Initial Thumbnailing & Scripting
Beginning the initial idea and character production for my COP3 practical was rather easy to get into as I was so engrossed in my subject. I wanted to create a rather androgynous character as not to draw attention away from their facial features and bodily movement. Mental health issues affect everyone of all backgrounds, genders, and ethnicities so I believed it was important to get this message across by not decorating my character or designing their body in any obvious way.
The character itself features a rather large head in comparison to its body height - one quarter in fact. This is to make it easier to identify with their facial expressions, an important factor in my animated story. The limbs are rather basic, with little to no fingers or toes unless in the instance of contact with objects. This simplicity allows the viewer to focus on the story and emotion, rather than the overall aesthetic of the piece.
Background production will be a rather tedious task as I plan on looking at German Expressionism a little more to understand how backgrounds were created to provoke a sense of unreality on the audience. Many-point perspectives may be necessary along with unusual camera angles to depict the character's relation with their environments.
I began by sketching down my initial thoughts and ideas in the correct format (16:9) to get a sense of how the character will move and flow within the space. In the first scene especially, the feeling of lonliness is very prevelant and must be portrayed well through the use of both character animation and environment.
German Expressionism seems to be highly preoccupied with reflective surfaces. I'm not interested in keeping completely consistent with the style as my my main aim is simplicity. I believe I can achieve a sense of 'unreality' through minimalism and will demonstrate this through some of my environmental/background designs.
Below are my really rough, initial ideas for a storyboard. This would then be the basis for my more refined attempts at a storyboard, of which took many tries to get completely right.
