Cinematic Production - Character Animation 06

Week 8 - Day 4 (THE FINAL STREEEEEETTTCCCHHHHH!!)

I've finished the coloring for my spirit creature to put into the model pack!! HUZZAH! The brief asked for:

• • A four-point turnaround modelsheet, rough, cleaned up & coloured (front, side, ¾ front and ¾ back);
• • At least four poses of the character expressing an appropriate range of emotions, rough & cleaned up;
• • At least four different facial expressions showing an appropriate range of emotions rough & cleaned up;
• • At least six mouth-shapes for the character if your project has dialogue, rough and cleaned up.

I was able to complete the first bullet-point without too much trouble and the second with only some mild grumbling (as artists are wont to do) but the last two points gave us difficulty due to the fact that our spirit creatures and even our particle simulation of Oscar didn't even have eyebrows let alone a mouth that are so key to displaying facial emotions. Thankfully, Dane said that the whole point of a model pack was that if we were to toss the project onto somebody else to complete they'll be able to use what's given as reference to stay as on-model as possible with the rest of the animation. PHEW.

I'm happy that the spirit creature is simple enough that it shouldn't be too troublesome to animate. I'm still caught between drawing each frame by hand and turning them into symbols and going from there. I'm more for the first just because I'm not too great with using symbols on flash animation.

So, here you have it, the clean-up and colored version of my spirit creature in all its glory...

Next up, I'm gong to do some clean-up keys of my rough animation. The title/credit scene will be easy enough for Oscar and I to do in just a day. We can leave it for next term. We have yet to figure out a title for our production...but I'm sure it'll come to us eventually, maybe in a dream...

Cinematic Production - Character Animation 05

Week 8 - Day 1 (IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWWWNNNNN....of the first term.)

So, I finally got around to finishing off those model pack roughs I've been meaning to do over the weekend but ended up spending time on the life drawing portfolio instead. MEEP. (The life drawing portfolio is looking pretty nice by the way, in case you're asking, or thinking, or whatever...)

Here is a rough look of the poses I thought might work. I also added a few suggestions from Adrian and Tea of what the spirit creature might do.

You can see the little ticks on the roughs that I thought would look good in the model pack. I decided that having two spirit creatures next to each other would create a better feel and a clearer communication of emotions within the poses. The two spirit creatures on the bottom right were supposed to be in a kind of "slap-fight" but I changed it to give them a more inquisitive feeling in their poses rather than putting them in a hissy fit.

Here are the roughs along with the eventual clean-ups of the spirit creatures.

Next is color...yay~ I'll be putting the blue flames on a separate layer. Never say I don't learn from my previous mistakes. Herp derp.

Cinematic Production - Character Animation 04

Week 7 - Day 4

I'm still not too sure of the layout but this is where I think the spirit creatures could possibly fit within the scene. The one that's crouching down is going to be looking at the ipod screen, or the centerpiece tree. The one that's standing ought to be looking at the main spirit creature once it's put into the same space. It's open for changes but I'm gonna bring it up with the group later and see what they say. I also forgot to bring up the title/end credit scene on Monday so hopefully I can do both of them at the same time. XD

They stand out quite well in the black background but I know that there's going to be a space wrap-around in its place. I'll probably need to play with shading and color on their white fur coat but I think it should be alright. They'll take on the colors of the environment before and after the glitch which is gonna be AWESOME.

I also forgot to make the one further away from the camera a lot smaller. XD Thanks, Adrian, for pointing it out for me!!!

Also, next up, that model pack I meant to do but got distracted by replaying the first chapter of The Wolf Among Us for the gaming blog.

Interactive Narrative - Gameplay (THE WOLF AMONG US - REVISITED)

Week 7 - Day 4 (7/4/2016)

Back in week 5 I addressed question 3. How does morality influence the choices you make in the game? in regards to my gameplay of The Wolf Among Us. While I still stand firmly by what I'd previously spoken about in regards to moral influences and choices made during the playthrough, I'd also like to add story, or more specifically question 2. Unpack the first level of your chosen game (including cut scenes) – how does it tell its story, and how is the player involved in the telling (consider all of the narrative elements discussed so far in the course)?

