LAUAN601-After Hand-in

After Hand-in 

Due to the recent events at the end of University, this had a bad effect on my mental and physical health. Due to my doing, I took on way too many projects throughout this module and towards the end, I ended up burning myself out. Unfortunately, due to this, I have not been able to complete my final year short film. As I have worked hard up until now on this film, I have decided to continue this process without all the stress of University deadlines after the hand-in. I hope to solely focus on this project and have a finished animation before the end of June. The events that took place have made this whole process a little more difficult for me and many other people, however, the support of the teachers has allowed me to push through this module and deliver as much as I can at this point in time.

 This is my list of things to do after the hand in:

• Complete backgrounds
• Finish animating 
• Edit final film
• Create final sound effects 
• Credits 
• Press kit 
• Poster 
• Hand into festivals 

LAUAN601-Competition Brief 4

Competition Brief 4 

For my last competition brief, I continued with my last 'Character Design challenge'. The theme for May was 'Final Fantasy'. The character I decided to focus on was 'Cloud Strife' however,  I wanted to put my own twist on it. As most children love to dress up as their favourite character I decided to create my character as a young girl that is dressing up as 'Cloud Strife'. I was not completing happy with this design as I think there are many factors that I would change about this character to improve the design. I think I could be more creative when entering these competitions and even consider trying to think: 'more outside the box'. As I had no time to redo this competition brief, I decided to enter it as there is always room for improvement. I will improve this drawing my practising certain skills and learning new ways to make imaginative characters. I will come back to this character design at some point and try and improve on it. 

LAUAN601-Production Tick-list

Production Tick-list 

After discussing beforehand about my recent decision of completing a background and then animating on it, I started to get confused about how long each scene was and what I was left to complete. As a director/producer, I made the decision to create a production tick list similar to my pre-production one. I started by splitting my animatic into a number of shots and the duration of each shot. This would allow me to tick off each scene as I go along with a clear understanding of how much left I have to animate. I then completed the tick-list by creating three rows which consists of the rough, clean-up, and the colouring of the animation.

If I was to restart this project I would create this production tick-list as soon as the animatic was complete. This would have made my project more clear and organized. It was have also saved me some confusion and may have even allowed me to create some final pieces quicker. 

LAUAN601-Blair Backgrounds

Blair Backgrounds 

There are eight backgrounds for me to complete for this project. These are the four finished backgrounds that have been digitally painted: 

I have really enjoyed working on these backgrounds as it allowed me to spend some time away from my own project where I have worked mostly on my own. This allowed me to develop a style based on the mood and concept boards created by me and Gabbi. Gabbi originally wanted backgrounds that weren't too detailed and not too much colour as she wanted the characters to stand out and be the main focus. This is the reference I used to create my backgrounds:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/662381057673554886/

She gave me this reference of 'The Simpsons' background as inspiration for how she wanted the final backgrounds completed and what she wanted them to look like aesthetically. I decided to study some of these backgrounds as I wanted to learn how to make block colours look less boring and more eye-catching to the audience. I did this by adding in little details such as shadows and lighting where needed as well as, a think black outline. I was happy with the outcome of these backgrounds and will continue this process with the last four. 

LAUAN601- Grandma's House

Grandma's House 

Following my concept boards for the Reality World in 'The Portal', I begin creating the final backgrounds. As I was currently unsure of who was able to animate on my film, and I was having to complete my final backgrounds myself, I decided to complete a background and animate what was in that scene. To me, this seemed like a productive idea. As soon as a background was completed, I could animate the scene and place it into my final film on Premiere Pro.

I started with the scenes in Grandma's House where the Little Boy is in a montage of situations in which he is trying to occupy himself with stuff to do: 

Final Background 

Final Background

Final Background 

Final Backgrounds 

Final Backgrounds 

I soon started to realise that this method was not working for me however, by this point I had agreed to complete the tasks for the other projects I was working on. I decided to focus more on them as I want to specialise in background and concept design more than animating when I leave University. Doing the backgrounds for me was more important as this allowed me to add to my portfolio and gave me more experience when working on different projects with my peers. 

LAUAN601-Pre-production Tick-list

Pre-production Tick-list 

As I was unable to find anyone in my class available to create my backgrounds I had to gain this responsibility myself. At this point, I started to worry that I had taken on too many tasks throughout this module and this would become too much for me to handle. I currently am working on or have completed the following projects for the other peers in my class:

• Concept Artboards for 'Sal & Peppy'
• Concept Artboards for 'Blair' 
• Concept Artboards for 'The Portal'
• Final Backgrounds for 'Blair' 
• Final Backgrounds for 'The Portal' 

As I couldn't find anyone else available, I created a pre-production background tick-list. I wanted to use this as a guide so I could clearly see how many backgrounds would be needed and what ones had been completed. 

