For the final project, we will have a class vote on two options.
1. Educational Game: You will create a general concept and 3 characters for a educational video game for any console, any audience. The subject can be anything, including science, math, biology, language, psychology, etc.
2. First Person Shooter: Create a concept and 3 characters for a first person shooter. The target audience, story and game mechanics are up to you. Relevant examples of first person shooters include Splatoon, Portal, Halo, Call of Duty, Doom, Magestorm, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead and GoldenEye.
Upcoming Deadlines
11/4 - Concept - Bring 5 ideas for your game to class.
11/9 - Moodboard and References for your chosen game concept
11/16 - 5 Speculative Sketches for your 3 characters
11/18 - 5 Evolutionary Sketches of your 3 characters, based on your chosen Speculative sketches.
11/25 - 5 Lighting and Color Options for each of your 3 characters
12/2 - Final Turnarounds for each of your characters
Monday, November 2, 2015
Monday, October 26, 2015
Class Exercise: Exquisite Corpse
Using one of the follow drawings done in class, create a
vector illustration in Illustrator. Use what you know of the Elements
of Design to make the image as aesthetically appealing as possible. You
may deviate from the sketch and use artistic liberties if you feel it
will contribute to the final look.
What I will be looking for is if the drawing is well-rendered (smooth lines, existence of a background), aesthetic decisions (color choices, line quality) and any technical issues (cropping, any holes in the drawing, any problems in the drawing).
Here are the sketches we did in class, you may choose any one of them for your assignment. Feel free to have fun with it!:
Student Examples:
What I will be looking for is if the drawing is well-rendered (smooth lines, existence of a background), aesthetic decisions (color choices, line quality) and any technical issues (cropping, any holes in the drawing, any problems in the drawing).
Here are the sketches we did in class, you may choose any one of them for your assignment. Feel free to have fun with it!:
Student Examples:
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Project 2 - Scenario Possibilities
When pitching a project, you may run into unexpected opportunities or pitfalls, such as the opportunity to pitch to a network that you weren't anticipating (such as during a pitching convention), or you'll meet or be connected to an investor who may be willing to fund your project. The problem is that your project may not be a perfect fit as-is. At that stage, you'll typically have to choose or find a balance between seeing your story through as you originally intended but risking your project to never be picked up at all, or making the changes that would give your story the advantage it needs for the network/investor you're pitching to. Below are 5 different scenarios, one of which will/has been chosen at random. Everyone will have the same scenario (and thus everyone will be creating solutions for the same problem.
Scenario 1
After a successful pitch to a television network, the
executives love your work, but don’t feel that your project has a place in
their current line up. However, they do
have an opening coming up in their daytime lineup. The problem?
The target audience is 6-12 year old boys. If you can modify your pitch to fit this
demographic, they are willing to consider picking it up. Their competitors are Nickelodeon, Cartoon
Network and the Hubb. Their priority is
selling merchandise, so your series should be marketable to young boys. Competing programs include Ben 10, Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers
Scenario 2
A friend of a friend of a friend landed you a pitch with a
new up and coming network that’s hungry for new material. The network markets cartoons to adults,
preferring comedy, adult content or shock value. Their competitors are Spike TV, Cartoon
Network’s Adult Swim and Comedy Central. Competing programs include Family Guy, Stripperella, Ren and Stimpy Adult Party, Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Archer.
Scenario 3
Through the efforts of Concerned Moms Against Anime, there is
a new, moral/education-focused trend happening in cartoons. Kid’s TV networks are open for your pitch, but
they are looking for age ranges 6-12 (boys or girls) and the story must have a
clear moral and educational value. These
can include learning basic skills such as when to cross the street, what
traffic signs mean and not to talk to strangers, or it could include learning
social skills, such as tolerance, how to treat others, the importance of
sharing, etc. Gender is not an issue, nor is merchandising and the story doesn't have to be only about education (it can have a plot), but education is the priority. Competing programs include Steven Universe, The Magic Schoolbus, My Little Pony, Avatar
Scenario 4
Networks focusing on pre-school programs such as Dora the
Explorer, Blue’s Clues, Eureka’s Castle and others are looking for the next big
hit. If you can modify your pitch to
entertain girls or boys, ages 3-6, you can pass it to them before the spot
fills up!
Scenario 5
You have a pitching opportunity with a network that’s
looking for a series targeting 6-12 year old girls. The priority is on selling merchandise, so
your series should feel marketable to young girls. Competing programs include My Little Pony, Monster High, Equestra Girls.
In this version, since you already know who your characters are and what your story is about, there will be no need for the concept storyboards or moodboards. We will jump straight into the character re-designs. You know who your characters are by now, and it's just a matter of stylistically fitting them to the new setting.
Upcoming Deadlines
10/19: Speculative Sketches of your Original 3 Characters in the New Style
10/21: Evolutionary Sketches of your original 3 characters, based on the chosen Speculative sketch, in the new style.
10/26: Color and value tests for your chosen Evolutionary Sketches
11/2: Final turnarounds in the new style
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Media Lab 3D Solutions is Hiring Animators and Graphic Artists
http://www.medialab3dsolutions.com/who-we-are/careers
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Snow White and Rose Red videos
Hey guys! I've found some films that are about Snow White and Rose Red, in case they would be helpful for your brainstorming:
1979 Live Action film "Snow White and Rose Red"
Grimms Fairy Tale Classic Animation "Snow White and Rose Red"
1979 Live Action film "Snow White and Rose Red"
Grimms Fairy Tale Classic Animation "Snow White and Rose Red"
Monday, August 31, 2015
Project 1 - A Fairytale Reinvisioned
Taking an existing fairytale that will be provided to you in class, create our own, reinvented version of that fairytale. There are many, many retellings of the same story - Disney's Aladdin, for example, was inspired by Lotte Reineger's "Adventures of Prince Achmed". Frozen is based on Hans Christian Anderson's story "The Snow Queen." Many of Disney's films are based on Grimm Fairytales, and are much more 'Disnified' versions of the dark and gruesome stories that the Grimm Brothers originally constructed.
Some, such as Alice in Wonderland, have gone through many different variations.
You're going to be taking the fairytale given to you, and make any changes as you see fit to create your own version of the story. So long as the essence of the story remains intact, you're free to do as you wish. We're going to start off creating the story itself, through the use of storyboards so that you'll have the foundation to work with. After that, the project will focus on designing 3 of the characters. While it will be important to know on a fundamental level where your story takes place (what time period, what location), environment concepts, animatics, etc. will not be required for this project.
I will be grading this project on:
Aesthetic/Style: Do the characters look like they belong in the same world? Do their designs have appeal? This doesn't mean that every character has to look attractive, but do they seem interesting and show personality? Are their proportions consistent? Do we get a good idea of who they are? Or are they bland, generic and not well thought out? The sketches and final drawing of the character would be graded here.
Professionalism: How well is the information organized and presented? If I was a real client, would I take the work seriously, or would it feel sloppy and rushed? There is no 'technical' part of the grade, per se, but if there are technical issues such as pixilation, this is where the grade would be effected.
Research: This is where artist statements, mood board, references and explanations are vital, as the research portion of the grade will be based solely on that.
Upcoming Deadlines
Checkpoint 1: Due 9/9 - Bring 5 Ideas for your reinvented story
Checkpoint 2: Due 9/16 - Create Concept Storyboards
Checkpoint 3: Due 9/21 - Moodboards. Create a moodboard for the project as a whole, emphasizing the general feel you want your audience to have when they watch/read it. Also select three characters from your story and create moodboards for them.
Checkpoint 4: Due 9/23 - Collect References. At least 3 real world references (such as if your story takes place in 15th century France, have pictures of what the town layouts looked like there, or what people wore, architecture, what technology they had at the time, etc. as what is relevant for your story), and at least 3 style references. For the style reference, this is just what visual style you have in mind for the project. If the style is based on a famous historic art style (Cubism, Abstract Expressionism, etc.), then you can bring samples of art pieces, comic books, etc. that incorporate that style successfully. It could also be screenshots and concept art of other cartoons, comics, stories, etc. that have the style, or elements of that style, that you feel are similar to what you're thinking of.
Write a short analysis of each reference, and how it fits with your story. Also, make a note of any special challenges that the style, time period or anything else might have with your story. For example, if your characters are meant to travel far but the time period you've chosen doesn't have a good way for characters to get around easily, you can mention that.
Checkpoint 5: Due 9/28 - Speculative (Blue Sky) Sketches. Create 5 drawings of each of your three characters. Each drawing should be a very different take on the same character.
Checkpoint 6: Due 9/30 - Evolutionary (Refinement) Sketches. Choose your favorite of the character sketches for each characters, and block in the silhouette. Using the same silhouette, create 5 slightly different versions of the same design, using the same character.
Checkpoint 7: Due 10/5 - Choose your favorite evolutionary sketch for each of your three characters, and quick paint values onto them, in greyscale. Light each character in 5 different ways.
Checkpoint 8: Due 10/7 - Choose your favorite greyscale sketch for each of your three characters, and create 5 different color schemes for each one.
Checkpoint 9: Due 10/14 - Taking your favorite colors, values and final sketch of your character, create a turnaround of each of your three characters in Photoshop, fully detailed, rendered, lit and colored. Keep in mind proportions and volume.
Some, such as Alice in Wonderland, have gone through many different variations.
You're going to be taking the fairytale given to you, and make any changes as you see fit to create your own version of the story. So long as the essence of the story remains intact, you're free to do as you wish. We're going to start off creating the story itself, through the use of storyboards so that you'll have the foundation to work with. After that, the project will focus on designing 3 of the characters. While it will be important to know on a fundamental level where your story takes place (what time period, what location), environment concepts, animatics, etc. will not be required for this project.
I will be grading this project on:
Aesthetic/Style: Do the characters look like they belong in the same world? Do their designs have appeal? This doesn't mean that every character has to look attractive, but do they seem interesting and show personality? Are their proportions consistent? Do we get a good idea of who they are? Or are they bland, generic and not well thought out? The sketches and final drawing of the character would be graded here.
Professionalism: How well is the information organized and presented? If I was a real client, would I take the work seriously, or would it feel sloppy and rushed? There is no 'technical' part of the grade, per se, but if there are technical issues such as pixilation, this is where the grade would be effected.
Research: This is where artist statements, mood board, references and explanations are vital, as the research portion of the grade will be based solely on that.
Upcoming Deadlines
Checkpoint 1: Due 9/9 - Bring 5 Ideas for your reinvented story
Checkpoint 2: Due 9/16 - Create Concept Storyboards
Checkpoint 3: Due 9/21 - Moodboards. Create a moodboard for the project as a whole, emphasizing the general feel you want your audience to have when they watch/read it. Also select three characters from your story and create moodboards for them.
Checkpoint 4: Due 9/23 - Collect References. At least 3 real world references (such as if your story takes place in 15th century France, have pictures of what the town layouts looked like there, or what people wore, architecture, what technology they had at the time, etc. as what is relevant for your story), and at least 3 style references. For the style reference, this is just what visual style you have in mind for the project. If the style is based on a famous historic art style (Cubism, Abstract Expressionism, etc.), then you can bring samples of art pieces, comic books, etc. that incorporate that style successfully. It could also be screenshots and concept art of other cartoons, comics, stories, etc. that have the style, or elements of that style, that you feel are similar to what you're thinking of.
Write a short analysis of each reference, and how it fits with your story. Also, make a note of any special challenges that the style, time period or anything else might have with your story. For example, if your characters are meant to travel far but the time period you've chosen doesn't have a good way for characters to get around easily, you can mention that.
Checkpoint 5: Due 9/28 - Speculative (Blue Sky) Sketches. Create 5 drawings of each of your three characters. Each drawing should be a very different take on the same character.
Checkpoint 6: Due 9/30 - Evolutionary (Refinement) Sketches. Choose your favorite of the character sketches for each characters, and block in the silhouette. Using the same silhouette, create 5 slightly different versions of the same design, using the same character.
Checkpoint 7: Due 10/5 - Choose your favorite evolutionary sketch for each of your three characters, and quick paint values onto them, in greyscale. Light each character in 5 different ways.
Checkpoint 8: Due 10/7 - Choose your favorite greyscale sketch for each of your three characters, and create 5 different color schemes for each one.
Checkpoint 9: Due 10/14 - Taking your favorite colors, values and final sketch of your character, create a turnaround of each of your three characters in Photoshop, fully detailed, rendered, lit and colored. Keep in mind proportions and volume.
Assignment 2: Character Analysis
Due Class 4 - 9/2 (Group Assignment)
Choose three characters from the same animated series or movie, and analyze their designs. Compare and contrast those three characters. Create graphics in Photoshop that highlights and describes each other's physical attributes and how they contribute or take away from the design.
Of the three characters, which design do you feel is the most and/or least successful? Why? How can we tell visually that the characters are from the same story? How are the characters similar? How are they different?
Why do you think the creators chose the designs they did? You may research articles or books about the series and quote them in your presentation as needed.
Choose three characters from the same animated series or movie, and analyze their designs. Compare and contrast those three characters. Create graphics in Photoshop that highlights and describes each other's physical attributes and how they contribute or take away from the design.
Of the three characters, which design do you feel is the most and/or least successful? Why? How can we tell visually that the characters are from the same story? How are the characters similar? How are they different?
Why do you think the creators chose the designs they did? You may research articles or books about the series and quote them in your presentation as needed.
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