Street Scene

A scene from the intro that I have been working on this week, on and off. I need to make an animatic before I continue I think... getting ahead of myself with the details.

Norwich: Then and Now

I walked through a small exhibition in Castle Mall the other day of photographs from around Norwich in the past (not exactly sure on which era) but some of the shop photographs were great. I managed to record some of them for my reference collection, but regretfully found out little about the exhibit.

I still haven't figured out where these places were/are in Norwich but I think this one may be near Anglia Square or Tombland?










On my way home I photographed the shops/bars opposite John Lewis too

I am noticing patterns in the design for shops, but each are unique. Each has its own number of windows, with different styles, and most interestingly they are all slightly different heights. These are things I will try to remember when drawing shops and street scenes for my introduction animation.

Re-Design: Old Man

Here is a mock up re-design of the old man, I started with the head from the initial speed paint and made a body to suit that.

Recent Reference Photos

Streets and rooftops from a train

A Mr Simms sweet shop in London this time, even more perfectly situated than the ones in Cambridge and Norwich.

This photo reminded me of some I found a few weeks ago, when looking for wartime photographs, in particular the one below...

I love this photograph, the scene is so still and the light is so soft at, such a dramatic angle.

Re-design

In less than two weeks I start my final year at Norwich University College of the Arts, during which I plan to continue this project and make as close to a functioning, playable version of this game as I can. My experience is in illustration and small amounts of animation so I will be utilising these skills most, but I am eager to learn other skills in my final year. Over this summer I have begun re-designing most of the game, from now I will be looking at what I created last year in a professional and practical way, and adapting it to be a plausible, working game, considering my abilities and time-scale for this year.

Here are some fundamentals that are strong in my mind for this year;

Back to basics - the game's core concept is still to be:
Short, memorable and delightful.

The characters need to suit the environment, and vice-versa - Building on the success of the paper shop, I have re-designed the 3 characters to be more suited to it - working with their silhouettes I have changed their shapes to be more iconic and easily identifiable. This will also help with animating the old man, his arms and legs etc will be better shapes to cut out and move.

The shop is a stage -  the idea of a miniature theatre should not be lost this year and I want to look into ways of emphasising it. I have begun designing an introductory animation that starts digital and turns to paper, blending the two worlds, and really isolating the shop as the most paper place in all of the 'real world'.

Cut down - decide which scenes need to be made and how many, what can actually be produced and what is not plausible. Cut out fantastical ideas and keep to the core concept alive. This means sorting out gameplay that is actually able to me made.

Different - Having said the above, this game is not a platformer, or a shooter, and the whole idea is to bring something knew to players that will delight them. Ideally it is a creational game where the player builds their path within the levels to complete them. I am prepared to compromise my concept to make it work, but I won't let this game lose its meaning. If I cannot make the levels or find someone who can, I will concentrate on making the other aspects of the game. 

Get the story straight - Part of the cutting down process will involve each animated scene that is to be included is planned early on, storyboarded, and all parts to be made. This will ensure the least time wasting.


And finally, this is still an art project and I want it to feel like one.  I have taken a lot of photo references over summer and found things that have influenced me all over the place. I am starting the new term with enthusiasm to make something lovely.