a time of our choosing

I've had some fun creating different incarnations of the About Here everyperson, purely by changing its plasticine head. As you can see, there were several contenders. I, for one, didn't expect it to end where it did. I started out quite conservatively and let go a bit later in the day. So often, in creative work, the first idea holds because of all the effort of thought and emotional investment that goes into it. Further options, for me, rarely improve on that first kernel, but the images above tell the story. The progression is from left to right (top row then bottom) and, at the moment, we like the last one best. Just some playing with the size and proportions of the feet/legs and I think we'll be there! Now it's the weekend.

first movement

These were drawn a couple of weeks ago but show some progress on how the little guy is going to move around. I've spent most of today in plasticine world and am about to post the results but these sketches emphasise how important it is to move to 3D, because not all you draw is necessarily going to work in the sculpted form.

it's a wonderful life class

Actually it's a figure and portrait class but it sounded like good fun and is turning out to be just what's needed. I've been reading the animation books and all the masters say "do more life drawing", "do more life drawing" and "do more life drawing". At about this point I realised that I needed to do "any" life drawing so that later I would qualify for the "more" bit. I've spent so long driving a keyboard that I was convinced I'd lost all ability to wield a pencil, but was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. I've never drawn a portrait live before and this is F from the first class back at the end of January. I hope to post my progress over the coming weeks. I have a few more sessions in reserve and you will see them shortly.

who's watching

As character and production design proceed, we need to give some more thought to our audience. Are we sure we know who they are, what they like and why they'd be interested? So I'll be reflecting on the psychological and demographical side of things for a few days.

capercaillie sketch

I’ve been watching videos of capercaillies, reading up, finding photos and generally getting a feel for how they look and how they move. I need to do some more sketches and then move on to pulling out the characteristics that will make our animated capercaillie characters work.



This is the male capercaillie; he’s about 860mm tall.

about here

Every place has a tale to tell.

About Here is a series of 3D CGI animated shorts telling place-based stories, designed to be viewed on location via mobile.

The first two films in the series are to be completed by 31 May 2008, supported by Scottish Screen, NESTA and Scottish Enterprise through the Pocket Shorts Scotland scheme. These two shorts will tell stories linked to Carnassarie Castle, near Kilmartin, and Drummond Hill, near Kenmore.

Characters include Bishop John Carswell, the first Protestant Bishop of the Isles, the 9th Earl of Argyll and several dancing capercaillies (the large and rather ridiculous grouse-like bird, not the folk band), while plots cover revolution, extinction and, umm, translation. Coming soon to a small screen near you.

heading for trouble

As predicted, having trouble with the face. I'm going to make several heads so I don't ruin what I have so far. Maybe this sort of thing will improve with experience.....then again!

I also have to start thinking about environments. I went and had a good look at the new Autodesk tutorial spot at the Area yesterday and picked up some handy new tips about all sorts of stuff that I will be applying.

sculptural

Have spent a few hours sketching a bit more and have now progressed to good old plasticine to get a better feel for the 3Dness of the character. Here are the results so far. I'm a bit nervous about the face - as always - but will attack this later.

dumpy cute character

Back in the studio and here's the little fella, as promised. Have some time to work on this today and will report progress. Need to explore capacity for expression and movement and rub out some cuteness.

on the move

first post from mobile. progress made during day on character design. have created a dumpy but quite charismatic human like critter. a bit too cute so far but has potential. will post first sketches when back at studio.

the first post

Searching for inspiration for a quirky character design for pocket shorts. Need something universal and versatile but also unique and identifiable. Also need to think about environments and rules for what we show and how complex it will be. First thoughts are, as usual, not much stuff but really well done.