The first aspect I should consider in order to plan my work is what is going to be framed in the scenes so that I will be working on assets based on that. I should focus on essential assets and the main character would be the most important one. As long as I have the main props for the scene to make the narrative work and the scenario recognisable for the audience I could even use some infinity backgrounds for the overall environment.

this is the link for the whiteboard on Miro I have created where I will update my development:

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVOKHnfj0=/?invite_link_id=167610705170

“Fisherman” Project

Moodboard

I have created a moodboard which may help me in the development phase to visualise better the character, the environment and the overall tone I want to create for this project. I have included some designs that I could take inspiration from for the props, and the character design and also a couple of films, “Joy” and “Luca”, the former is a short animated showcasing the tale of the lovable small dog (Joy) and a pesky Heron. Even though the story is not centred on fishing the main character is out with his owner on a fishing trip. The latter is Luca the latest Pixar animation film and is set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera where fishing is one of the main focus and can be very inspirational for me for the overall tone and fishing tools they use as well.

I have added a description to the Fisherman project storyboards both regarding the narration and the sound

Character design

I have started by designing the main focus of the animation: the fisherman. I tried to experiment with his age, his look and attitude. Since that he is inexpert I thought that a younger look would fit more, however even a more aged man would be very funny as well since he might have been better when he was younger and stronger, but now that he is old he has lost his skills. The aspect I am more sure about is his clothes: I researched into fisherman looks and generally they are all wearing a cap with overshoes and a jackets with many pockets, probably to put baits.

How to Convey Character’s Personality Through Shape, Variance and Size?

The impression of the physical appearance of a character affects the impression of personality traits. The main tools to refer to are shape, variance and size, which should be all used when designing a character.

• Shape: facial expression is really secondary when reading a character; first thing to notice is the face shape, posture and body language, and shapes have more universal meaning across the globe compared to colour. We often subconsciously assign qualities to a person or a character by only perceiving him/her as a combination of shapes. Square shapes are assigned to characters to project his solid, stable and may be stubborn personality as well as its dependability and confidence. On the other hand, the perception of oval shapes that safe, soft, friendly, safe and harmless, on the contrary, angular shapes has always projected danger and often designers use triangles and pointy shapes in their villain character’s personality. artists also use them to show a hero’s determination, drive and opportunism.
• Variance: characters should be divided into 3 parts: head, torso and legs. Since contrast creates interest they should have different proportions of these elements described above. This is also used in the proportions for the face on a smaller scale. For instance, babies have large, round heads and small bodies, which is what makes them so adorable.
• Size: using the size relationships in your character can make their design more appealing. A good design is often characterised by different in size shapes, combined in an interesting and unpredictable way.

First identify its personality: He is going to have stubborn personality since he is a fisherman who is determined to catch a fish so I started out his design from square shapes, However I wanted him to have also created contrast in his body legs and torso proportions to make it more interesting: his head is bigger compared to the rest of the body which may resemble “babies” proportions so to make it look sweeter and less intimidating. he is going to wear a large dungarees and a big head to stress even more his short size; moreover I though I could add a corncob pipe which would characterise him even more. Having so defined body features will help when I will have my model ready to animate to first focus on body expressions rather that facial ones.

Work on the scene set up, which model will I need:

Following the storyboard I have created I will be producing the following props – boat, fishing stick, fish, corncob pipe, water

corncob pipe reference

“Cat’s secret life” Project

(focus on the fisherman project first)

I have added a description to the “Cat’s secret life” project storyboards both regarding the narration and the sound as well:

Moadboard

In this moodboard I wanted to recreate the tone, attitude and feel of the animation I intend to create especially the personality of the cat who is the protagonist. I have added few picture from different animation films which pictured cats in it: from “the secret life of pets” in particular regarding Chloe, one of the main protagonists. Chloe has an eating disorder. She’s shown to be apathetic, indifferent, and slothful – she doesn’t care much. The only things she does really love are food and herself; I plan to use the other film references of films I have include more as an inspiration for the cats animation they use: “the aristocats”; the cat from “shrek” and the cat from”Oliver and company”.

Character Design

I tried to draw some cats using several reverence and styles and colours to see which one would fit better to the story

Cat personality: mischievous, active, cunning and a bit clumsy too.

The shapes I have used for the final design are circles for the eyes to make them active and “alive”, triangles for the ears and the mouth to project danger and also use them to show determination, drive and opportunism. The squared face shape shows its stubborn personality as well as its dependability and confidence.

Difference between humanoid animation and animals animation (emotions, movements)

Considering these two project ideas I have come up with, I have identified the main difference between them which I can research into: the main characters are very different since one is a human and the other is a cat. So, how can I, as an animator, differentiate the way I convey their emotions and movements?

As for the fisherman he is a man, and acting videos are easier to find or make myself. Moreover, a great deal of human brain is dedicated to deciphering the emotional state of other humans so it might be easier to animate them rather than animate animals.

Regarding the way to animate animals, just like it happens for humans, is through observation; and also since us as animators and audience are used to apply and communicate throughout our emotional intelligence, in animation there is a process frequently used which is “anthropomorphism of movements of the animals character animation”: the attribution of human form or other human characteristics to any nonhuman object. So, their species features and design can impact the storytelling and characterisation of an animal character. Moreover, attributing human traits and qualities allows for us as an audience to empathise with the characters.

So how does anthropomorphism add to characterisation and storytelling? 

“Kung Fu Panda“, for instance, is the story of a bipedal, lazy and overweight panda becoming a martial arts master. The process which helped to develop a charming and well executed story was taking the apparent traits of a real panda and creating a narrative that surrounds those characteristics. Real world problems become animalistic versions of problems, letting us feel for the protagonists. This is the idea behind my project on cats’ secrets life: being myself an owner of a cat I have noticed throughout the time that he has certain behaviours and habits which are notoriously acknowledged when referring and thinking of cats in general which are for example being mischievous, witty or even lazy.

I think that the most human like feature though would not be attributed its physical features but the way the cat will convey its emotions: we attribute those human feeling to cats as humans since those specific feelings are the only one we can express, we can understand and, most of all, are mostly used to.

The use of arms and legs would also different in quadruped (animals, cats in this case) and biped (human, fisherman): the quadruped have their upper limbs as active as their lower limbs which would not only affect its animation but also its rig structure and hierarchy.