Of Bots and Bananas

Havent posted anything in a while so the best thing to do is probably update you with everything I have been doing on my project. When I firt started the project, I knew I wanted my character to look, so this is where I started. I wanted my character to look out of proportion the same way that Mickey Mouse is out of proportion. Big hands, big feet, big head and round belly. This was my starting point for the general body shape. After this images, of Clank from 'Ratchet and Clank' helped me to finalise the shape and detail. However, now I have started modelling, the design may change if I encounter any problems. I alsowanted my character to work as a clock. Dont know why, just thought it was interesting and it might add a bit more charater. This is why I added a ticking metranome tie which also is useful when it comes to my opening sequence in the animation. This is how my final design looked for my robot;


To this point I have rigged his arms and legs almost without issues, however there is a slight problem with the "FootRoll" which I need to sort out. This week I am trying to create and rig the head. I am playing with the idea of having him not speaking but just using noises to portray his emotions.This is how it looked at the time of this post;


Thats as much as I can stand to write about my character and I think I have covered about everything so I will move on to story and setting.

Originally I was going for some optimistic, unfunny story about an island and banana, but after my presentation this has all changed. I took Andy's advise and stook with the infinte room. But then I got hit by the idea of having somebody other than the main character in control of the furniture in the room. This came from playing portal. I liked the idea of somebody watching over and doing things to 'distract' my charcter simply for their own enjoyment. As it stand I am torn between this or just having my character slip and fall as he moves closer and further away to the furniture. Either way the set will look the same, and will have influences from portal. So I really need to crack on, try and get all the modelling done for monday (which is actually a realistic possibility) and make a decision on the story by then.

Moving image

In week one of the moving image module, I was appointed producer of the script 'Shift'. Up to now, as a group, we have decided what kind of film we want it to be and organised some form of schedule for the shoot. Althougth, this will have to be confirmed this next Friday. Also, we have worked on a storyboard for the first scene ans start of the second. As producer, I have organised a time for us to film in Biocity reception for an hour and also found us an actor from the performing arts course. Between now and next week I will need to make sure we have all locations ready, all equipment ready and all the risk assessment sheets are prepared.

When thinking about the film, I always picture it to be like this:

2 weeks work

Over the holiday, I have been mainly working on my super villain lair. After too many hours work it is finally complete, all that is required now is for me to put all the images on premier and edit. Turns out there was much more work than i expected as it all failed epically when adding matrerial to walls and lighting certain objects. After working through it all though, i have learnt so much from tutorials and from the shhets that Andy gave us and feel alot more comfortable using the software. One new skill i did learn was about creating new materials. For example, i created the leather on the armchair by using this image in the 'bump' section:



After doing this i changed the diffuse colour to what i wanted it to be and here is the final result:




I have also been working on my quiz. I have got all the buttons, backgrounds and images ready. I just need to get into waverly and try and put it all together on flash. I think its ounds a lot easier than it is actually going to be.

context task

better last minute than never...

After interviewing one person in the group and hearing what people had to say in the groups we came up with the questions with, i can see that;

- most people start their project in the same way. That is by watching videos and films, articles, other people's work and also by talking to their peers. In doing this we can take all good features and ideas and mix them in with our own.

- Another subject that was highlighted was the importance of self evaluation. Being able to look back, see something doesnt work and then go back and change it can make the difference between a finished piece of work and a well-polished piece of work. I think it is this attention that can make somebody stand out against the rest.

This week, I have considered which quiz to do. I really liked the idea of a riddle quiz, however narrowing the answers down from an almost infinite number to 4, seems to make it a little easy. Also, there are alot less riddles in films than i expected. Apart from in Batman, where quite frankly, they are ridiculous.



If you have watched that i think you will agree that if i put those riddles in a quiz, almost everybody will come out with the score of 0. Never the less, i have started creating the layout and function of the quiz. After watching that though, i do think that giving it a riddler theme would be quite interesting. Once i have come to a decision on what it is going to be on i can start adding design and questions. If anybody can give me the names of films with a good riddle in, i would be very grateful.

Still my 3d work isnt finished. i have set myself a deadline to have it done by as i keep putting it off for other distractions. rest assured though, that it will be done.

