Ashley Nwachukwu - BA Hons CG Arts & Animation

Sunday, 28 December 2014

Character Design: Mechanism example (Henry)

Henry is the main protagonist and therefore must have a mechanism that makes him standout from the others to portray this. So in light of this I have chosen to make henry an extremely bouncy and enthusiastic character through his movement.

This also ties in with his character design as the pilot hat he wears is symbolic of flight and being in the air so its only right that his mechanisms and movement depict this. Also the hat makes him appear somewhat young and childish so the very hyperactive feel to his movement makes sense.

Saturday, 27 December 2014

Character Design: Mechanism example (Blu)

The mechanisms for Blu are the stereotypical big blob stretches and wobbles. Similarly to Crazy Moe, Blu stretches but only horizontally while simultaneously opening his mouth to eat the candy and gain points.
It is also a strategic decision to choose Blu because although he is a very slow moving character, he opens his mouth wider by stretching which enables him to consume more than the others in a bite.

Character Design: Mechanism example (Mandy)

Mandy's character is a tricky one because on the one hand she is the most simplistic and sweet character but then on the other is one of the most powerful when she gets enough points and evolves. I've shown this through her mechanisms by making her the only character to glide while the others bounce and roll in her normal state but in her transformed state, which runs out after 30 seconds of gameplay, she moves rapidly and the candy close to her is attracted to her almost magnetically.

This makes choosing her a strategic decision as she may be the slowest player in her normal state but hands down is the most speedy and efficient when evolved and in her second state.

Character Design: Mechanism influences

Influence Map

For the mechanism and movement of the characters in the game I've looked at various other phone app or arcade games that require the main character or object to navigate around by bouncing and rolling. From this research I've decided to make my characters seem more of a flubbery type of material to link more with the key word "elasticity". I plan to do this by making them wobble after their movement or consuming the candy in each level.

Thursday, 18 December 2014

Maya: Head Modelling Part 4

Unsmoothed, Smoothed, Wireframe

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

Character Design: Storyline

Monday, 24 November 2014

Character Design: Character Profiles

Character Design: Game Title

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

Environment: Influence Map

Character Design: Character Side profile (2)

Character and stretching mechanism

Monday, 3 November 2014

Character Design: Character Side profile (1)

Character and bouncing mechanism

Character Design - Characteristics and Mechanisms

Character Mind map

Monday, 20 October 2014

Maya: Lip Syncing Part 1-3

Maya: Head Modeling Part 1,2 & 3

Unsmoothed Wireframe, Smoothed Wireframe and Smoothed

Character Design: Concept, Style and Research

After some thought I have come up with the concept of an app type game called 'Sugar Cave' (or Sugar shrub, I haven't decided). The aim, or mechanism, of the game is to gain points by consuming falling peices of sugar and sweets caused by the erupting cave but at the same time protect the young of the creatures from being crushed by these objects. The twist is that each character is only limited to one movement whether it is a bounce, diagonal stretch, upwards stretch or

expansion and they have to be unlocked to be used as the game progresses between levels.

To make the game more interesting and commercially pleasing, as the young can be developed by the player between levels, They will also be able to be customized with unlockable items bought with the points gained.

Top: Rough idea of main characters. Bottom: The different variations of young that can be customized

In terms of the style and appearance of my characters I have looked at other already existing Iphone games such as 'Cut the rope' and 'Angry birds. I will like to take in the simplistic techniques of character design they've used that make them so distinct and apply them to my ideas.

I will also use Cut the rope as inspiration for my mechanism as they ask the player to do similar things in terms of the dragging, pressing and pulling of the character or object across the screen to reach an objective.

Sunday, 19 October 2014

Archetypes: The Goodfellas

The Hero: Henry Hill - Henry Hill is the protagonist of the film, although what his story is about does not necessarily make him worthy to be called a 'hero', the film is narrated by him and is a true story based on his life.

The Sidekick: Tommy DeVito - Tommy was with Henry when they were young and were being taught about the life of crime by Jimmy Conway and stayed beside him ever since.

The Maiden: Karen Hill - Karen was the girl in the film that caught Henry's eye and although he found another woman later on in the film we was interested in, he still ended up back with Karen by the end of the film. Everything that Henry went through she went through.

The Wise Old man: Paul Cicero - Although many would label Jimmy Conway the wise old man because he was the person that Henry initially looked up to and eventually ended up taking under his wing, I think Paul Cicero is better suited because he is the wiser and older version of Jimmy and is who Henry took direct orders from at a time where Jimmy seemed to be depicted as more of an equal to Henry rather than a mentor.

The Mother: Tommy's Mother - Throughout the duration of the film Tommy's mum is the only person that conveys the qualities of a realistic mother of a mafia member.

The Child: Spider - Spider is depicted to the audience as the young and innocent boy who works in the bar and is used by the director to portray extent of Tommy's recklessness when he kills him just because he finally stood up to Tommy's abuse. Alternatively, Tommy can be seen as the child as he is the small and uncontrollable one out of the trio who is always getting them into something.

The Shadow: The Gambino Family - There are many interpretations on who could be the shadow as Henry, Tommy and Jimmy, the main protagonists could be seen as the shadow themselves. However in regards to who is the shadow to the trio I would think it to be the Gambino Family who were the Highest mafia bosses and were who eventually had Tommy killed as revenge for Billy Batts, a made man and presumed member of the family.

The Shapeshifter: Jimmy Conway - Jimmy Conway is the shapeshifter because towards the end of the film when Henry was labelled a 'snitch', Jimmy became a more darker character in the perspective of the audience as he seemed he would 'get rid of' Henry just as Henry witnessed him do to countless others.

The Trickster: Tommy DeVito - Tommy is also seen as the trickster because he is getting himself Jimmy and Henry into trouble with his antics and short temper and it was this quality that resulted in his death just over mid-way of the film.

Character Design: Initial ideas

After getting the cards with the words that would act as my environment, mechanism and character I had a distinct idea of what kind of game I will be focusing on. The words were:

Elasticity
(Squash & Stretch/ Bounciness)

Consumption
(Edible/Removal)

Candy
(Treats & Rewards/Obesity)

These words immediately reminded me of a type of Iphone app game like angry birds or candy crush with the main objective having something to do with the player pressing, pulling or dragging something across the screen so I knew I wanted my game to share similar qualities to this.

I also realized that two of these words (Candy and Consumption) work pretty much hand in hand together and should be used to my advantage whether it meaning the environment will be made of Candy and the objective is to bounce around some how to consume it, or if the objective is to remove aspects of the environment to gain treats or rewards.

Friday, 26 September 2014

The Hero's Journey: Shrek

Although this film isn't as straight forward as other Hero Journey films, I still felt that it had very strong elements of one.

1. Ordinary world - In Shrek the ordinary world is his main comfort zone and place of sanctuary, his swamp.

2. Call to Adventure - Shrek's call to adventure is his need to go and ask Lord Farquaad for his land back after his comfort is promptly disturbed by fairytail creatures Farquaad exiled there.

Alternatively it could be the task Farquaad gave Shrek when he got to Duloc (Free princess Fiona from the castle)

3. Refusal to the call - His refusal was not directly to the cause but was to undergoing this adventure with Donkey who eventually persuades him to let him tag along.

Or it could be when Shrek literally turned down Lord Farquaads task until he offered him his swamp back

4. Meeting the Mentor - When Shrek met donkey, who claimed to know where Duloc and therefore where Farquaad was. Donkey also claimed to know how to get to the castle where the princess was.

5. Crossing the Threshold - When Shrek and Donkey left the swamp and started their adventure to Duloc

Or when they left Duloc to go and free the princess from the castle.

6. Tests, Allies and Enemies - Shrek meeting Donkey, Shrek and Donkey defeating wrestlers at Duloc, Dragon, Lord Farquaad

7. Approach - Saving Princess Fiona from the castle

8. The Ordeal, Death & Rebirth - After freeing Fiona Shrek falls in love and attains a new perspective on life and how he views the world.

9. The Reward, Seizing the sword - Handing Fiona over to Farquaad and receiving his swamp back.

10. The Road back - Shrek leaves friendship with Donkey and returns back to his swamp which is now vacant again

11. Ressurection - Donkey returns to Shrek's swamp and persuades him to go back to Duloc for Fiona with the help of Dragon who was freed from her confinement and followed Donkey.

12. Return with Elixir - Shrek and Donkey return to the swamp with Fiona and they celebrate their love and get married.

Wednesday, 24 September 2014

Narrative: First Ideas

First Idea

The first idea I've come up with is of a fish sitting in his house in an armchair when he looks at a photo frame on a wall beside him.

He gets up to straighten it.

when he sits down the frame slides even more out of place.

He gets up a second time to fix it.

Yet again when he sits down it goes even more out of place.

He gets up a third time, straightens the frame, then sits down again.

He sighs out of relief and the whole wall collapses to reveal the undersea environment.

Second Idea

This idea has a similar concept to the first but instead involves a crab (with human features) that is admiring his car that he had just finished polishing.

He gives the car a final scrub with a cloth he is holding

When he stands back to admire it again the bumper falls off

He scrambles to fix it back on but when he does, the tail light drops off

He runs to the rear of the car to force it back on but then the front wheel comes loose and rolls down a hill

As he is about to run after it the car falls apart altogether

Although these are quick ideas I haven't yet pitched to my group members, I have started looking at influences and would like to use Bikini Bottom from Spongebob as a reference in terms of its underwater yet human-like environment and characters.

Tuesday, 23 September 2014

Narrative Brief: Quote and Location

After the brief today we established the groups we will be working with for this project. My group, group 7 will be me, Lisa, Rhys and Kyle working on an animated short with a location and phrase that were picked by Rhys at random.

The location for our short is:

'Under the sea'

and the phrase or message behind our short will be:

"If it aint broke don't fix it"