Storyboards



Man comes home, through front door.





He fills the kettle with water.

 

It is William. He looks at his watch.

He is tired so exits the room.

He goes to his bedroom.

The kettle boils.

He comes back, in his pijamas.

He sits down, with a mug of hot chocolate.

He reads the newspaper, at the counter.

There is a scratching at the door.

The scratching persists.

William goes to investigate, but no one is there.

He comes back inside, confused.

When he looks up, there is a puppy on his stool.

He is taken aback, shocked.

He picks up the dog, confused and wary.

And places it outside the door.

Closing it behind it, gently.

He checks his watch again, it is getting late.

He experiences yet another shock as he realises

The puppy has somehow gotten back inside
and stolen his slipper.

He approaches slowly but the puppy runs.

He finds the puppy in his bedroom.

He takes the slipper and pats the puppy cautiously.

The puppy is happy and runs around excitedly.

Moved by this, william begins to accept
that a friend could be fun.

It is morning, and they are asleep on the couch.

There is a rushed knocking at the door.

William wakes up, the puppy runs off again.

He answers the door.

There is someone outside it, asking him a question.

He turns to his flat, looking for the puppy.

He turns back to the visitor, reluctant and sad.

Status Transactions

Looking at status transactions between characters.

Disney's Incredibles.



Bob comes home.

When Bob comes home late from what he told his wife was an evening of bowling with his friend, he is met with a dark house. Thinking he's gotten away with his night of vigilante heroism, he calmly creeps around the house, helping himself to a large slice of cake. Suddenly the light turns on and he gets a fright as he realises his wife has been sitting in the chair waiting for him.
Composition-wise, Bob is the larger character that takes up much more space than his wife Helen. But it is clear that the character that holds the power is Helen. She is angry with Bob, stern in her body language but quiet in voice. Bob's relaxed posture and submissive pose adds to this.




Helen tells him off.

 Helen is clearly annoyed. Her movements are rapid and straightforward, and she uses gestures to strengthen her emotions of anger and dominance. Bob tries to reason with her, his features are relaxed and soft as he finishes eating the cake, and his gestures are slower and calmer.

Bob reasons with her.

Bob now takes control as he begins to get angry and defensive. He raises his shoulders and his expressions are stern and commanding. He reacts and takes charge of the argument, reminding Helen that he's not that submissive. Helen relaxes with her hands on her hips and let's Bob take the spotlight.


Helen gets angrier.

 As Helen comes in with her rebuttal to Bob's defense, she stretches herself so that she is much taller than him, raising her voice in a peak of the argument. She is now not only bigger than him but also leaning over him at an angle, looking down on him, showing her dominance.

Realisation that the kids are watching causes them to stop.

The argument is quickly forgotten when both parents realise that their kids have been listening and are scared. No matter how angry they were at each other, they care for their kids far too much to continue to prove their point in front of them.



This whole scene features a game of status negotiation that passes between the two characters evenly. Status shows emotions of the characters as well as dominance and submission. Interaction between two characters in the form of status negotiation has a direct effect on portraying their personality and emotions to an audience.

Power Centres

Investigation into the display and meaning of power centres within characters.

Ed Hooks 'Acting for Animators'
Everybody, including you and me, has a distinct power center. Usually it is a couple of inches below the navel, in the area that the japanese call the hara. When you walk across the room, that point sort of leads the way. But haven't you seen people whose power centre seems to be someplace else?
It helps an aniamtor to be conceptual about power centres because every character has one. When you give a character a noticeable power center, it suggests more characterization.
The higher the power center, the quicker the rhythm of the character. Anxiety is a high and heady power center. Confidence, on the other hand, manifests itself in a feeling of weight, a lower power center.

Various poses, mainly concentrating on the hips and shoulders, depicting different personalities with a common visual appearance. Using the Andy Rig.

From left to right:

An anxious person, searching for something.

A shy person, hiding from someone desireable. (Spine should be bent.)

A coy person, pretending to be shy to seduce someone.

A confident person, trying to pick a fight.

A person who thinks they're amazing, trying to show off.

Modelling Jake in Maya

Figuring out the topology for a puppy was mostly the same as figuring it out for a human model, using logic and problem solving i've made a satisfactory first attempt at modelling jake for my final animation. More research into canine anatomy is necessary, and will be carried out and applied to the model before it is finalised and textured.

Model Sheets - William and Jake




William Front

 

William Side




William Perspective





Sketches for Flat



Jake Model Sheets




Jake the Dog from Adventure Time