Character Design

I wanted my main character to be simplistic in design but stand out in the environment she lived in. At first I started looking at Japanese fashion because of it's wacky nature and how cartoony it could be, while still being fashionable. I wanted her to be a teenager, but after rethinking the story, it was apparent that having her younger would explain her curiousity with the paper aeroplane. I could do more with her playfulness. This brought about my first sketch (pictured below) that was inspired by Andy's sister in 'Toy Story 3'. However, I didnt feel her design was working and wasn't appealing enough.

 

After sketching a lot and experimenting with a variety of shapes, I came up with the next design ) pictured below. This design was inspired by the toddlers from the playschool in 'Toy Story 3'. Looking through the artbook for the film, I decided wanted Bea (what I decided to call my character) to have the same proportions, life and appeal that they did. I did some experimenting with the colour to make her playful and appear as if she would fit into this oriental/ghibli world, and I settled on the final design below. 

This was my final design for a large chunk of the production, but I still wasn't completely happy with it. She lacked personality and the design needed to be tighter.I took the time to research different art styles and improve my own drawing skills to make the final design. I also experimented with line weight and adding curved lines next to straights. This brought me to my final design which is what I will be modelling my character from.

Research and Moodboards

The main inspiration for my FYP has been the Gobelin animations I have seen at the Annecy Animation Festival in France. They produce a short 30-50 second opening to the awards and other events, during the festival. All of the animations are highly detailed and stylised, and are very well animated. Not to mention the amazing colour schemes and storytelling. Not only has Gobelin inspired me but various animations like 'The Monk and the Monkey' and 'Alma', which have very good storytelling within such a short amount of time.

The second inspiration I had was of Studio Ghibli and Japan. I love the vibrant worlds and scale that Hayao Miyazaki brings to his movies, and the child like innocence he always gives to his characters. The colours and painterly style he adds in his films, really brings life to forests, mountains, fields and countryside. He creates such beautiful worlds that as an audience, you want to be a part of.
Japan is an interesting country full of the same sort of colour and adventure. Tokyo is well known for it's maze of streets between tall buildings. In between this metropolis, are little areas of history and greenery. This is mainly in the form of Japanese Shrine Gardens which are designed very precisely, almost in a magical fashion. I really liked the contrast between the big industry metropolis, and then these hidden secret gardens placed within the maze of Tokyo's streets.

My final inspiration came from the colour scripts that Pixar produce for their films and more specifically, 'UP'. For my animation I want to create something colourful that sets the mood of the scene perfectly. So I plan to create colour scripts alongside my storyboards to help tell the story. Colour is very important when trying to tell a story, as it  can subconsciously make you sad at the right time, and happy at the right time. It's a clever part of the creative process that many overlook when making an animation, but when it's done right, it can really make the difference.

Here are some moodboards I have created to help lead me into the right direction with my FYP: