Dance test 2

Story-reel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4YGviIAoh4&feature=youtu.be

Lair entrance environment and animation tests of environment- Kate.

To get the layered look with the watercolor texture and movement I have created three layers to this environment test. 1:Line drawing, 2: still watercolor texture, and 3 will be the moving ink test. Our animation style reference 'requiem for romance' also uses the technique of paralaxing( foreground,mid, and background element slightly moving to overlap, etc). I have kind of tested this at the beginning of these animation tests as it moves down, however I think the technique would work better with horizontal movement.

animation tests-

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AwqY9T9zzo

2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrQkP7w8Pd8&feature=youtu.be

New Background Tests using food colouring- Kate

After my last test I found out that ink makes really cool and interesting pattern when its exposed to wet paper. This is the kind of thing we want in the background of our animation and to create atmosphere and movement in the environment. The first new test I have done is food colouring (because it move similar to ink and also come in lots of colors). Firstly I dripped the food colouring onto wet paper and tried to get in moving by adding water and other watered down colouring to get it moving to create movement.

The second test I feel was much more successful in creating that fluid, constant movement. I did this test by putting the food colouring into an plate of water and then blowing it to get it moving. The only problem I had while doing this test was the reflection in the water, however this could have been worse than usual due to the time of day I conducted the test and the lighting in the space. Another cool idea would be to get a vertical, rectangular glass container, put in against a white background full of water and then drip the food colouring into the water. Considering the fact that the food colouring sinks this would create some cool and different movement as it sinks to the bottom.

Luthien walk cycle (ninja)

Just a quick test to see how her hair would flow and how her billowy pants would work as she walks. Might do a few studies to see how a ponytail swings left to right instead of up and down as it's doing now.

Background tests-Kate

Here are some tests that I conducted using a variation of watercolour and ink on wet watercolour paper. Firstly I pre wet the watercolour paper so that the paint would soak and spread more easily as a dripped and washed it over the paper. I tried this technique both vertically and horizontally to get different movements in the paint. I found that having the paper vertically I was only able to get paint patterns that looked like drips, however when I had the paper on a horizontal surface I was able to drip and splash the paint more where I wanted it to go and also wash the paint over the surface. I also did an experiment by dripping the watercolour paint directly into a tray of water to see how the paint spread differently to see if I could get different patterns. I found that when I used ink instead of water colour I was able to get some really cool patterns but because the ink was black it wouldn't work well when other layers of the animation were put over top- I would like to try this again with coloured ink or possibly even food colouring.

I also speed the videos up after to get faster movement as well and play with the saturation.

Beren sketches

Beren sketches

Chloe:

Beren was a little harder for me to draw, mainly because he's such a conflicted character. He's supposed to be this big, strong warrior who's supposed to overcome the odds and win the heart of the fair maiden, but when it comes down to the crucial moment, he's pretty much powerless. So I wanted to go for a physically strong vibe, but with a helplessness to him too. And he has to be pretty good looking dude for Luthien to fall in love with him on sight, so that was one of the aspects I considered too (heh, heh, heh).

I based his costume on the Japanese ninja and warrior costumes I sourced. I like that while the silhouette is strong and distinctive while he is standing up, the softness of the pants give a sense of vulnerability when he's slumped in despair as well.

Environment Design- Kate
Garden scene idea sketches and entrance to Morgoths liar.

 

 

Storyboard Development- Kate.

 
Storyboard for presentation.

Morgoth Character Designs- Kate

When designing this character I wanted him to look like a samurai lord but at the same time sort of 'creatureish'. Therefore I looked at references including creature designs and sculptures. I designed the character to have bat like ears considering that he lives in a cave and also no mouth to make him more creepy looking. The costume is a very important part of this character so I focused of giving him good shoulder armor similar to that of samurai's and the split 'skirt' armor that go's over their pants.

 
Morgoth sleeping on his throne.

Morgoth's Lair Inspiration-Inside and Out

Garden environment Inspiration- Flash back scene

  

 

Luthien Developments

Chloe: (henceforth known as "I")

I started doing some character developments for Luthien. I imagined her as a Mulan type princess who does what she can to fulfill her mission, including giving up her dresses. As Kate and I are exploring the Japanese ukiyo-e type aesthetic, I imagined Luthien as a black clothed ninja; which would have been practical for the long journey she had to go on to find Beren. However for the flashback scene, we also get a glimpse of Luthien as the elf princess she is. I decided to go for a loosely based kimono dress - something not as binding as a kimono (so we can get lots of lovely flowing movements), but with the obi belt and billowing sleeves (mimicking the plumage of a nightingale perhaps).

I also did some quick tests on her movement, especially the bit where she's dancing. It's a little rough, but I wanted to achieve a graceful and yet gentle movement. Many more in-betweens to come, haha. 

I also tried to do a simple walking test for her. The first one was too perky, so I slowed it down and made the knees bend more subtly. I'm also thinking she'll probably move differently in her robes and in her ninja costume - her stance might be wider, and her head will be held higher (especially when she faces down Morgoth).