Minor Project - Proposals

After talking to Phil I changed up my thought process and landed at these ideas, I am pretty fond of the first idea. Both of the ideas need a lot of research and thought to create a solid story which is what I will focus on next, but as concepts I can see them being successful. As my goals and references are pretty similar in each idea I decided to condense the list down for idea two.

#1

Type of project:

An animated short that last roughly 2/3 minutes that focuses heavily on animation.

Core concept:

‘There once was a boy who was scared of his bed’ (Boy vs Bed)

The child fears sleep which manifests in his bed becoming a monster he wants to avoid, when in reality the bed is just trying to make him sleep. Potentially it could have a poem in which each verse has animation that accompanies it.

Research path:

• Child sleep disorders, fear, insomnia, night terrors, etc.
• Poetry writing tips/good practice
• Modelling/Rigging highly stylised characters
• Animating ‘stuck on’ faces in Maya

Goals:

• Stylised animation that focuses on poses to pose – mostly snappy but sometimes fluid. Influenced by Jelly Jamm, Pocoyo, The Lego Movie, etc.
• Cartoony/shape based designs like Genndy Tartakovsky’s character designs and other cartoon network shows.
• Create a film that makes me employable as an Animator

Outcomes:

• Animated short with a duration of 2/3 minutes
• Two fully animation ready characters: Boy & Bed
• Multiple simple sets based on the poem
• New techniques to animate faces

References:

• Tim Burton’s: The melancholy death of oyster boy & other stories
• Edgar Allan Poe
• Genndy Tartakovsky’s character designs
• Jelly Jamm, Pocoyo, Lego Movie, Wreck-it-Ralph, Ron &Rob

Notes:

There is a version of this project in which it is Bed vs Man, in which an adult needs to sleep as they have work in the morning but the bed prevents them from sleeping.

#2

Core concept:

‘When I’m lost the world seems to turn against me’ (Man vs Environment)

If I have to be somewhere at a certain time and I get lost it’s almost as if everything around me becomes an obstacle. The world becomes somewhat claustrophobic and the signs all look foreign.

Research path:

• Claustrophobia, anxiety, paranoia
• City designs, structural research
• Modelling/Rigging highly stylised character and buildings
• Animating ‘stuck on’ faces in Maya

Outcomes:

• Animated short with a duration of 2/3 minutes
• One fully animation ready character
• A digital set that can be animated/distorted
• New techniques to animate faces