Narrative: Initial Character Ideas

Since the three of us agreed that cardboard boxes would be a good idea to incorporate into our designs in some way I did few sketches.
I wasn't sure how literal we wanted to be so made a few cardboard characters:

I also did a quick stylized human character to go along with it, inspired by the Animal Crossing art style:

Scarlett, Megan and I all agreed that we wanted to work more on the stylized human style for our character rather than literally being a cardboard box. We plan to play around using cardboard textures on our characters/environment.

Factory Influence Map

 

 

The factory essence that I was looking for was one like a beat up old wooden workshop place. Messy but yet warm. I thought it would give a nice setting to where love can take place. I like the idea of lights hanging low from the celling's with old materials used to protect it.

I also like the idea of slashes of light filling the room from cracks in the windows or the walls?

 

Let me know what you think. I'm going to start thumb nailing now. 

Narrative: Environment Research

Since our narrative has gone down a different route, and we have a clearer idea of the type of factory we're going to have this animation centred around, I started doing some research of what to expect in a card printing factory.

This video is a very good reference of the type of machinery we would be expected to model. Its probably pretty helpful when it comes to where we want the two characters to be interacting.

Fig.1 Xerox igen4

Fig.2 UV Coater

Obviously we can modify these to suit our theme a bit more but its a good start to build this on. I hope you guys find this helpful??

Thoughts After Group Tutorials

 

After Tutorials

 

 

After our group tutorial with Alan we went away with an idea taken from all our ideas put together. A sad old man in a factory run down by routine finds himself working (Set in black and white) until he happens to do something that changes his actions and suddenly everything goes back into color and life gets put back into the factory.

 

 My thoughts...

 

 

 

New Idea

 

I like the idea but I feel like we still are missing something if that makes sense. Then I spoke to Phil today about the idea and he helped me a lot to clear my mind on the meaning of the quote "Actions Speak Louder Than Words" .

 

He believes that we should make our setting 'The Factory' work harder in our world to help really bring the meaning to life. Suggesting that maybe we use a card factory where two people are printing valentines cards. The girl  or boy character is completely bored and the boy likes her. Trying to send her messages through a conveyer belt. But how can actions speak louder than works when words are lost in a valentines card factory?

Its a story audiences could relate to it very easily and we could suggest that in 5 seconds of the beginning but showing the girl working, bored and the boy staring at her wide eyed. Then we could show funny ways the boy tries to show her how he feels. Revealing that he likes her at the end.

 

 

 

Romance is dead in a factory where romance is their everyday life and routine.

A story of unrequited love...

 

Megan we could use that whole walle showing Eve how he likes her by showing her his home and the things he collects?
Gemma the whole routine and life in a factory is systematic and the same routine is still there.

 

 

What do you all think?

 

 



Narrative Ideas and Style Inspiration

"In the Factory"
"Actions speak louder than words"

The first thing that came to mind for me was an indistinguishable type of environment. Factories have order, an unchanging routine. So if we were to go down this route, what type of narrative would we want to go with?

The few things I've thought of at this point are things like going against the system, breaking the cycle. 

This is just the basis of the type of idea I have for the narrative so it needs a lot more research and development on my end. For now I wanted to show some examples of the type of idea I have in regards to both an indistinguishable environment and going against the system.

This animation has been a favourite of mine for a few years now with how it addressed the monotony of school and its unbreakable routine. I thought it was a good example for my idea with its indistinguishable characters and breaking the cycle.

Another example of breaking the cycle and going against the system. She mentally beats her job which is centred around this statue, and literally beats it by finally walking away from it.

Worn Down Factory vs Shinny New Factory

I really like the idea of using love as our basic theme. There's a lot of relatable meanings that can be taken from love.

I had two ideas that maybe we could use. 

The first idea was to go with maybe creating our factory to be a shiny new factory like Charlie and the chocolate factory but maybe do something like a sweats factory. We could come up with really cool designs like in Wreck it Ralph.

                

We could use our paintings skills to help build out world with matte paintings that way we can all really collaborate our work into our idea?

Check this video out I really like the matte paintings near the end at about 1:50 in.






OR

We could go completely on the other end of the scale make the factory really old and dusty. Run down and creaking from everywhere. Create a story from some old man living there who had promised to keep the place running to his late wife but has been too lazy.

OR

 A new factory just opened and this new girl or boy who starts there and finds this room and was told never to go in the room and one day he goes into the room and it leads into another world completely mirrored but then he can never get back or something. Like he/she shouldn't have gone in after he said he/she wouldn't. 

Narrative - Group Project, Initial Ideas...

For the narrative project I was grouped with Scarlett and Gemma. We haven't managed to speak to each other much in person but across social networks we have put a few ideas here and there. At the briefing, we found out that our animation will be based upon the quote "Actions speak louder than words" and it will take place "In the Factory". My first thoughts being that it can be about love as this is what the quote is most commonly known for, and the factory part just made me think of scrap metal parts and machines that can come alive like humans, similar to that in Beauty and the Beast, but more 'Steam-punk'. So a quick animated short that is like the product of 'Paperman meets Wall-e'.

We have also decided on the name of 'Cogworks Studios' for our group as we have a Factory theme for our animation and we are working together (like cogworks or cogwheels would). Here is my first design for a logo...