Wednesday 6 May 2015

Food Module: Final Storyboards

Using the rough thumbnail storyboards as a guideline for the new amended versions, I considered the angle and shot in more depth as well as adding clear notes/annotations for direction and action. I added shading to a few of the frames as to ensure that the viewer would understand the distance between foreground and background. I found that in order to produce the storyboards to a high standard and at a quick pace, I had to adopt the character references into my own style of illustration, if I had drawn using the exact character references I would have taken double the amount of time to produce the final boards. As these are the storyboards and not the final outcome for the module the characters not being on complete model did not really effect the viewer, as long as I had produced the characters within the right height and proportion, the scenes would be able to easily be translated to animation.





Beginning Sequence:

- Boards 1-3
I edited the walk cycle to be able to continue for longer, if later on in the production stage, the opening sequence/title card could run as Johnny walks past people and other stalls. I wanted the introduction of the cake to be immediate after the first frame introducing Johnny, as to show the audience the theme of the episode, what information they would be discovering. I felt that this could be carried on with possible future narratives that would follow on from this, especially with the possible idea of introducing more characters like Johnny who would learn about different desserts or other foods. The actual view of the full cart is only introduced before the Cake Man falls out of the tree. I felt that this worked well as the viewer can see the height and distance of the cart compared to the tree, and once the Cake Man gets back to his feet the viewer can see the height between Johnny and Cake Man.

I wanted to make the animation for the Cake Man falling from the tree as easy as possible to animate for Rebecca, but still hold interesting perspectives. I decided to show the Cake Man falling initially out of the tree, with the following frame showing the Cake Man having already fallen through the roof. Using this method, it should make animation easier with not having animate the Cake Man crashing through the roof.

- Boards 4-5
These frames show sequential imagery of the character interactions as the audience watch the characters talk with each other, giving a proper introduction of Johnny's character as well as the beginning to the historical scenes. At the beginning of this module, we brainstormed as a group as to how the transitions between each background, from the original to each of the historical scenes. We narrowed down the choice of these transitions to the background sliding across with Johnny standing in the same place and the other being the Cake Man grabbing the corner of the page to turn to the next scene. I decided to use the transition of the backgrounds sliding across the frame as I felt it would work well with the quirkiness of the Cake Man character and the effect would enhance with the use of sound effects, possibly something resembling a conveyor belt or whirring machinery.

Through The Ages:

- Boards 6-10
Carrying on from the last few frames on board 4, I kept the same shot for each of the historical scenes as to show a link and work successfully with the transition of the backgrounds however in the medieval scene I added a close up shot of the gingerbread that is referred to in the narrative as a different transition, to make the visuals more interesting; in the Industrial Revolution I added a close up shot of the top of the cake that is placed down on the table by the baker, in which icing is added to the top to refer to the invention of railroads that is referred to in the narrative. I felt that his worked well as the the addition of the icing works with the imports of trades as well as the possible extra animation of the train clouds and wheels moving in the completed train shape. This scene then cuts to a medium shot of Johnny as he reacts to the 'piece of cake' pun.  From this the following 2 sheets of storyboards, 9-10 show the running sequence of Johnny as he flees from a huge rolling sponge, as the narrative describes the reasoning behind the roundness of the cake. I wanted to link the sponge with the description of the sun and the moon in the narrative, in which both reside in the sky; I needed a reason for the sponge to be in the sky. I decided to go with the sponge rolling and bouncing off a rock, gumdrop or chocolate chip, so that it could be propelled into the air. I felt that this worked well as the following frames show the sponge turning into the sun and the moon with a long shot of Johnny looking up to the moon.

Ending Sequence:

- Boards 11-14
Cake Man appears in the scenes again instead of being the narrator and the audience can see the quirkiness of his character as he interacts with Johnny again, giving him more information on cakes. Board 11 mainly consist of medium shots and close ups, with the main action of the Cake Man pinching his cheeks. However on board 12 more interesting perspectives and movements are shown as the Cake Man forgets Johnny's name, calling him Billy, and replying with 'whatever' which I wanted to show an over the shoulder perspective, giving the main focus of the audience to Johnny. From this it cuts to a panning shot of the Cake Man being enthusiastic with giving more facts on cake and naming a few whilst he prances. Whilst this happens a medium shot of Johnny turning away to then cut to a long shot to show Johnny walking across the background to the original background. This walk cycle holds the same shot as to link with the distance and to make animating easier for Rebecca, I considered adding a front walk cycle showing the Cake Man in the distance continuing to talk and dance with cakes appearing around him, however I felt that this was too much for the young audience and animation wise. The last board shows Johnny stumbling across another stand, this time selling ice cream in which Johnny stops to look at the dessert. I wanted to reveal the ice cream seller gradually, as he steps from the shadows and leans into the frame, in a medium shot, showing his appearance to be much like the Cake Man. As soon as the audience see the ice cream seller his dialogue is cut off abruptly as the credits roll on screen. 



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