Turnarounds

When it came to producing the necessary character turn arounds, I decided that it wasn't necessary to produce full turns for every character, because some of them would only be visible from a front view or side on. Therefore I only produced the turn sheet that were necessary as a way of being economical with my time.

Design Choice

Whilst creating these first two sets of turnarounds above, I was able to kill two birds with one stone. They designs for these two are the same, except for their hair and their colours. I decided to give these two characters the same design because, I wanted it to be clear in the animation that these two characters know each other, and that they are similar in age. I also wanted to keep consistency between them because they have the longest interaction time. I also found that normalising these two characters more, would help in separating them slightly from the environment around them. 

Policeman

For the policeman character, it didn't make sense to produce a full 360 sheet, because he is only visible in the animation from the three angles shown above. Therefore this sheet would do it's job without showing the character from every angle. 

Character Size Sheet

As part of the character design process, I created a size comparison sheet in order to get a clear idea of exactly how each character compares in size. Although not all of these characters do interact or even end up in the same shot together, I still wanted to establish their sizes. This would also offer reference when creating the backgrounds, because I would need to know how big or small each character would need to look in relation to their surroundings. 

The character of the shopkeeper is only visible from the waist up in the animation, however it seemed logical for me to include her in this sheet because I needed to establish how much taller she would be in comparison to the main character. 

Outcome

This resulted in me gaining a much clearer understanding of exactly how these character would compare to one another in size. One of the most important things I needed to establish was how much taller the policeman was next to the main character, because these character have a lot of interaction. This was also a good opportunity to see the colour palates of each character next to one another. 

Study Task 3: Creating My Art Book

As part of our exhibition of pre-production work, we were required to create an art book, showing some of our development work to date. At this point I had a sufficient amount of art work, however the only thing I didn't have completed was a full story board. However, I solved this by drawing up the first four panels in colour, with text so I could at least show the first couple of scenes.

What Did I Learn From This?

Firstly, this allowed me to become more familiar with inDesign, which I actually came to really enjoy using. Also, it got me used to being more selective with my own work & to think about the most professional way to present it. This also put me in a good position to know exactly what I still needed to do in regards to pre-production.

Sopranos - Dream Sequence

After developing some environmental sketches, it was pointed out to me by a fellow animator, that the designs really reminded him of a dream sequence from The Sopranos. There is segment between 4:00 & 5:00 minuets that shows a large hall, with two people sat opposite one another. After watching this I realised that it gave off the same vibe of a mysterious & crumbled reality that I had been trying to create.

How did this influence my work?

Although this still from the video looks quite random, it really made me eager to make windows a prominent part of the second, larger environment. In my opinion, the incorporation of natural light adds a bigger element of "dreaminess" so this was something I became very aware of. 

Lucid Dreaming - Documentary

Although I am very familiar with the concept of Lucid Dreaming, I decided to spend some time researching other people's experiences, in order to see if this would give me any further ideas to go towards my animation. Whilst researching, I came across a Youtube Documentary called "The Lucid Dreamer" from a guy named Charley Morley who is a Lucid Dream teacher.

During this documentary there were certain facts that came up that I had no idea about. Not only did this influence my work, believe it or not it actually taught me a things or two about lucid dreaming & as a result this allowed me to lucid dream for longer and more frequently through out the production of this film!

Some of the key things I picked up from this documentary were:

• The hand test - in order to determine for sure if you are asleep or awake, you should look at the palm of your hands, look away and then look at them again. Whilst you sleep, the part of your brain that remembers fine details is not engaged, therefore if you are dreaming, your hands will look different the second time around. 
• Maintaining Dream Control - The key to maintaining a Lucid Dream is to not get over excited. You should stay calm and acknowledge that you are dreaming out loud, that way you are more likely to stay in the dream for longer. 

How did this benefit my work?

Once of the most helpful aspects that came from this documentary was being able to learn how to maintain dream control. Because of this I was then able to consciously take in my surroundings & be aware of how vivid they were. This has resulted in me having a better idea of how I want to represent the surrounding environments in my animation. I want them to be detailed & intriguing, however I will be using quite a narrow colour palette, in order to prevent there being too much for the audience to take in. 

Policeman Development

After carrying out research & spending some time doodling, I was able to produce some more finalised drawings of this character. This was also helpful in allowing me to create some effective turnarounds!

I wanted this character to be constantly smiling. I felt this would allow his brief presence in this narrative to be all the more odd. 

Policeman Inspiration

The character of the policeman in this animation, is without a doubt going to be the strangest character of them all. In the dream I had when i was young, I was stood in an ice-cream, for reasons I have no clue, but I was stred down by a huge policeman who started laughing at me. When this happened I noticed he had lots of fruit at the back of his throat, it almost looked as though it was growing there.

I decided this would be a really good opportunity to recreate this very intimidating yet strange character. Once of the animations that popped into my head when considering the design for this character, was Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away. There were many moments in this film where characters seemed to look extremely intimidating, particularly when they opened up their mouths in laughter.

This feeling of unease is something I really wanted to convey through my design of this character, which is why I wasn't afraid to make him quite creepy. 

Shot Framing

Another thing that I have had to consider when presenting this character is the use of shot framing. For example, i feel that including shots that show him from below could really make the audience feel uncomfortable. This is something I really considered when storyboarding! 

Further Character Development

For the character designs in this animation, I new from the beginning that I didn't want them to be over complicated, because I didn't want all attention to be just on the characters. The environment itself plays a huge part in this story, so I decided to go with character. I began by doing lots of development drawings in my sketchbook as a way of establishing a clearer idea for my designs.

        After I had a clearer idea of the aesthetic I wanted to go for I then continued on to create some watercolour tests. 

I decided that I wanted to use either digital watercolour, either alone or mixed with traditional watercolour. At this point these tests were also a way of establishing the appropriate colour palettes. 

Outcome

After spending time experimenting with watercolours I realised how well it worked in creating a dream like aesthetic. This allowed me to come to my discussion of definitely using watercolours, weather it be digital or not. After playing about with colour I felt I was now in a position where I could establish more definite colours. 

Character Research

Since I knew I wanted to create simplistic character designs that would still be effective, I decided to do some research on simplistic character designs. This allowed me to get an idea of what other physical features would take the design of my characters to the next level. 

Outcome

I already had the idea of rounded heads & small facial features. This seemed to be something that was quite prominent in my research. It was interesting to analyse the different variations of leg design, since I knew I wanted the female character in this animation to be quite "lanky." Also, it reiterated the importance of colour to me. I knew that if I was going to have detailed surrounding environments, I would need to ensure that the colourings of these characters would not draw too much attention away from their surroundings, or clash with them. 

Carrying out this research made me more keen on the idea of producing quite simple characters, not just to make them easier to animate, but more so because it didn't seem appropriate to have super complex designs for this narrative.

Inspiration - Muuamo Animation

Whilst spending some time scouting through the web for some new inspiration I came across an animation page on Instagram called Muuamo Animation, which is based in Taiwan.

One of the things that I really liked about the work produced by this studio, was their use of digital watercolour. I found it looked quite effortless but really effective, particularly with the characters. This is what encouraged me to lean more towards digital watercolour, also I felt it could potentially be less time consuming but have equally as appealing results. 

Inspiration - MAF

During my visit to Manchester Animation Festival, I saw many shorts, all of which were extremely inspiring. However, there were two that stood out for me when it came to simplistic yet effective character design.

The first of which was:

"A Self Compassion Exercise" Directed by Joe Bichard. The purpose behind this animation, was to remind people that there is a lot of pressure from all areas of life, and that we often forget to take a step back and realise that the goals we try to achieve are sometimes very high. It stressed the importance of self-care & self-compassion, and remembering that it takes time to get where we want to be.

Aside from this, the other aspect which made this animation stick with me, was the simplistic character design. The lack of colour & simple line work was really effective & sort of reiterated the idea of not stressing over things allowing the simple things to work their magic. This is what encouraged me to avoid designing characters for this film that would be over complex.

Another animation that really influenced my thoughts on character design was "Birdz" which was Directed by Emelien Davaud. 

The story behind this animation was unlike anything else I had previously seen, with it's harsh yet realistic representation of how birds live & actually how this is in some ways similar to how humans live. 

I loved the character designs in this animation, because they were so human like but also at the same time so odd. One of the features that stood out to me the most was the arched noses. To me this made the characters look a little unnerving & I liked the effect this had. This gave me the idea of designing characters, all of which with a consistent attribute like this. Allowing the character to be compatible with one another, but also making them slightly strange.  

Study Task 1: Extended Practice - Rationale

After being given the study task of creating a rationale for this project, it encouraged me to think about some of the vital aspects of my final film, and to pin down exactly what they are. After putting my rationale together, I was able to establish these key factors.

Early Doodles

During the early stages of pre-production, I needed to establish what kind of character designs to aim for. I knew two things for sure at this point:

• They must all work well together
• They must not be overly complicated, as this would drive away from the original point of the animation.  

I began by doodling different ideas as a way of narrowing down in my mind what could potentially work. I knew I wanted the main character, who would be the dreamer, to be female. Although this character would be a representation of me, I wasn't intending on making it an exact characterised version of me. 

I liked the look of quite slender bodies, with rounded heads. This would adhere to the simplistic style I wanted to have. However I did continue on to carrying out some character design research as a way of informing my work. 

Mood board 2

Despite being able to remember my dreams quite vividly, I still needed to carry out some research to determine exactly what the environment would look like in this animation. After gathering together some imagery I felt I had a much clearer view on what exactly I wanted to aim for.  

Mood board 1

As part of the pre-production stage for this animation, I decided to do some brief research into different visual representations of ice-cream. Believe it or not, this wan't a form of procrastination. I wanted the ice cream shown in my film to look really appealing & colourful, because this is how I remember it in my dream. 

Audio - Environmental Sounds

When considering the necessary sounds needed for this animation, separate to music, the thing I needed to consider was, what sounds would need to be recorded by myself & weather or not I would need to get other sounds from elsewhere.

Sounds Needed:

• Distant Car Sounds
• Distant Chatter 
• Voice Actors
• White Noise
• Melting Sounds 

I realised that all of these sounds, apart from the white noise, could be recorded. Therefore, I planned to use a dictaphone to record chatter in the studio as well as recording sound on the street. However I was aware of the fact, that if needed, I would be able to find the appropriate tracks with samples of these sounds. 

For the voice acting, I need 3 different voices, so I intend on getting three of my peers to assist me there. I had originally planned on getting a friend of mine who is an actress to help in this area, however since she was unable to find the time, I decided I needed to find the next best thing possible!

Despite there only being 4 lines altogether in the animation, I wanted them to be delivered well & to do the animation justice. 

Audio - Music

After making a trip down to Leeds College of Music, I met Will who was interested in the idea for this film. I explained to him that I was looking for two tracks, once of just ambiance noise, and another for the end credits. After exchanging emails & talking a lot about ideas, Will and I agreed that he would create the necessary music required.

Through out our conversations which have been so far primarily over email, I have been keeping Will up to date with my pre-production work, as he explained to me that visually seeing things such as the colour palette would be really helpful for him when trying to create the tracks for it.

"Lucid" Treatment

The film opens with a slow zooming shot of the outside of a small ice cream shop. The shop appears empty, as does the street outside. Despite this, the sound of distant cars & chatter can be heard. It then cuts to inside the shop, with a side shot of the main character, who is essentially the dreamer in this situation, walking in. She stops at the ice-cream counter & examines all of the different flavours in amazement. The camera then cuts to the ice-cream from the  perspective of the dreamer looking left to right. The dreamer then lifts up her head, still from her eye's view, to see a female figure simply stood, facing away from her behind the counter.

With the dreamer's perspective still focused on the figure behind the counter, there is an abrupt male voice that says "ONE STRAWBERRY & BANANA PLEASE!" The camera then cuts to a frontal shot of the dreamer turning to face a very large, strange policeman who is next to her. The camera then cuts back to the dreamer's perspective, where we see a shot of the policeman turning to look down at her with his big menacing smile. He then opens up his mouth to reveal a stash of strawberries & bananas at the back of his mouth. It then cuts back to the front facing shot of the dreamer staring back up at the policeman, she then shoves her hand into his mouth to pull out a piece of banana which she then goes on to eat. As we move into a closer up shot of the dreamer finishing hr mouthful, she stops and looks straight ahead in shock. This then cuts back to her perspective, where we see that the lady stood behind the counter has changed, and is now facing the two customers. The dreamer then goes to look down at the counter, where she spots an ice-cream sundae is suddenly there. The camera then cuts away from the dreamer's perspective, and we see her look pleasantly surprised as she picks up the sundae. As this is happening, the policeman is still visible next to her but he has returned to his original position & is completely still.

Once the dreamer has picked up her ice-cream, she turns away from the counter. As this happens, the camera cuts to keep facing the dreamer, but from a distance. The surrounding environment has now changed. Instead of small ice-cream shop, the room now resembles a large food hall, with the counter in the middle & pictures on the wall. Also, the other two characters have now vanished. The dreamer seems oblivious to this, and is just happy to have this ice-cream sundae. The dreamer begins to walk through the hall to find a suitable table & chair. As she reaches a table to her liking, we get a front view of her going to sit down at a table. It then moves onto a closer up shot, of her suddenly looking ahead in astonishment. We then see a shot of another happy looking young girl who has appeared out of nowhere & is sat opposite the dreamer. The dreamer recognises this girl as her school friend who passed away some years prior. This leads onto a side on view, of these two girls sat opposite each other. The dreamer leans inwards with eagerness, saying "Is this you? I mean..like..actually you?" We then see a close-up shot of this young girl who does not reply, but she just smiles. This then cuts to a clue-up shot of the dreamer who looks confused. She is then met with a static like sound that results in her turning to look around. As she does this, we see a far away shot of the room, which now is completely empty apart from the table & chairs being used by the characters. The images on the walls are still there, however they have begun to appear fragmented.

The camera cuts back to a closeup of the character sat opposite the dreamer. She simply smiles, shrugs and says "I'm sorry you know." In astonishment to the reply, she dreamer turns back to look at the girl. The camera now goes back to the dreamer's perspective, as she faces the girl, her eye line then moves down to realise her ice-cream has gone. The camera cuts to show to face of the dreamer looking displeased as she says "Where's my...." Before finishing the sentence, the camera cuts back to her eye line as she looks opposite to see the girl she was speaking to has now vanished. The camera moves on to show a side on view of the dreamer facing an empty chair. As the camera moves back to a closeup of the dreamer, it then moves back out to reveal that out of nowhere, she is now standing in the middle of a room which is now even smaller. This time, all pictures on the walls are blank. As she observes the room, she is once again meant with growing static noise which she finds distressing. The camera then cuts back to her perspective as her eye line moves around the tiny room. As this is happening, the room appears to be melting away from the top down. The dreamer id then left standing in a blank space. she steps forward once, which echoes, indicating there is nothing around her. The static noise continues to grow and as this happens, the dreamer begins to let it happen. The film ends with a closeup of her, as she seems to show some form of acceptance as she shuts her eyes, and allow the noise to grow. The shot then ends at the same time the sound cuts away, indicating that this false reality has melted away & the dreamer has gradually awoken.

Study Task 2: Extended Practice - Pitch Presentation

I decided pretty early on that I wanted my final film to be based on lucid dreaming, since this is something I know quite a lot about, having been a lucid dreamer since I was young. To begin with, there were many ideas swirling around in my mind as to what what dream this final film could be based on.

First Idea

To begin with, I had the idea of somebody falling through different, familiar dreams in stages, however after a discussion with my tutor, I soon realised that this was too much to squeeze into a 2 minuet film! I then decided to narrow it down, to allow me to strive for something more realistic & achievable.

Documentary Animation

During my pitch, the idea of a documentary animation was suggested to me. There was the possibility of taking stories from different lucid dreamers. Although this seemed like a good idea, I had the urge to create a short film that wasn't a documentary, since I had done this for my final film last year. Plus, taking my own dreams into this film would allow me to see exactly what I wanted to create.

Refined Idea 

Due to the fact that I remember most dreams I have very clearly, it took a little while for me to decide which story to go with.

After much thought, I decided to focus this animation around a very vivid lucid dream I had when I was about five, combining it with one of the more serious & emotional lucid dreams I frequently have nowadays. The entire narrative will be based with in the dream, so there won't be any falling asleep or waking up. I want to keep this as close to my original dreams as possible. Also, all characters, including the dreamer, will not be named, as I don't want this to be something that is linked directly back to me. I just want to create something that is visually intriguing & even a bit strange to an audience.

I knew that I didn't want everything in this film to be justified, or t come with an explanation. Unlike previous animation I have made, I felt happy leaving some mystery in this story. I have planned for there to be certain elements to this story that offer some uncertainty, such as:

• None of the characters that appear are named, or formally introduced. 
• The entire narrative, from beginning to end, will be set with in the dream.  
• Environments & people could change suddenly & without explanation. 

These are things which are quite common in dreams, and I didn't want to change this just to add clarity. The whole point of this animation is to be a representation of something that is fragmented & dream-like.



Outcome of presentation 

Having the opportunity to present this pitch to the class & tutors, allowed me to gain feedback on my ideas that I hadn't thought of previously. It made me aware of the importance of keeping this film achievable in the time available, and to reign it in, to avoid giving myself too much to do in a short space of time.