Week 2: Character design and script writing

Week 2: Character design and script writing

I have been working on the character design of my protagonist, using images from the steampunk genre and the Avatar series. I have also been writing the story in "Writersduet" in script format. I didn't include any dialogue in script because the only lines that spoken are from the men dumping a body from the top of the cliff. Their dialogue is pretty unimportant to the actual story, so it can probably be improvised.

===============================================

When designing my protagonist, Kyla, I wanted her to look like someone who is a bit rough and has be fending for themselves for a while. While I want a bit of a steampunk aesthetic to the story, I realized that it was probably important to Kyla's character that she be shown as someone who is traveling light. As such I cut back on some of the heavier parts of a steampunk design, removing heavy clothing, corsets and excessive use of belts (She only has the one, common steampunk design has a lot of them). Another group of designs I have found helpful have the concepts for Korra from Avatar: Legend of Korra, particularly the design for Korra's self exile into the earth kingdom in season 4. Korra is very much fending for herself at that point in the series and her outfit reflects that.

One thing I have learned from Korra's design is that giving a character a stockier lower body and legs makes them seem stronger and more capable. As a result I have given Kyla rather large baggy pants that go into slightly more slender boots. It is possible that I will replace the wraps around Kyla's hands with leather gloves or something similar, as I feel that my current design is still a little too similar to Korra's design from "Avatar: Legend of Korra" season 4.

I did two quick drawings of Kyla on paper last week, but I didn't look at them very much as I didn't like the design of either of the drawings. I have posted the better of the two below. (This is an unfinished Photoshop fix up of the original pencil drawing.)

 While I like this design, I'm not sure it is what I want or should attempt it. It is a little more complex than the design used in my turnaround. Still I want to keep it in mind as I might decide to use this head and neck area in the final product instead of the one I came up for the turnaround.

This turn around is incomplete, I will try to complete the turnaround soon but I have other things I need to worry about.

Week 1: Research and Concept Development

Week 1: Research and Concept Development 

We have been given the task of creating a 1 minute - 1:30 minute from start to finish. The proposal is due in on August 5 and requires characters, story, art style and storyboards done by then. Due to the strict time limit, I am going to try my best to keep the story simple but interesting.

I have been looking at several possible animation styles including that of  Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Avatar: The Legend of Korra and 2D Disney films. Some other simpler styles that could possibly be a inspiration are those of Carbot Animation and Gravity Falls.

I like the more complex styles of Avatar: The Legend of Korra, FMAB and Disney's 2D work because of the interesting images they produce using only lines and a two/three color shading system. While it might be a bit more complex and harder to pull off than the styles of Gravity falls and Carbot animation, I think the art style of Avatar would be better for the serious story I would like to tell in this assignment.

My main influence for this assignment will be Nickelodeon's Avatar series. Can't help it, I'm bias.

Art/Animation Style Examples

AVATAR: LEGEND OF KORRA

FULL METAL ALCHEIST: BROTHERHOOD

DISNEY

Story Ideas

I currently have two ideas for the story of my 2D animation. One follows an explorer as she travels a harsh, hot and rocky landscape while running low on water. The other follows a lone wanderer traveling through a forest.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I like the idea of the solo person vs. a harsh environment more so I am going to expand on that idea. I think I would like to use a steampunk atheistic in a cold (tundra) or hot (desert) environment.

The fugitive is climbing a vertical sandstone cliff, using dual climb picks to climb up and create footholds. The sandstone cliff stretches for miles in both directions. The harsh wind blows sand and loose rock around the cliff face. In the sand dunes below, skeletons lie half buried in the sand.

When she is attacked by a vulture, the fugitive pull out a pistol and fires it into the air to scare off the bird. The vulture lands on  a nearby preach and mocks the woman by try to shit on her. Enraged the fugitive trys to shoot the bird only to find that the gun is out of ammo. Instead the woman settles for tossing the empty fire arm at the bird, causing the vulture to flee.

Farther up the cliff, the fugitive is forced to hide when a patrol passes by as they do their rounds.

When the fugitive finally gets to the top of the cliff she is exhausted, crawling over the edge, lying down and breathing heavily. After a few moments she sits up and looks around, making sure the patrol isn't coming back around. In front of her, far in the distance are green hills and mountains. The moment of relief and glory is ruined when the vulture which is sitting next to the fugitive off screen, lets out a loud squawk. The fugitive gives the vulture the evil eye before blowing raspberries at the bird. The vulture squawks again then flies off. The fugitive then gets up and continue to walk forwards.