Character Design: Expression sheet

I struggled to understand how my character would show expressions and I have put it off for a while. However, going forward with the project this is something I'm going to need, so I drew some up last night. These could do with some work so I plan on going to the library and getting the art of Robots and seeing if there is an expression sheets or how the robots emote in the film. 

Character Design: Sidekick character redesigns

After my talk with Justin Last week I tried to redesign the sidekick character for my magician. I tried to bare in mind that the bird needs to be able to move around as well as the tips Justin gave me.

Character Design Week 8: Animation and Layout

Today we looked at animation and layout. Justin started the lesson by showing us examples of layouts and how they use perspective. We then spent the day figuring out the layout of our environments and

getting an idea of what they would look like when we change the perspective.

This was my first attempt, but the perspective I drew the stage in was a bit extreme and didn't look believable. The figure next to the stage was me just trying to play around with the perspective of the character. I used 3 point perspective for this to make the character look big and grand. I didn't spend too much time on it though since I needed to focus on the environment.

After Justin gave me some advice based on the first drawing, I went and drew out the environment again. I'm happy with the outcome, some of the perspectives need to be fixed but overall I'm pleased with the layout.

(Layout sketches)

Character Design: Full Body Magician

Up until now I had drawn a full body drawing of my character so I thought it was a about time I do so. The first drawing is the magician in its prime, however over the years its become old and fragile as shown by the second drawing. 

Character Design Week 7: Storytelling and Staging

Today we started looking at Storytelling and Staging. Justin went through some camera shots that would help aid storytelling. Our first activity of the day was taking a scene from a film and analyzing the shots used, I chose 'Fight Club'. 

After the first activity, Justin gave everyone a location and wanted us to storyboard a chase scene, I got Sewers. My set up for this story was an establishing shot of some shady criminals lair. Someone is snooping around and gets noticed. The criminals leap into action and the chase begins. 

Part of my afternoon session was spent with Alan resolving some issues with my collaboration project. However, once that was sorted I started planning out how I wanted the story to go. I suggested to Justin that throughout the story it cuts between the magician in its prime and in current day when it's old and fragile. He then suggested that the middle section of the story could be the magician performing these tricks, while still cutting between past and present. This would show how in its prime the magician could perform these tricks with ease and now he fails to do so. Justin thought that the ending could possibly involve some real magic. So the story would end with the old magician being able to perform a trick successfully, which would then trigger the magical moment. This would then either be someone sitting in the audience that applauds or something else, the idea still needs some work but that would be the gist of it.

After Last weeks lesson I drew up a dove sidekick for the magician. I spoke to Justin who helped me think of better ways to design the bird as well as the logic behind it. At the moment the way I drew the dove its movements would be limited especially around the neck. Justin drew an example for me which has really helped me understand what sort of shapes I need to be using to make this bird more animated. 

Character Design Week 6: Props and Sidekicks

This week we looked at props and sidekicks. Justin gave us all a time period and wanted us to imagine what it would look like if it was also set in a sci-fi future. I was given Renaissance Italy, which made me think of ways in which the art culture would have evolved. Justin made some recommendations of things I could look at as well as things I could imagine in a futuristic way. For example, I began by imagining what an artists tools would look like. I came up with a pair of gloves that allow sculpting and painting. 

I also tried to take some of Da Vinci's inventions and make them look futuristic, however these ideas were weaker compared to the glove idea. Justin then wanted me to make the gloves look more like they were from the Renaissance era and think more in depth about the functions of the gloves.

I started looking at reference and changed the look of the gloves. Justin also recommended looking at the Baroque era, so I tried to incorporate some of that into the patterns on the glove. I was planning on adding a family crest to the gloves or something along those lines. 

In the afternoon I attempted to make some props for my character. The hat is going to be split up into sections and it can retract up or down.  I added a spinning bow tie and a flower that squirt water before realizing these are more clown props rather than magicians. Justin said I could get away with the bow tie since a magician is a showman. Similar to the hat I  drew a retractable wand that can store the classic handkerchief trick. Lastly, some simple playing cards but I tried to make the look like they are made of metal by adding the screws. 

Character Design Week 5: Expressions

 In this weeks lesson we started looking at expressions. I was given satisfaction and melancholy and had to try and mix the two. Later on we had to try and given inanimate objects expressions too, I was given Shoes as a prompt. 

I started drawing out some expressions of the character I drew last week. However, Justin wanted me to explore other potential ways this character could look, so with his help I designed some other character ideas.

