Thumbnail Storybords

As it has became a usual method, first I sketch out the basics of the script. Capturing the essence of story line first, then again, restorybording in a more definite manner focusing on nuances, bringing balance to what is seen throughout the time of film ( perhaps some angles were overused etc.)

 

Dream Island...

For this artwork to be born I had to merge myself with a very dreamy mood. I was thinking about what ever  beautiful the whole time of painting ( about 1 and a half days) and found that this was a way to go into a very festive mood as well , (New Years tomorow!)  :)

This time I went for a new method, and so it started from designin separate props.  I've design Ivan's house, sails, wind-mills, lanterns, "trees"  before going into the whole concept of the Island.

When I was designing his house I tried to bring concepts of nesting-box, Chinese Lantern and incorporate elements from Ivan's design itself, so that the audience gets the feeling of the house  actually is bird's home. Also all the ideas had to flow into a  hand-crafted construct. I imagined, a kid had built it ( you should notice hand prints on the house).

Sails are another element in the island. Here is the variation I used.

These are "trees" a surreal element which adds to the flavour of Dream island, since it's not as logical element ( like sails, wind-mills  or nesting-box).  The design is almost entirely taken from my previous graphics work Pixie.

There were some "touches" to fynalise the composition or direct attention in my  sketch. And today I found the obvious solution wind-mills. It suits the mood, shape and theme perfectly. Also in later stages of animation it will serve as that aditional little element which brings  Island to life.

So as posted previously everything started from composition resolution

 

With this chosen composition a more detailed sketch was resolved.

By starting from background I  roughed in  main shapes.

Then brought all the elements I had worked out before and placed it according to sketch.

Then textures...

Lighting, shadows, layering,  tweaking, ect.

In the second half of the whole painting process my  main concern was to direct attention corectly. Because theres so much happening here, it's so easy to be overwhelmed by fancy style. House should stand out. Also I don't know if I succseded, but didn't want the Island to feel completely flat, rather as i there is a cosy space just in the center.
I'm still not sure if all this is working, because, quite obviously it doesn't follow the rule, less is more :D And who knows, maybe it should...
Island is a symbol of dreams come true so  I tried to make it rich...

World of Ivan: Thumbnails of 3 Environments

So over the time I had in trains, airplanes, while waiting here and there, I drew out the ideas of environment for my transcription project.

First, here are the sketches I did in summer:

A sketch of flow,  shapes, colours and textures I felt for this project:

A background mountain ( Mountain-monster)

Composition solutions and ideas for substance of the Dream Island:

So in continuation I did some more sketching:

I started on solving more acurately  the flow and composition of the island. Each element represents seperate layers .

I wanted to solve the very abstract idea of the Island, to build a  dream-like but  still realistic enough landscape.

Another Idea came, to sugest the reason Ivan is so attracted to that Island. For it has a built tree-house, which fits perfectly as new home to Ivan. It is A center also a focal center of the Island  (Black is see-through holes/windows in the house which allow the light to go through).

 

So after giving some thought here is the sketch which I'm thinking to now push forward and resolve it to one of the concepts.

The flat and illustrative-looking perspetive is chosen because the idea is it will be the only perspective  shown to the audience.

 

As for he environment in which everything starts, the garage workshop, it was pretty much straight forward from the very start, especially after some research.

When Ivan leaves the garage and still is not aware of the dream island he is in the backyard. A.. rough sketch for that.

Ice-breaker Research: Sky Lanterns, Ship Workshop's, Dream Island and Styles

Discussed and arranged by J.J. *Jolanta Jasiulionyte* 

Sky lanterns, also known as Kongming Lantern are constructed from oiled rice paper) oil prevents it from burning) on a bamboo frame, and contain a small candle or fuel cell.

When lit, the flame heats the air inside the lantern, and by lowering air’s density the lantern raises into the air.

The sky lantern is only airborne for as long as the flame stays alight, after which the lantern floats back to the ground.

Other than that I've been looking to Ship modeling workshops.

Also gathered some  reference for the dream Island.

To keep the style and feel of animation consistent, I’ve gathered some of my favorite artist’s works which I thought pictures well what I have in mind so far.

But as stated previously, I’ll try and aim for my own stylization. There is a work I favoured since I’ve painted it, I think it fits this occasion well. 

So my brain was really soaked into visuals, I feel ideas are bursting now. Still not having other choice ( to maybe focus on the more relevant projects)  , I’ll gladly spend some time sketching them out 

Analysing Soundtrack's Rhythm and Adapting it to Story's Structure

Since I couldn't work on studio projec ( because of the snow in the way to take the relevant files from univeristy) here again I come back to the soundtrack I'll be transcribing in the future project. After having talked to Alan, I decided to return to the music and analyse its  rithm because it then  suggests the structure of the story. This was  done before but only intuitively. But now it is dead clear how to plan the action of animation.



I think this analysis might be very helpful to the following processes , I'll use it as a guideline.

Transcription Project Proposal

 It's the story which miraculously unraveled to me during the summer. It follows the musical storyline I was delivered that time.

A story of a mash-up Bird.

It starts when we see a mish-mash bird „sleeping“in ship model workshops. A passing by match-character wakes him up and soon after the bird finds himself overwhelmed with the surrounding, not fully satisfied he continues on exploring the place: jumps out of  the workshops to the outer world. There, to he is struck with the beauty of a little island in the lake. The island has something so attractive to the bird, he can‘t help himself but try do anything to reach it. 

So he tries to swim there (surely, since he is made out of ship parts) . But in fact there are lots of  holes and as he also realizes, he isn't constructed perfectly to funtion, he sinks.

Disappointed and he gives up while still looking towards the island dreamily … Match-character constant accompanier, struck with an idea, jumps onto the bird, opens something in his chest and Ivan pops open into a sky lantern!
Match matches the fire inside Ivan, and gasses start lifting Ivan to the. And then with little effort of his own, in short time the wondrous island is reached.

The metaphorical story tells about looking into the world, having dreams then trying to reach them. And that often  means also looking wor ways to reach it, for changing (improoving)  yourself . If you take the challanges, the reword is always there.  And perhaps most importantly  that everything best was already  there and waiting inside .

I really  feel passionate to express this one. We'll see how it goes.