2nd year (1st Semester)
Assignment: Animation strategies
One of my assignments was to design and model a 3D environment diorama. It was a team-based project for that reason I was paired up with other 4 classmates, a total team of 5.
Beginning- developing ideas:
First of all, as always we like to brainstorm all of our ideas onto the board so we can take it in. This helps us to gather many potential ideas and start to limit it to a few. We started narrowing it down by individually choosing two that interest us the most. The most suggested ones were a diner, a drive-in cinema, a murder scene and a carnival. Our inspirations came from films/tv series such as Eurphoria's carnival (2019), Stranger Things Carnival (2016) and Riverdale's diner (2017) to name a few.
Finally, we decided to go with the carnival since it was the most popular choice. We also wanted to mix and match with some of the other ideas to create something more unique. We were also fixed on the idea that instead of a murder scene we would have a first-person narrative of a drunk drugged man walking around a worn down carnival and to have the theme around the 1950s but set in the present day (2019). While searching for material, I found a movie called, 'Grease' (1978) that tied well with our time as it was set in 1958 and they had a carnival in one of there scene. There were a lot of shots of the rides and stalls like candyfloss etc. which was useful for coming up ideas for our own.
Executing the idea:
We planned the other day to come up with some thumbnails for the next meeting. We shared our thumbnails and concept art. Sarah had the idea of distorting the objects as if we are seeing a point of view of the drugged character. I also mentioned about having rainy, foggy weather to spook up the environment which everyone was keen on.
For my tonal thumbnails, I played around the compositions and camera angles to gain some ideas for how I wanted it to feel like.
Below is recreation from my mind of how I think it would look and feel like with the rubbish everywhere and rip and crack tents and popcorn cart. Set at night where the lights are at its most magical. I also include rain and fog to add to its gloominess since its usually a bad association with carnivals since carnivals are supposed to be bright and warm etc.
Artists/inspirations:
For inspiration, I personally like to look up a favourite artist of mine called, 'Nikolai Lockertsen' concept art pieces. I really love his use of lighting his works. He tends to paint concepts set at night therefore I thought it'll be a great influence on my art and setting for our carnival etc. One of the things I notice is that his lights tend to have a coloured glow (e.g orange, blue) rather than just plain white to signify the mood better. I will keep that in mind for my future pieces.
(Group) Readdressing the idea:
Instead of having the asset deform like extremely distorted and grotesque like. We wanted to keep it close to its original shape still worn down with broken areas and some slight distorts, this is so the shape outline could still be recognisable as carnival from far distances.
Style:
We decided to go with a realistic approach rather than the blocky cartoony style. this is just because it was a preference within the group.
Distributing assets:
After listings down possible assets, we decided to have one big asset each and equally divide the smaller assets amongst ourselves. My assets are as listed: carousel, stall (popcorn cart), fairy lights, bin/rubbish, balloons. I'm content with the assets I have and everyone was enthusiastic to start.
I was especially excited about the popcorn stall/cart as it seems fun to model therefore I've started off by coming up different designs in a classical style using reference online.
For the final design, I mix and match my favourite elements from each of the designs e.g. the unbalance silhouette/shape, the cloth etc.
Reference: Mark Wieder (Unsplash) and holders (Pexels)
Using the reference below it helped me capture the outline of a carousel horse.
Reference: Pixabay (Jessicachristan, michaelgaida, matthiasboeckel)
For the other assets, I wanted to design it as I model so I could be more experimental with the tools (I do have the idea of how I wanted it to look like). I will do this by the help of using different reference from online as well as my own.
Reference Photos:
My team planned a group trip to 'Funderland' a funfair that was open temporary near us. This is so we could obtain some relevant first-hand reference photos. Unfortunately due to some circumstances such as the weather and our schedule we all couldn't go together. However, one of the member Daisey had a chance to get some photos for us.
I really like the lights going on in those images. I will definitely have some light bulbs around my assets to create this dreamlike atmosphere.
Photography credit: Daisy Burke
I also got some reference photos from an arcade that had some similar traits e.g. tent and lights. To be able to see it in person was helpful as it gave me a better insight into its shape & material/texture.
My Photos:
I've also just observed my surroundings from time to time. This was also helpful for me to capture the subject better by seeing it in person.
Lights:
Carousel horse: Although I didn't see any carousel near me. I came across a kiddie ride that has some elements that resemble it. From this, I took consideration of its glossy material and colouring that blends in with each other.
Finally the Belfast Christmas market open and luckily by chance, they had a carousel there. After seeing it up close I was glad that my model especially the lights match up to it although the one in the photos has more details compared to the one I'm currently building. However, I don't think is anything major issue since ours are 1950ss theme carnival which from my research their more basic.