Character designs

(LO2:) My character has a very strange nose – for this reason I felt it was important to understand the entire face from different perspectives. I created this turn around to give me a better understanding of my character – however I have also had the chance to see a three-dimensional version (an animation principle) of her.   

(LO2:) My character is aged between 14-15 years old. I wanted her to still have this childish nature about her – and at the same time have a maturity in her, that a child does not. Especially in the middle section the music is serious and determined that I felt it suited an older individual. I wanted her design to be simple (as it will help when it comes to animating her) but also so that the acting will be a large part of guiding the audience into understand who she is. Her hair will be wet throughout the animation. She is shorter and has an athletic build – strong stance (the music is strong and sturdy in the middle so I wanted this to be captured in her appearance.)  

(LO2:) I created this pose sheet to experiment and try to capture the characteristic of my character. I used the photographs below as reference to improve my poses and think about the expressions more. I feel that they were successful in capturing different emotions and being playful with the character’s movements. I wanted to create a professional character sheet, like those in industry, although this is rather sketchy I like the looseness and feel happy with the outcome – If I had more time I would like to clean these up and use colour to make a really nice piece. Overall these pieces will help me when animating to think about the blocking.

(LO1:) I photographed my sister (in stripe) and she me (in red), to gather some pose references and understand how the character would act. (LO2:) These photographs acted as a way for me to start imagining how my character will interact with her surroundings, in particular on the lily pad. My character is very kind but can stand up for her self and be opinionated. She has a mature aura but can still be naive and over estimate herself. In this exercise I took lots of pictures, and picking out the ones that captured the character was important and helpful. (L05:) It also let collaborate and discuss ideas with Victoria.

(LO2:) These head shots show some of my character expressions. It is important to work out how a character shows emotions and face moves with each new reaction – even in industry head shots are a way of keeping the work uniform and showings how each character looks. This sheet has helped me explore the subtle differences and developing the face more while trying to keep the character consistent.

(LO2:) Here is another set of character head shots. These were more experimental – I wanted to play with angles and different changes in emotions. I’m really happy with most of these as they conveyed a lot of expression. My character is gentle soul so they soft expressions I feel represent her well – she is also determined and sincere so the shots looking straight on work well.

(LO2:) The above image is another pose sheet, trying to explore my character and experiment with her. I have also been testing colours for her clothes and seeing what works best. I want her clothes to be as simple as possible so the animation can really show who she is. The first pose may be a bit too mature for a 14-15 year old. But I do like how direct it is. The second pose is gentle which is also nice.  I’ve also experimented with making her clothes and her more muddy from crawling on the lily pads.

(L02:) This sheet I created to understand the features of my character. She has a strange nose – so I wanted to do this repeating exercise to teach myself to make the character look as uniform as possible – which is important to when I come to animate her. I have a star next to my favourite, some of them completely failed but this helps me to identify what I do not like / does not work which is very important.

(LO2:) This is a page of experimentation. I wanted to learn what the profile of my character would like (especially with her pointed nose.) I used reference online of the female nose to understand the structure of the nose – but I created this profile myself. I have starred the ones that were successful and captured the character I wanted. Again the failed attempts has enabled me to recognize the issues and have helped me to succeed in selecting my final profile.

(LO2:) The pictures on the left were the first sketches I made in my sketchbook of my early character. I then created these head shots on Photoshop – as you can tell they all look slightly different, this is because I wanted to understand the facial perspectives of this character. What the head shape would be like, where the eyes would sit and etc. It was a great way to experiment and work out which proportions worked the best. I liked seeing the different looks change the feel of the character (just by changing her features slightly.) My favourite of these is the first or second faces. They look determined and soft.

(LO2:) This page has a mixture of sketches of my character, all from different angles. They are very sketchy since I was still working out how the character would look from the different angles. It was nice to be playful and work quickly as I could capture the gesture of each image (more free flowing and lively). This sheet is important in the evolution of my character as it let me work out what worked and what failed and how I can improve these issues too.

(LO2:) This sheet was created for my formative and was one of the first full body sketches of my character. (LO5/LO6:) Here she was in her early twenties late teens, however after receiving feedback (which I agreed with) we decided she should be younger as the music felt more magical. My tutors thought a child, but I still felt like the music was maturer and more serious at parts (as I have studied the music intensely) I decided to make her a young girl moving on from childhood aged between 14-15 years old. This way she would still be young and childish still. (LO2:) The body still suits this ages as I based it on an athletic figure which was slight. The character, you can tell still derives from this early version.

final full body

(LO2:) This drawing is not my favourite – although I wanted to include it because it one of the first drawings I made with the mud all over her and with colour. I’m not happy with the head or body (because it doesn’t look like the character I want to make) but I do feel she captures a very kind / soft character – which is what I want to be able to do with my animation.

