Last week, I sorted out and completed the appearance settings of the mermaid. This week, I will confirm the next little octopus’s design, the scene’s concept, and the storyboard’s confirmation.
Octopus design
The setting of the other character is relatively simple because the size of this character is tiny, so I’ve been thinking about whether I can make this little octopus have the most conspicuous effect.
During the design process, because the mermaid itself is very dark, I wanted to have a specific contrast with the main character to avoid being unable to jump out in the entire environment, so I decided to give the little octopus some unique colors compared to the image of the mermaid. First, I designed its color to be fully luminous for contrast. Especially in the dark underwater environment, this design can highlight the appearance of the octopus without being buried in the lens because of its small size.
To reflect its cuteness, I also designed it so that it can curl up into a ball. This adds a certain degree of fun to this character and is also convenient for animation production. In addition, I also set it to have a relatively cute character. The long ears make it more dynamic when swinging around, adding more practical movements.
The four legs of the octopus can be curled inward, which can increase the flexibility of the character, make the movements look natural, and conform to the biological characteristics of the octopus. I want to work hard to ensure that the nature of the little octopus is equal despite its tiny size. Gives a sense of presence as a fish.
3、including the seabed’s environment; I also looked for some references, hoping to find more inspiration to set the scene effects.
When redesigning the environment concept, I already had a specific picture. To make this picture more precise, I looked for many references. I wanted to focus on shaping and emphasizing the mysterious atmosphere of the deep sea through the element of “luminescence.” Light is the only visual guide in this dark and unknown realm that is still unknown to humans, so I want to use “luminous but inactive” plants to create a deep-sea landscape, such as seaweeds, sea anemones, snails, etc. Creatures are resources that can be efficiently utilized and enhance the mystery of the deep sea. After all, magical creatures such as mermaids will appear. The designed landscape should not be too close to reality. Otherwise, it will seem boring.
During the reference search, I felt luminous moss could outline black stones and seafloor terrain. These things are very conspicuous in the deep sea. They can also be designed as a visual guide to increase the three-dimensional sense of the entire scene.
In addition, I am also going to add dust and plankton on the seabed to the scene, which will enrich the picture. This luminous feature adds a more “life” feeling to the stage.
To sum up, these designed creatures already have a particular picture in my mind. The following details need to be finely adjusted according to each shot. Through the design of these elements, I hope the audience can have different visual experiences that can give the feeling of “looking complicated but actually having a simple design.”
I’ve organized the storyboard and will use this 2D storyboard as the primary focus for developing my animation story.
To summarize: this week’s work is really about improving all of the previous material, and in the future, I will be modeling the mermaid again to make it more detailed, re-layouting the undersea scene, and adjusting the elements of the undersea scene based on the new reference. My base files have been created, but because of the design changes, the base model changes amount to redoing the character model all over again.
I finished all the 2D concept design and reference gathering this week, and I have a solid idea of my design and animation, so I’ll start working directly on the new character model next week.