30/07/2015

The storyboard for the scene I'm doing. Based on the feedback I got, I would have to change the shape of the interior into a spherical shape. I think that this is a good thing because it would make it easier to do and also would appeal based on the shape language. I also have to add in a starting title sequence and also the credits. But this is pretty much what would happen in my scene.
The timing for my storyboard is in my draft notes.

28/07/2015

Final illustrations of Charlie and the Gummi Worms. They are both slightly different from the model sheet/development sheets. I took out the bar above the big circle on Charlie's suit and made the circle bigger based on the feedback I received. I also made the suit's colours brighter.

28/07/2015

Draft ideas for my storyboard. I organised the sequence of it, did different camera shots and timed it. I changed bits of it too.

28/07/2015

Texture swatches that I might use for my character.

26/07/2015

I did more colour tests for Charlie based on the feedback I got. I was told to experiment with cool colours and shadows and so I did. It really helped with more colour choices rather than trying out different shades of pink/purple. It would also make a good contrast between cool and warm colours with the prop which would burst out of his tummy.

26/07/2015

These are colour concepts and colour swatches for my prop. From the feedback I received, I experimented with warm and cool colours. I used warm colours for the colours of the worm and I used cool colours for the shadow to contrast the colours of the worm. The feedback I got was very helpful because it helped me realize the importance of experimenting with cool and warm colours and the contrast that could be made by using these two. I think I might go with the second multi coloured one.

26/07/2015

Expression sheet for my character.
Charlie's different facial expressions are on the first page.
The poses and expressions that Charlie might be using are in the second page. I put in the running poses in the second page to get a gist of his personality (through walk cycles).

23/07/2015

These are my sketches for designing the prop I'm going to use for my animation sequence. This is the Gummi Worm. I based it off the chestburster from Alien.

23/07/2015

This is the background story and profile of my character.

23/07/2015

This is the turn around for the character I'm making.

23/07/2015

These are the colour swatches that I liked from my colour tests. I'm probably gonna go with the first one because I really like it and because it's brighter than the rest. It would probably make the chocolate fountain easier to see when the Gummi Worm/s burst/s out of his tummy because of the colour contrast of the chocolate colour and the suit.

23/07/2015

These are the colour tests that I did on 21/07. I based the colours from the typical candy colour to communicate that easily. I also based the colours from candy wrappers. I used bright but slightly desaturated  colours to fit in with the grim humour of my sequence.

22/07/2015

While I was designing my character, I also did thumbnail sketches of the different environments in the world my character would be in. This helps me develop ideas about the actual background that I'm going to make for my animation. It also helps me to keep the background in tone with my character and also experiment with the different visual conventions for the genre I've chosen. I also used semiotics to effectively communicate what it is by using icons and symbols such as swirls and candies. I also used shape language to communicate what sort of situation the character would be in that environment.

22/07/2015

These are the scans of the sketches that I did on 16/07.

18/07/2015

While I was doing my research and character development, I did some genre analysis by comparing the genre and visual conventions of horror and comedy. I used the movie Alien (1979) as an example as I am using a clip from it. The genre of this movie is horror but also uses elements of sci-fi for the story. The horror genre uses lighting and shots to create a mood of mystery and terror for the audience. Often, it uses dark and murky lighting to create an ominous mood. It is also used to hide the horrific character that is terrorizing the other characters. Again, it uses mystery so that people would imagine what kind of horror awaits. It also uses the fact that people are scared of dangers they can't see to creep out people.



The horror character could be anything from a scary monster into a mild-mannered man. For this movie, they used a very creepy and scary looking creature to terrify the audience.

The creature is often hidden through the dark lighting for a creepy effect. For non scary looking horror characters, certain shots are used to make the audience feel uneasy towards the character. Performance is also a big part of this such as Anthony Perkins' performance as Norman Bates from the movie Psycho (1960).


For the chestburster scene, they didn't use dark lighting because they wanted to highlight the horrifying ,gory and disturbing sequence of an alien digging its way out of a person's chest. The terrifying creature is shown with all the blood and guts. The sheer terror from this scene makes this horror movie scary.


The tone I'm going for my sequence is quirky. I looked into different comedic animated shows such as Bob's Burgers, Adventure Time, Regular Show and Gravity Falls. Compared to the horror genre, the comedy genre isn't really dependent on shots and lighting. Comedy usually relies on surprise and gags. The element of surprise is important for comedy. Anticipation usually comes first then something unpredictable and out of the blue comes  next which makes it funny. An example is the Phil face udder of Ms. Cow from Adventure Time. It is usually done by juxtaposing two or more things that are unrelated to each other. The character Gene from Bob's Burgers often says the most random and quirkiest things which makes it funny. It could be done through lines and through visual gags as well.


Comedy also uses gags and parodies of pop-culture references as an inside joke for people who do know the reference. The danger of using this technique is that some people might not get it. Depending on the audience, these kind of gags often involve widely known pop-culture reference. Animated shows such as Regular Show and Gravity Falls use these kind of gags. An example from Gravity Falls is the reference to the movie Evil Dead II (1987) on the episode The Tale of Two Stans wherein a yellow car is grabbed by the trees. The episode Wall Buddy is a parody of HAL 9000 from the movie Space Odyssey (1968).


For the sequence I'm doing, I could use surprise by juxtaposing a cutesy character and quite a disturbing situation. But mostly this sequence would rely on a gag of a pop-culture reference which is the famous chestburster scene from Alien.

16/07/2015

I'm not sure yet about the plot of the story and also the personality of the character for most parts but I started on the design process of making my character. So far I've thought of this character to be an ignorant candy astronaut who unwittingly brings back a delicious looking jelly sac of yummy jelly treats and ended up having a gummy worm bursting out of his chest, resulting in a chocolate fountain. I started out by drawing silhouettes by using basic shapes. I wanted to get the proportions and scales right for the style I'm going for and to communicate what kind of character it is. After choosing one that I'm happy with, I then started developing the character by looking at sci-fi references to design his candy space suit. I experimented with the inside shapes to make the character look appealing. Unfortunately I haven't been able to scan my sketches yet but I will upload them as soon as I can.

15/07/2015

I also did visual research on this day to familiarize me with the visual conventions of the genre I've chosen to help me design the character I'm making.

15/07/2015

I made a moodboard for my character on this day. On this moodboard, I put in my inspirations and references style-wise for the character I'm making.

14/07/2015

From all of the clips that we were shown, I've picked the chest burster scene from Alien for my project. I came up with different ideas for this project such as changing the shower scene from Psycho from horror into sci-fi involving robots revolting against their human masters. But my vision for this idea doesn't fit the brief which requires only one character. So I went with the idea of turning the chest burster scene from horror into cartoon comedy. My idea so far is that a gummy worm bursts out of a chocolate person with chocolate oozing out of it. I plan to experiment with simple shapes using shape language to design the character and the prop. But before I do that, I would have to do visual research first about the visual style of comedic cartoons in order to communicate the genre I'm going with effectively. I've started research and I would post all of the information I've gathered when I've completed my moodboard for the character. I also plan to make a moodboard for the environment, the world where the character I'm making would fit in.