Trying to understand my characters face by doing expression sheet. I've also simplified his face making it more circular.
Here I have four of the same faces of the Dad character, trying to find which size of mustache and glasses suits him. I prefer number 4 or maybe the mustache of 4 and the glasses of 1.
Not sure what to call the title of my animation so i named it 'Story'.
here are the character that will be involved in the animation. As i already know what they look like visually it was just a matter of dialing down and making it cartoony. the animation will involve four characters - me, a younger version of me, mum and dad.
As my project will be a story a about the past, I have been thinking about visual styles that could be integrated in my animation. i started looking at hand drawn textures. visually they look good depending on how they are drawn . some could give that creepy look and when its dimmed down - it could be subtle and colorful. The "Backwater Gospel" is a short animation and an example of how this 2D texture is used to give the creeps.
Another animation that uses the same art style is "Path of Hate". A short animation based on an historical war activity that occurred. visually comparing with Backwater Gospel it is noticeable that the texture is hand - drawn but not as thick and grainy, maybe more hand shading.
expanding on the visuals i also admire the style of black and white. since my story is about the past and someone who passed away i would prefer using black and white with a bit colors popping e.g everything could be in black and white but a particular couch that i would remember was red. that color would stand out when its in a scene. an animation that uses this style was "Paper Man" animated by Pixar. it also integrated a subtle style or flow of 2D elements, not sure if its the texture of the way the animation was rendered. it would make sense and have more meaning to the animation if it was black and white.
Idea
For my minor project i have decided to create a short story animation on the story of my dad who sadly passed away in 2005. He was a loving and caring father. was also an artist. this story will narrate from how my parents met to my mum travelling to England in pursuing of her career as things started going down hill.
This story would be told from my perspective and will also be voiced my me. It will also feature 4 Characters. Adult George, Young George, Mum and Dad.
Visual Style
After sharing my idea with my mentor he advised me to look at how stories of people are told in a more creative way through stylized animation by StoryCorps. I was excited with this idea, thought it would make more sense visually to the audience in getting the story across.
Visual Example
I was also thinking about how i wanted to present the characters - how they should look. the idea that came to mind was to have the characters exaggerated. I started looking at caricature which is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in an exaggerated. This style will present the characters in a less realistic way and more cartoony. this style will only be applying from the neck all the way to the legs keeping the head a bit normal as well as having some cartoon features.
During this process i was also thinking about ways these characters would be modeled. as I'm using caricature most parts of the character will be exaggerated, less shapes and curves and longer limbs.
The plan is to get the pre-production sorted enabling me to use the other half of the term to focus on the animation.