LAUAN601-Title Sequence Test

Title Sequence Test 

I started to prepare the ideas for the title sequence of my movie, as I didn't want it to be a last-minute thought. As the title sequence starts the film, I wanted it to be eye-catching and interesting for the eyes of the audience. My aim was to grab their attention and make them want to watch further to get a better understanding of what the story was about. As my storyline is based around the idea of a portal that takes my character from one world to another, I came up with the idea of using a glitch effect on my title. This glitch normally happens when a tv set cannot find a connection or something in the server is disturbing the connection causing the picture to glitch. Using other movies as reference such as, 'The Matrix's' title sequence, it shows a computer glitch and how to effectively use one:

As I was unsure of how to begin constructing my own glitching title for 'The Portal', I started to research what a glitch on the computer appears like as well as, how it works. The more realistic the glitch appears on my title, the more effective it is to the aesthetic appeal and the audience. This is when I came across the video on Youtube:

This Youtube video by 'Made my Mikey', fully explains how to creatively put together a glitching word or sentence by using the Photoshop software. I followed each step to creating the separate image files for each transition when moving them into the animation workspace: 

After each separate image was completed I stopped following the Youtube tutorial and started to play around with the glitch effect until I was happy with my end result. When I was happy with the glitching effect I noticed that something was missing from the completed animation. Without a sound effect on top of the animation, the glitching effect wasn't as aesthetically appealing and it really was rather dull. To improve on this I collected sounds from Freesound. I used Freesound because of the current situation. As it was too late to use a sound booth at this point and create my own sound effects, I improvised and used Freesound for the time being. Later on in the project, I plan to create all my own sound effects for my completed animation. This is the finished title sequence:

LAUAN601-Competition Brief Three

Competition Brief Three- 

Character Design Challenge

The theme for the Character Design Challenge in the month of April is: Doctors and Nurses.

This was my second Character Design Challenge. I decided to give it a go as I had never really explored character design properly and had only touched on it in the second half of my first year of university. My character is based around the era of the 1950s nurse. If I was to re-do this character design, I wouldn’t doubt myself as much as think that I did during this time. I could have pushed myself further with this design and come up with a more creative idea. However, I’m glad I completed this challenge because of what is going on in the world right now. I wanted to show my appreciation towards the doctors, nurses and the NHS. Also, to anyone that is risking their health or life to care for other people.

Character design: 1950s Nurse 

LAUAN601-More Concept Art

More Concept Art 

Gabbi Slater asked me to do some concept and background designs for her final film. I will be collaborating with Cara Jeal as Gabbi wanted to lighten the load of backgrounds as this would be less stressful and faster if two people were completing them. However, due to having other work to complete for other people, I explained to Gabbi the time in which I would be able to complete the backgrounds and she agreed to the finish date that I had suggested. This really helped me out as I was starting to worry that I had taken on too much in this module and wouldn’t be able to complete my work to satisfaction.

However, Gabbi proceeded to supply me with mood boards of what she had in mind:

Mood Board Created by Gabbi Slater

Mood Board Created by Gabbi Slater

Responding to these mood boards, I created four mock-up sheets of what the houses could look like as well as, the perspective they would be viewed from in the backgrounds:

Mood Board One 

Mood Board Two 

Mood Board Three

Mood Board Four

I enjoyed doing these concepts for Gabbi and came to the realisation that over this module I had now done a couple concept boards for some final films. This is something I would consider doing as a job as I not only enjoy designing mood boards, but I feel as if I gain more skills and push to better myself each time I do it.

These concept boards not only allowed me to practice my perspective drawing and learn new skills on how to improve my perspective and tools on how to prepare a drawing to a perspective; it also gave me a chance to practice my colouring skills as I practising using textures and how a simple use of the right texture can enhance my design.

LAUAN601-Competition Brief Two

 

 Competition Brief Two:

 Door Design/Artwork Commission

This live brief was to design artwork for one or more doors based on the names of each room. The end result was to brighten the workplace and to create a fun atmosphere at the place of work for ‘The Data Shed’. The door I decided to create artwork for is: The Room of Requirements.

I started by researching what ‘The Room of Requirements’ were to get an insight into what people loved most about the Harry Potter movies and books. Doing this researched improved my knowledge on what Harry Potter is all about as well as, inspired me with what components to put on the door.  

The final design of ‘The Room of Requirements’ door:

My idea was based around the most memorable and important parts of the Harry Potter movies. I wanted to set up each component like they are props in a fun, cartoony way to make the door more vibrant and colourful. This means the workers would be able to relate to each component on the door and take their imagination into the world of Harry Potter. It will also make the office more bright and cheerful, elevating the mood of all the workers.

