Final Alien Design

My last idea that I've chosen to be my final design is my rock based cat. Other than exploring various materials, I thought a stone golem would be good reference as far as the design aspect goes so I immediately turned to Shadow of the Colossus. This would also give me a good reference for size, maybe not too much on the colossal side but definitely big.

This is my final design for my alien which Adam kindly did for me. Inspired by shadow of the colossus and based on my idea of having a creature created through natural materials. Really loving the design overall, think it'd have a great silhouette from looking at all the shapes it's made out of and the movement for it.. well I think a complicated rig isn't really necessary because I'd imagine it's movement to be quite slow and slightly robotic and stiff. As for the texturing, I'd obviously have a light stone texture for the model but as seen in the concept art, I think I'm going to use the idea of highlights around the edges. Although Adam has only done this for the sake of showing off detail I think it looks really nice the way it is. I will experiment with colour, definitely towards the earth pallet but otherwise I'm happy with how it looks already.

Mood Board Update

This is an update to my ideas for my alien concept. I really like the idea of having more organic and mechanical forms because it would have natural and basic texturing but create really nice shapes. The silhouette of my alien I imagine to be quite sharp and angular.

I passed this onto Adam and talked him through some of my ideas focusing on more natural materials like metals, greenery and rocks. He then kindly went away and did a few drawings for me based on what we discussed and this is what he came back to me with..

Really liking the design for this, very simple shape, still very much feline but the texturing and such would very much fit the role of an alien. Not just because of it's green colour but the marble effect and smudging colours and glowing speckles on the skin.

To the Moon

Recently played through possibly one of the most beautiful and emotive games by the name of To The Moon by Kan Gao. The game basically takes you on a emotional and visually inspiring journey and I was really interested to look up the game designers background because as well as designing the whole game he also did the script and compositions.

This interview was interesting to see because I can in ways relate to the gaming background from doing this course. I think story telling comes across as a vital instrument to being a good compositor and sound engineer.

The music for this game to me is really what draws out and amplifies the emotions as the story progresses. Personally, I've always been a sucker for piano and acoustics because I think that it just has a beauty and air about it. I think acoustics convey a lot more expression and are just pleasant to listen to all in all. Kan Gao's compositions for this game are really moving and really exaggerate each scene and help get certain feelings and messages across to the audience. My favorite song on the OST has to be 'Moongazer' but the song by Laura Shigihara called 'Everything's Alright' is a close second.

Another thing I found interesting in the interview is that he was inspired and moved by the things happening around him and personal events that have happened through the years. Because I'm currently at a stage in my life where so many things are changing, that maybe I could use that as a positive strength to help motivate and drive future projects. I really can't agree more that the good pieces of work are ones that are personal and close to the heart.

The comments for the visuals were really intriguing. I like that way he used simplified graphics to almost represent the same feel of reading a novel; simple yet effective. It also goes to show that there's no need for hyper-real graphics to get the message across because there's no denying you can't feel and pain and sorrow Johnny experiences through the game despite he's only made from a few pixels. I love that the graphic style was drawn from his love for the 16-bit era too. I think there are a lot of advantages to having a more simple graphic style but more importantly it's about the way you use that in conjunction to all your other assets and how it works as a whole. I definitely think the graphics, the story and the music for this game really complement each other and that's where the beauty comes from. 

Urbance by Steambot Studios

Came across this thanks to my sister. This is basically a new Canadian TV series that's being released by Steambot Studios and I found the overall animation and graphic style very intriguing. From first glance, the vibrancy, bold and sharp shapes reminded me of Jet Set Radio. Not to mention to funky music~

It's set in the city and based around gang confrontations due to a split between the genders because sex is no longer allowed due to some deadly virus. The main characters form a couple and break the rules in order to live out their love for one another and ultimately fight to restore peace to the city. 

