SDGM 560 Process Journal - Steven Roberson

Dailies today consisted mostly of environment designs for hero assets and layout blocking from the SDGM crew. There were some character designs and storyboards, but the bulk of our time was committed to discussing how to populate the world's assets. It was a packed day, so there is a lot to go over. We started by looking over an updated version of the docks, and the neutral rocks work much better. Wei shared a concept painting with us for the dress shop scene to see how we felt about putting trees in the middle of the road. The group consensus was that they would feel too out of place in such a small Italian town. Kang provided some drawings of classroom assets, including the blackboard and the bookshelf. They were both received well and are ready for modeling. Shannon showed a painting of the paper in the alleyway, and I suggested that it be cooler colors to match the mood. This raised the discussion of doing the color script, which Shannon is going to do next. I think this wil...

Today we began by looking at boards. Wei did a great job on his version of the Dress Shop sequence. One major thing we all liked was the paper falling off of the trash can in defeat. Ultimately, it got moved for the sake of the story, but it was an important tonal note that we used for our later discussion. That discussion was about how far we should delay the paper's feeling of conclusion. Sarah brought up a great point that the paper is feeling good before the classroom, and it would be better to put that off so that we don't know what to expect going to the final scene. This tied in very well with the paper being put in the bag, and people suggested that we could have the artist choose between throwing away the paper or putting it in her bag. This was a much-needed change so that the story has a more complete arc to it. Gabi and Dennis are going to be smoothing out that idea as time goes on. Gabi also showed us a new version of 800 where the paper has left the artis...

Today we reviewed the work from the weekend. We made some tweaks to the boards of the festival and classroom, and we discussed some character designs for the side characters. Emily created some boards for the transition between the festival and the classroom. She had it start with darkness, then light comes in as the bag is opened, which was a really nice touch. For character designs, we looked at that had been created by Anne for the cat (code named Garbage Boy), and we agreed that the design was a little more TV animation than it was feature. Shannon said she would go over the design and develop it further. We also looked over some designs for the guitarist by Anne and discussed whether he should have a hat or not.  The reality of him needing hands became a thing too, since he is playing guitar and all. Then the art directors decided that all the background characters need handed, at least basic ones. I think this is a good call because you never know what may come into foc...

Today's class featured more development on the color images and the main character's design. I altered my storyboard sequence to include multiple camera angles for the character heading into the alleyway. Chris said that was a great idea because it provided the CG crew with options, and they can choose what they want when the time comes. Storyboards are almost done, which is good. We are going to re-board the sequences of the classroom, and I think the festival could use another pass. The character crew showed us a final design influenced by Webber's notes, and Dennis was selected as the final person to develop the character's expressions and details. Kang provided us with a layered model render, which will help a lot with doing some paint-overs. At the end of class, we discussed what was due next week and what still needed to be locked down. Chris told the Environments team we need to pull together assets into packages that we can give modeling so they can set ...

Today's class was mostly development on Analogue. There was a quick note on the location for the Office still being determined for Writer's Block, but that was all we had updates on. We started by looking through the environments. We compared some of Shannons scenes to mine in regards to establishing the mood of the girl's journey. Should she be lonely and isolated, like on the edge of the mountain, or curious and playful like in my alleyway piece? The crew liked the spiral motif on Shannon's mountain, so we will be moving forward with that design. Several people said they would like to see it have a more consistent angle heading downwards, since it flattened out along  the bottom area. I would definitely like to see there still be a cliff-face for her to walk alongside. For my piece with the alleyway, it was very well received. People said it looked quiet but not sketchy, and someone said they could just hear the noises, which was a really cool reaction. Chris told...

Today's class was full of great developments for Analogue! We discussed the flowers scattered throughout the city. Anne gave a rundown on how the flower Bougainvillea would inform our town. It means "paper flower," and it is common in the mediterranean. We decided to use this to name our town Bougainville, and to have flowers everywhere. They come in all sorts of colors, which is perfect for the festive environment. For characters, we offered feedback to the crew about how the proportions of the main character needed to line up with the background characters. They made some quick modifications mid-class and we approved them. The character crew also showed us some clothing options for background characters, which was exciting! I shared my modular approach to building structures, and I am planning to keep pushing more ideas forward for smaller pieces of the puzzle.   Since I was the one who developed the courtyard, I also did a rough sketch of the overall sho...

Today's class brought the whole production together. We got our new draft of the script, and Emma did a wonderful job adapting the last version to the new location. We also reviewed the environment assets and some designs shots of our main character. Our digi-scout team explored more camera options, and we also had a visit by a Disney layout artist, Tyler Kupferer. The new script adjusted some aspects of the story. The most important was the way the character moves. Before, we had it being blown around by the wind a lot, but Emma has changed this to be the character walking around. The paper has agency and can move the paper like its own body. Many of the trails the character faced have been adjusted into interactions with the world. For instance, instead of the wind blowing it around, a seagull grabs the paper and flies away. The gags have made the whole story a lot more comedic, which will be good for the positive tone. The environments team provided some more color paintings...

Today we had an optional meeting where we discussed the background character silhouettes in greater focus and picked a style direction for them. We also looked over some background sketches by Gabe, Shannon, Wei and myself that explored the various camera angles for our areas. They were really rough and loose, but digi-scout said they wanted sketches like those to push their camera work. I am going to do more of that, along with some orthogonal turnarounds of the buildings at the top of the hill. My initial idea was to frame it around the Piazza Grande at Montepulciano, but I think that is too stiff for the tone of our film. I am going to work in some of the whimsical style Shannon has been using for the hilltop and see where that goes. Verticality seems to be an important element to keep, and many of my buildings have been more horizontal, which keeps flattening out the top of the hill too much. This keeps it from feeling lively, which is a key emotion I want to incorporate. Here ...

Today's class was mostly taken up by talking about Writer's Block  with the VFX and film team. They were trying to figure out the transition into the Sahara scene. For Analog , we discussed some of Shannon's work on city shots, including a nice color piece of the dress store. We also looked at some digi-scout camera movements that their team did to explore how the world might look through our lens. The character team shared designs as well, and then they branched off to pick their own specific ones. For the next class, we need to have hero assets made for the world. I am focusing on the hilltop area, so I will be researching the bell tower and the upper piazza.