This week we only had a 20 minute session with either Alec or Sarah where they would give us one to one advice on the work we have completed so far. I had Alec, and when showing him my blog, he said I have made good progress so far and that for character work I should spend some time practicing underlying forms to help keep my final shape designs consistent as with my Pandalotl he pointed out that the shoulders don’t align correctly as one shoulder is lower than the other.
With regards to the blog posts themselves, he said they are good with good reflective writing shown with linking thought design process with references. For improvement, Alec mentioned to look at other artists and how they work as part of my research into the different themes and fundamentals.
During this week I finished the character sheets for the 5 animal hybrid main characters. These are shown below:
BASIC STATISTICS
Name: Willow
Alias: “Deercat” (by scientists)
Age: 1.5 (dog years), equivalent 19 (human years)
Height: 64 cm (2.1 feet)
Weight: 68 kg (150 pounds)
Sex: Female
Race: Deer/Cat hybrid
Eye Color: Green
Nationality: Utopian
Skin Color: White, Brown
Shape of Face: Circular
Distinguishing Features: Deer muzzle and hooves, Cat ears, head and tail
Mannerisms: Very talkative and fairly energetic
Habits: When excited tail lashes
Health: Physically fine, but not mentally due to being in the lab. Uses humour as a coping mechanism
Hobbies: Dreaming of a better life outside the lab where she isn’t experimented on
Favorite Sayings: “*giggles*”
Sound of Voice: Not too loud, very talkative
Walking Style: Reasonably quick, walks on all fours
Disabilities: None
Character’s Greatest Flaw: Likes to ignore her problems and put on a happy and carefree persona in front of the others and would often use humour as a coping mechanism to deal with the lab situation. Can and has used laughter to cover up the fact she is crying
Character’s Best Quality: She is generally able to try and see the best of out every situation even if it’s terrible like the lab and hopes that there is some form of light at the end of the tunnel after her suffering. Also likes to lighten any tense situation or atmosphere with humour because, by her logic, if the other inmates laugh that means they are happy and when they are happy that means things aren’t tense anymore
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS
Hometown: The Utopia
Current Residence: The Lab (located in the Wasteland area)
Occupation: Test subject
Talents/Skills: Able to see the best in others like the good scientists despite taking part in the experiments and is willing to give others the benefit of the doubt and give them a second chance as she is very trusting
ATTRIBUTES AND ATTITUDES
Intelligence Level: Fairly intelligent
Character’s Goals in Life: To escape the lab and go back to the Utopia
How does character see himself/herself? She sees herself as being the happy-go-lucky one of the group and oftentimes the glue that holds her new friends together by being happiness personified, however this makes her less willing to show negative emotions in front of them as she doesn’t want to risk losing them if she is anything less than her happy persona
How confident is the character? Has a confident façade, as much as she appears quite confident and lively in reality she’s insecure that the others only like her because she is so happy and bubbly all the time and they wouldn’t like the real her
Does the character seem ruled by emotion? Not particularly, but would only show positive emotions so to others it appears as though she is ruled by happiness
EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Introvert or Extrovert: Introvert
How does the character deal with:
- Sadness? When alone she would cry quietly and has no qualms showing her sadness, but in front of others when she has the urge to cry she covers it up with laughter so they would assume the tears are from laughing so much
- Anger? Would only show anger if everyone else is showing their anger so that she is not the only one and wouldn’t be seen as out of character for her is everyone else is feeling angry
- Conflict? Does not like conflict whatsoever and hates when the atmosphere gets tense so she uses humour in an attempt to lighten the situation for both herself and the other inmates
- Change? Isn’t really affected by change much, is able to adapt to change quickly and was all in when initially hearing of the great plan to escape
- Loss? Keeps it to herself, she would still show her happy persona in front of others but would only allow herself to feel it when she is alone or only if the others are somehow aware of her loss that way she feels justified in letting go of her persona for a while as she can’t exactly pretend to be happy as they are aware of her loss
What would the character like to change about his/her life? Wants to be free from the lab and go back to the Utopia
What motivates the character? Trying to escape the lab to make her dream of being back in the Utopia a reality
What frightens the character? Only being liked by the others for being happy and if she shows any negative emotion in front of them they won’t like her anymore
What makes this character happy? Humour makes her happy, or at the very least cheers her up a little. Spending time with the group and having fun with them also makes her happy
Relationship skills: Is relatively good at socialising despite her lack of inner confidence and feels very attached to the group of friends she has and doesn’t want to lose them or for them to not like her
CHARACTER’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE STORY
What is the character’s archetype? The Jester, often lightens the mood through humour and likes having fun and making light out of negative situations
How is the character affected by his or her environment? She tries not to let the environment of the lab affect her but would use humour to try and cope with it and to cover up the negative effects the lab has on her
TIMELINE
Time period: Future-Earth
Describe five important background events that led up to the character’s storyline.
