woensdag 30 januari 2008

character developments

dancer
She is the human character, and perhaps a bit shy. She finds herself in a situation that is completely unknown and somewhat ominous to her. She is a captive, her prison two small platforms that support her feet. As the machine moves, she moves. There`s no other choice.
From pure necessity (if she doesn`t move, she will fall), tracing the steps of the machine becomes somewhat of a game. As she steps beside a platform, she is sure that is her end. To her surprise, she is still standing. The robot continues and she is forced to follow. Defiantly she strays from the laid out path of the robot, noticing that it wil correct to catch her. What starts as small deviations at first, becomes her path entirely. She takes the lead and even stops noticing that she is only supported by the two small platforms.
In short, the dancer gets more confindent and takes greater liberty in her movements.

machine
It is the controle, the power. It is a massive construction, imposing. At first it takes very little notice of the dancer. Predefined movements are executed, nothing more. As the dancer improves, a sort of game evolves between the two. She steps beside the platform. Without thinking the robot corrects to catch her. This is also a reflective moment for the robot. It finds, that it has more freedom than just executing the predefined movements. It`s role is now more supportive than leading.
In short, de robot breaks its routinely movements, taking more freedom.

woensdag 16 januari 2008

So I started to model...

The first models for my project. First to had to be impressions of atmosphere; the pit below...and I failed completely in my attempt. At least i know now that the background needs to be way more subtle than this. As it is now, it starts to tell stories on its own and will greatly distract from the story I am trying to tell and the characters.


Faces for the main character...also failed sofar. The obvious thing to say is her eyes stand too far apart on most models. This was deliberate. I started from more conventional proportions and tried little tweaks...It needs some abstraction in my opinion, while at the same time some anatomical details are preserved...defeniately needs a lot more work.


Some machine parts. Not so sure about this either. Yes, in a way it serves its purpose, because i want the animation to become quite realistic. But again, it needs some sort of abstraction or character. Perhaps I shouldn`t try to find that in the individual parts and see as it evolves through the completed structure...will continue from this for the time being. Oh yeah, this part is supposed to be the base for one of the arms. Sofar it has two axes of freedom, which will be three eventually.