Mood boards

Finally a new update! It had been a long time since I posted the last one. Life had been fun and fulfilling. Great job, occasional holiday trips, good friends and a lovely family. Accompanied with cello lessons, various art activities and cooking experimentation, what else do we ask for more in life?=)

 

Below are some mood boards done on iPhone 4 using SketchBookX. Thanks to the invention of smartphone, I had been making use of the travelling time and came up with some colour design for the short film. 

For the next few months, I have the following plans in mind. Firstly, I will like to model out Miss Hippo in 3D using Super Sculpey. This allows me to have a concrete idea on she will look like on screen(this will a stop mo film ultimately). I will be able to do some greenscreen and 3D compositing test with the model as well. At the same time, I will have to come up with a formal script for the short(currently I only had a brief storyline). After these tests and confirmation of story, I will then be able to come up with the final production designs and start working on the storyboards, which will then evolve into an animatic. By then I will know how many sequences and shots there are in When Miss Hippo Meets. I will be able to decide on which techniques are to be used for each sequence and seek for potential team partners. This is going to be a long process. But I believe no matter how many years this project is going to take, it will be completed as a good quality short film. 

 

Beatboards

These were some beatboards that was developed few months ago. It had been a long time since I had made any progress in the story. It had always been at the back of my mind while I was focusing on other areas of my life. Now that I had just passed my half year mark at my full time job, it was time for me to get back to the project the project again. I had recently sold a commissioned painting and I had reserved half the money for animation purchases. I got myself a stopmotion book, The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation by Ken Priebe, a second hand Wacom Intuos 4 and a 2D lightbox. While researching on the possible stopmotion technique and puppet armature, I would choose a few of the beatboards and develop them into colour and moodboards for the story. Currently I did not have a concrete idea of how the colour of the film would be like. Hence doing further research on stopmotion techniques and developing a series of moodboards would be my target for July and Auguest!

Another great news was that I had recently got to know the VFX Supervisor of the renown stopmotion film, Mary&Max by Adam Eliot. He was a very knowledgeable and humble compositor. When I asked if I could seek his advices when I started production, he said he would be glad to help! I felt so fortunate to have all these big guys that were so supportive and helpful. First it was my professors in school, and now when I got out to work, my knowledgeable colleagues=) 

Environmental explorations for Living Room

Drew some possible designs for the kitchen and living room this week. Actually most of these are based on the design of our kitchen and living room;) I think after I had decided on the layout and design, the next critical step is to stylize then towards the character designs. I will like to create a piece with strong art direction this time=)

Character developments of Mr Z

My initial concept was to have a giraffe as the celebrity chef. As opposite attracts, Ms Hippo will naturally be attracted to a tall and charming celebrity chef. Giraffes are tougher to design due to their long limps and neck. It revolved into Mr Z as I adored zebras as much. They are african animals with sexy skin patterns!

Some character developments of of Mr Z... Liked the one on the top, guess I will work toward that direction;) A cool and macho Mr Z!

Character Design for Ms Hippo

Storyline of "When Miss Hippo Meets..."

Can't believe that I actually confirmed my storyline when I am using Whatsapp. Having an animators chatgroup is motivative!


STORYLINE
"Ms hippo strives to bake the best muffin to win the chance to visit mr G, the famouse celebrity chef at his studio.

But she has zero baking experience although her mum has a fully equipped kitchen.
After all the mess, she finally managed to bake the best muffin outing her grandma's handwritten,mother to daughter recipe.

As all story goes, She finally get to see the legendary macho and charming Mr G
But to realise that when the camera is off, Mr G is totally not man at all
He is picky with his fringe, carries a leather side pack and even wears a pink skinny jeans!
Out of horror, Ms Hippo ran away from the studio crying very sadly. All the illusions she had on Mr G were wrong. She threw away all the autographed books and DVDs by Mr G

Ms Hippo weeps sadly in the living room with her tv on. It was one of mr G's food shows
When we thought the story has come to an end, just like mr G's show has came to an end,
The tv shows a new upcoming food show by M r Z, the zebra
And ms hippo is charmed again, her fantasies repeats."