- A deer and a cat are taken from the Utopia by the scientists and combined to form the hybrid “Deercat”
- “Deercat” is kept in her own cell like the other inmates and she doesn’t like the lab one bit and is itching to escape and go back to the Utopia
- After a while her mental health starts to deteriorate and starts to use laughter and humour as a coping mechanism and would start talking to herself with her humour in an attempt to cheer herself up and to give her new motivation after each failed escape attempt
- Soon after her most recent failed attempt she meets 4 other inmates and finds she is really enjoying their company and when they are talking one of them reveals he has a plan for them to escape
- She gets really excited with the news of a plan and has new energy and hope and as they start discussing the plan to escape she gets to know the other 4 better and finds herself becoming very attached to her new friends and hopes they feel the same
BASIC STATISTICS
Name: Bob
Alias: “Kangaroolephant” (by scientists)
Age: 1.5 (dog years), equivalent 19 (human years)
Height: 79 cm (2.6 feet)
Weight: 63 kg (138 pounds)
Sex: Male
Race: Kangaroo/Elephant hybrid
Eye Color: Brown
Nationality: Utopian
Skin Color: Brown. Grey
Shape of Face: Balloon-shaped
Distinguishing Features: Kangaroo pouch and tail, Elephant ears, trunk and tusks
Mannerisms: Moves by small hops. Can be very blunt when speaking and doesn’t think before he speaks
Habits: Jumping into things head first without thinking them through, realises he needs an actual plan to escape rather than winging it
Health: Physically fine, but not mentally due to being in the lab
Hobbies: Attempting an escape on a weekly basis
Favorite Sayings: “Let’s go!” “hm” (nodding head), “mm-nn” (shaking head)
Sound of Voice: Very charismatic and full of personality
Walking Style: Small hops, confident movement
Disabilities: None
Character’s Greatest Flaw: Tends to jump into things too quickly as shown by his frequent failed escape attempts where he had no real plan and doesn’t often think of the consequences of his actions. Also has a tendency of running away from his emotions and his frequent escape attempts serves as a distraction and almost acts like a game for him as he isn’t focused what is happening in the lab but rather his escape attempts to escape the lab
Character’s Best Quality: He is very motivated despite his frequent escape failings as he is not willing to give up that easily and it’ll take more than failed escape attempts to bring him down
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS
Hometown: The Utopia
Current Residence: The Lab (located in the Wasteland area)
Occupation: Test subject
Talents/Skills: He is very persuasive and when he actually thinks things through he is great at coming up with plans and is good at memorising locations. As well as small hops he can do large hops (around 6 feet) when necessary
ATTRIBUTES AND ATTITUDES
Intelligence Level: Fairly intelligent
Character’s Goals in Life: To escape the lab and go back to the Utopia
How does character see himself/herself? He sees himself as being quite confident in his abilities as he knows that the perfect escape is just around the corner so he is constantly adapting to find new potential escape routes. Sees himself as a bit of a legend among the inmates due to his reputation of constantly trying to escape each week which is a frequency that is otherwise unheard of for the other inmates
How confident is the character? Very confident, knows eventually he will be successful
Does the character seem ruled by emotion? No, only ruled by one goal: escape the lab
EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Introvert or Extrovert: Extrovert
How does the character deal with:
- Sadness? Ignores it, focuses on escaping
- Anger? Mostly ignores it but it sometimes shows
- Conflict? Mostly ignores it unless it actually has to do with him or he’s involved in some way
- Change? Doesn’t care, has no effect on him as he can easily adapt
- Loss? Ignores it, focuses on escaping
What would the character like to change about his/her life? Wants to be free from the lab and go back to the Utopia
What motivates the character? Trying to escape the lab to make his dream of being back in the Utopia a reality
What frightens the character? His emotions, he doesn’t know how to handle them and would distract himself with escape attempts instead of confronting his feelings and acknowledging them
What makes this character happy? Carrying out his frequent escape attempts and having fun while doing so as it’s like a fun game for him even if the attempts don’t succeed, and actually having a successful attempt would be an added bonus
