Okay - in principle, your approach sounds fun and audience-savvy, and your visual references are useful in outlining your universe. So, your BIG challenge is going to be about designing the characters and environments, and while you've made a start (and some of those early thumbs have charm), I want you to kick the arse out of this aspect of your development. Remember, you're going to have to model and animate what you design for yourself, so please be prudent and strategic in terms of what you design for yourself. I'd suggest a complete avoidance, for example, of complex bipeds - find other design solutions that work with simpler shapes - you can still 'brand' the simpler shape with signature police colours and emblems etc. You might want to think about an approach like this, where the characters are part-vehicles too (police cars etc.).
The other really important aspect you need to think about is exactly how we're going to get the info we need from your film - is there going to be a voice-over in the style of a cop show? Is there going to be 'in-film' text elements - I don't know, like a 'Reward' poster or 'Body's Most Wanted' poster, showing us the bacteria in need of 'arresting'? As you've established this 'cops and robbers' vibe, you should really exploit it in terms of everything else that sits around your scenario. It may help you visually if you were go a bit retro - so think Dick Tracey, for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4rzqSsqaqA
(I can see how you could use newspaper headlines as a means of getting your info across? For example 'Bacteria Invasion!' and so on...)
Certainly, by looking at the golden age of American detective/cop shows, you'd find lots of pointers re. colour palette, character design and scripting ideas...
OGR 03/03/2016
ReplyDeleteHi Ian,
Okay - in principle, your approach sounds fun and audience-savvy, and your visual references are useful in outlining your universe. So, your BIG challenge is going to be about designing the characters and environments, and while you've made a start (and some of those early thumbs have charm), I want you to kick the arse out of this aspect of your development. Remember, you're going to have to model and animate what you design for yourself, so please be prudent and strategic in terms of what you design for yourself. I'd suggest a complete avoidance, for example, of complex bipeds - find other design solutions that work with simpler shapes - you can still 'brand' the simpler shape with signature police colours and emblems etc. You might want to think about an approach like this, where the characters are part-vehicles too (police cars etc.).
http://g03.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1dAZ.JXXXXXaZXpXXq6xXFXXX2/High-Quality-2015-new-children-s-toys-cartoon-animal-toy-car-Insects-style-is-very-cute.jpg
You should look at vinyl toys too for tips on how to get maximum character from a minimum of shapes;
http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Old-School-BMX-vinyl-toys-526435_450_450.jpg
http://prefuse.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Spook-D.I.Y-Resin-Toy-580x363.jpg
http://noupe.com/img/toy2.jpg
The other really important aspect you need to think about is exactly how we're going to get the info we need from your film - is there going to be a voice-over in the style of a cop show? Is there going to be 'in-film' text elements - I don't know, like a 'Reward' poster or 'Body's Most Wanted' poster, showing us the bacteria in need of 'arresting'? As you've established this 'cops and robbers' vibe, you should really exploit it in terms of everything else that sits around your scenario. It may help you visually if you were go a bit retro - so think Dick Tracey, for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4rzqSsqaqA
(I can see how you could use newspaper headlines as a means of getting your info across? For example 'Bacteria Invasion!' and so on...)
Certainly, by looking at the golden age of American detective/cop shows, you'd find lots of pointers re. colour palette, character design and scripting ideas...