PIPELINE: HEAD MODELLING - THROAT, NECK AND DETAILED EYE

Throat

Neck

Detailed Eye 

PIPELINE: HEAD MODELLING - NOSE AND BROW

PIPELINE: HEAD MODELLING - THE EYE & THE MOUTH

TOOLKIT 2 MAYA- PIPELINE: HEAD MODELLING- PREPARATION & ROUGH BLOCKING

Character Design Week 4: Body Language

Our focus this week was to look at body language and how certain poses can help tell a story. The first activity was to draw our peers in different poses.

I left my silhouettes from week 2 at home so I didn't have them there to help me. I looked at some eccentric and theatrical poses, which I drew one of before thinking about how I will make my character look mentally fragile. I drew some head shots as like a before and after next to the pose.

Justin liked the head shots and suggested I unhinge the mouth to emphasis that the character is worn out. I also did another sketch of a potential pose.

Character Design Week 3: World/Environment

This week we look at environments. The first activity was to take a building and then characterize it. I got the Chrysler Building and to try and add some character I looked at art deco architecture.

In the afternoon, we got to work on our own projects, so I started looking at Victorian stages and tried to add mechanical elements to it. Justin came and helped me think of how I can make my world more mechanical and the logic behind it. 

This got me thinking about my character and how he would work. I went a bit off track and didn't focus on the environment. However, this helped me to visualize my character and focus more on its development.

Character Design Week 2: Conceit/Trait

In the second week Justin got us to look at certain styles and understand them. He assigned everyone a film or TV show to look at and I got Coraline. 

 I looked at some of the concept art and then looked at some of the shapes used for the characters. I managed to find concept art of Coraline's mum head and I thought that would be a good study. 

Then finally Justin got us to use what we learnt to draw our own character in the style. I struggled drawing humans in this style mainly because I wasn't sure about what features to add, so Justin recommended I draw a creature instead. I decided to draw a bird but if it were in the button world of Coraline.

During the afternoon session I was a little confused about what we were meant to be doing, but I decided to look at my trait. The trait I got for my character was 'fragile' this first gave me the idea of a shy character. So I started to do some silhouettes to try and help me imagine the character more. When Justin got to me for our one on one he said that maybe the character is not shy but mentally fragile. I liked this idea and thought of looking at the joker. I thought about a more eccentric and manic character. The last three silhouettes didn't really embody this but it was an idea that I wanted to carry over to the following weeks.   

Character Design Week 1: Person/Animal Research

During this week I missed the lesson due to a hospital appointment, however after asking my peers what they did I tried to catch up. I was told that Justin gave everyone a prompt to research then got them to draw out furniture, weapons and caricatures. Based on what people had told they were given I tried to pick one that hadn't been done, so I went with Native Americans.

Mulholland drive and Postmodernism

(Fig 1: Movie Still)

1) Hyper-realism: This film has hyper realistic elements sprinkled through out. We're first introduced to it with the intro, people dancing but has nothing to do with the "story". Another example can be found with Betty, she acts in a happy go lucky way when Rita is in a distressing situation. 

(Fig 2: Movie Still)

2) Non-Linear Narrative: The beginning of the film sets up the ground work for a typical story that the audience was expecting. However, at that point Lynch takes the story and jumbles in up. The audience has no clue by the end of it what reality the story is in. 

(Fig 3: Movie Still)

3) Altered States: Building off of the previous point, this film mixes reality and fantasy so much at a point we are convinced that fantasy is reality in this film. For example, Betty is revealed to be a jaded actress named Diane. This reality shatters the reality that Lynch had been showing us.

(Fig 4: Movie Still)

4) Self-Referencing: This film as "random" as it may seem has clear comments on Hollywood culture. Again referring to previous point the fantasy and reality element is also a 'What if', people try to be actors or make it into Hollywood and sometimes the reality isn't the fantasy. The scene where the director is casting an actress, people with more power and authority strong arm him into choosing someone he doesn't want to.

(Fig 5: Movie Still)

5) Pastiche: The film references different aspects of Hollywood culture and its history. Rita, also known as Camilla, references the actress Rita Hayworth who was seen in a poster in the apartment. Hayworth embodied what an ideal actress was in the 1940s, which is a goal that Betty wants to achieve. 

Illustration:

Fig 1: https://religion.ua.edu/blog/2015/06/18/mulholland-drive-extremely-enigmatic-or-surprisingly-simple/

Fig 2: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/35603/1/decoding-the-fashion-of-david-lynchs-mysterious-mulholland-drive

Fig 3: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/35603/1/decoding-the-fashion-of-david-lynchs-mysterious-mulholland-drive

Fig 4: https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/film/news/a7676/mulholland-drive-explained/

Fig 5: http://www.mulholland-drive.net/cast/rita.htm