Premise 2018 Reflective Statement and Film Review Links

Reflective Statement
Working on this project had helped to develop management skills, my understanding of how story elements come together, my knowledge of programs, and my skill in developing character designs. 

Basing my goals on the feedback from previous projects I have made some positive progress during the premise project, as everyday I was sure to write down what I wanted to accomplish. As I was working from my own imagination is was important to understand what I wanted from the animation as a whole, so i recognising that helped to clarify my plot. A lot of my scenes and objects have some special technical attention like gobo lighting or fog effects that will need to be addressed in the future, but also during the creation of the animatic i learned a lot about how I can use after effects and premiere effects to my benefit, like the lowpass effect which helped to make the sounds outside the room. Also the style change, which occurred due to doubts that I would be able to create a realistic character in 3D, was an exercise in character design as I had to re calibrate each of the characters in order to match the styles correctly. 

In the future I would like to develop my skills in page layout so I can make my art more presentable, and also my workflow in animatic creation as I am not satisfied with how it looks at the moment. 

Film Reviews
Ethel and Ernest - https://dragooneranimation.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/film-review-ethel-and-ernest-2016.html
Belleville Rende-Vous - https://dragooneranimation.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/film-review-belleville-rendez-vous-2003.html#more
Waltz with Bashir - https://dragooneranimation.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/film-review-waltz-with-bashir-2008.html
Paprika - https://dragooneranimation.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/film-review-paprika-2006-japan.html
Mary and Max - https://dragooneranimation.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/film-review-mary-and-max-2009-australia.html

Premise Presentation, Animatic and Magazine Article

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

SO instead of doing exactly what I said what I'll do in the last post, I decided to experiment with the eyes a bit, to see what it would look like in 3D

I tried doing a rudimentry pupil using an area light, but I worry that this looks a little too beady for an eye; still I'll attempt to do the rest of the model and if it doesn't look right I'll just remodel it with a more generic looking eye.

Started work on the hair; thinking about the texture of this dreadlock looking one on the centre. I would like most of my textures as realistic as possible, but it might be the case that I make the hair more flat and even just to keep it cartoony or non-specific. Maybe I'll give the arnold hair shader a try, just to see what the result could be.

This is a start, theres a big bald patch on the back, but right now I'm thinking more of how the hair bunches up before sprouting away into more 'dreadlocks' off the sides of the head.

To see the surface of the head more easily as I modeling the hair, I used a flesh tone. 

The hair is fully blocked in now, but it is still in need of further treatment; the lack of smaller hairs by the ears and at the nape of the neck will need to be modeled in as to make it more natural looking. Also I've fixed the hood so it meets in the middle now, will add a zip later when I do all the little details.

'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.

'A Boy and his Shadow' Premise 2018 || 3D Modeling the Boy

I have edited the proportions of the boy to make him look more like a preteen in this second version of my orthograph. 

The model looks like its coming together ok, the next session should see some progress on the head and face, although the hair will require some extra thought to make it more convincing. 

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 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

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 || OGR 'A Boy and His Shadow'

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.