Sprite Animation Studios

I 've searched the web looking for a studio that has the look and animation style I would like to try and achieve for this project. I like the work of Sprite Animation Studios because of the funky character designs, and japanese-style directing and animation. A couple of trailers for their works 'Monster Samurai' and 'Journey to the West', including artwork, can be viewed on their website at: http://www.spriteanimation.com/



I would also like to make the animation look as if it is shot on old film, such as that used in Charlie Chaplin or Laurel and Hardy films. I'm confident that I can recreate the look using After Effects.

Final Design for Cornelius

Final design for Cornelius including turnarounds. I intend to keep the model as simple as possible and I'm not worried about it being a little rough as he will be almost black in colour.

Parameters and Benchmarks

Following my discussion with Jared, I'm aware that this project is going to have to meet, or at least work towards, certain benchmarks of quality. I know that I want the animation in particular to be of a high standard, and I am looking for some examples of the kind of movement and feeling I want to imbue the characters with. I also intend to find some examples of the look of the final animation, either toon-shaded or shaded to look like plasticine. Hopefully I'll be able to keep within the parameters defined in the Axis brief.

I'm planning to experiment with some new software for this work- the only 3D package I have used to date is Maya, but I'm keen to try out Max and possibly ZBrush or Mudbox. The experiments I'd like to try are:

*Importing Maya meshes into Max in order to make use of 'idiot-proof' shading and rendering tools.

*Generating maps using ZBrush or Mudbox in order to create realistic looking plasticine.

*Rendering with a toon-shader to create an alternative look.

Thumbnails_Cornelius

The character design for Cornelius the gorilla took longer because it's the first time I've designed a cartoon ape. I started by drawing realistic gorillas and the cartoon version evolved from them: the first image is at the bottom and they run in chronological order up to the final compilation at the top. The drawing in the top left of the compilation is the design I've chosen to develop- I think that it resembles a claymation character and it should be relatively simple to animate. I would like to give Cornelius a monocle to make him look like a 'civilised' gentleman. I probably won't use the images of Terry-Thomas to define different expressions because the model needs to be quite simple in order to be finished on time. I'm planning to do a couple of blendshapes for the mouth and let his eyebrows convey most of his emotions.

Thumbnails_WeeEckMcGlone

Character sketches of the head keeper Wee Eck McGlone, based on the reference photos of traditional scotsmen. The image at the top shows a compilation of my favourites, or at least the ones I think would be most suitable. I've narrowed it down to two basic designs -one more rotund with beard and moustache, and the other slimmer and possibly without the beard. I personally prefer the slimmer design for Wee Eck, but I think the other design (in the top right of the image) is more suitable and resembles the description given in the brief more accurately. I'm happy enough with that thumbnail to start working on a character sheet and storyboard for a short animation.

Gorilla models

I also wanted to have a look at other CG models of gorillas to get an idea of the best pose and topography to use. The closest I could find to a claymation gorilla was the original King Kong animation by Willis O'Brien- some good clips from the movie at http://hubpages.com/hub/King-Kong

Production Schedule

The remaining 6/7 weeks of term -the last week until the submission on march 7th is left out in case it's needed for compositing...

Expressions...

In order to come with some facial expressions for the gorilla, I considered using a comic actor for reference. I saw Cornelius as being civilised but quite aloof, maybe a bit of an aristocratic rogue. After watching a few movies that I remembered to contain comical englishmen, I picked out Terry-Thomas for his character and mannerisms.

I compiled a selection of his expressions by streaming some of his films and taking photos of the screen, which turned out to be quite efficient as i could frame his face in each shot.

Gorillas

Researching shapes and poses...