#11: Post your Short Film Production progress, research, etc.

Some research stuff! Whenever I think of Skyway (ie. Lina and co.'s place), I always imagine this very sleek, modern, kinda crazy house. Renkin fashions himself and architect, and he's a very straight, business-oriented kind of guy, so I feel like he'd go for the straight lines and sleek design that modern architecture uses today. Other parts of the house are probably differently styled (like Lina's part of the house is probably very pop-arty, while Fargo's part of the house is probably very mechanical and messy).

But the main set for the animation would be the kitchen/family room of the house, since that's where Renkin reads his morning paper and has his cup of coffee everyday. I'd like there to be a lot of windows and natural light, so you really get the sense that it's morning, but the pallet of the room should be very neutral, to contrast with the vibrant colors of Renkin.

#10B: Post your Short Film Production progress, research, etc

So I've decided (for now) to go with my first idea (see previous post), but I'm going to simplify it so there's only one character to model and rig: it bums me out to not have Lina in it, but maybe for a future project! This here is a character sketch of Renkin: I'm trying to adapt his design so it's easier to model. Normally Renkin wears a full length tunic and has wings, but I thought that might be a massive pain to model, so behold! Pants! The main colors of his clothes will probably be muted colors, since he's a pretty saturated blue.

Also a color study of Skyway (ie: Renkin and Lina's place). Skyway's sort of modern, archetecturally speaking, so I always imagined it to have a really clean palette of creams, to contrast with Lina and co.'s really bright color palette.

Lastly, some more storyboards! I need to think of more things for Renkin to be annoyed by, but you get the gist of it. The conclusion shows a little note being floated in via balloon telling Renkin to come join the fun, and he decides to, thereby breaking his morning routine, but really living a little!

#10A: Post your Short Film Concepts

Just rough story boards at this point, but better than nothing!

Concept: Sometimes you need to break routine to truly enjoy life.
Premise: Renkin attempts to go about his morning routine, but keeps being interrupted by his roommate, Lina.
My first short film concept uses two characters that I've been developing for a while: Lina (who I've posted pictures of before) and Renkin (her roommate). The plot is simple enough: Renkin is enjoying his morning coffee and paper (like he usual does), while Lina goes back and forth planning...something. Eventually, she pulls Renkin away from his paper to show him that she's filled the entire backyard pool with gelatin. She goes to cannonball into the bouncy substance, but instead of springing off it, she just starts sinking into it. Renkin (who's used to these antics) goes back inside to finish his coffee while Lina flails in the mass of Jello.
I wanted to do something that was just sort of a silly animation versus the alternative: I'm pretty attached to Lina and her pranks, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use her in an animation.

Some character sketches and concepts of Lina and Renkin:

Technically both Lina and Renkin have wings (since they're demon-like creatures), but I might remove them for the sake of less-complicated character models, since they might be really cumbersome.

Concept: Patience is a virtue.
Premise: Chip attempts to procrastinate getting his work done by getting a cup off coffee, but the door out of his office is jammed.
My second concept uses the character that I'm using for Project 2--Percy--and the character I was originally going to use for Project 2--Chip. In this story, Chip's whittling away another day of paper work when--miracle of miracles!--the coffee maker goes off, signalling that the coffee's done. He tries to get out off his office to get the coffee, but the door is jammed. After several attempts to open the door to no avail, he realizes that the rest of his office is windowed. Cut to Percy (the intern) grabbing a cup of coffee as Chip barrels into frame through the glass window, sending shards of glass everywhere. Chip collapses in front of the counter, and Percy hands him a cup of coffee out of pity: Chip still perservering and reaching for the coffee despite his (probable) wounds.

Some sketches and character concepts for Percy and Chip:

#9: Project 2 Model with Texture

This is what I have so far with Percy's textures: I wanted to keep him simple, so most of the textures are just lamberts, but I'm having a really hard time UV Mapping his face, so hopefully I can get some help on that today in class and then finish everything up.

And now we have the textures mostly done! The eyes are just a placeholder, so I need to change those, but I was able to lay out the UV for the head after much frustration.

#8: Project 2 Design

Here's Percy's model so far! I need to smooth out some things, and add the eyes and eye-tufts, but I like it a lot!

The prop for this animation will be an oversized magnifying glass (which you can see in the previous post in the action sheet). Basically, Percy will be searching in a dark forest for something, and then come upon a large tree. He'll look around to make sure no one is watching, and then--since he's a woodpecker--he'll peck at the tree (his one secret shame!). It should be pretty simple but still really cute; I'm excited to build the prop and background!