The afternoon session began with an update from each team on their ‘world’ development, including any characters already completed.
During the week I’d taken my idea of creature fusion a little further; searching online for images that I could then use, until my confidence in sketching increases, as references for a simple Krita line drawing of my character.
Those chosen included:
- A spider; linking back to the original bouncer idea,
- A moth, because of its interestingly shaped antennae,
- A scorpion; a concept carried over from last week’s mood board, and
- A praying mantis.
The final two creatures, the scorpion and praying mantis were specifically chosen because of the triangular forms I wanted to include in my character, to subconsciously relay a sense of danger; even in such a simple line drawing. Also, when designing my character, I ensured I included this triangular shape in both its body parts, and their placement, and as the pincers would become the main focus of the movement within my scene, purposely exaggerated their size and proportions.
When developing a character it’s also important to consider it’s animate ability, and to make it more believable; how it will move to convey its personality, and make it feel dynamic. Conscious that, due to its size, I’d only have space to animate certain parts of my character, I had to think carefully which parts these would be, and create my sketch around a ‘Line of Action’ which would both accentuate this, and strengthen the storytelling.
Source: Blair, 1994
Some time was then devoted to groupwork. Proving unsettling, as it again affected communication and the group dynamic, two original, like-minded members, Orlaigh and Leagh, who were hard-working, and had supported me when I felt under pressure, were moved to another team, and two new students, Amy and Kennie, who I liked, but were absent that day, were to join us.
I do think this further change, and a smaller team, left us struggling. Several group members, including myself are inherently very quiet, and even those who are normally outgoing, were subdued after yet another change, and to be honest, very little progress was made apart from the addition, at my suggestion, of the neon palette below to help emphasise the modern element of the bar, and which could be used to tie the external and internal elements of the animation together for a more cohesive final outcome.
The remainder of the day was then devoted to a ‘character design’ lecture, from which I gained valuable drawing tips, and many great ideas such as considering unique traits for my character, its height and proportion relationship to others, and keeping ‘model,’ ‘character,’ and ‘height charts’ for future projects.
References:
Blair, P. (1994). Cartoon Animation. Tustin, Calif.: Walter Foster Publishing, Inc.