LAUAN601-Concept Art for the Mystical and Reality World

Concept Art for the Mystical 

and Reality Worlds

As there will be two worlds within the animation, I wanted to make each world stand out differently; clearly showing to the audience what world the character is in. I decided to go with the idea of having the ‘Reality World’ that will be set in the 1940s. To make this more noticeable the backgrounds and characters will be in the black and white image. Therefore, the ‘Mystical World’ will be in the colour image. When the ‘Little Boy’s’ character goes from the ‘Reality World’ to the ‘Mystical World’, he will change from the black and white image to colour. To begin the designs of the final backgrounds, I had Eloise Wayling do the concept art for the ‘Mystical World’. I created mood boards (that was shown in the blog beforehand) for Eloise as inspiration.  This is an insight into the idea of what style and how the Mystical world would appear to the viewer.

These are the designs for the trees leading into the woods by Eloise Wayling:   

Concept Art Designed by Eloise Wayling 

The trees will first appear bent over to portray to the viewer that something dangerous is lurking in the woods as the trees are destroyed. The deeper the ‘Little Boy’ heads into the woods the trees will become tall and twisted to create a spooky atmosphere with the dark shadows looming throughout the woods.

These are the designs for the cabins in the village by Eloise Wayling:   

Concept Art Designed by Eloise Wayling 

Concept Art Designed by Eloise Wayling 

Outside the woods will be a little village for the people that used to live there. The cabins start off perfectly built and end up destroyed. This is because of a scene between ‘the Monster’ and ‘the boy’.  A tree is thrown at ‘the boy’ as it lands on top of the cabin that he is running towards. Eloise created different designs of the cabin, so I had a variety of options to choose from, or even the option of using them all.

As everyone else had already planned their time out, I took the concept art for the ‘Reality World’ into my own hands. To begin the concept design, I started with the design of Grandma’s house. I wanted Grandma’s house to appear spooky, old and slightly worn down. I used some inspiration from Pinterest of old, worn-out houses and these are the concepts I came up with:

Concept Art of Grandma's House 

The final house concept I decided to go with is the first one. When asking multiple people what one they thought fit my description the most, this was the design picked by the majority.

Once the house design was chosen, I moved on to the interior of the house. As the era of the ‘Reality World’ was based around the 1940s, I started to research the aesthetic look of the furniture around that time. I decided to design three of each object. As the ‘Reality World’ is in black and white I was unsure whether to design the furniture and the house in black and white or design it in colour and later turn it to black and white. I decided to design these in the colour image as I thought it would be easier to create the shadows and textures more effectively; creating more depth in each piece when turning it to black and white. These are the furniture designs in colour and black and white image:

Concept Art of Furniture in Colour  

Concept Art of Furniture in Black and White Image  

Concept Art of Furniture in Colour  

Concept Art of Furniture in Black and White Image 

LAUAN601-Concept Art for 'Sal and Peppy'

Concept Art for 'Sal and Peppy' 

As well as working on my own short film, I decided to broaden my work by working on the concept art for the backgrounds of Briony Caswell’s short film: ‘Sal and Peppy’. I received mood boards from Briony based on a 1930s kitchen setting. These mood boards include: the set out of a standard kitchen in the 1930s era, the style of the chairs and tables and lastly, a prop sheet of what would be placed within the kitchen during each background, depending on the action within the scene. Briony explained during our conversation that she wanted the floors to be checked/tiled and also gave me a colour palette to stick to.

Some of the mood boards I received:

Designed by Briony Caswell

Designed by Briony Caswell

Following the guidelines given to me I started by creating a concept sheet of the design of the cupboards and fridges. Studying the design of different cupboards and fridges I created many different designs for Briony to choose from. I enjoyed doing this piece as it gave me a break from my own short film and allowed me to work on pieces that I have not had a chance to do before. As well as this, it also made me realise how much I enjoy doing concept work and found myself happy with the concept boards that I created for the background designer.

Concept art for the design of the cupboards and fridges in the 1930s style:

Concept art for the design of the props around the kitchen:

Once the basic concepts were finished for the props and the furniture within the kitchen, I moved on to the aesthetic design of the checked and tiled floor.  I started by using perspective skills learned during this course with the end result of the six different camera angles of the kitchen. This was going to aid me when drawing the tiled floor because I was able to test out how the tiles would cover the floor based on where the camera will be as well as, giving the director a vision of what the tiled floor could appear like and the test of what colours from the palette worked best with the furniture within the kitchen.

Concept art for the checked/tiled floor:

To finish the final concept design, I put all the concepts together to create two different 1930s styled kitchen. I did them with two different colour palette and different colour schemes and designs of the furniture within the kitchen. Creating two kitchens styled differently allowed the director to see the layout/set-up up of the kitchen based on what layout will be the most effective for the action that is going to take place within the background. As well as this benefitting the director, it also supplies the background artist with designs to work off of when laying the background depending of the perspective of the kitchen during the action of the characters and the props within the scene.

The first draft for the layout of the kitchen:

Briony also asked me to play around the colours, and eventually landed on the final colour palette of the kitchen being: number 3 for the checked floor, number 6 for the colour of the wallpaper and lastly, the layout will be the kitchen with the red table.

The final concept design for the 1930s style kitchen: