The Whole Course in Conclusion (Final Statement for the Course)

After having a hard work for the whole trimester, now is the time to conclude everything about what I have done and get from this course.

Back to the very beginning of this course, at first, my intention was to do the whole opening for my original project, The Owl's Case, which is the final project for the course Character Design II. The whole project, in my word, means finishing everything from storyboarding to compositing. It is a very hard work as I also have projects from other course and there are limits in time. However, I think it is better to expect higher than what I can do, so I make this as my goal at the beginning of the course.

What I have planned for the course is managed step by step. As I already have my characters and story, I start this course with searching for a song for my opening, which is not so difficult to do. It just takes time to find the best song for the project. After that, I will continue with the storyboarding process. I roughly draw what I have in mind on paper. Then, after I finished the storyboard, I will continue to the process of making an animatic storyboard. The layout design process will also be done during this process. I used Photoshop to draw footages and then edit them in Flash. I chose Flash instead of After Effect here because Flash is a lot faster in previewing works. Therefore, it is good for doing a rough edit that does not focus much on quality. After that, I export this Flash work to After Effect to finished up in a better quality. Then I will do the backgrounds, using Photoshop and a Wacom Tablet to draw. Next will be the animation line test which will be done in Flash as it can be easily animated, and fast in previewing. Then I will export those line tests to Photoshop to clean them up. After finishing the cleaning process, it is time to color with Photoshop, and then export all of them to After Effect to finish everything up.

There is not much change as my works continue. Most things go according to plan except for the change of goal because of the time limit. In the end, I can make it to finishing all of the backgrounds, which is my new goal. There is one little problem that I encountered during the process. When I start working on the backgrounds, I found out that I haven’t got a style for my background yet. Therefore, I had to go through the research process before continuing.

What I have learned from this course is that it takes even more time than I expected to make one and a half minute animation. Moreover, it is even harder to do so if I have to also finish other project. Other than those, I learned how to work on my own, and how to organize the process. My storyboarding skill is also improved as I was using it in the process. I know more about which is worked, and which is not. I also learned techniques in using Photoshop, Flash, and After Effect which make my working speed goes faster. Finally, this course is a good chance for me to experience the process.

Even though this trimester is ended, I plan to continue this project until it is completely finished. All development will be posted on the blog as usual.

Finally, below is the zip file that contains everything I have done in this course which includes still storyboard, animatic storyboard, backgrounds, and final statement of the course. You may click and download it.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

All Backgrounds Finished !!!

Finally, I have finished all of the backgrounds. Some of the old ones are fixed as I see some mistakes while continue working on other backgrounds.

All of these backgrounds are done in photoshop CS4. Just doing these backgrounds take me half of a month as I also have other project from other course. However, even this course is ended, I'm plan to continue this project until it is completely finished. All developments will be posted in this blog as usual, so you can continue to keep your eyes on my work.

Below are those backgrounds I have been talking about earlier, 20 backgrounds in total.

Bedroom (Dawn)

Bedroom (Night)

Alarm Clock (Dark)

Alarm Clock (Bright)
Bathroom

Closet

Entrance

In the City

Toy Shop

Behind the Brick Wall

Crime Scene

City Square (1)
City Square (2)
City Square (3)
Dark Sky

Flying Scene (There are many seperated background parts in this scene)

City Square (4)
Triple Screen
The Whole City
Rooftop

Until next time. For today, let's say Sawaddee.

My Works on Backgrounds so far

These are several finished backgrounds that I have been working on so far.

Owlera' Bed (Dawn)

Owlera's Bed (Night)

Alarm Clock (Dark)

Alarm Clock (Light)

Owlera's Bathroom

Owlera's Closet

Until next time. For today, let's say Sawaddee

Story board of The Owl's Case Opening

Finally, I chose the song "Trouble is a Friend" by Lenka, and here is the storyboard that I have done. The video is a little bit off screen, so it would be better to click the link below the video.

To youtube

Audio Credits

Music: Trouble is a friend

Artist: Lenka

Until next time. For today, let's say Sawaddee

Music Choices

This week I do a research on songs that I will use in my project. It is kinda hard for me because I know very little about musics nowadays. After a long search for a music that will fit with my project, there are four songs that I interested in. One of these four songs will be used for my project.

