Metal Vengeance

Storyboard 1: I initially thought of my first storyboard idea at work, I didn’t have anything to draw with except some old sketchbook paper, so I wrote down my idea then sketched it down whilst on my break.It started off as a heist film, featuring two of my own original characters called Vera and Misa.Originally, they would be stealing money/treasure because their world's life is sustained on survival, making them bounty hunters.

 

Storyboard 2:

When I managed to digitalize my original idea, I knew I wanted my film to look darker. I would add an obstacle for my two main protagonists to make their heist more difficult as they originally assumed/planned for.For digitalizing my storyboard, I wanted to focus on the style I would use for animating. I didn’t want to make it extremely detailed but with enough detail for it to look 'nice to watch'. It’s a challenge I wanted to set for myself.

Continuing into my second storyboard, the conflict would be a giant robotic security guard that’s sole purpose was to protect the treasure in the establishment.I wanted to animate a fight scene and I was pretty set on it. I've seen a lot of student films, and I was inspired by students in the year above to make my animation a bit more interesting with a fast-pace fight scene ending in the robot's destruction and the two girls running away with the money from the safe.

 

Storyboard 3:

A context change from a heist to a film about friendship, the fight and heist was still included but this time it was Misa's birthday, but Vera forgot, the animation was to focus on how we should listen to our friends instead of pushing boundaries.

 

Storyboard 4:

Then after hearing some feedback, i attempted to create a story that only had Vera as the protagonist, where she decided to heist because she has no food or money to survive. Her profession was bounty hunter.

 

Storyboard 5:

I went back to my first original idea but changed the beginning where the two girls are spying on the villain of the story, a character I didn’t have in the first storyboard. The heist story now turned into a revenge story.

 

Character Design

 

When it came to designing the characters for my Animation, I wanted to make sure I incorporated their key traits while also giving them a signature look.

 

Before designing these charactersI looked at other animations with similar characters. I was inspired by a character in Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (2017). Tohru is a dragon disguised as a human, but she still has animal parts on show, especially her tail. I took a lot of ideas and references from her to help with adapting Vera for animation. The movement of Vera’s tail is heavily inspired by Tohru’s tail.

However, I later decided to scrap the tail in the final animation, but this is something I would like to approach again in the future. Both my characters are human hybrids, Vera has the parts of a snake and a bat while Misa has the parts of a frog and a chameleon.

These attributes also give them enhancements and powers that they can use for protection, fighting or defense.

I wanted to make sure I didn’t overcrowd my designs while also still having a strong iconography and silhouette. I am still working on developing Misa but so far, I have begun to develop her hair as a lily pad to add to the frog design. For Vera, She has a very distinct front hair piece and her large bat ears.

 

The bat ears give her a very specific shape and the use of the hair is a very simple but effective way to translate the character into different angles.I've had my two original characters now for years so here is some old and recent concept art for them, I'm still in the process of completing their full character sheets.I wanted them both to be quite similar but have their own traits and quirks.

For example, Misa  is more relaxed and intelligent whilst Vera is more extroverted and stronger.

 

On the buildup to working on my final project, I looked at other established animation styles to see what kind of style I wanted to do for myself.

I needed to find something that was simplistic enough to move fluidly in an animation while also looking good and representing my characters. 

One artist I looked at was Rebecca Sugar, who worked on both Steven Universe and Adventure Time as a writer and storyboard artist. Sugar has a very simple yet effective art style on both shows, The characters are simple yet iconic and move with fluid animation.

 

Key Inspiration:

Adventure Time characters are designed in a way that they are simplistic but easily identifiable, the characters also have unique silhouettes and iconography.  One part of the Adventure Time art style I was really inspired by is the eyes and face, The use of simple dots and line placement can give a vivid expression while also being simpler to animate. 

 

Each character in my animation uses four colours, These are set palettes that I created in my character design sheets and have stuck to during my animation. The reason that I decided on the four colour rule was mostly for my own comfort, I didn't want complex colouring to be something that would delay me in meeting my final deadline. I personally think that setting this rule for when I worked on my animation has streamlined my animation process, I got the majority of the production coloured and I feel extremely proud for that.

 

Background Colour:

The backgrounds in my animation were a collaborative effort. Most of them I had worked on independently, but I had help from my university peers in first year. Miguel Fernandez Villa did background work for scenes 4, 5, and 21; He also did the same for scene 16 which ended up getting cut. Eldrima Vaz also did rough animation for scene 49, I did the clean-up animation to follow this up. 

 

The only character in my animation to break the four colour rule is CRACK V.4, the invention of Vile. CRACK is an extension of Vile and I wanted its colour palette to reflect that, The colours I used is a way of subtly showing that the characters are connected.

 

Background and Environment

 

In short, the world my characters live in is deserted, sandy and almost abandoned, there is little to no green and is slowly being taken over by the Omnic nation. There's building and societies but they are quite a distance from each other. Where my pilot is based, we explore an active but run-down warehouse. Below are some references I found, and some background that I completed. I wanted the warehouse they are based in to have a cool tone but also grimy and have a slight suspicious look to it. I wanted it to look as if they aren't meant to be there with the colour palettes I chose.

 

I requested help from both first- and second-year students to assist me with lining and colouring backgrounds. I gained the help from a first year, Miguel and I appreciated that Miguel didn't shy away from asking questions about my standards and I could tell he put care into completing these backgrounds for my film.

 

Script and Dialogue

I have asked my friends Cerys, Tamzin and Jones to voice act for my film since to help get my characters motive and traits across, I would need my film to rely on dialogue. I used a Tascam which I borrowed from the UEL equipment store, and we recorded dialogue in Tamzin's bedroom whilst underneath a blanket to ensure that no background noise would disrupt the recording and I believe the audio turned out better than expected.

 

Visual & Animation Technique

2D animated series employ a variety of visual and animation techniques to create engaging and visually appealing content. Here are some common techniques found in 2D animated series:

Digital Animation:

In modern 2D animation, artists use digital tools like drawing tablets and animation software (e.g., Adobe Animate, Toon Boom Harmony) to create characters and scenes. This allows for more flexibility and efficiency in the animation process.

Limited Animation:

This technique involves animating only the essential elements of a scene to reduce the workload and speed up production. It's commonly used in television animation where budgets and time constraints may be tighter.

Squash and Stretch:

A classic animation principle, squash and stretch adds a sense of weight and elasticity to characters and objects. It's used to exaggerate movements and convey a more dynamic feel.These techniques are often combined creatively to achieve the desired visual style and narrative impact in 2D animated series.

 

The specific approach depends on the artistic vision of the creators, the budget and time constraints, and the storytelling requirements of the series.My final animatic was a combination of storyboard 1 and 5.The series revolves around a revenge-driven narrative where two protagonists, Vera and Misa, confront an evil and sassy inventor robot named Vile who destroyed their original home. They plan to infiltrate and steal gold from Vile to rebuild and construct a new home and community, but they didn’t expect that Vile would be prepared for their attack.

 

The pilot episode will showcase their infiltration into the robot's lair, the confrontation, and the subsequent battle against a bloodthirsty creation, leading to a resolution where they demand compensation for the damages.AnimationTo help me animate I am using many techniques such as squash and stretch and smear frames to help me get that fast-pace fight feel.

 

File organisation

Keeping animation project files organised is crucial for several reasons, and it significantly contributes to the efficiency, collaboration, and overall success of animation production.  This time during documentation I have used a different approach to organising my files. I used to use the default settings on my Finder application, but I sound a way to make my files more compressed which is a breeze for when I need to find my work quickly.

 

Schedule

Weeks 1-2: World-building and series concept development

Weeks 3-4: Character design, and scriptwriting

Weeks 5-10: Animatic production

Weeks 11-12: Continuation

Week 13: Final presentation and submissionIn the first two weeks, I worked on building the world and developing the series concept.

 

Weeks 3-4 were for designing characters and writing the script. The main production happened from weeks 5 to 10, focusing on creating the animatic.

I planned to continue in weeks 11-12, leading to the final presentation and submission in week 13.

However, sticking to my plan became challenging because I made significant changes to the story towards the end of the first term. These changes disrupted my schedule and made it harder to follow the original timeline.I made an undateable shot list to help me keep track of my progress and show me what was completed and what needed to be done.

This helped me significantly.

 

Shot list

Following a shot list made everything so much easier for me. I decided to update it as I went along and proceeded with my animation.

I mentioned which parts were completed during each term and collaborators as well as which parts of my animation were harder than others.

 

Reflection

 

Reflecting on the project, it had its challenges, especially dealing with mental health issues and juggling a retail job. Despite these hurdles, I managed to meet the submission deadline, which I consider an accomplishment.To refine future projects, I'll focus on addressing mental health proactively and integrating tasks more effectively into my schedule, considering work demands. I also recognize the importance of asking for help when needed, a step I'll take more comfortably moving forward.In summary, I aim for a more proactive and collaborative approach, prioritizing mental health and embracing support when necessary to enhance overall project management.

 

Feedback I have received:

 

When I presented my idea to the class, I received feedback on my storytelling. For example, I needed to further establish my characters and story by focusing on these questions such as:What's the motive? , What brought them to the establishment in the first place? , Why would you want to root for the protagonists? , Establish and introduce the villain of the story.I believe that I have applied all of these into my storyboarding, but they won't be completely established since my animation will be heavily reliant on dialogue and that’s where most establishment will be presented.

 

 I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my friends Cerys, Tamzin and my partner, Matt who have helped inspire and support this project. I truly believe I wouldn’t have made it this far without their unending love and support, even when I hit my lowest point and when my tablet broke near submission, they made it easy for me to problem solve and discover different ways to complete my project. They offer different perspectives and I appreciate that deeply since it's so refreshing to have when I get too wrapped into my own head.