Assignment 2: My goal/Rationale

What I was hoping to achieve was a scene where toothless lived before he meets Hiccup. I imagined the camera to slowly zoom in on the cave and swoop over it as if toothless was the camera. Then it would show the inside of the cave, where toothless sleeps on a podium-like structure.
This has only been half achieved as I was not able to figure out how to get the camera to work, and then I had an error with the rendering.
I tried every way possible to make things work, but with the amount of time I had left, I decided to show everything I had done in my workbook. -hoping that it is enough.
Everything is there, I just couldn't work out how to put it all together in time.

Assignment 2: Textures

Here are some textures I have considered/ used for my final scene:

Assignment 2: Music Research

Assignment 2: Final Submission

Sadly I have had some trouble with Maya
-In understanding the program and getting my final scene to render.

Because of this issue, I am unable to submit my final product.
However, I have shown my workings on how I went about it, and how I made my decisions etc.

Here are some screen shots of what I have managed to complete.

Assignment 2: Screen Shots of my workings

First attempt on modelling a cave

Second attempt on cave- It's much smoother and
cleaner than the last attempt

Tried to make a tree- Sadly couldn't use it in my scene
(it would not export of paste into it)

First go on making a rock

First look at making terrain/land for the cave to sit on

I thought of changing my idea of the cave to a tower, but
it doesn't look as effective and the movie doesn't have any
towers in it anyway.

Carrying on with the cave idea, and adding things
on the inside

Finalizing the cave- texture 

Finalizing the cave- texture
and adding bits on the outside.

Assignment 2: Video Tutorial Practices

Here is a practice run for this tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=uri8KYzs2ac

Assignment 2: Some Helpful Tutorials

Here a some tutorials that I will hopefully find useful for my scene.
Since my scene is where Toothless lived before he met Hiccup, the main setting of the scene is a cave in the middle of the ocean.
So,
To create this mountain-like-cave, I will need to have a look at these video tutorials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=uri8KYzs2ac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=E-tUnEFwHRQ

This video could help with the ocean around the cave:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=H4jnbmeEi8U

And I think these videos will be helpful for the interior design and vegetation of the cave:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Ce-GH0Ztn30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RP41Bu25zAs

Assignment 2: Sketching Up Some Plans

Here are some quick sketched conceptual ideas for my environment, which is a cave where Toothless lives before he meets Hiccup.

Assignment 2: Screen Shots of Movie

Here are some nice screen shots of the movie How To Train Your Dragon. I hope to use these as guides for creating my final assignment.

Assignment 2: Brainstorming

Brainstorming:

How To Train Your Dragon

The story takes place in a mythical world where a young Viking teenager named Hiccup aspires to follow his tribe's tradition of becoming a dragon slayer. After finally capturing his first dragon, and with his chance at finally gaining the tribe's acceptance, he finds that he no longer has the desire to kill it and instead befriends it and names it Toothless.


Scene Ideas:


Training/battle scene

• A cage with human bones

Show where Toothless lives

• Maybe in a cave with lots of fish bones

Hiccup's room

• With all his inventions for Toothless
• A trap-door in his room leads to where he hides Toothless

Movie As A Whole:

Colour Palette:

• Light colours for backgrounds- faded out almost.
• Far away houses/islands/cliffs have faded colours, but in the foreground they are quite vibrant.

Quite A Lot Of:

• Greens
• Blues
• Browns
• Yellows

and

• Black and White

• Soft white outlines/shadows on all objects of the film. Also dark shadows as well, eg, when the dragons fly and land, and when the people move.

Environment:

• Small viking village, with cliffs/mountains and a large ocean.

Textures:

• The whole movie has appropriate textures that are so effective that they look real. 
• Lots of detail is shown in the people and dragons, as well as the scenery.

Camera Work:

• Low angle shots
• High angle shots
• Pan in, Pan out
• Following the objects from left to right, right to left, or up and down

A Conclusion For My Final

Final Conclusion: 

My research revealed danger and change within the story of Humpty Dumpty. Danger or interference can sometimes make minor or serious changes. This is shown through the original imagery of Humpty Dumpty -an egg falling off a wall and can not be mended. These changes can either make us stronger, or impair us to do whatever we do best.

So, with this I took a character and made it have a minor change, so it could continue doing what it was supposed to do, just not in the same state it began with.

I like the popular interpretation of Humpty Dumpty -the egg, as it is what I've known it to be since I was little. However, I think it takes away the real meaning or history of it being a large cannon at war. But I suppose children wouldn't quite understand the full story. So overall, I think the 'egg' interpretation is a good way to explain the history or main meaning to younger people, as it shows the same meaning of danger and change.

I have used a dog and a cat as it is known to all that these two animals do not  get along so well. The dog is shown as Humpty -the strong guardian, and the cat is shown as the dangerous figure and the cause of change.

I have chosen to tell the rhyme this way because I didn't just want to entertain people, I wanted to educate them too. I was aiming for a different spin on the narrative, a bit like the old interpretation of the egg. I was worried about making children sad about the dog getting hurt, but it worked out well as the dog still gets a happy ending, just not in the same condition -which I think tells the narrative well.

I really like the thick outlines used in the cartoon tv series of Mr Bean. So I wanted to include that effect into my animation. I also liked the use of flat/ plain colour as well, as it creates a simple yet effective look, not so harsh on the eyes. I tried to use the way that some of the animals move as well, but it was a bit tricky. Mr bean uses a goofy, cartoon looking font, so I wanted to do the same, as it fitted in well with my idea too.

I chose the song called Guitar flute and string by Moby as the background music because it is an instrumental and has a soft tune for the start and changes into a concerned tune then into a soft tune at the end. I thought it worked out well because I didn't want it to overpower my sound effects of the dog and the cat. Sadly I was unable to find any car sounds that were appropriate, but I think it would have been too much to listen to at once.

Overall, I think that my final product is easy to watch, the sound is appropriate, tells the story/plot well, it uses inspirational gatherings such as thick outlines, and I have followed the brief to the best of my understanding.

Final Animation

Here is my final animation for this project.

Text

Text:

Rhyme text: Nueva Std

• Humpty Dumpty on the mailbox
• All the king's horses on the Vet building

Start credits: [ank]*

• Humpty Dumpty
• By Jane Owen
• 12048645

Ending credits: Adobe Garamond Pro

• THE END
• Characters:
• -The dog as Humpty Dumpty
• -The cat as the cause of danger

• Music:
• -Guitar flute and string- Moby

• Sound Effects:
• Massey Server:
• -Cat1.wav
• -dog growling and barking.mp3
• -hurt dog.wav

• -Clock ticking.wma- Jane Owen

• Illustration:
• Jane Owen

• Animation:
• Jane Owen

Character Movements

Leg Movements:

Dog Fallen Over (Hit By Car)

Dog Missing A Leg:

Story Board

Story Board:

Story Board Explanation:

Characters and Things With Colour

Dog:

 Cat:

OR

 Robber:

The Mailbox:

The House

The Car

Improving Characters: part 1

With guidance from the Tutor, I came to the conclusion that my cat character needed to be a fierce and scary looking cat- to take the place of an issue, or an attack that occurred in the civil war- which is where this nursery rhyme comes from.
So I came up with this one...


Evil Cat

                                 
                               
In Colour:

I then thought to have the intruder as a robber instead of a cat, as a robber seems more threatening and a natural instinct for a guard dog to protect it's home. I'm liking the second man so far.
I will add colour and thick outlines to him and then see what he looks like.


 Robber

In Colour: