Storyboards: Scene 1

My storyboards are coming along nicely and I thought it best to put updates of their progress up on my blog. So, first update, here's scene 1. Click the images to see them bigger (and better).

Inspiration 1.3

I Met the Walrus was nominated for best animated short in 2008 and if you watch it I'm sure you'll see why. It's stunning. The textures, colours and whole feel is incredible. I am a big fan of The Beatles and so when I heard about this I got straight to a computer to see it.

The way the graphics flow and change from one sketch to another is amazing and I would love to do something like this in the future. As for now, the sketched/cutout style of Jerry Levitan (the interviewer) provides me with a great starting point for my own characters in my animation. The sketches look rather simple but within the style and context of the piece they are really effective.

Inspiration 1.2

Here's another loveable robot to get acquainted with. His name is Clank. He has a friend called Ratchet and together they are the aptly named duo, Ratchet and Clank. They feature in a whole series of games (Tools of Destruction, Quest For Booty, A Crack In Time and more) as the good against evil. I've loved the series since the first game which was released in 2002. Not just because the games are fun fun fun but the characters are delightful. Clank is amazing and I wish to capture some of his likeable traits.

Inspiration 1.1

This little game (actually it's quite big as you can buy the whole game for £12) has everything I could want draw inspiration from. Cute robots, the hand drawn style, awesome music and sound effects and an engaging story. It's essentially a point and click Flash game but it's way fun. Check out the makers website too, its quite nice and pretty (Amanita Design). Hopefully I will be able to capture some of it's gorgeousness.

Machinarium has to be played so do it!

Inspiration 1.0

This great little animation is by IDEO for the new Living Climate Change website The sketched section starting at around 32 seconds looks amazing. The textures and hand drawn style really appeals to me and to what I am trying to achieve with my own piece. The animation communicates its aims exactly and if I can do that with U813, I'll be mega pleased.

Check out both IDEO's and Living Climate Change websites as they both look ace and have some awesome designers.

Hello.

Say hello to U813. He will wave at you if he likes you. So look into your webcam for a few seconds so he can make his decision.

Introduction.

The year is 2192. Human’s have been wiped off the face of the earth by a pandemic.

Luckily, the virus was prepared for. As a failsafe, mankind developed the technology to re-animate the most basic forms of DNA and this led to the ability to reproduce humans from DNA alone.



U813 is a utility Robot made to oversee the switching on of the human re-production lines. “U813” is a tale of the rebirth of the human race through the eyes of an unnatural digital parent.

This is the International Repopulation Institute. This is humanities only hope to repopulate Earth from beyond the grave. Most of 'U813's narrative will feature within its walls.

This is a preliminary sketch of one of the repopulation labs within the IPR. Although basic, It gives me an idea of the layout, colour scheme and feel of the laboratories. I wish for them to be heavily mechanised yet feel extremely clinical and technologically advanced. For this reason, having a stationary crane may look too old fashioned when I actually put the lab together.