The game opens up with the title screen and a scene of Bigby walking amongst the people of Fabletown and, upon starting the game, transitions over immediately to a cutscene of him walking into an apartment where a domestic quarrel seems to be occurring on the second level. The impact of this transition is small but as you play the game you'll see a lot more of this as Bigby seems to favor walking from one location to the next, possibly implying that the size of Fabletown is quite small in relation to New York as a whole. The opening cutscene between Bigby and Toad is largely multiple choice and on a timed basis; the player is constantly involved because they have to make quick, snap decisions on the fly and if you're a little too slow with your response then the game will also take your lack of action as silence, a kind of non-answer. This is very reflective of real life because we can't just pause and take our time thinking every little thing over as most conversations require an immediate reaction and back-to-back dialogue. The Wolf Among Us displays "A harmonious fusion between action and narration. [Gamasutra]" throughout the entirety of the game.

In terms of level design and linearity of gameplay, The Wolf Among Us follows an easy enough script that anybody can follow, with the exception of the quick-time events that require the player to input keys to encourage more player involvement and to also progress the story along. The first fight between Bigby and Woodsman, also reflective of time in real life, is quickly executed with button and mouse gestures one after another and, if done incorrectly, could spell the end of Bigby's life as well as player interaction. With regards to choices made by the player, the game will still progress in a linear fashion regardless of what you choose to do as a person, whether you decide to give Faith the money to help her with her troubles or not as "Not all choices need to be motivated...‘not choosing’ is regarded as a further option which is in this case considered less desirable than ‘choosing to choose’. [Sebastian Domsch]" The player is given a statistic breakdown at the end of the chapter of what other players did within the game and they're able to see which percentage they fall under. This helps reaffirm player involvement as you can see the decisions other people have made in relation to your own choices.

The closing of the first scene ends with Bigby walking the streets of Fabletown amongst the crowd, bringing us back to the title screen with the inclusion of an opening credit scene and coming back full circle to the fact that despite the sheer size of New York City, Fabletown is small enough that Bigby can get to most places without the use of a vehicle. This also speaks of his character as a creature of nature (being that of a wolf), preferring to walk on his own power rather than use other means of transportation. This whole section of the first game level is very reminiscent to that of an opening of most television shows and is a great pull to draw players into the game as it feels like you're watching a drama unfold but you're also given the option of interactivity where the game will also take your choices and decisions into consideration to feed into the continuing scenes.

The Wolf Among Us follows a fairytale-esque route mixed with high drama that creates a strong pull that not only drags the player into the Fabletown universe but also immerses them into the story and gameplay as soon as the first scene occurs. Its use of multiple choice actions and reactions give the player a feeling of involvement and participation even within cutscenes where the game takes your answers and even non-answers into consideration for your gameplay, tailoring the scene leading into the next and so on.

Cinematic Production - Character Animation 03

Week 7 - Day 1 (Totally forgot to post anything last week so a recap is what you're gonna get...)

After our progress meeting last week we decided that 1) my creature animation had too many things going on and B) that we're gonna have a maximum of two of them within the scene and C) I'm going to split the animation in two so that one is crouched on the floor and the other is already standing up when they both sense a disturbance in the FORCE and turn towards the actor/camera to glare bloody murder at them. Hoorah~

I also have an idea for the title/credit shot!! We could have a blank, black canvas with the tree in the middle zoomed up to the ipod screen so we can see very clearly what's being displayed there and we'll do our outro like that. I'm gonna try and gif that and hope it looks as good in real life as it does in my head...but first...I need a picture of that tree! TEAAAAAA!!!! ADRIANNNN!!!

--

So, here's what I got so far: two spirit creature animations in different stances both looking at the actor/camera just as the glitch happens.

(Also, I'm so sorry, Keat; you were right: the first gif I put up did have the spirit creature going down then up before turning to the camera. My memory sucks and I drew this myself! I'm sorry! I will apologize again to you later...)

Now for the end credits which I shouldn't really be touching until next week BUT IDEAS. DKJSHFKSDHFS

I should also be working on that model pack. I'll draw up some rough poses and what not for that later in the week as well. I've got my rough animations more or less down pat, but I'll bring it up with the others before we really finalize it. =D

--

This is what I envisioned our end credits is going to look like...

And I gotta say that I really like it. XD I'll pitch it to the others and see what they say. If it's good to go then I'll leave it as it is and do the proper clean up next week. Now...time to get them rough poses done!!