Getting my life together, I mean project?
- Semi Sunnie
- Oct 23, 2019
- 3 min read
Hello and welcome back to yet another blog post. Today I want to talk more about my inspirations, what I have already accomplished/more planning for this project, and what more is to come. It’s been a struggle to figure out what I will be doing, however, my anxious feelings of self-doubt have settled down and my creative way of thinking will be taking direction now.
In my last post, I brought up some of my favorite artists, although they are still relevant to the project I would like to bring attention to some artists that have recently inspired me.
The first being a musical inspiration, Beabadoobee, Bea is a British musician and singer who makes folk music like songs that have narratives based on experiences she has faced throughout her life. Each of her songs has a story behind them, though I would like to highlight one of her songs that focuses on abandonment in relationships. Disappear is a song relatively telling a story about a loss of love in a relationship, however, the lyrics can be interpreted by who reads them.
“Cause the rush of love is gone and, I'm tryna' find out why, It disappeared, Why it disappeared.” (Beabadoobee, 2019, Disappear, Loveworm.)
My project will be primarily digitally created and animated, I would like to implement songs and possible narrative songs that will relate to my story. Music is very important to me and I am aware that being able to tell a story without sound can show others that you are capable to tell a very strong story. However, in the case that I am still learning, I would like to practice now on combining elements early on, for future reference.
Another inspiration I would like to acknowledge Is the multi medium action-adventure game, developed by PixelOpus called Concrete Genie, recently released on October 8, 2019. The story and visual components of this game are definitely a huge inspiration, the narrative of the game itself brings attention to child abandonment.
To summarize what’s important, The secondary characters of the game are bullies who have tragic past all revolving around abandonment, and because of being abandoned they seek refugee in the outsert of Denska (The city). Their unstable and unconsulted emotions lead them to become bullies, being the main antagonist to the main character.
I brought these examples up because they both revolve around my topic and both interest me in design-wise. Attention to the little details, even being sound is necessary to allow for the best overall work. Although Concrete Genie is a 3D modeled game, the game executes 2D animation into its story scenes. When working on my project I will take these factors into consideration and do further research, and using the information gathered for my thesis project.
What I have already accomplished for this project is the basic research and developing stages for my animation such as experimental concept design and character design. I say experimental because they are rough drafts and sketches and should be recreated digitally. I have established the main characters being Sunnie (based off an axolotl) and Rob (based off a sea snake), they will both be driving the narrative.
My theme revolves around abandonment and the effects it has on someone. The story will show how Sunnie and Rob interact and focus on their emotions throughout the film. Both Sunnie and Rob have faced abandonment in different ways, however, they will, in the end, create a connection with their similarities. (Creating a new bond, relieving the tensions of their lost relationships.) Ultimately, they will both grow as individuals together rather than never improving and remain focus on misconceptions.
The next steps in my planning progress are developing the storyboards, finalized digital character designs, finalized character background Info, finalized concept art, and exploration into the background design/art style. I would prefer to explore first on how I would like the background and overall art style of the project. Although, I would like to complete the storyboard first because of time constraints and the need to know visually how everything will look together.
(If I do have more free time I will do more exploration)
I plan on creating a mood board/ mind map relating to the topic of this project. Any future inspirations or ideas will be located there and researched. Constantly I am inspired by others, so for now on in my blog posts, I will talk about my inspirations.
(I will also create mood boards/ mind maps relating to different topics/ ideas.)
I really love your concept and characters and it really pleases me to see you putting them to good use in this project. Additionally, I love how you are focusing on emotion and relationships having to do with abandonment in your animation. It is a nice juxtaposition between these cute characters and a mature underlying concept. However, I honestly think your main issue is time management. Even though your animation won’t be very long, it is extremely important that you get your storyboard done ASAP!!! I am scared you will not have time to finish and I REALLY want you to finish this project! It will be so amazing... If you need me to, I will remind you to stay…
I love the simplicity of the character designs because it'll allow you to focus way easier on form and movement rather than fine details, making for smooth animation. Telling colors through emotion is a great complement the facial expressions as well, and combining all of this with expressive movement can tell the story quite well without dialogue.
On the topic of video games, I think another source of inspiration you could pull from is a game called Gravity Rush. A group of characters in the game are children abandoned far below the main sky-island where most of the game takes place, completely forgotten about and living off the scraps thrown down the trash chute from above. The children begin t…
I really like all your designs for your characters and I think that your concept and story line for your characters is good. I do think that there may need to be more story boarding to show the actions of the characters and the conflict between them. Maybe also if you showed some landscape planning that could add to the development of your piece (I feel like you already have but you just didn't post it).
I love how simple yet adorable your character design is, it really screams 'Summer' and Id easily be able to connect you with your piece. What I'm worries about most is how distracted and overboard you get with your art to the point where you dont finish it at all..so stay focused and get the foundations of your project right before going all over the place and trying new things, you know normal summer stuff I guess..now with the music it would be beyond awesome to hear you play the ukelele as music for your project as I feel youd make it even more personal that way, but the issue is again timing. Like Kyra said below I'd think about…
(it's Kyra btw idk why my username is that but whatever) The design of your characters is absolutely adorable and the story of two enemies becoming friends is one of my favorites. The element of telling emotion through colors is a great way to convey emotion without using dialog but remember to not rely too much on this and put focus into the expressions/ body language of the charters.
I am concerned about how you will manage your time while creating this project. Although this is a simple story animation takes a while and you wanting to create and add your own music(im presuming) would add a lot of work. I would suggest focusing your energy on making a reall…