BACKGROUNDS

There is a junk yard next to the incinerator back home where all the rubbish is dumped before burning. There are always old mattresses piled up and a favourite place for apes to hang out. They come down from the upper rock to look for food or just have some fun. In my story after the apes steal a cake from the bakery they escape to this place where they can relax. It is an important scene because it shows them being themselves without the influence of people. Through playing on these mattresses their friendship grows as they have a good time and bond. There are 3 shots...



SHOT 1



SHOT 2- I used the Posterise and Watercolour filter to obtain a grimy and dirty look

BACKGROUNDS

For my backgrounds I am trying a different approach where they will be mostly from photographs painted in Photoshop. The locations in my story actually exist so I don't see the point of drawing them. However before taking photos of these different locations back home I needed to know exactly where I would place my characters. So I had to have an idea of the layout and visualise where the animation will take place before taking the photo. Then once I had the photo I did some experimenting with the filters in Photoshop to arrange the colours so that they fit with the colour design of my characters but also make them stand out. Some of the backgrounds I created by selecting different parts of a location and putting them together. Below are some of the final BG's...



I have introduced the apes as a guide to see how the scene will be layout. Also it gave me an idea of how well they fit within the scene. I applied a canvas effect on the bushes in the foreground which contrast nicely with the characters and adds a bit of depth.




There is a scene where the apes rob a cake from a bakery. For this background I needed a way to hide what is going on inside but still have cakes which are visible from the outside so I applied the burn tool to capture the light reflecting from the windows which hides the happenings from inside.



The view from upper rock of Gibraltar are quite picturesque where you can see not just the bay but also Spain and Morocco. It is a unique setting where the apes live and you can drive by either to admire the view or look at the apes. I want to capture this experience
This one was inspired by the vivid watercolour painting by a local artist called Vin Mifsud. I like her use of light and the way she creates shadows with washes always uses the complimentary colours to make the scene look vivid. For this scene the drop shadow brush was very useful. The shadows give the scene depth also the detail diminishes as the scene recesses

This is the final design for my first character (Ape1). I wanted him to look cute by giving him a baby looking head ( a Disney favourite) and cute ears like Dopey and big expressive eyes which sub-consciously captures an innocence. His poses should capture a timid and shy character which is what Iam aiming for.










This is the final design for my second character (Ape 2) which is a lighter colour so that each character is seen clearly when next to each other. He is a confident and cheeky type of character so I have given him beady eyes like most anime characters have which capture a more aggressive expression. I want his face to be not as round which gives him an angular smile and not so cute. I have kept his ears pointy which makes him look meaner. Most apes look very similar and their coats have the same tones but I wanted my characters to be unique which is why I made thier chest hair slightly lighter to their bodies. Ape2 will not have black
hands and feet though as it makes
it hard to see what they are doing