BSA324, girl emotion and movement, 20 March, 2017

in-progress: sketches for the girl

BSA324, Crocodile to Tuatara, 20 March, 2017

Original character design: Coco Crocodile

Updated character design: TBD Tuatara

This design holds pretty closely to both the attitude of the Croc and the anatomy of the Tuatara.  I think that sculpting it up will help me decide what aspects of it need to be exaggerated.  I need to remember that I'd like to consistently deal with all of the critters eyeballs like they do on Timmy Time!  In this world, that could mean everybody has black, shiny eyeballs with no whites showing and both eyes to the front as a character-design convention.

This tuatara needs to be pushed into the junk aesthetic.  When I had a crocodile with braces, I was going to make the whole puppet out of jewelry to simulate glittery scales. I could still do that if I play off the spikes on the tail and the pointy claws.

This teapot has a very cute belly and the feet are pretty sprightly.  

 This collection of  tarnished silver and jewelry makes me think I'm on the right track.

Teppy is a placeholder name until I figure something else out.  She's made out of an old tarnished silver teapot and a broken metal scoop-thing for her head.  A side view would show a series a few loops coming out the back of her head that used to be a handle.  Her tail is the teapot spout but swings freely.

BSA324, Children's book, 20 March, 2017

Possible practical fundraising thank you gifts could be posters and a children's book.  I could write a full storybook and then select part of it to animate for my pitch.  Contributors would get a printing of the full book.

Ideas:
episode story
Alphabet of emotions (illustratred)
refer to list I made of emotions in my master notes for the project
Art and design of the project book

art for the book can also be chopped apart for the storyboard/animatic.

BSA324, Assessment 1: Exhibition one strategy, 20 March, 2017

The opening for our first exhibition is Friday 24 March, 2017.  Reuben Hayward made this poster:

My focus in this exhibition is on conveying the relationships between the characters, colour, and the overall feel of the show.  These pieces were printed on sticker paper and applied directly to the wall.  I'm happy to see them as "real" characters that could be in a child's bedroom.  The goal I set for my business 8 years ago was that children in New Zealand and Australia grow up with my characters.  And here they are!    

My exhibition space looks like this:

I've arranged them vertically on the wall to the give an adult viewer the perspective of a child looking up.  Do the silhouettes and colours read well?  Are they engaging?  When the characters are in chaos, as they are in the center piece, do they visually hold their own? I can see that no, that isn't the case because the rabbit is too close in colour to the girl.  Giving the rabbit more contrast or readjusting the whole group's colours may be necessary.

Exhibition 1 artist statement

I prepared some extra work for the exhibition but I decided to not print it and leave the focus on the concept art.  My normal impulse is to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks, so being pared down and minimal doesn't feel right; minimal feels exposed.

 I decided to leave this plate out of the exhibition because while it does show my intention for set design, it doesn't reflect the intended execution.  I will either make a 3D space or I will composite the characters onto a still image of a warehouse full of stuff.  The plain white background of this plate also left me feeling cold, but that might be my previously mentioned desire to overdecorate everything.
These two new character plates were also left out of the exhibition:

This is phase 2 in the development of my characters and I'm very pleased!  Instead of being made from fabric or craft fur, the characters will be made from piles of stuff that relates to their role on the show.  These photo-collages suggest two possible animation methods- 3D or the puppet technique favoured by Little Airplane Productions, one of my artist models.

Goldie the binge-eating hamster eats when she's upset.  Her food obsession is front and center in this design where she's made from pasta and meatballs.  As a 3D construction, the conglomerate nature of her materials will be evident (empty space showing through the noodles) and she will casually, or frantically, be able to eat herself.  Flash is no longer a  time-obsessed rabbit but is Super-Connected (that wording may change) who can't unplug from his devices long enough to catch what's happening around him.  His new tech savvy characteristics mean cyber safety and cyber bullying can be discussed as well as taking the time to interact with people in real life to understand what they're saying.

I'm still honing the core group of characters and developing their looks.  I'm replacing the crocodile with a tuatara, and would like to see how a Kea and the Pekapeka bat could be incorporated.  Juliet Novena-Sorrel had an excellent idea this weekend- turn the hamster into a possum.  Love it, I will push Goldie even further and make her a relatable animal to the New Zealand AND Australian market.  I decided to leave these new character designs out of the exhibition because I'm still working on them and I want to put them out in public when I have a full set for people to react to.

For exhibition 2, I will have more characters than I need and can take commentary from the public on which looks and characteristics resonate with them in response to the overall story.  The girl and the armadillo are SET and no more than four (No, five!  Nearly forgot Dr. Picklesniffer) other full-time characters will join them.

BSA324, more coloured concept art, 12 March, 2017

Rough weekend.  I'd hoped to get a lot more done, but I do have 3 pieces of coloured concept art that I can print.  I'm going to go home and do a series of emotions for Klohwii and Jellybean, and try out some tuatara, Kea and pekapeka bat character sketches.  Those I'll print out in black and white.

BSA324, Re-imagining my characters, 10 March, 2017

If I'm going to apply for funding in NZ and need to have some local flavour, what kind of animals are around here that might be good cast members?

Instead of a crocodile, what about a Tuatara?  

Those eyeballs, that tongue!  Very cute.  How does the tuatara deal with conflict?  Could I still use the stereotype of the crocodile (crocodile "tears" when it's sorryNOTsorry, snapping jaws), or is there something more personal to this animal?  Tuatara facts  I've heard that there is a tuatara expert in town, at the museum?  I could go talk to them and get ideas.

• Young tuatara have a third eye. It is on top of the brain between it's other eyes. It becomes covered over when the tuatara is an adult

That is FABULOUS.  What would that look like, and what kind of story/character possibilities might that hold?

Ok, that isn't as fab as I was hoping it would be.  But maybe... it could be exaggerated for fun.

Tuataras were once found all over New Zealand but now they only survive on offshore islands because of the rodents, wild cats and pigs that were introduced to the mainland.

Maybe this show's Tuatara's conflict technique could be to hide.  Some lizard's will lose part of their tail rather than be captured.  Are Tuatara similiarly enabled?

Other New Zealand animals that are not sheep or kiwi birds.  
pekapeka-tou-poto Bat  make it out of cleaning supplies, like black trash bags, or stuff from the hall closet, like an umbrella?
DOC info on pekapeka  these short-tailed bats are local to southland and live on Codfish Island/Whenua Hou 
video Meet the Locals
ferocious, inclined to bite, run backwards, 

They're sort of star-shaped when their wings are furled. 

Short-tailed bats have an interesting breeding system: male bats sing to attract females to special singing roosts. The occupant of this small singing roost (at the top of the roost hole) watches as a visiting bat leaves, clinging onto the tree trunk with sharp double claws. 

Pekapeka • Bat Form Pendant by Lewis Tamihana Gardiner,

Points for being NZ's only land mammal.  Mammals FOREVER!!  Huzzah!

Kea parrot
These birds are very interesting because they are cheeky and like to pick at cars for some reason.  
Maybe a kea bird made out of a pile of car parts?

Good Lord! Hamilton's frog got beat by the ugly stick.

Yellow-eyed penguin
Ok, starting to get into the birds in a big way.  They can be found on Stewart Island, though, so very local.

Not feeling any particular vibe on anger or conflict resolution, though.

Little Blue Penguin

Same!  But this one's little and cute and a STAR with the tourists... maybe Little Blue is a little conceited, or just seems that way, but is really HURTING inside (from a broken home) and our friends can learn an important lesson about judging people by their appearances.  Ha ha!  From the South Island, east coast, North of Christchurch. ALSO from Australia, so that could be interesting.

Fur seals: cuter than cute, they sometimes get disoriented on shore and wind up in people's backyards and garages. Also a Christchurch area animal.

I don't think there's any way to replace Prickles the Puffer Fish- he's good value. But here's an aquatic NZ animal that hangs out in the waters around both islands: Hector's Dolphin

His endangered status could make him very insecure... he's not ringing any anger/conflict bells.

Dad's idea:
Sheep with wool that looks like the flag facing down a sheep with wool that looks like the Australian flag: stars on butt

BSA324, The Hurt Feelings Locker parody, 10 March, 2017

A parody of "The Hurt Locker" called "The Hurt Feelings Locker" for a kids tv puppet/animation show.  Starring a little girl with yarn hair in a bomb disposal suit running away from a fat hamster WHO'S ABOUT TO BLOW!!!!

YEAH!  What could go wrong?  Who could object?  

I've actually got a really bad headache... and may not be thinking straight.

BSA324, painting concept art, 3 March, 2017

Concept art, Klohwii and Jellybean, in progress.  I move the painting back and forth between PhotoShop and Corel Painter because each program has strengths and weaknesses that make up for each other.  I need to think about where they are and give them shadows and highlights with some drama.  I tend to keep the lighting choices fairly neutral out of deference to my training as a costume designer when clearly seeing the costumes was key.  Now I need to create emotion, a sense of place, and a feeling for the world that I'm creating.

BSA324, old storyboard, 27 February, 2017

Introduction

Segment one: Everybody is having trouble sharing

Segment two:  Emotional game "Name That Face!"

Segment three:  Problem solution #1: Hide the toy from the other person

Segment four:  That's Not Fair! people's court parody

Segment five:  Solution #2: ask someone you trust to mediate the dispute

Segment six:  solution #3:  Take turns with the toy

Segment seven:  A Quiet Story to Wrap Things Up

Segment eight:  Klohwii shares what she learned

There's a missing segment about music and emotions?  Don't know.  Anyway, what I've got needs to be timed out, and a 5-7 minute sequence selected to animate for my final project.