(LO2:) I brought some clay to make a 3D bust of my character design. I decided to do this because I was having trouble imagining the different angles of the face. The character I created was very flat on but I wanted to be able to turn and have a convincing face. It has certainly helped me, because I can now turn the face to the side to see the angles of her. It took around 8 hours to make and I hand sculptured it from a block of clay. In industry they often have these 3D models of their character so the animators can turn and understand how the solid shape looks to make their own work more three-Dimensional.

(LO2:) I also thought that this could make a good item to bring to the degree show to put on my table so people can interact with my character. I enjoyed working on this sculpture since it let me design as I went along and be more creative – it was challenging because I had to work in a 3D world but it was fun not to work on a computer.

(LO2:) This page and the following I created to explore as many different looks for the character as possible. I do this so I can push myself to explore different routes and shapes I wouldn’t if I didn’t do this exercise. And also to throw away bad versions – I’m not happy with most of these drawings above but they are apart of my process, I will then pick elements or ones that I like and develop those.

(LO2:) On the page to the left (above) I use a creative technique to try an explore the shape and free myself, – I draw shapes and then add features after. This way I can play with proportions. I decided for this project that I wanted to create a different weird looking character so I have to turn the ugly into the pretty.

(LO2:) I created some more heads here. On the right I looked up human faces to help me experiment with real people – which enabled me to convey more emotions and different features. There is a large range of heads here, I have starred my favourite.

(LO2:)  These two sketchbook pages I created from the other designs that I have created previously. I picked my favourite characters and re-draw them here and developed them with more details such as hair and expressions.  I am closer to deciding the final character. I have stars next to my favourite.

(LO2:) On this sheet I have developed two different heads and played with proportions, headshapes and hair to develop a character that I am happy with. My favourite of this sheet is the top few characters. The hollow eyes remind me of the serious music and gentle pacing. The character reminds me of the music – I decided to pick this character.

(LO2:) I sketched out some of my favourite headshots digitally to gain more understanding of how they would look. I really was just developing different ideas and looks in helping decide my final character.

(LO2:) Above are my top heads / characters. I asked for feedback from family and friends to make my decision, but in the end I went with number 1, as my personal favourite – I had a connection with the face and the music together.

(LO2:) More exploration into my favourite characters. The best way for me to understand how the character would look is to experiment with the different angles and expressions a character could make , to see if they would work in the final animation.

(LO2:) This is an early development of my final character that I chose. I was not happy with these sketches since in the end they were very rough and more sketchy / playful a way to explore what worked and what didn’t.

(LO2:) When trying to experiment with different body types for my character I watched a video (for my swimming reference) and one of these women had a very atheltic boy type which was not curvy but had a slight curve – I felt that this was a nice shape for a girl (14-15 years old). I’ve never created a athletic shape and it seemed to match the sturdy music too.

(LO2:) I wanted to create a character that was original or different to my usual drawings – therefore I created this sheet to explore the different body-shapes of a women. There are many ideas and weird look characters – It was fun to explore these shapes and push the female body.

(LO2:) Above I have explored some of my favourite bodies and I have starred my favourite of this sheet. I liked the fluid and curvy look. The body looking fluid and stylized than realistic. I hope to explore this further in my later character designs.

Primary Research

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Story Development research (Bracketing)

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/199565827209290082/https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/531635930991681829/My bracketing for this unit was ‘Story development’  because I’m very interested in story and narrative. I think that it’s important to know the rules so you can play about with them and to also not be afraid to break them.

Narrative / story  research

I remember in my foundation course that the tutor explained that in every scene there must be a twist / a line that brings something new. [turning point]. He even said in the dialog this should be true. This has always stuck to me. Every scene should bring something new to the table and move the story forward.

Storyboarding:

“The Five C’s”: Camera Angles, Continuity, Cutting, Close-ups and Composition. All of these topics are vitally important to any storyboard artist, and Mascelli does a good job of explaining the basics of each one.” http://sevencamels.blogspot.co.uk

One thing that I particularly would like to improve on and learn more about is story boarding. Developing the storyboard is apart of creating the story and developing the pace of the entire animation. This post is dedicated to my research into this topic (so I may consider this for my own storyboard this term).

Camera Angles (source)

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Griz and Norm

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• Foreground, Middle ground and Background
• character emotion
• lighting and shadows
• cuts
• focus cuts
• crossing the line
• who is the character?
• change in scene
• blocking (character layout / moving in the scene.)
• directing the viewers eyes (lighting / perspective

After reading up information on storyboarding and the impact – I wanted to research into the cinematography from shots already out there with the same principles as outlined above. I gathered the following images to see for myself the impact of the composition – and etc to a film.

Vertical Lines

Pocahontas (1995)

The vertical line creates a sense of power, in this scene we see the majestic tall trees showing how nature has the most power as it towers over the the tribes that live along side them. They express magnificence or astonishing settings such as these trees.

Hunchback of Notre dame, Concept art (1996)

The vertical lines of this concept art evokes power and dominance. The eyes are lead up towards the Notre Dame.  The church has the power here, against Esmeralda accused of being a witch. The Notre-Dame has a grandeur about it here too, a godly judgement – the line makes it look magnificent.

Horizontal Lines

Spirited Away (2001)

Horizontal lines creates a peaceful and content atmosphere. They bring a feeling of safety and comfortably. The use of the horizon in this scene is to capture the little peace and contentment that Chihiro faces in this strange would. The calmness of night when she is not working.

Pride and Prejudice (2006)

The horizon is often used to create this sense of peace and stillness. In this shot the character is walking along the British countryside, this is a quiet scene, the character is at peace on her walk.

Diagonal Lines

Vertigo (1958)

Diagonal lines on the other hand unbalances the picture and creates a sense of danger, despair or unsettling feelings. In the film Veritgo (1958) the bridge is a strong diagonal which leads the viewer towards the mysterious character. In the film, we are unsure about this character, she is a mystery and a ghostly sense about her. The diagonal lines continues this into the shot.

Prince of Egypt (1998)

The shadow of this woman from the Prince of Egypt (1998) creates a diagonal line towards the character.  She is distressed and unbalanced. We feel her hurt and pain of the character who has been waiting decades to see her brother again only to be thrown to the ground, her hopes crushed.

The Lion King (1994)

This famous shot from The Lion King (1994) the two characters are diagonal across the scene. The diagonal makes us feel panic, distress and unsettled as the scene is unbalanced, including Mufasa who holds on for life.

Lighting and Shadow

Zootopia (2016)

Another tool that storyboard and cinematography can use to get the audience to look at where they want them too. Is using light and shadow. The eyes are drawn to the contrast in light and tone. In the shot above we are lead to the fox character as he is stood in the light, we are drawn here because it has the greatest contrast to the rest of the scene.  The lighting shows us where to look but also represents the fox is standing on the good side, the bunny is regretting her actions and asking forgiveness. It shows good and bad.

Lord of the Rings 

Our eyes are directed straight to the eyes of Golem in this shot from Lord of the Rings as the whitest element of the shot we are drawn in, the largest contrast. It’s a sinister meeting of this creature, a demonic look sets a unsettling feeling towards this character, that he is evil.

Rebecca (1940) 

In this scene from Rebecca (1940) light is cast over the eyes of these two characters. Light has been used to lead the eyes in a particular way. The audiences travel from the villainous Mrs. Danvers (top right) down to the ear of Mrs. De Winter, as she whispers dangerous words to De Winter, the eye then travels to the shadow cast onto the wall showing the impact the words cast over Mrs De Winters.

A Man Seated Reading at a Table in a Lofty Room (1630), unknown artist

(LO2:) An example of how light is used in a painting to direct the viewers attention to the small figure in the corner sitting in the darkness. Our eyes travel to the most contrast in the image.

Depth

Tarzan (1999)

(LO1:) Depth has been created with the foliage and flowers in this scene of Tarzan (1999), the plants closest to the camera has more detail and larger.  If you look the trees in the background the leaves are hardly definable. And this is the same in life, if we look at a tree in the far distance we cannot see the leaves individually.

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(LO1l) Another factor that greater depth is the colour of the objects further away  -they should be come lighter in shade as they are in the distance.

Pocahontas (1995)

Creating depth in an image is important to creating a 3-dimensional world. One way that this can be achieved is by playing with the scale of a repeated object. For example in this shot from Pocahontas (1994) the corn crop placed in the foreground to the background. Also by using detail in the object in the foreground (like in real like) and less detail in the corn in the back creates an illusion of depth to an image.

Pocahontas (1995)

(LO1:) Perspective / Vanishing Points can be used to create depth to a picture. As obvious as it sounds we know that in the picture above, the ship is further away in this image, sailing away into the vanishing point and not a tiny ship. When story-boarding, perspective and creating depth is important to create a 3-Dimensional world.

Staging / composition

Rope (1948)

(LO2:) Imagine a triangle between these characters. This is the triangular composition. A triangle connects the characters to one another and leads us from one to the next. The characters are each directing their gazes to certain characters, favouring one character more than the other two – this can be clearly shown in these three images from Hitchcock’s film Rope (1948). Using this composition can make the staging clearer when there are three characters, but can also develop the relationships and witness how these characters are connected.

