CoP Creative Response: Research into Characters and Environments

Referring back to my research, I collected a variety of simple characters and complex environments from a number of animations to use as influence and reference for my own characters and backgrounds. I started with the animations I had focused on within my essay and then I expanded my search to other similar animations that I felt would influence my work in a beneficial way.

Character Mood board

I started with Grave of the Fireflies as it has been the most influential animation throughout my essay and I felt that it would be a good starting point for my character design. The whole time I have been thinking of my creative response, I have pictured a boy as my main character, so this is what I predominantly focused on when I was looking at character designs. Seita, is a very simple character with quite generic facial features and a simple face shape. However, his body shape is much more complex than that of Ben's from Song of the Sea, or Brendan's from The Secret of Kells. I feel that the latter characters would be easier for me to animate and still work as well as they are still very simple character designs. With this in mind, I will take elements from each and attempt to create a simple character to animate. 

Environment Mood board

In terms of environments, I want these to be a lot more realistic than the characters, as I will use the environments to tell the story alongside the character. The environments will also help to portray emotion, atmosphere and mood with the intention of evoking emotion and imagination within the audience.  Although I really love the environments within Grave of the Fireflies, I don't feel that I will be able to create something as complex as that without taking months to complete it. Instead, I wanted to create something similar to the Gravity Falls environments but use the opportunity to illustrate how animation is an art form that isn't tied down by the restrictions of live-action, similarly to how Song of the Sea has done. By doing so, I hope that it will put Roe's (2003) and Wells' (1998) theories into practice.