Gif practising

I decided it would probably be better to create a GIF for my final rather than an animation. That way the output may appear more non-linear. Firstly I needed to storyboard some shots for the GIF compilation:

Here is a basic GIF compilation of the segments of Major Tom's journey according to my lyrical interpretation:

After discussion in class it was suggested in order to make the story a bit less linear I could have the 3 events happening as GIF animations in one image. I felt like this was a good idea to utilise for my story so I might have a rubble city/town background like my middle image and have the GIFs as memories in different colours happening simultaneously on top of it.

Character style - experimenting

I want the character to look somewhat serious but I need to simplify him more because otherwise it will be very time consuming to animate. So far I've just practiced with this kind of aesthetic, and trying to colour my picture without using lines:

character development references

I made a mood board for the character and environment development. The environments I liked were by Star Wars environment concept artist Scott Wills and some various character designs from different artists:

I personally like the style of an online artist known as 'Phobs' because they have a distinct style which may appear somewhat disneyish but in a more serious sense: http://phobs.deviantart.com/

Here's some of their art:

Development of triptych - story idea

After discussing the ideas around my verses/chorus, I chose to go down a darker route for my story as I feel I'll probably do that more effectively. Some of the ideas suggested were that the story could be about:

• a hospital patient in a paralyzed or comatose state
• a person suffering from PTSD with a warped perception of the world around them
• a soldier/major whose journey and struggles are shown through the scenes
• a robot that goes to rescue its friend drifting in space
• a satellite that is about to be shutdown

I had a bit of a plan to use the idea of the soldier story in an 2D animated format. The story would go as follows:

1) Major Tom/Tom leaves on a ship that sets sail for the battle front in foreign lands, it is evening and the stars are out. He waves goodbye to to his friends and family etc.

• I'm stepping through the door/And I'm floating /And the stars look very different today

2)Major Tom/Tom is in a near death situation (after an explosion? or shot?) He is on the ground grabbing desperately for a walkie talkie which is trying to communicate with him (ground control reference) it appears to be just out of reach. 

• Ground Control to Major Tom, Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong, Can you hear me, Major Tom?

3) Major Tom/Tom is now stuck in a bunker as above the ground is being bombarded by bombs etc. We aren't sure how long he has been down there, or how long he will be stuck there. He is looking at magazines and posters in the bunker of space and Earth reminding himself of how the world above looks. The bunker is his metaphorical 'Tin Can.' 

• For here, Am I sitting in a tin can/Planet Earth is blue, And there's nothing I can do

Assignment 2 - Non-linear triptych based on song

For this assignment we are focusing on choosing a song from a list of 7 songs for the basis of a non-linear story which will be represented in a triptych style. The triptych can be in any format (sculpture, video or animation, painting etc).
I've chosen to go with Space Oddity  by David Bowie. The chorus and verses I've chosen to use are as below:

1)
This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating 
in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today

2)

Ground Control to Major Tom

Your circuit's dead,
there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you....

3)

For here

Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do