Blog
idea to pitch
So for this unit my first task that I have to do is to come up with an idea for a TV show and a feature film so I came up with a few ideas and I had gone back to look at story ideas that I have created in the past in my spare time. So I decided on what story I wanted to explore and pitch and that story idea is a project that I am interested in developing called Planet Dirty North.
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With this idea I am not sure weather to pitch it as a TV show or a film but I can see it as a feature than a TV show but it is kind of an early process.
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I got this idea from some beer labels that I designed for my final major project while I was studying art and design at college last year. So I had a Manchester and the north west of England theme for these beer bottle designs and at the time I thought it might be an interesting idea to go for a sci-fi theme with these beer bottle designs to add a bit of character to them and at the time a was quite into bands from Manchester such as The Stone Roses and the lead singers nick name is king monkey because he looks like abit like a monkey so that's where the apes idea came in and I was into Jamie Hewlett's art work who is the creator of Gorrilaz and Tank Girl so I was going for that theme and I did think this could be a good idea for a TV show or an animated film at the time so that's where my idea came from.
story development
So I am currently thinking of a story that I think would be suitable for this idea. So I originally came up with four main characters but I later decided to create three main characters. So while I was off for Christmas I came up with a few story ideas then came up with a story that was based in a post apocalyptic Manchester as I fort this could be an interesting setting based on my story as I have mentioned before I had taken inspiration from some beer bottle designs that I did at college. I am still currently thinking about my story and I have recently watched Bruce Timm's adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns which an a graphic novel based on the character of Batman created by Frank Miller and there is a group called the mutants who claim they are the law so I do like that idea and try and develop it into my own.
Characters
So with my characters I was originally going to have four main characters but I then later decided that I was going to have three as I feel it will give them more balance as before I felt they were too similar. So they are a Manchester based rock band living in a post apocalyptic world and I decided that I will give them a Britpop look with their bowl cut and their bucket hat which is inspired by a typical Manchester music scene style. The personalities I have chosen for my characters starting with Monty that he is the dopey one and most light hearted and he does not have any fur, just about two speckles of hair as I fort it would suit his personality and Monty is the drummer of the Band. with Graham he is the grumpy one I think his look is my favourite with his bowl cut and his fringe covering his eyes gives it that distinctive look that stands out and he is the bassist of the band. and finally we get to the lead singer and sometimes lead guitarist of the band and that is Buzz who is the most steady headed personality of the band and is the brains of the group, abit like Noel Gallagher but not as grumpy, that's grahams personality.
Inspirations
For this unit I have taken inspiration to help me towards my production bible to develop my story idea and character designs.
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For my inspiration, I have been looking at artists, film makers and musicians to develop my idea to pitch as I have been looking at artists such as Jamie Hewlett for my main inspiration for the tone of my story idea as I thought his illustrations was a suitable look to explore with my own. As I have mentioned before I have looked at other narrative such as The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel by Frank Miller and illustrations by Tim Burton
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I have also been watching music videos for my inspiration such as Killing Joke: Living in the 80s, for that post apocalyptic feel and that angry mood in the music video to add to the tone of my story and as the main characters of my story is based on a rock band.
Jamie Hewlett
Secondary artists
As I have mentioned before that I looked at Jamie Hewlett as one of my secondary artists but previously before I started the unit I found an artist called James Chadderton who has done paintings of a post apocalyptic Manchester and I thought this would be a good setting for the world that I want to create and is the reason why I chose to do a story based in a post apocalyptic Manchester. He has also visited other location outside of Manchester such as Blackpool and London.
James Chadderton Artist
Further character development
I created some character turn arounds for each of my characters to see how they will look in a 3D format. I felt by doing this I can get a clear understanding of the design of the character and what they will look like on the final film.
before
First task
So my first task that I had done for the Before project was scouting locations as I have been looking for locations near where I live for a house for Margaret to live in.
I felt the locations that I have taken photos of was suitable as I live in quite a rural area and it is a quiet area so I though it could be a suitable location to choose that's based on the character.
choosing a role that suits me
Finding a role that suited me was a tough task, as I was originally a key animator but I found that task quite difficult and I had to change role.
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I then became a background artist and colourist as I been given the task of designing backgrounds for the shots and colouring them in.
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I decided to try and go with my own route with designing backgrounds by doing them by hand by using watercolours. But the rest of the team decided not to use these backgrounds as this is a digital film and responded to my designs by using ToonBoom.
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I have also helped with some of the animation by animating Margaret's arm while she is sipping her cup of tea and I also created the background digitally for the window scene.
I have also designed some picture frames to go in Margret's living room with images in them.
I originally designed a soldier portrait as Margaret's dead husband but that was before I knew that the king was her husband so I redesigned the portrait as the king.
