Experimentation: Colour and Lineart for Environments

In developing my environments for my film, I'm thinking about how I will approach colouring the backgrounds. I did a small test on a section of the background for Alistair's room in different styles of colouring and shading to get a feel for how it would look in the rest of the shot. 
Here's the full image I'm working from: 

Lineart of Alistair's room

I've chosen a section of this piece to experiment with colour and lighting to test how the rest of the piece will look. This will also inform the style and palette I use for colouring and shading the rest of the backgrounds in Alistair's room, and the style for other environments for the film. 

Lineart

Monochrome test in green with plant and light details

Monochrome test in yellow with light details

Colour test using colours based on colour script - adjusted

Colour and lighting test using colours from script and coloured lineart

Looking at the final test in the context of the whole space

I like how the final test with coloured lineart looks up close, but I'm not sure if it's going to lose its impact if the whole background is done in this style. Looking back to this piece below from Steven Universe, I'm considering how coloured lineart can be used strategically in direct sunlight, while maintaining darker lineart in the rest of the piece. 

Background from Cartoon Network's Steven Universe

I want my work to evoke the same gentle, warm effect that this piece captures so well. I'll need to keep experimenting.

Experimentation: Developing my animatic

In developing my animatic, I am using reference images to ensure that the perspective on my environments is geometrically correct, and that object interact with each other in a logical way. Through this process I am learning about perspective and scale. 

I'm currently working on Shot 2 of Scene 2 of my film, showing a view of the classroom. Here's my progression from initial sketches to my final animatic version. 

Storyboard sketch

Storyboard

Animatic 1.0

3D environment using an app

Animatic 2.0

References:

 3D environment from Floor Plan Creator app on Android

Chair reference image from https://vintage-industrial-furniture.co.uk/en/shop/vintageindustrialseating/vintagechairs/item/oldschoolchairs/. 

Work in Progress: Background sketches

 

colour sketch of Sunny's bedroom

work-in-progress sketch of the classroom

concept art of Alistair's kitchen

sketch of Alistair's bedroom

Research: Background/Environments

In developing my backgrounds for my animated film, I've been looking at how other animators develop their own backgrounds for animated works. I've looked at feature films by Studio Ghibli, animated television shows by Cartoon Network and Disney Channel, and independent animators including students at Gobelins L'Ecole D'Image and Victoria Vincent. I have also included some videos by independent animators showing their work process. These videos gave me some insight into what one should and shouldn't include in backgrounds, and how to make them flow with the rest of the animation. 

The screenshots from various animated works below have been selected because of their particular use of colour, composition, lineart and detail/simplicity. I'm looking at how the characters interact with their surroundings, how much detail can or should be put into a shot, and how to keep shots interesting and dynamic. 

Studio Ghibli, Kiki's Delivery Service, 1989

Studio Ghibli, Whisper of the Heart, 1995

Studio Ghibli, Whisper of the Heart, 1995

Studio Ghibli, Howl's Moving Castle, 2004

Cartoon Network, Steven Universe, 2013-2020

Disney Channel, Gravity Falls, 

Gobelins, Contretemps, 2021

Gobelins, Contretemps, 2021

Gobelins, Golden Hour, 2021

Gobelins, Golden Hour, 2021

Gobelins, Louise, 2021

Gobelins, Louise, 2021

Victoria Vincent, Floatland, 2018

Videos on developing environments for animation: 

Test: Scene 1 Shot 1

 

This is an animation test of Sunny in the opening shot of the film, opening their curtains to reveal their bedroom. This GIF plays with the colour palette of the film, the visual style, what elements will be visible in the background, and how the characters will interact with the backgrounds. 

By creating this test, I was able to learn that I don't want my colour palette to be so monochromatic, or so based in this yellow ochre hue. To evoke the softness I aim to capture in the film, I need to use slightly lighter tones and more variation in hue. 
I realised that the position of certain background elements, like their bed, don't work well, so this will need to change in future versions of Sunny's bedroom. 
I'm overall happy with the visual style - using charcoal brushes to create blocks of colour with slight variation and "messiness". With some more development I believe this will contribute to evoking the soft mood of the film. 
I've got a better sense now than I did before creating this test of how characters interact with background elements, and how colour and line quality can make them blend in or stand out from their surroundings.  

Development: Environments

I have been using an app (Floor Plan Creator) to visualise my layouts. The app has a 3D mode as well, which has helped with visualising the perspective for my environments. Below are the results of this experimentation. 

Floor plan for Sunny's bedroom created in Floor Plan Creator

Hand drawn floor plan for Sunny's bedroom with extra details. 

3D render of Sunny's bedroom using Floor Plan Creator

Sketch of Sunny's room using the 3D render as reference

Lineart of Sunny's bedroom

 I used a similar process for developing Alistair's bedroom layout and environment. 

Floor plan of Alistair's bedroom using Floor Plan Creator

Hand drawn floor plan for Alistair's room with extra details

Drawing of Alistair's room from my storyboard

Lineart of Alistair's bedroom with more detail

Through this process I have been able to visualise how 3D perspective works and how to fill a space with objects.