Maya Tutorial: Lip Sync Part 1

Influence Map: Late 19th Century Furniture

'The Woman In Black' trailer

 I don't think I've seen a trailer as spine chillingly awesome as this, 'The Woman In Black'. The overall aesthetic shown in the trailer is great; dark, very creepy and the interior setting is just amazingly periodic.  And the ending is a fantastic finishing touch! I can see this being a great help for this project.

  

Character Design Tutorial: Introduction to Character Design

Today was our first character design workshop with Justin, where he introduced us to some of the basics of character design such as colour and shape. From this we then were given our character brief and 80's mash up themes in which I got secret agent cyborgs! :D

We also worked on a drawing task to get used to character design, in which we were given another two themes to see what we could come up with on the spot. This time I got gangster cyborgs:

I quite enjoyed this little exercise. I opted for the mafia style gangster but decided that if he was armed be would have an arm that was a gun. I was also going for the intimidation factor so I added scars and 'melted' flesh too.

Character Design: Secret Agent Cyborgs!

It explains itself really! My 80's style mash up for the character design brief consists of secret agents and cyborgs; 'Spyborgs' in short. Both genres go hand in hand, a well suited duo.

Film Review: Ed Wood

Fig. 1 Ed Wood poster

A 1994 film directed by Tim Burton, Ed Wood is a biopic (biographical film) that explores the career of one of the most notorious film makers in cinema, Edward D. Wood Jnr. Wood produced his fair share of films throughout his career, none of which reaching success. However some of his most well known works such as "Plan 9 From Outer Space" quickly became cult classics following his death in 1978. The film follows Ed Wood (Johnny Depp) from the off set of his career, directing the film "Glen Or Glenda", finishing with the premiere of "Plan 9 From Outer Space". 

Tim Burton strives for authenticity in Ed Wood. In his recreation of Wood's career, Burton has the film remakes including "Glen Or Glenda" and "Plan 9 From Outer Space", mimic the originals down to each detail, making sure that everything Wood put into the originals was in his own. This included things from characters and cast to sets and costumes. Even the mishaps from Wood's films are incorporated into Burton's remakes. Below are two shots from the same moment in "Glen Or Glenda", first Ed Wood's original and then Tim Burton's remake:

Fig. 2 Glen or Glenda (Ed Wood)

Fig. 3 Glen Or Glenda (Tim Burton)

"If you are interested in this movie because you have seen Plan 9 from Outer Space, you'll love the last part of this film, which focuses on the making and release of Plan 9. What's neat about it is how the scene doesn't use footage from the original Plan 9 film. Rather, it features the actors in this 1994 film playing the original Plan 9 cast and reenacting scenes from the sci-fi film. I was quite impressed by how the reenactment of Plan 9 looks so much like the original Plan 9. This is a great example of authenticity in the portrayal of actual events." (AFR, -) 

On top of the authenticity that Burton achieves in Ed Wood he also brings in his fascination with 1950's B-movies. Burton chose to film the Ed Wood in black and white as his attempt to revive a filmic style that he enjoys. And due to the nature of the film it fits quite nicely; wood made low budget B-movies and Burton, in his biopic has used a part of that style to bring the feel of the film full circle.

"Filming in black and white helped-it became a sort of unifying character. Production design and music, too-all of those elements you treat as characters; you listen and look as you would with an actor." (Burton, -)

"Part of the decision to do Ed Wood in black and white came when we were doing makeup tests with Rick Baker. Rick said, "What color were Bela's eyes?" and we realized none of us had seen Bela Lugosi in color. And since we were portraying him as he hadn't really been seen, kind of out of it, we realized we didn't want to be asking those kinds of questions." (Burton, -)

List of Illustrations

Figure 1. Ed Wood (1994) Ed Wood Poster. 

At: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Wood_(film) (Accessed on 21/09/11)

Figure 2. Glen or Glenda (1953) Glen or Glenda (Ed Wood).

At: http://fredrikfyhriallmanhet.wordpress.com/arkiv-och-lager/recensioner-och-dylikt/engelska-recensioner/glen-or-glenda/ (Accessed on 21/09/11)

Figure 3. Ed Wood (1994) Glen Or Glenda (Tim Burton). 

At: http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2009/12/16/the-sixth-viewing-deconstructing-burton 

(Accessed on 21/09/11)

Bibliography

AFR (-) Ed Wood 

At: http://www.anthonysfilmreview.com/Film/E/Ed_Wood.htm (Accessed on 21/09/11)

Minadream (-) Tim Burton Interviewed By Gavin Smith 

At: http://minadream.com/timburton/EdWoodInterview.htm (Accessed on 21/09/11)

Character Design: Briefing

"An eighties Saturday cartoon series is being rebooted and as a character artist you’ve been approached to prepare a ‘Character Design & Animation Bible’ for three of the shows main characters – The Hero, The Villain, and The Sidekick. This encompassing source book will contain a synopsis of the show, expression sheets, and turnarounds for all three characters."

"Typically cartoons of the 1980s comprise multiple genres or a ‘mash up’ of ideas. Therefore each ‘artist’ will start with a random set of genres."

"Each week you will be given an assignment to be completed for next week’s class. These will slowly increase your understanding of character design and add to your ‘Character Bible’."

Character Design Classes

Week 1: Introduction to Character Design

Week 2: Building Blocks of Character Design – Shapes & Proportions

Week 3: Drawing in the Third Dimension

Week 4: Drawing Stuff

Week 5: Personality: The Spark of Life

Week 6: Distinctive Characters

Week 7: Monsters & Creatures

Week 8: Working in the Real World

Week 9: Setting the Scene
Week 10: Submission

"You are asked to keep an up-to-date daily blog archiving and annotating your creative development in order that the client can view the progress of the show. You should use the blog to reflect critically upon creative practise, whilst showcasing your research, development, methodology, and sketches for critique and discussion."

Submission Requirements:
Completed character design bible containing:
- Three fully resolved characters – Hero, Villain, & Sidekick
- A synopsis of the show
- Expression Sheets
- Turnarounds

- Completed weekly tasks

Blog & development work - A fully up-to-date blog containing your research, development, methodology, sketches, and finalised designs

Maya Tasks (WIP)

Skinning:

Painting weights:

Blend Shapes:

Jiggle Deformer:

Non Linear Deformers:

Unit 6 Animation (WIP)

Post-Pitch: 'Infection by HIV' Art of