Extended Research: Bill Otomo

After researching into Dofus - Book 1, I discovered Bill Otomo, a visual development artist and comic book author, who created character sheets and concept work for the animation. I really admire the use of simple shapes within Joris's character, such as the hands and feet, and the detail on the clothing. Even though the clothing and shapes are simple, the character has a strong silhouette. Joris's character has inspired me with my own character design for the shadow spirit, Dusk. For Dusk I needed to create a shadow ghost esk creature with simple shapes as to suit the young audience; with the arms I made them longer, curvier with simple claw like hands, not too pointed as it needed to work with the audience.

The concept work really inspired me through the perspective of the shot. The use of foreshortening and power angles aided the shot successfully, enhancing the action further. I loved the exaggerated expressions and movements in the shots. These pieces helped me to generate ideas for my own work, especially with the market scene, I wanted a dramatic running pose as the main character, Cy, runs away from a thug character. This use of over exaggerating the shot, nearing the impossible lens should aid the animation and perception of the action well; animation is the only discipline that can use the impossible lens, with the moving image, to an aesthetically pleasing appeal.

Joris character sheet