First are songs by Lenka; Trouble Is A Friend, and The Show. The reason I chose Lenka's song is that it fits Owlera's characteristic almost perfectly. A slow and smooth song goes along with Owlera's action speed very well. Moreover, Lenka's voice sounds like a little teenage girl which fits Owlera's appearance.

Trouble is a friend

The Show

Secondly, I also pick Miley Cyrus' songs; Girls Night Out, and Fly On The Wall. Miley's song are faster and more exciting than Lenka's. They are good songs to be used as an opening because it wakes audience up before watching the show. It is like giving audiences a good warm up before the real exercise begin.

Girls Night Out

Fly On The Wall

The contents of these songs may not fit The Owl's Case's story much. However, these songs are just guides of a song that will be composed soon when I want to commercially push this project further. For now, it is just a student's project that does not make any money at all.

Until next time. For today, let's say... sawaddee

Logo Choices

I designed various logo for my title. One of these will be use in my project.

Until next time. For today, let's say sawaddee.

Characters of The Owl's Case

These are characters that I designed for the Character Design 2 project last trimester.

3 Main Characters

Owl Girl

Her name is Owlera Strigifer Hoot. Strigifer came from Strigiformes which is owl family’s scientific name. Hoot is the sound that owl makes. Owlera is a 16 years old human girl, but she is more mature than she is. She is a brave and careful young girl. She works as a freelance detective. She is a replacement of her mother, Owleria, who has gone to the land far away to complete a mission. Owlera is trained by her mother, so her detective skill is comparable to her mother. She also is an intelligent detective. She can create gadgets that help her solve problems. She can solve every single case she involves. Owlera also has interest in comics and animation. She always use most of the money she gains from work to buy action figures for her collection. She tuck her face on the glass of the toy store every time a new action figure is available. However, most of the time she doe not has enough money to buy, so she has to go to work. Owlera actives only at night time. Therefore, she does not meet any of her friends as they all go to sleep. Moreover, she hates sunlight as it hurts her eyes and blurs her vision.

Officer Cat

Catus Felis Sylvestra, a 41 years old cat, is the head of the police in the city, Animalpolis. His name also comes from the scientific name, which is Felis Sylvestris Catus. He is a serious cat that takes good responsibility on his job. He is also a sensitive person that he cries a lot while watching a drama. Catus works as a police for twenty years. As time passes, his body shape changes. He becomes fatter and fatter. He may lose his acrobatic skills, but he gains more stamina and strength from his lipid. He fought criminals alongside with Owlera’s mother, and he interested in her. Catus works very hard as a policeman of Animalpolis, so he has no time to make contact with women at all. Therefore, he needs a girlfriend, and Owleria is perfectly his type. Unfortunately, Owleria does not feel anything special with him. One day, Owleria needs to go on a journey to complete a mission. Owlera comes into his office after a call as Owleria’s replacement. After knowing that Owlera is Owleria’s daughter, and that Owleria is married, he was heart broken. However, he turns his target of interest to Owlera instead while she does not interested in Catus at all. Later, Kanine gets closer and closer to Owlera, and Catus is jealous. Therefore, he considers Kanine as his rival.

Dog Boy

His name is Kanine Middleroad. His name comes from canine and Middleroad which comes from an adjective Thai people use on a homeless dog. He is an 18 years old human boy. Kanine is a hot-tempered teenager who makes decision fast without thinking of future. He used to be a bodyguard of a millionaire, but he failed to protect his master from a killer. He then joins a stray dog gang and travels around the city finding tastes of life. One day, the gang runs out of money to buy food. The starving dogs know nothing to do but begging other people for food. Fortunately, Kanine finds Owlera, and she tells him that she will treat him and his friends a meal. The gang is very impressed by Owlera’s kindness and they call her their master, which Owlera does not really happy with. Kanine is also a very honest and loyal person that he follows most of Owlera’s words. He and his gang also help Owlera out in doing mission or fighting enemies. As he is so close to Owlera, Catus does not like him. Therefore, he returns the same attitude to Catus and they end up fighting each other at the end while Owlera does not make an attempt to stop them.

3 Villains (There will be more for sure)

Boss Hamster

His name is Retsmah Rodento. The leader of a rodent mafia. He seeks power.

Killer Viper

His name is Physthol Veiapern. He is a hirable killer. He seeks chaos.

Thief Bat

His name is Lubat the Fourth. He is a professional thief. He seeks wealth.

Below is the line up of six characters above

Until next time. For today, let's say sawaddee