09/08/15 - Prop work

Spent most of the weekend working on my prop.  As it is a more or less simple shape with a lot of less simple facets, it has been easy enough constructing the shape.  The faces are more of a problem, as a lot of them are triangle shaped, which causes problems in the mesh once it is smoothed.  Currently I'm working on refining this, but here is the basic set up of the faces in the meantime:

If it were possible, I would like to simply leave the mesh the way it is now and not have to think about the smoothed version.  As it stands though, I need to reinforce some of the edge and work out how to keep all those triangles pointy without having the thing warp in on itself.

I've also been working on the character who is technically a part of this prop and have made a couple of character sheets to test out colors and things for them.  The first is a color test, and the second is what they would look like with texture and a blue overlay, since they would be underneath the ice in the final prop:

While designing this character, there were a few things I wanted to keep in mind:

• Vasili is a Druid and is supposed to have a very ambiguous gender and could be either male or female.  In reality, they are neither.  They're basically a plant, just like Embry is basically a lump of clay.
• I chose a lot of earthy colors for them - brows and greens, going for a tree or flower sort of theme.  The palettes at the beginning and end of the row are my favorite ones, though chances are I'll be using the one on the end for my final piece of them.
• They are meant to represent Embry's opposite, so are tall where he is short, dark where he is light and have sleepier eyes and longer fingers than his.  Like a tree, they just want to sit in the sun and photosynthesize, but doing it alone can be quite lonely.
• Most importantly, Vasili  takes inspiration from a character created by maedaeme on tumblr, and their likeness in this project has been used with permission.

The only thing I need to draw of them now is the frozen pose from my storyboards and animatic - I've already got the sketch finished, and hope to complete the rest of it tonight.

06/08/15 - The Current State of Affairs

I've fallen pretty far behind in my workload due to being sick all week, which has been quite frustrating.  There are a few pre-production things I haven't been able to do because of the illness, so today I just jumped straight into trying to model my prop.  Here's a screenshot of my work so far:

Adding extra lines to the mesh has proven to be quite difficult though, as its very hard to get them to line up evenly.

03/08/15 - Animatic!

Completed the animatic for my storyboard:

It currently sits at 11 seconds rather than the 6 we're supposed to have, which is a little worrying, but tutor explained that I could easily cut part of the introduction out and just jump straight into the story.

(In case the animatic doesn't work, it can also be found here on my tumblr)

I've also been doing a bit of prop work, and through drawing up my storyboards, I have decided on the type of gemstone cut for my crystal.  For a while I dithered between the oval and marquise cuts that are used for diamonds, but I think for my prop I'll be using the marquise.

Googling the cut of the diamond itself leads to some references of how the faces line up on both the front and back sides, which is going to be quite helpful for modelling the crystal this week.

29/07/15 - Scenery test

Messing around with Maya for the first half of the lesson today, I decided to see if I could create an ice crystal with a figure inside it.  Sculpting the crystal was easy enough with a cylinder primitive and adding a figure was just a simple matter of putting a transparent image on a 2D plane.  The two combined better than I expected them to, and I was able to create a small, illuminated diamond as a result!

You can see the actual video here on my tumblr, blogger won't upload it for some reason.

I intend to spend the rest of the afternoon working on an animatic, so hopefully that will be placed up here later on.

28/07/15 - Storyboards

Completed Storyboards for submission!
I haven't really deviated much from the original idea that I had for this scenario, but framing camera shots has never been one of my strong points.  Now that I have a basic structure down, I may experiment with conceptual shots and camera angles, and I also intend to make up a proper prop reference sheet and do some color tests.  I may also do an animatic some time in the near future, as our tutor has told us many times to work out the timing of our frames!

STORYBOARDS:

27/07/15 - Frozen diamonds and things

Sculpted a very simple crystal/gemstone/rupee model in Maya:

Though this isn't quite what I want for my prop, its good to know that making the general shape of the crystal is simple enough.  I could probably make a formation by adding a bunch of them together, though texturing that might be a little more difficult.

I've also drawn a page of concept art:
[[image pending]]

Which led me to looking into gemstones on matrix - having the idea of a cut and faceted crystal/mirror set in a rougher or more natural piece of ice.

