Running Around Research

Long story short, I started doing research to better solidify the character sheets and i found out my original research on my character designs were not that accurate. Turns out I had been dressing both my banshee and the boy (whom I have named Aidan) around 1800s when banshee lore was actually more frequent around the 1400s.

So a few more days of research later, and I found the original dress the natives of ireland wore in the 1400s. Unfortunately, they don't lend themselves to very attractive silhouettes.

I did a quick line up to show how far my character designs have gone over the past few months, the last being what was supposed to be common dress in the 1400s:

Getting kind of nervous about how I would deal with the plaid as well. Too much detail in pattern can make clean up 10x slower.

Overdue

For anyone who noticed, the project has been on hold for the past few months. It's not without good reason, but inexcuseable besides.

In my absence, I snagged a producer - Jenny Plyler - who is as excited if not more so about this project than I am. She's become co-editer of the blog and so far has a very clear view of the road ahead.

As far as progress on the film itself goes, all is as it was left. The second animatic had been started already, but because of my vacation from the project I'm starting completely fresh. Especially since I've decided to take a more professional approach to it with the time I've been given.

Goals for December are a little high and my school-related schedule will not lend itself to my success. I have taken a bit of the layout design into my own hands, mostly for time and not wanting to ruin anyone's winter break. I have found a lot of inspiration in Scott Willis' layouts in the blog CandyCaneLand, mostly for color but I could learn a thing or two about composition along the way.

Look for images in the future.

Forest Research

So research is under way, which means one crucial and exciting thing: the designs are officially being drawn.

After a well-deserved consult with the lovely Lexy Poston, we've finally started getting a good background layout design. As requested, I've looked up a few Ireland-related wild life that I thought would be inspiring to have in the film.

Next is the diagram to how these beautiful works of nature will apply to each scene. If only my scanner was working, I could have them up to tonight. Darn technology... Well here's a slideshow of said plants so you can pretend you're not sitting at home in front of a computer screen.

Senior Soiree

The Senior Soiree was a giant success! For anyone who is reading this after going the other day, thank you all for coming. It was a blast.

It was super packed and even though I brought my camera, very little pictures were actually taken, especially of me or my booth. The only evidence of me being there is this random video I took where half way through it I forgot I was recording and had a conversation:

With guest appearances by Esther, Stephanie, Melissa, Joy, and random guy who ended up being pretty awesome.

I'm super stoked. In fact, I was so stoked, I couldn't stop saying "sweet" to almost everything anyone said...

Senior Soiree

As some of you know, there is a Senior Project Soiree this Saturday (Oct 9th) were I'll be looking for people to volunteer for the Washer Woman crew. I have already rented a table and fashioned some cute little business cards using the Banshee's new design.



There is also another event on Thursday (Oct 8th) in CAS (Contemporary Animation Society) where there is a meet-and-greet between Sound Design majors and Animation majors looking for help on their film. I will be there with my business cards and some off-the-record designs in order to capture one of these fine fortissimo fellows.

See you then.

More Concepts

Now that Concept class is offically over, I can start working with my pre-production crew to make sure everything is solid. I have about 5 weeks to get everything figured out and get a Sound Designer on the team.

Currently Lexy Poston and Bernadette O'Keeffe are on the storyboard staff. So the second, and much better, animatic is under way.

In the mean time, I decided to redesign the characters to fit the new, more dark twist to the plot. Starting with the Banshee.

Backgrounds and Animatic

I have been doing some research and sketches as far as what I want the backgrounds to look like. The scene is set in 1800 Ireland. I regrettably have not been there myself, but I have found images from several beautiful forests in Ireland and I'm mixing my favorites together to create the setting for the film.

This image was inspired from a photograph I found where the forest was covered in moss. In the film, this is where the boy will hear the woman singing and curiously begin heading toward. Because of cinematography reasons, I had to flip my original image for the animatic, which turned out like so.

It is vectorized and simplified for use in the animatic, but essentially the same idea.

Sneek Peek of the Character Sheets

The character sheets, for my Concept class, have been finished. I feel like I'm going to be doing them again to be more clear under a less rushed environment.

Here's a peek on what the characters are ideally going to look like for the film.

Further Concepts and Guest Art

More rough work with character designs for the film. Even though I'm not completely satisfied with them, I'm being forced to finish them up and make character sheets for my class's sake. The sheets are still in progress.

I wanted them to remain simple, so I'm asking my friend Stephanie Wang to translate some of the characters in her style to help. In my efforts to be as big of a distraction to her life as possible, I got this pitch poster out of her.

Ginger or Irish?

My first dealings with the male character were a little rough. Dealing with the contrast of shapes with the banshee's oval face and giving him a square face, I began trying facial features on him using the ideal style I wanted the characters to be in.

I began experimenting with how the character would be broken down for the animators as well.

Banshee Concepts

These are the concept pieces for the Banshee character, who hadn't been named yet. All of them were drawn in my Concept class and shown to my professor as proof that I was working on her.

Introduction

This is a blog about the senior film of Robin Stanberry, who graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in Spring 2011.

The Washer Woman is a senior film about a boy who wanders through the woods when he runs into a beautiful woman, who turns out to be a banshee. She predicts his death to him in the river, which eventually leads to his demise.

The story is simple because the primary focus will be on the visuals. This blog is meant to keep people informed and, when the film is finished, pose as an in-the-making for people who enjoyed the film and are interested about what went on when it was happening.

Up to this point many of the concept pieces have been posted on Robin Stanberry's primary art blog, Robbing Stan, and will be re-posted here in one giant blog.