Landlubber - background design development!!

   So I had a discussion with Kathy about my concerns and then spoke to Jess and I was able to get some ideas out of her and sort of get an idea of what she wants. This is a background I did (in progress/unfinished at the moment), sticking with the same colour palette but overlaying textures. It kind of reminds me of looney tunes a bit, so I decided to incorporate some things inspired by looney tunes in the background. For example, I used the background art in the image of daffy duck as inspiration for the windows and I think we could also use the lighting from this too perhaps. I just need to figure out how we're going to stylise the water and add the pool ladder and a few touches here and there and then I can use this as an example to do other backgrounds. I'm quite happy that we're finally getting somewhere with this now, as we only have just over two weeks until we hand in 30 seconds of finished animation which means getting some backgrounds done.

Landlubber - test backgrounds using 3d model.

   I'm not happy with these, purely because i'm not really getting any direction with the style and overall design of the film, there is no concept art and only a bit of R&D as inspiration but at this point i'm basically making it up as I go along, all I've got from the director is that it has to be watercolour, I think i'll speak to my tutor about the design as i'm really struggling with it at the moment, mainly because it's not my vision, it's the director's and I need them to tell me what they want. It's also difficult without an animatic to know what angles and perspectives we need, so for now i'm just practicing with my own angles using the 3d model.

   I used watercolour paper texture and changed the opacity so it's very subtle but you can still see it and I quite like it, but of course ultimately it's up to the director so I'll see what she thinks. Also, because of the textures that I've overlayed, the image loses a bit of colour overall so I might have to brighten the colours underneath a bit.

Landlubber 3D model

   I didn't make this 3D model, Chandani did, but I took these screenshots and i'm going to do some layouts and test backgrounds to get a feel of the perspective and space. I need to go for more dramatic angles too as these are quite basic.

Backgrounds PDF workshop for Papa Poule

 So as lead background artist for Papa Poule, I thought now that I'm used to the style and design that I should create a workshop file for the background artists to follow, as I know that many of our artists will be at different levels and may find it difficult to adapt to the style, so as well as approaching me for help, this should help them too if they are struggling. These images are just snippets of the actual PDF. I have just noticed a spelling mistake which is heartbreaking - ill have to change it!

More Papa Poule Backgrounds

   I'm getting used to the style and brushes now, I'm really enjoying using the textures and I just think it looks so good! I just need to work on lighting, shadow and perspective because these are things that I have always been nervous about and struggled with. I'm really pleased with these and can't wait to get started with the actual backgrounds!

Papa Poule - Doing Backgrounds from 3D Model Screenshots

   So here are some backgrounds for Papa Poule which I did using the screenshots of the 3D model as reference. I think it helps so much in terms of getting the perspective right and position of things in the room. I've also used some texturing on the walls and floor as we had feedback from Kathy and she said to play around with textures and the overall style and design of the film. I think the textures work really well both in the day and the night palette.

Papa Poule - 3D Reference

   So the producer of Papa Poule, Kathryn, made a 3D model of Paul's room so everyone can see the layout and where everything goes which has been really helpful for me when doing layouts and backgrounds. It is sometimes difficult when dealing with different angles in one room to get the perspective right so I opened the model in maya and moved the camera around to take screenshots of different angles, I also tried to copy the angles from the animatic so I and other members of the team can get started with layouts and have the angle in a 3D model screenshot as reference. However, I'm not very experienced in Maya so it was quite difficult to navigate around and get the right angle. I asked Lucie for some feedback and she said some of the angles are a bit off but they're okay to play with at the moment, she's going to go in herself and take some screenshots as it's her vision so she can capture it more accurately than me. I think i'll still use my screenshots for practicing though anyway.