Home/Island Design

Resolved concept focusing on Volan's home, experimenting with some additional details over the base previs image. I distorted the proportions slightly to give a more quirky impression to the house overall.




Next, I will likely continue to develop the previs refining camera movement and specific elements, while also kick starting production with modelling.

Character 'Volan'

Here is the resolved design of Volan. Coming of age, he has adapted to the new conditions of the world and is determined to find signs of any other survivors. The style and aesthetic should be ideal for the whimsical tone of the piece, where I imagine finer details will be resolved when translating the design into a 3D space. Additional props include pouches, a compass, telescope and case.




Soon things will be moving into production as I wrap up the ends of preproduction.

Character 'Volan' Initial Ideas #01

Initial ideas with the character design of Volan. As before: My initial thoughts for Volan is to be of a 'coming of age' male, reflective of a pioneering spirit. Originally a farmer, he had a variety of tools and equipment at his disposal to adapt to the flooded world. But now alone and isolated, he roams the skies in search for land and signs of any other survivors.

I've experimented with a range of different ideas to help determine the best direction to pursue. It's a bit tricky finding the right level of stylisation, as in some cases, it gives a strong youthful impression which will need to be balanced.



They are by no means final designs with their clothing or faces, but a manner of getting ideas down on paper and start determining elements that work. As such, I've picked out the ideas that seem to work the most. It feels that these ideas work better with their stylised proportions and various details with straps and pouches.



With this in mind, I will try to combine the successful elements of these initial ideas to progress with more resolved designs.

Home/Island Ideas #02

Some more development with Volan's home and island. These early sketches attempt to capture the idea that the home has been adapted and modified to expand the space of the house and power the flight of the island.




While the earlier idea of having a ring of propellers built into the island remains an interesting concept, I felt it would be too impractical to the island as a whole.




From the two more refined designs below, I am leaning towards the designs found in house B, with its practicality and overall form. A small number of gears protrude from the left side of the house to power the propeller below, where Volan can use the roof balcony to search the skies.



Applying the house design to the island below, the large balloons maintain the lift of the island where the propeller and rudders provide the forward momentum, turning and pitch capabilities respectively. The island is further shaped in an arch fashion so as to further amplify the force of wind through the propeller. Some ideas to items and props around the island include; an area for growing vegetables, fishing rods on the edge of the island, an array of buckets to collect rain water, as well as crates and barrels for storing food and materials.




To wrap up this post, a point of reference to the eccentric nature of the house and island is similar to the themes found in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). Check out the video below with the opening scene of the house, and around the 3:30 mark with the variety of quirky contraptions.

Home/Island Ideas #01

Exploring initial ideas of Volan's home and island with some rough sketches. These early sketches experiment with the idea that Volan's home has been adapted and modified to expand the space of the house, as well as initial musings into the system of flight of the island.




Including ideas for the island, designs A - D (see image below) explore some initial ideas with propellers, hot air balloons and sails. In the case of design D, the island itself is shaped to work in more unison with the propellers, accommodating the blades below. Idea E uses the hot air balloons underneath the island to propel the island upwards, where idea F uses multiple levels of helicopter type rotation built into the island for flight.




One of the main challenges to solve is whether the house is a main component of flight i.e. literally accommodating a sail or hot air balloons in its design, or is rather a component that powers the system of flight being more apparent around the island. Essentially, it may be a case of treating the designs of the house and the island very closely together, or perhaps as one, in order to achieve a coherent design as a whole.

Junk Character Progress

Made some minor changes to the original designs as suggested from feedback. Mainly, larger feet are given to the 2nd and 3rd designs to better balance and support the model.



I've also begun modelling the characters this week, working on the head and blocking the body in with quick shapes to get a sense of proportion of the model.

Junkyard Concept

Although environments are not not the main focus for this project, it would be ideal to have a concept piece to follow when constructing the scene. Thus, here is concept piece of the junkyard where the members of Tribe 17 will perform.






I am yet to fully determine the context within the animation, which I have had a number of talks with Alan. In general, the members of Tribe 17 are performing a ritual of sorts to make 'B' or perhaps 'C' happen. So in this idea, the Tribe's ritual movements involve operating a pile driver machine; by pounding the various bits of junk (in time with the drumming of the soundpiece) they create sparks to attract fireflies, which in turn they use to power and store within themselves. As such, I tried to capture a mystical tone to the piece above as it involves a circle/cycle with machine and nature. It may be a quirky premise and may need some tweaking to give me more opportunities to animate, but I'm eager to hear any thoughts or feedback on the idea.

Junk Character Designs

From my original silhouettes created from objects of junk, I have taken the more successful designs to flesh out. It has been tricky deciphering the insides of the silhouette, where many tweaks and experimentation was needed to refine the design as a whole. I've tried to place objects that would enable degrees of flexibility and movement such as ball joints, tubing or springs.




Although there are most likely areas subject to some further tweaking, I believe I can take these further to begin modelling where changes can be made in the production process.

Junk Silhouette Designs

With the world of my animation revolving around a junkyard, it makes natural sense that the design and aesthetic should similarly be inspired by junk. Thus, as suggested by tutor Alan, I have taken a range of reference images of junk and cutout individual parts/objects for a range of intriguing forms and shapes.




I've then combined the forms together to create silhouette designs of the possible type of characters in the animation.





This approach has produced some intriguing designs which is leading me to consider the possibility of having the characters be made entirely of objects of junk, rather than be human in form and figure. Where their construction would also affect their performance in the way they move.

Thumbnails

Some quick thumbnails envisioning the type of shots possible for my animated short. Namely, the figures will perform around a central idol made similarly from the junk, where there will be a main figure performing the majority of movements.

Tribe Silhouette Designs

With a concentrated character performance, the designs of my characters will have to work on a number of levels from visual appeal to practicality when animating. First however, I have experimented with a range of character shapes and proportions forming various silhouette designs.

The main feature in the designs is the mask which can be varied to give the illusion of several characters.





The designs with extraggerated proportions are notably working better, particularly the 2nd of 3rd designs of page 1, as well as the designs on the third page.

Alchemy - Tribe Masks

To help mix things up in my concepts, I have approached these designs differently using the software Alchemy - a drawing application designed to be widely experimental in nature. These tribe mask designs were made using loose abtract forms and shapes combined with the use of the mirror function.

I had some fun with these as I let go of concerns such as detail or line. While these are not final, they serve as initial musings that may have potential to be explored and developed further.





If you're interested in using Alchemy, you can download it here - its free and there's no need for installation as it runs independently.

KLED Animations Update

Just wanted to give an update over at KLED Animations. We're finishing up on Pre-Production and beginning the Production stages of the pipeline.

The proposed synoposis of our B-movie trailer:

The Day Of The Chainsaw Wielding Baby From The Centre Of The Earth

A top secret government research facility located in the centre of the Earth, becomes the root of a close guarded secret and its escape to the planets surface. The secret, known as ‘Project 6’, is an entirely synthesised baby bred to be the perfect killing machine. However, Project 6 escapes his incubation pod before fully maturing and makes a break for the surface. Alone and confused, Project 6 unleashes terror upon the unsuspecting citizens of suburban America, using his innate ability to transform his arm into a Chainsaw.

The secret government group attempt to find and return their work by any means necessary. Will Project 6 ever be free and have a real life, or will he be forced back into a cage?

Refined storyboard as shown in our Pre-Production pitch.


Our animatic showing the proposal for our trailer.


One of my primary roles on the team is to produce concept art to help visualise our trailer. A key environment included an underground laboratory where I've tried to capture an iconic scene of a baby growing in a tube/pod.



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The elevator becomes the baby's means of escape to the surface. Initially, we thought of a old rustic sort of elevator for further atmosphere under the depths of Earth. Yet in light of the overall aesthetic, perhaps the simpler round elevator would work better particularly when rising to the surface in a comedic manner.





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Other environments included a park where the baby will rise to the surface, to a town where the baby will begin his reign of terror. The bright and colourful aesthetic of the surface world helps provide a comedic touch with the very nature of our narrative, as well as give a strong contrast to the foreign world of the laboratory.




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I hope to post more frequent updates here on the progress of KLED Animations, otherwise follow our studio blog directly at http://kled-animations.blogspot.com/.