Use Of Shapes In character Design

Progress of Animation

This is the look I was going for for the animation. I may mess around with different styles of drawing with different tricks throughout the edit. 

Animation Test

This is a vague idea on how it will flow and look through out the video. This was the first clip I edited using the rotoscope so I plan to develop the look of it a bit more.

Storyboard

Animation Treatment

Initial Planning

1. Form: A short skateboarding film. Around 2 minutes of roughly 15 clips.

2. Animation Type: It's a rotoscoping animation of skating. Definitively a rotoscoped skate edit.

3. Selection of genre or style: The genre I guess could be extreme sports but the style is more towards the abstract side of things in terms of how the rotoscoped version of the clips will look. Its an abstract style because of the way you trace around the live action footage it'll be with various colours and strokes so the final look of it will be somewhat all over the place.

4. Storyline: There is no real fixed storyline in a skate edit however I will try and include ongoing themes throughout and possibly a build up to a certain trick with a few failed attempts before the final trick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IimLnyOeCtY
This is where i got the inspiration for the idea.

Ideas For Animation

For my animation I am going to do a rotoscoped skate edit. I am going to film various people doing various things. I will storyboard what I think it will look like but it may well turn out to look completely different. I can't imagine the structure of it until I go out with a camera and get filming. I can see what the style of rotoscoping will be like but I'm not sure what I'm going to film yet.

Risk assessment
There are a few risks within this animation. As it is going to be around skateboarding there will always be possibilities of someone hurting themselves however the people I'll be filming have been skating for a very long time and the only reassurance I can get from them is that they know what they're doing.

My animation in terms of current trends

The Simpsons is a big influence in my animation. I want the movements of the characters to be similar and also the sort of ironic slapstick comedy they have. And the way each character has the trait or something they are recognised by; like bart is recognised by his skateboard, Homer by a beer, Marge is normally knitting, Maggie with her bottle and Lisa is probably studying with books.

Regular show has a classical style to it which would be present in 'The adventures of brandal'.
It would have the same sort of style and pace of the regular show.







I think my animation fits into current trends because of the style of animation and also the genre of it. It's quite ironic and sarcastic like some of the current popular TV cartoons are. However it has a different message to other characters its for an older audience as it isn't meant to inspire kids to act as the main character does. The kids who watch it should be old enough to think for themselves.
I would imagine it to show on Cartoon Network alongside with Regular show.

Scheduling

Representations And Ethics In Cartoons

Why does the writer of the article believe Rio 2 is problematic in terms of it's representations?
The writer believes Rio 2 is problematic due to it's racial hierarchy of voice actors with the white americans as the main characters and the Latin, mixed race and African Americans as the less significant characters. Jamie Foxx and Will.I.Am play to 'hip hop fluent' birds. Which the writer describes as stereotypical. Also the evil villain in the film is British as is the case in quite a few disney films.

What are the PEPS and why are they an issue for racial representation?
PEPS stand for Problem contexts, Entertainment contexts and Performance contexts. 
"Within PEPs, black people and other genotypes have to be associated with vexing circumstances," he says. "Strive to pacify, make others happy and be exceptional or extraordinary – far from 'normal'. Villainy, exoticism, jocularity and athleticism are common indicators of this malaise. Images of ethnicity do not need to be conveyed within the narrow scope of PEPs."
PEPS are an issue for racial representation because it follows the idea that ethnicity within animations are portrayed as a group of their stereotypical conventions of their background. Which basically throws a certain race into a group of stereotypes.

Why does Da Costa believe we end up with stereotypes in animation?
He says the decisions of the character and performance are rushed because the design and production processes must start and develop. It consciously and subconsciously weighs financial against moral obligations. So they always go with the safe representational defaults - stereotypes. 

Legal and Ethical Grid

Target Audience

Age: 9-14 year olds.

Gender: It is moderately male based but it isn't that specific to gender.

Media: consumption: Adventure time, The Simpsons.

Actual reader profile

Name: Sam

Age: 12

Average day: Goes to school and comes home and do some homework then eats dinner and watches TV until he goes to bed.

Hobbies and interests: TV, Social networking (twitter, facebook, instagram)                      

Spending power: His weekly allowance of 10 pounds.

Typical media consumption per day: 2 and a half hours of TV, 1 and a half hours of social networking.

Why the animation will appeal to him: Because he is interested in cartoons and general media consumption. The main character is funny to him because he's troublesome. But as he is a little older he can still think for himself so he isn't influenced by the actions he would see Brandal do.

Animation Production Schedule (and budget)

Animation Comparison

Voice Talent

Dream Casting
If the budget or the availability were not a consideration I would have Joe Pesci as my voice talent. I chose him because in Home Alone he has the same voice I imagined Brandal to have. He has the New York italian accent as well.

Story and Storyboard

Story
Brandal a troublesome wolf is walking through the park on a sunny day. His nemesis Fred the fed sees him walking as Brandal throws his can of soda into a pond. Fred the fed begins to pursue him in an attempt to capture him for good. The chase makes it way through the town centre and back around through the park again. Brandal escapes by hiring a homeless person to admit to loads of crimes he hasn't committed so they take him in instead but they never prove the crimes so they let him go in the end and Brandal gets away once again.

It is an ongoing series with about 2 series with 3 episodes in each. Each episode is half an hour long.

Character Profile

                                               Full name: Brandal Abraham Wilhelm

                                                Age: 16

                                                Type: Anthropomorphic wolf

                                                     Backstory: Grew up in Stockholm and moved to LA for a short while but now he has settled down in Long Island, New York. He is a trouble maker although has had a rough life. His parents left him at the doorstep of the local Priest when he attacked an ice cream man during his break in a coffee shop. His name is Jenevan for rascal. He always has run ins with the police, more specifically Fred the fed, his long term nemesis.

Personality: Brandal is dangerously charming with a very big mouth. He's not afraid to say what he thinks and he doesn't tend to think about his actions.

Friends: His friends live in LA but pop up in Long Island quite a bit they tend to help Brandal escape from some of the situations he gets himself into.

Foes: Fred the fed. Has never caught Brandal but is very determined to.

Abilities and skills: He is a slick talker he learned how to hustle when he lived in Stockholm so he uses those abilities to hustle other street hustlers which gets him into trouble with various gangs around Long Island. He once convinced Chuck D to lend him $250 but never got in contact with him again. It's rumored that Chuck and Flava Flav are still mad and are on the look out for him.

Hobbies: Loves Grand designs, Ice Cream and soda. He is also a keen whittler.

Hopes and Dreams: To one day own a whittle firm that whittles houses in the shape of ducks for people in deprived areas of America.

Catchphrase: Signature Chuckle

Different Expressions of Brandal

Normal
Angry
Laughing/ sly
Sneaky
surprised/ attracted to something

Character - Front, Back and Sides

This is the full character design for brandal

Character Development

I have gone through various ideas including a karate kid who has to save the world from giant killer bees, a bear detective and a troublesome wolf.

For my final idea I have chosen the troublesome wolf called Brandal. I chose him because I think I would enjoy to develop this character the most and his character is the most exciting and expandable.

This is the first character design for Brandal.

This is the second character design for Brandal with color.

This is where I got inspiration for the wolf from. It's a Mr Penfold design.
I really like the style of Penfold designs so I thought I would use a similar style of animation.