Heavy Rain will be the end of me

To be completely honest, this week I have been obsessed with Heavy Rain. The only break i really got was when my playstation caught the bug and stopped me for a day. As far as my interactive narrative goes, i am considering making a quiz on riddles. I could use videos from films, obviously find some questions on the internet. The only problem would be that i don't know whether i could have text entry to input an answer. If i have to narrow it down to 3 or 4 answers, it makes the whole thing a lot easier. I will think of designs that i could use, but as of yet it is still only an idea. Probably change my mind by next week.

not much to report

Still trying to finish my virtual environment. Slowly but surely getting there, at the minute I am just finishing the lighting then it 'simply' requires me to add in the camera. Hopefully have that done and photos up for next week. Also, started the flash segment this week. All I can really do so far is consider ideas so I am thinking about what people would find interesting, fun, and something I can fill all the criteria with.

3d update

Over the past few weeks, I have been attempting to model a lair and also the props to go inside. Most of my time has been spent practising with 3ds max and finding solutions to any problems that pop up using tutorials. I have found in most cases of modeling it is just a matter of finding the right method to get to the final outcome. I have been working from photo references that are on the intrenet, brief sketches I have made like the one below:



At the moment I have almost finished all modelling, is adding material to the objects and after that i will add light to the set. Although the process is long, I do really enjoy creating objects and am looking forward to seeing the final outcome of my design. Here are a couple of examples of some the work I have produced:

Research

I have always considered myself to have a skill in art. Over the past 5 years, I have studied everything from painting to 3D structures. I have done this for GCSE and A-level. More than anything though, I have done it because I really enjoy it and is what I wanted to do. I have done it the way I have because in my opinion it is the easiest way to get into an art and design industry in the future. People did try to persuade me to do a art foundation first to make sure that multimedia was right for me, but i didn't think this was necessary. I have always loved animation in films and games and decided that hat is the path I want to go down in the future. As of yet, I have not decided if I would prefer to go into animation of game design.
By researching aspects of these skills or any media that may influence my work, i will become overall a batter practitioner. It will help me know what is going on in the world where i study. It will obviously improve my skills as I watch tutorials, and looking at work that other people have done will give me more ideas. By broadening my knowledge of the subject, it will look more impressive when i come to an interview and I will always be able to look back at my research for ideas.
When it comes from starting research, I don't think that there are any insignificant starting points. I am sure that by starting at one point, you will have to look at all of them to fully understand the subject you are studying. I think a good position is to start from the front. By looking at reactions for something and then going back and looking how it was done, you will begin to see what makes a good product. And then you can look at why it was made like it was. In doing this, you can see the effects of all the different influences on the product and be able to see how they all interlink.

3D Lair

Last Thursday I started on a lair for a super hero/villain. I decided to design a lair for 'The Joker' as I thought it would be the most interesting considering his characteristics. I considered many characters, mainly from the Batman franchise, based on interesting personality traits that would mean weird and wonderful interiors. I was also going to pick 'V' from 'V for Vendetta' as the shadow gallery built up in the novel is one of the most unique building designs I have ever come across. However, the Joker's theatrical, hysterical and yet insane personality gave my ideas almost no constrictions as nothing could go too far.
So far, I have built the walls of the hideaway. In my head I know what is going in each room. I have decided on having a theatre/library, armoury, transport and what can only be explained as a novelty room. By this time next week, I plan to have sketches of my designs on here.
As far as influences are concerned. I have looked at his personality in all the comics that I have with him in. I have also obviously watched 'The Dark Knight' and played 'Arkham Asylum'. All these things I have considered when deciding what would go in the den. However as different writers portray him in different ways this because complicated as some personalities contradict one another. I am hoping to create the lair in the style of 'Fear and Loathing'. The bazooko circus scene gives the circus the sinister appearance that I hope to achieve.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ktKSRs6a4

Multimedia outside of university

When outside of university, I develop my skills as a practioner by drawing designs and ideas for characters or scenery onto a graphics tablet. I also browse deviantart for a variety of influences from any type of media. However, after talking in last weeks seminar, I was given the idea of posting my work on there and following other artists that I like. Also, by commenting other people's work I will get feeback on my own.
I also take influenece from many other forms of media such as novels, comics and articles that may affect the discipline. Youtube is also a good source for watching tutorials on software, and interviews and discussions with key figures in the industry. Again, by subscibing to animators and artists, I can follow how they develop and go back to them in the future when i am looking for ideas.