Relationship skills: Not really interested in getting to know others as he is too busy with his half baked escape plans and only shared his newest plan with the others because he knew the plan could only work with a group of inmates rather than just himself. He wasn’t expecting to enjoy their company initially and was only tolerating them for the plan but he found himself getting unexpectedly attached to them and ended up enjoying their company more than he expected
CHARACTER’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE STORY
What is the character’s archetype? A mixture of The Rebel and The Hero, he is constantly rebelling against the scientists with the frequent escape attempts and doesn’t care about the authority of the scientists like The Rebel but he is also the one who concocted the group escape plan and inspired the others to join him like The Hero as his frequent acts of rebellion are heroic to the group as despite many failings he hasn’t given up which is inspiring
How is the character affected by his or her environment? He focuses on the environment of the lab to look for areas he could use to escape without getting caught, and his frequent failed escape attempts meant he was able to memorise the layout of the lab and as a result knows his way around more than the other hybrids
TIMELINE
Time period: Future-Earth
Describe five important background events that led up to the character’s storyline.
- A kangaroo and an elephant are taken from the Utopia by the scientists and combined to form the hybrid “Kangaroolephant”
- “Kangaroolephant” is kept in her own cell like the other inmates and is constantly causing trouble for the scientists through his frequent escape attempts each week and has become routine for the scientists at this point
- He then realised he needed to take a step back and use his acquired knowledge of the lab and carefully think of an actual plan to escape, and came to the conclusion that he needed help to carry it out as a group escape would be more effective than everyone doing escape attempts individually
- He then gathered a small group of inmates and told them about his escape plan and that it requires them all to do it. What he didn’t reveal was that he chose them as a matter of convenience and is only putting up with them until they escape the lab, but ended up unexpectedly enjoying their company and slowly starts to consider them his friends
- Meanwhile he hasn’t attempted any other escape in over a week since he came up with the group escape plan and the good scientists are starting to get suspicious that he is planning something and decide to use the inevitable escape as a diversion for them to get rid of the villain once and for all
BASIC STATISTICS
Name: Long Mao (Mandarin for “dragon” and “cat” as design partially based on a Chinese dragon)
Alias: “Catsnake” (by scientists), “Mao” (by the group)
Age: 9 (dog years), equivalent 52 (human years)
Height: 76 cm (2.5 feet)
Weight: 75 kg (170 pounds)
Sex: Male
Race: Cat/Snake hybrid
Eye Color: Yellow
Nationality: Utopian
Skin Color: Orange, Yellow, Green
Shape of Face: Circular
Distinguishing Features: Cat ears, head, chest and arms, Snake body and tail
Mannerisms: Can be snarky at times when speaking, lives in a perpetual state of exhaustion and really needs a drink (of milk, not alcohol)
Habits: Has a tendency of looking after the younger hybrids as a sort of wise, calm and rational father figure, and also has the habit of taking a lot of naps
Health: Physically fine, but not mentally due to being in the lab
Hobbies: Dreaming of a better life outside the lab where he isn’t experimented on, but knows it’s fruitless at this point as he has been in the lab since he was young
Favorite Sayings: “*sighs*”
Sound of Voice: Calm yet snarky
Walking Style: Snake body allows him to slither about
Disabilities: None
Character’s Greatest Flaw: Can be smug and a bit selfish at times, tends to underestimate the abilities of those around him and feels he is smarter and wiser because he is the oldest. Also has a bit of a short temper and can become exasperated with others easily
Character’s Best Quality: He is very wise and calm most of the time and is very responsible, especially for the wellbeing of the group
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS
Hometown: The Utopia
Current Residence: The Lab (located in the Wasteland area)
Occupation: Test subject
Talents/Skills: Has a heightened sense of hearing and can be very rational and practical, and is good at giving advice to the group
ATTRIBUTES AND ATTITUDES
Intelligence Level: Highly intelligent
