Fantastic Voyage OGR1- Sorta late edition
-NOTE- Over the weekend I will be creating and uploading more photoshop work based on what Jordan has advised to do. At present I haven't had a chance to sit down properly and work on something big just yet.
(also if anyone is reading this, I'm bringing birthday cake in tomorrow)
Fantastic Voyage by Ollie Thacker on Scribd
(also if anyone is reading this, I'm bringing birthday cake in tomorrow)
Fantastic Voyage by Ollie Thacker on Scribd
OGR 15/03/2018
ReplyDeleteHi Ollie,
"Sorta late edition" - groan - no one writes 'sorta' in the real world, you know that right? ;)
So the idea of personifying Chlorophyll is fine, and keeping things simple in terms of character animation etc is sensible too at this stage of your CGI career. If you want an example of just how wonderfully simple things can get - if you've got an expressive line and a bit of flair, take a look at this:
https://vimeo.com/141610195
Also - just in terms of the sort of 'spaces' in which animation can take place (i.e. non-defined textural/painterly spaces) take a look at this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQF79ch6mA8
I reckon one of the challenges of this age group is to cut through the disinterest and cynicism and get your audience to think about photosynthesis as the life-giving miracle that it is - I wonder then, if personifying the substance as a 'doctor' is going to challenge them - because perhaps 'doctors' already represent science-y stuff - the thing they're not engaging with? Maybe you need to present the green stuff as 'heroic' - as a 'superhero' - as a 'life-saver'... I'm thinking out loud here, but I'm remembering a pack of Top Trumps I had as a nipper - with all the superheroes special powers etc laid out for all to see...
https://taint-the-meat.com/2014/11/14/marvel-superheroes-top-trumps/
And of course 'sunlight' is pretty amazing stuff too (and likewise Carbon Dioxide and Water etc) - so I'm wondering if perhaps - in this super-hero saturated culture - if maybe you could personify the various components as equivalent to the 'x-men' - so a group of individual heroes who come to together to create this thing called glucose - which saves the world every day all of the time, forever... You mentioned Dumb Ways to Die - which is like an alphabet of simple characters ...
I wonder if having a 'teacher' 'teach' photosynthesis (however green) is just going to repeat the very experience you're seeking to improve upon? I don't know about you, but when Claire was briefing the Carbon Cycle I had this moment when I suddenly thought to myself 'F**k, this is amazing' and yet it's happening all the time... isn't this the moment you're trying to create in your young audience? If you get them to see this chemical alliance as extraordinary and life-saving, then perhaps you've done your job very nicely?
When you personify something as a character in project like this, it often necessitates a script, which necessitates a voice-artist and then lip-synching too (however South Park-esque). It's a big job. Don't underestimate it.
So - in summary then: simple character design requires flair and confidence and environments can be just as pared down and expressive. I'm not sure about your doctor teaching, because it arguable replicates how it would be done/is being done in the classroom, and I suspect the client will be expecting something more transformed and imaginative from you, and my advice - in seeking to 'understand' your rationale for turning inanimate things into characters in the first place - is to consider what are the characteristics of the inanimate thing itself - and derive your personification from that. I also think, if your goal is to prime a lesson on the Carbon Cycle, you need to make your audience understand that it's vital to the survival of the human race - and not just an exam question in waiting.