Ernie's Emotions

I found it really hard to get squash and stretch in the face, it was much harder than with Doug... so yeah this needs improvement...

Keith: A Closer Look

Woop woop another character sheet is completed! Enjoy!

Maggie: Attempt Number 1

Below is Vicky's version of Maggie, I took this and made it work better with the Rachel Gilbert style.

Maggie is a girl who died young in the medieval period, so although she looks like a small child she has been around in heaven for so long that she has a wealth of knowledge and acts like a worldly adult. I tried to get this attitude across in my designs and I think I achieved a certain level of intelligence in her face in my final version. I made her very pale with whitish hair (attributes of an elderly person) to add to the contrast between her technical age and the amount of time she has actually been in existence, in one form or another.

It was only once I had finished the turnaround that I realised my fatal error: I had dressed her in modern clothes!!!!! I was kicking myself for such a stupid mistake, obviously Maggie should be dressed in medieval attire, as this would give her character far more interest and be a constant reminder to the viewer that she is much more than a little girl. So expect a revised version of Maggie fairly soon. I'm going to keep her body and face the same, it will just be the clothes that change. 

Keith Turnaround

Keith Character Designs

Vicky had already designed Ernie's friend Keith, but it didn't really fit with the other characters, so I used hers as a starting point and then did my own version.

Keith is a slightly aging rocker, who like Ernie, is a pretty chilled, laid back, friendly guy. Although I liked the idea of him having a floppy hat as it emphasized the fact he wasn't too bothered about what he looked like, I felt it pushed him a little bit too much into the realms of a farmer. So I settled with a trilby type thing..

'A Dog's Life' Animatic

Hannah put together this animatic from Eline's storyboard. We all pitched in for the voice over, what joy...

The Script

Here's the script Eline wrote up for the 90 second scene we are going to animate.

Ernie Turnaround

The title says it all really...

Of Rearranging Roles And Hippy Stoner Sorts

After another crit my group came to the realisation that the way we had divided up the tasks wasn't really working, as everyone was designing characters for both films and so each character was in a different style and they were not working together. So since everyone liked my take on Rachel Gilbert's style the best I became the character designer for the 'A Dog's Life' animation. Eline is now character designer for 'Chasing Birds' and Vicky is Background designer for both projects. Hannah has taken on the role of putting the Production Bibles together and designing how they look, so she is kind of our graphic designer now.

Eline had already designed Ernie so I took her designs, which are shown below, and altered them so they fit with the over all style of the film.

Ernie is a laid back stoner character with hippyish elements, he is a bit slow and simple but with a pure heart and amicable nature. I made him look a bit more intelligent than Eline's version as although he's meant to be a bit slow he is also meant to be street smart, so I improved his posture slightly and changed his face shape and features. I painted him in quite earthy, natural colours to emphasize his relaxed, peaceful disposition and his hippy tendencies.

Jonny And Joe Turnarounds

Below you will find the turnarounds for the two frisbee throwers, Jonny and Joe, as well as their respective action shot sheets.