Leading towards the face / character / object

Lilo and Stitch (2002)

This scene of Nani and Lilo having an argument is a good example of the line of action leading the viewer eyes towards the character’s face. We see the anger of Nani followed by the reaction of Lilo. Line of action is one of the tools we can use to direct the audience to where they need to look in a scene, especially if it is a quick shot.

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Lines can be a good tool in leading the viewers eyes to where they need to go – we

Sound of Music (1965)

Framing

Another way to draw the audience to a character or object is by framing them within the shot. Placing a frame in the scene direct the audience to looking inside of this, framing what we need to be looking at.

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

These shoes frames the young Sayuri in Memoirs of a Geisha. Which also is  a symbol of her entrapment within the Geisha house and as a servant.

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

The shaded hole in the roofs of frame the head of this character. Our eyes are directed to the things that stand out including the black shadows.

Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

These columns frames the Hunchback – our eyes are drawn to him, These vertical lines reflect power as well and

Repeated framing within a frame, creates depth which we are lead through.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

Hanging rope circles this man as a representation of death, We look through to the character staring back towards us inside the rope.

Shadow of a doubt (1943)

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

(LO2:) The framing of this shot connects the two characters together – they share a frame which relates to their closeness and the kindness of the man. The horizontal frame is also calming and peaceful, our eyes easily spreading to one character to the next.

Empire of the Sun (1987)

House of the Flying Daggers (2004)

Princess Mononoke (1997)

Negative space

Mulan (1998)

The Shining (1980)

Symbolism

Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

(L01:) The symbolism behind this shot is very interesting. I put this in to explore the idea of metaphors and symbolism in film. Aside from all that I have mentioned so far, this simple shot of the Hunchback leaning against a stone gargoyle can reflect alot on his character: His loneliness, the comparison to the stone figure who also resides in the Notre Dame, leaning onto the figure for support – there is so much we can take from this simple shot.  Each scene is an opportunity to reveal more information or reinforce a character. I also like the arch between the two figures which leads the audience’s eyes up.

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

(LO2:) Another symbolic shot captured above – The Other Boleyn girl (2008). Both of these characters are centered in the frame and equal out one another – however Anne Boleyn’s character (Natalie Portman) stands at the front, with her sister behind. Her sister pushed to the back. We get an understanding who is the dominate and passive sister and the dynamics of their relationship.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

(LO2:) Shadows and lines both I have spoken about before can be used as tools. Here the lines leads us to the characters, they create depth but also denote grandeur, power and dominance as they take up most of the scene – but the shadows also symbolize darkness of character, there shadows dominate the screen and are bigger than the characters themselves. Symbolism can convey more about a character and point to who they are.

Camera Angles

The Others (2001)

The camera shot used in this this scene creates an unbalanced feeling – coupled with the screaming face we can feel the horror of the scene because of this canted camera angle and extreme close up, it creates a sense of unease. Especially as this shot is a straight cut opening of the film.  We have no idea what is happening…

House of the Flying Daggers (2004)

Canted camera angles like that of above, again create an unbalanced feeling. Which is often used is action shots or horror. It’s quick and creates and unsettled feeling watching it. In this fight scene we feel the sense of danger and action of this unbelievable jump.

Brief Encounter (1945)

(LO1:) Close ups are important to the film because it gives the audience a chance to read the character’s emotions. To see the character without any other distractions in the shot. This  close up shot from the opening scene of Brief Encounter (1945) reveals to the audience the closeness between these two characters who we believe to be acquaintances. Their farewell is ruined as a third party is present, the hand on the shoulder is the final embrace they share. We watch her hide her emotions.

Pocahontas (1995) Storyboard

Extreme close up

Shawshank Redemption (1994)

A high angle shot is used to make a character appear weaker, we are looking down on them, they look small and vulnerable. [SPOILER] In this scene from Shawshank Redemption (1994), ‘Andy Dufresne’ has just escaped jail from his decades of being imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Of course he is a vulnerable character as a criminal escape, but this shot feels more powerful – high angle shots can also create power, a conquering of trails. Thanking the heavens.

Lord of the Rings, Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

(LO2:) The low angle shot also gives power to the character it is looking up too. As the audience we are are looking up to a powerful intimidating figure over us, they have the greatest power. The use of it in this shot of Bilbo from the Lord of the Rings shows how powerful Bilbo feels with the ring, the ring that calls for power and darkness. It’s used in a sinister way here, but can also show a positive power or strength in a character.

Gone with the Wind, (1939)

(LO1:) Wide shots reveal more than just the surroundings, they can make the character look small and helpless. Look this shot above from Gone with the Wind (1939), where the use of this wide shot is to show the wounded in the American civil war, the lives that are dying, one doctor to help all of these injured, the horror of the war and etc. Another good example of this is the scene from Titanic (1997) where a firework is sent into the sky for help, a extreme wide shot shows how pathetic this is and how small the Titanic is in the Atlantic ocean.

