Eyes of Clay
Animation Proposal by John Mellor
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| Figure1: Jack Wilson |
Logline:
Jack Wilson, an aspiring sculptor, creates a perfect
artwork but at a great cost
Treatment
Jack is sitting down at a table in a workshop,
trying to sculpt a face with a fast, air drying clay. The workshop is a bit dusty and clay packets
are strewn across the table. A few sketch books are also on the table with
drawings of characters in them. Jack has
the base of the face sculpted and details of the face in place. The head is scratched, ready for the hair to
be attached.
Jack is
having trouble making the hair, after a few variations he gets really
frustrated and slumps down in defeat. His hand rests upon a sketch book which
he absentmindedly flicks through and seeing a medusa head stops and light bulb
appears. He quickly creates a medusa head.
Jack then paints the work a stone grey colour
reflecting the nature of the gorgon race. Thinking that this is not enough he
paints the eyes a reddish colour, as he paints the last part of the eye the
eyes glow and widen turning jacks’ horrified figure to stone.
Jacks stone figure is exhibited in a gallery with
lots of people clapping wowed by the realistic piece of artwork.
Research
For
the visual style of this film I have been inspired by 2D animations and 3D
films done in a 2D look. A number of films and games use this technique but
some have a darker, grittier feel which is not the intended style for my
animation. Some examples of this are: Appleseed (Anime), Angel Beats ep1. 19 min in (The
Band scene), Berserk (movies), Howl's Moving Castle (The Castle is in 3D), The
Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (anime), The Iron Giant (anime, the giant is in
3D), Valkyria Chronicles (anime), Black Rock Shooter (anime) and Full Metal
alchemist Brotherhood ep25. 16 min in and 21min in. (Envy is in 3D)
These
show a variety of styles but the following have been more influential in
regards to intended style and character design.
RWBY.
Created by Mounty Oum
RWBY has won a 2014 IAWTV award as best animated
series and also has won two Streamy Awards; best Animated Series and best
Original Score both in 2014. Mounty Oum has only recently passed away at the
age of 33 after suffering a severe allergic reaction during a simple medical
procedure that left him in a coma, from which he didn’t awaken.
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| Figure2: Ruby VS werewolves |
RWBY is stylistically similar to what I would like
my animation to look like. The colour scheme is really well portrayed in
this series; the characters are strong and vibrant and the background scenes as
well as other characters are just simple silhouettes. The Grimm in RWBY are
silhouettes, with minimal colours.
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| Figure3: RWBY extras |
The extra characters in RWBY are very basic, plain
greys enhance the main characters and focuses the attention on them.
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| Figure4: Ruby's hood |
Ruby with her red hood. The hood which I have taken and used in my
own design, though Ruby’s hood is in the form of her cape and mine is in the
fashion of a hoodie.
Ruby and the rest of the RWBY characters have very
basic face shapes. Their emotions are
seen throughout the series especially in action shots such as in figure 5
above.
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| Figure6: circle of blood |
The story behind RWBY takes place in the world of
Remnant, which is filled with supernatural forces and shadowy creatures known
as the Grimm. Prior to the events of the series, mankind waged a battle of
survival against the Grimm before discovering the power of a mysterious element
called Dust, which allowed them to fight back against the monsters. In the
present day, Dust is used to power magical abilities and weapons. Those who use
these abilities to battle the Grimm are known as Huntsmen and Huntresses.
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| Figure7: Concept art of RWBY |
The series focuses on four girls, each with their
own unique weapon and powers. Together, they form a team at Beacon Academy in
the city of Vale, where they are trained to become Huntresses. The name RWBY comes from the first letter of
each of the four girls names; Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang.
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| Figure8: Team RWBY |
Probably one of the best things that I like in this
series is the humour, something that I’d like my animation to have. You can see the trailer of RWBY at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE-zt1K560U
Sanzoku no Musume Ronja
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| Figure9: Ronja the Robbers Daughter |
While I will not be having amazingly detailed
backgrounds as seen above, the very simple design of the character is pushed
forward by this.
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| Figure10: Clean lines of characters |
The actions of the characters are very fluid and very believable.
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| Figure11: Ronja with bow |
Characters are all in 3D made to look like 2D. The environments are a combination of 3D and
mattes.
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| Figure12: Drawings of a child Ronja |
The story is of a little girl named Ronja, the daughter of a colourful robber chieftain who lives in a castle high on a rock in a dark pine forest. She gets to know the creatures of the forest, meets another kid like herself, and questions her father’s life of robbery. The above picture shows an initial sketch of the baby Ronja. It is this ‘chubby cheek’ look that I will bring into my animation. You can see the trailer of Ronja the Robbers Daughter at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taVjOeA4o3g
Child of light
Child of light is a PC game produced by Patrick Plourde of Ubisoft Montreal Studios. It is an RPG
inspired by fairy tales. This game also has amazing matte backgrounds and
colour, just as Ronja the Robbers Daughter.
Child of light follows the female character Aurora a princess who is in
a deep sleep and explores the mystical land of Lemuria in an attempt to get
back to her father. She encounters other
creatures, from spirits of the forest to talking mice to wicked witches and
evil sea serpents.
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| Figure13: Child of Light |
Child of Light is another example of 3D characters
made to look like 2D.
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| Figure14: Hand painted storyboards |
The way the game is played is in a 2D ‘sidescroller’
with the story being told as though it is from a storybook. This goes really
well with the way in which the game is drawn, by hand.
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| Figure15: The dark woods of Lemuria |
The Backgrounds and characters while sometimes
appear almost murky due to the watercolour approach have defining black
outlines.
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| Figure16: Chosen for colour palette |
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| Figure17: Screenshot from game |
I’m not entirely sure if I like the style or the
character design more, but I believe that the story would not have worked so
well without the other. I do however
enjoy in the trailer for Child of Light the way in which the layers are used to
create z-depth. There is a warm innocent style to the work which ties in nicely
with a more family orientated audience.
You can also see this in the way the story is told,
the narration of the first 10 min (roughly) which uses a children’s poem. You
can see the trailer for Child of light at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpqTiwfzqdo
Main Character Influences
A major factor is that my character needs to match
the tone of the story. The animation that I am making is a family comedy and so
my character has to be able to perform unrealistic actions and not look
ridiculous doing it. My character is
roughly 3 heads high and is disproportioned, which adds to the comedic
effect. However I have drawn
inspiration from a variety of different sources that don’t necessarily show
this exact style.
Brave
Determined to make her own path in life, Princess
Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish,
Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse
after she makes a reckless choice.
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| Figure18: Title of Brave |
Set in Scotland in a rugged and mythical time,
"Brave" features Merida, an aspiring archer and impetuous daughter of
royalty.
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| Figure19: Terrible trio |
It is the naughty but charming nature of this chubby
cheeked trio that are one of the major sources of inspiration. The faces of the characters drew you in
through their personality and diminutive style.
These characters have oversized heads which match my own character’s
style.
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| Figure20: Merida |
I really like the colours in this image, the
character stands out against the muted and pushed back background, and this is
something that I could use when showing z-depth in my animation. You can see
the trailer for brave at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEHWDA_6e3M
Legend of Secret Pass
A 2010 animated film about a young boy’s journey as
he fulfils the legend of secret pass as its guardian. The 'Legend of Secret Pass' takes place in
the mountains of the South West and involves Thunderbirds of Indian mythology
and an animal refuge of mystical proportions. An unlikely troop of animals and
humans are caught up in a clash of ageless magic. In this moment of crisis, the
barest chance to avoid cataclysm falls into the hands of an Indian boy, Manu,
the hero of the story.
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| Figure21: The Legend of Secret Pass |
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| Figure22: Close up of Manu |
I really like the circular face, the base shape for
my character. I think that this shape is
great for portraying emotions and it lends to the personality of the character.
(Spoiler Alert) Manu can
change into a thunderbird once he learned how and this transformation becomes
much of his personality as his human form.
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| Figure23: the round face of Manu |
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| Figure24: Spirit Mountain |
The colour palette for this film works really well
in depicting the different areas, such as the mountain in the scene below.
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| Figure25: The quirky lamb from Secret Pass |
The characters and animals in this film are really
funny. The lamb is particularly energetic which creates a good dialogue between
the characters and contrasts with the sourly nature of the lizard. You can see
the trailer for The Legend of Secret Pass at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPUJy2DYRZw
Environment
The setting of my story revolves around a work area
where Jack Wilson can create his artwork.
Below are a few examples of work stations, influenced by light and
texture.
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| Figure26: workshop environment |
This is quite an immaculate work area and I was
looking more at the natural light from the outside.
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| Figure27: Studio environment |
The wooden floor and the wooden desks is a bit too
much, the grungy floor is probably the redeeming factor. This ties into my project as with this type
of grungy or muted background style, will push my character forward in z-depth.
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| Figure28: Lighting for environment |
This is another style but rather than the grungy
look this is very clean. It is more the
light source that I was interested in.
My environment is in a classroom with large windows on two of its walls.
Medusa Story
My animation uses the age old fable of Medusa, in a contemporary
way. As with legends there are many
versions of Medusa, so I have taken the basic denominators of the stories and
used this as my basis for the medusa in my animation. Medusa is a gorgon, a woman that had been
cursed by the goddess Athena for making love to a man who was not her husband.
Her hair was turned into a mass of writhing snakes; all who looked upon her and
met her gaze were turned to stone. There
are so many examples of this legend that picking images to reference was pretty
easy.
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| Figure29: Medusa character |
This image shows quite a stylised and cartoony Medusa which gives her an almost likeable charm. I was more drawn to the eyes of this medusa,
which like my character are very expressive and large.
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| Figure30: Medusa and optometrist |
This is my favourite Medusa image. I just love the irony in the posture and the
composition of an optometrist working on a Medusa character. The nose cracking shows the rock texture off
well and this is something that I may use in my animation.
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| Figure31: Medusa head |
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| Figure32: Medusa sketch |
The above two images are a really good reference
regarding how my medusas eyes could light up and they are both in a head (bust)
position which is how my gorgon will be positioned. They also show very definitive snakes whereas
some of the other images that I have referenced are blurry and more stylised.
Storyboards
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