27/07/15 - Storyboarding and Environment exploration

This week's goal is to develop storyboards for our scenario.  I've already set up a very basic one, seen earlier in this blog.  But here it is again:

• Tutor has suggested that I look at the source material for inspiration and observe how the shots there were framed and set up.  
• He also suggested that I compare the character and its color palette with my prop and see how the two of them look beside one another.  
• This would require me to design a model sheet for the prop itself - not required for this week but probably very handy to have around nonetheless.
• I need to look into how the prop and general environment will affect the character and its colors, as well as the way that the shots for my sequence are framed.  I'm probably going to need to sketch up a concept for my environment in order to help to establish this.

I do have a very quick pen sketch of how I would like the room to look, however:

[[Image Pending]]

A google search of 'ice room' led to the discovery of ice hotels, which have many rooms carved or built with ice.  Looking through them I can see a very distinct palette of cool whites, lighter blues and blue-green/aqua.  Greens, purples and occasionally pinks seem to provide a highlight or tint for most of these.

Elsa's castle from Frozen also presents a nice source of inspiration:

26/07/15 - Concept Development

Final notes for my scenario and concept!  All put into one tidy post for submission.

SEQUENCE:
The sequence is set in a frozen room, set into motion by Embry stepping into the bottom of the frame.  He walks forward. crossing the room as the camera pans up to reveal a large, icy mirror at the room's end.  Embry approaches the mirror in awe and wonder, his eyes widening in surprise as he sees his beloved trapped beneath the surface.  He reaches his hands out and rests them gently upon the ice, and a soft piano note plays out as the panel glows in all the colors of an aurora beneath his hands.  His fingers move over each of the mirror's facets, trying to find a way to reach Vasili as they all chime softly, lighting up under his fingertips.  As the glow fades away and plunges the room back into cold light, Embry looks helplessly at his frozen lover and tears well in his eyes.

CHARACTER:
Embry is a small golem who is searching for his lost love.  He is short and quite bottom heavy, featuring a slender torso and arms, but rather large, thick legs and feet.  He is made of clay and is textured appropriately, with a fabric wrap around his waist and a headband on his brow.  He has a smooth, rounded face with large eyes and a small nose.  A few shallow cracks are present in his clay, as he has been walking for a very long time searching for Vasili.  Though he is small, he is very determined and very emotional after having been separated from them for such a long time.


GENRE:
I am taking the Family genre of Big and turning it into a Romantic Tragedy.

26/07/15 - Character Model Sheet

Reposting a few things from yesterday, but here is the character sheet for submission!

CHARACTER TURN AROUND:

CHARACTER POSES AND EXPRESSIONS:

COLOR AND PATTERN SWATCHES:

25/07/15 - Character Development

Trying to work towards the submission deadline on Monday.  Here's the finished expression sheet for Embry!

• As I wanted him to be a very expressive character, I've tried to include a lot of poses here with a decent array of expressions.
• The ones I'll be using for the scenario are mostly going to be surprise, wonder and sadness, but I thought it would help to add things like disinterest and anger in as well, just to show his range of motion.
• The design of his eyes was specifically chosen to express his emotions - in most of these, they're a pretty clear indicator of how he's feeling.  His hair adds to the expression as well, changing shape depending on his moods.

Also here's a few poses of him doing various things:

And a color sheet featuring a variety of swatches and patterns that I thought would suit him.  All swatches have been taken from Colour Lovers.

• Solidified the idea that Embry was going to be a golem, and so picked out color palettes that would suit him.  Most of these are earthy colors that remind me of clay and clay formations.  Embry was made with clay or mud and I wanted his colors to reflect that.
• After asking for my classmates' opinions on facebook, it was decided that the bottom middle palette was the best choice for his final design.
• I'm still rather fond of the top middle and right palettes however, and feel like they look more appropriate for a man made of clay.  I'm sticking with the popularity vote for the meantime, though adjustments may be made in the future.
• I also experimented with a few simple patterns, as clay comes in a variety of colors and tends to marble together.  I feel like it gives Embry a very tribal or primitive look, which fits in with being a simple figure made of clay.

24/07/15 - Concept update

Not much interesting today either, just posting a WIP of my character's turnaround:

There's still a lot undecided about Embry, especially in terms of golem characteristics, but I do feel like his design here is a lot like the pop'n music one.  

• This may still change for future development, but as a golem I want him to have a grounded and steady feel to him, but still feel human.  
• This is the main reason why he's thinner on top and more solid towards the bottom.  The triangle motif that repeats from the points of his feet to the designs on his wrap, as well as his nose.
• His face is full of organic teardrop shapes.  His dreadlocks, eyes and overall face shape have the curves to suggest softness and youth.
• Future developments will probably contain a lot of texturing, as he is a small figure made of clay.
• I might also add a flower somewhere on him to suggest a link to the druid in the ice crystal.

23/07/15 - Backstory and Prop development

Not much of an update today, just tweaked a few things for the backstory of my scenario.

UPDATE NOTES:

• Embry has made the transition from a mundane human to a fully fleshed clay figure.  Following an idea from a previous entry, he now has a space in his chest where a clay heart is missing.
• Vasili, the figure encased in my frozen mirror prop, is still his lost love and holds his heart. I wasn't sure what I wanted to make them, but have decided upon a forest druid.  I would like their design to be ambiguous, with lots of cooler greens, purples and dark browns.  They would be clothed in things reminiscent of leaves and flowers and incorporate bark inspired textures where possible.
• The fact that I don't have to render them in 3D means that I have a little more freedom with their design.  However, this means that the texture of my prop might be a tad on the intricate side drawing-wise, seeing as they will be encased in it.
• Tutor also suggested that instead of having the ice mirror flat on one side, I make it faceted like a diamond.  This way I could have Embry touch the faces of the crystal and have them light up instead of him running his fingers over a flat surface.

REVISED STORY:

 The Story now goes that a forest druid named Vasili grew lonely roaming the forest on their own and longed for someone to talk to and share the history of the woods with.  They fashioned a small golem out of clay and breathed life into it, naming him Embry as he sparked a fire in their heart.

The two became inseparable and the creator found themselves falling in love with their creation.  They promised the clay figure a heart and set about making one, but before they could bestow it upon him, a jealous frost witch swooped down and imprisoned the druid, taking them away to her citadel of ice far over the mountains.  

Embry was left with a hole where his heart should have been, realizing that he could only feel complete if he was reunited with Vasili, that he could only love them back if he found them and the heart they had made for him. The little golem set off for the frost covered tundra, determined to win his beloved, and his heart back.

Upon reaching the Citadel. he finds Vasili at the end of a frozen corridor, encased in a vast icy mirror.  Upon touching the mirror its faces light up beneath his hands, shifting and glowing in an aurora of colors as soft piano notes echo about the hall.  He can see that the druid has his heart in their hands, but there is no way to break the glass.

PROP:

Some inspirations for the frozen druid/ice mirror prop were aura quartz and crystals in general, cut diamonds, and flowers in ice:

In terms of characters and pose, it made me think of the Shiva Summon from Final Fantasy, as well as Elixir from episode 10 of King of Bandit Jing:

And some palette ideas for the Vasili part of the prop:

22/07/15 - Character Development

After speaking to tutor, I have decided to really buckle down and do some visual research concerning my leading character, Embry.

• Embry is a young man who was initially nothing more than a mundane human.  He is on the search for the love of his life and has come to the frozen citadel in hopes of finding them there.  He dresses in warm colors and has large, expressive eyes and a fierce determination to find his lover.  He also sports dreadlocks, as they're a feature that I both love and that relates back to the image drawn by baruyon.
• I have considered making him more along the lines of a clay golem or based on the sun, with his lover Vasili representing ice/air, or the moon.  With this idea, he would appear topless, with a heart shaped hole in his chest, adding to the theme of 'searching for completeness'.  His heart is encased in ice, clasped in Vasili's hands.

Character-wise, I have a few inspirations.  There is the afore mentioned inspiration art done by baruyon, but also a piece by butterpaws













Style-wise I have drawn inspiration from the Pop'n Music franchise style of art, and the host of characters that come from there

Model-wise are two games that I would like to use as a basis for developing my character model.  The first is the mii population from Tomodachi Life for the 3DS - I have recreated the character from the original inspiration drawing here.  The second is the silent protagonist from a game called The Neverhood, who has a very curious and innocent personality and a rather unique design.

I also browsed through Colour Lovers for a few palette ideas

21/07/15 - Permafrost Proposal

Big is a family movie that follows the adventure of a boy named Josh, who wishes he was an adult and gets placed in the body of a 30 year old man.  The key scene in this movie is when Josh finds an enormous keyboard in the floor and proceeds to walk all over it, awed and amused as it lights up beneath his feet and plays charming piano notes.  He grows excited and taps out a tune with his feet.  It is a very lighthearted scene, full of childlike wonder and amusement, and features bright bursts of color against a relatively white and colorless background, highlighting the important elements (the keyboard) and characters (Josh).

My proposal is to take this scene and change the genre to Romance/Tragedy.  Permafrost (working title) follows the adventure of two lovers, separated by jealousy and circumstance.  It takes place in a modern universe with touches of fantasy elements, following the journey of a young man named Embry as he travels through an arctic wasteland searching for Vasili, his lost love.  The scene I intend to create is something of a climactic moment as Embry enters the icy citadel where his beloved is being kept, walking up a long and frigid corridor to find a vast, icy mirror at its end with his Vasili suspended inside in peaceful slumber.  He approaches the mirror in wonder and grief, reaching out to touch the faceted surface, fingertips trailing over the faces of the icy diamond as they light up like an aurora beneath his hand.  It would seem that there is no way past the glassy surface, and as the realization strikes him, he rests his hands against the image of his lover's heart with tears welling in his eyes.

---

Both the characters and the idea were inspired by a piece I commissioned from baruyon/barukurii:

source: http://baruyon.tumblr.com/post/103768120810

The image itself inspires feelings of being very warm and comforting, and the two characters seem to complement and complete one another in the way that they are portrayed as opposites with light/dark tones.  I would like to base the characters for this assignment on these two, incorporating the similar theme of light/dark and the idea of completeness through opposites.  The color palette would be nothing like the one featured in this image, however, focusing more on overall much colder colors and presenting a more sorrowful and melancholy atmosphere.

For the character models themselves, I have been considering something similar to the mii characters from Nintendo.  The models are simple and charming with customizeable faces, heights and colors, but the most interesting and intriguing part about them to me is how their facial features (eyes, nose, mouth) have flat, 2D elements or textures that seem to sit just a little way out from the actual surface of their faces.

Here is a screenshot I took a while back from my Tomodachi Life game.  The distance between the features and face is somewhat noticeable with the mii on the left in blue - particularly on the glasses and lips, but I've noticed the outline of the nose does it too.  I'm thinking about perhaps incorporating something similar into my own figures, so that I don't have to worry so much about sculpting eyes and lips on my character model.

20/07/15 - Modelling character

Began designing character today.  Sketches pending.

Though I did sculpt a head/torso in Maya, just to see if I could remember how to do it.  If nothing else, this assures me that what I want to sculpt is quite possible, even at such an early point.

I also began to draw up a few character concepts, but I'm still a little lost on what I'd like to see from the characters themselves.  For now though, I have a few sketches that use Nintendo's Miis and the art style from the Pop'n Music franchise as a point of reference.

I focused a lot more on how the polygons would look and work rather than on the actual design for the character, but if nothing else, at least I have some idea of his proportions and how I'd like him to look.  Further development is necessary, of course, but I think I need to sort out my proposal and run it by my tutor before going any further.

15/07/15 - Conceptual art/development

After putting more thought into the two scenarios, I planned out storyboards for the both of them to try and figure out which one I would rather work with:

LOTR:

Man approaches bed --> Expression changes to shock and dismay --> Matte painted woman wearing 3D belt --> You shall not pass

BIG:

Boy approaches glass --> Rests fingers on glass --> tries to touch his lover through glass --> looks sad and hopeless


Comparing the two of them side by side, I've decided to go with the second option and use the Big scenario.  As a sucker for tragedy, I feel like it invokes a better emotive feel than the comedic LotR scenario, and is one that I'd prefer to work with.


I've begun thinking about designs for the prop; a large ice mirror/crystal that encases the character's love interest.  I intend to draw up a mood board later, but for now I have a few concepts: