Let's Play Finished "String Theory"

String Theory

"Let's Play" Treatment file

Concept/ Idea

Young boy has a time travelling yo-yo that brings him to different times in different countries. The countries that he appears in in every level are based on the history of the yo-yo and where it originated and were popular. The goal is to retrieve the yo-yo from the thief so the boy can get back home. To help him on his travels he will find and collect other magical yo-yo's with different abilities to either defeat enemies or overcome obstacles. These other helpful yo-yo's will be kept in an inventory where the player can pick and choose which ever yo-yo needed. We want a simple aesthetic! Simple backgrounds and characters but with a pleasing and playful aesthetic. It will be a side scrolling game. 

Audio Description

The audio in the animation corresponds with the environment that the main character appears in. China we have Chinese music overlapped by sound effects in the scene such as running, jumping and fighting. There are also similar audio effects for the Greek level.

Mood Board

Simple line drawing aesthetic.

Good example of the Greek environment.

The light yo-yo. Portal like shapes and colours.

Attack yo-yo's?

Good technical example of how to get a sense of depth using stills.

Possibilities of how the yo-yo could be used in the environment.

Nice simple aesthetic.

French mazes. French level will be based on these.

Painting on the wall. Good example of Greek background.

Simple character design.

Example of the character movement breakdown.

Plot

String Theory

Sam is a young boy talented in doing tricks with a yo-yo. We first meet Sam playing with his yo-yo. He spins the yo-yo quickly and before he knows it the yo-yo glows and a portal/vortex opens up, pulling Sam and his yo-yo inside.

Sam appears out the other end of the portal in what looks like olden day China. We then see a hooded figure escaping through another portal with Sam's yo-yo. Sam has to track down this thief and get his magic time traveling yo-yo back in order to get home. Sam runs, jumps and fights his way through different worlds every time he enters a portal. On his travels Sam collects various other magical yo-yo's that will help him on his journey.

Finally Sam catches up to the thief who is using the magical yo-yo for himself. Sam and the thief battle it out to see who will possess the time traveling yo-yo.
The End.

Let's Play Presentation

Other Levels

 America

Greece



Characters

Sam

•  Young boy named Sam who is very skilled in using a yo-yo. 
• Small in size. 
• Back Pack for storing all those yo-yo's.

Enemies

Angry Baker

• An angry baker in France who swats people with the baguette.
• Easily recognizable as a baker. Baguette, apron, bakers tall hat.
• Animated to swing the baguette as if it were a sword.

Roman

• Soldier of Greece who defends his territory. Armed with strong armor. Hand to hand combat.
• Easily recognizable as a roman. Despite being a threatening type of character he's designed and animated in a playful manner.
• Animated where he swings the sword frantically. 

Ninja

• Quick ambushing enemy in China. 
• Throws stars. Obstacles to jump over.
• Animated where he runs quickly. Takes an attack stance and throws shurikens/ throwing stars.

Mobster

• An American mobster in America.
• Typical mobster appearance. Suit, hat etc
• Fires his gun long range but pauses after a few shots giving Sam a chance to fight back.

Hooded Figure

• The main villain in the animation who stole the time traveling yo-yo
• Mysterious hooded figure with threatening yellow eyes
• Harnesses the magical yo-yo's powers for his own evil deeds. 

Inventory

 Different kind of collectable yo-yo's 

Inside the Inventory. Choose your yo-yo.

My First ExhIbition!!

 

 

Animation & Motion Design (my class) had our very first exhibition May 14th 2014.

 

The exhibition was held in our studio. The Mac's were laid out in a really eye catching manner. The Mac's were also synced together so that each cluster of screens played the same animation at the same time. Each cluster played a series of different animations so that no animation was playing at the same time as another cluster. They had head phones so there wasn't a horrible overlapping of audio. Our big projector screen was on loop showing the 20sec trailer that we made. There was also two Mac's that had Vimeo up so that people could pick and choose what animation they wanted to watch.

 

We had some peoples stop motion sculptures scattered around the room.

 

 

 There was an incredible turn out. People had barely any room to move around.

 

 

We also had plenty of cakes, wine, soft drinks and goodies, which were tastey. Well done to our little bakers.

 

 

Who would have thought that I'd be part of an exhibition...exciting stuff! We should all be proud of the work we put into it!

Getting ready for Assessment

Right it's that time of year again where I blog lots of things last minute before my assessments to make sure it's up to date.
This was a draft to remind me what to have/ find for my assessment.


Checklist for assessment:

• Sketchbook X3                -> Shows process, mind mapping, notes, sketches.
• Animation Short Poster   -> Finished print, previous drafts in sketchbook and blog
• Drawings on loose paper -> Some drawings of my first animation short idea
• Contextual Book              -> contains interesting artist research
• Life Drawing                   -> all drawings from every class from start of the year
• Blog up to date                -> Notes, thoughts, process, drawings etc.
• All 6 film reviews            -> on the blog
• Digital drawings              -> sketchbook and blog
• Projects completed this year:
• 1) Lens based media.
• 2) Recce
• 3) Christmas Card.
• 4) Identity
• 5) IDI Graduate Show
• 6) Audio Brief
• 7) One Day Challenge 'Flavour 76'
• 8) Creative Writing Workshop
• 9) Animation Short Animatic
• 10) Design and Print Poster
• 11) Animation Short final

                                                                ....We have been busy!

Week 2 Film Review, 'Brazil 1985'

Brazil 1985

(I should have posted this back in January. Forgot I saved it as a draft)

Plot
Brazil is a 1985 British film directed and written by Terry Gilliam. The film centers on Sam Lowry, a man trying to find a woman who appears in his dreams while he is working in a mind-numbing job and living a life in a small apartment, set in a consumer-driven dystopian world in which there is an over-reliance on poorly maintained and whimsical machines.

Scene Analysis
Sam Lowry is in his office being screamed at by his boss for his behaviour with the police and running off with Jill Laydon. In this scene you get a real sense of Sam's frustrations with the corrupt government and the way people live. He fights the tube message sending system and blocks it off. Because he was off running around the city, his office work piled up on his desk. He works in what looks like a tiny, grey, cold prison cell in a company called Information Retrieval. He shares his desk with the occupant in the office next door through a slit in the wall. They often play tug of war with the desk to get extra desk space. Sam loses it shouting and screaming with frustration. The tube letter system is still blocked and then makes strange noises as if it's about to blow. Sam realises what he's done and it's too late to fix it. He rushes and opens his office door. One of the large pipes transporting the letter explodes and it starts raining paper documents. You get a real sense of Sam's relief at this moment. Even though he's destroyed a part of the building he can't help but seem happy. Perhaps feeling a slight sense of pride destroying part of this corrupt industry, terrorist thoughts? 

Characters
Sam Lowry is the main character in this film. He lives a boring life and doesn't strive for much. His mother is a rich woman weighed down in jewellery and fancy clothes and has a obsession with looking young so she takes part in strange but miraculous face stretching plastic surgery. His mother seems to be the pushy type who uses her connections to get Sam promotions, without his permission. Sam always has these dreams/ fantasies where he's flying along in the sky, dressed in a suit of armor like some kind of Greek soldier with mechanical wings attached to his back and arms. He flies along till he finds the woman of his dreams and kisses her. However, the more hurdles Sam comes across in his life feeds into his dreams and he must fight to get to his love. His dream becomes more and more bizarre as the film goes on, being attacked by monsters and in a strange maze. In the end he gets the woman of his dreams, only to be dragged away by something similar to a SWAT team. We then find him in a electric chair or torture chamber. It was at this stage in the film where I got a little lost. The film jumps in and out of Lowry's dream/ mind so often that the two worlds begin to mesh together and you no longer know which is the dream or reality...which is exactly how Lowry feels in the film, he has completely lost his mind to the point of where he doesnt know where he is. The film ends where he is with his beloved Jill in a heavenly setting of a little cottage in the country. But that is just a dream, his final dream, as he sits dead in the torture chair. 

Setting
The scene I have chosen starts at 1:45:33 and ends at  1:46:45 on the timeline. This scene is set in the office building. It looks similar to a prison. Tiny cells/ offices with large metal doors filling every wall space. The offices have the necessities. Table, chair, filing cabinet. But the table is shared between two offices through a slit in the wall. So office workers play tug of war over who gets more of the desk. I believe this scene is set in an actual building. The setting is far too vast to be built on stage. However the interior such as the vast amount of piping on the ceiling in the hallway and the interior of Lowry's office I believe has been made by props etc.

Mise en Scene (Visuals)
The most obvious or striking visual for me are the prison like offices. Its almost as if the building was once a massive prison which got converted into an office block. The clear message from this is how Lowry feels imprisoned in his pointless boring job. Doing the same thing everyday. It's clear Lowry hates his job and his 'promotion' into this horrible environment doesn't help. It must have contributed to his deteriorating mental state, wasting away in a tiny prison cell.

Camera Work
Shot list:

• Low angle establishing shot of Lowry throwing papers around the office.
• Camera follows Lowry as he approaches pipe message sending system.
• Low angle looking up at Lowry as he attacks the message pipe.
• Close up on Lowry
• Low angle looking up at Lowry as he attacks the message pipe.
• Close up on Lowry.
• Close up on Lowry's hands
• Close up on Lowry.
• Close up high angle on message pipe thingy.
• Low angle looking up at Lowry as he attacks the message pipe.
• Close up on Lowry.
• Low angle looking up at Lowry as he attacks the message pipe and blocks it.
• view of his table being pulled through the wall 
• Close up on Lowry.
• Lowry fights to keep his desk
• Close up of exploding message pipe thing
• View of Lowry as the explosion causes a chain reaction above him and heads towards the hallway outside his office.
• View of Lowrys door opening as he rushes out.
• Close up, zoom out, establishing shot of hallway as it rains documents
• Close up on Lowry.
• establishing shot of hallway as it rains documents

Sound and Music
It just contains appropriate sound effects for the acting and props and noises from Lowry such as angry groans etc.

Progress...Backgrounds/ Screenshots

Backgrounds/ Screenshots

All of my drawings were done on the PaintTool SAI software. I like the painterly effects and decided to use this software especially since my animation is drawing based.