Adaptation B: Daily Character 9

With Rome approaching I am now going to call it a day on the daily character challenge and further develop my favourite outcomes.

Adaptation B: Daily Character 8

Adaptation B: Daily Character 7

Adaptation B : Daily Character 6

Adaptation B Daily Character 5

Adaptation B: Daily Character 4

Critical Perspectives: Dissertation Proposal OGR

Adaptation B: Daily Character 3

Adaptation B: Daily Character 2

Adaptation B: Daily Character 1

So today I typed up some words, printed them out, cut them up and put them in a hat. I then got my mum to choose two. From the two words I then created a quick character design. I plan on doing this for at least a week, maybe more. I want to have a catalogue of designs that I can choose from to take forward and develop. Below are the two chosen words and the design.

World Animation: 'Waltz With Bashir' (2008)

Fig.1 'Waltz With Bashir' (2008) Poster

Directed by Ari Folman, 'Waltz With Bashir' (2008) is an Israeli war documentary animation that tells the story of director Folman himself and his journey to remember the lost memories of his time as a soldier in the 1982 Lebonan War. 

Fig.2 Film Still

The film stands out for its exciting use of animation, it has an odd contrast between a 3D look whilst being 2D. Each shot is carefully crafted and stands out as a piece of art by itself. This gives the animation some great 'moments'. Moments that can make an audience gasp at the beauty of certain scenes. 

If you were none the wiser about the war in Lebanon before seeing this film, then you come out of watching it with a clear idea of the suffering that must have happened. This sad and disturbing story juxtaposed with the sheer beauty of the animation combines for easy viewing. But what is interesting is the use of real world footage at the end of the film. This is such hard contrast compared to what the viewer has been watching for the last 90 minutes. It's a shock to see such harrowing images at the end of the film. It's not censored and it's left without explanation and makes a real impact on the viewer. 

Fig.3 Film Still

'Waltz With Bashir' is innovative for it's style and mode of storytelling. Although at it's core it's actually a true story told by it's creator, you can't help but think that it's fictional. Which is something you would assume the country of Lebanon wishes it was. The film is actually banned there although has been seen by some Lebanese critics. 

Overall the film is proof that even subjects with such harrowing content can create inspiring films that deal with social issues in new ways. Ari Folman created a masterpiece of animation.

Illustrations

Figure. 1 'Waltz With Bashir' (2009) [Poster] At:http://1.marmolak.net/uploads/2014/6/waltz-with-bashir.jpg Accessed on: 17/02/2017

Figure. 2 [Film Still] At: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--_yjqLqL3CQ/Utrooi6kcqI/AAAAAAAAFJc/yFDeuAAsLiw/s1600/Waltz+with+Bashir+(4).jpg Accessed on: 17/02/2017

Figure. 3 [Film Still] At: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/sony/WaltzWithBashir/WaltzWithBashir_3.jpg Accessed on" 17/02/2017

Maya Tutorial: Pipeline 1 UV Part 1 and 2

Adaptation B - 'Pinocchio' Body Thumbnails

Each one of these poses many opportunities for a fun character design. I like the circular body and the final long body most at the moment. I prefer the arms on the second as I like how they are attached to the body, I can imagine them on a kind of pivot that swings back and forth. Maybe a combination of the two would result in a happy medium.

Adaptation B - What If?

"Lies, my dear boy, are found out immediately, because they are of two sorts. There are lies that have short legs and lies that have long noses. Your lie, as it happens, is one of this that have a long nose" 

What if Pinocchio never became a real boy? 

I want my Adaptation B project to be based upon the character of Pinocchio. Specifically the Carlo Collodi version. 'The Adventures of Pinocchio'. I will create a character design and 3D Model of the character as if his wish never came true, and for the rest of his life he was a puppet. I want the character to have aged and not be the young boy that the world knows to be Pinocchio, instead he will be older and flawed. 

Pinocchio's flaws are the things that will help to drive the design. 

