Finished Animatic

The above animatic shows my final, finished animatic. This animatic contains the changes suggested to me by my tutors, and is benefitted from these changes. Instead of the Orphan's focus being the lost coin through the film, the focus is now on catching up with the old man. This is a better focus, as it gives the impression that the boy is trying to catch up with the man to rob or pick pocket him, rather than to return the coin. I am very pleased with the final outcome of the animatic. I have been able to take forward the techniques I learnt within the Digital skilling module, and apply new approaches to the piece as I went along.  Although the run time is a little long, as the project progresses into my third year, I will be able to edit the piece further. This process will be even simpler when I start to apply my story into Maya, as I will then have an actual camera to move around to compose my shots. I think that the next process to the creation of my third year film would be to create an animatic in 3D using Maya. This is something I will work on during the summer break, ready to begin production when I return to University in September.

As a final piece for this module, I am happy with my animatic. It is able to show the directorial skills i have deveolped so far, and also show my creative vision which I hope to bring to life within my final year.

Finished Character Model

The above video shows my finished character model. The character performs a full body rotation, giving views of the whole model. Overall, I am happy with the model. I feel as though it has been a natural continuation of the modeling skills I learnt within the Skills development module, as well as the new skills I have learnt since then, such as Z Brush. At this point, I think that the character model can be seen as a sort of side project to my animatic work. That is not to say that the character model is not important, it is just that my main focus of this module was developing my Directorial skills; which I have done with the animatic. However, I am pleased with the character model, and with further development, could be used within my third year film.

Texturing my Character

After the character had been modeled within Z Brush, I then went on to texture the character. I also used Z Brush to complete this process. Texturing in Z Brush, for me, was a very creative process, as it allowed me to "paint" directly onto the model; a feature that is not available within Maya. I focused on a muted colour scheme for the character, as this reflected the overall style I wish to emulate within my final, finished film. After the character had been textured, I was able to import the newly sculpted model, and textures, directly into Maya. The character is shown below back within Maya.

Modeling in Z Brush

After completing my base mesh of my character in Maya, I then imported the mesh into Z Brush. Z Brush allowed me to gain a further level of detail to my character model that I would have been able to obtain using Maya alone. I used Z Brush to give my character a sculpted, stop motion puppet aesthetic. I wanted my character to appear as if it was sculpted out of a lump of clay, and the sculpting tools within Z Brush allow me to give my work this finish. The main area that I concentrated this effect onto was the character's beard, hair and eyebrows. The rest of the body was mostly left as it appeared within Maya. I really like the aesthetic Z Brush was able to give my character, and is definitely a program I would use within my work again. 

Animatic - First Attempt

The above video shows the first draft of my completed animatic. Although I am very happy with the overall look and production of the piece, there are a few key story areas that need further development. After consultation with my tutor, it is clear to me that the structure of the middle act of the piece needs work. While working on my storyboards, I decided that the motivation for the orphan to return the coin to the old man was unrealistic, and needed work. This change is shown in my animatic through the orphan apparently wanting the pick pocket the old man, who has a pocket full of coins. However, once the orphan loses the coin, he has no need to run after it, as he has a whole pocket of coins he could steal from the man. During the process of creating the animatic, this story point became muddled, and it is only now in hindsight that I see the narrative mistake. This is a mistake that is able to be fixed though. A few changes to the animatic, drawing the orphan's attention away from the coin back to the old man, is all that is needed to fix the piece.

Storyboards for Animatic

The below Storyboards show my animatic idea. The story will use the two characters of the Old Man and Orphan, and show the Orphans struggle to return a coin to the Old Man, which he has dropped on the ground. The piece takes place within 1920s Moscow, and sees the Orphan weaving through various obstacles in order to return the coin to the Man. My completed Storyboards are displayed below.

After gaining feedback from my tutors, I will change a few aspects of the story. These changes will mainly involve the motivations of the Orphan, and why he wants to return the coin to the old man. I will bring in these changes when I create my animatic.

Character Modeling Progression

The below images show the creation of the character model of the old man. I am creating the character model using the techniques I learnt through the digital skilling module. The body of the man was created by using a cylinder which was then manipulated into the right shape, with the head and hands attached to the body after being modeled separately. So far, I think that the character model has worked well, and reflects the original character designs I created. By using the designs as a template, I am able to transfer my 2D drawing, into an effective 3D model.

Character Sculpt

In preparation for creating my character within Maya, I have created a real world sculpt of the man, using modeling clay. The creation of a sculpt for a character is common within the animation industry, and can be beneficial to both CG modelers and animators. Although I'm glad I went through the process, I do not think the result is not what I intended. The modeling clay I used was of a poor quality, and actually quite difficult to model with. It also dried out pretty quickly as I was modeling, meaning parts of the sculpture would be dry, while other parts were still being worked on. Overall, I think that the end result is a bit of a failure, but I am glad I went through the process of creating the sculpt, as I have learnt from my mistakes.

Character Design - Old Man

The above image shows my finished character design. This is the reference sheet I will use when I model my character in Maya. By importing these two views into Maya I will be able to work with them as I build my character model. Although this is the design I will currently be following for the creation of my character model for my showreel, alterations to the character model can be made later when it comes to creating the models for my third year film.

Moodboard

To help me create the right tone and aesthetic for my animatic, I have created the above moodboard. The moodboard collects together images from my various points of research, as well as story ideas that I have had. The moodboard also shows a possible colour scheme I could use within my finished film; utilizing the strong black and white shades seen within my research, and the wintery shades of blue. A moodboard helps give focus to a project, and through the creation of this one I feel that I am able to gain artistic inspiration. 

Character Sketches

The below sketches show some rough designs for the two characters that will appear within my animatic, and that I will model in Maya, to form the basis of my show reel. Although, I have not finalized the story of my animatic yet, I think that the two characters I have created could work effectively off each other. 

The two characters I have created are an elderly man, and a young orphan. The two character archetypes are based on the dynamic usually found within the work of Dickens, but I have altered the style of the characters to my own. I have also planned for these two characters to be based in a Russian city, rather then "Dickensian" London. This is to give the animatic and characters the wintery setting I wanted, but also to work with the aesthetic style of the characters. I have based the characters on generic shapes; utilizing arcs and triangles within their designs. The characters have gone through a few minor changes as the design process went along, but I feel they are becoming two interesting characters which can work well as both a basis for Maya character modeling, and to be part of my animatic.

Research - Character Designs of "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride"

The 2005 film "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" features a variety of character designs which have been an influence to me within my current work. The characters within "Corpse Bride" were designed by Carlos Grangel. The main characters were originally designed by the director Tim Burton, but it was Grangel who took these designs and developed the characters into how they look in the finished film.

The inspiration I am taking away from "Corpse Bride" is the look of the characters, and not the supernatural style of the story. The film takes place in an unspecified European country, and features an unusual washed out color palette for both the setting and characters. The film takes place during the Victorian times, and features the correct period design work that I wish to replicate within my own character design work, and short film overall. Ignoring the designs of the main cast, the background characters within the film boast an array of interesting styles. It is from these background characters that I have drawn the most inspiration from. These background characters feature an exaggerated, eccentric Victorian aesthetic, and it is from these designs I have drawn influence from when developing my own character designs to be modeled in Maya.

Above, Grangel's character designs