Extended Practice- Study Task 2 - Portfolio Building- Character Design Challenge- Biker Part 2

Portfolio Building- 

Character Design Challenge- 

Biker Part 2

After doing the mouth and nose, I wanted to do him glasses and piercings. The glasses are made of wire fitted to his head. Then I painted the wire black and added very small pieces of plastic to the backs for the glass. Then tinted them black too to add to the overall look of the character. This was very fiddly but ended up really bringing him to life as he was just a blank face before they were added.

I then added small curves of metal around his ears as piercings on his right ear which matched his nose. For the top of his head I wanted to do lumpy wool. Instead of trying to attach fabric to the plasticine, I tried making a plasticine version of balled up pieces pushed together and textured to match. This really worked well so I will also do this for the body as it helps make him fully look like a sheep.

 After figuring out the head worked well, I added a tank top version to his chest to add to his character of a big biker sheep wearing tattered clothing. This is why his belly button is showing under the wool, as if it is rolling up. After adding this to him a felt jacket was needed so I cut a piece of fabric to size. 

After getting it right, I dyed the fabric black as it was brown and didn't look right. The black shows him more as a biker. As it was dyed I was also able to get it shaped so when dry it had a collar. 

So this is the biker character I have submitted to the competition and shows he is a biker sheet who is a tough guy from the old American gangs. 

Extended Practice- Study Task 2 - Portfolio Building- Character Design Challenge- Biker

Portfolio Building- 

Character Design Challenge

This is a theme I was exited to try so I set myself the task of doing a character for this month, as well as next month so I could practice building puppets and designing characters for portfolio building. 

This is the basic design of the biker I am going to build, I was originally going to do a child but then wanted to try an animal as I haven't done this yet for a character. This is why a biker sheep was the design I ended up creating. He will be top heavy with small little legs, smoking a cigar and have a biker jacket on.

Below you can see the character, basic face angles for when I quickly build him, and the jacket he will be wearing.

I started out by building a simple wire frame of the male character and after putting screws in his feet, fixed him to a small box piece of wood for stability and ease when adding the layers.

Then foil was added to bulk his body out while keeping him fairly light, yet sturdy. Then after the rough body shape was formed, the head and nose of the sheep are glued on to give him more of a shape. 

The first step was to then do the legs and hooves in black, like leather pants to add to his look and biker theme. Then to bulk out his body thinly in plasticine. This of course made him heavier so before reinforcing him, I tied him to an object so he could not fall or buckle over time.

 This is a closeup of his face after the ears, nose, nose-ring and tiny wooden cigar have been added. He still needs more smoothing out but this is a good start to him looking like a sheep biker.

Extended Practice- Study task 1- Extended Brief- Music Collaboration

Extended Brief- 

Music Collaboration 

For this animation, music is needed as there is next to no dialogue therefore the music has to show feelings, thoughts and movements that the characters do. This will make it more impactful for the audience when looking at the stories progression. I know how much impact music adds to a production so this is something I really want to do well in adding the correct sounds, not just free music from online. Having it created specifically will let the music flow and let the stop-motion shine alongside it.

The student I am working with is a guy who has done lots of Disney style music. I wanted to work with him because Disney truly understands how music effects the viewer, so if this is an area he works in, he will be able to produce a piece that can move the audience where needed.

Extended Practice- Study task 1- Extended Brief- Storyboards

Extended Brief- 

Storyboards

These are brief storyboards of the animation I am going to do about the shop owner losing business to the new shop next door. I have done these in grayscale to show more detail, as well as making them easier to understand. 

I want to produce more simple but detailed storyboards freehand also, as this will give me much clearer guidance when filming and setting up shots when animating comes around.

Extended Practice- Study task 1- Extended Brief- Street Designs

Extended Brief- 

Street Designs

After receiving feedback on the way the street could be designed, I sketched up how it could be done and what the shops could look like, all being individual and stereotypical to the Victorian era shop fronts.

This is how it could be made, the long strip will make it easier to access the characters, as well as show a more detailed front view where the camera can be placed and pan across. This will be made up of 3 shops on either side of the shot, looking like it would be a full street beyond that. I then don't have to worry about filming with the camera inside a street, as this would be more tricky and make it harder to design as the ends of the street would need to be built so the strip of shops had an end. This was too much work so doing it in one line changes how it would be made and help me when filming and animating.

This image below was a test for how the window could be designed and the shape it would add to the depth within the shots. I was also looking at colour pallets and interior to get an overall feel for what the windows could add to the lighting and colour.

Extended Practice- Study task 1- Extended Brief- Character Designs

Extended Brief- Character Designs

For the father I have looked into features present in victorian England, with the facial hair, rounded glasses and styled waxed hair. Through testing different shapes and features I found this character below to look fatherly, soft in the face and in-keeping with the failing shop owner but loving father that my animation is about. Below I sketched how his body would be foam under his fabric clothes, as his head will be foam latex. This will allow movement without excess weight and expressions within the face. As he is the father of the other character, I need to design the daughter so their is a similarity between them and they look related so this is something to keep in mind for when I design her.

Although after asking many peers about this character, they felt that he could be made more fatherly and have a better impact when made to stand out more. This is when I changed him to have a more rectangular face with his round glasses and scruffy beard, although as the story progresses more and ideas come along I may need to change him to fit the animation and his daughter more. 

Although I do much prefer him to the one above.