Character’s Goals in Life: To escape the lab and go back to the Utopia and be able to retire
How does character see himself/herself? She sees herself as being incredibly wise and responsible and a fountain of knowledge for the group
How confident is the character? Reasonably confident, he is confident when he has the abilities to back it up
Does the character seem ruled by emotion? Only occasionally by anger, but most of the time is pretty calm
EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Introvert or Extrovert: Introvert
How does the character deal with:
- Sadness? Cries when necessary but most of the time he doesn’t need to as the sadness is only a little and not enough to make him cry
- Anger? His short temper means his anger comes out in short bursts and he can’t hide his anger
- Conflict? Tries to reason with those involved in the conflict but would prefer if there was no conflict to begin with
- Change? He’s too tired to care about change anymore, he’s too old for this. Goes with the flow but in an exhausted way
- Loss? Loss affects him greatly and he doesn’t want to lose the group which has essentially become his family
What would the character like to change about his/her life? Wants to be free from the lab and go back to the Utopia
What motivates the character? Trying to escape the lab to make his dream of being back in the Utopia a reality when he was younger, but nowadays has given up in favour of frequent napping and remembering the life he once had
What frightens the character? His mortality, he knows he is getting older and worries he will never again see the Utopia before he ends up dying
What makes this character happy? Sleeping as he is able to relive memories of his childhood in the Utopia, more recently the group of inmates that have become his family gives him new happiness rather than living off of old happiness
Relationship skills: Was a loner in the lab and wasn’t interested in spending time with others in favour of frequent escape attempts until he gave up years later, and sees a lot of his younger self in Bob the Kangaroolephant for his determination to escape. Once meeting the group he found himself unofficially adopting them as he got to know them and is content with his newfound family
CHARACTER’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE STORY
What is the character’s archetype? The Sage, he acts as a mentor/father figure to the group of inmates and is there to advise them as he is wise
How is the character affected by his or her environment? He mentally escapes from the lab environment through frequent sleeping as he has given up on physically escaping the lab
TIMELINE
Time period: Future-Earth
Describe five important background events that led up to the character’s storyline.
- A cat and a snake are taken from the Utopia in the early days of the lab by the scientists and combined to form the hybrid “Catsnake”
- “Catsnake” is kept in his own cell like the other inmates and was wary and cautious of his surroundings in the new unfamiliar environment
- He was among the first hybrids created in the lab and was held captive ever since he was the same age as the group of inmates in the present day and so he has more memories of the Utopia than the others as they were even younger when they were first held captive
- He was not very happy when he wasn’t being released anytime soon so he ended up doing regular escape attempts which were all unsuccessful, until giving up years later due to realising it was a lost cause After several individual failed escape attempts she starts to lose hope about ever escaping, but then she meets 4 other inmates and one of them reveals he has a plan for them to escape
- He then meets 4 other inmates who haven’t been in the lab as long as he has and starts taking them under his wing once he learns of the group escape plan and allows himself to build up hope again after previously giving up, and he gets to know the group better and soon treats them like family
BASIC STATISTICS
Name: Bailey
Alias: “Bunnylion” (by scientists)
Age: 1.5 (dog years), equivalent 19 (human years)
Height: 70 cm (2.3 feet)
Weight: 60 kg (132 pounds)
Sex: Male
Race: Bunny/Lion hybrid
Eye Color: Green
Nationality: Utopian
Skin Color: Brown, Cream
Shape of Face: Circular
Distinguishing Features: Bunny ears, muzzle, teeth and feet, Lion mane and tail
Mannerisms: Very timid and meek but is highly curious, avoids eye contact often
Habits: Grips tail when nervous, apologises often, and leaps and squeaks when startled
Health: Physically fine, but not mentally due to being in the lab
Hobbies: Dreaming of a better life outside the lab where he isn’t experimented on
Favorite Sayings: “Sorry”
Sound of Voice: Fairly quiet, only speaks when necessary
Walking Style: Unsure and awkward, not very confident. Sometimes grips tail when walking
Disabilities: Anxiety
Character’s Greatest Flaw: He panicks easily and is severely over apologetic even when he shouldn’t be, and is very awkward and anxious around most of the inmates until he gets to know the group. Very hesitant when deviating from the status quo so he needs some convincing to go through with the group plan as he doesn’t want to get in trouble. Would rather hide than deal with problems
Character’s Best Quality: He is highly curious by nature and would explore his surroundings, even if he is cautious in his exploration. He can also be very brave as although he is terrified of enacting the group escape plan, he still goes along with it anyway because he believes in his new friends and trusts them
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS
Hometown: The Utopia
Current Residence: The Lab (located in the Wasteland area)
Occupation: Test subject
Talents/Skills: He is a very good listener and pays a great deal of attention to others, and can hop around 4 feet if necessary with the most often occurrence being when he is startled. He also has a heightened sense of smell
ATTRIBUTES AND ATTITUDES
Intelligence Level: Fairly intelligent
Character’s Goals in Life: To be let out from the lab and go back to the Utopia
How does character see himself/herself? He is very unsure of himself and sometimes questions his value to the group but nevertheless he enjoys spending time with them and trusts their judgement, even if it means going out of his comfort zone and doing an escape attempt
How confident is the character? Not very confident, he is very shy and doesn’t know how to interact with others
Does the character seem ruled by emotion? Yes, he can and has burst into tears on a fairly regular basis as he is very sensitive
EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Introvert or Extrovert: Introvert
How does the character deal with:
- Sadness? Will burst into tears almost instantly
- Anger? For angry outbursts he will cry while doing so
- Conflict? Does not like conflict whatsoever and tries to avoid it, would stand off to the side to hide from the conflict and tries to ignore it as best as he can unless the conflict involves him himself
- Change? Does not cope well with change. Being in the lab, while dreadful, has now become a part of his routine in a twisted sense and so he is very hesitant to break the routine with the group escape attempt
- Loss? He will cry a lot when it happens, but over time he is able to think of what he has lost without bursting into tears
What would the character like to change about his/her life? Wants to be free from the lab and go back to the Utopia, but through passive methods like behaving well and hoping the scientists will let him out eventually for being so well behaved
What motivates the character? Being as well behaved as possible in the hopes he will be let out by the scientists without having to escape himself to make his dream of being back in the Utopia a reality
What frightens the character? Change, he finds it very hard to cope with and likes to keep things in some semblance of a routine and would prefer there to be as minimum change as possible as change makes him very anxious
What makes this character happy? Having sufficient time alone but at the same time not being completely alone all the time as he also likes spending time with the small group of inmates planning to escape as he feels closer to them, even if he’s not fully comfortable with the idea of escaping. Also having memories of the Utopia
Relationship skills: Not very good at socialising as he is very sensitive and anxious and very awkward around most inmates, but those he does end up socialising with he feels really close to and more comfortable with and considers them his friends. He finds himself being quite brave when he is with them and enjoys their company and feels like he belongs
CHARACTER’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE STORY
What is the character’s archetype? The Innocent, he is willing to see the good in others and give them a chance even when no one else will and he cares a lot about the safety of himself and his friends
How is the character affected by his or her environment? He’s sort of become numb to the environment, he’s grown used to it at this point and he finds it oddly comforting being in the routine of the lab even though it’s overall a negative experience
TIMELINE
Time period: Future-Earth
Describe five important background events that led up to the character’s storyline.
