Narrative: Robot Rig and Test

Older Robot Model with the Rig.

Quick animation tests.

Narrative: Older Robot Modelling Progress

Narrative: Revised Script

Narrative Script (Revised)

I swapped a task with Max and wrote up a revised script. I'd like opinions on this as I want to make sure everyone is happy with this, the sooner changes are made (if necessary), the better. I think possibly the middle could be a problem? I'm worried it may not fit in with Tonal Montage, but I'm mainly imagining this being edited to music.

Character: Characters so far

I correlated what I have done so far to show what direction I'm heading in so far.

Character: Colour Testing

I refined my characters again and started testing colours on them. I still think some of the structure could still be fixed but I think they're looking better. 

Character: Character sketches

Here are some of the sketches produced for my characters. I will refine and work with these in photoshop.

The "Codfather"

In terms of these sketches I feel that 3 or 5 captures best what I was trying to portray in terms of a mafia boss. 

 Fox Protagonist 

I'm struggling in terms of interesting clothes with my protagonists but this is something I will look more into while refining characters. I'm liking the shape of 1 but I feel he should be a little more muscular like 4.

Raccoon Protagonist 

I think my closest representation of my character here is 4. I think some of the shape could be improved but I like her hood and jacket. 

I also need to make sure all these characters look like these fit in the same world, I think some changes to the Fox protagonist would help him look more coherent with my Raccoon.

@Alan Narrative: Older Robot Block Modelling

 

So I started modelling the Older Robot but realised I'm not 100% sure on how to go about creating the robots tread wheel? I'd also want the wheel to move as part of the rig. I'd appreciate any advice on how to go about it! My other issue is the head and how it's going to reveal from the cube? I know with the arms I'll make a hole and have panels it will come from but with the head I feel that it's too big for that to happen? My solution was to have the hole in the top for the head but not to have panels like the arms I'm just not sure this will look great as you could possibly see inside the robot? 

Character: Refinement of Ideas

With my three cards in mind my idea is now taking shape. My game will be a video game in which the player makes choices to determine their alignment and morality within the game. The crime aspect of my game will mostly be reflected in the games villain and environment. The environment will be a city overrun with crime, it will be dark and dim and reflect those of a lower morality. The resistance of the game will come from the main character, who is a member of a resistance and is fighting to win back the city from crime.

The characters within my game will be animals, I wanted a less serious tone as I felt that serious crime stories were a little overdone.

In terms of my characters I'm thinking of designing the crime boss and two members of the resistance.

Character 1 - "The Codfather"

Who: Leader of the Mafia.
Why: Wants power over people.
Where: Lives in the Criminal city which he controls.
How: Controls the city by manipulating people.

The Codfather is a codfish that is to be feared. Manipulative and unmoral, he resists the law. He will do anything to get what he wants.

Character 2 - "The  Vigilante/ Hero"

Who: An average citizen of city that takes the law into their own hands.
Why: They want to make the city a safe place, especially after her friend has gone missing.
Where: Lives underneath the city.

The Vigilante, although their actions are not legal, is trying to make the city a better place. Leading a resistance underneath the city, they strives to make the city a better place.

Possible Animals: Fox, Rabbit, Badger

Character 3 - "The Sidekick/ Secondary Hero"

The third character will possess similar goals to the hero but I'm also playing with the idea of an interchangeable hero. If this third character was a sidekick they'd also possess an underground quality however their talents would be used to help feed information as opposed to fighting, etc. If this character was a secondary interchangeable hero then they'd be an animal with the ability to climb and would scout the city from above instead therefore the player would have the choice on the playstyle they'd like to use.

Possible Animals: Badger, Mole, Shrew /  Cat, Squirrel, Raccoon

Narrative: Revised Older Robot Orthograph

New Orthograph for the new concept which I will be posting the finish piece soon! 

Narrative: Script

Narrative Script

Narrative: Revised Older Robot concept progress

Though my design was okay, the group felt that it lacked a union with our animation. After speaking to Alan he suggested that my robot can also condense down into a simple shape, so rather than changing the design completely it's concept instead has changed. This is my progress so far with the lineart and base colours.

Narrative: Older Robot Orthographs

Older Robot Orthographs for modelling.

Narrative: Older Robot Concept

Concept for the older robot, as far as style goes I kept it simple, cel shaded and with little texture. Top is without the rust and bottom is with. Hopefully feedback will be positive but if not I'll adjust accordingly!

Narrative: Older Robot Concept so far

Just sharing what I have done for the older robot concept so far. I've done the basic lineart and base colour. It may change a little over time but I think what I have here so far is successful. 

Narrative: Older Robot variations

After a brief talk with members of my group it seemed like blockier thumbnails were more popular, and that 26 was a fairly good match to what was wanted, before I attempted the concept art though I wanted to see what would happen if I incorporated other ideas people liked. 

Narrative: Older Robot Thumbnails 25-36

A

B

Taking into consideration what thumbnails my group liked and also drawing on my research into robot eras I have come up with some more refined thumbnails. I also tried out two different colours, labelled A & B to see if the robot should be a colour other than grey. 

Character Workshop: 27/10/15

In todays character lesson we focused on environments for characters. 

Our first task was to design a building for a video game character. I got given a 'Lady of the Night' from Fable 2.

After looking at my first design Justin suggested to try out some more feminine and circular shapes. 

We then got given the task to design a place with a certain atmosphere. Mine was 'Hazardous Arena'.

 

Narrative: Style/Concept research

After speaking with Alan today he said that some of the thumbnails that I had produced were like robots found in the 50's and 80's. Alan suggested that maybe that 'robot eras' could be attached to the robots within our animation. Today I have looked into some eras of robots. 

50's Robot

What I've noticed about 50's Robots is they're very blocky and seem to have restricted movement. These Robots were often made from Tin. 

80's robot

80's Robots are slightly less blocky however still maintain a cubelike shape. They may find it easier to move. They seem to be made of plastic. 

Modern Robot

Modern robots take on a more spherical shape and tend to have more limbs meaning their movement would be easier. They remind of apple products and would most likely be made of a more efficient plastic or metal.

In terms of our groups characters this could mean that our newest robot is designed after the modern robot, the older, jealous one is designed from the 80's era and the older robots are based on the 50's era.

We as a group also discussed style and environment. In terms of style we were thinking dim cell shaded colours and a black outline. In terms of of lab we thought that it would appear well used, slightly messy but overall a dim and worked in space. 

I looked at some images as a possible source of influence, including different types of labs in order for us to get the balance correct.

Narrative: Robot thumbnails 11-24

Using the silhouettes that I created I made some more developed thumbnails for the older robot. I like 13, 14, 15, 18 and 21. I think they'd still need some tweaking but I think they're looking like prototypes like we wanted. 

Narrative: Story so far

I thought I'd put up a copy of the story we have so far. This is still being worked on but the premise of the story is there. 

Premise: A scientist has built a robot capable of human emotion. This Robot then becomes jealous of a new robot. 

Act 1

Exposition- We see the lab and the Scientist creating a new robot.

The scientist leaves the room the older robot can now see the new robot.

Act 2

The Robot begins to get jealous.

It compares it's body to the other robots.

It gradually gets more emotional from the jealously

The robot breaks down unable to cope with it's emotions 

Act 3

The scientist discovers the robot, broken down.

It is revealed that the older robot wasn't the only one and they were just another experiment stuck in a cycle of jealousy.

After speaking with Alan he asked us to work closer with our tonal montage, which means some adjustments to the story. He suggested having less happening at the start of the story which is something we are now discussing.