Week 06♥
Saturday, 28 May 2011 |22:49
Even though so many weeks have passed already, we're still encountering with the same problem for our whole production> STORY!
The thing is not because we did not generate enough ideas but in fact, we had generated quite a handful number but they just do not seem to flow along with the idea we had in mind; and because of the change in the storyline, I had to often redo the environment layouts. D: But the whole of Monday was basically thinking up of more story plots which can flow better with the initial idea. Every member also continued with their own areas, such that I continue with my sketch of more ideas for the environment!
Mok Ling Ling arranged a Storytelling & Scripting lecture for us on Tuesday, telling us the nine important points to take note of & they are:
1. Logline
2. Character Biographies
3. Premise/Synopsis
4. Scene Beats / Outline à Draft
5. Screenplay Format
6. Writing Dialogue
7. Table Process
8. Final Script
9. Audio Recording
After which, our group also let her inspect our storyline, that was when she pointed to us our key highlights of the story as well as the areas to be improved on. We noted down, taking them into mind, we set off back to our discussion room to generate more improved plots.
We then had a character design lecture by Mr Philip the following day where he showed us various useful drawings of re-owned animated films such as "How to train a Dragon", "Prince of Egypt" and so on. He also mentioned to us the importance of silhouettes as they define the characters' gestures & personality; and that basic shapes are always the one to aid you in sketching out the rough idea of a simple character design. I created some design for the characters which will appear in our story~
Picture to be inserted
Over the weekend, I have also done various new sketches for the environment inclusive of the furniture to be shown inside, as well as the floor-plan of the abandoned house.
PRESENT
Simple floor plans of various rooms
Perspective of exterior environment
Simple design of exterior layout
PREVIOUS
Improvement made: More perspective skills are taken into consideration, whereby my drawings are not that flat or 2D-alike. ♥
Week 05★
Saturday, 21 May 2011 |11:01
For this week, we further discussed the bio-data of all the characters involved in our animation and they are namely - the female & male figurines, shopkeeper of the cuckoo clock shop, a mother who is going to purchase one of the cuckoo clocks and last but not the least, the little girl.
We listed out the setup necessary for the whole story to begin.
Main characters || Location - Country: Germany, in the 21st Century || Genre: Romance, Comedy || Supporting Characters
The purpose for us to list out all these points once again is to re-confirm our settings to ensure and somewhat finalize our story to enable it to flow smoothly; as we got the tendency to change repeatedly. The setup of the prime scenes will be in the evening.
Below are the ideas that we have thought up for scenes we can begin with or have them in between:
- Dialogue to be in the story;
- Start scene with the overview of shop with wall of cuckoo clocks; followed by showing the figurines;
- Shop-owner which is the old man doing work at his working table;
- Old man hanging clock;
- Cuckoo clocks coming alive;
- Little girl who has interest in clocks, stands outside the shop, staring at the cuckoo clocks inside;
- Little girl & her mother walking pass the shop in the night.
Set up of Story
The bio-data of all the characters present inside the story~
Old man★
Name || Alberto
Decision-making || The first thing that came to our mind for the shop-owner was an old man whom is kind looking, always smiling at his customers. He especially loves cuckoo clocks as he has a passion for them. He is the one who make both the male and female figurines.
Male figurine★
Name || Aden
Decision-making || Since the male figurine's personality is somewhat shy, we thought we should give him a name that represents the exact meaning thus, we tried to come up with different names for him, but finalized with Aden. He is interested in Hazel [below].
Female figurine★
Name || Hazel
Decision-making || Initially, we wanted to associate her name to that of a flower, however, she is somewhat impulsive and strong-headed, thus we gave that idea up since flowers tend to represent the meaning of gentleness and sweetness.
Woman★
Name || Elizabeth
Decision-making || First picture inside our mind was a lady who dotes her daughter a lot since she is her only child; with a happy go lucky personality.
Little Girl★
Name || Elize
Decision-making || Six-year-old curious little girl who likes to patronize the cuckoo clock shop often due to her liking of cuckoo clocks. She tends to wander around by herself, since she is always filled with curiosity over every single thing.
Roles of our Animation
Finally, we have decided on our roles once again; the official one.
Angie Lim [myself] - Storyboard Artist; Compositor.
Jerry Lim - Lead Director; Cinematographer.
Jessica Wong - Scriptwriter; Sound Designer.
Kalai - Art Director; Concept Artist.
Christina Ho - Key Assisting Animator; Rigger.
Vanessa Goh - Producer; Lead Animator; Lead Modeller.
Till next week~ ♥
Week 04♥
Monday, 16 May 2011 |10:13
During the previous week, our group has already decided on our so-called finalized character design for both the figurines, after which, we moved on to the colour schemes where every single one of us would come up with different colour schemes for the characters. In my mind, I was clear of creating a sweet, appealing outlook to the audience, such that the colours themselves would also match with the cuckoo clocks of the figurines.
Colours used: Sky Blue, Blondish Yellow, Rose Pink, Pastel Orange, Pastel Bright Green.
My colour scheme for the figurines
Deciding the colour schemes was not that simple since everyone's colour schemes has their own selling points. After which, we chose to mix & match one to two of our ideas together to form the final colours.
This week was also more of an individual assignment week since we had to hand in our individual reflections on Wednesday, 11th May. Since I had already completed my reflection beforehand, I carried on to come up with the floor plan and some views of the interior cuckoo clock shop. Before we left for home, we did some brainstorming for the story plot.
Agenda for 10th May 2011
- Floor plan to be inserted -
- Different views of shop to be inserted -
The following day was the production pipeline workshop conducted by lecturer, Jim where he explained to us clearly the significant points to be taken note of during the post-production period such as:
- Story & Concept
- Visual development e.g. characters, props, environment, etc.
- Test [model]
- Modelling & Rigging followed by Texturing for the 3D Animation section.
With that, we will work hard towards the example he has given us. I will also continue to research more on environment areas, so that our interior design or concept will be strong at the same time.
Week 03★
Sunday, 8 May 2011 |04:24
This week, our team finally decided on character design and theme for the figurines.
Theme chosen: Country [e.g. milkmaid, etc]
Setting: English Olden Days.
But before that, everyone of us tried to modify the previous character design drawn by Jerry Lim. After which, we chose the best design.
Previous Character Design
Reference for my character costumes
Credits: http://vintagedancers.org/images/peasants2_s.jpg
My Character Design
Finalized Character Design
The body rotation, figurine joints, facial expressions of figurines as well as many other things are still being worked on by the team. Vanessa, our group leader has also requested us to come up with the colour schemes for the figurines' costumes. We will then have the comparison between one another and finalized on the best, suitable one for our story.
Other Clock Designs by me
Little Girl Designs [Spoilers!]
My Logo Design
We also have to come up with the designs for our logo that will represent "Popped Corn Productions". The final chosen one was by Tina, which is to be illustrated and shown on a later date. :):)
Week 02♥
Pitching finally commerced on Tuesday, 26th April 2011 where we introduce/"sell" our idea to the lecturers. Feedbacks and comments were given back to take note of. After we are done with pitching, we settled down before listing out the learning points to work on further.
Learning points:
~ Having the wrong pitch bible,
~ Logline not strong enough,
~ Length of film to be discussed again,
~ Structure of our story; in the sense of how we are going to end it smoothly,
~ Having a too long ending &
~ Elaborate the bio-data of the character figurines more.
Portfolio powerpoint slides were to be done individually. Character biography of characters and logline to be discussed among the teammates.
A R T I S T
