More Lenny..

I decided to create a series of animated lightbulbs (Lennys) just so i could get an idea of how my story will be created. First i drew out a basic lightbulb shape, scanned it into the computer then reprinted it a few times so i could have the exact same shape for all of the different expressions i needed.

The one i scanned in is on the right, the one on the left i edited in photoshop to make a bolder outline so it would stand out more.

The photo above is the 6 faces i created for my character. I worked out through the music that i needed;

Happy (original)

Sad

Confused

Angry

then a few side faces (one for each direction) for when my character is running from side to side.

I then put this character into a small animation of what part of my final animation will be.

This is only 41 frames and put together quickly using imovie, for a general idea of how i will create my final animation and where etc.

After effects session!

Completely forgot to load this stuff on earlier! This is just some of the work from a tutorial on after effects, really just learning the basics but it gave me ideas of how i could make my characters move.

We started off by cropping an image on photoshop, one large and one small version of it, then imported them both into after effects and had a play around.

This is more for me to remember how to animate images using after effects but i think it gives a good idea of how my images might move if i scanned them in and tried to manipulate them on here.

This was a very usefull session!

Introducing... Lenny!

I decided to experiment with different 'Lennys' to see if it would be possible to create him out of an actual lightbulb..

He obviously needs a lot of work but i think with the right background and scene this could be quite effective. 

I would like to see if there was any way of actually lighting the bulb in the scenes where i want him to be happier, ill have to investigate further before i decide for definite what style of animation i'm going to use.

 

STORYBOARD!

I am still undecided what method i'm going to use to create my animation. I can't decide between stop motion (using a real lightbulb), Cut out animation, or just narrative cell. I'll experiment with all techniques and then decide which one works best. 
Whatever technique i use the storyboard gives me a good idea of what part i need to be at, at what time. I have worked out most of the timings as well so i think i know how many drawings i need to do between each scene.

Storyboard develoment!

These are a few quick sketches of what i think my storyboard is going to look like, with a few more notes so i know exactly what to do.

Also thinking about the colours for the main parts of my storyboard. 

I think the blue background and lighter rain drops work better because they stand out more, as the lightbulb will be light too so that will also work better with a slightly darker background.

Character Development!

I wanted to create a character that would be easily repeatable however would be able to convey the emotions and characteristics that i want to show in my animation.

Briefcase- used for storing things, could open to show that he has forgotten his brolly. Would be easy to show this, also the movements would be easy because it would just have to roll. 

I really like this design because i think a lightbulb is a good representation of an idea. It could easily be animated by the use of colour and a feature, e.g eyes or a changing mouth.

Below i have tried to put my character into the narrative.

Some elements don't really work so i've had to change a few things, mainly the fact that a lightbulb doesn't have arms.

TADA!

Development- still listening

This is a timeline of 2 parts of the music, It made me decide for definite that i want to use the first 30 seconds of the music.
Below i began to brainstorm around the three words that i have chosen to describe my music.

These have given me inspiration to try and sort out a plan for my narrative. Something that combines my three words.

Unprepared- Because my character forgets its umbrella

Idea- To buy an umbrella from the stand

Change- Character begins annoyed/ sad that it is getting rained on and ends up happy with its new brolly.