So we have the practice pitch tomorrow for the Development project..... so.. My progress thus far for this project has been me a bunch of ideas that I don't feel are worthy of taking forward, or have taken forward and then thought wow this sucks, I couldn't work for a year on this. As I wanted to combine the 3D and 2D elements to produce something that was a little bit different and allowed me to play with both areas I was thinking of a story that would allow this. Flat world was a big inspiration but I felt if I was going to stick with an idea the base idea had to already be there so I didn't just discard it. I remembered the story Flat Stanley from when I was younger. This is the overview:
"Flat Stanley Stanley Lambchop wakes up one morning to find a notice-board has dropped on him in the night, leaving him happy and healthy, but only half an inch thick. It's a little unusual, but he finds he can fly like a kite, be sent on holiday through the post and can use his special new skills to catch some art thieves. Still, he's glad when his brother Arthur thinks to use the bicycle pump to inflate him back to his normal shape."
Above - An early design for Stanley ( he will be renamed.... Stanley..... tshh I think not)
Since then I have played with ideas for it including,
- Superhero or Superslim,
- A sad tail about how he strives towards trying to return himself to his former self.
- A man that is slowly becoming "flatter" and "flatter" as he feels more down in life.
- A guy that is on the run and his adventures with being flat
Above Left - SuperSlim . Above Right - An idea of how he might have been flattened.
My main thought that I am holding on to quite a lot is that he is maybe not flattened by anything but that his physical shape is as a result of his emotions. Something around like he is crampt at work and is literally walked over in life. Maybe he is really good guy but gets treated in a bad way and is slowly becoming flatter and flatter. I have envisioned for a while a guy in work at an office and feels secluded, flat and lonely. The whole idea needs a lot of work but I really really want to come up with a story that is both moving and contains the comedy values that could be subtly put across with his humorous shape.
The idea is that he will be a flat character in a 3D world. However the 3D world will also appear relatively "flat" with a toonshading element overlaying the 3D models. The character design I have kept simple but given them as much appeal as possible. Basically everything will be based around a simple flowing shape
This is the kind of idea of how the character design would role. The head down to the body is one smooth whole object, the clothes would be wrapped around as a texture. The noses on the 3D characters would be the only bit that was actually protruding from the characters. The style needs more work on but I think I was to try out this gouache jazzz.
I have thought about so many ideas I really need to get into that Bluesky thinking. I hear thats were all the ideas come from :D ; out in the sun chilling, catching some rays, I think I have found my dream job. But anyway for now I think I want to go with this idea, it has come a little late, though my practice pitch will contain next to nothing I think I have a lot to work with for the next week for my actual pitch, it will probably still be a bit vague around the story but hopefully I can start to nail the style and make it coherent across the board, currently only the main character has it. I want the background to be simple shapes with a loose overlay just like the character.
This is the current state of a test I am doing for the stylization, at the moment the whole things looking a little cheap. If the story is to be a dark one the colours are going to have to reflect that, they all look a bit to chirpy at the moment...
