Andy - Final Design

Here are the final two pages of Andy's character design, as ever I'd love to do more but I have an increasingly scary amount of pre-production work to get done before a fast approaching deadline! As ever, click to enlarge :)

'Andy' Initial Design and Development

Below are the initial and the first page of development designs for the main character of my film 'Andy'. More details can be found in the annotation. (Click images to enlarge) Final design page should be done tomorrow! 

Initial Story Thumbnails

Here are the first draft story thumbnails looking at how to lay out the story visually. Again, like the story outline, there are a few changes to make after having a tutorial with my lecturer but for the most part this is what I'm going to take forward to the story boarding stage. (Click to enlarge) 

Initial Story Outline

The below was taken from my very first draft of the story for 'Trionfi, some things have changed slightly since this was written but these will become clear when the final story boards are completed. 

This story is about a little girl, who goes gets caught up in a fortune teller's magic and goes on a fantastical journey through different worlds, dictated by the turning of a deck of cards. I want to continue my primary study of my MA degree by really striving to integrate 2D and 3D techniques. I will have Zarah Parach on board to assist me with the 2D character animation as she's very talented in that area and it will allow me to concentrate on the visual style. As the story moves through different worlds, they are linked within one another and lead into each other through certain props, a full transition is then added with the turning of a new card. This will be explained in more detail a little further on. To link all the worlds, and the girls passage through them, I intend to have items that follow her from one world to the next, these will be quite subtle with the aim being to keep the film flowing and not too disjointed. As an added Easter egg, as these specific items will appear at the start of the film in the fortune tellers cluttered tent.

A little more about the story itself: The film starts off with a little girl wandering through a slightly ye' olde town square - possibly like a courtyard that leads up to a castle in the far background. This will add in that fairy tale aspect from the start and give the impression that this story is going to be quite the adventure. The girl (who for now on I shall refer to as 'Andy') starts by sitting on the edge of a fountain, playing with a gold coin, she walks through the road and approaches a slightly different looking tent, that sits aside from the other market stalls and sellers in the courtyard. Peering inside the opening of the tent she see a fortune teller, sitting in a cluttered space - artefacts from all walks of life - some Andy had never even seen before.

The tent is dimly lit by a broken chandelier hanging on the slant from the ceiling beam, secondary light sources include mis-matched lanterns and candles of different sizes littered around the tent. Although unsettling, this environment is meant to evoke the feeling of curiosity as opposed to one of fear. The fortune teller is sitting at a small table, it becomes the focal point as it's the only clear space in the room. In the shadows another person can be made out sitting opposite the fortune teller, this person is not important to the story and is mainly a prop. As Andy watches from the door way, the fortune teller shuffles a deck of what appear to be tarot cards and places one on the table in front of her. These card's appear to have a magical quality about them with particles and a strange light appearing to come out slightly.

The card is revealed to show a skull and cross bones, Andy gasps. A shot looking down at the card shows the illustration clearly, however then the camera moves into the card, as it does this the 2D image breaks up into 2D images on planes in 3D space.

At a certain point there is a transition as a card is turned over the screen - much like the turning of a book's page. This reveals the first scene. Andy comes to, sitting on the sandy, dusty ground outside an old looking tavern.  

It's night time, the colours are rich dark blues and purples. The sea can be heard in the background and palm trees can be scene in the distance. The scene is empty and very quiet, Andy is drawn to the tavern in the foreground, the only lit up and warm looking thing in the scene. Following the lantern light she pushes open the door to reveal - to her shock- a bar full of pirates. It's at this point she becomes overwhelmed at the sight of these pirates, drinking, signing and being generally rowdy. )A key point to this animation is that after the first scene in the town square all the supporting and background characters will be frozen in time, only the main character will be animated.) Andy slinks into the shadows around the edge of the bar, she snatches up a flagon of alcohol, as well as a pirate hat that has been left on a seat. She then spots a small table of pirates, sitting against a wall adorned with many hand drawn maps. Turning round Andy joins the pirates and raises her beer, making a toast. The camera follows the direction of the raised flagons up to one of the maps on the wall. This appears to be a 2D image again, much like the card at the beginning. As the camera moves into a specific island on the map, the 2D separates the final transition is made by the turning of another card across the screen.

The scene changes to the point of view of Andy, lying on the floor of what appears to be a jungle. As she blinks and refocuses she spots a very strange creature standing over her. Startled, Andy jumps up, it's at this point you can see the pirate hat, taken in the bar, lying on the ground behind her. Brushing herself down Andy turns to face a strange looking jungle made up of trees and creatures she's never seen before. This is a fantasy world. She dashes forward into the trees. The camera follows her and at a point, overtakes her and goes in a slightly different direction revealing a woman sitting in the bushes sketching another creature - much like Jane in Tarzan. The camera focuses on a pile of books and journals at her side, on the front of one are two Polaroid photographs, both featuring the woman in front of what appears to be a nearly built mansion with her husband. As the camera rises above one of the photos and zooms in, the elements break apart - revealing this as the next destination. Again once the camera has closed in a card transition signals the change in the setting.

It seems time has moved on from the Polaroid, the house still stands but is derelict and, almost certainly haunted. From a distance we see Andy entering through the front door. We join her as she stands in a grand dining room. As a call back to the fantasy scene she picks out some strange leaves from her clothing before sitting down at the table, that contains only an old tea service. She looks around at the bookshelves and books that litter a drawing board desk sat in the corner of a room. As she does so the teapot appears to come to life and pour her a cup of tea, startled Andy can only watch as the teacup slides towards her. Nervously, she picks it up and takes a sip. Suddenly cheering and noise is heard and one by one a group of friendly looking ghosts materialise around her, sitting at places around the table. Far from being scared Andy seems happy to have the company and continues to drink and interact with the ghosts, as she does this the camera peels away to focus on the desk in the corner.

The books show diagrams of space ship and star maps, pages of which also adorn the wall above the desk. The camera finds one diagram of a simple, steam punk style space ship and closes in on it. Again the 2D elements of the image appear to break up and the spaceship starts to travel across the screen. The card is turned revealing the last setting.

Andy is now in a small, steam punk style spaceship. Sitting in a small rest quarters we see the cup and saucer from her tea service at the haunted house float away behind her. Mesmerised she walks out of the room down a short corridor, revealing space outside. She comes to the small cockpit of the ship, looks at the buttons and then back out of the windscreen, as it were. Planets, stars and the moon can be seen. This is the final stage. This time the transition reverses turning from 3D into 2D as the camera pans into it. A card is turned and we're back in the fortune tellers tent, facing the table where four cards representing the places Andy has been to on her journey lie.  It's now we notice that the pirate hat, the plant with the strange leaves, an old tea service and a mobile made up of elements of space lie around the tent. The fortune teller turns to face Andy with a smirk. Andy gasps, looks down at her gold coin before putting it in her pocket, deciding against going to get her future read and runs from the opening of the tent.

The End. 

...And we're off!

Here begins my journey to create my MA short film 'Trionfi', wish me luck!