Boy in Boat Animation

Animation i did this week, for a third year film project

A boy sitting up in a boat. The real animation will have him move on an image plane on Maya in a CGI boat

Editted Layout

I was told by my coursemate that the angle and curve of my layout needed editting. I did some minor adjustments to it to make the image flow better towards the focal point

Images show before and after

Layout Practice

Tonight i painted up a layout, for some quick practise with setting and lighting

It is only a rough idea. Below are several variants of the layout. Its an enchanted forest with some glowing entity illuminating the dark. The plan was to show the impression of the entitiy but not completely reveal what it is, to give the scene a sense of unknown, fear and mystery:

Change of Plan

Okay so i realised my previous idea for my film was riddled with problem. Firstly, it would mean a hell of a lot of work and dont think i can get so much done in the time i'll have. Also, since i'm primarily a 2D animator, i wanted a piece with more focus on the animation so i dont have to be getting many people doing all the other work for me. Elements of the story and characters were reminiscent of existing characters/pieces and i wanted something original.Also, the film was meant to be synced to music, and finding the right piece was proving a nightmare and making progress slolw. I decided after some deep consideration that i needed a new idea, something more subtle where i can just do some lovely animation to show off.

My new film idea is softer in its look and story. No backgrounds (or very simple ones), just characters. Its an emotional piece about a boy who is bullied, so he draws fantasy creatures to be his friends. More details on the story as i map it out

These are my initial concepts. The film features the boy as an 8 yr old, and then as a 13 yr old in school. These are sketches for his design, though i may alter them as i go along. The film will be coloured in this same gold hue.

Helping on another film

For the same coursemate whom designed the squirrel for me, i have been working on a character for their film.

I was asked to design an 'average joe' of a character, in an western old-cartoon sort of style.

These where what i came up with, eventually settling on the one at the bottom:

-shaz

Help with character design

I asked my coursemate to help design a squirrel character for me. This is what they came up with:

I liked this design the most out of the first 4. This is the companion for my protagonist.

For my coursemates blog go here--> jadeshowreel.blogspot.com

We will more than likely be helping out with each others films from now on

-shaz

Character Turnaround

Working with this second character design again. Here's a turnaround i did for him:

Character idea 2

So i've decided i dont like the first character i came up with

Here is a design i like alot more. Already thinking of tweaking it a bit, but for the rough idea i think this one is alot more appealing and fits the theme of my film

Boy Animation

Here's another piece of animation i made, as part of helping out on a current third year project

Its a ghostly boy looking around a corner

It begins

So i'm going to start doing some preparation work for my third year project. I have a pretty solid idea of the film i'd like to create. Not sure if it'll get made for real yet (as i'll need alot of help) but i'll pitch the idea anyway

Right now i'm going to work on solidifying the look and style of the film/characters.

Without having to go into detail over the plot, my film is set in a city at night, so the colour palette is dark but with alot of bright neon colours. I want the film to be eyecatching and kind of street/grafitti in the style. The whole thing should be synced to a dancey soundtrack.

This is my first attempt at a possible character. I tried clean lines with block colours and then a gradient. however the clean lines took far too long as i'm a perfectionist, and all in all its not quite 'rough' enough for the street style i'm after.

The Cat. She is finished.

Finally. Been slaving away cleaning up foxy cleocatra over the past couple of weeks. Shes not perfect but i'm going to leave it there and get on with some prep for the third year from now on, i think.

Anyway, here is the finished animation: