Character Development

The character has changed for the better, visually. I am trying to make a more distinct and interesting face and overall design. I want a really simple overall design, but something that looks interesting.

Bah! What the hell? Why did that first one come through the wrong way round? So annoying.

Watercolours

Here are some Viola inspired pictures I did for my mother for Christmas. These are also kind of like concept pictures. Not treatment wise, just colours and energy.

Concept artsies!

Lots more concept art! And even some concepts for backgrounds...not my strong point. But they look really nice, I like working with oil pastels. I should try some character stuff with it.

I got into honours! Yay! That means that I can dedicate LOADS of time to this animation. :D How exciting! I am thrilled.

I was thinking of the characters jumping up out of the apartment and dancing on the rooftops when the musicians come in. The apartment is just too small and I would love a broader variety of locations.

More ROUGH Concept

More rough concept art. I'm trying to narrow down Viola's proportions. Should she be very long and thin? Short? Fat? My basic thoughts on her proportion is that she should have a thin, delicate upper body with a much larger, stronger lower body. So I'm trying to pin down what should be what and at the same time I'm trying to just mess around and see what I like. Because even if I settle on something now, there's no doubt that it will get changed later along the way.

I found a strings group and got their contact details...not sure if they're exactly what I'm looking for, but it's a start for the hunt. They don't have much original stuff, mostly adapted classical stuff and copyright issues aren't a problem. So maybe. But I'll probably end up using con students because they have a decent idea of how to record, whereas I do not.

I just watched the commentary for Disney's Tarzan (I know, I need a broader range of inspiration than Disney, but still) and they really planted their characters firmly in their world by way of lighting and many other things. So it got me thinking, I'd really like to play with lighting in this film. It would be quite appropriate too, the dull light inside the appartment versus the bright lights of Paris outside. And I want a lot of layers to her environment, to help engulf her in it.

Dialogue...I have a little smidgen in the script right now, but I'd love some more. I think it really helps bring a character to life and it really stands out in student films, most people shy away from it. Plus, it's what I love to animate most and am best at. I was thinking maaaaybe a few lyrics would be cool? Or perhaps just spoken stuff, no singing. And would it be in English or French? Have I already asked that here? I'm leaning more towards French, that would be pretty cool.

Rough Concept Art

Some really, really rough concept pieces. Just having a look at poses and the character design of Viola.

I want her hair to blow about everywhere as though she was underwater. So I went on youtube to have a look at a few clips from Disney's the Little Mermaid and Pocahontas for reference.

Little Mermaid: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=mGoXtSw0Ias

Pocahontas: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=1cA9yJBslOU

There's also a girl that a watch on deviantArt who does some really great ballet stuff, so here's her gallery: http://hilarity.deviantart.com/ There's a lot of her stuff that I'll be saving away as inspiration, too much to upload, go look in her gallery.

I need some really excellent music for this. I wonder whether I should find a proffesional group in Brisbane? Hm...