In this entry I’ll discuss about my simulated work experience and professional animation practice during this term.
As part of our simulation, we were given a roles based on our strenghts and interest as animators. I highlighted my background in illustration and how I enjoyed character design, but also expressed that I’d happily to take tasks outside of my comfort zone to expand my skill set.
With that in mind, I was assigned to work on ‘The Bartender‘, a project by Kirsten Leung. This animation follows a character who walks into a bar, orders a drink, and what the bartender prepares transports him through time and space, experiencing the same bar in different universes— a dystopian steampunk world, a retro-futuristic setting, and fairy-tale-inspired version of hell.
BACKGROUND CHARACTER DESIGN
My first task consisted of designing background characters that are meant to be clones– every person in this city is an identical copy of each other.
Based on this shot from the animatic, I had an idea of the general aesthetic. This retro-futuristic setting is inspired in the 1960’s vision of the future, very Atomic City, Hanna-Barbera’s The Jetsons-like. To establish a visual direction, I gathered images in a mood board that captures the essence of this style and developed a male and female version of the cloned characters.
The first iteration was a very rough sketch in my own style with two options for direction. These sketches allowed me to experiment with a shape language that I’m familiar with, before adapting it to match Kirsten’s artistic style.
Once they were approved, I simplified the designs as much as I could whilst trying to keep their “retro” energy.
BACKGROUND WORK
My second task consisted on a wide establishing shot of the futuristic city, where the main character first arrives. This shot required a dramatic fisheye effect to establish a better sense of scale. This was a very convenient task we had a lecture talk on perspective with Vanessa just the day before, where we specifically covered five-point perspective, which is ideal for the fisheye effect. This gave me the perfect chance to put it into practice.
Using the same mood board for reference, I started off by sketching thumbnails with some iterations in Photoshop and handed these to Kirsten for approval.
Once the composition was approved, I moved on into cleaning up using the same process as with the characters- I started sketching in my own style then adapt it to fit the animation’s aesthetic. This piece is still a work in progress, but here’s some more screenshots of the process so far.
This experience has allowed me to put into practice new things I’ve learnt throughout the course, as well as adapting into a team-driven animation workflow. From an illustration perspective, it challenged me to integrate my own skills into a different medium. Also working as part of a team always teaches me about the importance of communication and adaptability, as I have to adapt my designs based on feedback and align with the project’s vision.
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