- A bunny and a lion are taken from the Utopia by the scientists and combined to form the hybrid “Bunnylion”
- “Bunnylion” is kept in his own cell like the other inmates and is very anxious in this new and unfamiliar environment
- He is very worried that if he does something bad like attempting to escape the experiments on him will get worse, and so he puts up with the current experiments without attempting to escape under the guise that if he doesn’t complain and is on his best behaviour, the scientists might repay this good behaviour by eventually letting him out
- After a while he becomes used to the lab routine, so it came as a major shock to him when he meets 4 other inmates and one of them reveals he has a plan for them to escape
- His first reaction to the plan is panic as this is a major change from what he has come to get used to before settling into hesitation as he realises, once the panic is mostly gone, this could be his chance to leave the lab as he can’t sit around waiting on a scientist to be nice and let him out forever, he needs to make his own path and be brave and this could be the perfect opportunity he has been hoping for. He decides to be brave and take the plunge and agrees to hear the plan, and they start discussing the plan to escape and he gets to know the other 4 better and comes to care for his new friends
BASIC STATISTICS
Name: Echo
Alias: “Pandalotl” (by scientists)
Age: 1.5 (dog years), equivalent 19 (human years)
Height: 70 cm (2.3 feet)
Weight: 75 kg (170 pounds)
Sex: Female
Race: Panda/Axolotl hybrid
Eye Color: Blue
Nationality: Utopian
Skin Color: Pink, White, Black
Shape of Face: Circular
Distinguishing Features: Panda ears, Axolotl gills and tail
Mannerisms: Often communicates through head “yes/no” movements
Habits: Taps her index fingers when anxious/overwhelmed
Health: Physically fine, but not mentally due to being in the lab
Hobbies: Dreaming of a better life outside the lab where she isn’t experimented on
Favorite Sayings: “hm” (nodding head), “mm-nn” (shaking head)
Sound of Voice: Fairly quiet, only speaks when necessary
Walking Style: Unsure and awkward, not very confident. Walks with arms raised slightly in front of her
Disabilities: Autism
Character’s Greatest Flaw: Overwhelmed by sound easily especially loud noise which happens often on a weekly basis so she definitely has it out for the lab and the scientists for putting her through this constantly, she will hold a grudge and won’t forget it easily for a long time. Also can be very stubborn and will more often than not keep her feelings bottled up as opposed to sharing them and as a result her emotions can get the best of her sometimes
Character’s Best Quality: While being quite introverted she is generally quite caring and sweet towards the other inmates so she ends up being fairly well liked, even if she is unaware of it most of the time. She also likes to be responsible and tries to think things through before jumping into action, even if sometimes her emotions cloud her judgement
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS
Hometown: The Utopia
Current Residence: The Lab (located in the Wasteland area)
Occupation: Test subject
Talents/Skills: Gills allow her to breathe underwater although it won’t be shown most likely, and is good at distraction by being cute and once tried to escape the lab by persuading the scientist to let her out (it didn’t work). Is very quiet so she can sneak up behind others without them noticing and scaring them without meaning to
ATTRIBUTES AND ATTITUDES
Intelligence Level: Fairly intelligent
Character’s Goals in Life: To escape the lab and go back to the Utopia
How does character see himself/herself? She sees herself as being quiet and creative and can observe the situation around her, sometimes spotting things others might initially brush off as unimportant
How confident is the character? Not very confident, she is in a very unfamiliar place which takes a lot of getting used to and so she is not very confident in her navigation
Does the character seem ruled by emotion? Sometimes her emotions can get the better of her and she lashes out, but regrets her outbursts as she doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings
EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
Introvert or Extrovert: Introvert
How does the character deal with:
- Sadness? Bottles it up, doesn’t want other inmates worrying about her since they have their own problems to deal with and she doesn’t want to be a burden to them
- Anger? Tries not to let her anger show but sometimes she can lash out in anger without thinking
- Conflict? Does not like conflict whatsoever and tries to avoid it, oftentimes falling into the role of peacemaker to try and keep things civil
- Change? Does not cope well with change. Being in the lab is such a major change in routine to her and craves the normalcy of being out in the Utopia again and is never fully relaxed in the lab
