The Massive Character Design Post

So here's the massive post with some of my character designs for the secondary characters. There are quite a few! Most of the paintings that Sesh goes into introduces some sort of new character. I'll just show them in order of appearance.

First, the Security Guard that turns off the lights in the museum at the beginning.

Next come the Egyptians that Sesh lives with in the hieroglyphic wall painting. I tried to make them as flat and hieroglyphic-y as possible. I hope I can move them!

Then Benu, who is the brawny, brainless man who tries to woo Sesh with his bulging muscles.

Wherever Benu goes, these ditzy admirers follow.

When Sesh enters the lush oil painted landscape, she is unexpectedly attacked by a pack of hunting dogs. I wanted them to be greyhound-esque.

And finally, Sesh makes her way to the charcoal sketch of graceful dancers. I tried some more jazzy dancers for this go round, but I'm also considering some elegant ballerinas instead. I added the dramatic lighting just for the sketches, cause I'm not quite sure if I can/want to achieve this effect for the final film.

Well, now I think we're all caught up. What do you guys think of the designs? Next I'll try to post my animation tests for the Hieroglyphic Seq!

Animatic - Hieroglyphic Sequence

I started storyboarding Gallery Girl back in April. Several drafts later....I'm on the latest draft. But this one seems to be the most concrete. I cut an animatic in September, and I'm still hammering it out. I have, however, settled on the sequence in which we meet Sesh in her mundane hieroglyphic wall painting. I've started animation on this particular seq and I'll post animation tests soon. But for now, I thought I'd share this portion of my animatic.

At this point in the film, the museum has closed for the night. All of the visitors have left, and the museum's security guard has just shut off all the lights. All of them, except for two. One on an oil painted landscape, and the other on the Hieroglyphic wall that Sesh is in.

More Sesh Designs

These Sesh character designs are from September. This blog is slowly catching up to where I'm at now in the production (animation phase). I'll try to post some animation tests in the weeks to come. But for now, the designs of Sesh in the various mediums that she finds herself in throughout the film.

First, Sesh as a charcoal sketch. She will be joining a group of sketched dancers in this sequence, so she changes from her tight, confining Egyptian dress into a freeing leotard.

Finally, I painted Sesh using oil paints. This is the first time I've ever used oils, so it's not exactly the way I wanted it to turn out. I'm not going to use actual paint for the sequence in which Sesh becomes oil painted (rather, it will be digital in some form or another), but I just wanted to get a feel for the medium.


By the way, if anyone has any suggestions for how to get a consistent oil painted look that can also be animated, please let me know! And feel free to give comments on these designs!

Catch-Up

Welcome to my blog about my an animated short "Gallery Girl." It's my Senior Thesis film at USC's School of Cinematic Arts! I'm already well underway, finishing post-production this week. Now I'm ready to start animation (hopefully). But, there's always room for improvement, so I'm posting my initial designs that I did back in April.

The brief synopsis: Sesh, an Egyptian Princess, lives in an Egyptian hieroglyphic wall carving at the National Museum. She becomes bored with the constant pageantry of her carving, and longs to explore other places and meet new people. One night, after the museum closes, Sesh discovers an oil painting off in the distance. Facing her dream, Sesh decides to act and leaves her flat hieroglyphic existance. She steps into the oil painting, and is swept away in the rich colors, becoming oil painted herself. Throughout the night, Sesh discovers more paintings and experiences their mediums, in search for the one that is right for her.

Here are some initial designs for Sesh.


As a Hieroglyphic: