Week 2 - Screenshots from the film Flushed Away

In my previous blog post I mentioned I bought the DVD from the film 'Flushed Away' to take screenshots from which I could use to build up my scene. Of course when I was taking the screenshots I was focusing on the background buildings and taking note of what objects are part of the buildings. Figures 4 and 5 show different variation of buildings used in the film that I could incorporate into my scene possibly in the background. I did notice however that some of the buildings in the screenshots are not as detailed as the buildings in the concepts art. Figures 2 and 6 I made not of for having lots of little trinkets and items in them that I could use and display around the buildings possibly.

Fig. 1. Flushed Away Movie Still

Fig. 2. Flushed Away Movie Still

Fig. 3. Flushed Away Movie Still

Fig. 4. Flushed Away Movie Still

Fig. 5. Flushed Away Movie Still

Fig. 6. Flushed Away Movie Still

Fig. 7. Flushed Away Movie Still

Fig. 8. Flushed Away Movie Still

Fig. 9. Flushed Away Movie Still

These movie stills are only a select few, I want to watch the film a couple more times to see if there was anything I missed to include. Other films That I'm using as reference are studio Ghibli's film Arrietty. Arrietty is based on the book 'The Borrowers' and the main characters live in a tiny house made from unwanted human objects and other items the characters have borrowed from the humans.

When looking at how I'm going to be texturing the objects in the scene I'm probably going to be using hand painted textures for all the objects, that or a mix between real photos taken by me and hand painted textures. When getting a closer look at the figures above the objects and textures are stylized but have real detail like the objects would have.   

Image Reference

Fig. 1. Flushed Away [Movie Still]. [Accessed 22nd Jan 2014]

Fig. 2. Flushed Away [Movie Still]. [Accessed 22nd Jan 2014]

Fig. 3. Flushed Away [Movie Still]. [Accessed 22nd Jan 2014]

Fig. 4. Flushed Away [Movie Still]. [Accessed 22nd Jan 2014]

Fig. 5. Flushed Away [Movie Still]. [Accessed 22nd Jan 2014]

Fig. 6. Flushed Away [Movie Still]. [Accessed 22nd Jan 2014]

Fig. 7. Flushed Away [Movie Still]. [Accessed 22nd Jan 2014]

Fig. 8. Flushed Away [Movie Still]. [Accessed 22nd Jan 2014]

Fig. 9. Flushed Away [Movie Still]. [Accessed 22nd Jan 2014]

Week 1 - Building from my Chosen Concept Art

After spending majority of the week finding the perfect concept to work from I decided to go with the piece of concept art from Aardman Animation's 'Flushed Away'. What attracted me to this particular concept was the amount of detail in the environment. In the concept it gives great detail in how a small rat community would build their own city in the London sewers. When discussing the idea of this concept art with my teacher Jon we couldn't help but notice something new every time we looked at the image. Pretty much everything is made from our waste like bottles, nails and forks.

Fig. 1. Flushed Away Concept Art

However in this concept we can only see one side of the environment, I will use other pieces of concept from the film to help build from my chosen art work. In figure 2 this is another piece of concept art from the same film but this image takes place on a pillar and like the other the houses are made from human wasted objects. To help extend my chosen concept piece further by taking elements from figure 2 and placing them into the background and in other areas.  

Fig. 2. Flushed Away Concept Art

Other art from the film I can use to help develop my scene is figure 3, this piece of concept art is different from the other two concepts as the building looks industry made and constructed from various objects. That being noted there are still objects in the scene that I can use as inspiration. I could incorporate figure 3 into the background of my scene or have it facing the opposite way to main concept piece. 

Fig. 3. Flushed Away Concept Art

When I knew that I would be developing a scene from the art work Flushed Away, first thing I did was buy the film on DVD and start to screenshot images from the film to help build reference for my scene. Figure 4 is not a frame from the film that I took a screenshot from, but the buildings in the background could be great research.  

Fig. 4. Flushed Away [Film Still]

Image Reference

Fig. 1. Flushed Away [Concept Art] http://chvacher.deviantart.com/art/Flushed-Away-Concept-art-291934492 [Accessed 21.01.14]

Fig. 2. Flushed Away [Concept Art] http://www.articlesandtexticles.co.uk/2006/10/31/concept-art-for-flushed-away/ [Accessed 21.01.14]

Fig. 3. Flushed Away [Concept Art] http://www.articlesandtexticles.co.uk/2006/10/31/concept-art-for-flushed-away/ [Accessed 21.01.14]

Fig. 4. Flushed Away [Film Still] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flushed_Away [Accessed 21.01.14]

Week 1 - Researching Concept Art

Before starting this module I was planning on creating a character model based on a piece of concept and have the character stand within a small environment that' related. After the first lesson and starting to properly research all the concept art I began focusing on more environment art rather than character. I began researching art from games I remember having interesting level design, the first that came to my head was the game 'Epic Mickey'. The game was set in a world of forgotten creations form the Disney company. abandoned Theme park rides, cartoon characters and toys filled the environment giving the game a derelict atmosphere.

Fig. 1 Epic Mickey

Fig. 2 Epic Mickey 

Moving away from video game concept art I next looked at traditional paintings of city streets within them small shops and cafes. Every painting had a unique style to each with some capturing the streets as true to life as possible and others exaggerated surreal buildings.

Fig. 3 Street Scenery Painting

Fig. 4 Urban Cityscapes

When researching I did come across some concept art from films. 2 films that interested me the most was concept from Dream works Animation 'Puss in Boots' the game and art from Aardman Animation's 'Flushed Away'. 

Fig. 5 Puss In Boots - the Game

Fig. 6 Flushed Away 

Out of these two it was the second one from the film 'Flushed Away' that really got my interest.The movie evolves around rats in the sewers of London and the rats themselves have their own mini London built from our rubbish. I loved all the little hidden gems within the piece from a milk carton as a telephone box and the spine of a book as a pub sign is really imaginative. 

Reference

Fig. 1. Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. (2012). [Concept Art]. Available from: http://pixartimes.com/2012/08/15/watch-disneys-epic-mickey-2-characters-featurette/ [Accessed 20.01.14]

Fig. 2.  Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. (2012). [Concept Art] http://www.superpunch.net/2011/03/epic-mickey-art.html [Accessed 20.01.14]

Fig. 3. Artist Unkwon, Street Scenery [Painting] http://www.daydaypaint.com/street-scenery-c-94.html?page=3&sort=20a [Accessed 21.01.14]

Fig. 4. Afremov, Leonid (2009) Urban Cityscapes [Painting] http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/leonid-afremov [Accessed 21.01.14]

Fig. 5. Puss in Boots - the Game [Concept Art] http://www.behance.net/gallery/Puss-in-Boots-the-Game/10925163 [Accessed 21.01.14]

Fig. 6. Flushed Away [Concept Art] http://chvacher.deviantart.com/art/Flushed-Away-Concept-art-291934492 [Accessed 21.01.14]