Week 2 - character turnaround and feedback

This week i worked on my character turnaround. i couldn't decide on a colour scheme. i uploaded my designs to the forum for feedback.

• The backpack is a turtle, turtles have hard shells and she needs some place secure to put her gear when she's not using it so that it doesn't get damaged. She also just likes turtles as well as cats. 
• The feedback suggested changing the hands and feet to have retractable claws. Whilst this did work for the mittens i found that it didn't work so well for the feet. This was because i couldn't get them to look right when i was drawing them out. 
• i have decided to leave the type face and logo until i do the model sheet. This will allow me to get a better idea of her personality as it develops and make a type face and logo that represent her.

Week 1 - Initial research

In this task we had to redesign one of 7 characters from the Beano. This was part of D&AD 2018

1. Angel Face
2. Beryl the Peril
3. Billy the Cat
4. Ivy the Terrible
5. Secret Agent Sally
6. The Belles of St. Lemons
7. Valda

Initially, I was considering choosing Angel Face and ageing her up to a teenager. Upon researching Angel Face, I discovered she is considered Dennis opposite and is around the same age as him. I felt she was limiting in that she is coloured in, she's part of a well-known and established story. However, upon researching Billy the Cat's character I changed my mind as he had more potential. With Billy because he's not as well-known and the lack of colour his characters appearance provides the opportunity to completely reinvent him. It’s also more enticing because of the challenge of gender-bending the character.

Task 13 - Apply The 12

The twelve principles of animation as describes by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas are an integral part of animation. Throughout the past 13 weeks we have been learning the principles of animation though project based work. In this task we have to apply the 12 in one final animation.

My final peace has gone through 5 different edits to reach my own high expectations. At first I planned to do it all in Claymation because I thought this would be easiest to achieve over the Christmas break. However, when I edited it together, I didn’t like it. So I went over each frame in Photoshop to achieve a traditional 2d look. 

 

What went well?

·      I liked the way my characters turned out, they’re a true reflection of their character and personality.

·      My ability to use the model sheet has improved.

·      The fact that I did it all in Claymation first helped give it a perspective that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to achieve if I’d have done it straight up in 2d

What could be improved?

·      It would have been more time efficient to just have done it in 2d to begin with so that I wouldn’t have had to do 5 edits, despite that I’m happy with the final product.

·      I could’ve designed the car better, I think it looks too boxy.