Animation Style Proof of Concept

Proof of concept for facial animation

Hi Vit Storyboard

Character Design - Aubrey

I was thinking for this character, I would design him as this kind of groovy, and chill, guy. I figured for his character, he could look like the more quiet one of the group, but still a rather cool guy. I actually had the California Raisins in my head when I was told by Grace that the aubergine would play the saxophone. I also thought about the Animal crossing character, Brewster, mainly for his expressionless face, complimenting his overall calm demeanor.

Character Design - Manny

Manny was designed as this cute and rather simple looking guy, but still quite a fun character. I didn't really know how to characterise an orange significantly, since it's basically just a round object, so I was admittedly rather lazy with this design. That being said, I think simply giving him that dumb smiley face establishes quite a happy character, and he still stands out from the rest of the crew. I also managed to have some fun with the expressions too.

Character Design - Larry

Since I was told this character was supposed to be a lemon, I figured I would make him stand out, and make him unique to how people would typically design a character out of a fruit like this (which I gather is a rather specific thing to think about). I figured, rather than be predictable by simply putting a face on a lemon, but work around the shape of it too. I wondered how putting a lemon on its side would help this, and naturally made the side with a stalk on it be where the face is. Afterwards, the mustache kind of reminded me of a jolly old man so I just made his eyes small and have crow's feet. I figured it would add to this personality if I didn't try and get really exaggerated with his expressions, but instead maintain this expression the whole time.

Character Design - Pepé

Pepé was designed to be this rather insane character. I figured since this was a chilli pepper I'd give him a personality that suits their typically spicy flavour, so I designed him so that he was really angry, or at least very excitable.

Character Design - Symphony

This character was designed with generally rather cute facial features. I wanted to go for a face that's cute but still very expressive, so that her facial animation can be entertaining to look at. I also really wanted more than just her face to be different but her general appearance to be unique to the other characters. Obviously, she automatically would look different to them, since she's... you know, a strawberry and all... but I wanted little details such as her stalk to have it's own idle position that differs from the rest, and the way in which her leaves are arranged to be different, also.

Animatic (Rough Anim)

Oli Animation

I discovered this animator on Youtube with a channel simply called "Oli". What he does is very similar to what I'm doing, putting 2D facial expressions in front of a 3D model. The way he does facial expressions is incredibly good, pulling off some spumco-esque facial expressions that really push them to the extreme. I started thinking about this more when drawing the storyboards and animatic, trying to push the expressions a lot more. I love exaggeration a lot so I'm glad this made me think about it even more, when working in this manner.

Applied Animation Collaborative Project

For the collaborative project, me and a friend (and possibly another friend, not 100% clear) are going to be making a claymation/2D music video about the benefits of eating five fruits and vegetables a day, by parodying the song "Wake me up Before You Go-Go". The target audience for this would be young people aged 11-16 (but that's open to change), and the tone is going to be more lighter and comedic and we really want to entertain as well as inform. I personally hate awareness campaigns, particularly the bleak ones, I'm just against people using art to push their views onto others through guilt. I think realistic themes should be incorporated and observed by art without actually enforcing the artist's view onto the audience. I think this is a good opportunity to educate children while still being fun and entertaining.