Post #17 - Final Project Submission

Here it is, the assets that will blossom into a beautiful animation next semester.

The concept for my animation is a simple zombie trying to survive in a world that just doesn't seem to accept him. Which segways into my theme/moral which is trying to survive and thrive in a world that doesn't accept you for who or what you are.

Here is the wonderful Pothead character sheet.

Here is my original storyboard (before there were some modifications).

Animatic and MAYA Renders

Animatic

 Here is Pothead in his 3D glory.

Styleframes / Set

Character Turnaround

So there we have it, all my pre-production which will become a full fledged animation in a few short months.

Post #12 - Project 2 Animation

Here's good 'ol Fuzzbutt for my project 2!

Youtube Link

Post #11 - Short Film Research

So here are some of the things that have inspired my idea for my short film:

Zombie! The base for my character design is very much inspired by the zombies in the game Plants vs Zombies. These zombies are clumsy, slow, and pretty stupid. I really like the idea of this kind of character - one who isn't very coordinated and is fascinated by the simplicities.

I want the basis for my environment to be a mix between these two types of towns. I want the rural small town feel but based in the apocalypse; overturned cars, overgrown plants, and general lack of upkeep showing that there haven't been inhabitants there in quite some time.

I know that zombies and the apocalypse can be very overused, but it is something I have always wanted to try my hand at and I feel I could try some challenging and interesting things in animation with this setup.

Post #10B -

So here is "Pothead" in all his sketchy goodness.

 Storyboards of the glorious success of Pothead the zombie.

Bonus scene of what the setting will be like.

The Rundown:

So my story is going to take place in a suburban town that has obviously suffered the effects of the end of the world. There will be crashed and overturned cars littered about the streets; scraps of trash and piles of useless items that got left behind. Pothead will be starting in a bar located on the end of the street. On the opposite end of the street, there is a small human resistance holed up. There is a sniper on the roof who is "aiming" to protect his group.

When Pothead stumbles out of the bar, there are shots fired at him by the sniper down the road. After he looks at the wall behind him where the missed shots struck, fear strikes Pothead and he stumbled and falls behind a crashed car into a pile of garbage. When the shot cuts to Pothead he has a cooking pot stuck on his face. He struggles for a moment to get the pot off and examines it after it is removed. To test if the sniper is still alerted, he sticks the pot out passed the edge of a building. The sniper fires and the bullet ricochets off of it.

Pothead gazes at the pot as if it were a holy relic and determinately puts it on his head and gleams with evil joy. He confidently steps from behind his hiding place and the sniper fires another shot at him. The bullet ricochets off of his pot helm and after a moment of recoil, Pothead grins again and skips of to victory and the hopes of delicious brains.

/End scene.

Post #10A - Short Film Proposals

Here are my rough ideas for the short films I would like to do:

   Pothead - So it's not as bad as you think. This is an idea I have had floating around in my head for a while of an animation I would really like to do. To main "protagonist" of this proposal is a zombie named Pothead. No, it isn't because he is a stoner. He gains his name from the rusted pot that he wears on his head for protection. He is a semi-sentient zombie who is just trying to make it by in the post-apocalyptic world where he is a constant target of terrified humans. He is only semi-sentient because he can think for himself and make simple decisions, but he does still posses a hankering for brains.

There are plenty of reasons why I really want to do this animation, mainly because zombies, but I also want to try animating a character who doesn't do everything smoothly or with much coordination. The slouched and lethargic movements of a zombie seem really challenging, and fun, to animate and present a whole new range of interaction with challenges and the environment. Another thing I want to do with this idea is make an asymmetrical character, where he may be missing a limb or have skin slouching off of his skeleton.

My second idea isn't as developed as Pothead, but it's something.

   Untitled - With this animation I would like to do something along the lines of my idea for the first project with improvised mechanics. I want my character to be built out of found parts. This will be challenging because I want to take advantage of the different moving parts. I want different parts to have a different manner in which they move and how they affect each other. I would also like to experiment with removable or lose-able parts.

With this set-up, the characters main challenge will be trying to keep himself together, literally. There may be events that cause him to lose parts of him that he will have to gather up and reattach to his body.

So there we go, some basic ideas that I would like to explore.

Post #5 - FInished Animation

So here is my "brainchild" of an animation for project 1. (Huzah! Wordplay!)

#4 FInished Model

Finished all my modeling! Here are the untextured models that I have.

Time to start slapping some textures on here and getting it all rigged up! Whoop, there it is!