Stills

Techniques/Software help

The model should be fairly straight forward but i will definitely need to consider the topology of it. How the character will need to bend and move, for example, it will need an edge loop around the mouth, the shoulder joints and the top of the legs. This will make sure that when i am at the rigging stage, the model will act correctly.

For the eyes i will be using a tutorial from my tutor, so i can create an eye, the lid and make it open and close.

For the fur i will be using a tutorial called "How do i create Ice Age-like hairy characters in XSI?

For the model i will use the character model sheet i drew as a guide and for the rig, i will use a normal biped rig draw from scratch using 2d chains.

The rig from kung fu panda will help me with most of these problems.


Below are a few links i found of interest:

This is about fur and the problems topology can cause:
http://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2001/Volume-24-Issue-7-July-2001-/Fur-Real.aspx

This one is a page of general rigging tutorials:
http://www.digitaltutors.com/11/training.php?vid=20861

Here is a few more tutorials on modelling, texturing, lighting, animating and hair:
http://www.3dmd.net/Xsi_texturingTutorials.html

Art Reserach

I have been researching into types of art to see if any of them could influence the style for the 2d sections of my piece.

I first though about cubism or surrealism as these are well known, but neither of them really spoke to me and i couldn't picture it my animation. After trolling through many books I saw an image done by Carlo Carrá. After researching further into his works i came across a movement called "METAPHYSICAL ART".

It is described as having sharp contrasts of light and shadow.

Tate Modern describes it as being "Dream-like views".
another definition is this:
"The artists thus created a visionary world of the mind, beyond physical reality"
http://www.tate.org.uk/collections/glossary/definition.jsp?entryId=164


Below are some examples of Carlo Carrá's work:

http://silverandexact.wordpress.com/2011/03/18/the-metaphysical-muse-carlo-carra-1917/

http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/allthingstuscany/tuscanyarts/de-chirico-ernst-magritte-strozzi-2010/

Also here are some form Giorgio de Chirico:

http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/uniformstroy/greenhills/

http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=80539

I also quite like the simplistic ideas of Joan Miro, the few colours used and flat shapes. The colourfulness wouldn't work for my piece but the ideas are good:

http://maisondediana.blogspot.com/2011/06/joan-miro.html

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/miro.html

http://joanmiro.co.uk/

Books used:

• Cubism and twentieth-century by Thames and Hudson
• History of modern art by H.H.Arnason
• Surrealism desire unbound by Jennifer Mundy
• The art book by Phaidon
• The art of the surrealists by Edward Swinglehurst
• The style of the century by Bevis Hillier

Character Profile

Key Actions

Titles

TITLES:

A LOST SOUL

HAPPY PANDA

CAN'T COMPLAIN

PANDA'S TAIL

NEWSPAPER NAMES:

BAMBOO NEWS

LOVE COLUMN NAMES:

PRECIOUS PAWS

BONDING BEARS

WOOLLY HEARTS

Environment

Here are the initial sketches for my environment design, very rough, just to get an idea for what i'm going for.

I want the house to be a bit run down and neglected, old fashioned and simple.

This is Hamish's house, very simple and suited where he will live.
I used images of buildings in Kirkham to help me design this:

This is a sheet of designs for the living room, i want it to be simplistic and old fashioned:

The dining room will be connected to the living room.

No walls dividing the two, just a straight through room:

Lastly was the bedroom. I wanted a blue/purple colouring for this room as that will reflect Hamish's mood:

I then used the 3d room website i posted earlier.

You can create a room and add props to it.

This was very helpful as i could used my drawings to create all the rooms and get a quick idea of how his house is going to look.

Bathroom:

Dining Room:

Hallway:

Kitchen:

Living Room:

Story Brainstorm

To help me write my story.

 

New Moodboards

After writing my treatment i realised i needed a couple more moodboards for Kirkham and Japanese Popart. I needed one for Kirkham so i can see a few pictures of the place all together and visualise it if and when it is needed.

As for the pop art, i want to keep the colours very simplistic like the artists do in this style. It makes a cluttered piece look easier on the eye:

Treatment

My animation short will be a clever twist on the solitude we all feel from time to time. The themes are loneliness and love and it fits into the genre “Romantic Comedy”. However it will include elements of wildlife. The target audience for this animation piece is universal, it is suitable for any age but mainly aimed at young adults, this is because the message might be too difficult for the younger generation to understand.

The main inspiration for my animation is the loneliness and isolation I was feeling at the time at university. We all feel it from time to time; especially as students and I really think I can get my feelings across through an aesthetically pleasing, yet humorous film. The intended media for my project is a contrast of 2D and 3D elements. The main body of the animation will be in 3D but when memories or past experiences are shown on screen, they will be in 2D.

Hamish, a middle-aged panda from Kirkham is growing tired of his life. His village used to be a quiet, peaceful settlement, but since they built the railway his peace has been interrupted. Not only that he’s become so lazy he gets bamboo delivered to his door, he’s weight is increasing by the day but his self esteem is decreasing at the same rate. Desperately trying to cheer himself up he adds more homely touches and to make himself feel useful he tries to fix any broken things around. He thinks back to when things were good, when his life was calm and decides to do something about it. He spruces himself up, gets himself a camera and tries to record a rather amusing dating video of himself in the hope he might meet the panda of his dreams.

The animation will have two parts to it, 2D and 3D. The 3D parts will be the main body of the story, so the character, the environment he lives in and any props needed. The 2D will be the memories of how things used to be, anything to do with the past will be in 2D. This is so there is a clear, concise difference between the two. For the 3D I will be using Autodesk Softimage, and for the 2D ToonBoom.

As mentioned earlier, the main influence is my own experience; other influences include the same kind of solitude seen in animals, particularly pandas. Kung fu panda is a big influence as it’s the only 3D animated panda in industry and it would be interesting to see if I can create a unique character. I have always liked the Japanese style of pop art and the emotion filled film ‘Up’.

I will be using clips of 3D pandas/animals already out there to help influence my work, I will need to think about the type of place Hamish will live, exploring his personality and really make him come alive. I will be looking at images from Kirkham to influence the environment design and the railway. As for the character himself, I will practice sketching in a style similar to Preston Blair’s, look at images of live pandas, cartoon pandas, sketch them and come up with a design that suits his personality.

With the 2D and 3D parts being completely separate on screen compositing will not be an issue, however my ability to draw in 2D will increase the time. Creating the model for Hamish and the rig will also be time consuming but will make him easier to animate. It’s important that the audience empathises with him or the story will lose its effect. I need to leave ample time at the end for rendering, the report and extra time for anything to go wrong. My aim is to render the film in HD quality 1280x720 and to keep fairly simple camera movements. I will need to create artificial looking lighting as the majority of the animation will be inside.

Premise

Hamish, a lonely panda from Kirkham is growing tired of his solitary lifestyle. He has
faced many annoyances in the past and overcome a few hurdles. Will his next challenge
continue his introverted existence, or will he finally live happily ever after.


I got my idea for the residence from my Dad's book:
"Not on my patch lad" By Mike Pannett 07/01/2012