Project 4: Week 3 - Creating Mock Stills of DCM idents.

Using the knowledge I gained by researching DCM’s 2013 ident, I went on to make up some of my own versions using images on the internet. I decided to choose two different emotions and project them into an image based on the stills I took from the ident. I used DCM’s official logo as a template, then used Adobe Illustrator to create an exact cut out version of this. I then put this image onto Photoshop where I was able to create an almost exact replica of DCM’s stills.

The first emotion I chose was that of anger, as I thought that there would be a larger collection of those kinds of images on the internet. I chose the background image because it was such a dynamic and striking photo that would grab a lot of attention, and almost fit the emotion I wanted to portray exactly. Because of the image on the background being so dark, I knew I wanted a bright, but still an equally striking photo to go inside of the logo. I found an image of a cracked mirror, which was brilliant white in colour, but had stark black lines where the cracks had appeared. I thought that this worked really well as it not only showed the vast contrast (in colour) of the two images but also linked them together through the cracks and the dark background blending together. Almost as though the cause of the cracked mirror was the man in the background, which tells a great story when it comes to advertising.

Once my first attempt at making a still logo, in my opinion, worked out very well, so I then went onto create a second logo. I wanted this one to be the exact opposite of the previous one. I began my search looking for a warm and happy image, I wanted the image to represent a comfortable and happy state of peace. I found this image of a candle burning, and because the picture was full of oranges, browns, reds and yellows, I definitely got that warm glow and relaxed feeling from it. Going on from the warm and colourful background, I knew I wanted to add in a bright and exciting image in order to make the concept of the image more exciting and dynamic. I ended up searching for fireworks and ended up with a Catherine wheel – like picture, and because of the bright golden colour of the wheel, it makes the image look so much less static and adds so much more excitement and life to the image. I thought this worked really well as a full image, as the vast amount of emotions given off are really useful and bound to attract attention when it comes to advertising.

Project 3: Beginnings of My Storyboard

Creating Visuals for my Storyboard. 

I have taken inspiration from both online and real life sources in order to recreate a stylised set of scenery pieces that I plan on using in my storyboard, and eventually my animation.

 For this piece, I went out and sought after first hand visuals that I could use to bring a semi-realistic style to my drawings, purely to test and see what kind of visuals would be easier to recreate for my animation. I went against my usual style of drawing and used rather square and parallel lines, bringing out angles in the trees and adding depth to the picture, which is a factor I want to take into consideration when creating a forest in an animation. 

 Once I had tried and tested a more realistic view on groups of trees, I then went onto gather images of trees that I knew would work well my usual  style of art. I went looking specifically for types of trees that were twisted and morphed into peculiar shapes. Most of these kinds of trees seemed to be found in European countries such as France and Germany, which, coincidentally, is where a lot of fairy tales such as Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood originate from. 
On this particular image, I focused on thicker lines and plenty of shading in order to create a more dynamic setting. The trees resemble a much more fictional style, where faces of words could easily be hidden among the swirls and patterns. I drew these trees whilst watching Disney's Snow White, which also links in well to the evil presence where faces and words could be brought into them easily and depict a negative entity. 


Taking both of these styles into account, I then went ahead and began creating my own version of these tress, completely from my own imagination with no visual help. I knew I wanted to take the line structure and thin details from the first set of trees and use that as my own, as well as using the light and heavy shading techniques from the second set of trees and blending that in as well. 
And this was the result! I'm really pleased with how these trees turned out, the bold outline blending into the smaller and weaker lines is probably my favourite thing about this image, as it shows everything down to the last detail, without making it over crowded or messy. I went over some of the lines down by the trunk, however, in order to show off a more sturdy bottom end to the trees and not make them look flimsy or unsupported.

Evaluation.
Although I do love how detailed and delicate these trees look, in something like my storyboards, which are only going to be A3 sized, I think there is just too much detail in them and I would need to simplify them. I do still plan on using the original shape, and bringing in defining lines and shading in order to make them more 3 dimensional, and I would be more likely to use these if I were to make a storybook or little leaflet on this animation.