FMP: Character Design

Dreamer character design

Photo's of final dreamer character

Third eye character design

Photos are authors own

The first dreamer character design is focused more on what I envisioned whilst creating my storyboards, transformed into a more detailed image. I like the clothing that I chose to give the dreamer as it reflects a very laid back, authentic view of a person that is in their own home just about to go to sleep. However, I want to portray her as more of a free spirited person, seen in my second design. As someone who is technically part of the new age movement, I want her to fit the part visually, using stereotypical features such as, hairy armpits, baggy clothing, short hair and in an unrestricted, euphoric pose.

Then I started thinking about the previous idea I had, which was to animate the dreamer using the pixilation technique to suggest a strong connection with reality. So I went with this idea and proceeded to take photographs of my cousin that would then act as key frames in the making of my final animation.

However, the experimentation I done (see above in the coloured and grey scale versions of my character) made it clear to me that I wanted to alternate between these two colour states in oder to distinguish between my dull portrayal of reality and the vivid, energetic portrayal of the astral plane.

The third eye design was really fun to do, as I was able to do a lot of experimentation, in terms of what medium to use and what the iris should look like. Initially, I was working with solid colours for the iris, then patterns and then images. Whilst thinking about using different images in the iris I generated several images, including a star, the earth and water. Then I remembered a piece by René Magritte called The False Mirror. This image depicts an eye in a face that is filled with a blue sky and clouds, excluding the pupil. I then tried using a picture of the sky in my eye design and felt it to be the most effective.