This is almost the final version of our game clip. I don't have the original title shot file - with audio - which was added later for the final version.

 



Just saw the e-mail about the cinema next Friday and was very interested by the fact that we'll be getting a talk by one of the set designers on 'The Boxtrolls'. So I had a look at a review of the film and discovered it was made by 'Laika' who also made 'Coraline' and 'Paranorman'. I have to confess I'd never even heard of 'Paranorman' and was amazed by the work involved by the artists. The following link gives some clips on the creation of the props, sets and characters.

 

http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/09/19/paranorman-2012-weirdwins-2281248?lt_source=external,manual

 

I think this is the side of animation that attracts me the most so now I have to figure out a way of incorporating this type of work into my portfolio.

 

This link for 'The Boxtrolls' review also shows some of the character and set creation.

 

http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/Boxtrolls-66316.html

 

 

 

This is a QuickTime clip of the first character I created for our game. I gave him a very simple walk cycle to show him patrolling the room.

                                     

The second character, another cop, has a remarkable resemblance to the first. A shorter walk cycle was enough for him as our main character only had to sneak past him.

Here's some of the props separated into their own files and coloured.

 

They're all done and ready to use but I stopped trying to upload them all as it's taking ages. I think I'll create a room next just to see how the props might look in position.

 

everything in the images above is finished but I have to abandon trying to post the individual files cos the net is so slow at the moment.

 

 

 

 

a mock-up of a room with some of the props placed inside.

I have been working on the props today. It's all furniture for the apartment. There isn't really that much furniture you can place in an apartment, especially when the character has to hide behind it to avoid the police. Anyway I've drawn and scanned a selection which I still have to colour in photoshop.

 

 

 

Our intention is for the character to be able to move through the apartment by hiding behind furniture. So there are a few bits we can use for that though I have a feeling there will be a lot of large potted plants.

For the video game demo project we decided to split the work between us. I got the task of creating the police characters. We had planned to create two different ones and duplicate them where necessary. I've decided to create one body - from all sides - that different heads can be placed on. I also have to create the props, furniture mostly, but our camera angle or view point is roughly at ceiling height which will give a more 3d look to the objects. These are some scetches and coloured versions that I've done so far.

 

Different views of the police man - he looks 'armless enough - the plan was to add arms in different poses but U had the side view inked in before I'd decided to do this.

 

 

Having separate arms allows them to be moved i.e. swinging as He's walking

 

 

keeping the headwear separate allows it to be added to different heads.

 

 

 

each separate part in the drawings can be lassoed and then saved to it's own file. There's still more parts to be added such as his gun and nightstick which can be used in fight scenes. I also think I might need to alter legs and arms for walk cycles. I was surprised by how long that much work took. I'd better get started on the props as time runs out fairly quickly on these projects.

 

VIDEO GAME DEMO

Treatment file

Concept; to produce a demo version of an imaginary video game based on the style of early 8-bit 2D games. Set in New York City the game centres around the main character – an as yet unnamed junkie – whose objective is to collect as many packages of drugs as possible, as he proceeds through each level. The player controls his movement as he navigates his way around the various scenes, avoiding the drugs gang members while collecting their hidden drugs. Each drugs package he collects adds to his energy levels – which are continuously dropping against a clock timer/counter. The target at the end of the level is the main stash which gives him a “high” where the gang members turn into monsters which he fights and defeats to reach the end of the level. Alternatively if he fails to find any hidden packages his energy levels fade out and he dies.

This concept is an early draft and subject to several changes.

After a re-think we decided to change the objective of the character. Not wanting to involve the inclusion of “hard” drugs we turned the drug into a newly created chemical that our main character is trying to recover from his apartment. The value of this “new” drug is that it reveals – to the user – whether or not other people are alien monsters. Based on a stealth game, the player control’s the main character whose objective is to recover the drug, which he then takes, and it reveals the aliens to him. He then fights and kills aliens to gain points. He is also against a clock/timer and his energy levels fall according to how much time he takes to recover the drug. So there is a risk of his energy level running out and him dying. Influences come from games such as ‘streets of rage’ where we’ve adopted the same isometric viewpoint which allows for forward and backward movement along with the more traditional left and right.

 

Mood board; The first 3 images relate to the movies we’ve watched as part of our research into the lifestyle or effects of drug use.

  

 

          

Wanting to keep a more retro game sound to match  our visuals we searched through many titles from that era until finally deciding on two possible sound tracks. It was proving very difficult to get the right kind of tempo for our game – which has an element of stealth – and required something slower than the norm. Being based on ninja’s, known for their stealth, the game “Shinobi” came cosest to what we needed. We also liked the soundtrack from an Amiga game called “Cannon fodder” and think we can combine sound from both of these along with some downloaded effects.                                                

 

                                             

Some of the games that we drew influence from include ‘Streets of rage’,’ Mark of the Ninja’ and Metal gear solid’.

 

 

     

   

 

  Some of the reference images for our character designs

 

   

            

 

 

                 

 

 

Audio; in keeping with the retro style visuals we are going to use a similar style for the audio. A simple synthesized soundtrack along with some suitable sound effects to coincide with the characters movements.

Plot; Set in modern day New York, society has been infiltrated by aliens and the only way to detect them is by taking the new drug, called “it”. This gives the taker a high that reveals aliens as monsters which must then be killed. Our characters apartment has been taken over by aliens disguised as police, who are trying to prevent him from getting the drug. His task for this level is to sneak into his apartment, get past the aliens and recover his drugs. He then has to take the drug and kill the aliens to complete the level. Along with the risk of being killed by the aliens, there is also a race against time as his energy levels deplete and can run out – causing him to die.