Designing Character Walk Cycle

We were given on a sheet a description of different character and a reason for their action. From this information we have to develop Character Design sheets for our model and the setting. This means designing a character that fits the description and designing a setting for the character. The setting needs to have a chair and a door in it.

The animation takes place in one setting and we have to have a fixed viewpoint (theatrical staging).

1.     A character is sitting on a chair.

2.     The character stands up.

3.     The character walks towards a door in the room and goes out.

The first thing i need to do is choose one story line from the 7 we were given:

1.      A six year old girl going out to play with her friends.
2.      An old man going to buy his cat some food.
3.      A laid back man going out to the pub.
4.      A girl going out on a date
5.      A sulky teenager leaving after a row with parents.
6.      A woman suddenly remembering an important appointment
7.      A boy reluctantly leaving his computer game to go to bed.

i decided i would go for one which would challenge me, something that i cant personally relate to. So i scrapped all of the female story lines, and i went for a male story line. I have decided to go for the old man going to by his cat some food. I think out of all of them it is probably harder to animate an old male walking, especially if he is holding a walking stick and is hunched over. But now i know what story i am doing i will brain storm about my character. Who is he? Nigel, 76 year old, retired man. What is he like? Nigel is a happy go lucky man, relatively healthy, although he it getting a little slower with age. Who does he live with? He lives with his wife Miriam. They own a male black cat called Bailey - whom he loves dearly but doesn't like to show it. Now i have built up a vague picture of my character i'm going to start some character designs to see which ones i like best. I feel like Nigel would have a round face, a moustache and glasses. But i would also like to try more rectangular faces with strong jaw lines, but i think it would turn the Nigel from looking happy and approachable with a circle face, to a more grumpy, less friendly square or rectangular face.

Now i know how i want to draw Nigel, i need to work out what clothes i want him to wear cause it really affects the way you perceive a character. It would also be interesting to play around with sizing too, making Nigel slim or large etc, this again could affect the way that they audience look at Nigel. Also it may be harder to animate a larger person, or a chap with a large round belly as there is more of a chance that i would distort Nigel and not make him consistent, which has been my problem through out the last couple of tasks. So i think i will make my character of a slender build but one that still had a bit of meat on it.

Above are examples of different designs i made for Nigel, i was not sure how to dress him, i didn't want to make him to look as if he dresses too old as he will be in good shape and in good health. This means that it will be easier to me to animate him walking. I decided to go for the one second from the left, i like the design more, i think its smart and more longer then the rest of the designs. I think it would be easier to animate maybe. However, i would not draw all the lines on the chord trousers - it isn't work the hassle - especially with the amount of time i have.

Above are some brain storms of what i would like to include in the design of Nigel's room.. although i said in the scan above that Nigel is 67 years old, i think i may change it to 80 years old. I think in all fairness that my character looks older then a 67 year old man, and i am sure that now a days 67 year olds look much younger then they would have 100 years ago. It was really important for me to get into the frame of mind to of Nigel's so i could get a feel for what i would want in my room, i also used my grandparents house for inspiration - they have a coal burning fire, photo frames, paintings, arm chairs, and a bit long rug in the middle of the room. I wanted the room to be homely, comfy but also plain as i don't know many elder people who enjoy extravagant decor in their homes.

Above it the mock design of what i can the scene to be for my character walk cycle. The reason why the cat's ben is un-finished it because i a going to animate the cat on top. One thing i think i will have to change is the height of the door. Compared to the chair, and the rest of the room i think it is too large, so i think i will probably drop that down by 1cm.