Acting

Blocking a scene

Blocking multiple characters – who do we want to follow in the scene. Who has the most interesting and important character. Whose emotions do we want to see throughout. How we stage can also reveal more about the characters and how they interact.

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Research references for this post:

• http://tobyshelton.blogspot.co.uk/
• http://www.floobynooby.com/comp1.html
• http://purgetheory.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/storydesign-notes.html
• http://nofilmschool.com/2013/09/storyboarding-tips-dreamworkshttp://sevencamels.blogspot.co.uk/
• http://sevencamels.blogspot.co.uk/

Creating the Character from the music

(LO2:) This project brief that I created was a way for me to challenge myself and to approach another way of creating ideas. The idea was to collaborate with a music student, that would create the music first and from this I was to create a character and later a story to tie in together. This was a lot harder than I anticipated but it meant that I had to really work hard to produce a creative and relevant character.

(LO2:) Before I explain more about the synopsis of the character that I created, above is the music that I received from my music student (Eliza Daly). I received this final piece of music on week 3/4 and after receiving it I explored many characters and ideas. I listened to this piece of music non-stop for over a week to know the ins and outs of every note. (LO5:) I asked family and friends to explain what they thought about the tone of the music (which was similar to my own ideas). (LO2:) It’s a suspenseful, slow paced, serious, sturdy, mysterious and magical piece. Listen to it above before reading on…

(LO2:) I created this list of 6 characters that reminded me of the music or captured the essence of the music. However these characters were all completely different. In the end I realised that the music represented a lot of moods – the journey of the music changes which was really nice since I felt that I could create a complex character. It took me a while to decide because of the many characters I could create – it was down to interpretation.

The first character was an unpredictable, emotional, she acts to her emotions – to connect with the idea of the changing pace. The second character was serious, polite and abrupt. I felt that parts of the music was very square. The third character was gentle but curious and daring in her gentle way. – slow pacing and determined middle section. The forth character was logical, critical and angry. The music had this rolling drum sound which reminded me of a mechanical logical thinker. The fifth character on this list was irritated, arrogant, defensive but still driven and brave. She was a character that was agitated easily. The last character was meant to be a villain like, evil, cruel, slow moving and weird.

Final Character

I decided to go with the 3rd character who was the strong soft character. A character that was gentle and kind but still strong and determined. She would over estimate herself but she tries her best. She is a logical thinker and observant. I felt in the end the music was slow paced and gentle like this character – the determined and strong section in the middle – therefore her gentle strength appears. The music for me has a mature tone – She is wise before her age but still can act naively. We often see characters that are ‘strong’ women, which are female characters without emotion, numb to emotion in order to make them strong, or they are rude and witty. I want a character that is gentle and soft but her strength is standing up when she needs to in her gentle way. I want her to be kind and sweet.

(LO2:) When I create a character I want them to be as complex as possible – I like to create characters that have depth and the ability to drive the story. I always create a list of different words that would describe their character, including at least three faults. This is their negative qualities which are just as important as their good ones – the bad qualities creates a round character which is more appealing. In this case her emotions can work her up, she is defiant and stubborn and will stand for herself – she is also very protective which can be negative. She is naive, and experienced in the world.  However she has a long list of good qualities and its the mix of the two I want to explore in her journey (the music above points out the different feeling from the music – explained more below…)

Who is my character?

• She has a very gentle serene nature. It’s calming and steady. Mature nature about her that is soft and welcoming.
• If provoked she is Stubborn and will fight for her corner.
• Fear and doubt can draw her into herself at times 
• Strong and determined – protective and will make her voice heard
• Observant and intelligent can empathize and read situations very well.
• Intelligence leads her to curiosity and figuring things out (logical mind set.)
• Patient? Keeps trying and determined.
• Will over estimate herself / exaggerate
• Stubborn and emotional she gets carried away with herself. Hard to forgive.
• Will try and do the right thing – carried with guilt
• A gentle character with strength (not a strong character that is soft)

Earlier Explorations

Sketchbook pages exploring music

(LO2:) I explain more on the page to the right in the post below – but to understand the left page let me explain that I created these music diagrams above with shapes for me to visualize the music. From these I tried to develop the character on the page to the left…

(LO2:) I created this spider diagram above to explore the music personality in more depth and to make sure that the character had been explored into depth. I wanted to be creative and experiment with ways I could visualize the music and imagine the shapes of the sounds – this reflecting on the personality of the character. The shapes at the top (explaining my diagrams) explain the different tones of the music.

The music goes through a lot of changes and sparks of different elements just like a normal human who react and have different layers to their personalities – for me it was important to develop the character and make sure the music was being used correctly. The difficulties that I found was the variety of tones in the music which meant lots of music – in the end I decided to create a character from the music on the whole and the main tones in the music. I’ve explore different moods and feelings.  This page helped me to visualize the music and the main emotions / characteristics I have circled above in the music.

Mood boards

(LO1/LO2:) When I was struggling with deciding on the final character, I created a few of these mood-boards with photographs of women that I felt captured the look of the music or an emotion of the music. The music for me was serious and sincere, the character at this point was going to hide herself in a stubborn outer shell but really she was kind and honest.

(LO1/LO2:) Here is another mood-board exploring the same ideas. I found the older (black and white photography) models to have a lot of expression and feeling to them, hence why I have used so many. I like the honest and direct characters. They all tell different hints of the character from the music.

(LO1/LO2) Above is another mood board where I collected models that had a lot of expression and feeling to their photographs and captured hints of the music. This was a very creative exercise that enabled me to give characters to these different women and what I could take away from each of these characters for my own. How I could use facial expressions to give hints of character to the audience too.

Characters who remind me of my character

(LO1/LO2:) After determining who my character was I explored characters already existing for me to think of how my character could transform from an idea to a living character. Sybil from Downtown Abbey is a very sweet and kind character –  she is fair and soft but I like how she is also defiant and strong in her own way compared to the other characters. She approaches things with a soft spirit – I want to be able to create a gentle character similarly.

(LO1) What I like about Rose from Titanic is her maturity and her childishness together -like my music which I feel is mature she is very refined and hard. But yet she still has these hints of innocence and childish nature hidden, I also like her strength and her defiant nature. She is a very complex character that changes throughout her film.  

(LO1/LO2:) Tara from Buffy is very soft and quiet character. She is another humble and sweet nature which is logical and observant. I’ve never created such a gentle character and I hope I can achieve this with for my final animation.

Research into character

I encountered the challenge later on when my story was developed and I had decided the character – that the character had to react to being shrunk/small on a stream and this took away from the character that I had spent so long creating. Obviously she can react in the only way she can, but it was difficult to show her any way other than the human reaction – how can I enable her to come through. I wanted to understand explore this problem and researched into good characters to see how they over came this problem.

Above is a diagram that I created after some research into character development, which I will call ‘WHAT THEY ARE.’ All of these characters have a title which is given before their own personal character (in my character’s case she is small). For instance Quasimodo (Hunchback of Notre Dame) is a ‘deformed‘ Hunchback, Frodo (Lord of the Rings) is the Ring bearer / Hobbit, Chihiro (Spirited Away) is a child moving house and Aldonza (Man of La Mancha) is a Prostitute. But all of these titles do not describe any of who these people are. They all have different personalities separate from ‘what they are’ – but they are also impacted by their titles e.g. Quasimodo is a hunchback which means he is lonely, sad, isolated, shy, obedient, but we know separate from this, his character is gentle, kind and brave. They show their true character in different ways, by what they do. Hunchback cared for the bird and defied his master going outside and saving Esmeralda. Aldonza it was sharing in the world of Don Quixote and cleaning the wounds of the thieves and villains (Who later attack her.) Chihiro returned the staff and at the beginning she never ate the food that wasn’t hers (even though her parents did, a good example of her character shining through).

Frodo is a good character to look at for this idea of ‘what the are.’ He is the ring bearer which was the reason (catalyst) that made him sad, angry, possessive and depressed. His character was actually adventurous, happy and brave but he throughout the trilogy is in pain and struggling. His goal which drives him to get rid of the ring that has the power over him. Like my character in the state of ‘what they are’ – ring bearer and My character small.

 

Chosen Idea

 

(LO2:) Throughout my idea exploration stage I had several ideas that focused around water. I felt that the music reminded me of the water – especially the end section which has a re-surface sound. The music is slow paced, mysterious and feels like a serious piece – it changes throughout and so reminds me of the unpredictable water.

Therefore my final idea for my animation was loosely based on The Water – Babies by Charles Kingsley (written in 1863), the original story is a moral-fable that looks into the poor and morality. However, the particular element of this story that I took inspiration from was the idea of a person falling into water and shrinking (in the story turning into a water baby) and exploring the underwater world. Below is a scene from the 1978 film that I like.

My final idea: my story focuses on a girl who shrinks after trying to pass a chalk stream. She shrinks in the water and encounters the creatures (an eel, tadpoles and or fish). A girl running away from someone or something comes to a stream which she cannot cross and so falls / jumps in – when she enters the water she shrinks and the creatures of the underworld meet her as she must escape. – For me the character is more important in this piece than the story so I want the character to be driven by the music (in my original brief) I decided to add a story to have a setting for this character.

(LO1:) I used to love The Water Babies (1978) film as a child. This animated film was based on the book by Charles Kingsley. One of the ideas I liked was creating a similar idea and remaking when the main character jumps into the river and meets the creatures underneath the water. Instead I wanted to use a female and set it in a more modern time. I would love to explore swimming and the different look of the underwater would. It feels as though it would fit in with the music which is magical and mysterious.

The Water-Babies (source)

The Water-Babies (source)

I really like this illustration created by Jessie Willcox Smith, which features a water baby sitting on ivy looking up at the moon. The atmosphere and colours are beautiful. I like how the child is hidden in these plants.

The Water-Babies (source)

This illustration shows the size and the dangers of such large fish. What obstacles could face my character below the water.

The Water-Babies (source)

The Water babies (source)

The mages above I collected, they are illustrations and book covers for this book, The Water-babies. I feel that they may give me some first few ideas to get the ball rolling on how my character could interact with the scene and what is underneath this water.

Idea Generation

(LO2:) Contacting music to create the piece of music that my character and story will be based of. My idea generation had to wait until the music was complete. I contacted a student in the first week back. In one week a first draft was created however Eliza mentioned that she was also going to make three more pieces over the next week. I decided to wait until then in order to have a greater choice to choose from. After I decided that week we tweaked the music slightly and the final music was complete. For each piece of music I explored ideas in order to help me make the final decision.

(LO2:) This was the spider diagram that I created for the third piece of music that I received from Eliza. And it was the music that I was going to choose later on. I have circled my favourite from this diagram. One of the best ways that I generate ideas are spider diagrams because I can throw away ideas and explore more and more. I listened to the music and gathered ideas as well as asking family of what they felt from the music.  A lot of these ideas focus around water. 

(LO2:) As well as the spider diagrams I created these little thumbnail boards for each of the three pieces of the music. The writing inside the boxes are adjectives that I felt from the music. The third piece of music has words like: ‘mechanical, drum, wise, warrior, fight, cunning and etc..’ this piece was my chosen music – however it was edited and changed slightly. I accompanied the words I felt from the music with small thumbnail ideas or ‘pictures’ I got from the music – they were random and very experimental ideas. 

IDEA GENERATION SLIDESHOW PAGES

(LO2:) After creating a mixture of ideas for this piece of music I felt that I wanted to explore some of these ideas further so I picked my favourite to determine the story moments and plot and where my character would be set. I have coloured the writing into similar ideas, for instance all the ideas in green focus around being underwater (as I felt the music reminded me of water so much.) I eventually crossed of all the ones that didn’t work. I also create mood-boards for each idea to start collecting imagery associated with the music, begin this story development.

Idea 1: Gardener

(LO2:) I created mood-boards for each of my ideas – Above I have combined these 4 mood-boards for apply to the next 3 ideas. These ideas revolved around a gardener and her garden. It was a setting that I thought I could be creative with and explore with the music well.

(LO2:) For all of these idea pages (above and below) I have written down the different parts of the plots. Exposition, conflict, rising action, the climax, falling action and resolution to create a well rounded plot that had interest and struggle. Above is about a character that hates weeds and does everything they can to destroy them however by the end she embraces the ugly and lets the weeds grown wild.  (these are all collected images)

(LO2:) This story is similar to the story above, however the weeds start to overgrow and it’s more like a battle of the gardener trying to pull them all out, every time she removes one more and more grow. In the end she lies down and watching them grow around her and gives in.

(LO2:) Lastly this story was going to give more life to the plants and they would actually be alive. The weeds would be the villains – they were suffocating the plants in the garden. The gardener had to save them all. I like the ending of the story, one dandelion seed flies and lands on the ground – a spooky ending. I was worried about the amount of time it would take to animate all the flowers and weeds of this shot.

Idea 2 – Underwater

(LO2:) Listening to the music I had the sense of being underwater… the mystery and the feeling of being in water I felt strongly about. The following ideas center around this idea.

(LO2:) In this idea a character is seen running away from something dangerous into a river and hiding in the river holding there breath. We never see what they are hiding from – its just a simple story of this moment in time. 

(LO2:) This idea focuses around a character crossing over a bridge but notices something in the water that they want to investigate, when they go to look it turns out to be an eel that gets her covered in water and wet. Another simple story which captures the mystery behind the music. 

(LO2:) This idea focuses around a character that is running away from something they have done and crossing a river, as they enter they shrink and we encounter the large and small creatures below. This idea reminded me of The Water-babies by Charles Kingsley – it would be a nice idea to take inspiration from this story. 

Idea 4 – Sister’s argument

(LO2:) This story I thought could be a funny idea, in the middle of a typical bickering and arguing between a pair a sisters, a strange creature / thing appears out of nowhere before them, they go fro arguing to protecting one another / sacrificing one another to the beast. When it disappears they both end up laughing.

Idea 5 – seeing things

(LO2:) This story revolves around a strange women who is nosy and weird, patiently waiting for something to happen outside. When she sees hands touching her hedge she marches outside, it turns out to be a crow. This idea has potential for pacing and suspense.

(LO2:) Rock creatures come to life on the beach. A young girl goes onto the beach to paint or read and suddenly the large rocks because creatures, when they see her they turn back to stone. I was worried about the scale of this idea but it was a simple idea.

 (LO2:) Another story focused on water, however this one is about a women who thinks she sees a person in the water among large rolling waves. She goes out to save them but it turns out to be no one but a glove (this actually was an experience that I saw once – a man swam far out to sea but it ended up being a rubber glove!) This was not my favourite idea but it had that sense of danger and strength to it. 

(LO2:) One of the last ideas that I created was a character stuck indoors on a hot sticky summers day. The idea of being sluggish and lazy – like when it was school holidays and you just lay about next to the mechanical fan. The girl in this story hears a noise outsides when she investigates its a large creature that spits water at her.

(LO2:) After my idea generation slideshow, I choose my top three ideas and explored them with these very rough thumbnail pages (above). I wanted to get a sense of the story and imagery that attached itself to the music. Exploring if the idea worked and how much room the idea had to grow.

(Thrown away ideas – first draft music)

(LO2:) Aside from these three pieces, Eliza actual made me another piece at the begining however we ended up deciding this wasn’t right, mostly as the music was longer than what I wanted and would have meant another month animating. Before deciding not to go with this piece I created two pages of experimentation. Again writing down the words that I felt, the feelings from the music (which was very intense) – I also wrote small ideas down and characters that I got from this piece such  as a ‘sad soul, proud and steady’, and ‘leader, skillful, forceful’ and ‘determined and strong warrior’ and etc.. I then added scenarios such as ‘climbing a mountain’. 

(LO2:) Here are some rough sketches that I created from the very first draft music. I was felt with a dramatic and intense scenario such as a raging sea, deadly mountain, or death.. it was a dramatic piece that was very morbid. Although I didn’t use any of these ideas it was important and helpful to do an exercise like this because it helped me later on.

Final Music

I received four different pieces of music from Eliza Daly (my music student that I collaborated with). The piece that I chose was slow paced but it was the one I connected to the most. It was not what I expected at all but it was really nice to have a starting point completely out of my comfort zone – I had to be creative and think logically about the music and how to start determining the character and story.

Sound Mood-board

(LO2:) After listening to the music a few times I wanted another way for me to express the mood of the music that I had been given. I created this mood board of imagery that I felt listening to the music. (LO1:) I saved images from Pinterest into a board and selected my favourite here. (LO2:) This mood-board has let me start to develop and think about where the story is going and who the character is. I feel that mood-board can give you an idea of the music and the emotion of it – the music is slow paced, mysterious, magical, sturdy, strong and changing.

(LO2:) I wanted to understand the journey of the music. To do this I created these diagrams above to reflect the type of noise and the feeling through shapes and hard angles. The start of the music is softer and slower paced although it goes through a range of tones it stays quite similar, until 00:21 when drumming starts and we have this sturdy, strong determined part of the music – the end of the music is more magical and changes in lots of directions. I did this exercise a few times. Three times listening to the music, One time with my eyes closed and the last time I asked Victoria to create a diagram to compare.

(LO2:) Here is a close up of the diagram I created with my eyes closed. I feel this one is one of my best and shows the journey well. The reason I did this was to get a better understanding of the music and know it well – but also when I come to creating a story this path can help me decide the different obstacles and etc. As well as thinking about the character an the different sides to her personality.

3D Blocking out

Fishing Research

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Leitmotifs

I did some brief research into Leitmotifs – a word that I have personally never come across. The definition of this word:  “A recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation.” (Oxford Dictionary) It means a recurring idea or theme through a piece of music or literature. In a way this reminds me of my brief, creating a character related to a music composed for them. The character will be associated and reflect the music. In a way similar to a Leitmotif – they will be connected to the music and be represented by the music. I like this idea of music representing an idea – it can embody and create a mood and reflect a person. Music can bring so much to the visual arts.

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• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/music/popular_music/film_music4.shtml
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/music/popular_music/film_music3.shtml
• https://supermarcey.com/2011/07/21/funks-top-10-leitmotifs/
• http://www.academia.edu/12429158/Leitmotifs_in_Film_Music_-_Dissertation
• http://a-study-of-music-in-film.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/leitmotif.html
• https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHWA_enGB642GB642&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=film+character+leitmotif+music&*