Here are my initial character designs. I already had a very strong idea for both of my sub characters so design wise I didn’t want to change anything drastically especially on the spirits but I did experiment with a few different looks on the Robot.

 

 

Yūgen is said to mean “a profound, mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe… and the sad beauty of human suffering”.

Yūgen suggests that beyond what can be said but is not an allusion to another world. It is about this world, this experience.

Yugen is the title chosen for my animated Fable, ‘Yugen’ is set in a post-apocalyptic Japan where nature has reclaimed the earth due to industrialization and humans greed having no regard for nature or the animals that are trying to exist. My fable is based somewhat in the future of the apocalypse happening, our main character is in the world which is rather succumbed to the natural world, with the buildings crumbling and covered in foliage and new types of organic trees and creatures are emerging. This is meant to symbolise the world being ‘reborn’. The moon being shattered in the sky is again meant to signify to the audience that something terrible has happened or at least a sign of change from the world we’re used to.

 

BA3a Personal Showcase: Modern Fable
Project Proposal Form
Name: Chloe Cameron-Hughes
Project Title: Yugen
Moral / Message: Balance
Animation Technique/s: 2D digital Animation/ After Effects compositing
Genre: Fantasy

Use this form to propose a well-constructed plan for your project.
Your project will naturally build and deviate on this initial plan, which you can comment on in your evaluation.
Outline the full scope of research sources to support your research and development.
e.g. books, films, magazines, podcasts, web resources. Be specific in your plan.
Also outline primary research activities.
My plan for this project is to primarily study existing images/photos/concept art of Japan, (tokyo mainly), apocalyptic scenes, abandoned places in the world, fantasy styled artwork based on the real world. I’m going to attempt to experiment with natural and organic plants and fungi to create a world in which nature has taken back control from humans and industrialisation. I will also look at concept work and in-animation art and backgrounds from Studio Ghibli’s ‘Nausicaa and the valley in the wind’ and ‘Princess Mononoke’ (specifically looking at how they’ve used colour). I want to get an understanding on how to create realistic trees, foliage, backgrounds and organic matter, so I will also look up photos of fungi, ‘nature claimed’ parts of the world and perhaps see what concept art comes up. For my characters I know I want to have a young Japanese girl to play my main protagonist which will mean looking up how pre-existing animations capture a youthful young child, looking at expressions/fashion and animation differences between children and adults. My two supporting characters being ‘the spirits of the earth’ are going to be of an ectoplasm like substance, so looking at how Studio Ghibli animates there gloopy and translucent characters such as ‘No face’ and the ‘Forest Spirit’ will be a key area of research. I plan to use youtube as a significant source of research when it comes to learning new techniques, compositing is something I’ve never truly explored or allowed myself to and I want to create a layered 3D effect within my fable animation. Also when it comes to making my backgrounds and capture a ‘realistic effect’ is something I will also need to look at tutorials for. For example looking at behind the scenes of anime such as ‘Your name’ and individual animators on youtube who create animations in a similar style.

Outline the specialist skills you wish to develop and how your narrative can allow you to develop these skills.
e.g. character animation, modelling/model making, character design.
My narrative is going to help push my skills in background design, colour and lighting due to the design ideas being inspired by works such as ‘Nausicaa and the valley of the wind’, ‘Your name’ and ‘Control Bear’. I’m going to be exploring how I can create detailed and beautiful backgrounds similar to what are displayed in the animations listed, and what skills this will require. I will need to develop my understanding on colour theory especially when it comes to creating my own backgrounds and understanding how to paint lighting with different colours. I’ll need to get to a competent level of background design in order to pull off the desired look I’m wanting to achieve within this project. My narrative is set in a post apocalyptic, beautiful, serenic and organic environment, these are scenes that I have always wanted to create and will want to continue creating throughout my career. Fantasy animations and narratives have always been my favourite and therefore in order to fully understand the different techniques needed to create my backgrounds I’m going to have to train myself within this area.

Outline the difficulties you foresee in the development of your project. Consider schedule, budget (Is there any cost?),
This will in turn affect the shape of your project.
Timing and finishing animations has always been a problem for me, I never seem to be able to come up with an ending that I’m happy with without wanting to go back and constantly change things throughout the story and scenes. I’m a very visual person, I can visualise the scenes and the camera angles before planning and considering how much effort it takes for each scene. I’m hoping that I’m able to plan my time properly and be able to create an animation that I’m happy with without being over-perfect to the point of lack of work.
What limitations have you considered in order to develop specialist skills.
e.g. scope of the narrative, limitations of assets, design (character, bg), number of shots.

I have never digitally painted backgrounds or truly explored colour theory in this way, I’m very excited to get into an area that I’ve always wanted to push my skill set in but I am aware that it may be harder than it first appears. I’m hoping that I will have enough time to develop my skills in this way, as well as learning how to composit in After Effects without the quality of the animation dropping.

Character design is crucial for creating the right type of character that works within the story you are wanting to tell. For example, if my character was heartless and mean to others, it wouldn’t work with the message and moral I’m trying to demonstrate across to my audience.

As I have already decided that my story will most likely take place in apocalyptic Japan. culturally I want my character to represent Young Japanese children, through physical attributes and clothing choices. I’ve also referenced one of my favourite Animation Studios, Studio Ghibli as I feel they capture a childlike charm within their younger characters that I would like to replicate.

I’ve decided style wise to also reference alot of popular and for me personally, beautiful and charming animations which have similar concepts within style and nature that would work well in my animation.

I’ve started to experiment with facial styles, figuring out how I can make my character appear young through the size of the head/cheeks/eyes and nose. Hairstyle is also important and I’m still to figure out how exactly I want her hair styled due to the environment shes living in.