matt Paintings and Environments

I have made a few notes based on my storyboards and animatic attempts so far, though some events may change, the environments have always been the same, even props I have already made are supposed to fit into this space. Therefore I have begun matt paintings, orthographs, some modelling in proportion to my character, lighting experiments... which will be covered in this post.

Orthographs and Environment building

After blocking out everything the scale changed a bit to accomodate the fact this is a stage where characters are going to need to move about. I haven't done many models or textures yet as I intend to make my pre vis using this, and it doesn't need to be too elaborate for that purpose. When the space transitions, I'm going to use this specific model as a reference.

The memory photo

This was a vital storytelling element, and also an opportunity to use the original art style of my drawings.

The computer screen and the drawings that fill up the walls will be done soon enough, I have already begun creating some basic computer startups with the title incorporated into them. 

Matte Paintings

View from outside the bedroom window. I realised that it was supposed to be raining outside, so I decided not to use this one.

Skybox on the outside, perhaps it should have a more 'after the storm' sort of look to it, as it will look more dramatic.

One I re styled as a production art based on my storyboards.

'A Boy and his Shadow' Minor || Prop and Character Models

Square Eyes Model

Textured

Lambert

UV

Wireframe

Props

The Computer

to be updated with desk furniture during environment modelling stage (pens, paper, cups, other stationary ect...)

Plane

I am currently working on finalising the character rig, storyboards and animated pre viz ready for future presentations, as well as textures/matt paintings for the room and other environments.

'A Boy and his Shadow' Premise 2018 || 3D Modeling the Boy Part 4: Eye Remodeling

An experimental texture was applied here on the hair to see the potential results for future reference. 

I realise that this model looks a lot like a doll, probably because of the glassiness of the eyes or the flatness of the skin. The best thing I could do at this point is to just remodel them into something more realistic, but to do that, I need to make another orthograph.

Done, now to apply it to the face...

I will work on the topology a little bit more as I go ahead, but I think this worked out well. The next things to do will be the hair and the eyebrows.

'A Boy and his Shadow' Premise 2018 || 3D Modeling the Boy Part 2: Hair and Head

Head and neck are blocked out from the initial smoothed out cube I had before.

Added eyelids and eyes and fixed some tram lines. Thinking about how I'm going to do the hair, will probably just extrude some cubes.

Gave the head more volume, now it looks a little bit more natural.

And then I started trying to do the hair... but I think its going to take a little bit longer. Will continue this model in part 3, where I will attempt to block out the hair strands, fix the hood, and add ears.

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.

Sculpture || Handsome Jack: Week 1

For my toolkit 2 sculpture, I will be creating a bust of Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2. I like the idea behind this particular antagonist, he has a slightly off tone artificial face to hide his disfigurement, highlighting his psychopathic narcissism.

I used a copper pipe as a solid base, then a twined piece of wire with a loop at the end forms the basis of the head. The wire is kept stable with tin foil and milliput, a putty that sets at room temperature to form a hard surface. The head is bulked out with more tin foil, and two balls formed from more milliput will be the eyes.

Premise 2018 || Week 6 'A Boy and his Shadow' Current Works in Progress

Script Revision 4:

The title is still in debate, I was looking to echo some other creature films (ex. The Babadook, E.T) by naming the animation after the monster featured. I think this is suitable, especially if I consider the core being 'An unlikely Friendship', in which a hopeful friendship breaks down after the child realises the nature of the monster dwelling within his computer. More directly related is the idea of 'a child stuck in his room playing with a computer'.

The Cloud (Script 4) 1 by Xig Sauce on Scribd

Main Character

The main character is a child, with an androgynous look.

The Antagonist

The appearances of this particular monster needs to be moderated. Like 'Noh Face' from the film Spirited Away, it hold the capability to be dangerous through its shape shifting ability, so to hold a metaphysical existence in the same way might be best, but I must be aware of the audiences perception of the plot for this to be feasible. It might be that by denying the antagonist, the animation could change its meaning entirely, because the story is about the antagonist in the same way it is about the child using the computer.

Reference List
Lists the amounts of internet users per country: https://www.internetworldstats.com/top20.htm
Discussion around Female Pedophiles: https://theconversation.com/women-also-sexually-abuse-children-but-their-reasons-often-differ-from-mens-72572

Sexual Suitability by Age: http://www.stopitnow.org/ohc-content/what-is-age-appropriate

Autodesk Maya || Jetpack Jones Tutorials Part 1: Head

Blocking in the head helps to provide foundation for details in later stages.

When modeling it is important to avoid 'tram lines'; where vertices are more tightly packed, it may form darker lines.

Vertices should be evenly distributed throughout the surface of the model to have accurate shading.



As features are completed it is a good idea to cleanup geometry as you go, to avoid having to do more work later.

Fantastic Voyage 'Making of Engine' and Reflective Statement

Fantastic Voyage Final Models with Textures and Orthographs

Script to Screen || Character Design Finals