Animation; Part 1, the Entrance

Looking back at the clip for 'The Entrance' I realized time and space issues in part 1. Here is a up to date clip.

Through out February I was worried about character design and creating the emotion. Now in the last week of February, I have a character finished and just needs colour, and I have got the beginning part 1; the Entrance underway. Heres what I've got so far:

final up to date version

I decided that I didn't like the jump from this perspective, so I'll experiment with the jump in the other perspective. The ground perspective I have done in the above clip is better then a side view because it feels more as if your joining the puppy in his adventures rather then watching from the side.

Walk 3

Walk 2

Walk 1

A basic body outline taken from the animatic. After reviewing the the final out come I i decided not to use it.

Finalizing Character Design

And now i am currently working on colour palettes for the new design

After a talk with my tutors it was clear I wasn't going to create a 'Disney' styled puppy and have it move in a clear crisp flow. So we came up with a stylized puppy with the facial features of Snoopy the Dog. Here are my drawings.

Pheobus and his colours

I've been experimenting with different colours. I was unsure whether to have the short in black and white, but i think the short will be more appealing in colour.

First my Character sheet

Then taking two poses and experimenting with colour

From those colour i've narrowed it down to three colours which i like;

I really like the left and middle colours, so i'll have to experiment with a darker shade for each for the second puppy

First Blonde

And then Brown

Production

After Christmas i was having personal problems and production slowed down. It was only near the end of January that i was able to concentrate on my work. Realizing i wouldn't have enough time for my original idea, i came up with a new idea. An idea which shows the playfulness of the small Puppy.

First coming up with a short showing how a puppy reacts to a ball.

Then i thought to show a more comedy side to the puppy and have him frustrated by a ball which wasn't leaving him alone, and i tested a small run cycle.

And while i was thinking of the right short story i wanted to do i did some run and jump test's

And experimenting with different views and how the body changes

With a Basic Model sheet of what the characters face should look like, and giving him a name Pheobus.

I liked the detailed version of the puppy but they weren't clean or attractive to be as a viewer so i went and drew a cleaner version of the puppy

I was inspired by the "Mini Dachshund Puppy v mirror" clip which was on youtube;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7EpaDsmipg

And came up with a small short film involving a Puppy and a Mirror called 'Me and you'

"Me and You"

A small short which shows a puppy, wondering though a room until he sees himself. Confused he begins to believe his reflection is a friend. The viewers will believe he is playing with his reflection, near the end of the short his reflection turns out to be another puppy imitating him. Leaving them both confused.

Here is the First rough storyboard

So them i made a cleaner version of the Short.

Finally getting the story done, my tutor advised me to try and improve my designs of the puppy

This is the lastest Animatic