Collogi describes him as a rascal, a disgrace, confirmed rogue, scapegrace, ragamuffin, imp, and obnoxious. It is said he always gets out of trouble which could mean he is quite a sly character. His creator (father) Gepetto once called him a "Wretched Boy".

All of this description helps with shaping the characters future story and the way in which I will design them for the project.

The Cone Of Cogency

Technophobia in the Sci-Fi Genre

Chapter 1

Sci-fi Genre

????

Chapter 2

Define Technophobia

Deconstruct Technophobia into Sub-genres

(Feminism, Alienation Theory, Uncanny Valley)

Chapter 3

Case Studies

(Ex-Machina, Metropolis...)

Adaptation B - Idea Change

Personally, I felt that my 'Gonna Get Yer' idea was dead in the water, I struggled to find the momentum that would propel my excitement for it. I have decided to drop the idea and look at something different. 

I want to Design a character, or set of characters, that would be for a Saturday morning cartoon show.

I would design the characters and create an (after effects) animated teaser for an upcoming cartoon whilst also adapting the designs to work as quirky, 3D action figure models which would be made in Maya. 

I have been looking at western folk tales and one that has stood out to me is 'El Muerto'.

Full story here 

In broad terms, the tale tells of a Mexican outlaw man named 'Vidal' who was killed (beheaded) by Texan Ranger, 'Bigfoot Wallace'. He then strapped the dead body and head to a horse and set it on it's way. This frightened many people. Although the body was thwarted by those brave enough to do so and the horse was put at ease. But some say they still see the ghost of 'El Muerto' riding across the moonlit land.

Characters:

El Muerto (Alive and dead)

Bigfoot Wallace

Creed Taylor

Adaptation A - Infographic Submission

Mudbox/Maya - Maya Pig

Proof Of Concept Presentation

World Animation - 'Sita Sings The Blues' (2008)

Fig.1 'Sita Sings the Blues' Poster

'Sita Sings the Blues' (2008) is a film that was lovingly made by its creator, Nina Paley. Known by many within the animation world the film follows the story of Ramayana, an ancient indian poem about Prince Rama's struggle to rescue his wife Sita from demon king, Ravana. 

Fig.2 Film Still

It's obvious that the film was meticulously crafter by Paley, each scene is animated differently. At times it's very loose, hand drawn animation, the next, it is clean looking vector art characters animated on after effects. At times the characters look like they are puppets with the way they move. 

The way in which the styles change throughout the film bring a new lease of life as it is constantly changing,  as a viewer you are constantly seeing something new when you go back to each scene.

As well as the ever changing visuals, there are also musical numbers which also enhance the experience. Sadly it was this addition that lead to copyright problems for Paley. Although she made sure the 1920's recordings she used were not under copyright, issues surrounding this began to surface which lead to the film having to be released free to the world.

Fig.3 Film Still

Despite all the problems that Nina Paley encountered with the film, 'Sita Sings the Blues' is a clear example of a one woman production company, it is crafted beautiful and is wonderfully funny at times. It would be a great film to show during religious study classes. It's fun, exciting and a great lesson in animation.

Illustrations

Figure 1. 'Sita Sings the Blues' (2008) [Poster] At: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PLI1WVPkpgY/maxresdefault.jpg Accessed on: 03/02/2017

Figure 2. [Film Still] At:http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/images/06.RamHanuSitaRainReflect.jpg Accessed on: 03/02/2017

Figure 3. [Film Still] At: http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/images/ShadowPuppets01.jpg Accessed on: 03/02/2017

Maya Tutorial - Dive Roll Animation

I feel that the ending still needs some fine tuning on the poses but overall, it's getting there.

Mudbox - Week 3

So, I have made more progress on my head model by adding some texture to give the hair parts of the body a different look in comparison to the skin. I also gave it a quick paint to see how it would look.

Adaptation A - Opening Shot

To begin my animation I wanted it to come across as if it was a short educational film put out for television adverts and an educational film for trainee actors planning to start working as a horror character. I also put in a subtle little easter egg, as it's known, for any fans of the 'Scream' franchise.