- Loss? Tries not to dwell too much on it as it will make her sad, and she doesn’t want to show sadness or any other perceived weakness in front of others
What would the character like to change about his/her life? Wants to be free from the lab and go back to the Utopia
What motivates the character? Trying to escape the lab to make her dream of being back in the Utopia a reality
What frightens the character? The scientists, she has a hard time trusting the good scientists when they tag along with the other hybrids because of the history of the experiments the scientists have done to her and the others
What makes this character happy? Having sufficient time alone but at the same time not being completely alone all the time as she also likes spending time with the small group of inmates planning to escape as she feels closer to them. Also having memories of the Utopia
Relationship skills: Not very good at socialising as she is very sensitive and anxious and very awkward around most inmates, but those she does end up socialising with she feels really close to and more comfortable with and considers them her friends
CHARACTER’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE STORY
What is the character’s archetype? The Caregiver, she cares a lot about those she is closest to and looks out for their wellbeing
How is the character affected by his or her environment? The environment takes a huge mental toll on her because not only is it unfamiliar compared to the Utopia, it’s more overwhelming to her due to how loud and oftentimes suffocating the lab can make her feel
TIMELINE
Time period: Future-Earth
Describe five important background events that led up to the character’s storyline.
- A panda and an axolotl are taken from the Utopia by the scientists and combined to form the hybrid “Pandalotl”
- “Pandalotl” is kept in her own cell like the other inmates and is very confused and frightened and doesn’t understand what is happening or why she is here in the lab
- After one too many experiments from the scientists she feels extremely panicked and overwhelmed and desperate to escape
- After several individual failed escape attempts she starts to lose hope about ever escaping, but then she meets 4 other inmates and one of them reveals he has a plan for them to escape
- Rejuvinated by this hope, they start discussing the plan to escape and she gets to know the other 4 better and comes to care for her new friends
In preparation for Week 7 of “Animation Introduction” we were assigned a few homework tasks to complete for next week to help us get used to animation.
Exercise 1: Animate 3 Bouncing Balls Of Different Weights Using Timing And Spacing
The 3 different balls I chose to animate were a small rubber bouncy ball, a baseball and a bowling ball. Regarding the animation itself, I was intending to do mine at 24 frames per second on 2s using frame by frame but probably due to my spacing it ended up looking very robotic and stilted so I had to do mine at 24 frames per second on 1s. The video is shown below:
While the animation does look a lot smoother now, I do think I could have implemented the spacing better as I had each ball equally spaced out between frames instead of fluctuating the spaces to show acceleration and deceleration and it appears as though everything is going at a constant speed which is not very realistic to the laws of physics. This is further reflected by the small rubber bouncy ball as although the animation is fairly smooth, it is also very slow, and the slow speed at which the ball is bouncing is more reminiscent of the pong computer game as opposed to real life. I definitely know I need to stop being so precise in getting exact spacing and just let loose and have fun and be expressive and let the animation speak for itself.
Exercise 2: Read Chapter 4 Of “Advancing Backwards to 1940” From Richard Williams “Animator’s Survival Guide”
This was used to help us when practicing animation and I found the information in this chapter very useful.
Exercise 3: As A Group Plan The Order Of The Chain/Linking Animation + Write Down Simple Script For What I’d Like To Animate Within 5-8 Seconds
We are planning on sorting out the order of the chain/linking animation and the idea of what we’re planning to animate during the next blackboard call which is Thursday because we have been busy this week.
References Of The Week
This was a video explaining the 12 Principles of Animation in more detail compared to the 2 minute video Alec showed us, and I found they were explained very effectively and will definitely help me with my animation journey.
The second video link is where I found the references for the small bouncing ball (in this case, a bouncy rubber ball for a dog) and the baseball, with the third video link being the reference for the bowling ball.