I find this concept for this animation pretty really interesting, It's pretty adventurous in terms of storyline and unheard of to me so possibly never been done before? So when it's released, I'll have to have a little nosey because it's pretty intriguing and the graphic style is very striking~

Sketches and Ideas

For this brief we have been encouraged to collaborate with one another to demonstrate and strade skill sets. I was asked by Adam if I'd be happy to do UV mapping for him and in return he will do my concept art. So, in light of this I've created a set of mood boards showing different ideas and elements I initially wanted to explore and he has gone away and done a few sketches since and i'm just going to go through some of the features that I like.

The first little doodle in the top left is essentially just a typical wild cat but I do really like the narrow eyes and the hunched stance/pose however, I think the overall look is a bit more menacing that what I'm after. The other sketches on the left page and the one i've circled on the top right explore a more animated shape. I really like the look of the long ears, I think together with some more interesting shapes it'd be on it's way to creating a rather nice and recognisable silhouette. Although cats are the basis of my idea I would like the final design to steer away from that but still have the overall feline/quadrupedal figure.

This sketch turned out to be a happy mistake. After breaking down some ideas and talking through my story board Adam took my idea of a more humanised animal and tried to draw a cat on two legs. I think there's nothing wrong with it but he seems to think the curved back is a bit much and it looks like it's being held by something which brought me onto the idea of a mass cat production where cats are being transported via cranes on some kind of conveyor belt. This then led onto a few other ideas to back it up and give the mechanism meaning such as the cats being dropped down shoots to new homes. It's a completely bonkers but fun idea and I'm going to make some story boards for it and might possibly develop it further because the machines offer a great opportunity for me to work on the sound. 

Power to the Pixels

Power to the Pixels was an exhibition of my course's work which obviously included my own. This was our very first exhibition and was taken very seriously in terms of showcasing our work and putting our course, Digital Film , Games and Animation on the map. So this was a great opportunity to show what we do as a course and to help build some awareness for other generations. 

The exhibition was held at a place called Map Gallery down at Mabgate. Despite being based in town I think the location could have been better because, it was really difficult to find even for myself, and as a host, that wasn't a very good sign. The space we had was adequate though. We defiantly made the most of the space by using the projectors which, I think was important because most of our work was digitally based anyway. I do think that we could have set things up better in terms of sound though because the videos that were on loop were very over powering and obnoxiously loud at times.

The concept art we had on display was nicely arranged but it was a shame about the mounting though because the images started to crumple and crease. I don't think this looked very professional in terms of showcasing work to the guests. 

I volunteered to look after the food and drinks and serve guests but, I was a bit surprised to find that the money that we all contributed towards was spent on booze more than anything. It defiantly gave a student-like-feel and in some ways made the atmosphere more relaxed and casual but, I think that might have taken away from our work a little bit. I think personally I'd have preferred proper food and not little picky stuff and to have a better variety of drinks but, I think that might be my passion for food kicking in.

I think if we were to do another exhibition I'd want a space that's more accessible and closer to the heart of town because I think we'd get a more varied audience and better reception that way. I also think that we need to consider more creative ways of showcasing our work because as a digital course I think it's important to make use of our equipment and maybe consider interactivity with our work. I would also like to be able to cook food next time! 

All Things Feline

My initial idea for this invasion project was to reference creatures/animals and my first thought was cats. The idea for cats was inspired by Studio Ghibli's The Cat Returns because they pursue an idea in which cats walk and talk like humans and have their own world. To get all my ideas onto paper I decided to jot down a lot of notes and produced mood boards based on some of those things and this is what I got.

This first mood board is based on real life animals and I had some ideas of the kind of shapes and features that I possibly wanted to reference in my design. These features revolve around functions so what I might consider doing is giving the alien a purpose and/or role to define the features it may or may not have. For example, The snow lynx has huge paws to better support itself in the snow and enhance it's movement.

My second mood board covers all things animated and wonderful still following the general feline being that i'm aiming for. A lot of the things i've circled on this mood board are focusing more on the design aspects such as different shapes sizes, ear and tail designs. I seem to have taken a liking to the quirky proportions such as the long slender legs and this would also take me away from more furry creatures because I have a feeling this will be problematic if I decide to model digitally.