Some More Graphics..

I have been experimenting in photoshop making some more graphics. I have been looking at images of foliage and made this composition:



I then began layering it onto some of the backgrounds I have already made, look at how it would work as loops layered on top of each other.

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I love how the colours work, and how the image is made so much more abstract and interesting just by adding another layer.

Graphics..

I was so inspired by the images I uploaded on my last post that tonight I have been trying to produce something in the same style as the bright coloured one. Seeing as we haven't yet produced any proper designs for graphics I thought this would be a good starting point.

First of all I layered coloured dots into a pattern. I have been doing something similar to this on my background designs, but this is far more detailed and looks really funky on its own.



I then tried adding paint splodges. This could be done by actually flicking paint, scanning it in and enhancing it in photoshop but I cheated and used the paint button instead, again splodging dots to get the flicked paint effect.



Finally I added one of the silhouetted images that I also uploaded on my previous post. I think this would look amazing as an animated loop with somebody dancing, or even blended in with the footage of club signs and lights that we hope to film next year.



I think the dots would be easy to animate, and we could make a series of loops where the dots expand, grow apart, or even just have flashing lights behind them. They could easily be made in a day.

Inspiration..

As I am working on backgrounds and graphics, I have no major character design to do. However, as we are planning on getting dancers to come to the university to film on green screen I have made a turnaround-like page of how I hope the outcome will look like. We are going to silhouette the dancers so the loops can be used over and over.



Whilst I was looking for images online, I came across two pictures which really inspired me. I can really imagine these as animations in clubs, and would love to make some loops similar to these:



I have already been adding circles and basic graphics to some of my concept art images, and think I could easily make the above image into loops to create a really funky set. I also love this image:



I want to begin designing some amazing graphics which could layer up to make animations in a similar style to these images.

New Plans..

Over the past week or so I have been introduced to some new technology which we now hope to use to create some loops. The university has a grey room with thousands of pounds worth of equipment. It is similar to the green screen room, except you can build a 3D environment and film a person in that environment. This would be great for making lots of loops of the environment, as well as some with people dancing. The only problem with using this equipment is that the environment has to be made in 3D, and nobody in our crew can use 3D software to a high standard. We have pitched to the students in second year, and some have shown interest to help us out which would be amazing.

We have also decided to visit London (and I can hopefully get to Manchester over the
Christmas break too) to film some shots of lights, club and bar signs, crowds, and general urban life. I have began experimenting with the combination of my colourful 2D style with photographs of things that we hope to film. Here is an example:



I think it works really well with the mixture of style and colours. I also think the silhouette works well. I am going to contact the college in Truro, the nearest city to Falmouth, to try and organise getting dancers to the university which we can film, silhouette in after effects, and make some quick easy loops.

I also plan to do some online tutorials to refresh my skills in after effects so that I can make some really nice abstract motion graphic animations.

Getting a bit more abstract...

Today I have put together a quick piece of work in photoshop. I was experimenting with squares and ended up doing this grid:



It really reminded me of the clubland font and the way the text is made up of lots of little squares:



I have also seen this sort of thing used as signs or logo's, made up of lots of little LED's. Below is an example (although I don't have a clue what it is!)



Although the colours aren't perfect in my grid, it is something I would quite like to experiment with further as I think we could create some really funky loops.

Concept Art...

I have been making some more pieces of concept art and feel like I have really developed a style. Here are some of the pieces I have completed:








Pete is working on some more characters which will complete the pieces of concept art ready for the book.

We would like to be able to create five loops for each piece of concept art thinking about a character, abstracts and shapes, and a background design.

Not all of the loops will be made in this simplistic 2D style. We hope to get some dancers from Dartington university down which we will be able to film on green screen. We will also be open to other styles if people wish to make loops for us.

I have also been working on a piece of art today just as an experiment. It is out of the bubbles pack that I uploaded a few weeks ago. I really like the clean lines and how it is almost abstract yet recognisable:



Here is an image that we put together for the presentation which shows mine and Petes work together along with Alex's which has a completely different style:

Presentation...

Last Friday the university held an animation forum where we were given the chance to pitch our ideas to the class, the second years, and a panel of three industry professionals; Felix Massie, Pippa Best and Trevor Ricketts.

The feedback we received was excellent. The panel really liked our idea, and said the presentation that I had put together was very professional which was really great to hear. The students also seemed to take an interest in what we are doing and some have approached us about making some loops for Us+Them.

Now the presentation is out of the way our focus needs to go back to designing beautiful concept art ready for the design book to be published and for us to go into production straight after christmas.

Making a Breakthrough?

The past week has been very stressful and a few decisions have been made in terms of the project and style.

Last Wednesday, we had a production meeting where Pete the producer was unsure about our plan and feeling as though we had been far too ambitious. He proposed that instead of making 50 loops for Con Artists, we actually only made five. This panicked me as I want to have the best show reel of work as possible for when I finish my degree. I disagreed with his idea to change the project and managed to explain to him how brilliant our project could be. Luckily, he seemed to find the enthusiasm for the project that he had lost.

We have also had some issues with Anomaly over a disagreement with the logo's but the US+Them team have agreed on their favoured choice. We are now thinking instead of spending more money on a splash screen for the website, the money could go towards production and help us to create some really interesting loops using models and dancers from the university, and shooting footage around London.

Although we would still like to show some narrative in our collection of loops, we are considering using other styles of film and animation, which could lead to a much more abstract style and set of loops.

We have a presentation this Friday to a panel of people from the industry, as well as the rest of our class, the second year students, and the Animation staff. We hope to get some positive feedback and enthusiasm about the project, but and constructive critism may help us. I think the project will continue to change over the next six months, but as long as we maintain a high standard of work I think we will be able to pull it off.