Saturday 7 December 2013

Final Major Project ~Initial Idea

Old Robots!

Since the idea of working on the FMP was first mentioned to me a few years ago, not long after i started the course i had a few suggestions floating around my head, but it wasn't until last year that one idea started to form in my head..... my love for characters made it clear that that's what the direction i was going to go in, and i started thinking of robots. Not mech's or any of that, but robots, with character and personality. I feel if anyone is going to do any form of character design, they need to have just that, character and personality. 

It was the idea of making old, abandoned robots that had lost their original purpose that really started to get me excited about this idea.... i began to imagine this distant future or alternate world where robots had become something that humans no longer needed anymore so eventually became lost and forgotten about. having been built to last but no longer having a purpose to serve, the robots became neglected and most rusted away and fell into disrepair. Some however, wandered the wilderness and made their own settlements, and continued their new sentience and existence in seclusion, as the world around them evolved and underwent changes that didn't effect them. Robot's in these settlements, gone so long without memory wipes and updating, had developed their own personalities and self awareness, and so had become characters in their own right, some even developing very human personalities and defects, often caused at despair at their own design. Many had adopted new persona's to counter-act this, and so led new lives of their own design free from the shackles of their creators. 

That's essentially the setting and world these characters will inhabit, fleshed out in my head. The back story and current situation for the characters i will design i think is important when it comes to actually bringing them to life, as it will help shape them. They will all obviously be a robot built originally for a purpose (mechanic, war droid, traffic control, rescue, etc.), but will have adopted something that will make their character unique and give them personality. The whole 'neglected' theme will also give me a good excuse to come up with some really interesting designs, as well as textures for the robots themselves, and will highlight the modifications they may have had to do to themselves to stay functional. 

What i essentially want to have at the end of my FMP, are five characters, four robots and possibly one human, built fully in 3D and rigged. The idea of a human came into being, with the idea of the robots having the task of looking after an abandoned human child, adding the purpose of bringing the child back to its parents, and discovering the world outside of their little settlement, and the adventures that follow. This may be a bit jarring yet, when the cast of this game are going to be primarily robots, so this is still an undecided factor, though i will definitely work on designs featuring the robots and the child (i really like the idea of having a kid wearing pots and pans to fit in with the group, sat on the shoulders of a hulking war droid ^_^).

Research wise, im going to be looking at a lot of Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks artwork and movies, as animation studios like these really have character design and development nailed down, and is definitely a source of inspiration to me since the initial idea of my concept. Simplicity, and how characters communicate via expressions and poses is something i want to look at and examine in depth, to bring my character ideas to life as much as possible. Though the final outcome that i will work to is 3D models of my characters, i want the main bulk of my workload to ideally focus on 2D work, as someone who wants to work in 2D illustration and characters, i want to use this project as a perfect opportunity to come up with some really fantastic artwork for my portfolio. 


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