Adaptation Part B - More Clothing Development

Taking pieces from my initial costume designs, I have developed these thumbnails. In the book, Arrietty is adventurous but naive so I hope to show by giving her clothes that are both childish and girly, and rough and practical.

Adaptation Part B - Character Expressions

After deciding on Arrietty's face design, I sketched some expressions that show her character. I still want to experiment more with different textures and colours for her hair and clothing.

Maya Tutorials - Dynamics Part 9 - Curve Flow

Maya Tutorials - Dynamics Part 8: Surface Emission

Adaptation Part B - Character Clothes Thumbnails

In photoshop, I experimented with Arrietty's clothes. I want her outfit to look as though all of the elements have been found. My favourite is number 4. The dress would be made of pieces of different materials, for example a piece of lace or cotton. The skirt would be held together at the top with a strip of material, either a ribbon, shoelace or tape measure etc. For her shoes, I had the idea of making them out of the tips of the fingers from a pair of gloves, with grips on the bottom.

Adaptation Part B - Further Character Development

Here are some thumbnail sketches of possible faces for Arrietty. I think that 3, 4 and 5 are the best as they fit the age I'm aiming for.

Next I moved onto designing some possible hairstyles. I think that 2 and 3 would work well with the style and age of my character.

Taking some of my thumbnails into photoshop, I started experimenting with hair colours. I quite like the idea of making her hair in thick strands that are like wool, 3 and 4.

Maya Tutorials - Dynamics Part 7: Per Point Emission

Maya Tutorials - Dynamics Part 4: Directional Emitters

Maya Tutorials - Dynamics Part 3: Omni Emitters

Maya Tutorials - Dynamics Part 2: Particle Grids

Adaptation Part B - Developing Arrietty

To begin with, I studied the shapes and proportions used to draw children. As my adaptation is aimed at 5 - 8 year olds, I feel that Arrietty will best connect with the audience if she looks of similar age. I also want Arrietty to look as though, like everything in her home, she could be made out of household items. As in my earlier experiments, I used silhouettes of everyday objects to start building her shape, however 1 and 2 weren't looking very childlike, so I changed the proportions in number 3.

While trying out different shapes, I focused on the clothespin and gathered some visual research of clothespin dolls. Using these examples I started developing my own clothespin character. I want to further develop these designs, as I feel that there is a lot of 'cute potential'.

Next I began sketching some face shapes, focusing on keeping the shape and style childlike. I think that the most successful shapes are 1, 3 and 4 however the length of the face in 3 is perhaps more like that of a teen/adult than a child.  

Maya Tutorials - Normal Maps, Ambient Occlusion Maps and Stone Base Diffuse Maps

Anchor, Pillar, Rope and Wooden Planks Normal Maps

Ambient Occlusion Maps

Stone Base Normal and Diffuse Map

Maya Tutorials - Dynamics Part 1: Sketching Particles

Adaptation Part B - Style Influences

I have decided that my adaptation of The Borrowers is to be aimed at children aged between 5 - 8. To influence my designs, I have been looking at children's television shows and films, in both 3D and 2D, aimed at this demographic. 

As seen in my visual research, I feel that the best style for my target audience involves simple shapes and block colours, and iconic characters that are easy to respond to. I plan to use this simple style and translate it into 3D for my character. 

For the piece of the environment I am creating, I want a calm, homely feel, as this is where the family spend time together at night. Using stills from animated films, I have begun looking at possible colour palettes for the environment. I want my character to be made up of stronger colours than the environment that still fit in and compliment it.

Adaptation Part B Interim Crit Presentation

Adaptation Part B Interim Crit

Adaptation Part B - Environment Development

Before starting to develop the environment I looked at images that could help me understand the space. As the Borrowers live in the space under the floorboards of the kitchen, I looked at dollhouses and attic/basement rooms in real houses, as I feel that rooms shaped like this would be similar to the space under the floor. 

One feature of the environment I want to focus on is the fire place. In the book it is described to have been made from an old cog from a cider press, with a metal funnel acting as a chimney. I begin I designed multiple cogs, and chose to develop number 5 and 8 further.

My favourite of these ideas is a mix of 2 and 3. The cog featured in number 2 is a blend of numbers 5 and 8 from the first image. I like the cog in 2 and the funnel in 3.

Adaptation Part B - Book Extract

I want to create part of the Clock family's living room, described in this extract from the book. I plan to focus on the fireplace featured in the description.

The Borrowers Extract

Adaptation Part B - The Borrowers

For my Adaptation Part B project I have chosen to adapt 'The Borrowers' written by Mary Norton. My aim to design a character and part of an environment from the book.

The Borrowers live in the secret places of quiet old houses; behind the mantelpiece, inside the harpsichord, under the kitchen clock. They own nothing, borrow everything, and think that human beings were invented just to do the dirty work.

Arrietty's father, Pod, was an expert Borrower. He could scale curtains using a hatpin, and bring back a doll's teacup without breaking it. Girls weren't supposed to go borrowing but as Arrietty was an only child her father broke the rule, and then something happened which changed their lives. She made friends with the human boy living in the house...

I began looking at children's films and television programmes. In particular, I looked at those that feature small characters in a giant world, for example Toy Story.

To start designing the characters and environment I found lots of images of everyday objects that the borrowers could use. As a feature of the environment is the fireplace made from cogs and a funnel, I looked in depth at a number of different styles of cogs. The family live under the clock, which gives their family name, therefore I hope to include pieces that reflect this.